These first three lessons came to me during our “practice trip” in November, 2010. We leased Harvey (our RV) for Thanksgiving weekend to see if it would serve our family’s needs. On the last day of our trip, I was hurrying to empty the sewage tanks at our campsite. Meanwhile, the girls inside were cleaning up and getting ready to go. Now, the extendable slides extend over the sewage compartment doors. So I had the sewage door open, and the slide was retracting. I heard the sound and thought something had gone wrong in the sewer line. Then I saw the slide squeezing the trap door and I identified the sound: metal stress. I yelled inside for them to stop pulling in the slides, but by the time it stopped, the door and the slide were badly damaged.

That afternoon, at home in Elk Grove, I parked the rig in front of our house to unload it. To make it easier to vacuum the bins, I decided to turn the vehicle around, to face the other direction. In my rush, I backed into our mailbox. Though the collision caused little damage to the mailbox, it caused more significant damage to the back corner of the RV and it sheared off the rear turn signal. While disgusted at the morning’s event, it was almost an excusable accident. But the later damage was from my own incompetence. I was thoroughly disgusted with myself. Yet the accumulation of events taught me three important lessons:

1.      Lesson 1: Ask for help.

Lesson 2: Communicate.

Lesson 3: Do not rush.