Sunday ; Another really gorgeous, sunny, warm, California fall day up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains ! This morning we went to Oakhurst where I exchanged the battery cable terminal clamp that didn’t fit for one that hopefully will fit, then we did some grocery shopping at Vons. Since we entered the United State two weeks ago we have bought so many aggressively priced grocery specials that our fridge and freezer are too full, and we have brought the truck fridge into the trailer to use.
After lunch we went to the clubhouse for the weekly Sunday afternoon ice cream social. Afterwards Joanne went to the dog park with Bo for the daily dog party and I went to the library with the computer to post my weekly blog entry.
After a dinner of hot turkey sandwiches we watched Amazing Race. We’re getting a lot of “mileage” out of that $5 turkey !
Monday ; Another beautiful, sunny day. This morning we took Bo for an obedience session. We tried to make it “different”, using the beautiful, natural surroundings of this RV park. He didn’t do great ! With Joanne’s help I installed the new battery cable terminal clamp I got yesterday. It worked just fine ! My repair cost a total of $2.50 ! HMPH … the Dodge O.E.M. battery cable cost about a hundred bucks at the dealer ! Yesterday a front turn signal light bulb burned out. Today I removed the headlight assembly to change the bulb. You would think that removing a headlight assembly would be a two minute job. NOOOOO ! First of all, one of the three screws holding the headlight assembly in place is literally inaccessible. And then … the headlight assembly was jammed in place by a dirty rag in behind the assembly, accidentally dropped in behind there in the past by some mechanic, I guess. I didn’t have the correct replacement bulb, but I did temporarily substitute a similar clear bulb, just so I have a front turn signal light, until I buy the correct orange bulb.
While working outside I heard a noise from the barbecue on the picnic table. HUH ? It sounded like somebody had opened or closed the lid, or something bumped against the metal body of the barbecue. HUH ? I walked over to the picnic table, opened the barbecue, and found … HUH ? ? ? … 58 acorns inside the barbecue ! ! !
We spent the afternoon washing the trailer. While Joanne started washing the trailer, I went to the propane refill station to retrieve a tank I had taken for refilling. We’re going through propane rather quickly, because in addition to the furnace, we’re running the water heater and fridge on propane, because of the expensive electricity here in California. By the time we finished washing the trailer, it was time for the daily dog party. As usual, after the dog party I went to the library with my computer to use the clubhouse’s Wi-Fi.
Being at Escapee parks motivates me to purge. Every Escapee park has a “bargain table” where unwanted / surplus items can be placed for “recycling”. If you have something to leave on a bargain table, just put it there. If you see something on a bargain table that you want, take it, and leave a small donation. Today I purged some spare auto bulbs and fuses from Dee-Dee that don’t fit Lanoire, a couple of surplus flashlights, and three pairs of pants. The pants went into the garbage, and the rest went to the bargain table.
Late in the afternoon we went to the dog park for the daily dog party, then I went to the clubhouse to do some online work. I researched mouth sores / canker sores. I have some kind of a sore spot in my mouth ! Ouch ! I did some research on Black Widow Spiders. HA … I was right ! In the dog park we had a discussion about Black Widow Spiders. I said the Black Widow Spider’s red marking was on its back. Everybody else said no, it was on their underside, on their belly.
Wednesday ; Another gorgeous day ! There won’t be too many more of them. The weather is forecast to get pretty crappy by the weekend. This morning we did our weekly “pet dental care” before heading out to Oakhurst. The animals’ teeth are in very good condition. After a thorough dental cleaning almost a year ago by their veterinarian in Yuma, we have brushed their teeth on a weekly basis. That has produced excellent results.
In Oakhurst we refilled Lanoire with diesel, then I dropped Joanne off at Vons to do grocery shopping while I went to O’Reilly’s Auto Parts. I bought spare signal light bulbs for Lanoire then joined Joanne at Vons. We headed back to Coarsegold but never quite made it all the way back to SKP Park of the Sierras. We went to Chukchansi Gold Casino for lunch. The buffet restaurant at Chukchansi is my favourite buffet restaurant. And their weekday senior’s price for lunch is six bucks ! And as great as that is, I noticed today that they give an even cheaper price to their own tribe’s elders. What a nice gesture ! As usual, we ate until … it started coming out the other end of Joanne. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA ! That’s how we know we’re done at a buffet. HA HA HA HA HA ! ! !
