Things We Haven’t Told You…….

By wagswildadventureDecember 5, 2013 ( 10 )

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If you’ve been following our blog, you may be thinking that life on the road seems to be, well….. almost perfect?!  Actually, life on the road is …..life.  Here, in no particular order, are the things we haven’t told you about our adventure so far.  This past Thanksgiving week reminds us that we definitely have a lot to be thankful for! 

Desert Drama
Superstition Mt. AZ

1.       Rain battered the RV but the sound of cascading water inside the coach caught Greg’s attention.  He followed the sound to the kitchen sink, his socks working like sponges.  Water, flowing from the faucet into an “unattended” glass on the counter, spilled over into a cabinet below, drenched a web of electronics and disabled a heater.  “Why would anyone design heater electronics under the kitchen sink?, I asked in horror.  From his floor puddle, my ever patient husband, calmly responded with, “A better question may be: why would anyone walk away from a glass filling with water….”  A basketful of towels and several hours of warm airflow from a space heater dried out the electronics bringing the heater back on-line. Whew! 

Superstition Mt. AZ

2.       We are at that awkward age “where men are gray and women are not”.  That is, unless too many rainy, muddy days in an RV without internet, cell phone and satellite TV makes the simplest things entertaining.  The day’s fun activity proved to be my first attempt ever at coloring my hair (I so miss my hairdresser, Heather!).  I am not sure if my whining or threat to don the long, gray ponytail look brought Greg to my aid.  With color glopped on my head and lots left over, we wondered what Greg would look like with a “not so gray” goatee and mustache.  After painting the leftover goop on his happy face, we waited.  For a while, the transitioning color looked fine but the final results resembled dull brown shoe polish. No worries, but lots of laughs later, a clean shaven Greg appeared.

 

3.       I lost my job as Chief Navigator and was replaced by Natalie. My demise came after I directed us onto the wrong, busy freeway in Portland in the wrong direction.  To remedy the error, we exited the freeway and ended up on a narrow side street. Not a good situation with a total towing length of 60 feet!  Luckily, we were able to turn around. My replacement Natalie, an RV GPS Navigator, knows everything! Even how tall and wide Betty is. She sits on the dash and talks incessantly to Greg which I find entertaining. Especially, when she barks out “Speed Warning”, letting him know he’s exceeded the speed limit.  This usually incites a bit of bantering between the two, which entertains me all the more!  

Petroglyphs
Superstition Mt. AZ

 

4.       I was rehired as Navigator Consultant when Natalie routed all 60 feet of us through the business loop in Flagstaff, AZ (instead of the freeway!) resulting in an hour’s worth of bumper-to-bumper chaos only to end up on that same freeway.  Natalie and I work well together but I suspect Greg thinks the chitchat in the cab is a bit much! 

 

5.       Dumping an RV sewer tank is a chore at best and comical at worst.  Greg is a stickler for details, setting up best practices, completing preventive maintenance and keeping all systems running smoothly.  Dumping the tanks is simple…..pull the lever, muck runs through the sewer hose and into the sewer.  One fateful day, after checking all connections, he pulled the lever like he’s done countless times before.  Spires of liquid shot up all along the top of the hose like the dancing water shows you see. Slamming the lever closed, he inspected the hose closely and found small, round holes poked all along the top. Neither our RV neighbors nor the resort office ever heard of such a thing.  We threw out the hose and bought another. A few days later, hose #2 spouted and our neighbors encountered the same problem.  At $50.00 a pop, these hose leaks were getting real annoying. Turns out, the culprit is a pesky AZ Cactus Wren with a sharp beak and cranky attitude! 

 

6.       Recently, we took a short trip to NV to take care of some business.  Betty stayed at the RV Resort in AZ despite our separation anxiety.  When we returned all was well. But within the hour, Betty got a migraine and tripped the main breaker on the power pole. Greg flipped it back on but it rebelled and shut off immediately.  Hurrying to Betty’s electrical compartment, a pungent burning smell wafted through the air and then, he saw it.  The power transfer switch melted into a misshapen form making it impossible to get any electricity into the rig, even from the generator!  We were officially camping….at least that’s how it felt to us! Battery power would sustain us for some unknown time but we chose to conserve.  Our upgrade (?) to a residential refrigerator cancelled out propane power as a backup. The cool evening air filled in nicely for air conditioning, the diode lantern cast plenty of light and wine chilled on ice.  We placed a call to an RV repair company but it was Sunday evening….  Monday morning and $359 later, a new transformer switch powered the rig.  Thankfully, this all happened while we were “home”!

 So, life is life, no matter what road or path you are on.  Hang on, enjoy the ride and know that neither the ups nor the downs are everlasting! 

Arches National Park, Moab UT

Our snowbird stint in AZ ends next week when we travel to Hemet, CA to spend Christmas with Greg’s folks. We hope you enjoy this last collection of AZ photos.

Chapel of the Holy Cross
Sedona, AZ

Chapel of the Holy Cross
Sedona, AZ

Categories: On the Road

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