Deflating Start

Now this is going to be a good weekend.  As we were backing into our site a Prairie Creek campground yesterday, we blew a rear tire.  Not a big bang, but more whistling loud escape of air that took about 1 minute to fully go down.

No problem.  I have roadside service with AARP Hartford insurance and I have a good spare.  The worst case will be I need a new tire, but hey, that's the cost of doing RV business.

So, I call the Hartford roadside service number on the paperwork they sent us.  Three hours and $30 in phone calls later, I gave up.  They can't find me in their database.  Oh, Hartford can, but they contract with Allstate for the actual roadside service and Allstate has some kind of system set up with phone answerers that don't know squat and can't do squat if it's not written on the screen in front of them.  They left me with the option to call someone to help me out and then try to get reimbursed.  Yeh, right.

Well, I can change it myself.  I'm sitting in a campsite with a paved surface and no big trucks whooshing by to scare hell out of me.  But, wait.  I forgot to pack my usual assortment of tools.  In the rush to try to get this site (and one for Stephen) reserved on such short notice and then having to rush around yesterday so I could make my medical test appointments, I didn't follow my regular checklist.  To top it off, I had earlier bought a 20 ton bottle jack for just this occasion and it is still sitting in the garage.  Crap, crap, crap.

After worrying what seems like all night, I got up this morning with the realization I did not need the jack.  The flat tire is on an outside (luckily) rear and I have some leveling ramps I can use.  All I have to do is pull up on one with just the inside tire.  As for tools, well, I have a lug wrench and the special handle to lower the spare from its storage spot underneath.  But, I was concerned about the chrome wheel covers.  They  require a special wrench, too, and the last time I saw my wrench it was in the little red toolbox along with several other "camping" tools and, of course, the little red toolbox is sitting in the garage next to the jack.

So, I resigned myself to calling a local service, pay for it out of pocket then try to get reimbursed.  Even then though, I would need a good spare.  So, this morning Ditto and I went out to lower the spare tire and check it out.  As I reached for the special wrench to lower the spare, I noticed the special wrench to remove the wheel covers lashed conveniently to it with a little bungee cord.  I hate getting old...

Now the only thing I need, besides some muscle, is a 3/8" or 7/16" wrench to remove the valve stem extensions - and Stephen said he has some tools.  I might make this yet.

Labor Day Camping

Stephen bought a new Aspen 29' travel trailer.  He just picked it up Monday and is anxious to try it out.  So, I went looking for a couple of side-by-side campsites at a campground somewhere between us.  Now this has been a really fiasco.

I finally found a pair at Prairie Creek campground on Beaver Lake in Arkansas.  It's a COE campground and though in bad need of updating, it looked okay.  So, I made reservations for both of us - site 93 & 95.

Dusty had shown an interest in possibly coming down to camp with us, so we called to see if they wanted me to make reservations for them too.  Both Dusty & Traci wanted to come, but was having a hard time pulling the trigger.  But, while we were batting it around, I was looking at the campground website for a possible nearby site when I noticed a warning about the road to sites 93 & 95 being very steep and narrow and not satisfactory for larger rigs.  Well, that pretty much settled Dusty & Traci's dilemma.  They opted out.  Then I had to find something more satisfactory for Stephen and us.  Luckily, the were two left up the hill in a loop that has sites for larger units.  I wondered at the time why these two were still available, but noticed they were $1 more because they have 50 amp electric service.  So, it must be the cheap seats fill up first.  Anyway, $24.50 later (fees for reservation change and additional $1 per site) we have reservations for Friday through Sunday night.

But, it wasn't over.  I was waiting for my doctor to call with appointment dates for a couple of tests he wanted me to take.  Sure enough, they have me scheduled for early Friday afternoon.  If lucky, they will be done by 3 or 4.  We are taking Pumpkin to the appointments and plan on heading on down to Beaver Lake from there.

If anything else falls out of the sky and lands anywhere nearby, I may give up.  We're keeping our fingers crossed.

