DJ'S JOURNAL

A COUPLE OF TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS!!!

In December, we were in the Amador-El Dorado Counties area of Northern California, where we have come for the last six years between Christmas and New Year's, basically to enjoy the wonderful wines of the area. Usually there are very few people in the area because of the colder temperatures and rainy weather. This year, perhaps because New Year's Day fell on a Monday, our usual destination park (Far Horizons 49er RV Park in Plymouth, CA) was just about full. I've had never seen so many RV's in this park!!!

Originally, we had not planned to go up there at all; we had planned to go back to Casa Grande, AZ, and spend New Year's. Then, we remembered that we needed to pick up four bottles of Port that we had ordered last year at one of our favorite wineries, and the logistics of a UPS delivery to wherever we might be was just way too complicated!! We would be visiting my parents in Turlock for Christmas, and Plymouth was just two hours away. So, since we are now fulltimers and can change our plans on a whim, we decided to again spend the week in Plymouth. We had forgotten how high the rates were, even with paying for 6 nights and getting the 7th night free. Vacationing and fulltiming are two entirely different things!! So, again, we changed our plans, deciding to leave on Friday, after staying 3 nights. We could pick up our Port, taste a few more wines, and be on our way south. But, that plan, too, was not to be!!!

We had been experiencing some difficulties with our "door-side slide", or DSS, since we left Lake Skinner. Simply put, it wouldn't go in without some hand cranking, or maneuvering the electric switch. When we reached Plymouth, we had difficulty getting it out, but then found out that we couldn't get it in at all. With Travel Supreme, a call to the factory is necessary to authorize repairs in order to keep the warranty intact. Guess what!! The factory is closed between Christmas and New Year's!! Again, a change in plans says we're staying here through New Year's. Wasn't that the original plan???

We contacted a local RV repair shop to find out if they could repair the slide mechanism once we received approval from Travel Supreme. They could, and with the help of two of their people, we managed to get the slide in. This particular slide has our "office" and entertainment center in it, so the fact that it was in, rather than out, was not inconveniencing us at all. First thing on Tuesday morning, after New Year's, Ron was on the phone to Travel Supreme. We were surprised, and very happy, to learn that Ron could fix the slide himself, with their blessing, rather than going to a repair shop. They knew exactly what was wrong and would ship the part to us in Arizona. It was there when we arrived, and Ron had it fixed in no time!!! What a relief to know that Travel Supreme is very flexible when it comes to warranty problems!!!

So much for the trailer!!! We had a two and a half hour problem with the truck, too!!! Remember those bottles of Port that we needed to pick up??? Well, this particular winery is located on the side of hill with a couple of small parking areas. Not wanting to take up too much space, we parked sideways on a small slope, away from the regular parking. After tasting the wines and picking up our Port, we headed to another winery, but not getting very far at all. Ron noticed that the fuel gauge said "Empty", and it had been on "1/2" when we parked. The truck then started to sputter, finally quitting altogether in front of a small country store. While waiting for the tow truck, we discovered that there was gas in only one tank, the "downhill" one, when we had filled both at the last fueling stop. We came to the conclusion that the gas in the "uphill" tank drained over into the "downhill" tank, and the gauge is based on the "uphill" tank. Nobody told us about this weird occurrence!!! With the tow truck driver's help, we were able to get some of the gas back into the "uphill" tank and get the truck started again. The moral of this story is "Park only on flat ground; avoid slopes of any kind!!"

We are now in Ehrenberg, AZ, which was another deviation from the original plan of going back to Casa Grande. We had stopped at this particular campground on our journey back to California. Because of its proximity to Quartzsite and the huge RV Show that takes place there in January, we decided to come back and stay for a month. That will be the subject of a new Travelogue article, coming up very soon!!