On the Road Again Finally

What a week.  Sunday night at 11 pm the fridge alarm went off again.  The only thing we could do was to turn it off completely.  Monday I had to go to work, so I gave Norcold a quick call to ask what a code that was flashing meant.  They said that it meant we had to see a repairman.  While I was at the office, I asked around (something I recommend at ANY campground if you have a problem), and an answer was forthcoming. This happened to someone a month ago, and it turned out to be a fuse.  He met Gary at the coach, showed him how to take off a cover, then replace the fuse.  TaDa!  We had our fridge back again.

But, later that night at 11 the alarm went off again.  Darn.  Had to turn it off again.  Tuesday morning, we decided not to leave the campground as snow and rain was forecasted all day and maybe we could work on the fridge a little more.  We did drive out to get fuel and fill up on propane - it was supposed to go down to 27 degrees tonight. 

It drizzled and was raw and cold, but the furnace never did come on. Wednesday morning was cloudy and really cold while we followed our departure lists, and pulled out for the last time around 10 am.  The fridge never did get fixed, but it was cold, and we thought if we got to our next stop, Adairsville, we could get some service or at least some advice.

We found our campground, Leisure Town, just off  75. But when we went to dump air in order for the jacks to level, it didn't work.  Sheeeeeesh!  So we slept with the slides in, which is perfectly OK.  Papa George did suggest an RV service center in Marietta whom I called and they said come on in tomorrow am. 

Another cold night, but we were headed to Florida and warmer weather!  The phone rang at 7:30 am, and it was our grandchildren in St. Pete singing Happy Birthday to Gary.  That put a smile on his face.  We unhooked and got back onto 75 south to get fixed.  We found Three Way Camper just off 75 with no problem.  Mike assigned us to Billy who was a wiz at appliances.  First he replaced the nine year old 6 volt batteries that we were planning to have replaced in two weeks anyway, thinking the fridge and jack problem might be voltage related.  But, that was not the case.  The fridge had leaked all the ammonia into the box, so the whole fridge needed replacing instead of the cooling unit.  Also the jack system had quit, so we needed a new one of those, too. 

How long would this take?  Well, one of the guys could pick up the only fridge that would fit into that particular spot without too much alteration on Friday, and after a small mixup on numbers, we had a new jack panel ordered.  Fortunately back when we bought Bella, we also bought a Warranty that covered everything except the chassis.  So all this was covered (except the batteries, of course), and because they had to take out the window to remove the fridge, we couldn't stay in her, so needed a hotel room for the night.  We also had  hotel and meals covered under the warranty.  Unfortunately the fridge came without the door panels, and our beautiful wooden ones wouldn't fit  (but I asked to keep them).  So we watched them work all day, and then we went off to our Holiday Inn Express hoping the panels would be overnighted from Michigan and we could be on our way.  I made calls changing appointments and campground arrivals and we slept in a lumpy, hard bed.  Not really happy campers.

Friday was warmer and as we arrived back at Three Way, hundreds and hundreds of Sandhill Cranes flew overhead honking and squawking on their way to warmer weather.  I tried to get some shots of them with our little Kodak, but it was so sunny out, they didn't come out as well as I hoped. We are really looking forward to seeing our old friends when we get back to Florida.

While they were taking out the old fridge through the window some of the yellow-dyed ammonia spilled on our carpet, and even though they tried to clean it up, it left a yellow streak.  They service guys called a carpet professional and he would arrive Saturday at 8 am.  The fridge arrived and was being put in, and the jack panel arrived later and Billy installed it and leveled it according to the fridge - apparently very important.  We waited until late afternoon, but still no panels.  Now they were expected to arrive the next day.  Off to another night in a hotel.  The SEC was in town and millions of college soccer girls so a lot of hotels were booked.  We ended up in a different hotel. 

Saturday morning we hopefully headed over to Three Way just to hear that the first UPS truck came with no panels and the next shipment was due at 2 pm.  Now, if we could install these panels ourselves, we sure would, but they need to be cut around the water dispenser and if not done correctly and carefully could crack or shatter and that would not be good at all.  So we waited until 2, but no delivery, so we decided to head out and have the panels sent to Florida where we'll take care of it somehow. 

We got Bella ready to go, and I pushed the button for the living room slide to come in.  It started to, but then stopped.  Hmmmm.  We tried it again.  No go.  Off to find help.  The help tried - nope.  The help went to get more help.  Nope.  But we decided that the batteries had not fully charged yet, so we started the generator, but still no go.  The second help tried putting up the jacks and that was the magic.  Can't remember why. 

By now it was after three pm, and we had a long drive to Cordele, GA.  As soon as we got to 75, the traffic stopped.  Gary turned on the CB radio to hear what was up.  Accident in left two lanes.  We were in the third lane over, and soon got past that mess.  Now we had to get around Atlanta, and that was OK.  We did a quick rest stop to get the Christmas CDs from the Jeep, then got back onto 75.  Everything was going OK until the LP detector alarm went off.  Gary thought he'd jump out the window, but told me to go turn off the fridge.  I did, we opened the windows and the alarm went silent.  Sheeeeeeeeesh.  What next??

Construction on 75, of course.  I really detest those cement barricades 3 inches from the white line.  White knuckles all the way for 20 miles and it was almost dark.  This would be the second time ever we have travelled in the dark with Bella.  We finally got to our park, thankfully right off the interstate, and Bob was waiting for us with his chocolate lab, Suzy.  It was easy getting into our spot, and while Gary set up, I checked in.  We learned that we should lower the jacks until they touched, open the slides and then level.  That gives the slides room to move without being in a torque position.  I tried that, and it worked fine. 

Since I am using my ancient IBM (because we are, of course, STILL having computer issues) I can't get any pictures up tonight.  I will have a little more time tomorrow, perhaps.  The best thing is that we will sleep in our own bed tonight, and make it down to Lake City or Gainesville tomorrow. 

Always unpredictable, this lifestyle, no?