Shakedown 2, The Sequel. Day 3

The campsite was even quieter than when we'd arrived on Friday and we were a good 100m from anyone else in the woods. The big surprise was no rain, or at least none when we were moving about.

Breaking camp was a joy without the rain and we were able to take our time hitching up and checking the rig over. Our friction anti-sway bars were still howling as we headed out of the site but I think other campers are quite used to that and no one paid us any heed. 

We needed to dump both the black and grey tanks but were a bit disappointed to find the one open dump station still in a state of part refurbishment. We were able to get rid of the waste but couldn't flush the tank because there was no water, so we were hoping that adding some water when we got home would suffice. Actually, The Pinery was generally in a state of semi-repair; there is a lot of construction taking place but nothing was finished. They'd better get a move on for the May Two-Four weekend because that's a biggie.

The drive home was fine, despite the wind having turned and was now blowing against us all the way home. One day we'll get a tail wind! The trailer towed straight and true, despite the gale, and the Sienna behaved as I swapped between full auto transmission and the Tiptronic semi-automatic, just to see how things worked. I was certainly able to force the gear up slightly from fourth to fifth, thus reducing the engine speed by 500rpm but I don't think it make a lot of difference to the fuel consumption. Either way, the car drove well and the trailer followed.

Arriving home, we had a bit of a triumph. We're having to make a bit of a detour to get to our driveway on account of some construction work right at the end of it (Thanks, Municipality, that's only about three months now). Anyway, I straightened up the rig in the road and Mrs T started to guide me back with some good clear signals on the two way radio. Between us we managed to get Towed Haul up on the drive, parallel to the edge, on the correct side, clearing the construction work completely AND we did all this in one go! We're getting the hang of this backing up lark I think.

So, another trip completed (no dings this time) and the shakedown pretty much sorted. We're getting better at hitching and unhitching and backing up is beginning to make sense now. Now all we need is a few longer trips.

Watch for our tales of Taughannock State Park in Upper New York State, which is our may Two Four destination; a longer trip and international, too. We can't wait!