[For those reading these blog posts when they come out, note that I’ll be posting two per day, and occasionally three, for at least the next couple of weeks, to catch up; I’m getting a bit of a backlog. Typically the first post of the day will be a major topic, and the second will be a video or food post or such. Enjoy the extra content!]

When getting set up in a new campsite, one of the important tasks is to ensure that the coach is positioned well, which means close to the utility hookups (power, water, sewer), the basement doors can be opened without hitting the aforementioned utilities or other obstructions, and very importantly, the slide-outs can be opened without hitting anything.

It’s easy enough to line up the utilities (and the cable and hoses have some flexibility in that), and to try opening basement doors to make sure they don’t hit anything (though sometimes I do better than other times). The slide-outs are a bit tricker in a tight space, as it’s hard to tell how far they come out when they’re closed. Some people have suggested techniques like using one’s arm, or markings on a broom or such.

But an idea I had was to use the doors, since I’ll want to open them to check them anyway. So I added some red pin-striping tape onto the top of some of the doors, to mark where the slide-outs come to. I can simply open the doors, and make sure no tree branches or other obstructions would get too close to those lines: