TALLAHASSEE, FL – With the oh so long flight, over… the subpar sleeping arrangements… it’s all about being “Reunited with my RV & it feels so good!”

First, I did something I hadn’t done in, what 2-3 months and that was go TO an old familiar restaurant… “Waffle House.”  Now back in the day, when I did my full reno of my RV, I would often start my day, early in the morning at “Waffle House.” It was quick, easy and gave me the energy to knock out whatever my task was for the day. And since I was going to be in Tallahassee for what turned out to be, less than 30 hours, I figured if the place looked safe… they were practicing proper Social Distancing guidelines, I’d hop in and out real quick and start my day in an old familiar place.

I have to admit, this particular “Waffle House,” did a good job. This was by far one of THE cleanest “Waffle Houses” I’ve ever been in and I’ve been in this one a ton before. The really good thing this time is that, other than the folks working there who all wore masks, I was one of only 2 people in the place.

They used shower liners to help separate booths, which isn’t such a bad idea because they can change them out easily. I sat at the counter, away from everyone off to the side.

I got served quickly and boom I was on the road to my RV, so it worked out. It was the only place I ate AT during my brief time in Florida so that that was fine.

After breakfast I stopped at “Dollar Tree” to get some supplies. They also did a pretty good job of Social Distancing and because I went early in the morning, there were not a lot of people in the store. At both “Waffle House” and “Dollar Tree” I masked up and used lots of hand sanitizer.

Once I got my supplies, it was off to my RV and the moment I’d been waiting for. For months I had wondered how the rig had held up. My former RV storage place, prior to this one had a lot of trees around it. This was paved and gated and more protected than my other spot.

I won’t lie, I had some serious butterflies in my stomach as I rolled up to it. And I have to say, at first glance for the most part it looked like everything was well kept.  I didn’t see any damage as I drove in a parked and at first I was really pleased. Upon further inspection, there were two issues:  

One, the Camco RV cover, had some holes in it. Most likely from the cover rubbing up against some of the awning rollers and other small things on the rig that could cut it.

The second issue, someone defnitely hit the right-side passenger mirror. That was the bigger issue for me. It cracks the housing and pushed the mirror out. I was able to snap it back in temporarily, however I CLEARLY was going to have to have it looked at and maybe even replaced before I hit the road.

After doing my inspection, I took off the cover and climbed on top of the RV and removed it. I don’t like going up on top often, however sometimes it’s necessary. Cover off, there were more holes in the RV cover than I expected so I ended up tossing it. I was a little disappointed, I won’t about that.

Walking around the rig, it still looked in pretty good shape, other than the mirror, so I was pretty happy about everything so far. The big issue came as I finally opened up the door. I was nervous about whether or not all of the stuff I had to to winterize the RV, especially to protect it from rodents worked.

When I opened up the door and went in to explore… it was perfect! Just the way I left it! Moth balls, dryer sheets, peppermint oil, everything I did to protect the rig, seemed to work.  Now, don’t get me wrong, it smelled like moth balls and it probably will take me some time to get that smell out of the rig, however I didn’t smell or see any dead animals so THAT was a huge win for me.

Time to Clean this Bad Boy

Next up, I cleaned out the entire RV and opened up ALL of the windows to air it out. Once I had cleared everything out, it was time to reconnect the battery to see if the RV would start up. Unhooking the battery was crucial, because I didn’t want any kind of drain on the systems while I was gone.

Not Bad for Sitting for 7 Months

Batteries connected, I took the chance and started up the RV and it turned over on the first try!  It was so exciting to hear the sound of the rig again.  I let the engine run for a bit before I shut her down and finished tidying up.

So, with the exception of the right passenger side mirror, storage was a success. Morningstar Storage in Tallahassee is where I kept the rig and again it did well there, I’d recommend them.

So the RV starts… it’s relatively clean… I now have some time to rest before I take it into Camping World in Midway, Florida to get it looked at before hitting the road.  So far, so good.

Over the next several episodes, I’m taking you with me as I:

  • Where to Store Your RV? DONE
  • Hop on a plane to get my RV DONE
  • Prep it for the drive back to Wisconsin
  • Drive back
  • (Insert Special Surprise!)
  • Set it up in the new home

In this episode, time to finally see my baby & see how she held up after nearly 7 months in storage. To get all of the information regarding the process, head over to RVJedeye.com and click on the story about my “Florida to Wisconsin and Back” mini-series.

Remember, new content can be found here, all over Social Media @RVJedeye and on my blog @RVJedeye.com. 

And I’m bringing you 7 new episodes every Sunday! I hope you enjoy & you leave lots of comments!

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