What a lousy Spring!!!!!

In past years, we have returned from down south usually around the end of March. By June 1st we have washed the winter's dust and dirt from Harvey and applied our three coats of carnauba wax to the front shell, one coat along each side and 3 coats on the back shell. We then head to Vernon for our yearly visit. But this year, with the absolutely rotten weather we had, we kept postponing both the Harvey wash and the trip to Vernon. By the end of June, we gave up hoping for decent weather and thought ... dirty or not ... Harvey is going to Vernon.

With all the changes ... new tires etc ... we figured an easy trip north. And indeed the trip was easy! Harvey performed beautifully, and the new tires also gave him a much better ride.

However RV'ing is never easy!!!

As mentioned in a previous epistle, we have an automatic tire pressure gizmo on Harvey that tells us, in real time, the air pressure in each tire as we roar down the road. To do this, you screw a golf ball sized sender on the end of each tire valve, and it sends tire updates wirelessly to a control panel I have mounted on the dashboard. All well and good. We obviously had to remove them before we had the new tires put on. Each sender had been programmed to be on the correct tire, ie. right front, left back inside, etc. and must be returned to its original tire. As there are 6 tires on Harvey to contend with ... I got clever.

In order to make sure I got the correct one back on the correct tire, I got an old egg carton, broke it in half, so I had 6 places for the tire monitors. Can't make a mistake now, eh? Gee ... I felt smug. Oops ... never feel smug when dealing with an RV!!

The day before we are going to pull out of DogPatch, I get the egg carton out and had a look. Now came the obvious question ... which end of the carton represented the front of Harvey????? Hmmmmmm ... well .... ummm oops!

To make a very long and stupid story blissfully shorter, an hour later and many many trips in and out of Harvey to each of the tires, bending down to move the sender to another tire and then back in to the control panel to see if this time I had guessed correctly, my poor arthritic back was on fire!!! But, only one tire was refusing to cooperate --- passenger side, back inside tire. In my exhausted demented state, there is obviously a problem with the sender. A call to the Pressure Pro company was now in order, and a conversation with one of their technicians would solve everything.

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On his advice off we go again ... take off the sender and switch to another tire, and then re-programme it to see where the problem was. The damn thing would work. So ... back on the problem tire, and the damn thing still didn't work. So, try another sender ... on and on and on and on ...Finally the technician suggested that I try the valve stem for air pressure. Now that seems an obvious thing to do, but remember I had just put on brand new tires installed by professionals!!! Nothing left to do but to hang up with the technician and check air pressure.

I guess you have already thought of what happened next, but you would only be partially correct. Remember, nothing is simple with an RV!!!

On goes the tire pressure checker and .... no air pressure !!! This was the inside tire of the rear set of two 22.5 inch rim tires. Just getting to the tire requires you to lie on the ground and stretch and search blindly for the valve stem. Well ... the tire looked inflated .... and hitting it with a hammer, produces the correct resonance ... what the hell ???? .......

Off I go the the shed, and drag out the air compressor, hook it up and begin to fill the tire. Nothing ... no air is going in, and the tire pressure still registers 0. We are leaving tomorrow, and it is starting to get too close to Happy Hour!!! Time to get drastic!

Out comes the pliers, and off goes the valve extender. Put the tire gauge on the valve stem and guess what .... the correct tire pressure is registered. It turns out that the "professional" tire people, did not tighten the extender well enough to allow air to pass through it. DAMN ... but now I knew the problem, the solution was easy. Simply reattach the extender to the valve, and Bob's your uncle. Right ???? .... but ... again ... not that easy.

In order to get the inside valve filler out in front of the outside tire, the extender was bent in a 170 deg. direction. On top of that, the valve on the tire itself was incredibly hard to get at. Thirty minutes later, I gave up! My hands were too large. I was mad, tired, and thirsty. Fortunately, Elsie was there. Lying on her back under Harvey, reaching up to the valve and slowly and carefully attempting to screw the thing back on, Elsie took yet another 20 minutes, but she had .... SUCCESS!!!! Saved by Elsie!!! The valve stem was back on tight enough to allow air to pass, the sender reattached and everything now working perfectly. Happy Hour could not have come at a more propitious moment!!!

The next morning dawned bright and clear, and off we went to Vernon. Harvey performed beautifully. It was one of those really nice drives and all 4 of us enjoyed the 6 hour trip.

But, the Gods were still not nearly finished with us.

