DIY Slide Floor Replacement

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Let me start by saying that in hindsight, I probably would have done just a partial repair or found a mobile RV tech to do this project. It was a real handful.

First, some background. At the time I decided to do this, my 5th wheel was about 8 years old. The problematic slide was the living room slide – 144 1/4 inches wide and 48 inches deep and 1 inch thick. I cut a test hole in a good section of the floor to determine exact thickness. A few years ago I noticed water intrusion in one corner and did a partial repair which was holding up well. This time, we noticed some sagging in the other corner and started investigating. I could feel the softness from underneath so I started moving furniture and pulling vinyl inside. It was a much larger area than the other corner. I cut a piece of plywood and held it in place underneath with a bottle jack. I put a fan on the inside floor for several days and the top layer or two dried out. I poured a can of wood hardener on it hoping for a miracle but that didn’t work. After weighing another partial repair vs full floor replacement, I opted for the entire floor. From previous research I knew that having this done professionally could run between $5k and $8k, plus having to find someplace else to live while it was in the shop. DIY wins this time.

After the decision was made, I needed to do some research and start gathering supplies. I got some excellent advice on what wood to actually use for the flooring. I bought 5 sheets of 1/2 inch 5×5 Russian birch. I had one of the sheets cut in half so I could make a single large sheet measuring 12.5 feet X 5 feet. I used Tite Bond III wood glue and 3/4 inch countersunk screws to hold it all together. Joints were overlapped by 2.5 feet. To help visualize that, the bottom layer was full sheet, full sheet, half sheet and the top layer was half sheet, full sheet, full sheet. For some reason, the edges didn’t come out quite even but that didn’t matter since I had to cut it down to size anyway. After cutting to size, I drilled holes for the electrical wiring, applied 2 coats of waterproof penetrating epoxy sealer to the bottom and put zip flashing tape along the edges. I also had to use a hand held power planer to create a bevel for the inside edge. A chalk line came in very handy for the cutting and beveling. Believe it or not, that was the easy part of the project.

Next up was removing trim from the outside. I started with the lower trim pieces. Remove caulk and screws. Mine also required bringing the slide in about a foot to remove screws that couldn’t be reached from the outside.

Then remove corner pieces.

I also had to remove a strip of plastic from around the edge of the floor bottom to access the screws holding the floor in place, and to run a scraper along the outer edge to remove tape and weatherstripping so I could remove the aluminum trim extending down from the long edge of the slide. (That’s the new floor resting against the slide.)

And this is what it looks like with all the outside trim removed.

Next up was removing floor trim inside and slide trim coming down the edges. The slide trim was necessary so I could get blocks under the brackets to help hold the slide up with the floor removed.

This pic shows the temp floor in place.

I should probably note at this point that this is a cable slide that also has 2 rollers with compression blocks under the floor. And that’s where I made my biggest miscalculation. I knew the slide would need to be jacked up and secured while replacing the floor. I just didn’t figure how much. Besides the blocks inside, I also attached 2x4s outside.

Just before trying to remove the old floor, I also cut notches in the corners so the old floor could come straight out and the new floor slide straight in. (Again, this pic has the temp floor in it.)

Once all the screws were removed from the old floor, it should’ve been a simple matter of sliding it out. And that actually worked for one side but the other side wouldn’t budge. I had to go inside the RV and cut away flooring that was stuck under the slide frame. This was my miscalcualtion. I forgot to take the compression blocks and slide rollers into account. The side that came out easily had a compression block that was much more compressed (over time) and wasn’t applying enough upward pressure to hold that side of the slide in place. The block on the other side had more life left in it, and more resistance. The slide floor finally came out. I had planned on replacing the compression blocks anyway when the floor was out but had to rethink that plan. I removed the old blocks and decided it would be much easier getting the new floor in and secured, and then putting the new compression blocks in.

Did I mention all this work was happening in an RV park? While we were living in it? Our cat had to stay locked in the bedroom for a few hours while the floor was open. Between the old floor and the new floor I put in a temp 5mm underlayment floor. And an RV neighbor was kind enough to assist and offer some great suggestions. One of those was building a crib/scaffold/cradle to support the middle of the new floor as we were sliding it in. That was very helpful. Those notches I cut in the frame? I taped some thin plastic over them to protect the flashing tape when sliding the new floor in. That didn’t work out too well. The floor was heavy enough that the plastic split. I also got some thin sheet metal to use as slide skis. In hindsight I should have cut some of that to put in the notches to protect the flashing tape.

