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Published: April 15th 2015
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Our RV ready to leave
Our friends are here Woke up nicely this morning with only good thoughts about going home and seeing our family and friends back in Shongo. Our wonderful Tropical Palms friends came by to wish us a fond farewell. A sad moment as we looked back in the mirrors and saw them waving goodbye. But we shall see them again, which makes our goodbyes more like “See You Soon’s” -- that's easier to take. Lulu blubbered as we crept our rolling house out of the park and onto the highway.
Smooth sailing…..traffic lessened as we left the metropolis of Disney World behind. RV was riding nice….humming along…..the RV as well as ourselves. All’s well in our part of the world!
OR SO WE THOUGHT! What is that horrible buzzing alarm sound? Dash gauge reads “ Coolant…Temperature Hot”----CHECK ENGINE!! Cripe! Jeekers! Dam! Cory pulled our hot rig to the shoulder of the major highway (I-75) and we jumped out to see what was going on. Besides the HOT message, it said something about voltage which meant our alternator. Noooooooo. We could see fluid in our coolant tanks so what did the hot message truly mean? The gauge inside did show we were in the red
Sam, Sandy, Diane
Sandy, Jon, Diane zone: HOT! Cory sat & thought for a minute as I was looking up our roadside assistance number. He looked under the RV and saw the problem: broken fan belt or whatever belt is next to the alternator. CRAP! This is not good. We are stuck. SOS! Shut up, Lulu…..we can't takes pictures of you right now…what a diva! We are busy! She got right under the RV offering her assistance. Probably so I could take her picture…..selfie goddess.
Good Sam’s Road Assistance called a tow truck for us which would take us to a freightliner shop. We are located just above Ocala near a town called called Reddick…exit 368 is our next exit. So all we can do is sit and wait and pace and take pictures (Lulu likes this) and alert friends and family what's happening and say “it could be worse.” It always can be much worse! The traffic is tough on the highway. We are rocking inside our RV as the big rigs go past. We are just like being in a rowboat on the high seas during a monsoon. I'm sea sick! Lulu is puking! Grab your life preservers. We are going to be
Broken Down
On I-75 near Ocala awhile. Two hours later, the big tow truck shows up. Thank, God. With no difficulty, the burly truck driver hooked up our RV to his big hauler. He kind of reminded me of Ernest T.Bass from the Andy Griffith Show. Wiry (but tall), no teeth, unshaven and a big gob of tobacco in his mouth. Eewww. Lulu still kept eyeing him. She is such a big flirt. He said he could tow us to his Repair Shop and probably get the job done today…freightliner couldn't. It was closer and made more sense so as he dragged our house down the highway, we followed closely behind in our car. What is wrong with this picture? We are supposed to be driving that RV and towing our car. It almost seems like an out-of-body experience. Lulu can relate with no body. Right off exit 368, we stopped at Hi-Way Mart: Repair for (Trucks, RV’s, Semi’s, etc). Inside, Cory met the owner: 350 lb., 5’ tall, unshaven Craig. Yep…..they figer they can help us but had to get the parts: a belt and a tension bar. So nothing we can do but sit and wait and update family and friends, take photos and
begin this blog.
Fortunately, there was a Wendy’s right next door so we found shelter and food there. AND free wi- if! And restrooms. A nice sitting couch in one corner….this is going to work. Nope…Not working out….air conditioner is set at 32 degrees. I am shivering with my coat on. My lips are blue and frostbite is setting in. Went outside to their picnic table….ahhh--hot air again. Whew. What the h-ll? Major torrential rains!!! Give me a break! What curse is this that has blackened our day? Back into the frozen food cooler I go…aka: Wendy’s. My nostrils hairs are frozen stiff. No wonder they sell " frosty's" - they can set out all day and never melt!
Cory brought me the metal tension bar thing that needed replacing as well as the belt. It looked nasty. There was also a wire to the fans that broke when the belt shattered. They had one heck of time getting to the nasty piece…..first tried going through the bedroom floor, then finally took the wall out of one of our back, outside compartments. Nothing is easy in these motor homes. Remember, Dr. Dave had to go through the box
in our bedroom closet to reach our hot water valve. Well, they were able to replace what needed replacing and we are good to go. It's 5:00 (somewhere) and pouring down rain so I don't think we are going too far. There is a Petro Truck Stop right here so that may be our new campsite for the night. My IPad battery is almost dead so this will bring this blog to a close….for now.
We are calling our departure day “DAM DAY” until I come up with a better name. God Save Our Souls! It has been just one of those days…..one you don't want to have happen nor repeat but life on the road with these rolling, wheeled dwellings can bring the bad with the good. We would rather have the “Good Ol’ Days.” Lulu says: you take it as it comes if you want this lifestyle. And we do. Are we completely crazy or what?? Be sure to stay put. You can’t flee the ship now. We are in this together, remember? Glad to know you are, too. Easier to deal with problems when you can share them. Thanks for being there everyone!
Update: RV
Tow Truck arrives
Lulu collapses in front of them
Big brace goes under our RV is repaired. Everything seems good minus the cost: $640. Nothing we can do about that. Just glad to get it done and resolved. Roadside assistance pays for our towing. Cory brought our fixed RV & car and parked them along an outer perimeter of the Petro Truck Stop restaurant. We aren't lined up with all the big guys out back! Lulu is disappointed: slut! Ate supper at the restaurant….trucker size portions. No way could you eat it all. Twiddle-Dee Craig was eating there…he went back for 3 helpings of the buffet. WOW. Cory wanted to tell him we were only getting water and toast cause we couldn't afford anything else. It's good we worked hard all our lives so we have a bit of chunk change when needed….and today it was needed. Back to the crap table, Bucky…..bring in those hard sixes!
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