The process of buying a 71' Airstream Sovereign, downsizing our 5 bedroom house and preparing to be on the road for 3 months presented us with the following opportunities:
1. 5 water leaks (yes you read that right) in Loraine (our name for the Airstream). The majority of which were rain leaks and are a bugger to identify and stop.
2. A broken RV toilet that leaked black water (and not the joyful "Ol Black Water" Doobie Brothers kind) throughout the trailer.
3. An electric tongue jack that broke coupled to the truck leaving us stranded on 2 different occasions.
4. A propane oven that was broken, unbeknownst to me, that actually singed my eyebrows when I went to light the pilot for the first time.
5. A battery covered in urine from item #2 that sparks electricity every time you connect/disconnect it.
6. A very sweet child that was deeply grieved to leave her yellow "home" with the purple shutters.
What we learned:
1. That helping women stop leaking urine as an occupation as a pelvic floor physical therapist has in some strange way prepared me for effectively finding and stopping leaks in a "vintage" Airstream. I am proud to say that Loraine is now leak-free; like so many of my previous clients! Fingers Crossed!
2. That being a pelvic floor physical therapist has also in Jacob's mind designated me as the go-to for all things that deal with the bottom end of the body (i.e. emptying the black water tank and probably from now on our new compost toilet). Speaking of composting toilets, who knew your poop could smell like dirt. Go Figure!
3. That we are human, we make mistakes; otherwise as Daya and Adrie will avidly remind us, if not mistake-free, we would be ROBOTS. Also, Jacob and I are super resilient people and hopefully modeling daily for the girls just how resilient we humans can be. Robots, never!
4. Propane is dangerous and you should never put your face in front of the oven when attempting to light the pilot. Although, who am I kidding, my eyebrows needed a trim.
5. Jacob has amazing reflexes at the ripe old age of 38 and thus far has avoided electrocution.
6. That it is okay to grieve due to loss, no matter the age, me included.
All in all, through this process, we also learned that friends with knowledge, tools, love and probably a ton of pity for their very unhandy friends are particularly amazing.