As I write this, the inside is finished. New vinyl, electric reconnected for the slide, all the inside trim back in place, new compression blocks in. I still want to brush on another coat of sealer outside to cover the spots that may have gotten a little scraped during installation, then reattach the outside trim.

Besides the power planer and chalk line, I also used a circular saw, reciprocating saw, cordless and corded drills (with a right angle attachment), tin snips, brad nailer, razor knife, paint scrapers, pry bars and hammers. Total cost for the project was under $600. That included lumber (Russian birch was $225), materials and a couple of new tools.

Healthcare, in general and on the road

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How to start? Most of my healthcare has been in the US, and a large part of that provided by the US Air Force while I was active duty. I also got some non-US health care while stationed overseas, and again after starting my fulltime RVing career. I’ve seen doctors and dentists all over the country. You know what’s pretty much guaranteed? Waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

It’s gotten to the point where if I’m in a doctor’s waiting room for 30 minutes past my appointment time, I get up and walk out. Lately, I’ve expanded that to include the exam room. You know the trick. They call you in from the waiting room and show you into the exam room, where you continue to wait. There are way too many options out there for me to put up with that.

Now let’s talk about what put a big smile on my face this week. I had a dentist appointment to get another crown. I showed up early out of habit. At precisely the appointed time, I was called in from the waiting room. I was taken directly for my X-ray. As soon as the X-ray was completed I was in a chair where they started applying a local anesthetic. I don’t recall how long the entire process took but there was NEVER any waiting involved. It actually took awhile to realize what a unicorn of an appointment I just had.

And here’s the kicker. That dentist is in Mexico. Not only was my time treated as valuable but it also cost far less than comparable treatment in the US. I know there are many Americans (typically those who haven’t traveled) who think medical and dental care outside the US sucks. Because, well, they’re not American. These people are either blind or uninformed or both. So many US doctors and dentists were either born in a foreign country or went to med school in a foreign country. One more thing. I still get to file a claim with my US based dental insurance. I’ve done it before, and so has my wife. I’m sure they appreciate paying a percentage on a much lower amount.

Work ethic?

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You hear a lot these days about how the current generation just doesn’t have the work ethic of their parents or grandparents. I really don’t know if that’s true or not. I want to talk about business ethics, or lack thereof.

I’m getting ready to start a project on the RV that involves total replacement of a slideout floor. Instead of paying a dealer several thousand dollars to do it and live in a motel for a week, I decided (after much careful thought) to tackle the job by myself.

The slideout in question is 12 feet long by 4 feet deep so a single sheet of plywood isn’t going to hack it. Somebody very familiar with woodworking advised me to use baltic birch plywood, which is typically not available at big box hardware stores. I started off calling building supply stores near me. The first place I called wasn’t sure if they had that particular type of plywood but helpfully advised me that plywood comes in different thicknesses (1/2″, 3/4″, 1″). OOOOOkay. Scratch that place.

Next I called a place called Texas Wood Supply in Donna, TX. I was initially impressed with their helpfulness. They told me up front that they didn’t have any in stock but would call me back the next morning to confirm whether they could special order it. Much to my surprise, I got a call back in about 20 minutes. This time they told me they had a similar plywood in a smaller size to see if that would work. I reconfirmed that I was only looking for full size sheets of baltic birch. Then he had a few followup questions. He wanted to know how many sheets I needed and whether I would need to make continuiing orders. Out loud I told him that I needed 3 sheets for a one-time project. In my head, I was thinking I would never hear from them again since it wasn’t recurring business. He politely told me he’d call me the next morning with more info and we ended the call.

After waiting 2 days with no call back, I called another lumber yard several hours away in a large metropolitan area and got the info I needed. 6 days after talking to the local lumber yard, I wrote a 1 star Google review for them.

