The Honeymoon is Over

The Honeymoon is definitely over in our new home. Don't get me wrong. We do love this new fifth wheel. Maybe that wasn't the best title for this.  Yes, this is a used rig and buying used you really don't know what you are getting yourself into. Doing a thorough inspection when we saw it, we knew that there where minor things that needed repairing or just maintaining. But living in it now for two weeks we are finding out the pros and cons of this rig versus our last rig.

Pro: First of all there is the quality issue. This Cardinal is built so much better than our last rig. It feels more solid and we do love the double pane windows for outside noise and insulation.

Pro: The six point leveling system. Push button ease.

Con: The six point leveling system. I thought that this would make it more stable. Not feeling people walking around and such. But it is almost as bad as our other one. The jacks pop in the morning and in the evening. Upon some research we have learned that it is from temperature differences. It can be a 40-50 degree difference from morning to evening here in Yellowstone. We feel that we are leaning a bit also. Maybe the ground is softer on one side or something. We are not parked on concrete so there may be some settling.

Pro: The double door refrigerator. There is now room for beer in it.

Con: Everything I need in the refrigerator is always and I do mean always in the door that I didn't open.

Pro: The construction seems better.

Con: The construction. It seems that no matter how much you spend on a rig, the manufacturers still take short cuts in building them. Staples for example. Why do they always staple shelves and panels together. You touch a panel the wrong way and it pops the staples loose. We developed a leak in the bathroom sink. So I took the faucet off the sink to look at it. It is nothing but plastic with a metal finish. You can't even take it apart to repair it. So with my big caulk gun I hope that I can stop the leak till I can get to civilization to replace it.

Pro: Cats.

Con: Buying a used RV with mice installed. We awoke our second night to the cats horsing around much more than they usually do. Lisa turned on the lights to see what the hell was going on at 3 in the morning and Moose was playing with a mouse. It was dead. Now he has the taste for blood. Also, every now and then we witness the cats just staring at a wall. I need to take a basement wall apart just to see whats in there and to put some sticky traps in there. But again when we get to civilization to buy us some traps. So hopefully when we go to sleep, we can sleep better knowing the cats are on duty.

Con: There are now 5 steps to get into our new rig rather than the 4 in the other one. So if you do the math, I have to climb the equivalent of 583 feet higher each year if I go in at least a thousand times a year.

Con: Our old screen door had a little spring loaded lever to unlatch our door without sliding that panel back. You just had to push down on it and whammo! The door opened. Now I have to go to the door, slide open the little panel, find the lever, push down on the lever, open the door, close the door, climb down 5 steps and then close the sliding panel. With all that extra work I will have arms like Arnold.

Con: Still don't know where everything is in here. "Lisa! Where are the spices! Where are my underpants! What side of the fridge has my beer?"

Con: Our last fifth wheel had a handle to help you up the steps. Just in case you where at a margarita party earlier. This one doesn't. Now I have to crawl up them which is a little less dignified for the margarita champion of Quartzsite.

So that is it in a nut shell. A nut shell the size of 39' X 8'.