We decided to try Nolin Lake out for a weekend. The campground was well reviewed and very difficult to get a reservation. We were finally were able to get a reservation for Oct 2-4th. We were leaving right after work and the drive was roughly 1.5 hours. We had done most of the packing the night before and had to grab the last minute items and put them in the RV. The drive is partially expressway and a good portion back roads. I had chosen to travel more on the expressway rather than take a highway which is known to have a lot of pot holes. As we were traveling down the expressway we came to a part where a lot of construction was occurring. Then I noticed a lot of people running back towards a car that had gone off the expressway. Some of these people did not pull their cars off the expressway enough and we almost hit them, all while a semi was speeding past us. It was quite a scary situation. Luckily our exit was next and I was glad to take it.
One thing that has been happening while driving the RV is the low pressure alarm for the air system has been going off. The gauges go from 130 to zero and bounce around all the while a screaming alarm is blaring. This is something we need to get checked out. The whole time the alarm is going off the brakes are working properly so I think it is a false error.
The drive on the back roads was horrible. We had winding roads, big hills, and sharp turns. At one point the GPS was going to have us turn down a road and there was no way we were going to make the turn. I said no way and we went straight which ended up being a longer way but much safer. For most of this drive the air alarm was going off and it was driving me crazy. We did pull over once and the noise stopped only to come back on a few miles later.
We finally arrived and got to the campsite. We leveled out the coach and started to put the slides out, but the large full wall side wouldn’t go out. The locking mechanism would retract but the slide would not move. The smaller bedroom slide worked properly. We tried moving the coach to be more level, but that didn’t help. Since it was starting to get late we decided to just live with the slide in. We had some dinner and relaxed the rest of the night, though I kept researching online why the slide would not go out.
The next morning I called Fleetwood support and they walked me through checking some items with the slide. Everything seemed to be correct so the recommended I get it looked at by a repair shop. I kept trying different things and eventually while standing outside a neighbor came over and offered his assistance, but he wasn’t able to help.
We did go walking around the campground and boy what a beautiful site we had overlooking the lake. We enjoyed sitting outside looking at this wonderful view.
I ended up getting called from work and had to spend 4 hours working to fix a major issue. I was able to work outside enjoying the view while dealing with the issue. It wasn’t a bad way to spend some time working. While I worked Mendy and the kids took another walk around the campground.
One thing we have been having problems with is the bed, it is so uncomfortable. My wife and I both wake up sore. We really need to either replace it or get a mattress topper.
The next morning we woke up had some breakfast and shower and began to pack everything up. We weren’t in a hurry so we took our time watching as the campground began to clear out. I wanted to time it so we didn’t have to wait at the dump station. We got lucky and as we arrived at the dump station the person ahead of us was just pulling out. I dumped and cleaned the tanks and we began the drive home.
The drive home was a lot easier then the drive there. The alarm didn’t go off until we were probably 4 miles from the Gene Snyder freeway. Once on the Gene Snyder the alarm went off and didn’t come back on. My wife and I took the RV to the fuel station and filled it up. She was very hungry so she grabbed a snack while I pumped the fuel. We need to eat lunch prior to leaving campgrounds in the future. We get to hungry by the time we get home.
After filling the RV with fuel we drove home and parked the RV. The kids are really getting good at directing me when backing into the driveway. I am not sure how I would do it with out them.
Once we got parked I wanted to level the coach and see if the slide would work. So the kids and I got the RV level and began to put out the slide. The locking arms retracted and the slide went out like normal. Boy was that a relief and also very frustrating. I think the issue was the levelness of the RV. While the levelers all said we were level and the bubble levels I have said we were level, the slide out didn’t think we were level enough. There are several safety mechanisms built into the slide out and I guess it didn’t feel we were positioned well enough to let the slide move out.
One of the things I am glad about is the RV is usable when the slides are both in. We were able to spend a weekend in the RV with the majority of space being inaccessible due to the slide out not opening. This is one thing I really like about this RV and I am glad we thought of this situation when we were looking for RV’s. Some RV’s are really not usable with the slides in, thankfully ours is.
We really enjoyed Nolin and I would return, but we would have to do a better job leveling the RV.