One week ago (May 27th) we were all packed up, closed up, hooked up and ready to drive out of Tropical Palms to head North. You all were nicely settled in your seats and Lulu noted no one was arguing for the shotgun seat. We bid our farewell to Sam and Sandy and watched as they rolled through the exit gate at TP. Well miss you and will look forward to seeing you again soon we called out after them. Okay...our turn. Art stood guard in his golf cart watching our RV move ahead. It moved one inch and then: BONG, BING, BONK, BEEP, RING, DING, DONG....our bells and whistles went off!....and the RV wouldnt move. Oh, God! Not good. Bad sign. What is going on? Cory studies the dash gauges. RATS! Our two air bag gauge indicators arent going up like they should. They level off at half of what they need to be at. Bad sign! Nauseous, I removed myself from my navigator seat and get out of the RV.....Cory follows. Art looks on in puzzlement. Bad sign: a hissing from behind the passenger front wheel. No, it wasnt a mad snake. No, it wasnt a leak
in our tire. No, it was Mr. Wind under our RV. No, it wasnt Lulu trying to whistle. No, it wasnt me throwing a hissy fit (although I wanted to). It was air leaking from the area of our air bags....RATS! No air pressure...no brakes (we have and need air brakes). No driving the RV. We werent going anywhere! Our departure mission was scrubbed!! Good grief! What to do? What is plan B?
The answer is simple: get the RV fixed. Getting it fixed isnt all that simple, though. We need a repairman to our site...we cant drive the RV, ‘member? Most mobile service people are for the actual house part of the RV.....not many for the chassis and RATS! We call all the obvious numbers we should....no luck. Finally, after asking several times who do you know we can call, we reach a truck repair place in Orlando that also works on RVs. Whew! Yes, they out and look at the RV but not until morning. Cest la vie. We are disappointed but thats how the cookie crumbles. Thats how the water flows. We are just glad we have some help coming.
Art offers words of encouragement as he heads back to his house. Hes such a good guy and good friend. He had tried to diagnose our problem by crawling under the RV. Not a pleasant place to be. He was hoping he could fix our problem but it was beyond his expertise. He took a picture of the leaking air valve which proved helpful when contacting the repair service. I wish you all could meet Art....he is one in a million. He has helped just about everyone in our park with their problems. He is a friend to all and thats what he says as you try to reward him for his help...We are all friends... thats what friends are for. He is such a good and humble man. He is our expert electronic guru but has many other talents besides. Im going to spotlight him when we can resume our coffee hour and I do my Sandys Snippets.
Our traveling clothes were exchanged for work clothes. Cory unhooked our car and hooked us back up to the water, sewer and electric again. With hopeful hearts, we kept our in and maneuvered ourselves along the narrow pathway
inside the RV. Nothing to do but wait. Lulu stared aimlessly out the front window from her traveling crows nest perch. She was so confused.
Jason, the repairman arrived the next day as planned. He followed Arts pathway under our RV. He pounded and grunted within the tight confines at the front end of the motor home. Cory ran fans toward him trying to keep the sweltering hot weather from killing him. How do people live full time in Florida? My hair is constantly in shower mode...wet! It is slickered to my head like it is painted on. Finally, Jason emerged with the air valve in his grimy hand. This is the culprit. It needs to be replaced. Okay. He calls his boss to get one ordered. Rats! Not so easy. The piece is obsolete now! Remember our RV is a 2008 model.
