I am so glad I finally got my travel trailer back from the shop a few days ago. Unfortunately, and not surprisingly, the biggest & most expensive issue was not covered by my extended warranty. The roof had to be pressure-washed, all the sealant around the solar panels, vents, antenna, etc. removed and replaced to fix the leak and is a preemptive strike against other leaks. I should be good on that for a while but I will be keeping a close eye on that.

The price was not as bad as I had anticipated, but it is still $500 I had not planned on spending. However, fixing it is protecting an expensive investment so it is money well-spent. I will be investing in a cover for it to help reduce sun exposure, which was a big part of the problem, and it will help keep the rain off of it too. The intense heat causes the sealant to melt and move away from the places it was supposed to seal. The roof is also arched for strength so gravity may have played a part in that too.

They found no problem with the spare tire winch and said it worked fine so I don’t know what the issue was with that. The cabinet door hinges are not covered (ridiculous) so I will have to work some magic on those myself to fix them.

But, there is nothing cheap about RV repairs so the extended warranty was still worth the money. I have used it once already and all I paid was a $100 deductible. I know that trip to the shop paid for most of my extended warranty and the peace of mind.

I have other things going on right now but I will be getting in it as I can to do my final seasonal preparations for upcoming trips this year. I did do some organizing in it a while back that I had forgotten about so there really is not much to do. I put a few things in it earlier today and now it is really just some minor organizing and I will be getting to that soon. I have to fix those cabinet doors to prevent further issues like, oh, the doors falling off the cabinets. Luckily I can turn on the air conditioner in the trailer and work on the cabinet doors in cool comfort.

There are still some big travel plans coming up but I am just not ready to post about those plans just yet.

One thing I want to hopefully do before those plans come to fruition is get another solar panel, charge controller and battery for the trailer. I have two panels on the roof , one battery and a plug-in port for a third panel/charge controller. Adding a second battery for power storage will max out my factory-installed solar capacity and give me more options for longer stays off-grid.

The main thing I have to do when boondocking now is watch my water consumption closely to be able to boondock for longer periods of time. I can sit in the dark, but when you are out of water (and food) you really have to leave. I am always conscious about my energy and water consumption even at home so it is really no different. I am pretty efficient with that stuff because it means cheaper bills (at home) and whether you pay for it or not it is just the right thing to do to minimize your impact on the planet.

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The next few days the Kansas City area coould hve comfort index of 110° to 125° according to one TV station. Right now it is 9:21 PM and the comfort index is still 103°. It really sucks.

On that happy note, i’m off to drink a Guinness 0. See you next time.

Shawn