November 21 to 27, 2010

November 21 to 27, 2010


Sunday ; Around 1:00 AM I became aware that the furnace was blowing cold air. That’s an indication that the propane tank is empty, and the regulator needs to be switched to the other tank. The trailer has an automatic tank switchover regulator, but I prefer not to use the automatic switchover feature. I prefer to know that a propane tank is empty as soon as possible after it is empty. I slipped on a pair of sandals to step outside to manually switch from the empty propane tank to the full one. I was unaware that the rain that had been falling had turned into freezing rain and slushy wet snow. I opened the trailer door, stepped out onto the top step with one foot , and … ZOOOOOM !

My foot flew off the icy step, outwards and upwards. My body flew out the door in a classic “banana peel” pratfall. It may look funny on TV or in the movies, but it’s not so funny in real life. I landed on my back on the concrete patio three steps down / about two feet below the door. On the way down my butt hit one of the steps, my lower back hit another one of the steps, and the back of my head hit one of the steps or the door sill. Both sandals had flown off my feet. I lay there in the dark for a few moments, getting soaked by the cold rain and wet snow. OOOOOFFF … I don’t bounce as well as I used to !

I rolled myself over slowly, pulled myself up onto my hands and knees, and crawled back up the steps into the trailer. I crawled into the bedroom where I woke Joanne up to give me some first aid assistance. One thumb was sliced open and bleeding. Two toes were bleeding. My left knee was wrenched / twisted and hurting. My neck was wrenched / twisted and hurting. I was wet and cold and hurting a bit all over.

It’s now 3:30 PM. I’m a bit sore all over. My knee and neck are … stiff and sore, but … okay, I guess. I feel fortunate and grateful that I did not sustain far worse injuries from a fall like that. Like a spinal or cervical injury !

Much of today was spent dealing with our fridge problem. And I have become painfully aware of how crippled I feel without my tools which are in the truck. I needed two different screwdrivers this morning to check a couple of fuses in the fridge. I was able to find one in the Pole Barn, this park’s maintenance building. I had to ask the park’s assistant managers ( husband and wife ) for the other screwdriver I needed. From them we also obtained the phone numbers of two local RV mobile service technicians. I had to use a piece of string as a fuse puller. The fuses were fine. When one of the RV mobile service technicians returned my phone call, he walked me through a series of diagnostic steps. Until … I found the yellow liquid residue behind the retrofit heat shield. Easy diagnosis … “your fridge is dead and gone to heaven”. The yellow liquid residue was from a cracked cooling unit, the typical “cause of death” for an old RV fridge.

At the Pole Barn we were able to borrow this park’s little bar fridge, available for emergency use in just this sort of situation. And I decided that of the three options available to me for solving the cracked cooling unit dilemma, the option that I choose is … replace the fridge ! Our fridge is twelve years old. I don’t want to spend a minimum of $850 to fix a 12 year old product worth $1500. I will do some research about buying a new fridge over the next few days, but the probable best idea would be to buy a new fridge at Camping World in Bakersfield in two weeks when we leave here and have it installed by them. In the meantime, we can survive without a freezer, and use the park’s little bar fridge and / or the 12V fridge in the truck.

Joanne spent much of today cooking the foods that were in the freezer, trying to minimize our food losses. She took Bo to the dog park, but nobody else was there because of the poor weather. I went to the clubhouse to post my weekly blog entry, retrieve and pay our Canadian dollar MasterCard bill, and do some RV fridge research. I believe I found what I need and want ! In the evening we watched Amazing Race and Undercover Boss.

Monday ; AHHHHH … after a cold, wet weekend, the sun is shining again. I hate cold rainy days. This morning I did an obedience session with Bo. He’s done better ! I picked up a refilled propane tank and returned a borrowed screwdriver to the Pole Barn. We had an early lunch and headed for Fresno.

