Shake Down Cruise!

With the early Tuesday morning "estimated time of departure" for Iowa looming, Sunday was just about our last opportunity for a shake down cruise in Big Red\Camper. So off we went to spend the night at Wolf's Den Campgound about 10 miles from home. We learned several important lessons.

First and most important, we learned that it's good to know exactly which pipe to pump the water into when filling the holding tank. Repeated efforts to get the water system running were unsuccessful. The only time we could get water to run at more than a splutter was when we were hooked up to the campground water hose. Turned out we were pumping madly into the wrong pipe...the one that you use when in a campground and hooked to a hose. Some consultation with a friendly campground neighbor, the repair of something called a petcock, and we were in business for camping where there are no services, which is mostly what we expect to encounter.

We learned that we have a formidable looking aerial that cranks up out of the roof and we have no idea what it's for.

We got acquainted with the many clever storage places, the built-in digital clock and radio, and the not-for-the-claustrophic bathroom.

We learned that, if you like the sound of rain on a metal roof, you'd love sleeping in this camper in a rainstorm...it rained most of the night.

I learned that, as the family teamster during the cycling days, I will try very hard not to park anywhere that requires backing up unless I have a "momback" person right behind me.

One more quick repair of a brake light switch, and we're ready to roll. Bright and early tomorrow morning, we will fire up Big Red's big diesel and roll out of the yard bound for Buffalo, where we will visit Arthur's Mom (97 years old and in a nursing home) before rolling west on Wednesday. We have until Saturday noon to get to Sioux Center, Iowa on the western border of the state, where about 10,000 other cycling lunatics will be massing for the 40th annual RAGBRAI.