When I’m at one of my volunteer assignments, I leave the gray tank valve open and the black tank valve closed since I have full hook ups. Every ten days or so, I close the gray tank before dumping the black tank. After dumping, I close the black tank valve and open the gray tank valve. This has worked well for me for well over seven years.
Great Blue Heron
As usual I dumped last week when I knew that black tank was filling up. Fast forward to last night. As I get ready for bed, I gather my dirty clothes from the day and put them in a cloth laundry bag I keep in the shower stall. As I stood there naked and opening the door to the shower, I found the bag soaking wet and standing water in the shower. Oops! It seems I forgot to reopen the gray tank valve. I’m sure glad it didn’t overflow onto the floor.
So, I tossed on my PJ’s, grabbed a flashlight, and ran outside at 11:00 at night to dump the tank. First time I’ve made that mistake. I came back in, rang out the bag and the clothes and started the washer so all that stuff wouldn’t get musty and moldy. It wasn’t so bad as I often start the Splendide washer at night. When it gets to the spin cycle, it shakes the whole rig and rocks me right to sleep.
Great Egret
We had a staff safety meeting and then a volunteer meeting this morning. I am once again not on the VIS or VC schedule for the month. Instead, Stephanie had some other assignments in mind for me. I think by next week the bird surveys will begin, I’ll be working the hunter check station on weekends, and will also be doing some propagating of seeds in addition to writing the section for the 50th anniversary book. Along with those chores there are a couple of other one day things to do. Guess December is going to be pretty busy for me.
Juvenile Common Moorhen
After the meetings, I managed to get all my hairs cut and an oil change for the car. It was a nice warm day with temps nearing 80, but there was a very stiff wind out of the south. Apparently I had parked my bike too close to the DISH satellite, and the gusting winds crashed it into the dish. Second oops. 
THE END!!
Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later, Judy
We've done the "YOU NEED TO OPEN THE GRAY WATER VALVE" chant when in the shower and water starts to build up around your feet!!
ReplyDeleteHope that #3 is a good thing...
We have also done the same thing...only we heard the water gurgling in the shower.
ReplyDeleteSounds like December will fly by!
I've done that too. I think all RV'ers do that at least once or twice.
ReplyDeleteI sure get to see so many new birds to me on your blog. Great shots as always
Does that mean you'll be sowing wild oats??????
ReplyDeleteI hate it when my memory decides to go out to lunch.
ReplyDeleteYup. Been there. Done that.
ReplyDeleteWe so seldom have FHUs that we never have our gray tank open. Sounds pretty funny when you told the story but I'm sure it wasn't. Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Great pictures. Your tasks for December seem right up your alley mostly with none of the dreaded VC. Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteAt least you won't have to be inside the VC which I know you don't like!
ReplyDeleteIt is peculiar that we all seem to know that Murphy strikes in threes... that's a good ponder as to why that is. You could do a preemptive Murphy ... can you do that? maybe forget to feed Emma ... Emma will get sore but she'd let you know about it... and the curse could be broken... might work
ReplyDeleteGlad you did not have to swim for it:)
ReplyDeleteWe've also been there, done that with forgetting to reopen the gray water. And yes, it's the overflowing shower flow that alerts us. Isn't it nice to have a Splendide to take care of laundry? Ours shakes the coach, too, and it doesn't lull me to sleep! :-(
ReplyDeleteIf you have only done that once in 7 years, that is pretty good. We will be interested to hear about your bird surveys.
ReplyDeleteSeems that the gray tank issue is a "newbie" problem. No matter how many years we all have been traveling, we can all say...been there, done that.
ReplyDeleteI love the close up of the Great Egret. Gorgeous.
We've done the "leave the grey tank closed" routine several times! I don't think we could sleep through our Splendide spin cycle!
ReplyDeletegrrrr. . .dumping the tanks. . . don't 'cha just hate it when your system (brain fart) fails. . .LOL!
ReplyDeleteTwice in the past month, I've left the blank tank open (never, ever a good idea). . .because I've walked off to do something else while it was draining (serious A.D.D). . .guess I'll start putting the black wristband back on my arm as soon as I pull the valve. . .LOL!
If you are going to forget to dump a tank it's always better to forget the 'Grey' tank and not the Black one.
