It pays to investigate.

Last night I spent a lovely evening visiting my daughter, with my motorhome parked in her driveway. When I went out to my motorhome to go to bed, it had gotten quite chilly so I turned on the furnace.

NOTHING HAPPENED!

In the past, lack of ignition has been fixed by various actions:

• Turning it off and trying again in five minutes.
• Pushing a reset button on the furnace.
• Removing the defective thermostat and connecting the wires.
• Replacing the thermocouple.
• Replacing the circuit board.

The first 3 of these I can do myself with no problem, so I set about troubleshooting. It was cold out, so I decided to skip the reset button and go directly to investigating the thermostat. With the cover off, I operated the lever and found the problem.

During the day, a moth had crawled up into the thermostat and was blocking the contacts. I guess moth corpses don't conduct current very well!

I removed the moth, slid the levers, listened to the satisfying sound of propane ignition, replaced the cover, and went on with my life. Grateful for solutions I can handle.

The moral of the story: before you call a repairman, check out what you can check out yourself.

Freezer Space!

I just freed up my motor home freezer for ice and ice cream, which is about what it has room for.

I love ice cream - and besides the ice cream maker's bowls there's usually a tub of commercial ice cream because Turkey Hill has it in for me. I also love vegetables, fruits, and having some meat stashed away. All that in a motor home freezer has been a challenge. Until now.

How did I do it, you ask?

I discovered a company that produces high quality natural freeze-dried foods! I tried their green beans first - and was seriously impressed. Freeze-dried food retains the shape, texture and nutrition of the fresh food, removing only the water. When I added hot water to the beans, they became green beans. Ready to eat, right then, in my opinion, although other people might like them cooked more than I cook them. (I'm kind of into fresh, minimally cooked. If you like them cooked to death, go ahead - I'm sure they'll come out just the way you like them.)

Not only were they delicious - the remaining beans in the package will be good to eat for a long time. Just store airtight, dark and dry. They will not get freezer burned. They will not thaw out when my freezer decides to be less than efficient in the heat of the summer. They will not become science experiments in the back of my fridge.

So I looked into the company and decided to become an Independent Shelf Reliance Consultant so I could share this discovery with others.

My kit arrived last night, and I spent the evening checking the shipment and studying the materials and all those things a new Consultant needs to do.

But this morning, I get to play with the food! I already know that the veggies and fruits will be yummy, so I started with some things I was skeptical about. Like Whole Eggs. I'm picky about eggs. In the name of product knowledge, I fixed breakfast.

I am impressed. I reconstituted enough egg powder for 2 eggs and made scrambled eggs. Next time I'll make up more eggs! They were quite yummy!

I had figured they'd be good for baking - but that they are good all by themselves as scrambled eggs was a very pleasant surprise.

Another thing about THRIVE foods is that most of them are available in 3 sizes: #10 cans (gallon), Pantry Cans (5.5" high, 4" diameter), and Mylar Pouch. (a pouch of green beans contains 7 servings). The Pantry Cans are excellent for those of us who live in RVs and have limited storage space. The pouches are great for camping.

If you should decide you would also like to free up your freezer for Ice Cream, please make sure that you see Jane Cassidy's Store in the upper right of the website before you place an order with Shelf Reliance. That way I get credit and you get the best pricing.

Or, email me.

I got interviewed.

National RV Parks interviewed me - you can read it here: http://nationalrvparks.com/interview-with-jane-cassidy-of-gypsy-janes-blog/

Life Proceeds...

as my friend Sue says. With ups and downs...
As it was still ugly hot when I left NC, I left the Callicat at her summer home with Aunt Phylis. They love her there too, but I miss her.
I spent the past month or so doing store sets in the Lynchburg area, which meant I could spend weekends - and even a couple of weeks - at the Izaak Walton campground which I've previously posted lots about. One store was so close to the campground that if it hadn't been a night set and long hours, I could have ridden back and forth on my motorscooter. As it was, I used the Escaper for a sports car. It felt like one, after driving the Holiday Rambler. And it needed the exercise.
It also needed a new battery, as did the scooter.

I got some much needed cleaning and sorting done in my storage, hauled a bunch of stuff to Goodwill, and have a few things that are worth my effort to find new homes for posted in my Facebook pictures. I have people that want some of this stuff - the trick is to figure out how to get things to people.
The 2 weeks that I was actually able to stay parked at the Lake and drive the Escaper to work were great: a swim in the lake does wonders for your attitude after a long night at work.