The very next morning I got a phone call from someone’s personal cell phone. It was the employee from the local lumber yard calling to apologize for not calling back. I told him his apology was worthless since it took a 1 star review to make it happen. I also think it was pretty crappy that the manager or owner was too cowardly to call. So, there’s my rant about business ethics today.

Another Example of the Poor Tax

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Instead of computer printers or shoes, I’m going to talk about clutches this time. No, not the lady’s purse thingy. The mechanical thing that you need for a manual transmission. For those of you unfamiliar with my rig and unable to read my mind, I’ve been towing since 2006 with a 2006 Dodge RAM 3500 with a manual transmission. That engine is bullet-proof but with 260k miles, I’ve had my fair share of other problems.

The factory clutch lasted much longer than it should have. One diesel mechanic in FL advised me that my flywheel was cracked but I was pretty sure he was wrong. A few years later a Dodge mechanic told me I needed a new clutch. I believed this one but thought I had more time to get it done. Well, that clutch failed on the interstate while I was towing to the sugar beet harvest. I already had an appointment for a transmission shop at my next destination so that just got moved up a few days. They replaced it with a brand name I’d never heard before but it was cheap.

Much sooner than I expected, I felt the need for another new clutch. This time I was in the Rio Grande Valley. I contacted an independent mechanic and dropped off the truck. Before work started he had texted me a picture of the new clutch and it looked very heavy duty. We left TX and headed northwest to Washington state where I started leaking transmission fluid. The Dodge dealer up there pinpointed the problem. I had also advised him of the recent work on the truck. After inspecting it thoroughly, he advised me that some of the parts had NOT been replaced. That was the beginning of a saga that took several months for me to get my money back. Anyway, with the leak fixed I was on my way again.

Within a month or two, the clutch that was never actually replaced failed. My choices for repair work were rather limited. There was a local NAPA mechanic who replaced it with a NAPA clutch. Again, not my first choice but expedient and cheap. When we left Washington we had a few mountains to drive through and I felt the clutch slipping on some of them.

Just last year, I took the truck to a Dodge dealer in South Dakota for a water pump replacement. They got me fixed up same day and the mechanic just mentioned in passing that my clutch was starting to fail. That is NOT what I wanted to hear. I couldn’t find anyone in the local area to install a new clutch before I left so I rolled the dice and kept driving. Tried to find someone in northwest Indiana but the shop I picked didn’t have a lift big enough for my truck. Tried again in FL and thought the quoted priced was too high.

I remembered that Dodge service advisor in Washington state had recommended a particular clutch to me and I looked for that online. Turned out it was a company in TX, our next destination, so I rolled the dice again. We made it to TX and I order the clutch kit. It was definitely more expensive than the last two clutches but you really do get what you pay for sometimes. Found a guy in San Antonio to do the install. He confirmed that my old clutch was very near failing. Boy am I happy with the new Valair dual mass flywheel clutch kit. It just feels solid and it really grabs. There have been numerous times I’ve left a stop sign or stop light and heard the tires squealing a little. I have high hopes that it will feel just as good while towing.

Same Story, Different RV Park

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We’re about a week from leaving Florida to head west. The weather hasn’t been great, but we didn’t have to worry about freezing pipes or tornadoes. We pretty much just took it easy for several months. There were a few places to eat that I just had to visit again and introduce Mary to. We got our fill of Chinese buffets, Chicago style hot dogs, NY style pizza, gyros and even one trip to a Brazilian steak house.

Like most stops where I’m not working an outside job, I had numerous projects scheduled for our winter layover. Hmmm. Well, most of them got done anyway and I hope to get to the others over the summer. But while a few projects suffered, I did manage to put a lot of work into my propane website: https:/rvpropanefinder.com It’s amazing that more national chains don’t care about free advertising so I’ve had to make a lot of phone calls to get information.

And on that note, I’m going to sign off. The next update will probably be from New Mexico.

