With the way things went yesterday, you would think it was Friday the 13th. We had a couple of mishaps, but it could always be worse.

Yesterday I dumped our holding tanks. I have a routine I follow for this. Since we’ve hit the road I’ve done this at least 20 times. I usually dump the tanks every five days or so. The set routine is this: open the dump valve on the black water tank. It drains quickly through a 3″ pipe and hose. If the tank is about 2/3 full, it takes about 35 seconds to drain. Then I close the valve and fill with fresh water. Our coach is equipped with a Swan San-i-Flush system. This set-up sprays fresh water into the tank when I open a valve. I fill for 12 minutes. This is the amount of time it takes to fill the tank 2/3 full. Then I drain and repeat. Once the black tank has been rinsed twice, I close the drain and add a few gallons of water and put a treatment down the toilet. Then I drain and flush the gray water tank. The gray water is shower and kitchen sink waste.

I always check my watch when I’m flushing the  tank. 12 minutes puts the right amount of  water into the holding tanks. Yesterday, I drained the black water tank. I flushed for 12 minutes and drained. I checked my watch and started the second flush. For some reason, I went inside the coach. I usually stay outside and keep an eye on things. Once I was inside, I sat in front of my laptop and became distracted. I was checking e-mail when Donna said, “I hear water or something in the bathroom.” I looked at my watch and said, “Oh sh!t.”

More than 15 minutes had elapsed since I started flushing the tank with fresh water. I jumped up and dashed out the door. I ran to the wet bay and opened the black water valve. Whoosh…it drained vigorously for about 45 seconds. Our bathroom sink is plumbed into the black tank. What Donna heard was water backing up into the sink and overflowing onto the floor. The toilet seals, so it didn’t come up through the toilet.

Once I had the valve open, I came back inside. Lucky for us, Donna heard the water as soon as it overflowed. We mopped up the counter and floor, then Donna sanitized everything. This could have been a real disaster. Lesson learned: stick to my routine. Do not leave the wet bay area when flushing the tank. Do not let myself become distracted.

I put the towels we used for clean-up into a trash bag and went to the park’s laundromat to wash them. I usually take about 40 minutes to dump and rinse the holding tanks. Adding clean-up and laundry time made it a two-hour job.

The afternoon was uneventful. I returned the unused gallon of paint I bought for the trailer floor and received a $26 credit. It was a beautiful afternoon, clear skies and temperature in the mid 70s. The Snack Shack had a special – homemade chili and a grilled cheese sandwich for $5. I had that and sat outside reading.

Last evening Donna was preparing picadillo for dinner. This is a Cuban dish made with ground beef, onions, garlic, diced tomatoes, green olives, raisins and green apples. It’s spiced with cinnamon and cumin. It’s served over rice or spaghetti and it’s one of my favorite dishes.

Donna had a glass of wine on the counter next to the stove. The picadillo was simmering on the cooktop, just about ready to serve. Donna turned and accidentally bumped the glass of wine. The glass fell over onto the pan, breaking into pieces in the picadillo. Oh no! And we had another mess to clean up.

I threw out the picadillo. We had pizza delivered from Big Kahuna in Pacific Beach and sat outside with our neighbors around the fire. What a day.

Bud’s washtub firepit

This morning we are planning to go out on the bay with our neighbors, Bud and Mona. Donna will try the stand-up paddle board and I will kayak. Later, my daughter, Shauna will take us up to Sun City to visit my step-dad.