With our Alaska trip a few short weeks away, we decided it might be wise to take the RV out for a two-night outing to put its systems through the paces. We chose to go to Hagan Stone, a local county park that is a 10 minute drive from home.

This lovely park sits in a rural area and has a few small lakes for fishing, miles of walking trails, fun playgrounds for the kids and a public pool. Since it is so close to where we live we frequent it quite often to stretch our legs on the trails, let our grandson romp on the playground or to just sit back and enjoy the idyllic setting. I’ve included a few pictures to show off its amenities and because I just like to take pictures!

Now to the business side of our little excursion. I am happy to report that the RV seems to be in fine working order! The AC units work (though probably won’t need these in AK), the toilets flush, the microwave nukes and the shower refreshes. The only issue that arose was the entry door latch broke while attempting to close it. I guess it was shut just one too many times! Fortunately, we were not locked in or out (as some horror stories on the internet relate) and our deadbolt still worked to hold the door secure. A new latch is in the mail as I write and Art’s “to-do” list just got a bit longer. While a broken latch is a relatively minor hindrance being only 10 minutes from home, Art was nonetheless extremely perturbed after reading about this particular lock assembly’s issues from fellow RVer’s. And, I quote, “seems this lockset should be avoided at all costs; simply an inferior product made of metal alloys rather than steel!” After a bourbon (or, two) he decided against the nasty letter to the manufacturer and will just add them to his “never-do-business-with-again” list!

On a brighter note, while unsuccessful in finding a replacement latch at our local stores, we did find a handy dandy countertop ice maker for the RV! We set it to work as soon as we got back to the campground and within a couple of hours we had at least a gallon size Ziploc full of miniature ice cubes to cool down our drinks! This should be more than enough for my daily consumption of iced tea and, more importantly, Art’s evening glass of bourbon.

I think we are as ready as we will ever be to head out on this Big Adventure, let’s hope that all that works well today will continue to do so for the next 12,000 miles!