While the brake problem was unsettling, it had to be put aside. The task at hand was getting the old and new rigs positioned so that we could transfer all the contents from the Kountry Star into the Majestic with the daylight left.
I dropped the Majestic off in a school parking lot a couple of miles from the camp ground we are in and went to get the Kountry Star. The intention was to position them side-by-side so that a couple of 2x12's could be laid across the door thresholds and make a "gangway" to carry stuff from one rig to the other without ever going up or down a step. But the chosen school parking lot was too steeply sloped. I would never be able to get the slides out (and back in again) with that kind of angle. Time for plan B.
There was a chunk of land where a shopping plaza had been started. They got the anchor grocery store in and a couple of shops on either side but the economy dipped and they left some paved roads to nowhere that looked like a good possibility for what I wanted. I drove down one of the stubs and took a look; perfect! Just what the doctor ordered.
I headed back to the school to get the Majestic. I sure wish I had more practice with the automatic leveling system. I was not quite sure of the command sequence for retracting the levelers and returning the landing gear to hitching position. I guess I did not get it quite right as the rig proceeded to retract all the rams - the nose of the shiny new rig was headed for the ground!! Luckily I did know how to do a panic stop of they system and caught it with just two inches to spare. I switched the controls to manual and operated it that way for the rest of the hook-up.
A couple of miles later and I was positioning the Majestic on the stub road. I unhooked again and went to get the Kountry Star. Cyndee had everything on the inside in 'travel mode' and I disconnected all the services on the outside. Another hitch up and away we went. In less than five minutes we were inching up along side the Majestic. Cyndee was spotting for me and expertly guiding me until the doors were aligned exactly opposite of each other. Got out to open the doors and put the boards across but, woops, the rigs were so close to each other the doors could not be swung all the way open. Okay, no problem, just back up ten feet, open both doors and bring it forward again. Done.
At about 3pm on a hot, Georgia, August afternoon we start transfering the contents from one rig to the other without the benefit of any air circulation. Other than being in a sauna, things went pretty smoothly and quicker than I thought it would. The floor plans of the two rigs are very similar, so much of the stuff went from one location in the old rig to almost the exact same spot in the new rig. But, layouts were not exactly the same so some piling of items on the furniture and in the floor was done and to be dealt with later, when hooked up to power (air conditioning) and with the luxury of time to think about it.
Between the two of us we probably made over a hundred trips between rigs. Cyndee's clever idea of using laundry baskets to put all the loose contents of a drawer or cabinet in and carry them all at once instead of handfuls at a time worked great. You could put everything from one small storage location in the basket at once and put it right back in it's new home all together. Being able to keep things organized similarly from old rig to new has greatly reduced that feeling of disoreintation that is common when you move and you have to re-learn where all your 'stuff' is.
By now it was getting late and it was time to get both rigs to their parking spots. There were a few little things in the basement, exterior storage compartments, and a couple of small cabinets that remained but they were not essential to living in the next few days. They could wait until after we get settled in. Right now we had to get the Majestic on its pad and hooked up to services and the Kountry Star to its storage spot.
The truck and Kountry Star were still lashed up so it was off to the storage location first. Conveniently this location was a freshly graded and mulched area directly behind our camping pad. The owner of the camp ground made me a deal that was financially attractive and I had the added benefit of being able to market my used rig by powering it up with an extension cord from my power pole. But it was a bit of challenge to get the KS on the mulch pad. While the spot where the rig was to be parked had been freshly graded and mulched, the area where I had to swing around and start my backing in approach was raw farm land, covered in tall grass and random stalks of volunteer corn. It had also rained the night before so it was wet too. It took several runs at backing up the slight incline onto the mulch pad. The incline itself had its challenges but then when I got the wheels of the trailer on the fresh mulch pad, they sank like they were rolling onto a marshmallow. That was more resistance to rolling than the dual rear wheels of the truck could take. I broke traction several times, each time causing the back of the truck to slip sideways and cause the trailer to get crooked on its pad. After several attempts I had beat down a decent enough path that I finally got the trailer close enough and called it "good". Unhitching again and heading back to get the Majestic.
When I got there, Cyndee was sitting in the door watching a guy pilot a remote controlled helicopter. Not one of those little ones you see in the mall at Christmas time but scaled model with a rotor span of almost three feet. While it was pretty cool to watch, the guy had parked his vehicle right where I needed to back in so I could hitch up. I backed up as far as I could, thinking he would get the idea and come and move his vehicle. But as far as I could tell, he never even knew I was there. The helicopter was pretty loud so I gave a tap of my air horns and that got his attention. He landed the helicopter and moved his vehicle. I hooked up and made my way to our lot where I was going to back this longer, heavier rig for the first time.
Not too bad. I think the Majestic may be a little more responsive to changes in steering than the Kountry Star. I got it on the pad in one move but it was not positioned side-to-side exactly where I wanted it so Cyndee worked her signaling magic to get me just where it needed to be. Whew!
The day started with a pre-dawn departure from a truck stop, traversing South and Eastward from MO to GA for roughly seven hours, luckily averting a near brake fire, moving two rigs to a place for contents transfer, moving two rigs back to their respective parking spots, hooking/powering up, and all in time to eat a late dinner and hit the (new) sack for a much needed nights rest. Today was quite the 'dance'.
No comments:
Post a Comment