APRIL 2014 The Journey Home.

Now that we own the Motorhome, we have to go back to Phoenix to get it.  Neither of us had ever driven anything like this, except around the parking lot and a little in the area, so we enlisted the help of a friend, who has the experience.

Karen and I flew out to Phoenix on Sunday April 13^th; we took the shuttle to my in-laws house where we planned on only staying a day or two.  We had a wonderful dinner and chatted a bit, then went to bed.  

Sometime during that night I became violently ill.  I won’t go into details here, but it was three days before I felt somewhat alive again.  Though I hate the taste of Gatorade, it became my friend that week.

Wednesday, we went to get the Motorhome and bring it back to the house, so we could make the beds and stock it up for the trip home. Now, Karen was feeling a bit ill, but it didn’t deter her from wanting to hit the road.  Thursday morning we did just that.

We made it to Holbrook, AZ that day and it was a beautiful drive.  We both were still a bit weak and went to bed early.  That night around 2am an alarm went off and woke us up.  We met in the hallway of the RV and stared at each other for a moment, wondering where the noise was coming from.  We finally figured out that it was the LP leak detector making all the racket.  We found a reset button and pushed it, the alarm went off, momentarily, and it again blared.  We started sniffing and couldn’t smell gas, so why was this thing making all this noise?  I got my phone and Googled RV repair shops, there was one only 50 yards away at the end of the RV park lot.  How’s that for luck?  I called the number to leave a message and someone answered.   A nice guy showed up and after unplugging the wires to the detector and crawling under the rig, he assured us there was no leak and the detector was just old and not working.  (They only last 5-7 years, so if you have an older one, be sure to replace it).  They are not expensive and we picked one up at Camping World the next day, along with a few necessary tools like a screwdriver.

Friday, we planned on getting well past Albuquerque, NM, after a quick stop at the Camping World there.  We stopped at a rest stop somewhere near Albuquerque and the winds were ferocious.  There were a number of cars and other RVs there and we noticed a loud clanging, like metal pots being banged together.  We assumed it was something loose on one of the other vehicles.  Well all the other cars left, but the rattle did not.  Darn it! It must be us.  Karen crawled under the Motorhome and found a broken weld point on a long hunk of steel. The wind was blowing so hard that this steel plate was banging on another hunk of steel.  If this broke off, it could have cut through a tire or any number of things under the rig, not to mention it may have flown out behind the rig and into the path of traffic.  It had to be fixed ASAP.

  

We arrived at Camping World in Albuquerque around 3pm on Friday.  It was the Friday before Easter, by the way.  I went into the service area to plead my case and the first lady who asked to help me, want to schedule an appointment for Tuesday, but suggested I could continue and then have it fixed when I got home.  I kept trying to explain how dangerous this could be, but she didn’t get it.  Another lady heard me and came over to see if she could help, her name was Jennifer and she said she’d go out and ask Rick if he could take a look.  He did and said he could fix it; we should go do our shopping and then come back to the service area again.  Jennifer and Rick at Albuquerque camping world saved our lives that day and I will be forever grateful.   Needless to say, we didn’t get as far as planned but we were safe.  We spent the night in Cedar Crest, NM, just outside of Albuquerque.

Saturday the winds continued to blow at 20mph with gusts up to 40mph.  We passed another RV on the side of the road with its awning hanging down the side of the motorhome.  We felt bad for them, but there wasn’t anything we could do to help.  We were both feeling better and decided to take the business I40 (old route 66) through Tucumcari for a stop for lunch.  It was a ghost town, there were no cafes to be found, just a lot of boarded up buildings and only a couple that looked like they might house a company.  We continued to San Jon, NM, where we pulled into a deserted gas station and had another ham sandwich and some chips.  Karen says “Does this thing have a TV antenna, I don’t remember seeing one.” “Yes, it does” I say “I’ll show you.”  We walk outside to find a spot where you can see the antenna and that’s not all we see.  The fiberglass roofing is lifting off the RV on both sides.

Now, what are we going to do?  If the winds continue and/or it rains, we could have some real problems.  While we sat there pondering what to do, I thought we should buy a “FOR SALE” sign and get a ride to the nearest airport and go home.  Three nights on the road and three issues pop up.  We still have a couple days of driving before we get home.  Karen was the sane one and thought that was a bad idea.  Just about then, we see the RV that was on the side of the road earlier pull into a lot about 1000 feet from where we are sitting. Again we were lucky.  I think somebody is watching over us.  It’s a Freightliner repair shop, probably the primary employer for the town.  So we went there too.

Obviously, they didn’t know much about motorhomes.  After a bit of a discussion, the young man removed the awning from the other RV and they tossed it into the dumpster.  Those folks were ready to hit the road again.  It’s our turn now, we pulled into one of the service bays.  The same young man takes a look at our damage and says, with a drawl, “I ain’t seen anythin’ like this afore.  I’m not sure what to do about it.”  I suggested that he pull the roof down as much as possible and put screws in to hold it til we get back to St. Louis, then caulk it heavily.  He said he’d try that.  After he made a couple trips to the parts department for 10 screws at a time, I suggested that I get the screws and he keep putting them in.  I got enough screws for him to put one every 6-8 inches the entire length of the rig and handed them to him a few at a time. 

We continued to Amarillo, TX Saturday evening to spend the night.  I am fed up with problems with this thing and am not sure if it’s worth the trouble.  My wife calmed me down and predicted that the worse was over.  She was right.  Karen drove the RV through heavy winds and then torrential rains in Texas and Oklahoma and there were no more issues.  We stayed in Chandler, OK on Sunday night and then went to Springfield, MO where we left the RV at a dealer overnight to get the Missouri inspection. Karen’s brother lives nearby and we went to his house for the night.  We woke up to the smell of bacon cooking and had fresh eggs from their chickens.  It was delicious.  I was feeling pretty good now. 

I called a RV service place that we found at one of the RV Shows in St. Louis, and made an appointment to leave it there to get the roof fixed and have it checked out thoroughly.  We took it there on Tuesday and Donna, (my wife) picked us up there.  They actually got us some refunds from the extended warranty people for the work we had done as well as his repair.  Jimmie at 3RRV in Union MO, 636 583-2244 is now our primary contact when we have anything RV related.  This is a number to remember if you need service and are in the area.  His shop is just about a mile and a half off I44 just north of St. Clair.  We have had him do some updates and make some repairs and have never been disappointed in the outcome.