Tommorow morning the R-pod 189 gets hooked up to the Jeep Grand Cherokee Larado and the wandering pod is going to start wandering.

First stop Flandrue SD, casino there with water + elec for 12$ a night. Its half an hours drive from Cindy's parents in Brookings SD. Good place to check everything out make sure all is working as it should.

From there we will wander and puddle jump our way to Hot Springs Arkansas area. Momma wants to go find some quartz crystals.  We will start at Ron Coleman's Crystal RV park (very reasonable) and explore from there.

A huge thank you from us to all of you for all of the help and encouragement over the last 6 months.

We are DOING this, and we are going to have the time of our lives.

Anyone interested can find us on Facebook.

Cindy Jamison Fargo ND.

Hang on to your hats folks, she's going to be a ride!

Honk or come say hi if you see me.

We are Bill and Cindy The wandering pod.

Well we had a lot go right and a few things wrong yesterday.

First we could not find the casino, we were boondocking in Brookings SD Walmart, walked over to the Perkins just across the corner for supper.  Nice older gentlemen heard us talking and told us how to find the casino. So we drove back. Got setup, have power, had not bothered with water yet. Furnace was running. Somehow the thermostat got bumped, cover fell off. Now it refuses to be adjusted above 32 degrees. AC tried to run, killed that with the breaker. But it was a cool night.

And of course to top things off we were just finishing putting every blanket on the bed when the cat jumped up and relieved himself in the middle. Bit of a statement there.

Sorted eventually. Slept well, wife slid out of bed onto the floor as I'm trying to get out to find coffee this morning. ARhhhhhhhhhhhhhh the joys of camping.

On the whole we love the pod. Bring it on world, I can take it! 200 miles of 2 lane back country road yesterday, only took 6 hours, nasty crosswind.  Onward and upward.

On the AC, it might be reading Celsius and not Farenheit. I'm not sure of the model, but on ours, if you hold the up and down buttons, it will switch from C to F. The 32C is 89.6F.

The AC fan will run when the furnace is running unless you change the fan mode to "Auto" from "Low" or "High." For running the AC, having the fan on low or high means you will have a steady sound instead of the unit cycling on and off. The steady sound is easier to have and sleep with than an intermittent sound. We run a battery operated fan (O2 Cool) which is placed at the opening of the bed to pull heat out from under the bed and circulate it when we are using the furnace. I have a cord to plug in to a 12Voutlet which I installed or a 110V adapter to use if I have power. The fan will also run off of 6 D-Cell batteries.

As for the coffee, a teakettle and a pour-over cone style filter with a supply of ground coffee (or in the case of my wife, a supply of tea bags) will go a long way toward helping you get off to a good start in the morning. If you have power, a small single serve coffee maker that will pack easily in one of the cabinets is good. I have a small one that uses ground coffee. However, the cone filter pour-over is good because it does not require power to run.

Well somehow yesterday the thermostat fixed itself. was around 65 F when we walked in. Ran off and on all night but not as noisy as I was afraid.

I'm afraid our biggest issue is we have too much crap in every possible location.

Going to be a nice day here, we are unpacking and reloading with a view to being able to use the pod with a minimum of shuffling. Does not help that mom insists on both cat and dog carriers be in the pod overnight. IMO they could sleep in the car just fine.

We did buy 2 sleeping bags at walmart for the bed. I really think that is a better solution.

We threw one lightweight fuzzy blanket down by our feet. 3 am I woke up wringing wet head to toe.

pushed back the bag and snuggled into that light blanket and was back sleeping in no time.

On the whole I would not trade this for anything. Just need to get the excess crap under control.

5:13 sitting in my TV outside the casino so i can catch some wifi.

But the coffee is awesome and my dog Casey is keeping me company.

On the surplus "Stuff", all beginning RVers suffer through that.  It is amazing that you really don't need all the stuff you think you need in order to just enjoy life and each other's company.

Good luck on the remainder of your trip.  It sounds like you are off the a good start!

Originally posted by StephenH It really is a learn-as-you-go experience. We have gone through three dish drainers to find one that both my wife and I like (large enough to be useful yet small enough to fit in the sink while we are in motion). Camping isn't necessarily cheaper than staying in motels. However it is better as you get to sleep in your own bed. That way, you can be pretty sure you won't be bringing home any uninvited pests (e.g. bedbugs) like what happened with our daughter once. You can also set your own pace instead of being on someone else's schedule. That is priceless.

+1 and we can bring our dogs along.

We made it! Arrived yesterday.  Took a 3 day wind/weather break at blue lake KOA in Onowa Io. 35 $ a night with all the amenitys and wifi that worked in the pod. I took a tumble going to bathroom in the dark, banged up my left hand and both knees. So we laid back and healed.  The next days run was super, light n breeze at our tail, we ended up at Pershing SP 15 miles east of Chilicoathe Mo. Wonderful oak forest, 30a + water, paid 19$ for the night. Next day was another great day down to Branson Mo. Found a place after driving past it and not seeing it, and spent 1.5 hours driving the worst 30mph roads I've ever seen. But eventually we found a local who steered us back on the right path. 14$, 30a, no water, city turned it off 30 min before we arrived. But no sweat, tank was full.

'Found out that connecting to city water connection does not fill fresh tank. Ok, live and learn.

The drive south out of Branson on highway 7 was long, nerveracking, and totally awesome.

We are learning the finer points as we go. Still have way too much stuff. But we are having a blast.

Our only real remaining problem at this point is the fridge that is not leveled to the trailer.

I can have the pod leveled perfect, and that fridge will beep every other minute no matter what it is set to, 110v,12v, or propane.

The only time I ever got it to stop beeping I put a floor jack under the axle and jacked until my wife told me it quit. A full half bubble off. SHESSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH

Oh well

                      

Off level should not cause the refrigerator to beep. It could be that moisture has run down the wires to the door switch. and light Look for the wires and make a small drip  loop at the back so moisture can't run down them into the switch/light. Hopefully, that will help with the problem.

Dometic's rule for the refrigerator is that if you are comfortable, it should be level enough for the refrigerator.

Sounds like you're off to a fun trip. Things will get more streamlined as you go along.

We've been to Hot Springs, AR. Took a tour through one of the old bathhouses and cringed at the thought of people actually thinking that 'Mercury baths' were beneficial!

Have fun and good luck!