Washington state to Florida

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Our original plan was to stay in WA until about Labor Day, then make a leisurely trip to FL with a few sightseeing stops along the way. In early June, I emailed a farm in SD where I worked for one season, wanting to confirm that I’d still be able to stop at one of the produce stands and get some farm fresh (hopefully double yolk) eggs as we cruised thru. To my deep regret, she informed me that produce might not even open for the season since a workamper cancelled. Hmmm. I debated talking to Mary about my idea since I wasn’t sure how she’d react but finally decided to go for it. I talked to her about my time at the farm, including how remote it was, and mentioned that she would probably be able to earn some cash as the resident chicken wrangler. To my surprise, she was all in. I finalized details with the farm, gave my notice at Amazon, raced to finish up my remaining RV projects, and off we went.

As we were preparing to leave Arlington, Mary decided to move the recliners herself while I was doing something outside. Bad move. She strained something in her back. We left on schedule but by the time we hit Wyoming she was still in pain. A local doctor confirmed that it was a muscle injury and there was really nothing we could do about it except rest and give it time to heal. We continued on and stopped to see Old Faithful on the way. It amazes me how they can predict the eruptions but we only had to wait about 15 minutes after our arrival to see it in all its glory. Next stop: the farm.

I had seriously considered spending a night at a nearby KOA, just to check things out before the final leg, but since we were so early, I pressed on. And promptly regretted that decision. My Google maps failed me, even though I still had a pin from my last visit. So there I was, relying on 5 year old memories, down a gravel road with a large 5th wheel. I saw something that looked familiar and made a left hand turn. Bad, bad move. They’d had lots of rain the day before so we were heading down a poorly maintained road with lots of large puddles. At one point, we thought the 5th wheel was sliding off the road. I stopped after going through the next puddle, with no farm in sight and called the owner. We quickly figured out where I was and they came out with a 4WD truck and tow rope. I got pulled backwards through the last puddle, they opened a farm field gate and I got turned around and back to the farm. Shortly before turning into their RV section, she stopped me and asked me to check it out on foot with one of the guys. They had put in a couple of new sites since my last visit and one of them looked suitable. I headed for it, driving through a weedy area instead of staying on the road. That part worked out OK and I got lined up on the site – and promptly sank almost to the axles right next to the utility pole. I was ready to stay there but the ground was so soft (because of the recent rain) that I couldn’t get the RV leveled. After that I decided we would get out of the hole and head back to the KOA for at least 2 nights while things dried out. I lost track of time but it must have taken an hour or 2 to get out of that rut. We set up at the KOA and relaxed that night.

The next day we drove back to the farm to discuss options and get some free eggs. Game plan was to come back the next day, for a different spot and wait for one of the guys with a lot of stock trailer experience to back the RV in since we might get only one shot at it. Came back mid morning the next day and parked near an electric outlet to keep the frig running and batteries up. Wait and wait and wait and wait. Suddenly one of the guys comes running up to me and says we have to move it now since there’s rain heading our way quickly. I get the RV in position, back up about 10 feet and realize I need to reposition. This time it’s going in nicely. Not perfect but pretty good. Our big concern was that I was going to sink again. Since that didn’t happen, I jockeyed it a few more times and got it setup just right.

The next 3 months were uneventful, except for the owner having a very bad year. The biggest impact of that on us was that she was stingier than usual with the eggs and produce. We still managed to survive and departed the area just after Labor Day.

This would be the long part of the trip, with several stops planned, other than overnight. Since Mary likes Spam (the meat), our first stop was the Spam museum in Austin MN. I was very surprised at the history of the company, especially during WWII. Moving on, we bypassed the Iowa 80 truck stop and headed straight for NW Indiana to visit family and friends. We got our fill of Chicago style hot dogs, another Chinese buffet and more specialty chocolate than I should have had. Found out that an old childhood friend and his GF have an RV in central FL so we’ll get to see them this winter.

After about 5 days, we headed over to Shipshewana IN and continued exploring that little Amish/Menonite town. We were heartbroken that our favorite ice cream shop in town had closed the month prior. I was really looking forward to that. We also met one of my FB friends who happened to be in the area visiting the RV museum in Elkhart.

Now we started the southbound part of the trip. First ‘vacation’ stop was Asheville NC where we got to do some whitewater rafting on the French Broad river. The water level was a little low so the ‘excitement’ level was also a little low, but still an enjoyable paddle. We also got to see a little bit of downtown Asheville because of an unplanned stop. This was more significant about 10 days later when we saw the devastation that the remains of a hurricane brought to the area we had recently visited.

