Happy Trails…Almost

Okay, here is the deal. We’ve been at our temporary parking spot in the driveway where my daughter and granddaughters live (with permission from the homeowner) for about ten days due to a minor medical issue that is plaguing my husband’s foot right now. And when I get hit with a blessing I call it what it is…a blessing. This delay has given us time to detail our new home. Time well needed, and time well spent. This first “travel blog” may come off as a “B**** Blog” – but let’s deem it an “Information Blog” on the learning curve of being a travel trailer owner. A curve we couldn’t see clearly around…lol.

Due to being newbies to this life, we envisioned packing up and being on the road the day we signed off the final walk-through of our apartment. But with Dan’s foot that wasn’t the case…thankfully. We had a bit of a shock the second day in our travel trailer when we woke to a condensation issue we were not expecting. I’m not talking a drip or two on the windows, nope, it has become a major issue we have had to deal with. Now, mind you, our camper is beautiful, and I love many features on it, but having moisture so high inside that you can feel the damp air isn’t cutting it. I have done a lot of research and joined a few forums to get the answers. And the consensus is that this condensation issue is everywhere, with every travel trailer I researched. It will, of course, go away once we are out of this cold, and wet weather because we won’t be blasting the inside to keep warm, while Mother Nature throws everything she has at us that she deems necessary as normal conditions known to the PNW. By the way, my husband calls the Pacific Northwest the Pacific NorthWET…yep, he’s got something there. Unless we spend all of our time in arid states, this could be an issue…so it is one to be dealt with head-on.

So, first, we tried one of those packs that are filled with crystals to absorb the humidity…didn’t help that much. We ran fans, opened vents (the few chances we had with no rain), and bought a few more crystal packs. We bought a gage to monitor the humidity and no matter our attempts, we’ve stayed at 63%-78%. We have to get it down to 50% and below to remedy this issue, and that won’t happen here in Edmonds, Washington…that’s for sure. We will eventually be in sunny climates but we can’t ignore what is happening right now if we want this place to last.

Dan is more than a pretty face, thankfully. He’s exceptionally knowledgeable, and hands-on crafty at engineering solutions, too. He can engineer just about anything we need. And he inspects everything thoroughly.  Upon inspecting the bunk where I lay my head at night, the sheets were soaked. As were the walls of every exterior wall. TMI, I’m sure, but between his back pain causing him to thrash around at night waking me constantly, we don’t have our eyes closed in the same bed…otherwise, neither would sleep. I am his priority, so he was determined to find a way to fix this moisture issue. Now, when you have paid this much money for a “home on wheels” you don’t want to see moisture/humidity destroy it. All I could envision was mold growing between the walls ruining the construction of our home. I visualized rusted metal flaking away leaving gaping holes for rodents living in the woods to crawl in and make a home. Yes, that may be dramatic, but hey, it could happen.

He created an egg-crate solution to keep air moving around the bunks’ exterior walls.  The egg-crate was genius, this is step one, and it is beautiful at the same time.

And that led to checking and fixing wires and pipes that needed securing. Here he is with his drill gun and eagle eye fixing another issue. 

Bonus to Jayco for all the pretty features they have, and for the strong construction they do have, but when you are married to a perfectionist he will track down every little thing that should and shouldn’t be when it comes to anything to do with plumbing, electrical, heating, cooling, and construction…and he has. When we looked at this model, along with the dozen others, this make/model shone through. But until you live in something full-time, you can’t see the true workings.

That said, I am very grateful for the time we have now to get the storage, construction, and moisture issues worked out. My daughter, Kristin, will be helping determine the best “tote” plan for my clothes, etc…since everything that is capable of absorbing water and stored by an exterior wall will require being kept in totes. Oh, and by the way, I broke down and have purchased a dehumidifier that will arrive on Tuesday. That was upon the advice of multiple experienced travel trailer owners. I will update you with the results after we have some time to let it work.

On a more colorful note, I spotted flowers for sale at the local grocery store yesterday bringing me hope that winter will, as always, come to an end and spring will replace the cold with beauty and new life…she has never let me down yet. I do hope my next blog is filled with a more fun adventure…but until then, my friends, I hope you are staying warm, dry, and happy.