Blinded By The Light

Yesterday was wash-the-rig day.  Wouldn't you know, I would pick the hottest day of the year to try and clean the muck off.  The weather guessers said 105.  The RV is not dirty as in mud from the road, it's dirty from the gunk that streams off the roof after a rain.

You can barely see it in this image, but trust me, it looks like someone dunked it in drippy frosting and let it run down the sides.  This is NOT an easy task.  I gathered up all my supplies along with a few towels and began work at 6:30 am.

Using my trusty windshield washer, I scrubbed the side in the shade four feet at a time, then rinsed, followed by a squeegee (just turn the washer around) and a quick towel dry.  The washing pad is removable, whereupon I wrap a clean towel around the end and use it to dry off the water spots from my too hard water.  

Whoever came up with the idea to paint the top of this rig black should be staked out on an ant hill.  The white gunk against the black paint is a lesson in contrast.  Don't worry about that pulled muscle on my right side, I'm sure it will heal up in a year or two.

But wait ... there's a problem.  There is a 12 inch space ABOVE the slide out covers that I can't reach.  It's almost completely white.  I guess I'll have to climb up there after all.  

Yes, I should have washed the entire roof first, but it's scary up there, dragging a 50 pound water hose around.  I just didn't want to do it.  What I DID do was take my already wet rags and hang over the edge trying to wipe off all the gunk I could.  I was practically laying down on my stomach.  The less hanging over the edge, the better!  

I've considered covering the roof with some product, but that would mean washing it well, drying it, then perching on top while spreading something around.  TWICE!  It would probably be worth it.

As I started down the second side, I was blinded by the light from the sun.  I tried to hang out under the fifth wheel hitch on the horse trailer or stay very close to the rig.  That resulted in a nice goose egg on my head and me getting soaked with dirty water as it dripped off the washer onto my hair.  I'm sure my sight will return in a week or two.

A few feet further along, as I hit the black paint with cold water, steam began to emanate from the side.  I rather doubted that would work well, so I stopped for the day with about 1/3 left to wash.

I bandaged up my possibly broken toe from tripping over the hose and plopped on the couch with a Pepsi.  I earned it.  I even ate TWO peanut butter cookies, just so I could get up enough energy to feed the critters.  

THIS morning ... like right now ... I'll limp back out and try to finish the last bit.