05/07/13

First trip with the new Rig…
Pretty much a typical “Rookie” experience:

I had to back up and adjust about 8 times to get the Tow Vehicle under the Trailer Hitch properly in my backyard, even with those “yellow ball” magnetic things.
(I’m going to get a iBall wireless Backup Camera – these “yellow balls” aren’t cutting it, or I’m so inept I can’t use them properly.)
I finally get it all hooked up and put the (2) Cats into the Car.
They *hate* it! They yell at me the entire time we were moving!
(Like I didn’t have enough stress)
Heh…

I drive about 5 miles to the Park, but the Office is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
(I knew that ahead of time)
I call the “After Hours” number as instructed – several times.
Nothing – it rings a bunch of times then goes to a Voice Prompt asking for an ID #…?
So I drive around the campground aimlessly waiting for *something* to happen…
I finally get flagged down by a guy mowing the sites.
He gives me a Pass Card for the Gate (to get back in after hours) and tells me to go ahead and pick any site I want.
I can settle up on Thursday when the Office is open…

I find a really nice, shaded site – but after almost a dozen attempts backing up, pulling forward, backing up etc. (again, I’m a Rookie!) my first choice is way beyond my Competency Rating.
I’m either going to clock a tree or the power stanchion before I get anywhere *near* into it correctly.
The Mower Guy watches me with amusement, and after about 20 minutes gently suggests I try and find a more open site.
I follow his advice, find a nice open site, and after several more (6+) attempts I get it more or less where I want it.

After pulling into the “new” site, it’s surprisingly Level!
(Don’t need my Levelators! Cool!)
So I drop the TT off the Hitch and easily level it up front-to-back with the Tongue – Easy-Peasey Lemon-Squeasy!
(Heh…)
Life Is Good…

Next I go to drop the Stabilizers – CRAP! I left the Stabilizer Wrench back at the House on the lawn!
So I head back – with the two cats bitching at me the entire time.
I grab the wrench, head back (with ‘the boys” still yelling at me in Stereo), drop the Stabilizers, and herd the cats into the Trailer.
(The younger one hid under the bed, poor thing, for over 4 hours after we “settled”…)

I connect Elec and Water – but the Sewer hoses won’t connect properly.
(Bayonets won’t click together all the way. I guess I need another new set.)
I spend a good 20 minutes fiddling (swapping ends, etc.) and finally get it to sorta stick together.
With a huge amount of trepidation I pull the Black Tank Handle.
The tank empties without the hose coming apart!
Then I pull the the Grey Tank handle – and it stays together!!
(Whew!)

Next I turn on the LP, crank up the A/C, turn on the Water Heater – *and the power goes out*.
Thinking it was My Fault (TM), I head outside to make sure I didn’t trip the breaker.
While I’m out there the Mowing Guy drives by and says this entire side of the Park is out – so it’s *not* My Fault (TM)!
I open up the awning, bring out my camp chair, and sit there just enjoying the scenery with a glass of Jim Beam and Branch Water…
(Life Is Good)
About 2 hours later, the power finally comes back on – WooHOO!

Now I’m ready to check (over-the-air TV) and the Park’s WiFi…
TV is.. ok – about 10 stations, but only 2 in English. Thank goodness one of them is ABC HD…
(The other is a religious channel.)
I have a bunch of TV shows already on the hard drive, so I’m all set anyway.

Next I power up the WiFi booster.
Good strong signal – but it’s Encrypted, I don’t have the Password – and the Office is closed until Thursday!
(The Mower Guy didn’t give it to me when he gave the Key to the Park – but to be fair I didn’t think to ask.)
So I call the after hours number again – and still no answer after numerous attempts..
Finally in desperation I head next door, and the nice young lady there gives me the password.
After some configuring – I’m Golden!
(I’m using a Pepwave Mini – nice unit! *Strong* Booster and creates a really good HotSpot/Local Network for the laptop and the Roku.)

So I’m finally sitting pretty at the Savannas County Campground/Park.
I plan on staying until Thursday – or more likely Friday…
(I decided to stay until Sunday)
It’s 82 right now with a decent breeze, but it’s supposed to go down to 58 tonight – so I’ll see if the furnace works!
Heh…
(Never did need the furnace, but I fired it up just to make sure it works.)

All in all, I’m LOVIN’ this new Adventure/Lifestyle!

Good News/Bad news

Good news
Camping World called yesterday to tell me the ’93 Pace Arrow checked out fine and to come get it. So my son and I head up to Kissimmee at 9:30 this morning, arriving about 11:45.