Next stop Savannah GA. The city hasn’t changed much since the last time I was there. We took advantage of the free shuttle from the RV park and got tickets for the trolley tour of the city. It really does make a big difference who your driver is. We got on and off a few times, and they are not created equal. Again, I over indulged on ice cream and fudge. Oh well, we’re on vacation, right?

Southbound again. Next stop St. Augustine. The weather was absolutely perfect, just like it’s been for most of the trip. We got here early enough in the day to drive into the city and check out parking for the trolley so we wouldn’t have to worry about a free shuttle schedule to return to the RV park. The next day we arrived bright and early for a good parking spot and saw much of the town before we disembarked for a walking tour of the old fort. It’s actually a national park and I was kicking myself for not bringing my national park pass but they just issued me a new one, free of charge, since I’m a veteran. After touring the fort, we walked across the street to have an overpriced meal at an Italian restaurant then, naturally, more fudge. On the way back to the truck, we also stopped at the Ripley’s museum and saw some truly hideous displays.

Before starting the trip, I had built in some extra days in case of problems and one stop that we bypassed completely. We called our winter destination to make sure our site was available early and got lucky. We pulled in without problem and got setup, including dropping the kitchen deck. About 10 days later, a hurricane was heading directly for us. Those forecasts change frequently and I was initially going to stay in place, then changed my mind after seeing some wind forecasts in the 70mph range. We packed everything back up and headed north well ahead of the hurricane and the thousands of other evacuees. The plan was to stay in St. Augustine for a couple of nights and play it by ear from there. I reserved 2 nights on line and we headed for the same park we’d stayed in to visit the city. On our way there, we got a call from the office that evacuation orders had just been issued for them effective the next morning. We could stay for one night but that would be it. I found another park in GA that had room for us so we just headed straight there. We stayed a couple of nights, had a very disappointing country buffet and watched weather forecasts for FL. It didn’t look like our area got hit too bad so we headed south once more, verified from the road that our park still had electricity and water and were back on our site well before nightfall. We’re still a little leery of the weather since hurricane season officially goes through the end of November. As of mid-November, we still haven’t put the deck back down but hope we’ll be able to do that soon.

The Poor Tax – it’s not just for shoes

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For those of you who aren’t aware of the poor tax, it goes something like this. If you’re poor and you need some product, you tend to buy a lower quality version of the product. I typically use shoes as an example. A poor person who needs shoes might buy a new pair that will only last 6 months. A rich person will buy a much higher quality shoe that could last 5 years. The poor person will spend more for shoes over the course of that 5 years than the rich person did with one purchase. Obviously, this concept applies to more than just shoes.

Just this week I realized that I’ve been paying the poor tax for computer printers. Now, I don’t really NEED a printer in the RV anymore, but it certainly comes in handy at times, and because of my IT work history I just feel kind of naked without a printer. I’ve always purchased inkjet printers since they’re so cheap to buy. The problem with them is the cost of replacement ink cartridges. And that’s compounded by the fact that mine see so little use. The cartridges typically either dry up or leak between uses. Just a few days ago, Mary wanted me to print a shipping label for her so she could return something.

I haul the printer out of the cabinet and open the box (that keeps it safe while traveling). I look at the zip lock bag holding the ink cartridges and sure enough, the color cartridge had leaked. I try printing with just the black cartridge and get nothing. So here I sit with a $50 printer/scanner/copier, probably looking at my 3rd set of cartridges, at about $45 a set, and finally said ‘Enough’.

I started researching ways to prolong the life of the ink cartridges and everything boiled down to ‘print at least weekly’ and didn’t mention anything about driving down bumpy roads at highway speeds LOL. Decision time. I found a low cost monochrome laser printer with good reviews for $110. Per their specs, the starter toner cartridge should print about 700 pages. I could be dead before I print that much. And if I need color, I’ll just go to the nearest office supply store or printing place. For the scanning/copying, which I’ll probably need more of, I found a portable single sheet scanner for under $100. Hopefully, I won’t have to revisit this subject anytime in the near future.