Still - store sets are exhausting and I haven't had any real time off (moving in doesn't count) since the Spring OVPR, last March. I was truly exhausted when we got done with last weeks set, even though it was perhaps the easiest (for me personally) total tear down I've done. So when the options for work this week were Georgia or Philadelphia, I took the week off instead.
I am SO glad I did. Never mind the R&R factor - I wouldn't have made it to work anyway.

I left the Lake Sunday afternoon to drive up to my home driveway, 70 miles north. Heard a noise, pulled over, identified the problem, called road service. (It's really easy to identify the problem when your drive shaft is dragging on the ground!)
The State Trooper who arrived during the phone call said since I was in the road, I had to be towed within a half hour and Road Service couldn't accomplish that so they let him call from his list. So I had to pay for the tow and submit it for reimbursement.
Tow truck came at last, and towed me to a safe location - level, too - and Road Service was to send a mobile mechanic in the morning. (It occurred to me that it was good Callicat's in NC - she HATES tow truck rides with a feline passion!)
Except it took them until noon to find one. This isn't a very populous area. That mechanic called and told me that although Road Service would cover part of his coming out, he was far enough that the rest would be quite pricey and I would be better off calling someone local if I could.
Sheesh - it's NOON now. I fortunately have in my Palm the name of every mechanic that's ever been recommended to me as good and one was 20 miles away. I called and said mechanic was actually just a few miles away, picking something up, and could come right over and look at it. He did, he fixed it, all better now.

This shouldn't have happened. 800 miles ago, when I broke down in NC, the tow truck driver advised me to make sure the mechanics checked my U joint. So I had them check it. When I had a vibration noise going down the road, they checked it again. I SAW the mechanic check it. Perhaps he only checked visually and it looked fine, but the bolts were loose - loose bolts is what both this tow truck driver and this mechanic said caused the failure. So the unidentified vibration that "wasn't the U-Joint" is now fixed. Imagine that.

Today's Yard July 23. 2011

I stay in the parking lots at work, and stop over places in transit, but I really feel at home when my awning is out and my furniture is set up under it. I got to do this this weekend, visiting my friends Phylis & Jim. I'm here for the weekend and don't have to go anywhere in the rig. Phylis cooked me a birthday breakfast, eggs and biscuits and sausage gravy - yum - then later on Younger Daughter, Son-in-Law, Grandson, came and kidnapped me. We went out for sushi lunch and took the Grandson to see Cars 2. Or maybe he was an excuse for us to see it - there was lots of stuff in it that was in there for the grownups and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

It is still hot as blazes, so the Callicat is still staying here with Aunt Phylis. She's become friends with Phylis' cat and is quite happy with the arrangement.

Repairs and Divine Intervention

Onion: a bulb with many layers and when you peel them, it brings tears to your eyes. Lately, the Holiday Rambler has been like an onion, with layers of "issues". What I have done since the last post is deal with vehicle repairs. I have been blessed with Logistical Assistance from the Powers That Be. While I am significantly poorer, life is otherwise good.

I was en route to work 2 weeks ago when I heard a horrible noise and my power steering was no longer power steering. I smelled a hot/burning fluid smell and promptly pulled over to the side of the highway. The burning smell lessened, so instead of grabbing the Callicat and running like mad, I went out and looked under the rig - where I saw fluid dripping down. There IS a reason I renew my road service annually. This year it has paid for itself.

Being Sunday evening, it took them a bit of time to find help but they sent me a mechanic in hopes that it would be fixable on site. No such luck: power steering fluid had leaked and caught fire and melted wires and sensors. And gone out on its own! TG! We contacted Road Service and then I waited for the tow truck.

Waiting for a tow truck is much more pleasant in a motor home than in any other sort of vehicle - I was, after all, at home. I had dinner, read, petted the cat... and finally the tow truck arrived.

A P-30 chassis has an Automatic Parking Brake, which must be released before towing. It wouldn't release. That was because it uses the power steering system to function and when there's no fluid, the brake stays on. (The P-30 used this system instead of a parking pawl (see post from several years ago) because it's such a heavy vehicle.) The tow truck drivers therefore disconnected the drive shaft and towed us away.

My Callicat HATES tow truck rides. The lights freak her out.