After lunch we decided to amuse ourselves by playing penny slots until we each lost a dollar. Well, we played and played and played … until we were bored. And cashed out with $3.50 ! HMPH … a 75% return on investment … in less than an hour ! Maybe I should take all my money out of the stock market and just play the casinos ! ! !
Back at home I replaced the turn signal bulb. Joanne took Bo to the dog park. I tested the truck to trailer battery charging circuitry. Everything seems to be working fine again. I guess the intermittent trailer battery charging problem was related to the cracked battery cable terminal clamp on the truck’s secondary battery. It must have created a bad connection / short circuit.
Thursday ; Early this morning we headed to Fresno to take Lanoire to Fresno Chrysler for a couple of minor warranty repairs. It didn’t take them long to determine that the exhaust manifold was cracked and would have to be replaced. And the nearest Cummins diesel engine exhaust manifold was in Los Angeles and would take until tomorrow to get to Fresno. And … apparently the warranty terms provide for a rental car if the dealer is unable to fix my vehicle on the day it’s brought in. So … the dealer phoned the local Enterprise Rent-A-Car office to come pick us up, drive us to their office, and provide us with a vehicle. At Enterprise we discovered more terms of Lanoire’s warranty that I found interesting. 1 ; Chrysler pays $50 per day for a rental vehicle, regardless of whether it is a cheap rental vehicle or an expensive rental vehicle. And 2 ; the rental vehicle must be a Chrysler product. HA HA HA … good policy ! In just a few minutes we were on our way home in a 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee.
After just a few days with our new cell phone number, I was already tired of the frequent phone calls I was receiving ( at 20¢ per incoming call ! ) from collection agencies and hospital billing departments for Raoul, the deadbeat that used to have this phone number. As well as inane text messages for him ( at 15¢ per incoming text message ) ! Tonight I changed our phone number !
Friday ; Well, DUH … major brain fart ! Last night I changed our phone number, then realized … oh, shit, I’m awaiting a phone call from Fresno Chrysler today ! First thing this morning I went to the clubhouse to use my computer to phone Fresno Chrysler to give them my new cell phone number. And I made a few other phone calls, including returning a phone call to a nurse in Kelowna who had called a few days ago regarding colonoscopy wait times. We had an interesting conversation today ! Some of the gastroenterologists in Kelowna have a 4 year waiting list for colonoscopies ! The nurse has been hired by BC Interior Health to find a solution to the problem.
Mid-afternoon we got the phone call from Fresno Chrysler. Uh-oh … bad news … sort of. While the cracked exhaust manifold was being removed, three of the mounting bolts broke. Drilling out the broken bolts was going to be a tedious job ( tell me about it ! ) and the truck wouldn’t be ready until Monday. Guess we’ll be going to buy groceries tomorrow in Oakhurst in a 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee !
Just as we were leaving for the dog park and the daily dog party, a couple of drops of rain fell. As a result, Bo was the only dog in the park. He was eager for his buddies to arrive, and when they didn’t, he was disappointed. Poor Bo ! We returned him to the trailer then headed for the weekly social hour and “heavy appetizers” potluck. We socialized, munched, and socialized some more.
Saturday ; This morning there was a fund raising breakfast in the clubhouse. We had been planning to attend, but when the alarm went off this morning, it was cold and raining outside. We went back to sleep !
Early this afternoon Joanne discovered that the temperature inside the fridge was too high, and the contents of the freezer were thawing. I did some diagnostics, but was greatly disadvantaged by not having the truck here. No truck, no tools ! And … no auxiliary fridge. That was in the truck also. I checked out what I could, then we just waited, hoping that the problem was simply that the fridge or freezer door had not been shut properly last night and had remained slightly ajar overnight. I climbed up onto the roof to see if the fridge roof vent had perhaps been plugged by acorns. It had not, but … the air conditioner shroud was packed with acorns. I’m not going to do anything about that until after we leave here. We needed to go into Oakhurst to buy some groceries, but there seemed to be no sense in doing that until we were certain that the fridge was working properly.
We took Bo to the dog park. Joanne did some laundry. I did some online work using Wi-Fi in the clubhouse. By the end of the day it was obvious that the fridge was not working. < sigh > I suppose it’s likely that all the contents of the fridge and freezer will be lost to spoilage !
DSK
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