Well, we did it! We bought our first RV! We drove out of the sellers' development, with me in the rental car, following Tony driving OUR 'NEW' RV!! Very exciting. As we drive away, we get no more than 8 miles away - 5 minutes - and Tony quickly pulls off to the shoulder. I get out, smelling something burning(!!) He jumps out of the MH, mumbling: "The temperature went up and the alarm went on". As he looks under the engine, he finds the remaining portion of the alternator belt, dangling in the breeze. This doesn't seem right, I think. We call the seller who drives out to us. I call Coach Net, the emergency road service. After a long time, the seller finds the engine number, and calls "his guy" who can bring another belt, and get us on our way. "Cancel the tow truck" he says. I am doubtful, but I cancel Coach Net. Later, the guy shows up with a belt. Gets under the rig, and then comes back and tells us: "It's the wrong size belt....But I think I can get in to work".... Now I'm REALLY worried. You shouldn't have to "get an alternator belt to work". Hmmmmm....... Well after a LONG while, Mr. Fix-It admits he is useless. Back on the phone to Coach Net. They said: "See ?? I told ya!" Now it'll be another hour. Well, the tow truck arrives,
and our total time waiting is 5 HOURS!! We want to follow the tow truck, but the driver says he has to disconnect the drive shaft, and suggests we go get some dinner and a motel for the night, and gives us the repair shop info where we should go in the am. So, off we go, doing the obligatory RV shopping in Wallyworld (Walmarts), and we settle in for the night.Bright and early the next day, we find the repair shop, and there's our Baby in the parking lot. We drive around to it, but.......what's that hanging down in the front?? Why.....ITS THE MIRROR !!! It must have been side-swiped by the tow truck!! Did somebody say Murphy's Law??
We arrange for the repair to be done, and also get some much needed maintenance done. The shop owner finds out that a new mirror takes 3 weeks to special order. GREAT! He suggests we take it to his welder guy, and see if they can fix it. ( And, OF COURSE, the tow truck guy said he didn't hit the mirror! We drop the mirror off with the welder, and now try to locate new front tires while we are waiting (all day). Turns out, out of 20 tire dealers in the area, NO ONE has these tires, except a distributor in West Palm Beach, an hour and a half away! Of course!! Now, the local tire dealer who is going to mount these bad boys, warns us: "Make sure you're back by 5 o'clock, or it'll cost you an extra $85 for the boys to stay overtime!"
So, off Tony goes, in the compact rental car, and drives the hour and a half to buy these tires, but the tire guys say: "You're NEVER gonna fit them in THAT car!!" Tony says: "These &%$!!?** tires are going in this car even if I have to tie them to the roof!" Well, he gets them squeezed in, to the amusement of all of the tire guys who came out to see this show! Now, because the tires are in the back seat (of a compact car) he is all scrunched up to the steering wheel, and this is how he drove an hour and a half back to Okeechobee!!
Well, the repairs are all done, and the mirror welded and I drive the motorhome to the tire dealer to meet up with Tony, and OF COURSE, he arrives AFTER 5 o'clock, so its an extra $85 on top of the $750 for the tires. We get the damn tires mounted, and take off for home, 36 hours over schedule.
The trip home was fairly uneventful, except for a trickling of water in the coach, from what turns out to be a clogged ice maker tubing. And OF COURSE, Tony doesn't allow us to use the dash air conditioner, so we don't stress the new alternator belt! Thank Goodness the generator works, and we use roof A/C !! On the way home, the MH gets its first bath at a truck wash in South Carolina.
We make it home in one piece, thankful for small favors :-)
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