Throughout the week, we talk back and forth with the dealer, actually call Fleetwood and research the water damage.... The dealer addresses all our issues, reseals and checks the water damage and drops another $1000 of the price... It's a go...
We arrange to meet at the dealership at 11:00 the next Saturday....
We arrive at 10:30 and spend 1/2 hour looking through the unit to inspect the work.... All appears great.... 11:00 arrives and they are not ready for us for some reason... Remember we woke up at 5:00 am and jumped in the car... I eat an apple for breakfast and Mary has nothing... We are excited and get moving....
We shop... not a good idea....
Finally around noon they call us in and we sign our life away and yes do buy the add on roadside assistance....what the hell.. its only money....
Around 1:00 we are the owners of a 37 foot monstrosity... and start our demo...
This takes several hours as we are complete newbys.... We quickly glaze over with all their is too learn but press on...
It's now 3:00 and the demo is done... but hey --- what about the tow dolly? no one seems to know anything about it... 30 minutes later it is sorted out and brought in from the back lot completely frozen....
They sort it out, we hook up the car and tie it down.... I get about a 10 minute overview of how the thing works... How hard could it be?
It's 4:00, and while I was working on the dolly, Mary finishes shopping... $600 worth of accessories later we are loaded up and ready to start the big adventure.... Climb in the coach and wait, the steps are not retracting now? Is it user error? ummm no.... it's apparently a grounding issue. The tech comes out, climbs up under the rig and starts troubleshooting. By the way, it is like 20 degrees outside....
About an hour of this, they decide they need to pull the unit back into their repair bay to resolve it. A tech gets in, drives us off the lot to turn it around and suddenly a loud beeping noise starts! What the heck; I ask.... Evidently the system thinks the hydraulic jacks are down.... We are now maybe 4 hours into the joys of owning an RV....
We get back into the shop... the beeping is evidently just a fluid level issue quickly fixed....
The steps... a 5 hour hunt for a grounding issue which results in a new brain board, new wiring and grounds for the steps... No charge to us and I must say the Techs were Great and very accommodating having wasted their Saturday evening getting us going....
It's roughly 9:00pm... I have had an apple an a small yogurt since 5:00 am, Mary just a yogurt... but hey it's an adventure....
We set out.... a 4 hour tour, or I mean trip home...
Things start out good.... until we hit Lake Griswold... Yes I don't fail to see the irony... No can do Clark....
I turn to my wife and ask? Were we supposed to put the car in neutral to tow? Yes...I should have never opened my big mouth... Now we both start to freak out that her Lexus will be a total piece of junk by now.... We have to drive in total anxiousness for another 30 minutes just to find a spot to stop....
We get out... go look at the car... but what the hell do we know??? Should it be? We do the typical snap at each other stress response for 15 minutes and then leave it all the way it was and press on....
Next we hear a metallic jingling sound... What is that? I finally find a road to turn off onto, oops it's a class 2 road? Is that a problem? we have no idea... I stop on this residential street, get out and go look around for what is causing the noise....
Crap... one of the straps holding the car wheel to the tow dolly has come off completely and is wedged behind the tire... Did I mention that it is 20 degrees, pitch black, we have no flashlight, I am wearing my nice wool coat and I am on a narrow residential street?
So... armed with a flashlight app on our android phone, I climb under the car with my legs sticking into traffic while Mary tries to shine the "phone" up under the car.... It takes 30 minutes, but I finally get the strap unstuck and back on the tire....
Get back into the RV... turn the key... nothing.... Wait, didn't the tech say something about an aux battery start? I find the button, push it and crank... It starts!!!
We press on....
And get 2 blocks away, now Check Trans light comes on and I can't get out of 3rd gear....
Are you freaking kidding me????
I run a stop sign, least of our worries... turn down a no truck street, who cares??? Stop the rig, crap can't get it into Neutral.... Power it off.... use Aux Batteries again starts up... Things seem normal...
We press on....
Fuel Light comes on.... REALLY? REALLY? We find the Interstate... And drive, and drive, and drive, where is a diesel place??? Lunch? Dinner??? A stiff shot of whiskey???
What time is it now??? I think 11:00 pm? We finally see a truck stop... Pull off and pull into the diesel bay next to a big semi... Hey.. This is cool I think.... Fuel door is on the right side of the rig. Get out go the pump, looks kind of different from the gas pump, but what do we know....no dials or anything....
Hook up the hose and it won't pump. Maybe you have to prepay? Mary goes in with a credit card. Lady says it is on... Still nothing... Thankfully the nice semi driver takes pity on us and says... um you are in backwards.... Evidently there are 2 pumps for big rigs to fill faster.. The one on the other side is the control pump... So... I go over to it, pull it out, turn it on and just lay it down.... Now the other side pumps. So as I watch the meter, I keep yelling over the rig to Mary to let her know when to shut it off... Yes.... It was a ridiculous looking as it sounds but hey... we are way past the point of being bothered by embarrassing.... We are finally getting fuel and just want to get home.... and something to eat...
We finish fueling - $160 by the way get us 3/4 full.... We get a free cup of coffee! Is our luck changing?
What does this truck stop have to eat at 11:30? Evidently 3 day old Chicken Tender jerky and french fries... The lady takes pity on Mary and gives us like 10 lbs of it for $10 ... yummy... I think I need to see a dentist now... But Hey... here we are having our first meal in our new RV! Romantic huh? It would be if the alarm for the transmission didn't start sounding again.....
Stuck in 4th gear... batteries dieing... I once again have to power it down to try to reset it....
It starts, but it took 2 tries.... by the way, the tire straps were loose again.... I tightened them....
We press on....
3 hours into this 4 hour trip home we are still 3 hours away from home....
Things go smoother.... but wait, do the headlights seem to get brighter, then dimmer then brighter to you? I asked Mary....
Hmm... yeah... that's odd.
Oh well, we press on...
Does the radio work? Let's try? Yes or wait no, or wait yes... Hmmm... it also seems to cycle on and off....
Weird....
Check Trans!!! Crap!!!.... pull off..... reset.... Press on.....
5 hours into this 4 hour tour.... Do the lights seem dimmer to you? ummm... I can barely see the dash guages.... CHECK TRANS!!!!! 4th gear...... 40 miles per hour on the Interstate.... We pull off.....
Reset....
Press on.....
I can't tell you how many times this continues to happen.... Finally 3:00 am, 22 hours after starting this adventure we pull up to our house.... Park and the rig with car takes up darn near our entire street front...
But hey... We are home, and we are the proud owners of a 37 foot Motorhome....
We press on.....
No comments:
Post a Comment