5-6 November
We had plans to spend a weekend at PBRP last month. When we got word on October 18 that Mui’s father had passed away, we put those plans on hold and he hopped on a plane to Turkey instead. (Campground deposits for Virginia state parks are non-refundable, but they allow one date transfer; so I moved the reservation to April .)
As rig owners who live in cold areas well know, winterizing is essential to the wellbeing of a motorhome. After Mui returned to the States at the end of October, we decided to take the coach out one last time before we had to put it to bed for the season … empty out the foodstuff and whatnot, and have a bit of fun at the same time. So, I made a reservation at PBRP for this weekend.
Our weekend got off to a good start Friday afternoon. We picked up the Phaeton, stopped at Fannon to top off the diesel, and were on the road by 3:45p.
Of the several alternatives available to us, we opt for the
Rte 234/I-95N combination to drive to PBRP.
After the deluge of rain earlier in the week, we appreciated having the rays of the sun streaming through the windshield of the Phaeton. The 42-mile (67 km) drive was uneventful. We were especially grateful that we weren’t heading south on I-95; traffic was at a standstill for at least 6 miles (10 km) in that direction.
We have 55F (13C) temps and partly cloudy skies for our drive.
We arrived at PBRP with plenty of daylight left to maneuver into the back-in site to which we were assigned (#60; 50-amp, full hookups; $42.52/night jurisdiction rate with tax). The next several sites on either side of us were empty, giving us plenty of privacy.
Pohick Bay Regional park
[map courtesy of the PBRP website)
Site 60 is one of 10 sites with full hookups.
[map courtesy of the PBRP website]
Home away from home for the weekend.
Just a few rigs in the distance and that’s about it.
Before long, we had the furnace cozying things up inside while Mui warmed up the leftovers we had brought from home. As day turned to night, we sat down to have dinner, and then whiled away the night reading and watching TV (39 local channels with the antenna).
So far, so good … right? Well, not for long.
Around midnight, I sensed Mui moving about the bedroom. When I asked him what was wrong, he said the inverter alarm was beeping. A further check revealed that the batteries weren’t charging and the inverter was cutting in and out as the power management system tried to make adjustments. Figuring there was a problem with the 50-amp pedestal, we switched to 30 amps instead. Our efforts were for naught; we still weren’t getting power. Seeing as how there wasn’t much we could do at that late hour, we shut down everything (including the furnace) to preserve battery power, and went back to bed, piling the covers over us as the nighttime temperature inside the coach dropped to 55F (13C).
We spent a fitful night, forcing ourselves to stay in bed until 7:30a when the first rays of the sun started to filter through the trees. We didn’t want to bother the two campers across the road from us by starting the generator yet, so we used the next hour to take care of the packing chores on our list. By 9:00a we were ready to crank up the diesel generator. Our hearts sank when the generator refused to start at first, but a call to Coach-Net guided us through the start up procedure using the auxiliary button. The low growl of the generator was music to our ears.
Next, we decided to bring the slides in while the Coach-Net technician was still on the phone ... just in case. You can imagine how we felt when Mui pressed the buttons to retract the front slides and only the driver’s side started pulling in. It was the same when he went to retract the rear slides; no movement on the passenger side slide. Just as I was about to utter a few choice words, I caught a bit of movement in my peripheral vision … the front passenger slide was moving. What the ?!?! It turns out that the front passenger slide button had actually retracted the rear passenger slide, and the rear passenger slide button was doing the same for the front passenger slide. Screwy, but at least the slides were in, and at that moment, that’s all that mattered.
After that bit of stress, we decided to go for a walk to clear our heads before heading home. With Mui still under orders to take it easy while his tendonitis heals, we opted for the short .16-mile hike down the trail that leads to the edge of Pohick Bay.
The boat rental concession area is deserted.
Glimpse of Pohick Bay from the floating dock.
the kayaks are stored until the weather warms up in the spring.
With the rig’s electrical problems niggling at us, we dallied just long enough for me to watch a bald eagle flying across the bay to Mason Neck Wildlife Refuge. Then, it was back to the rig where we had a quick bite to eat before checking out of the campground. I wasn’t expecting a refund for our second night, but when I mentioned the reason for our departure, the manager processed a credit on the spot. Good customer service! A few more minutes to switch our reservation for next April to an easier-to-get-into site (#71 is apparently favored by big rig owners) and we were on our way home.
We’ve been having problems with our Atwood levelers and had them disabled in early October so that we could camp a few more times before winterizing the Phaeton. We’re thinking that our electrical problems may be related to our leveler issues. We’ve already checked around, and the earliest we can have both problems looked at is late November (not many RV service centers in our neck of the woods). In the meantime, we’ll get the winterizing taken care of and keep our fingers crossed that whatever problems are in store for us don’t make too big of a dent in the wallet.
I’ll be back to tell you the results of the diagnostics and repairs when I know more …
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