29 March 2010
In spite of pouring rain and having to contend with rush-hour traffic, made reasonably decent time to Fern Lake from the Boston area, arriving about 1 pm. Our plan was to quickly unload the van’s overloaded roof, untarp Delores, and then drive the RV over to my sister Lynne’s place to fill up the water tanks. Unloading plywood and untarping the RV took but a few moments. Noticed that the main entry steps were partially deployed… not the way I had left them. Hmmm… Went to reconnect the coach batteries… and was sure I saw that they still were connected. Uh, oh!!!! Put the key in the ignition, turned the switch, and (you guessed it!), deafening silence. Tried cross-connecting the RV starter motor to the coach batteries (there is a switch on the dashboard for that purpose). No joy! No problem, says he, foolishly over-confident. Pulled the van into position, hooked up the jumper cables, revved up the van engine for a few minutes, turned the RV ignition switch… and, again, nothing. Did I mention that it was steadily raining on this parade? After an hour of fiddle-farting around trying everything I could think of, Chree announced that it was time for some warmer, drier surroundings, a working toilet, AND a hot shower. So with that decided, we went over to Lynne’s office (only about 5 miles away) where she MOST graciously gave us the key to her house. While Chree was attending to warmth, etc., the dogs and I went to Goodro Lumber to set up a credit account, as for some reason they were refusing to take our first-born male child in payment for the ton (literally) of steel rebar (special steel rod that you put into concrete to give a masonry structure strength in both compression and tension) and assorted other building supplies I had ordered last week. Returned to Fern Lake, I called the 1-800 number for AAA Roadside Assistance… which connected me to our “home” office in Virginia… who decided that dead RV batteries were covered by our “policy”. So they called AAA in Vermont, who called Jim Currie at the Leicester Service Center, who arrived on the scene, battery booster pack in hand, all within 45 minutes. Booster pack connected, the RV started on the first try. Hallelujah and pass the Scotch! Arriving at Lynne’s, I turned off the RV engine in order to prove that the batteries had recharged sufficiently to restart the now-warm engine. BIG mistake!!!! Did I mention that the whole day was raining on my parade? Fortunately, Lynne’s neighbor, Bob Hillman, had a fully charged battery booster pack in his shop, which proved to be just the ticket. Water tanks full, we returned to Fern Lake, DETERMINED NEVER TO SHUT OFF THE RV ENGINE EVER AGAIN!!!! Deployed the hydraulic leveling jacks, then extended the RV living area slide-out. As soon as the slide-out was out, the hydraulic system fault alarm went off. Two choices: listen to the alarm scream for the rest of our lives or… A quiet dinner with a delightful Finger Lakes region Pinot Noir finished off a day that deserved for me to be shot. Discovered that mice (THE Mouse????) had been using the utensils drawer as a restroom as they (he??) sheltered from the elements all winter. Also, only the handle was left of a Rubbermaid pot scraper in that drawer. Perhaps they needed something to aid the digestion after eating all the Kleenex?
