Day 1, They Said to Be Flexible

by Dez · Published June 24, 2021 · Updated June 30, 2021

We’ve seen approximately 1,000,000 pieces of advice and tidbits of information in blog posts, FB group posts, youtube videos, and whatever else we could find. The most common piece of advice for going “full-time” in an RV is basically to expect things to go wrong, and be ready to stay flexible and patient regardless. That tends to be followed up with saying to stick with it and work out the kinks because it’s totally worth it. So, we’ve talked a lot about this ourselves and are ready to try our best to take it all in stride.

We’ve practiced hooking our car up to the RV two times before this, and it went smoothly. Mike did all the hard work of installing everything on our Fiesta that it needed to be a toad (that’s what vehicles towed behind RVs are called). Now, we are all loaded up, the cats are ready to get in and hit the road (okay, they’d rather stay in the house at this point, but…), and we’re beyond excited to get on with it.

And before we even start the RV, that advice comes into play.

One of the pins that hold the car and tow bar together is broken. In the picture you can see the hole that should have the end of that circle in it. Whenever we got it back where it belonged, it would pop right back out as soon as we tried to close it. This pin locks so the large pin (the silver part in Mike’s hand) won’t slide out.

No idea how/when/why it broke, but we definitely can’t tow with this.

The first thoughts I have are of us having to try and find a new pin somewhere and, if we’re lucky, being one day behind on our trip. We’d shift reservations and visiting plans by a day and that’s just the way it was going to have to be. Sometimes I get ahead of myself.

Back in reality I realize that not having the car connected doesn’t mean we can’t go anywhere… it just means I have to drive the Fiesta while Mike drives the Vegas, until we get the part we need. Not ideal, but we can still get our adventure started! We say goodbye to our house (don’t worry, we have a house sitter), load up the cats, and head to the nearest Camping World. They super nice, have the part we need, and we’re able to hook up the car right there in their parking lot.

So thankful we didn’t have to be too flexible and patient this time… but we’re still ready to stay flexible and remain grateful for this opportunity!

The rest of Day 1 went smoothly. It was a LONG driving day… Mike drove 400 miles today. We landed in Amboy, IL at a Thousand Trails campground called O’Connell’s Yogi Bear Campground (yeah, it’s a weird theme, but it’s part of our membership). The campground is well-kept, has a pool and two beaches, and has decent sized sites which are all pull-through. This was just a stop to relax for a few hours and sleep, but next time we’d like to take time to enjoy the pool and beaches for sure.

Quick Cat Update: Today Patsy hid in a cubby at the bottom of a little foldable cat tree we brought along. She stayed there virtually the entire drive. We’re glad she’s not getting sick (she does that sometimes) and not seeming too stressed, but she’s definitely not happy so far. Vlade marched around the camper crying a lot. He wanted to be in my lap for a minute, then everywhere else, then the dashboard (which is not allowed while Mike is driving), then just crying at us from below. He was restless. Poor baby. We’re hoping he will calm down and just relax soon.

One day in and we’re ready for day 2. We’re still a little in the fog of this all being surreal… wondering when it’ll hit that we are really doing this!?