The good parts of the day first…
Today’s sunset was amazing. The KOA might be hard by a freeway, with the attendant noise, but the sky is amazing. This is #nofilter stuff right here, people. I didn’t need to change a thing.
Unhitching the car was OK. I went slowly, and thought about each step before I did it. And the two were finally separated, so I could drive off to Walmart. And buy food and paper towels and dish soap. Such an exciting trip.
Now for the bad parts of the day, both involving new skills I obviously am still learning.
First, hitching car and trailer together was a struggle. I couldn’t get the remote control for the caravan mover to turn on and then once I did, nothing happened. My Facebook group of Alto owners to the rescue; two people reminded me there is a big red key in the front storage locker that has to be in position for the mover to work. Oops. After a bit of zig-zag driving, I got the hitch on top of the ball and from there, things went more smoothly. Weight distribution bars on, power hooked up, stabilizers up, wheel lock off, and all the other things that need to be done. In my final walkaround before taking off, I noticed the caravan mover rollers were still engaged, so went back and disengaged them. The walkaround paid off big time.
I drove around the campground a few times, making turns and even a U-turn twice. I’m getting the hang of turning without feeling like I’m going to scrape the side paint off of Breeze.
Then it was time to unhitch the trailer for the second time in one day. And things went from bad to worse. First, I lost the Alto key set and panicked badly for about 10 minutes. Finally found the keys wedged into the seat crack, where I must have put them after hitching up, so eager was I to practice driving. This led to a new rule that keys go in the pocket immediately after any and all uses. (I have a spare set, but really, let’s not lose the keys on day two).
Then the caravan mover was trouble, I couldn’t get the wheel rollers to engage, despite multiple attempts. The red key was in position but something else wasn’t working for me. So I just gave up and drove Bella forward foot and that took care of that. (Turns out that you have to hold down the buttons 4-5 seconds to start the roller engagement, as a fellow Alto owner explained later over IM.)
Leveled, stabilized, power on, locks on, and then I thought, well, why not hook up the water hose? That little voice that says “do one more thing” has got to go. I couldn’t get the hose connection tight enough to not leak and there might have been, as the saying goes, some very blue air right about then.
(I will cop to doing all this hitching and unhitching while there was NO ONE ELSE in the campground at all. There were trailers, but no cars or pickups, so no one to wonder what the hell that woman was doing tearing her car apart or swearing at various pieces of equipment.)
The ugly?
My hands and my nails. As Denis said yesterday, when I said I had torn a nail: well, don’t worry about it for the next 15 years or so… and I guess he’s right. I have no nails left, and a few more bruises and scrapes than I had a week ago. This trailering stuff isn’t for sissies, that’s for damn sure!
To end on a better note than my little hiccups today, here’s two pictures of Breeze, one right side and one left side. Isn’t she a thing of beauty?
And if you want to share your favorite trailer/RV disaster story, feel free to leave a comment (or two). It might make me feel better about being such a raw newbie at all this stuff.
Thanks, Leslie, for letting me know my experiences have helped you prepare for your own Alto. You will indeed love it, and you don’t have long to wait now!
Annie, my husband & I can’t thank you enough for blogging about your new life & experiences.
We are picking up our brand new Alto at the end of August. Your information has put us light years ahead
In our planning process.
Thank you
Practice makes perfect. You were wise to go through all that in a safe environment. By the time you get to Osceola you’ll be a pro. When can we expect you? How long will you stay? Emma and Eliza will spend the night in our guest room so you can get as much quality time as possible with all of us.
Wow, Annie, you are braver than I would ever be.
Continued success and keep posting those gorgeous pictures!
Brigitte
About those keys. Never give them to someone else — keep them in your hands at all times. I learned this the hard way when I gave my nephew the car keys to get something out of the trunk. Sure enough, he opened the trunk, set the keys inside, and closed the trunk. We had to wait hours for a locksmith to unlock the car.
She’s a beauty! Good luck to you; I’m sure things will get easier–how brave you are to tackle this….Have a good trip.
We also got rescued by the Altoistes when the CM wouldn’t work. Turned out the Big Red Key was disengaged. Funny thing is that neither of us had any recollection of the existence of the Big Red Key! So much to learn and most of it makes no sense until you actually have to use it!
We printed Alissa and Richard’s checklist for the first few times we performed the hitch/unhitch procedures. We don’t need the list anymore (a walk around is all we need) but when you’re new and not sure what you’re looking at it gives some reassurance.
I wear the keys on a lanyard while setting up and breaking down. That way I never have to think about which pocket they’re in or whether I’ve put them down somewhere.
I bought a couple boxes of exam gloves from Costco. One for the TV, one for the Alto. Keeps the grease off my hands while hitching/unhitching (and thereby keeping the grease off all my clothes) and provides a better grip than bare hands. May even prevent a nail break.
At least you avoid the frustration of someone else screwing things up! I can recall leaving one campsite after my husband had handled the sewer and electrical disconnect. I was sitting in the driver’s seat and asked him one final time if everything was put away and ready to go. So then I pull our rig out and drive away, with 25 feet of power cord dragging behind us and campers yelling at us from their campsites. Trust but verify!
Thank goodness for the ALTO group, to the rescue!!! 🙂 Gotta love modern communication so that you don’t feel alone when things go awry.
Glad you found the keys, too. Losing them is just the *worst* feeling. I think I’m going to train my dogs so that I can find them when I lose them.
Almost forgot, loved, loved, loved the picture!!!!
I remember using my first DSLR camera at the NASCAR races in Phoenix with you and Dad. Something went wrong and it would not take pictures at all! You calmly suggested rebooting it and presto, it worked fine again! Don’t worry, you always figure stuff out and remember this is all BRAND NEW. You will get it, just takes repetition. Take your time and it will come to you. I know you will figure it out and it will become second nature. Besides, I don’t remember the air being blue since the last time Dad and I worked on a car together!! Made me laugh at the memory, thanks.
I don’t have a disaster story, but I understand the scraping paint part. I had to drive my dads 32 ft rv around before sold it. To the smog and to get gas and it was quite a deal/stressor to turn or heck back up!
I do recommend some very good nail clippers and cutical creme. Going to burning man has taught me to always keep those around. Short nails are harder to tear. The creme is to soothe bumps and scrapes.
XO
You will soon be a pro and will be laughing at all this. But, you are confirming my worst fears. And, sorry about your nails!
Annie
You need to ge a good pair of leather work gloves. They will help a lot.
Way to go Annie. If it was easy, it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun. Can’t wait to see more adventures. You do have sufficient storage devoted to wine, right?
Minor setbacks and hiccups considering the learning curve you’ve had to ride! I say well done!!
Wow, you’re doing pretty good, congratulations (yes yes, even with the ugly!). It will go better each day and your nails will grow back 🙂 Have fun!
Nice! You done good.
The first time I had to change a tube on the rear wheel of the bike, I had chain grease all over me, cut up my hands, and swore it back together.
Now when I do it I can’t figure out why I thought it was so hard. I have a feeling setting up the trailer is the same way! 🙂