I meet with the Financial Guy, we sign some papers, and head outside.
(I got a one-year Good Sam Elite membership with Roadside Service and Traveler’s Service. Cool!)

The Technician gives me a complete walkthrough, explaining everything.
(I even find a Winegard satellite dish in one of the compartments!)
I meet again with the Financial Guy, give him the check and purchase a new Sewer Hose.
I meet the Tech again and we take the RV out for a short test drive, and all’s good.
I drop the Tech off behind the dealership, and sit idling waiting for my son to bring the car around to follow me home – just sitting there and admiring my “new home”.

Bad News
All of a sudden the RV.. sputters and dies. It’s dead, real dead. No clicks, no whirs, nothing.

I go back inside to report it, and 1/2 hour later they send two Techs out back.
They jumpstart it, but it dies almost immediately again.
After several attempts, they look inside the engine compartment and fiddle around for another 45 minutes.
They finally determine the Alternator is shot.
They manage to keep it running long enough to get it into one of the bays.

After another hour senselessly walking up and down the aisles of Camping World, I head out back to see what’s up.

Good news
The Tech comes over to me and says it turns out the battery was so drained and old it wouldn’t hold a charge, so they put a brand new one in, and it’s running fine.
So off we go.
This is around 5:00pm.

Bad news
I drive East on 192 about 50 miles to I-95 South, slow down for the ramp and merge into traffic.
The engine won’t go back into Overdrive, and the RPMs are pegged at about 3800RPM at 60mph!

4 miles down I-95 is Palm Bay so I pull off at an Exit and head to a close-by Mobil Station to fill the tank (it was between 1/2 and 1/4; started with a 1/2)
I swing into the outside of the furthest pumps and shut it down.
I try to reach the gas cap with the hose and I’m too far away (Rookie!).
So I jump back into the RV, turn the key.. and nothing.

It’s dead, real dead. No clicks, no whirrs, nothing.
There’s also a small puddle of transmission fluid underneath the front end.
This is about 6:30pm.

Naturally I panic and call Camping World. They’re closed for the evening.
So I call the Financial Guy on his cellphone (he gave me his card and said to call him any time.)
I tell him what happened. He says call Good Sam and give them the Membership Number he printed out for me, and he’ll call his Lead Tech at home and get right back to me.

I call Good Sam: they don’t have my Number in their System yet (it takes 72 hours).
I explain my plight to Clarice, a very nice and understanding gal.
She puts me on hold, talks to her boss, and he approves my Membership on the spot.
I tell her what the Financial Guy told me, and she says it’s best to wait for Camping World to get back to me.
If they don’t, she says call back and they’ll arrange for towing to the nearest auto shop on the Approved List.

So I call the Financial Guy back – and get his voice mail.
I wait 5 minutes and call again – voice mail.
This goes on for about 1/2 hour.

I finally call Good Sam back, get a different gal on the phone – and she tells me my Membership Number isn’t in their System.
I tell her about talking to Clarice, and that she had the Mgr approve my Membership.
She puts me on hold for a few seconds, comes back and says Clarice explained everything to her, and did I want towing?
I do, so she gets all the info she needs – and informs me that the towing is free but I’ll have to pay for parts & service at the auto shop.
I tell her I’ll be calling Camping World in the morning, because *I* am not paying anything.
She’s cool with that, and says she’ll tell the auto shop.
She then says she’ll call around for a local auto shop that works on RVs, call a tow truck for me, and will call me back when she has it all set.

45 minutes later, she calls me back and says everything is set, the auto shop guy knows about Camping World probably going to pay for it, and that he’ll start working on it first thing in the morning.
This is 7:45.
The Tow Truck will be here by 8:45.

The tow truck shows up at 9:00 (he did call me a couple times to explain he was on another call, and had to get a bigger tow truck for the RV).
The tow truck driver backs up, runs his huge lift under the RV, I put it in Neutral and he starts forward.

The RV won’t move.

It turns out these RVs had a safety feature built in so that unless the motor was running the drive shaft was locked.
(So kids didn’t put it in Neutral and have it roll into the lake or something.)

But the RV is dead, real dead. No clicks, no whirrs, nothing.

He calls his boss, and it takes the two of them over 2 hours to finally get the wheels to turn.
(The drive shaft bolts were rusted and rounded off, so they couldn’t just remove it.)

The RV finally got dropped off at the shop at midnight – and we got home at 1:15am.

I’m calling Camping World tomorrow, telling them where the RV is – and to come and get it.
I’m cancelling the deal.

Too bad, as the interior is gorgeous!