We went to two RV dealers to shop for a new fridge. That confirmed for us that the smartest thing to do is buy a fridge at Camping World in Bakersfield after we leave here in two weeks. We went to Fresno Chrysler to check on the truck. It wasn’t ready yet. We went to Wal-Mart < sigh >. We had just left Wal-Mart when Fresno Chrysler phoned to tell us that the truck was finally ready. We returned to Fresno Chrysler, picked up the truck, parked it in the customer parking area, and took the rental car back to Enterprise. I was a bit miffed that they charged 5 days for having the rental car 4 days and 4½ hours. My Chrysler warranty paid for the basic car rental, but not the $5 per day in taxes. Later in the day I reluctantly conceded to myself that charging for 5 days was reasonable … I suppose. Before returning the rental car I purchased fuel to replace the fuel used. I wondered why all the fuel stations in Fresno had multi-car line ups at each pump ? ! ? Does it have something to do with upcoming price increases because of an upcoming holiday ? ! ?

The replacement of the exhaust manifold seemed much more complicated than I thought it would be. I’m glad it was a warranty repair. The truck’s warranty is soon to expire. We returned to SKP Park of the Sierras, glad to have the truck … and all my tools … and the 12V fridge back ! After supper I went to the clubhouse with the computer to retrieve and pay the U.S.$ MasterCard bill.

Tuesday ; Yuck ! After one day of nice weather, the crappy weather has returned. I got up this morning, walked Bo in the cold rain, and went right back to sleep until almost noon. We did the weekly pet dental care, had lunch, and headed for Oakhurst to run some errands. Between SKP Park of the Sierras and Oakhurst, Hwy. 41 climbs to a summit at an elevation a bit higher than 3000 feet ASL. On Sunday and again today there was a bit of slushy wet snow falling at the 3000 foot level and higher. On Sunday the CHP ( Go, Erik Estrada … HA HA HA ) closed the highway … because of an inch of slushy snow, mostly on the shoulders of the road. HA HA HA HA HA ! Today … < snicker > … vehicles going through the pass needed to be four wheel drive or … wait for it … HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA … have chains on the tires ! ! !

We went to H & L Lumber. They didn’t have what I was looking for. We went to Napa Auto Parts. They didn’t have what I was looking for. We went to O’Reilly’s Auto Parts. They didn’t have what I was looking for. But … HA HA HA … the store was full of middle aged, middle class, soccer mom types buying < snicker > tire chains for their cars. We went to True Value Home Center. Finally … a store that had what I was looking for ; Damp Rid hangers ! We went to Vons for a bit of groceries, then across the street to Raley’s for an advertised special ; large Diet Cokes for 99¢ !

Back at home I discovered that the expensive after market high performance air intake system I had installed on Lanoire was improperly reinstalled yesterday by Fresno Chrysler < sigh >. It’s still hard to find good help ! ! ! They had removed the air intake system to replace the exhaust manifold. I’ll have to reinstall it properly tomorrow … or as soon as the weather improves a bit.

I went to the clubhouse to do a bit more online research on buying a new fridge versus repairing the old fridge. It was dark when I walked there. I took a “short cut through the woods”. I don’t know who jumped higher, me or the deer I encountered in the dark on the trail.

Wednesday ; Today was mostly clear, but cold. For a couple of hours late this morning and early this afternoon, there was thick fog. Today was mostly dedicated to working on the truck.

This morning I took the computer to the library and used it to phone Camping World in Bakersfield. I arranged for the purchase of the fridge that I want, and installation, on Tuesday, December 7, and I arranged to boondock overnight in their parking lot on Monday, December 6, the day we will be leaving SKP Park of the Sierras. Joanne did laundry and worked on a truck project I assigned her. The mechanic at Fresno Chrysler who worked on the replacement of the exhaust manifold squished and bent the fragile, thin metal fins along the top of the radiator. It’s easy to do … < AHEM > … if one is not careful when leaning over the front of the truck to work on the engine. I was going to buy a radiator fin comb at O’Reilly’s Auto Parts yesterday, but they only had the $25 version. I want the $3 version ! So Joanne tediously worked on straightening out the radiator fins using a small screwdriver. She also helped me to reinstall the air intake system properly.

