From bad to worse!

It was a little nippy in the rig when I got up this morning at the truck stop, so I decided to turn the generator back on to run the furnace.  Guess what?  It wouldn’t start!  Another alarm went off when I hit the on switch.  :(  Okay, so I decided I’d use my house batteries to take the chill off.  They were fully charged last night.  Ha!  They were just about dead this morning.  Ugh!  So I put on a few more layers of clothes and took Emma out in the dark.  I just crossed over into the Mountain Time Zone yesterday, so it doesn’t get light until after seven.  I, of course, was awake at 6:00.  So, after her first outs, Emma and I sat in the dark for over an hour.  I didn’t want to use up the little power I had left in the batteries for lights.  I had the frig running on propane, but a light was blinking about low power that runs the little light inside and who knows what else, so I shut that down too.

When it was light enough to see my phone, I gave the road service company a call, and a short time later they said I would be getting a tow within 75 minutes.  I was going to be towed to  Rush Truck Repair in Boise, ID.
Country Repair was the towing company, and the truck had a big picture of Superman on it.  I got out of the rig to quiz them on what they were going to do.  I had read all the manuals last night on the requirements for having the rig towed.  :)  They told me that they had done this many many times, and that they would simply detach the drive thingamajig (not drive train, but drive something) so that it could be towed at highway speeds.  It was quite interesting to watch the whole operation, I just wish I was watching someone else’s rig.  They attached their own back lights in the hitch receptacle, and away we went.  It felt kind of odd to be trailing behind my own home!   

It was a good 50 or so miles to get to Rush Truck Repair.  They were able to get it into a work bay by about 1:00, and began the task of trying to figure out what was the matter.  Meanwhile, Emma and I sat outside by the car.  After an hour or so, the manager came out to give me an update, and to let me know that Emma and I could sit inside the rig while they worked.  He also let me plug into electricity so I could recharge the batteries, and turn the frig back on.

They found two problems.  Foremost was the water pump that didn’t work.  He explained to me that this was a very important part in keeping the engine cool.  I guess it also resulted in the radiator not pulling coolant from the reservoir.  Then, he showed me a belt that was pretty beat up on the outside.  It also could have been slipping.  I, of course, really didn’t know what he was talking about.  He said he would have the guys stay late to get a new water pump (that they had to go get) installed, but that he couldn’t get a new belt delivered until tomorrow.  He let it be my choice, but did state that he hated to see me get back on the road with that belt.  I told him that I wasn’t interested in having this experience again in the near future, so I would stay in a motel tonight.  I had asked him when I arrived if I could stay in the rig in the shop if things took more than a day, but that was not possible.  I was surprised he let me stay in the rig while they worked on it!

Anyway, he then went and made reservations for me at a Holiday Inn Express that allowed dogs!  So, I quickly gathered a few things and headed over to the motel.  There were only two rooms left, and I got one of them.  It’s been about three years since I’ve stayed in a motel (pre Emma days), and Emma has never stayed in a motel, or a sticks and bricks for that matter.  I was very proud of how well she behaved as we came in and she had her first elevator ride.  Just maybe she is finally growing up a bit.  :)  Tonight’s stay is costing me $99 ($20 of which is the pet fee).  Gone are the days of a $29 room in a fairly large city.  :(

Oh yea, I had to call the other repair facility and was eventually successful in delaying my appointment for a day.  So, tomorrow when I pick up the rig, I’ll backtrack about 20 miles and try to boon dock in the dealer’s lot.  This will all be worth it if I can get most everything taken care of.  At least that’s what I keep telling myself.  :)  Getting the Splendide washer/dryer fixed will once again have to wait, however.  No one seems qualified to work on that item.

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy