Homeward Bound Day 11: Saturday, April 27, 2019

When I pulled in to the campground yesterday afternoon I was surprised way beyond my expectations. I had been expecting this campground would be a few RV sites with minimal hookups located at a semi-industrial area with big metal cargo containers, dumpsters and other heavy duty equipment. But that was weeks ago when making my reservation.

Wow! What a contrast between the real thing and my imagination. The campground is located on a country road a few miles out of town. The main building and registration office is nestled against a high bluff along with a couple of auxiliary buildings, one of which is for family gatherings and events such as weddings. Other buildings include a bath house and the hot springs pools plus what appears to be a vintage cabin of the early 1800s. A few ancient farm tools also are scattered about.

Behind the old cabin was a pretty little stream running clear and pure between the bluff and the office building. So I took a bit of time taking what I hoped would be a nice photo of the scene.

The RV sites are down by the Salmon River nestled under the trees and each site provides, water, electricity, picnic tables and fire pits. There is plenty of room between sites and the grass covered grounds invite various kinds of games for children young and old.

Set Up My RV Down by the River

My site was a pull through located just across the dirt road from the river and I enjoyed all the privacy one might want. Annie, too, liked the fresh green grass.

I was so taken by the campground that shortly after hooking up my RV I walked back up to the office and registered for a second night as I decided that today would be a layover day of relaxing and a little computer time for email and Facebook and to edit photos. After a walk to take more photos of the campground, Annie and I decided to take an afternoon nap.

I was exhausted from my travels and felt that a nap in this beautiful spot was very much needed. After 30 minutes or so, I woke to discover water all over the RV floor. Temporarily confused by the unexpected sight, I then saw that water was poring from the tap into the sink and flowing over onto the floor. The water had been running the entire time I was napping. How? I don’t know. Can’t believe I forgot to turn it off but I must have forgotten. There also were puddles outside the RV on both sides.

Before I could do anything, I had to get rid of the water. But my holding tanks were full and that’s why the water was overflowing onto my floor. Unfortunately, there are no dump facilities at the RV sites so I had to figure out another way to get rid of the water. My first thought was to bail out the sink with a bucket. I gave it a try and then realized I had to drive my rig back toward the office where the park sewer dump was located. So I unhooked from the electrical box and water supply and drove back to the dump location and emptied my tanks. Then back to my site and hook up again to begin the cleanup.

Water had gotten into my cabinets under the sink and I had to empty them and dry them out. That meant putting all the contents on the small floor and tiptoeing around them as I cleaned up the mess.

Water also had run over to the opposite side of the coach interior and down into storage compartments below. So I had to empty those storage compartments as well, survey any damage and dry them out. Water also had gotten into the compartment where my coach batteries are stored so I had to soak up that water and air out the compartment. Then, I discover the electrical outlets over my sink and stove were not working. Those outlets are powered by shore power are the ones I use for making coffee and lattes.

I opened the electrical panel and flipped all the circuit breakers hoping that would solve the problem. Not so! Then I thought the outage might have been caused by a blown fuse. Great! Now I have to learn all about fuses and my electrical panel. What fuse goes to what circuit? Also the outside temperature was beginning to drop and I needed to run my two space heaters since I’m running low on propane. After cleaning everything up and stashing cooking gear and so forth back into drawers and cabinets I turned on the computer to do a little work. But that tripped the circuits and I had no heat while using the computer.

Fortunately, my brain kicked into high gear and I tried one more thing: that was to check the GFI button (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter device) on the bathroom outlet, assuming it is on the same circuit as the kitchen outlets. I did, and it was. I reset the GFI and restored power to the outlets. Yeah! I breathed a big sigh of relief that I had not damaged the electrical circuits.

By then it was time for dinner, a walk by the river, more photography, a bit of reading and off to bed for a good night’s sleep.