Fine Tuning

Today I bored a hole in the side wall of the counter top - on the end next to the front passenger seat.  I found a power strip in the workshop with a long power cord and hung it on the wall next to the big side window.  The cord then drops down and passes through the hole in the side wall and runs underneath the counter top over to the inverter.  I have the TV plugged into this power strip and will also use it to power the Verizon MiFi (Internet device) and computer power supply.  If I can get my Dish Network receiver working, it will also power that for satellite TV.  The inverter can also handle my WDTV and an external HDD for movies.  This way I can operate most of my electronics on the coach batteries if there is no AC power available and not have to fire up my noisy generator.

Inverter Is In

I finished the inverter installation today.  I bought some 6 ga. welder cable which was perfect for the job.  It's very flexible and easy to route.  I mounted the inverter to the outside wall under the new counter as close to the stairwell as possible.  The battery compartment is under the steps, so I was able to keep the cables fairly short.

I routed the cables through the sidewall of the counter up next to the outside wall and down along side the door frame.  Then I ran them under the last step to the battery compartment.  The last step is a thick piece of plywood, so I cut away some of the underside to make a channel for the cables.  The only place the cable is visible (besides under the counter) is the short run along the door frame, about 12".

I still have to get a power strip with a long cord.  I want to drill a hole in the counter side wall on the opposite end toward the front and mount it on the wall just behind the passenger seat.  That's where the Internet modem mounts and is also near the TV cabinet.

TV On The Run

Not really.  Who needs to watch TV when the world is passing by outside?  But, I received my 1100 watt inverter today.  I need to get some heavy gauge wire to install it, but it should serve us well.  I plan to power our Verizon MiFi and laptop computer with it so we can jump on the Internet while on the road without firing up the generator.  With frugal use, we can brew a pot of coffee or watch TV for a while, too.

Speaking of TV, I ordered a new LNBF (knobby looking thing that goes on the satellite dish) and a satellite signal meter & compass.  Pumpkin has an old satellite dish built in and we can use our Dish receiver out of the kitchen.  Resurrecting the old dish is not too expensive, but it will require some tweaking to set up.  At least we should be able to get CNN and maybe even KY3 while on the road.

Leaky Plumbing

While at Babler, Joyce notice some dampness on the floor in the bedroom.  It was an old spot - meaning I had repaired a leak in that area before.  I opened up the panel that exposed the plumbing behind the water control vavles and sure enough, the floor was wet there.  But, I was unable to find a leak.  I connected up the city water line and applied city water pressure (if you want to call Moore Bend Water Co. city water).  After the higher pressure was applied for a while, a little seep leak began at one of the joints I had worked on before.  I tightened the clamp and added a second clamp for insurance.  That seemed to do the trick, however, I need a good water regulator to keep the pressure down.  I have two of the el cheapo regulators available at Walmart and they have both failed.  So, I need to get a better regulator.  In the meantime, the plumbing doesn't leak with the internal pump pressure.  So, I'll just fill up the tank when needed and switch off the city water.  No need for that excess pressure anyway.

Update: 2 days later with the pump left on and still no leak.  I'm going with it as is.

Home Again

We packed up and left Babler State Park about 1 pm.  It was a long but pleasant drive home - except for that damned Travel Plaza where we stopped for gas.  Those places aren't set up for an RV towing a Jeep.  As I left, I wound up pushing over one of their signs just to get cranked around and out of there.  You can't back up with a car in tow.  You would think a place that calls themselves "Travel Plaza" would have fueling spots for RVs.

We got home about 5:30 pm.  It was a nice trip.  And, Oxford was here waiting and all the chickens are accounted for (I think).

Funny thing...as we turned the corner to start down Cox Rd, Pumpkin quit again.  Just like before in almost the precise location.  Weird!  It started right back up with no problem.  We may have a "haint" hanging around that corner.  Where's the Ghost Busters when you need them?