Sorry open mike. I was using the term "put up" for both setting up the awning as well as putting it away. My mistake. Earl said you should have the awning on a slant whenever it's in it's out position. We roll it up in its 'put away' position when high winds are predicted, and when we leave the trailer for more than a day. Also we have the awning tied down with stakes and rope so it should be able to handle some amount of wind.

Thanks for the helpful advice everyone. As far as getting into a ditch for protection is concerned, our trailer is practically in a ditch as it is. It seems like we're at the lowest point in the RV park. Whenever it rains, we get a big lake just outside the door of the trailer.

Strick, we were listening to the radio until well after the tornado warning was over, but I have to confess I didn't know where we would go if one was spotted in our area. As it turned out, there was some damage to the north and northwest of us, but I didn't hear about any casualties.

So far, I've learned about how to connect sewer line hoses, water hoses, water filters, and how to drain the tanks. I think my next plumbing adventure will probably be hosing down the inside of the black water tank to get it properly cleaned out. I can't tell you all how much I'm looking forward to that (*ahem*). The people who sold us the trailer didn't give us any instructions. They said we could download them from the maker's website. That will be my next on-line project, I guess.

I've decided to take a pro-active approach to the lake that forms in our site when it rains. The campground people said they would put gravel in our site to fix the problem, but I'm not holding my breath. I've decided to dig a very small trench around the area where we have our astro-turf lawn (under the awning area), to divert it away from our outside livingroom, and fill the trench with a little bit of gravel. That ought to keep some of the mud off of our fake lawn.

The other issue that needs to be addressed is the fact that the outlet for our black water tank is only a little bit higher than the pipe in the ground for the septic and grey water. So we don't get any siphon effect and I spend a lot of time draining the hose by lifting it up to drain the water out of it. The hose is probably twenty feet long because of where the trailer is parked in relation to the pipe in the ground, so draining it is a lot of fun.

I'm thinking about maybe putting some more levelers under the tires of the trailer to raise it up a bit. I have to admit I'm tempted to take a hacksaw to the pipe in the ground to lower it a bit. The campground people said they'd put gravel in our site to raise our trailer up higher, but as I said, I'm not holding my breath.

We had a big thunderstorm last night. I was watching it from the window right next to where I sleep (more about how our trailer is set up in another post). It was amazing to be so close to nature and still feel protected from it as I did last night. That's part of the beauty of living in a travel trailer, I think. More tomorrow or the next day.