Spring 2024 Travel Recap

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We left the Rio Grande Valley in Texas on March 3rd and arrived in Arlington Washington on March 21st. How’s that for a recap? JK

As usual, it was an interesting trip. We covered about 2700 miles without any truck problems or RV suspension problems. That visit to the trailer repair shop in Houston TX has paid off. I’m just now getting to the point where I’m not looking at each vehicle that passes us, checking to see if they’re pointing at something wrong behind me.

That’s not to say we didn’t have any issues at all. Our first stop was at an Army RV park in San Antonio. We’ve stayed there before. They have nice concrete pads and I’d planned on rotating the truck tires there instead of the gravel pad we had in the RGV. Apparently the truck tires are getting heavier or I’m getting older. That little task took a lot out of me and decided to extend our stay one extra night to rest a little more. When we left the RGV, I also noticed that the slide topper on the kitchen slide wasn’t rolling up smoothly when bringing in the slide. That’s the one that I recently replaced and pinned it incorrectly so the internal springs released all their tension. Carefree of Colorado has instructions on their website about how to re-tension the springs and I followed those to the letter but it wasn’t enough.

I’d been thinking about buying another taller ladder for some time so I took advantage of the extra day to do just that. I used my military discount at Lowe’s to get a 10 foot ladder ($25 off) and added an extra turn on the tension. It was a real pain with the topper still installed. And it turns out that wasn’t enough. So, I’ll remove the topper entirely over the summer and do it again from scratch. On the brighter side. the new ladder travels well on the truck racks that used to carry kayaks.

We continued westward with a couple of 1 night stays until we got to Tucson. I had planned 2 nights there before heading to Quartzsite but those plans quickly changed. We were only able to get a dry camp site. No power, no water, no sewer. I filled up the freshwater tank at their dump station and we started setting up on the site. I dragged our new generator out and got it fired up and connected. Mary started putting out the slides and we heard a terrible noise coming from the big living room slide. I’ve never heard that sound before but I’ve read countless posts on FB groups that told me it was most likely the gearbox. At that point it was Friday afternoon and I was tired and not looking forward to that repair, even though I had a spare gearbox and the proper tools. Mary started calling mobile RV repair shops. Besides the normal problems getting a tech quickly, we were once again on a military base. Some companies will not take calls on a military base simply because it’s a hassle for civilians to get cleared onto the base. The earliest appointment we could get was Tuesday morning. We agreed to that and told them we’d cancel if I got the work done prior to that. The next day we ran into a couple who had seen us in San Antonio a few days prior and the husband helped me get the slide fully extended. That was basically the 2 guys throwing themselves at the ends of the slideout while Mary held the ‘extend’ button. A few hours later I had the motor and gearbox replaced, the cables adjusted properly and the slideout operating normally. Again, I felt the effects of old age and extended our stay by 2 nights. Fortunately, our freshwater lasted the entire time. That was certainly helped by me taking showers in the nearby bath house.

It was a fairly short driving day from there to Quartzsite AZ. The plan was to stay in an RV park in town and just drive the truck into the desert to check on BLM camping sites. All of that happened as advertised. BLM camping in Quartzsite was an interesting sight. Everything from million dollar Prevost busses to tents and everything in between. We got the lay of the land and talked to a few people to figure out how they did things for an extended stay. We could’ve done it for a few nights but I’m not sure nearby campers would’ve appreciated our generator running 16 hours a day. Most folks who stay long term have solar panels and just use their gennys on cloudy days. We headed back into town for the RV park with all the amenities. And I realized that I had goofed on the reservations for our next stay at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas. They couldn’t change the reservation so we had to extend one more night in Q.

One of the reasons I picked this particular RV park in Q was because they are in the Passport America network. That’s a nationwide discount camping club. The participating parks all have their own conditions for using the discount. In this case, you could only use it for a 2 night stay, which is what I’d reserved. Now I needed to get one more night at their standard rate. Not a big deal except this park had a very strange policy. All the sites had an electric meter and you typically see those used for monthly stays. This park’s policy was that electric was include in your rate for a maximum of 2 days and if you stayed longer than that you would be charged for actual usage starting on your first day. When I booked the third night in the office, the lady explained all this. I told her I understood but it was the only time I’d seen a policy like that in 18 years of RVing all across the country. I saw their maintenance guy take the reading mid afternoon the day before we left. They were supposed to charge my card after we left for the actual usage but never got around to it.

