Feb 24, 2023 (Fri)
Anthem, AZ
Turns out that after five days of zooming along freeways at Warp Speed (well, as close to Warp Speed as a 22 year-old-RV can go), we needed a bit of a rest.
So we spent Friday hanging out with our friend, Joan, and walking in the sunshine, and reading, and napping, and generally getting used to being able to stand up and walk around without stepping over each other.
We grow increasingly grateful that we left when we did and went as fast as we did. It’s like an adventure movie where the hero (us, in this metaphor) races across the rope bridge as it collapses behind them. The news tells us of snow and wind and flooding and I-5 closures and any number of Bad Things that happened a day or two after we went through.
Whew! Now if we could just find the treasure chest…
One of us is adjusting to temperatures in the 60’s better than the other
Feb 25, 2023 (Sat)
3:00 pm Anthem, AZ 72°
It’s a lovely, warm, sunny day here in Anthem, just north of Phoenix. What better time to go get a few goodies for Harvey?
One of them—probably the most important from the perspective of our noses—is some “tank treatment” tablets. When you’re at home, you can flush and it’s somebody else’s problem. In an RV, when you flush the toilet, it goes about three feet down into a tank and stays there.
If you’ve ever used an outhouse, you know what happens if your effluent just sits there. It gets smelly! That’s why you put the outhouse way the heck away from the house. In Harvey, the outhouse is right next to where you sleep and cook and write Trip Logs.
Fortunately, there’s these tank treatment tablets that magically (seriously, we can’t figure out how they work) break down nasty things and keep the smell away.
We used our last one a couple of days ago, and we really don’t want to find out what happens if we don’t use them.
So…we’re off to find Tank Treatment tablets.
Way back when we first got Harvey, just over a year ago, we took a trip to Camping World, a huge store with all kinds of RV things in it. (https://www.travelswithharvey.com/post/cathing-up-with-harvey)
This store had everything RV related, so we figured since we’re in a part of the world where RV’ing is very popular, the Camping World stores here must be even more massive and treasure-filled.
We get coordinates from Siri and off we go!
3:15 pm New River, AZ
Hey, there’s one just up the road!
But when we get here, all we see are RV’s for sale. Huh. We double-check with Siri and see that there’s another address for Camping World just a bit up the road.
“They must have the RV sales in one area, and the supplies in a different area,” says Robert.
As the paved road turns into a dirt road and then a gravel road (shades of The Yukon!), we’re beginning to wonder about Siri.
“You’ve arrived!” happens in front of somebody’s house and we’re pretty sure that they don’t have a basement full of tank treatments.
Our friend Joan with her morning coffee (which she likes with whipped cream)
3:30 pm Anthem, AZ
Gini does some internet searching to find out who sells RV tank treatments and, oh look—WalMart does! There’s a WalMart nearby, so we hold our noses (we’re not thrilled about WalMart’s business practices, but we’re even less thrilled by a smell black water tank) and head over there.
Sure enough—they’ve got an entire shelf of RV-related items, including tank treatments, water filters (ours is a year old), and night lights shaped like little campers.
Hooray! Now Harvey can keep smelling as fresh as a daisy! (We get enough to last us the rest of the trip—barring any more bean soup incidents…)
6:30 pm Anthem AZ
Gini plays autoharp and Robert plays ukulele (Hawaiian for “jumping head lice”). Whenever Gini is asked about her skills, she’ll proclaim that she’s a beginner and doesn’t really know anything and shucks, she’s not even really a player.
Once a month, we play at a nursing home, and lately we’ve been background music for a food bank in Woodinville (“Because what’s a grocery store without Muzak?” says Robert).
Rehearsing for the big show
Somehow, she and her friend Joan have cooked up a concert for us with six of her neighbor friends as audience. The friends show up at 6:30 (they are literally next-door and across-the-street neighbors, so it’s not like they could get stuck in traffic).
We chat for a while and share some stories and then the big surprise is sprung on them: welcome to the concert! Part of the nursing home gig is doing some sing-a-long songs with the audience and Gini has discovered the leftover lyric booklets that we used at the last concert there.
So everybody gets a booklet and they’re invited to pick songs out of it and before you know it, we’re partying like it’s 1899 with everybody singing and smiling and having a good ol’ time. Even curmudgeonly Robert enjoys himself.
Then it’s time for bed and the last time in a while where we don’t have to clamber over each other to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. We also don’t have to worry about dropping tank treatments into the toilet.
Our Day 5 travels; we didn’t go far, but we did it in Harvey
Gini & Robert
Harvey Staff
1. The names of black-water tank treatments are doubtless an important factor in inducing the potential purchaser to select one over another. Here is what I found:
Happy Camper tank treatment
TankTechsRX
RV Digest-It
Tank Blaster
Commando RV
Septi-Blast
... and my personal favuorite ...
Thetford AquaMax Spring Showers
2. Please post photo of "night lights shaped like little campers."