Getting ready to go down the road

You may be wondering what is involved in getting our rig ready to travel down the road. The whole process takes about 30 to 40 minutes.
1. First I start the coach and retract the automatic hydraulic leveling jacks. Where we are now it is so level that I didn’t even use them to level the coach. I dumped the air in the tanks when we arrived by pressing a button on the dashboard. Doing so lets the whole coach settle 7 inches which lowers the entry steps. By starting the engine, I am reinflating the suspension and raising the coach to travel height.
2. Put in the left slide. This is an extendable wall. Our coach has one full length slide on the left (about 33 feet) and two smaller slides on the right. By retracting the left slide, I can work outside disconnecting all the utilities and the slide is not above me. This keeps me from having to bend over.
3. I pull a lever on a valve and empty the black water tank down the sewer drain beside the coach. I then close that drain and empty the grey water (that is all the water from the sinks, shower and clothes washer). This flushes out the hose with cleaner water. Then I stow the drain hose.
4. Next I disconnect the fresh water, put our water softener in one of the side compartments. The softener consist of a fiberglass tube that is 7 inches by 22 inches. It needs to be recharged every two to three weeks. I simply take off the top cap, dump in a container of table salt (the round cardboard container you get at a grocery store for 49 cents), wait 15 minutes, turn the water on and let it trickle out of the softener for 15 minutes. Then I test it by placing my finger in the outlet stream and when the water isn’t salty tasting anymore I connect the hose to the coach and I’m done. The water hose on the coach has an electric reel so I just press a button and it reels the hose in for me.
5. I make sure all awnings are in. We have two manual ones over windows on the left and two power awnings on the right. One is over the exit – entry door of the coach and the other is the big awning that provides shade to sit under.
6. I press a button and the satellite / Direct TV dish stows itself flat against the roof automatically. We never use the regular TV antenna so I don’t have to fold it down.
7. Now we bring in the two slides on the right side.
8. I take a sun cover off the windshield. This looks like screen door screen but is made of a vinyl material. It is black and deflects up to 95% of the heat from the sun away from the coach. This is a great help in that it keeps the coach cooler and makes the air conditioners run less. I purchased a handy one that can be installed or removed from the ground by one person with no Velcro or snaps. It really works great.
9. Disconnect the electric cable from the shore power. I have a power reel for this also.
10. I check the trailer – having already loaded the Miata inside.
11. I lock all the outside storage doors. There are about 10.
12. Kim and I make one last trip around the unit together – Tires OK? Doors Secured? Satellite Down? And so on. I would rather have Kim notice I forgot to put the satellite down than to hit it on an overpass.
13. I program the GPS and we’re ready to go.
14. It should be said that during this time Kim is busy getting things secured inside the coach and getting her travel books ready for the trip. She does a lot of reading about where things are – like diesel and rest areas and points of amusement. Fuel stops are important as we can’t get into a lot of the smaller stations and we also like to keep the top half of the tank full – something my dad taught me. It is no fun running on fumes looking for a fuel station.