Officially an RVer. A Black Tank Story.
If there was a time that I could say, in a loud booming voice “YOU ARE NOW AN RVer”. It would be this moment.
It’s gonna happen.
At some point, if you have an RV, it will happen. It will only have to happen once and then you are officially an RVer. I arrived at my first RV park on the edge of California and Arizona.
It was about 3 pm, still plenty of light. The sun had a nice warm end of summer glow on the mountains in the distance.
I had checked in, walked the pups around to get the lay of the land, and let them stretch their legs. Plugged in the power, turned on the fridge. I connected the water, confirmed it was working. Turned on the propane, so I could cook dinner later that night. I had a bottle of wine to celebrate the occasion. I was officially on the road. Living the life of a full-time RVer. I had dreamt about this moment and day for the last 2 years.
I needed to connect the black tank, it had been a couple of weeks and it needed to be dumped.
I had watched multiple Youtube videos read the manual. It didn’t matter.
Thankfully I had on gloves, thankfully the RV park had showers, thankfully I had already walked the dogs and thankfully I had other shoes.
Those shoes?
They ended up in the trash bin that night.
It makes you appreciate indoor plumbing, you appreciate the fact that when you flush a toilet, you no longer have to deal with it.
What not to do if you have black tank issues.
It all happened so quickly. I knew how to attach the hoses (thanks to Youtube) but no one ever said, re-confirm the value is closed. That driving may loosen the value (especially if not completely closed).
When I took off the cap, everything came pouring out.
I panicked and freaked out.
I was finally able to get the value closed and the hose attached properly. It felt like 30 minutes as I paced, cried and fairly certain said words I can’t repeat.
I wasn't sure what to do, I walked over to the host’s site and told them nervously what happened. He came out said, “No worries, happens more than you think” and told me just to spray everything down. He checked it and said, I was good to go.
Later after I had cleaned up, after dinner, after relaxing; I sat in the RV and began crying which turned into laughing. If you can’t laugh at the mistakes, you will not survive. I kept thinking of that scene in “RV” with Robin Williams and REALLY happy, mine wasn’t that bad.
I learned from it and trust me...I still worry when I dump the tanks.
Tips for dealing with the Black Tank
Remove Rings and Watches
Put on shoes you can throw away.
Put on gloves.
Confirm the valves are shut. (push in the levers)
Get the hoses ready to attach.
Remove cap
Pray.
Dump.
Shower (if needed)
Drink.
Outside of the occasional smells, it’s really not that bad. It is definitely worth the smells to be able to travel and explore the US. If you can get over that fear, most anything else should be a walk in the park.
Mind the gap. Mind the dip. I’ve heard it called multiple things. Understanding and knowing that sometimes, things do not and will not go as planned. Learning to go with the flow is key. I’m still working on that. I’m still trying to be better about handling stressful situations.
At least for now, I know how to handle the black tank.
#blacktank #blacktankstories #officalltanrver #rvhumor #humor #funnystories #dealingwithpoo