On arriving at Swan Lake, we got a space right behind Matt and Carol Cassels whom we know from the DataStorm Rally. We also met up with them several times in Kerrville Texas last winter and in January in the Rio Grande Valley. Showing off, Elsie got me backed into our site without any corrections. This was especially important as Matt pilots a huge Freightliner Truck pulling a large, beautiful 5th wheel. But, after the outstanding parking job, things certainly went down hill from there.

We hooked up Harvey, and I went to setup our DataStorm Internet connection. Here was yet another kick in the slats!!! No way I could get on line. Nothing worked! Four days later, with Matt and the entire online DataStorm.com group helping, I had to give up. The clown who was supposed to provide support for me, decided to charge for his expertise. I got my back up, he got his back up -- if you could call that twisted little spine of his a back -- and the result ... we had no internet connection for the entire trip. This bandit is paid a monthly retainer to provide support, but he still refused to help. Trust me, I have not finished with this horrid little man!!!! When we head south this winter there will be some changes made!!!

The other satellite on the roof is the new StarChoice TV connection. This is Elsie's bailiwick, and she too had problems getting it to work. But, with Matt's expertise, all problems were finally solved, and we at least had TV. Time to go look at property.

We have been thinking about moving to Vernon for several years, but have not yet found the perfect house for us there. This year was no different. We could not find "the place" for us to move that rang all the bells. But, at least we could spend some time with Matt and Carol, Dave Hadley in Salmon Arm, and out friends who live in Vernon: Roy and Diane Jones. We had many meals with the Jones's and even had a trip out to their new Lake Property they purchased and were currently working hard to improve. The weather was beautiful and HOT!!! The two weeks passed quickly, and it was time to head back to the much cooler Vancouver.

Do you hear the Gods laughing???? This time it got serious!!!!

When we pulled out of Vernon it was already hot at 8:00. By the time we got to Kamloops, it was really hot!!! The long hill climbing west out of Kamloops proved to be the start of an interesting time. While driving, I constantly glance down to the dash. I started to notice the engine heat gauge. Was it climbing??? The outside heat was in the high 30C range.... Damn it, Yes ... it was climbing! Half way up the hill, the alarm went off -- Harvey was over heating badly.

Fortunately we carry 20 or 30 gallons of fresh water onboard so we could easily supply an almost endless source of water if the radiator was indeed leaking. We pull over and get out to look under the RV for the tell tale sign of a water leak. Nothing .. dry as a board. We wait 10 minutes and slowly pull out to resume our drive. Sure enough, the temperature is climbing again. Off goes the engine alarm, and we have to pull over yet again. Still no water under Harvey, so the diagnosis has to be stuck thermostats. Yes ... that is plural ... Harvey has two of them. If this is the case, there is little I can do to fix this problem on the road. The only answer is to limp back --- the day before the July long weekend -- and head to Freightliner in Surrey for some more tender-loving money removal.

The trip should have lasted only 6 hours, and by the time we hit 11 hours, we were tired and not yet in Surrey!!! Through experimentation, I found that if I could keep the RPM's at around 1300, the engine stayed cool enough so that we could go several kilometers before we had to pull over again and let things cool down. You can just imagine on the Trans Canada highway from Hope to Vancouver, on the day before a long weekend, trying to pull over every 4 or 5 kilometers and then trying to get back on into traffic, how many friends we made. The traffic on the day before the long weekend was horrible!!! But, eventually, through pererverence nd good living, we got to Freightliner in Surrey, and installed Harvey in one of their inside bays for the long weekend. At least Harvey was now safe.

Three days later, the Techies called from Freightliner and sure enough, both thermostats had to be changed ... and all the coolant had to be replaced. So, we make arrangements to pick Harvey up the next morning. Once again, we rush out through heavy traffic to get to Surrey. This time, however, Harvey was not ready. They had found out that the fan belt tensioner that controls the water pump was not functioning. It, and the belt, had to be replaced. Of course, the tensioner was not in stock, so it had to come up from Seattle. The Techies had tried to call us that morning to tell us not to come, but we had already left. The result ... we return home with our tail between our legs.

But, the next morning, off again early to Surrey, and this time Harvey was ready. On the trip back to DogPatch the temperature gauge behaved itself beautifully and all seemed fine.

Hell of a trip eh?????

We were never promised that owning a motor home would be easy or fun ..... Is it padded cell time????