Evan and I arrived home from our RV Roadtrip last Saturday. It’s amazing how, when we were on it, the trip seemed to go on FOREVER but now that we are home, it seemed so short. Returning home seemed like it should be the easiest thing in the world but it wasn’t without its bumps.
On our multi-day trip home we ran into a few hiccups. First, I realized that our trailer brakes weren’t working in Fargo, North Dakota. I wasn’t completely sure when they stopped working but I didn’t want to continue home with a possible safety issue. After visiting 2 RV dealerships and calling one more, we finally ended up at Adventure RV who fit us in on a VERY busy day.
Nice weather had hit the area and everyone wanted their RV serviced to hit the campgrounds. We were very grateful and they had us in and out in an hour after figuring out we had a broken power wire into the brake drum. A simple fix that had us back on the road and safe again. Returning home without an extended stay in Fargo again became a reality.
Our next hiccup surfaced in Alberta. We buzzed through Medicine Hat and were well on our way to Calgary. I noticed that it seemed pretty windy but I wasn’t having any trouble pulling the trailer. I did notice that the trailer seemed to be tipping over much farther than normal.
I called Dewey and said “How windy is too windy for pulling the trailer?” He pulled up his handy wind app and said “You’re not going to like this! You need to shut ‘er down. There are wind gusts of 75 mph heading your way!” I pulled off at the next exit and parked nose into the wind. We ended up sitting there for 5 boring hours. It sucked but I much prefer boring to flipped over in the ditch! Who knew that Suffield, AB was the windiest place in North America when we were traveling through?!?
We finally made it home at around 9:30pm on Saturday night. We got to rest for the rest of that day (what was left of it) but we were up and at ’em first thing on Sunday. Why? you ask. Well, Dewey had listed Daisy on Kijiji before we got home and it was already conditionally sold with the buyer coming to see her on Monday. During Sunday, the buyer contacted us and wanted to see her on Sunday. So we spent all day unloading 7 months worth of STUFF from the trailer and getting her cleaned up to sell. It took FOREVER and I found it very stressful.
Come 7 pm on Sunday, Daisy was on her way to her new home. I am very sad to see her go but we had no where to store her and she was really much too small for us all to camp comfortably.
It is the end of an amazing travel experience but I am very glad to be home. Now to find the floor under all this junk and get back into a routine. Let’s see if we can actually do that this week. Last week was all about laundry, catching up with friends and taking a break from one another (Evan and I). Coming back to the real world takes time and patience. I have plenty of the former and almost none of the latter so cross your fingers for me.
My 5 tips for a returning home are:
- Do something that you’ve missed while you were away – For me, this was getting my hair done. Facing chores with great hair is much more fun than facing them with roots for days.
- Take a break – Dewey and I were able to go away for the weekend while Evan went and stayed with a friend. It was a great break for Evan as well as for me.
- Be realistic with time frames – You don’t have to do everything today. Try not to make things due soon after you return. I do NOT reccomend selling your trailer the day after you return.
- Don’t be cranky – Getting back into a routine can be HARD. Give each other the benefit of the doubt.
- Be flexible – Canceling an appointment or ordering takeout is not the end of the world. If it makes things smoother, DO IT.