ReplyDeleteWhat Rick said :)
ReplyDeleteDecember 4, 2013
ReplyDeleteIf you have only done that once in 7 years, that is good. I have done it at least two or more times in five and a half years. I will be interested to see your bird surveys.
http://busterstravelsgeo-bon.blogspot.com
George
Close call, but what better excuse to start the wash? We love our Splendide, don't know how we lived in RVs before we bought this one with the washing machine in it. But you're right, it does shake the rig. :c)
ReplyDeleteMy friend Mike always left his grey tank open, and one year his tank failed, and the repair people told him that leaving the tank valve open was the cause of the problem, because the minerals and other "bits" could not stay in solution. He had to replace his tank!
ReplyDeleteHowever, I've had greywater in my shower before as well, and I don't have a washer/dryer to help clean up!
Once, when Dennis was filling our fresh water tank, water began running on our kitchen floor..I opened the pots and pans drawer under my over and it was full of water...Apparently we had a leak under there...I hate any snafu where water is involved!! We are awaiting the ice storm that is suppose to hit this area Fri, Sat and Sunday...just great.
ReplyDeleteWell this week I have dropped several things causing major messes and cooked to inedible meals...so you are not alone.
ReplyDeleteWe keep both closed. We empty the black and flush it then close it. We then dump the grey to flush out the hose then close it. Like to keep the grey close so when we dump it hopefully the whoosh will take any particles out with the water. The grey can get a lot of build up in the bottom of the tank. When we go away for the day we always shut off the water. Many times one of us is in the bathroom and yell to other to go out and turn on the water.
ReplyDeleteI'm camped at a full hook-up right now and thought of leaving the grey tank open. But, somebody told me I might get little visitors (mice, etc) inside if I leave it open???? I'm not sure but I'm evacuating the grey tank evey couple of days and the black only about every 5 days. It's just me in here but I sure do have a lot of grey water
ReplyDeleteDon't you just hate waiting for that 3rd "oops"?
ReplyDeleteOpps! I think I understand now. Close the gray water, Open blackwater. I finally mastered opening the blackwater tank but didn't understand closing the gray water. That must be to prevent backups, right?
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your winning job descriptions with no VC assignments. Here I'm now on 4 days which is at least 2 days too many. And, for December, I'm the only volunteer here, so there is no way to sneak out. Gardening and writing projects have to be done around the visitors.
Hope that third one is a teeny tiny little oops! Just love your spoonbill header photo…my favorite bird…
ReplyDeleteThe "oops" help keep us vigilant.
ReplyDeleteThese folks do not understand that when you are alone as an RVer, and the water comes up in the shower floor pan, you can't just yell for your spouse to go open the thing... Being by yourself changes how things are done in sooooo many ways.... And you also can't just stop the washer as easily when it decides to pump itself out...
ReplyDeleteI remember a number of years ago when Loyce was alive, and she got up in the middle of the night to go to the loo.. But when she washed her hands in the dark she didn't get the faucet all the way turned off... The black tank was closed..... And in a couple of hours we had about 3 inches of water in the whole rig... It had filled the steps to the door completely.. The bath tub was overflowing... The carpet smelled when we finally got it dried out... Had to shampoo it several times before it was back to livable... So I have a rule that if we are hooked up to an unlimited supply of water, the drain has to be open so its unlimited as well.... If I have to buy a gray tank in the mean time because it has particulate in it, so be it....
Here's another variety of the tank dumping blues: You want to fill fresh water into your tank but instead to connect your water hose to the fresh water tank inlet you accidentally chose the black water flush inlet and let go of the water. Result is your black water tank fills up real fast and finally the water level rises into your toilet bowl and flows over the edge into you rig. Only the water is not clean anymore but contains a lot of.....well you know it. Now you are looking at a nice cleaning job and a week's stay in a hotel room.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteLamanai temple complex sits atop the western bluff of the New River Lagoon and is surrounded by pristine rainforest. Getting to Lamanai is half the fun, your Exploration Excursions starts at the Port of Belize City
lamanai mayan ruins - Lamanai temple complex sits atop the western bluff of the New River Lagoon and is surrounded by pristine rainforest. Getting to Lamanai is half the fun, your Exploration Excursions starts at the Port of Belize City