Question for motor home travelers
 

We did it! Bought our first motor home last Friday! But now I'm full of questions. It has not been dewinterized so I know I need to flush out the tanks of all that orange stuff. But how do I get the smell out of the bathroom. I believe it is from being closed up for the winter, the orange stuff, and now the heat that we have had. But please help me get rid of it. Also, I really want to converse with other RV owners, but don't know it I can on this board or if I need to find another forum for my non-quilting questions.

See if Yahoo groups has a group for your particular motor home. If not there may be others on this forum that have motor homes and can help.

Visit rv.net/forum - very active forum and full of helpful information! My DH does all the maintenance on our RV so I am no expert, but I would open the windows, turn on the exhaust fans, and have fun traveling!

The lousy smell in the bathroom is likely coming from the traps for the drains and black and gray water tanks. RV computer sites can tell you how to sanitize them...usually a bleach and water solution,lots of flushing. RV sellers usually have bio active bottles of stuff you keep in the gray and black water tanks : the bacteria decompose the bad stuff.

Check out internet sites and then buy a book on how to do maintenance on your RV. It is basically the same for all of theml. Just be sure you have all the water out of the lines for winter or you will have a wonderful time repairing frozen pipes.

Congratulations on your RV purchase. We have been RVing since 2007 and purchased our second one in March. You will love being able to travel and take your "home" and sewing machine with you. Here are some websites and blogs that I look at regularly.
http://www.rv.net/forum/
http://www.rvparkreviews.com/index.html I always check out campgrounds before traveling
http://www.rvusa.com/forum/vbulletin/forum
http://www.rvtalk.com/
http://www.myrvtalk.com/
http://www.womenrv.com/forum/
http://www.wheelingit.us/
http://www.gonewiththewynns.com/

Enjoy your new RV. Maybe we'll cross paths one day. You just never know.

I need some help! For a border on the granddaughter quilt I made an Ice Cream Border. How should I bind it?
Mariah

Is it a rotten egg smell? if so you need to drain the hot water heater. The black water tank may be the cause. After it is drained you need to add the RV toilet treatment and some water. We love our 28 foot Coachman Road Master.

Thank you all for the suggestions. I added bleach and water to the tanks today, after draining all tanks and lines yesterday. And I can't wait to visit some of the forums mentioned!

Oh, how I would love that, to meet up with another quilter!!!!

Be careful of bleach water in the RV. Ask me how I know :)

In the summer when the RV isn't being used, we put cooking oil in the toilet (don't flush). The oil will not evaporate as water does and it keeps the rubber seal in good shape.....otherwise the water evaporates and the seal gets hard and brittle.

One can also put some Dawn detergent in the black tank and it helps with grease build up and odor. We normally use the recommended 'orange' septic tank liquid (flushed in through toilet) . This is done after each time the black water is dumped.

Good luck, enjoy your RV. Books and experienced RVers are your best source of knowledge.....and, of course, your own lessons learned, etc.

Thanks for the websites. My husband and I just finished a trip to Canada in our new motorhome.

We never winterize our RV but then we live is south Texas, I have always found that putting the "Blue Stuff" in the commode has gotten rid of odors that rise up. It's been hectic the past couple of years, so much so that we get to take it on vacation once a year. But we do drain everything after use and pour 1/2 a bottle of Blue stuff down commode, flush and then when we get home empty all waters out. It's worked so far.

We use Happy Camper in our tanks. Some campgrounds won't allow you to dump unless the product you use is septic friendly. It pays to read the labels. FYI - they asked to see our containers. We were using the right stuff and didn't even know it.

Welcome to the world of rv'ing. You will meet some of the most awesome and friendly people and have such great adventures. There are a lot of quilters on the roads. We, also, don't have to winterize our rv, so I don't have a clue what is involved with that. When it gets really cold, we turn on our bay heat and it handles the problems. Our motorhome stays plugged up all the time and is used several times during the winter. It rarely sits for more than 3 or 4 weeks at a time. We try to take a really good, 2 to 3 month trip every other year.

After we decide where we are going, I enter all my stop sites in Microsoft Streets & Trips. It gives us a trip route that, when we plug the gps that came with S&T up to the laptop, will show me real time where we are on the road. It has taken us some strange places so we double check our route with the Rand McNally RV GPS that my husband monitors. I am always relieved when our routes match. Of course, that depends on our settings being the same.

I precut quilt kits so I am mostly sewing and squaring up while on the road. I sew most nights or on days when we are taking a break from traveling. I use one of the black, fold-up tables that is bigger than a wood tv tray to hold my sewing machine and put my supplies on our table. I made sure the fold-up table was weight rated for my machine. If you have a booth, then you won't need the fold-up table. Some days, we just want to unwind, especially when we find a beautiful place, so sewing is perfect while my DH is watching TV. I solved the problem of a design board by using the back of a plastic, flannel backed table cloth. I lay it on the bed or the couch while I am sewing and then fold or roll it up to keep everything inside while traveling or just to put it up. The small plastic drawer units are great for sorting sewing supplies. They do have a tendency to come open, so I turn them into the sewing machine, which I put under our table when we travel. My cutting board is stored standing by the side of the couch between the couch and the wall. I put it on the kitchen counter when I have to cut. It's the perfect height.

There are so many wonderful quilt shops and shows out there. Last year we went to the first Oregon Expo in Redmond and the Sisters quilt showing. Also, managed to be in Buena Vista, CO when they had a quit show and found several in Oregon. Such great fun.

Happy RV'ing and Quilting along the road.