Category Archives: Everyday Stuff

We spent 9am to 1:45pm today at the dealers getting the tow master issue resolved. It APPEARS it has been fixed and it is working as it should. We have hooked everything up and tested it about 12 times today and we will do it a few more times tomorrow. We just want to be sure while we are here and not 1,200 miles away from free warranty work.

Last night around 10 pm the furnace decided to not work again. It did work at 8am today. It did not work at 10am at the dealer, and the technicians witnessed it, so there was a issue. We had 3 guy’s at one time or another working on it. We discovered there is such a thing as “bad propane” so they drained the line’s and when that didn’t resolve the issue they did more test and decided to once more replace the “brain” as well as more wire’s around the furnace just in case there is a bad wiring issue etc.

And since they had to order part’s we get to be back at the dealer’s at 9am tomorrow.

Joy.

And to make the day complete, Pauline discovered moisture build up between the passenger side window. Directly in front of the mirror. This was taken care of 2-3 months ago. Or so we thought. It cost us $350. It took 3 days. I am not at all amused.

We meet with the “window guy” while we are at the dealers in the morning. I am not pleased of the known option’s. I am hoping he can perform magic.

Tonight I discovered water leaking from the water heater (outside). It COULD be as simple as the plastic drain plug needs replaced or tightened.

Yeah, sure it could be.

We are getting more efficient and comfortable in Ackbar. He is so close to be “perfect” right now. Well perfect by our definition. We just have to resolves these final issue’s and we can be going on our way.

Due to staying here longer and the need/desire to get to the area we want to be, we are planning our route and it appears we will be doing a 7-10 hour driving day. It just works out better for us if we make this sacrifice.

When we go on hike’s we always try to do the hardest part of the hike as soon as we can, that way when you accomplish the hard part of the hike, it’s all easy from there. So we wanted to do the hard day as soon as we could to get it out of the way.

At the moment, the planned route is from McMinnville, OR to Grant’s Pass, OR (About 4 hours) and stay 1 -2 nights. From Grant’s Pass to Chowchilla, CA area for 2-3 nights which would get us time to spend a day in Yosemite. No hike’s this time. Damn. From Chowchilla to the Joshua Tree National Park area and from there to Yuma, AZ and from there to Patagonia until August.

All we need to figure out is the dates.

Daphna and Allen was nice enough to allow us to live in our box in the back alley of their house from February 20, 2013 to April 2, 2013. It did not have sewage hook up’s and the power was only 20 amps (Ha!) and it was cold and too damn cold at time’s, but it was a great month plus for us.

We got to do some projects without worry of a park manager telling us “you can’t do that here” or whatever. They have a 40′ RV parking lot in their back alley, and once you close your eyes and just do it, parking there is easy.

Of course, if just 1 of the 3 obstacles (Garage roof corner, end of fence next to bamboo, and neighbor across the alley’s fence post.) I had to deal with was just 6″ farther, this would have been a breeze. But they are not 6″ farther, so I just did what I needed to do and closed my eyes.

I got in/out about 6 times total with only 1 mishap, I scratched the front bumper on drivers side by a 3″ nail no one saw sticking out of the fence. That is how close I had to get Ackbar to all 3 obstacles at one point or another during this adventure.

I learned a lot on just parking Ackbar in such a tight area. I am much more confident in driving and parking. Not too confident to get cocky, but confident enough I know for a fact, I can parallel park Ackbar, since I have done it.

Daphna and Allen will never know the appreciation we will always have for them allowing us this great honor of staying in the back alley. They have done so much for us already. It’s good to be Loved.

04/01/2013 – Everett, WA – Living in a box in the back alley of my best friend’s house. – Why yes I can parallel park a RV, why do you ask?

04/01/2013 – Everett, WA – Living in a box in the back alley of my best friend’s house. – Why yes I can parallel park a RV, why do you ask?

04/01/2013 – Everett, WA – Living in a box in the back alley of my best friend’s house. – This fence post was 1 of 3 obstacles.

04/01/2013 – Everett, WA – Living in a box in the back alley of my best friend’s house. – The left side fence post (front of red tarp) the corner of the roof on right side and the fence behind me (as I take this pic) are the 3 obstacles.

04/01/2013 – Everett, WA – Living in a box in the back alley of my best friend’s house. – Allen wanted to put the bridge outside our door to the fence gate. I said no.

04/01/2013 – Everett, WA – Living in a box in the back alley of my best friend’s house. – Don’t mess up the dirt pile.

We got out of bed at 5am, it wasn’t that hard to get up since neither of us really slept that much last night. Too warm, got to bed too late, was too wired, too stressed, too… everything.

However it was as simple as it could have been leaving this early. We did most of the prep work last night between 1130pm and 1am. All we had to do this morning was get out of bed, dress, eat, and go. And it all went really smooth. We wanted to get past Seattle before rush hour and we accomplished that, in fact we had no real traffic concern’s until we arrived in Portland around 9am and had to stop a few times.