In Las Vegas we were woken up in the middle of the night by the propane/carbon monoxide detector going off. It had reached the end of its useful life and was beeping to let us know. We were there on the weekend and I couldn’t find a nearby RV dealer with the correct replacement so I cut one of the wires to silence it for the rest of the trip. On our arrival in WA, I ordered a new one from Amazon and had it the next day.

Somewhere between NV and WA we also had a problem with our drop down lights over the dinette table (something like this https://www.amazon.com/Kitchen-Pendent-Brushed-Decorative-Dinette/dp/B073RQM81C/ref=asc_df_B073RQM81C/ ) One of them had come loose while traveling and swung into the other one, shattering the glass. I disconnected the one that came loose and stowed it in the truck for the remainder of the trip. After arrival in WA, I removed the one with the shattered glass and used a part from it to reinstall the other light. We’ll go light shopping at some point in the near future.

But wait! There’s more! When we stopped for the night at a Love’s RV Stop in Bliss ID, the bedroom slide started making noises. They didn’t sound exactly like the noises from the living room slide but were still concerning. The next morning I moved a picnic table under the bedroom slide and pushed on it while Mary was hitting the retract button. We got it fully retracted and decided not to use the bedroom slide again until we got to our final destination (only 2 days).

So, on March 21st we pulled into our home for the summer. It’s a fairly small park, but agreeably close to the Amazon fulfillment center where I’ll be working. We’re starting off on a water and electric site until a full hookup site opens up next month. All the slides are out and I have time to figure out the bedroom slide problem. The park has some donated totes which I’ve been using to empty the gray tanks into and pull to the dump station. We’re close enough to the dump station that I decided yesterday to buy a cheap 100 foot hose for dumping the gray tanks. I’ll still have to use the tote for the black tank although I hope to only have to do that chore once before we move.

The ‘eyes’ have it

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Just for reference, I’m writing this article in my late 60s.

Way back when I was a teenaged Airman First Class in the Air Force I underwent an eye exam as part of my annual physical. I already knew I was partially color blind but this time they wrote a prescription because my distance vision was just slightly sub-par. Within a week I was issued a pair of Air Force issue spectacles, fondly nicknamed ‘birth control glasses’. I tried them on once, didn’t notice any real difference in my vision and tossed them in a drawer, never to be worn again.

For the rest of my time in the service, they never tried to give me another pair. Whatever state I was stationed in, I passed the DMV vision test without problem. I also qualified on a few different firearms without the use of corrective lenses. After my service time, I started working in the computer field and that’s when my vision finally got bad enough to get my attention.

At first, it was just near vision that I could easily correct with readers from WalMart. I routinely kept a pair at my workstation but otherwise didn’t need them. After getting out of computers and into workamping I came to rely on them more. While working as a piler operator at the sugar beet harvest I needed to carry a pair with me just to read numbers off a machine operating time counter at the beginning and end of every shift. When working for Amazon, the readers came in very handy to read the fine print on my hand held scanner. At this point I still didn’t think my distance vision was too bad although I could tell it was getting a little worse.

During my last stint with Amazon I was a traditional employee instead of a CamperForce seasonal temp. I still only planned on working for about 3 months so during new hire orientation I signed up for the vision insurance. I found a local optometrist and almost walked out of the exam room in the first two minutes. My distance vision was much worse than I expected and seeing blurry letters was not comforting. I got my new prescription and found an eyeglass store covered by my insurance. I was pleasantly surprised that I could choose from any frames in the store and progressive lenses were covered for 2 pair. I got one clear pair and one pair of sunglasses – and almost immediately regretted it. Several people told me that it would take awhile to get used to the progressives. Well, I gave it a few months and never did like them, mostly because of the intermediate parts of the lenses.

By now, I was convinced that I needed to wear corrective lenses but I no longer had vision insurance so I started looking for stores with deals. I found one with a BOGO in effect and got two pair of lined bifocals, both clear, one with slightly more area for distance. I wore those for a few weeks and still had problems with my eyes drifting into the wrong area. Back to the store, hopefully for the final time. I still had my readers scattered around the RV so I opted for single vision (distance) glasses, clear and sunglasses. I’ve been much happier with those. I’ll hang onto the bifocals just in case I work at an Amazon warehouse in the future where I use a scanner.

