The great trip Northward has concluded.  Nine states and 2400 miles later we are home, and for the first time we don’t seem to know where we are when we wake up in the morning.  For about a week we both kept thinking we were in the trailer when we would wake up in the morning.

2400 Miles of bug goo gone after about four hours of work.

2400 Miles of bug goo gone after about four hours of work.

We actually did a pretty good job of planning our meals on this trip so it was easier unloading the food this time.  Unpacking everything else though just takes a lot of time, and then there is the cleaning of the inside that needs to take place.  Multiple trips in and out of the house and the camper with baskets of stuff and then putting everything away.   This is my least favorite part of coming home.

Needless to say the girls (Hannah and Kendra) were happy to be back home and off leash, running in their fenced yard.  I on the other hand had the daunting task of removing 2400 miles of bug goo from the front cap of the travel trailer.  I still haven’t found a good way to get this stuff off easily so I soap it up and let it sit and then rinse and soap again and start to scrub.  I’ve heard some folks like to use old dryer sheets for this but other owners have warned against their use claiming they are too abrasive and will scratch the finish.  There is no easy way I’ve found to clean these off without a lot of cursing.

I obviously washed the roof and looked for any areas that might need to be caulked, and I found none.  As a matter of fact the roof was really very clean.  So clean in fact that I probably didn’t need to wash it.  However,  the first time I skip inspecting the roof; that is probably the time I will end up having a problem.

I have also done a quick job of winterizing the trailer since our temps are dipping below freezing for a few days.  This consisted of blowing out the lines and adding antifreeze to the sink,  shower traps,  and toilet bowl.  It’s a shame that the temperatures dipped because three weeks from now we will be camping again in Corpus Christie.  It just feels like such a waste of time to winterize twice;  but it’s better than having a broken water line.

At the end of the blow out process on the water lines my seven year old compressor died.  I have no idea why she quit but the motor was completely seized.  There is no doubt that I would need to buy a new compressor before our next trip. The trailer would need to be winterized after returning from Corpus Christie.

We ended up going back to harbor freight and getting a similar compressor to my old one.  If you spend roughly $100.00 on a decent size compressor, and it fails after seven years; you probably got your moneys worth out of it.  I use mine quite regularly.  With any luck the new compressor should give me the same number of years of service.

We have two more trips planned for this year; Corpus Christie State Park during the Thanksgiving Holiday and then Tyler State Park for New Years.  Tammy keeps track of our running total on the number of nights spent in the trailer each year.  She told me that we will have spent almost 90 days in the trailer this year (since April)…not bad!

To read about this trip from the very beginning click here.