Wednesday the 13th is Worse

So today was the day. We had everything and everyone we needed to start our trip. It was really strange to pull out of our space at Oasis, since our trailer hadn't moved for six months, and had been in the same park for another three on top of that. But things went fine. I wasn't driving, which was a plus.

We did leave without eating much, though, so we grabbed sandwiches along the way, and finally stopped to eat at this place, in the town of Mina, Nevada. Why did we eat there? It was called Desert Lobster, and was partly constructed of a boat. So why not?

I was wondering what a Desert Lobster would be, having heard of prairie oysters and their ilk. My guess would have been perhaps a scorpion. Sadly, we will never know, because it was only the name of the restaurant, not an item on the menu. I had the fish and chips, which seemed to be made from scratch, definitely not premade from a box, which was a plus. I wouldn't classify it as the "fine food" emblazoned on their sign, but we didn't expect it either. We liked the boat.

After that it was pretty easy driving, though long. We ended up hitting Reno around 6:30 pm and agreed that we would meet up with everyone at an RV park close to Evan's house called United Trails. Everyone arrived at the perfect time to find that the park was closed. Not the office, the park. No park we have ever been to has ever been locked up at night. As we were deciding what to do, a policeman pulled up to ask if everything was okay. He pointed us to a state park just down the road the other way.

So everyone followed us to this state campground where we found a place to park our RV. I went into the trailer to grab a sweater and was confronted with this terribly loud, high-pitched whine. The LP gas detector's warning alarm was going off, not because there was a leak, but because our battery hadn't charged on the road to Tahoe. For a quick fix, Brian taped the slider switch down in the "Out" position. There wasn't enough power in the battery for the warning light or the slideout switch to work, so engaging the switch focused what little power remained away from the battery alarm and to the slideout circuit.

Finally, we were able to hop into Evan's car so that we could go to dinner. We planned on Cottonwood Restaurant, a really nice place with a beautiful view of Truckee. We pulled into the parking lot in anticipation to find that it was closed for a private party. We ended up at another really nice place called Moody's with excellent food, but no view.

After dinner, the four of us were taken back to the state park, where we piled into the truck and moved out. We had driven by an RV park on the way to dinner which was much closer to Evan's house, and, more importantly, would have electricity. As we began to pass through the agricultural checkpoint, where one is usually waved through after a cursory check for out-of-state plant life, the guard stopped us. "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Are you trying to rip that thing off?" he asked, incredulously. I was wondering if Brian had maybe driven too close to the side of the man's booth when the guard said: "Your slider room is out!"

OMFG. We had totally forgotten about the slideout switch that we had taped down in the "Out" position to keep the gas alarm from going off! Once we started the truck, the trailer was able (as usual) to draw power from the engine. So, as we drove away from the state campground, our slideout room was slowly creeping out until it was fully extended. I started having visions of the movie "RV" where Robin Williams puts the slider in to avoid the homeschool family and breaks the door off one of the cabinets he hadn't closed. Combined with the absurdity of our situation, and relief that our home was still intact, I laughed all the way to the RV park.

Coachland was a nice park, and it was open, which was a big plus. The sites were a bit narrow, so we actually knocked over a post on our way into our space. It shouldn't have been there anyway. After not too long, we were able to get settled and get to bed. After all these misfortunes, amusing or otherwise, it was good to put this day in the past.