Paging Dr. Google

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Reliable, quality health care and RVing don’t often go hand in hand. Health care can be tough even if you’re in a ‘normal’ life situation: living in one place and getting health care from your employer. Factor in the different ways people RV and it gets much trickier.

Let’s start with the (relatively) easy ones. There are fulltime RVers on Medicare, or working remotely with company health insurance, who keep their primary care providers. They either don’t wander far or plan their travels to swing through their home base for scheduled and routine appointments. Sure, they have to worry about something happening away from home but other than that they have one doctor who is a known quantity and they are a known quantity with the doctor. Now let’s visit the other end of the spectrum.

It seems like the fulltime RVing life has become more popular to younger people in recent years. I see them all the time in the workamping groups. Many are families with young children. They think life will pass them by if they don’t do it now. Or they have terrible jobs. Or high house payments. Or they’re just getting out of a terrible relationship. Take your pick for the reason, but they’re out there. Usually with no health care or, at best, catastrophic coverage. This would terrify me, especially with children. They’re basically rolling the dice, hoping that everyone stays healthy, hoping that there are no undetected conditions lurking inside. Their medical plan is basically whatever emergency room happens to be closest when illness or injury strikes. This is also the group most likely to declare medical bankruptcy or start a Go Fund Me page to pay for a necessary procedure or medications.

Now let’s talk about my group, the ones in the middle. We have decent health insurance with national coverage but no home base and no primary care provider. It used to be pretty easy visiting a new doctor. Prior surgeries? One or two. Medications? One. As I age, the list of both gets longer and I realize that the doctor is at a definite disadvantage not knowing my medical history. But sometimes that doesn’t really matter. Finding a good doctor can be tough. Imagine landing in a city with 500 doctors and you don’t know a single one. You can ask your neighbors and they’ll recommend someone, say they’re the greatest, without any knowledge of the other doctors. You can check Google reviews but the same applies there. It’s mostly folks who only have experience with the one doctor they’re rating. All this is leading up to my latest medical rant.

Mary needed reconstructive foot surgery. We checked with neighbors for recommendations. She checked Google reviews for specialists who accepted her insurance. She went in and had the surgery. I guess time will tell how successful it was but during that process I developed a foot problem and made an appointment with the same doctor. My problem was not easily diagnosable, even with X-rays. On the first visit he was very confident that all I needed was an insert. On the next visit, when he was going to provide the insert, we talked a little more and he revised his diagnosis. He thought the problem was caused by nerves from 2 very specific spinal discs and suggested I consult my regular doctor. Well, since he was very specific about spinal discs I made an appointment with a chiropractor. They weren’t very confident in his diagnosis but still thought they could help. After 2 appointments, I decided they couldn’t help and were just wasting my time and money (since they weren’t covered by insurance). So, more research and an appointment with a different podiatrist. He took his own X-rays and listened to my description of the problem, along with a physical exam. He actually said some things that made sense to me. My problem started shortly after I left Amazon last summer. While I was working at Amazon I was wearing composite toe shoes and from previous experience wearing them in a warehouse environment, I got a wider width than usual. After leaving there, I went back to wearing my regular width running shoes. He measured my feet and I found out the problem foot was slightly wider than the other foot. Three different doctors – four different opinions. We’ll see if the problem clears up with wider shoes.

So, why the title about Dr. Google? I know the medical community generally frowns on the use of Google to research your own medical issues. But sometimes you get a much better consensus from Google than actually visiting doctors, in much less time and no cost. As a functioning adult I can order labs just about anywhere in the country from Quest Diagnostics. As a travelling RVer, I can get many medications without a prescription and at low cost across the border in MX. Sure, I have to do a little more homework and get follow up labs at some point but that’s usually easier than trying to get a doctor appointment if you’re not already an established patient. Of course, none of this applies to emergency conditions or serious injuries. I really don’t feel like setting and splinting a broken bone on my own. But for everything else, Dr. Google is my first stop.