Advice to drivers: when you talk to your Road Service, make sure they tell you to where you will be towed. Apparently, something was lost in the relay and when we arrived at where the driver had been told to take me, I realized it was not the right place. I called Road Service again and got the correct address and off we went again.

They reattached the drive shaft and left me in a level spot in the parking lot of the Fleet Service company, about midnight. I slept.

In the morning, I drove into a service bay and let me say that I NEVER want to drive that thing again without power steering. If you've been reading this blog from the beginning, you know that I bought my last rig up in NJ and drove it back to Virginia without power steering. That was nothing compared to a 32-foot class A without power steering.

Here's the Divine Intervention part (besides the part about the fire going out and not burning my house up): The following week my team was scheduled to work near Savannah GA - where I know no one! But I wasn't there when this happened, I was in NC - 15 miles from a good friend who came to collect me and put me up while my rig was in the shop and is still cat-sitting my Callicat - and not horribly far from my Son-in-Law who just got a new position, telecommutes, and was able and willing to lend me his car. I only missed one day of work.

When the work week was over, I picked up the motor home, paid for the repairs (ouch, that was one expensive leaky hose!) and drove it back to my friends' house. My original plan was to drive my SIL's car to the kids' house, visit with them (my other daughter was also visiting), and get a ride back. The more I thought about it, I realized that while I had his car was a good time to check out the "something loose and hitting" noise I'd had for a little while, which seemed to be getting worse. I spent the weekend with the kids anyway and kept the car another week. My company, understanding that I didn't trust the newly repaired rig to go to Savannah, found me an assignment in the area where I already was, Tuesday through Friday due to the Fourth. After work Tuesday I did the vehicle shuffle with my friend so that both vehicles were at the shop and I could leave from there for work Wednesday morning.

At the shop, they were busy and did not get to my rig on Wednesday, my project was overstaffed and my work was cancelled for Thursday and Friday, and I returned to the shop Wednesday night, being there when they opened Thursday. This was financially painful but otherwise more of that Divine Intervention stuff. I really needed to be with the rig more than I needed to be at work, it turned out. I took the mechanic for a ride, as it's much easier to say "that noise, there" than to try to describe it in a note. Yes, it was something loose and hitting. A front brake. Oh, joy.

That afternoon, I left with new front brakes, got almost to my friends' house, turned around and went back to the shop. It still isn't right.

Turns out the rotors were warped and not playing nicely with the new, thicker, not-worn-out pads. Welcome to the Hotel California Garage. ("You can check out any time you like but you can never leave.") As they had the previous week, they let me plug into the electricity and I spent another night.

I have, in the past, encountered garages where you can't stay with your vehicle. Fortunately, at those times I was able to drive away and find a more motor home friendly garage. I am always relieved when the folks at the shop are able and willing to accomodate the fact that the vehicle they're working on is also my HOME.

Friday, the wheels came off again, the rotors went off to be turned if possible - it wasn't - new rotors were ordered and arrived and were the wrong part and a second pair were fetched and installed and we test drove and everything was working ok and I wrote yet another check and called to arrange the weekend.

Here's more of that Divine Intervention stuff. My older daughter, who had originally planned to go back to Virginia on Wednesday, had stayed through Friday. And had been delayed in her planned Friday a.m. departure. And was just loading her car when I called. She would be driving past the shop on her way home so I could take the motor home to the kids', ride with her as far as the shop, and bring my SIL's car back without anyone having to make an extra shuffle run. (45 miles one way, not a quickie run!) The kids were all going out to dinner before she'd be leaving, and as it worked out I could just make it by the time they were meeting for dinner. Woohoo! So dinner with my family, a no-imposition ride back for the other vehicle, and all the vehicles where they were supposed to be.

I'd love to say everything is fixed, but I still have a brake light that comes on when I'm in gear... It's a side-effect of the towing or PS pump replacement - happened the other time too - but we don't know how to make it go away. The brake itself is not on, just the light. And I found out my headlights don't play nice with my signal lights, so I am only able to drive in daylight until I get THAT figured out. (It's not the relay.) Have I mentioned I'm tired of doing repairs? Nevertheless, I am very grateful to be neither a crispy critter nor stranded in some unfamiliar area without resources. Now maybe I can get on with the business of finding interesting stuff and reporting on motor home life. Please?

My thanks to G!, my kids, my friends, the mechanics, for all the assistance.