Perils of RV Ownership

As with everything mechanical there is always maintenance to do. This weekend, one of my objectives was to get the oil changed in the genny but I needed the part numbers from the air filter & oil filter. I didn't get to it on Saturday so Sunday I went in search of the filters, oh, via phone. No one had them so I was SOL for my planned maintenance. I went ahead and checked the oil, which was full and amber in color so I think it's doing okay until I get out to Cullum & Maxey (C&M) and get the parts. It doesn't look too complicated to do and I thought I would drain the oil into a milk jug and take it to be recycled. Hum, how's that for environmentally thoughtful????

Let me back up. On Saturday I got ready to put the jacks down so I could put the slides out and the jacks wouldn't work. I looked at the owners manual to see if I could figure out what was wrong, you know the supposed troubleshooting section? What a laugh, it was non-existent. Guess it's 'cause they don't want lay people working on them. Anyway, this had happened one time before and the C&M guys took the plate off and there was some rubber dropped down and prevented the connection. I thought I would look to see if that is what happened again. Well, lo, and behold, there were two little pieces of rubber preventing contact. Gosh, I'm so smart. Saved me a trip. So I put the plate back on, put my tools away, got up in the driver seat, started the engine and reached down to operate the controls and-------NOTHING! What, that was supposed to have fixed it but nooooo, it did not! So I do it all again and got the vacuum cleaner out and sucked all the debris out of there, tried it again, this time before putting the plate, tools, etc back and still nothing. So it will have to be a trip to C&M or the RV place in Clarksville. So aggravating.

Didn't have too much luck with the maintenance end of Somewhere this weekend. Maybe next time will be better.

Lesson learned, but if you laugh...I don't blame you, I did too. Well you see, I turned the frig on in Somewhere when I first arrived and turned it to Auto which puts it on the setting where power is supplied. In other words if there is AC it will use that first, if no AC it will use LP. Okay, here goes! I turned the generator on because it was so hot and I wanted air conditioning. I checked the frig, well, nothing, I thought. So I switched it to LP. Here it comes...did you know that if you run the generator it's the same as producing AC so the frig will run on AC instead of LP???? DUH, DUH well I didn't! Yes, I admit it. I didn't. So I called C&M and the service dept was already closed so I asked the salesman if he knew anything about frigs? He said, what's your problem. I explained about the frig, he asked how long it had been on, I said 4 hrs, etc. He said well, it should have cooled by now. Sometime in that conversation I mentioned that the genny was running, he said, well if your generator is running it will supply the AC you need to run your frig and you don't have to use the LP. WHAT? I said. Then I could hear the little grin in his voice. I explained that all this is new to me, he said that's alright, we all have to learn.

I stopped and did a palm to my head and said dummy, I should have known that. And folks, I could have figured it out, but I didn't stop to think. I am so unsure of all this right now, that it doesn't come second nature to me. YET! I'm getting more and more comfortable and the more I go out or go to where she is parked it does get better. I am so glad that I went ahead and got Somewhere before I get on the road full time. At least this gives me time to figure most of it out and will prepare me for what I'm up against. If I had not done this now, I would have been a basket case and been questioning myself, my skills, my abilities and my knowledge. This is what I want to do and this is what I will do!

I don't know what I would do w/out the crew at Cullum & Maxey. They are just terrific to help me troubleshoot, answer "stupid" questions and just all around a good dealer to solo women. But I'm sure they are that way to guys too.

Oh, one more thing. Saturday night I went to bed early. Turned the genny off and opened the windows. I'm fortunate that Somewhere's windows in the bedroom crank out and they are opposite each other so a nice breeze blows through. About 1:30 a.m. I awoke to a very loud, ground shattering boom! Thunder. Then it started raining hard. I lay there a few minutes and thought how nice the rain sounded on the roof of Somewhere and what it would be like if I were out next to a body of water and thoughts of my life after state government. Man, am I ready to go. Oh, but I digress...then Somewhere lit up like a giant strobe light. Lightening, followed by a giant clap of thunder, didn't even have time to count, one-one thousand. It was here. A thunderstorm like no other. Sedona sits straight up in bed with that one. It's time for me to get up and see what's here.

Somewhere has a weather band radio built into the radio in the dash. So I went in to the living room and turned it on. Severe thunderstorm warning for Montgomery Co. That's where I am and I thought it was so cool that the weather band picked up my location. It wasn't giving info for Nashville but for Montgomery Co. Anyway, the next county over Springfield, Robertson Co had a tornado warning but that county is just southeast of Montgomery so I thought I was going to be okay and didn't need to go into Roger's basement. I opened the big window shades and Sedona and I just sat there and watched the most beautiful light show I've seen in quite a while. I couldn't tell if it was because I was out in the country away from the city that made everything looks so crisp, and ominous at the same time but it was just awe inspiring. I enjoyed my storm in Somewhere and hope to experience many more.

You know it seems that every time I have been out in Somewhere there is always rain &/or storms. Hope this is not a sign of things to come.