Well, the third weekend turned into a much longer time. Thursday morning Bud decided to drive out to Walnut Creek in Papillion. They have only electric hook ups and do not take reservations. He was lucky enough to find a spot for us and that afternoon we headed out.
The first thing we discovered was that the microwave glass plate had flown out of the unit and shattered. Glass all over the place! We cleaned it up and Bud found the model number and ordered a new one which will be delivered in just a couple of days. But believe me, we will not leaving it there again.
We found that the T mobile unit did not work all that well, but Bud has a mobile hotspot and that worked perfectly for me. I spent Friday “at work” and on Saturday morning I mentioned that I was sorry that we would have to tear down and leave the next morning, that I would be interested in how a work week would feel. Bud spoke with the camp hosts and arranged for us to stay the entire next week and we retuned home and picked up a bunch of “stuff” to get allow us to stay for the full week, including the new microwave plate. Bud saved the packaging and we will pack it up and have it travel in the oven for safety. Enroute back we stopped at Home Depot (Bud) and Target (me) and then returned to set up for our weeklong experiment.
Since we were going to be there for a week, we tried several different coking experiments to see what would work for us. Small, frozen Lean Cuisine pizzas on the smoker were fabulous—the crusts were crisp and the toppings perfectly melted. Bud went with pepperoni and I had a spinach and mushroom one. He also smoked both regular burgers and then veggie burgers (BOCA) and they were so well done that when he handed me a burger, I had to ask if it was a regular one or one of the veggie ones. It was a veggie one but the smoking seemed to change the texture to something closer to a regular burger and the crispier outside made it even more meat like. Next time we go out we’re taking a whole slew of them so he can smoke a bunch and I will re-freeze so I can pull them out as needed.
He also smoked a couple of steaks and we had a veggie side and mashed potatoes out of a packet and again, they turned out exceptionally well. I tried the microwave/convection oven and found that it is not anywhere near as efficient as those I have at home. The brownies took as long as they would have in a conventional oven and pre-heating made the entire RV overly warm. I also did homemade biscuits for biscuits and gravy and did pancakes one morning. I haven’t tried the propane oven yet but did some cooking on the stove top. Propane appears to have a hotter flame at a lower flame setting, but I don’t think I’ll have any issues adjusting to cooking on it. And once we are ready to do this full time I will have my air fryer and that will help.
We had purchased a set of easy to clean, non-stick copper pans and they were a blessing. We are not used to handwashing dishes so having pots and pans that are easy clean up was something we considered essential. We are going to order a strainer for rinsing dishes and a couple of the small ones that go right on top of the drains for the second sink and for the shower—we both have long hair and shed like pets and want to keep the shower drain clean as much as possible.
We wanted to see what routines might serve us well and so whoever did not cook did the dishes and we did them right away to make sure that our space could remain neat. It seemed to work out well and since it’s only been for short spaces of time it has not yet become an irritant. No doubt there will be times when neither of us really want to do it, but I am hoping we can maintain that pattern. And there is no doubt that it’s going to take some time for me to get used to the appliances.
Bud took the electric bike out on the trails around the ponds and creek. I have not yet gotten on it but am determined to do so soon. We also took a walk around the campground one day. This is something we would like to incorporate also. We are hoping that we become more active the longer we are out.
I did get some writing done also and I do believe this is going to turn out to be a fun adventure.
Overall, I would have to say it was wonderful. Getting up each morning and getting to work with gorgeous views all around me made me feel that our plan to travel and work was definitely going to be possible. Bud had set up the work areas very well and we both found that it easy to settle in. As for my work situation, it was seamless.
We have to take the unit back to storage now and will not be back out until the end of October as we are flying out to upstate NY the first week of October.
