Back in Cali

We made it back to California this afternoon. If you've ever driven from Oregon to California you know it's just a bit hilly. Well in a car it's not that noticeable but in a big old motorhome it's noticeable.  

Our coach is under powered with a 400 hp Cat engine. It sounds like a lot of horsepower but for the weight it's not enough. Yes I can keep up with most trucks but others pass us like we are standing still. What really pisses me off is when one of those cheap ass motorhomes passes me. I'm sure they are laughing thinking they are about to pass this fancy motorhome. I know I would be laughing to. 

Well I just have to remember they might get to the campground 5 minutes sooner but my 3 air conditioners will get me cool a lot faster then their two cheap o air conditioners and I  can sit in comfort while Maria does laundry in the coach LOL.

Spending the night in Yerka which is about 10 miles from Oregon border. It's hot and windy but the A/C is working fine.

Had to get our 10,000 steps so we waited till it sort of cooled off to get our walk done..

Maria is waiting on me to catch up.  That's new. As most guys know it's usually the other way around...... Big moon tonight.

On to Corning, CA in the morning.

OMC Round Two (this year)

We are back in Eugene, Oregon at Oregon Motorcoach Center.  You know we can't pass by a repair facility without stopping and spending some money. Just helping the OR state economy.

We have two foggy windows which is a common coach problem so we're having those fixed.  Plastic for now.

OMC redid the housing for the directv box, DVD player and satellite controller in April but now the directv box overheats when it's really hot outside. So they are going to have to make some adjustments to get more air around the box.

So hopefully they will have everything done by Friday so we can continue south. We will see.

Last night we had happy hour with all the other couples here to make their donation to OMC. The place is busy with every "camp" spot filled. I like to say it's is the most expensive "campground" in Eugene. 

Portland, Oregon

We made it to Portland, Oregon today at about 2:00 PM. The drive was busy. I wanted to get through Seattle early to miss the traffic. Well no traffic in Seattle but Tacoma was stop and go for miles. But we made it.

Its hot (90°) and smoky here in Portland.  Like California there are wildfires all over Oregon and Washington. They issued an air quality advisory.  It's not as bad as it was in Fairbanks AK but close.

The RV park we are in is actually in Fairview which is east of Portland. We are next to train tracks with a train going by about every hour. Just like living next to Hwy 101.

Run For the Border

We made it back to the good old USA today at 2:00 PM.

Until you're in someone's else's country for an extended period you don't realize how good we have it. As Maria said no more 60 dollar  dinners, no more trying to figure out the speed limit, no more loonies or toonies or whatever they're called. No more paying for chips and salsa and having no unsweetened ice tea. 

We are back in Bellingham WA for three days. Returned to a very nice park The Cedars RV Resort.. We were here during the hot water heater break down. We had to cancel our reservation three days ago due to our latest breakdown. They were very nice and credited us the canceled reservation to our  new three day stay.

Anyways today's story. We showed up at 7:30 AM at my buddy Chucks truck repair shop. He showed up at 8:20 AM. I waited till 8:30 AM and went inside. He was very cool and said to move the coach to his bay door and he'd be out to let me in. So I did as told. He opened the door directed me in and said he'd start working on it. 

He completely ignored Maria who said good morning to him. So he worked and I watched at the door.

I felt like a jerk because this guy's 70 years old and he's trying to get the coach jacked up and a 200 pound tire/wheel off. But I did not want to piss him off again so I watched.

The guys been a mechanic for 50 years he really didn't need my help but he's moving slow and  if anything I have a strong back.

So he grunts and groans and finally gets the blown airbag off and throws it in my direction.  

I just look at him and stand there. 

He puts the new airbag on and than the tire/wheel back on as I just stand there. Now I'm happy as hell cause we are getting the hell out a here. He than asks me to help him torque the lug nuts. Hey I'm fat so with my weight not a problem.  He asks me what I do for a living. I almost told him I was a mortician which would have ended the conversation but I told him the truth. Crap, it was like he took a Prozac. I couldn't shut him up. 

As I said yesterday I like Chuck even though he was an asshole to me. He is funny, has worked hard all his life and lost the woman he loved to ALS. He needs some meds or a girlfriend.

The cost for the repair was very reasonable. So we are back in the USA and happy to be here.

I Need a Vacation from this Vacation

Well here's the latest in a long nutshell. Coach is not fixed yet. Yesterday CoachNet (like AAA for motorhomes) was sopposed to tow us somewhere to be fixed or send us a guy who was quilified to fix us. Well they tried to send a guy who fixes cars because they couldn't find anyone else to come. No luck on a tow truck either. 

So I went to plan B. There's a local truck repair guy I talked to and Coachnet talked to but he was not that interested in working on a motorhome.

So I went and talked with him (Chuck) and he agreed to look at it. So we drove 10 mph for 7 miles and he looked at it. Blown airbag as I suspected.  He said he could fix it no problem but finding one would be the issue. Well we found one after some research by both of us. They would ship it to a truck repair place in Kamloops BC which is an hour away. It would be there the next day btwn 1 pm and 2 pm.

So we drove to Kamloops (45 mins) had a great breakfast and the airbag arrived FedEx at 1:30 pm.

I called Chuck and told him we were enroute with the air bag. He started yelling at me wanting to know why I hadn't brought the coach over in the morning.  I told him because we didn't have the part and he said he didn't want us blocking his one and only bay. He hung up on me. Well I have the new air bag which I didn't  pay for and Chucks having a temper tantrum.

So we drove back to Chucks and I tried to apologize for the misunderstanding.  He was an asshole about it but I was nice and said it was my fault.

He said to bring the coach over in the morning and he would try and work it in. We will see.

I like Chuck. He's a contankorous old guy that lost his wife to ALS. I am going to play nice and remember our problems are really not that big of a deal. If it goes sideways I still have the airbag and will find another way to get it installed.

I'm not sure what Canada's bail schedule is for punching out a 70 year old guy but hey if Basti can do it so can I.

Nothing is ever easy. But the campground we are in is nice. But it's hot here 88 degrees  at 5 pm.