This afternoon I took the truck to the Pole Barn and worked on it there. I changed the oil and filter, and lubricated the suspension. I did the 156,000 km. inspection. I love this place ! The Pole Barn maintenance building is so well equipped ! Joanne took Bo to the dog park for the daily dog party, but he was the only the dog there. I guess it was too cold for these wimpy California dogs and their wimpy owners.

Thursday ; American Thanksgiving ; < shaking head in despair > You know, by the time someone reaches an age old enough to be retired and is affluent enough to be travelling full time in an RV, you would think that they would have developed enough social grace to know that a communal Thanksgiving Dinner table is neither the time nor the place to be texting on a Smartphone ! What a boor ! ! !

Today was sunny but cold. When I fell out of the trailer a few nights ago I bent the middle step of the trailer. Today while trying to straighten it out, I broke it. < sigh > Just what I needed, another repair job. I straightened it and repaired it ! Speaking of falling out of the trailer, my neck isn’t sore any more, my knee isn’t sore any more, the large gash on my thumb is healing nicely … I still have two sore, purple toes. I think one of them might be broken.

Thanksgiving Dinner was nice. Well, except for the aggravation of sharing a table with a boor with a Smartphone ! At our table was a couple from San Jose, California who came to visit this park for a few days, including Thanksgiving, as part of their preparation for beginning a full time RV life … soon. She’s retired, he’s still working. They already own a rig. He’s unwilling to retire. Go figure ! We chatted with them long after dinner was over and everybody had left. I hope that our encouragement will help them get started.

Friday ; Today was a lovely, sunny, mild day. I spent the morning lazily doing routine chores. After lunch and a nap with Sully I went to the library with the computer and did some online research. While I was in the library, Joanne took Bo to the dog park. I joined them there, then Joanne left me and Bo in the dog park while she returned to the trailer to prepare her contribution to today’s social hour / “hearty appetizers” potluck.

We found out that another visitor in the park experienced a dead fridge today. Now that we have the truck back, along with our small 12V fridge, and we have been reducing our food inventory for a few days, we felt we should relinquish the borrowed bar fridge and make it available to the other people with a dead fridge. Joanne unloaded the bar fridge, crammed what food we had left into our little 12V fridge from the truck, and we delivered the bar fridge to the other dead fridge people. Their dead fridge was only 6 years old, so that confirmed for us that our 12 year old fridge had given us our money’s worth.

Saturday ; Today was cloudy and cool.

Too bad that we put so much “Sharing & Caring” ( Escapee motto ) effort last night into relinquishing the park’s borrowed bar fridge and delivering it to the other people with a dead fridge. She was supposed to meet me at the Pole Barn this morning at 10 AM so I could show her where to “sign out” the borrowed equipment, where to return it to when she’s finished with it, and where to pay for it by donation. She didn’t show ! Not only a boor but apparently also an ingrate with a sense of entitlement ! Yup … it was the Thanksgiving Dinner Smartphone lady !

It rained heavily all afternoon. That was a good excuse to go to bed ! We spent the afternoon in bed, Joanne working on a puzzle book, me and the animals sleeping. At 5 PM, which is when it now becomes dark, we went to the clubhouse for Thanksgiving Leftovers Dinner. Of all the hundreds of communal dinner tables we’ve shared over our 6½ years of travel, tonight’s was one of the most interesting. Our table mates had travel experiences not only all over the United States, but also Canada and Mexico. And Central America, South America, New Zealand, and much of Europe. And most of that travelling was by RV. One of the gentlemen at our table had long, white hair, and a long, white, grizzled beard. He had just been hired this afternoon … to be Santa Claus at the Oakland Airport. HA HA HA ! The range of topics discussed over dinner was far more wide ranging than usual, and the opinions expressed far more liberal thinking than usual.

DSK