Don't Fence Me In

I've been on the road for almost a week now and haven't made a lot of progress, both in my travels and my blogging. What can I say – I've been busy. I'm making up for it with this blog. It is going to be super text heavy.

It was difficult getting out of town this winter. Let's start with the car crash in the beginning of January which totaled my beloved Mini Cooper. Of a lesser note, it also fractured a couple of bones in my hand, not bad enough that I needed a cast, but bad enough that I should wear a brace for the next few weeks. I'm thinking that I sure would not want to be a car owned by me – it seems every two years some major hurt happens to a car owned by me.

After running around furiously (I have a time table to follow – like get out of Minnesota before I freeze), I end up buying a Ford Focus – same car that caught on fire a couple of years ago, except this is a manual instead of an automatic. I have to get the tow bar and supplemental braking system installed so I can tow it behind the RV.

I left on a Saturday, which was important because there was a major snow storm predicted on Sunday and ended up in Osceola Iowa at Lakeside Casino where I always stay my first night on the road. This was of note because I think it was one of the few times that I stayed there and there wasn't a blizzard or high wind warnings out. I woke up to an extremely dense fog, got gas and headed out.

Past Kansas City, near a town in Missouri called Nevada (said Ne-vay-da) all of a sudden I notice the RV coolant indicator heating up. It is climbing higher and higher. Just as it reached the red zone and the 'Reduced Engine Performance' light came on, I pulled over and shut the engine off. Roads in Missouri are usually not built with much of a shoulder. Those semis going by were really rocking the RV. I turned the engine back on, it was a normal temperature and started off again. This time the temperature climbed much faster. Time to call Roadside Assistance. They had a couple of guys come out ( think guys that looked like they belonged in Duck Dynasty) and they put four gallons of coolant in. They could not see any leaks and thought the wind had just blown the coolant out. Sounded a little fishy, but what do I know?

Proceeded on down the road, into a torrential rain storm. Got a little lost and finally got to the park I was staying at and settled in for the night. Have I mentioned that Miko seems to have developed a new nervous trigger (besides her travel in the RV phobia) which is rain storms. Lovely, soothing rain on the roof sets her all a-tremble. The next morning, I looked at my coolant and it looked low so I put another two gallons in. At this point I figured I needed to get this looked at, but I'm in the middle of Nowhere, Missouri.

I get as far as Arkansas, engine is heating up again. I pull over into a hotel parking lot and start making phone calls. First I call RV places but they tell me that they can't work on it because it is an engine problem, they only work on RV stuff. I then call Ford dealers because I have a Ford engine. Nope, they can't work on it because I'm too big for their bays. I find a place called Truck Service of Arkansas and give them a call. Yes – they can work on it. Yay!!!! I pull in, get in line (they are first come, first serve). After about an hour, they tell me – Nope, we can't work on your rig – you are a gas engine, we only work on diesel engines. What am I supposed to do now?

I call and call and finally find a guy who takes pity on me. Bless his heart. Joe actually said when I told him my story, as an exclamation – 'Oh Good Gravy' How can you not like somebody like that? I end up at Crain's Buick/GMC dealer – nicest people ever. After they diagnosed the problem – cracked radiator - They dealt with my extended warranty people which helped a lot. The warranty paid for a couple of nights in a hotel, so Miko and I stayed at La Quinta. First room's sink would not drain, the second room's ceiling would drip when the guy upstairs took a shower.

Crain ordered a new radiator which took a day to get here and then when they opened the box, it turned out the radiator was all bent up. So they had to order another one. At this point the RV is up on blocks. I spent last night in the RV, behind the locked fence with the three rows of barb wire up on top. It actually wasn't too bad, I guess I felt pretty secure here. If I can't get out, I figure no nefarious creatures can get in. They think they will have the radiator replaced today, but I'm not so hopeful. We shall see.

Update: Radiator is in (YAY!!!), but they have found that something called a Transmission Coolant Housing unit that is cracked. They have ordered the part from Memphis but it will not be here before next Tuesday. So I guess I am living in the car lot until next Tuesday at the earliest. These guys at Crain though have been so wonderful to me. They have me hooked up to electricity, they have filled my tanks with water – they have given me a key to the gate – I cannot say enough about how great their customer service has been. Although I don't quite understand why they haven't ordered a name plate on my chair in the customer lounge – I mean I've been sitting in that chair for almost a week. :-)

My nightly view - can't see the barb wire, but it is there