Let’s not mince words over this. We’ve had a heck of a few weeks with our RV. I’ve mentioned a few issues in previous posts about our trials with full-time RV life. While we were in Colorado Springs, our dresser slide simply stopped working. The cause? A burned-out motor. Sigh. Several hundred dollars later, it was fixed. But our first tech, Jose from Caliber RV, couldn’t do it. He’d done some other repairs as mentioned in earlier posts. He is so honest and hardworking. Not only that, but he admitted he didn’t have much experience repairing slides, so he advised we contact someone who did. His referrals were all busy. We called a mobile tech recommended by the RV park, who was moving his office and couldn’t manage it. He referred us to the next one. That tech, Southwest RV, was worthless. Not exaggerating at all. I swear he spent more time doing, well, I don’t know what, than trying to fix it. Then, he simply left town smack in the middle of the job. He left Colorado for Wisconsin. I didn’t know it. He didn’t let us know. He just left. He told me to order the motor. So I did. He told me to have Jay look for the controller (not necessary for this repair) behind our dresser and an alleged false wall. The false wall was non-existent. Thankfully, we didn’t follow his request. The motor that had burned out was on top of the slide. No need for a controller repair. Finally, he admitted he was in Wisconsin. At first, he claimed he’d be back in time to finish our repair. Four days before we had to leave for the bike trip, he said he wouldn’t be back in time. Four days for us to find someone! And, he quoted around $1400 for the work. The first tech from Crossroads RV had now moved into his new building and was able to come make the repair. After paying Southwest around $220, Crossroads only charged us an additional $300 and prepared all the paperwork for us to turn in to our extended warranty. We made sure the RV Park was aware of the issue. They’d had a couple of complaints before and didn’t like Southwest’s attitude anyway, so they have put him on the “Do Not Use” list.
Off we went on our trip with our first stop in Idaho, near Boise. While driving through Boise, a man in a truck pulled up beside us and said our roof was blowing way up in the front. Seriously! I almost started crying. We got to our stop, and Art climbed up to find the roof bubbled and pulled up several feet from the front. Good grief! What more could go wrong? We boondocked (staying someplace without any hookups, usually for free) that night in Greenleaf, Idaho. Thankfully, we found a wonderful repair place owned by an older woman in Caldwell, Idaho, called D & C RV. It was close by, and this remarkable 62-year-old woman climbed up, pulled the entire roof fabric back, and glued it back down. They’d hardly used any glue on it! And they hadn’t tucked it under the front face of the RV like they should have. It’s a wonder it hadn’t happened before this! Art and Jay cleaned off some parts she needed to have done, and Art climbed up to help her re-caulk the roof. It was well into the 90 degrees Fahrenheit, so the caulk was ready to melt, and for her and Art, it must have been over 100 degrees up there in the hot sun. It took a good five hours to complete. Another $600 plus into The Money Pit. We had to park in some shade for about an hour to help it dry before we could hit the highway. We missed our next boondocking stay and spent the night, after thirteen hours of driving, at a rest area. Another rough night. But that day, we pulled into our current site at Elwha RV Park.
Elwha is in a beautiful wooded area with a community garden, a wood sculpture garden, dog areas, places for kids to shoot hoops, and a playground. It’s in the forest, peaceful, and quiet. One of the best places we have ever stayed. I asked Jay if we could return when we can stay longer. This place is heavenly!
The forests are so dense here.
It’s in the sixties Fahrenheit for our entire stay. I took a trip to Forks, WA, where they filmed the movie series, Twilight. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fan. I always say the author, Stephanie Meyer, should have had editing done (she claimed the publisher said it didn’t need it), but after about the fourth time of reading “amber eyes,” I’d had my fill. I did read them all, and we owned the movies for a while. I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy them, either. And whatever criticism I have, she’s laughing all the way to the bank!
This is a bridge heading into Forks.
The Welcome sign:
They have a Timber Museum there. I had a dog with me, Tristan, since he’s our occasional barker, so I couldn’t go in. These were outside:
It was a fun, short trip as I headed back within about half an hour to get home to the other three dogs. Here they are in a food coma tonight after dinner:
Notice the smallest is on the largest bed? Yeah, she likes to stretch out. LOL.
And this sunset was the night before:
This is a beautiful state.
Next Up: A Peaceful Sunday
On Hummingbirds Wings 