We arrived at the dealership around 1030am and from 1030 to 2pm they worked on the issue which is the reason we are here and not 200 miles somewhere else. Our main worry was this was a newbie mistake, and we would be embarrassed within moments of arriving. However I wish that happen now.

The issue is, we have a “Tow Master Even Break” its a “box” that you put on the floor of the vehicle being towed, and it will pump the tow vehicle breaks when you use the RV breaks. I think I was told its a required system in 48 states.

Our issue was “Low Battery will not operate” and nothing at all would work. The service tech put a live wire from the RV to the Jeep so that would solve the issue. It did not. So he did all this work today, and we all thought it was accomplished, until we tested it.

The good news, it is no longer a “low battery will not operate” the issue is now “break pedal is depressed”…

Grrrrrr…

The tech called the manufacture, and they was more then willing to place 100% of the blame on Jeep. Mainly, the 2011 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. You know, the top selling Jeep of all time? Yeah, why would you want to have your system work on the top selling year/model of all time? Not like anyone has it right?

Anyway, the manufacturer is telling the tech we have manually disconnect the Jeep’s battery EVERY TIME WE TOW.

Just the 2011 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. Yeah, why fix your product when you can blame someone else?

Right now we are about 50 yards from our dealer at a really nice RV park. We was going to leave in the morning for Southern Oregon/California, but now we get to stay another night, so we will be here until Thursday morning… If not longer.

This issue *MUST* be addressed.

$1200 system + $200 “add on” cost = It better freaking work.

Tomorrow we cut the bow lines and head off into the big wide world for the first time, completely on our own.

Our travel plans and destinations have all changed due to multiple reasons such as the time of year, weather, cost, time. We need to head back to the dealer to figure out what the issue is with our tow master.

We keep getting “battery too low to operate” when it should’t be a issue since we had them put a live wire from the RV to the Jeep for towing so we wouldn’t wear down the Jeep battery by using the breaks/lights. The system cost $1,200 and we made the mistake not doing our homework before we had it installed so we didn’t think much of having to get a live wire to the Jeep.

We thought not having the live wire was the issue with the “battery too low to operate” and had to pay another $200+ for parts/labor. This did not fix the issue and now we have to go back to have it addressed for a third time, which is forcing us 200 or so mile farther west then the planned route.

Not too bad considering everything. We verified this will be 100% covered by warranty so we can do other needful things with the money we wont have to spend on repairs.

I think we are also going to spend 2-3 “hard day’s” driving 4-8 hours. We really wanted to see all the National Park’s between us and where we end up, but time, and time of year, etc, we think we need to be in a warm area, with sun, as quickly as we can. We love the Pacific Northwest, this is our home, but sometime’s its just too damn chilly and you want to be warm and comfy.

Like now.

So in 3 or 4 day’s I will be wearing shorts on a full time bases once more. Happiness.

It has been pretty odd staying a month in Everett. Just when we are starting to get a feel for the area, we are packing up and moving away. It’s been even weirder living in a box in the back alley of my best friend’s house. It’s amazing how you can be so close to someone for so long, and not see them as much as you would think, and right when you leave, you realize you wasted another great opportunity in life.

We wanted to thank Daphna and Allen for the use of their RV lot for the past 40 day’s or so. It is for sure the tightest fit I will ever attempt to get in/out of, it has power and water but no sewage and it came with some many great options such as fun, food, drink and smoke.

Fun was had. Good food was eaten. Great drink’s were consumed and the finest of the smoke was smoked. Laughs and tears shared. Memories made. Dog kicked. Cat beaten. Turtle waxed. Fish fished for.

I have heard a rumor that there is something called “five am”. I was not personally aware time existed before nine am, but I am intrigued enough to see what it is all about and with luck we will be driving South by 6am and arriving at our dealer by 11am.

• what the hell are we doing today? 2013-03-16 http://t.co/PRBU9fzGY4 00:43:28, 2013-03-23
• Murphy's Law is the law of the land. http://t.co/X8m19eqn8q 21:58:17, 2013-03-23
• Got through a 37 degree night without our furnace, but with extra blankets, 2 cats and clothes..happy to have our buddy heater when up. ~P 12:41:44, 2013-03-24
• We have checked the fuses, LP and anything we can think of….taking the mortar board into a dealer tomorrow. ~P 12:42:33, 2013-03-24
• And we'll be calling our dealer tomorrow and see what they say, I've posted on a rv forum, going to ask on a fb page and go from there. ~P 12:45:43, 2013-03-24
• If push comes to shove, we'll change our route down to AZ and stop at were we brought it for them to fix it….much cheaper for us. ~P 12:46:42, 2013-03-24
• Right now, getting geared up to attack some work and get things scheduled for this week so I'm ready for tomorrow. ~P 12:47:32, 2013-03-24
• Vancouver, BC, Canada http://t.co/bU5bIufLOr 13:28:30, 2013-03-24
• After two 37 degree nights and chilly yesterday, saved by our buddy heater, tested the furnace before calling the dealer & it started! ~P 09:50:04, 2013-03-25
• VERY happy that it started, but wondering why we had this issue, will ask for more info from our dealer later today. ~P 09:50:52, 2013-03-25