The ECR kicked off with most of the attendees arriving on Saturday 05 April. It was exciting to watch a nearly continual stream of “Heavy Haulers,” toterhomes, and pickups pulling, mostly, 5ver (fifth-wheel trailers) and pull trailers arriving during the day. Actually, we had some attendees rent the cabins that are immediately adjacent to the camping area where Kim (owner of Deer Run RV Resort) had assigned to our group.

For some folks, those RV (recreational vehicle) terms may be unfamiliar; so, let’s just define what I mean by those terms:

1. Heavy Hauler – A class 7 or 8 semi-tractor (like those used to pull semi-trailers, aka 18-wheeler), usually equipped with an RV, fifth-wheel, air hitch;
2. Toterhome – A super Class C RV, that is the front end of a semi-tractor, but with livingroom/lounge, kitchen, bathroom, shower and living quarters built onto the same frame;
3. 5ver – An RV trailer having a pin attachment for hitching to the tow vehicle’s fifth-wheel hitch; and,
4. Pull Trailer – An RV trailer having a coupling attachment (usually an extension of the trailer frame) for hitching to the tow vehicle’s ball hitch).

The ECR is developed and coordinated by our friends Carl and Donna, who havescheduled presentations of interest to RV enthusiasts, afternoon “happy hour,” pot-luck meals (some with a definite theme, such as bring-a-dish representing the region of the country that you call “home”), group games, and periods of down-time to just relax or do chores, etc. Quite a few of the presentations have to do with information about using heavy haulers as tow vehicles and about more general RV subjects, such as “Living in your RV full-time” [Full-time means just what it sounds like: living in your RV home just as you would in a “sticks-and-bricks” home, except that you may travel with your RV home and when you arrive at your destination, you’re home; i.e., your RV home may be your permanent residence all year, or a major part of the year.] The 2014 East Coast Rally schedule.

I attended and enjoyed the presentations through Wednesday morning; but, I had to install a Hayes Air Brake Controller to replace the the Prodigy Brake Controller in our Volvo. For two years, now, I’ve felt that we’ve gotten very little (if any) trailer-brake support upon braking; so, I’m determined to try the Hayes controller, instead. I, also, had to install a Jackalopee [that’s a device that uses relays to sense the various, Volvo lighting systems to control the same lighting systems in the 5ver; e.g., stop lights, running lights, turn signals, and to sense the signal from the Hayes controller to apply (proportionally) the 5ver’s brakes]. Because those devices (Hayes Brake Controller and Jackalopee) are fairly simple devices to install, I estimated that two afternoons sessions and one morning session would be adequate (12 hours, total); I was wrong!! The installation of both devices was complete on Monday evening (5 days later, ~50 hours). [But, I know a lot more about some of the Volvo’s systems than I did before I started the project and it is done the way I want it done.]