Nursing Convention - St. Louis, MO

​St. Louis RV Park

I was planning on attending a yearly nursing convention which is held somewhere in the US each year.  This year it was in St. Louis, Missouri, and I always try to attend when it is within driving distance.  Four hours to St. Louis is an easy drive so I planned to go.  Since I'm a new RV owner, I'm always looking for chances to use it, so I looked up where the closest RV park would be.  I wasn't expecting to find one in downtown St. Louis, less than 2 miles from the convention center.  It's a place called St. Louis RV Park.

So I took off in the RV, found the park, and had a wonderful stay there for the duration of the convention.  After it's over I plan to camp in Meramec State Park for a night on the way home.

Unsticking a Sticky Situation

​Lawn Craters

​After returning from work, I noticed that, much to my dismay, there was still an RV 5 feet from the front of my house, and still attached to my septic drain pipe by a dump hose. I was overjoyed, however, when I walked to the other side and learned that the hose was no longer full. During the night the contents of the RV tank had slowly made its way into the depths of the septic tank where it belonged. Note to self: Make an appointment with a septic clean-out service.

It was about this time that my lawn-care guy drove by, and since I had a large white beacon in front of my house alerting everyone to "Look what I did!", he stopped to look. Neither of us spoke for a few minutes, then he said, "I'm not gonna ask how it got like that, but do you need help getting it out?"​ "Yes", I said. Nothing more to say.​

As deep as it was buried, I was surprised how easy it was to get it unstuck. Some long chains, and his 4 wheel drive pick-up truck and it came back out the same way it went in. Well, at least I now had empty waste tanks, and a plan to have an RV dump drain installed right next to the driveway.

Mudding in a Motorhome

​In Deep

​So I needed to get the RV closer to the clean-out pipe that would carry the contents of my RV tanks safely into my septic tank. I had driven on my front lawn before in my car. Nothing bad ever happened. It seemed solid enough when I walked on it. What could go wrong? So it was, that in that one infinitesimal moment when I knew without a doubt that it would work, I jumped into the RV, backed it down the driveway a bit, and pulled forward making a sharp right turn onto my lawn so that the left side of the RV and the tank drains, would line up next to the drain pipe.

​Buried!

It was a short ride. As soon as I felt myself moving in slow motion, I stopped. I was afraid to look as I slowly opened the door and saw that the ground was closer to the step than when I got in. Now I was pretty certain what would happen next, but I had to try anyway. After a few attempts at moving in reverse, then forward again, I was skillfully able to get that running-board step smack down tight against the ground.​

Giant Lawn Ornament

​After doing everything I could to make sure that the RV was not going anywhere, I surveyed the damage. Yep, all six tires sunk to the axels in my front lawn, my RV sitting broadside to the house like a giant lawn ornament. A big, white, shining beacon shouting to every neighbor who drove past my house, "Look what I did!".

Well, there was nothing I could do about getting the RV out without help, but it was now within reach of the septic drain pipe. I figured I might as well dump it while it was there.​ I attached the hose, opened the valve, and watched as the contents of the black tank gushed out, filled the hose full, and stopped.  Note to self: make sure your septic tank has enough capacity to accommodate the contents of what your pouring into it.

At this point, there was nothing left to do but give up in disgust for the day, go inside and forget that there was an RV parked 5 feet in front of the house, attached to the septic pipe with a hose full of...   well, you get the picture.​

​

Got To Dump It

I don't know what it is about me and my RV waste tanks, but we seem to have an ongoing love/hate relationship. I love it when I think I've got the hang of it, and hate it when I'm reminded of all the little ways that something can go wrong. I'm fervently hoping that I don't have to experience them all.​

So I wasn't living in my RV anymore, but the time I spent in it after my less than stellar attempt to empty the black tank was enough to fill it back up. I was contemplating if I should just not worry about it until I took it on a trip where there would be a dump station. I didn't think I should leave it full that long. The only problem is, I don't have a dump station at my house.

That's not strictly true, I realized, when I noticed the septic clean-out pipe sticking out of my front yard. The pipe has a screw-on cap just like in the campgrounds, and runs right into my home's septic tank, so why could I not use it?​

Had I thought this through, it would have been obvious why I could not use it. It wasn't so much the fact that it was a small septic tank, but more the fact that I didn't have enough sewer hose to reach the 30 ft. or so between the pipe and my paved driveway where the RV was parked. The only way I could do this was to move the pipe and the RV closer together. Obviously, I could not move the pipe.

Finally... an RV Checkup

​After things got back to normal, I was able to take my RV for a checkup. First I took it to a local RV shop and had them go over everything in the back. They installed new CO2 and propane detectors, and checked out all the plumbing and appliances. They replaced a part behind the refrigerator, replaced a gasket at the water inlet, and said everything else looked great. Then I took it to the Ford dealer and had them check out the chassis and engine. They changed the oil, checked the fluids, and other stuff, and told me it was in excellent shape. It had obviously been taken care of well. So now I know for sure, that if something doesn't work, it's me, not the RV.