Visiting Louisiana ... Part 2

It was nice and quiet parked in the clearing by the tall trees at our friends place. It was early February. Some things were green. Other things were still dormant, but by the time we would leave, many signs for the new Spring season were beginning to come to life. It was so peaceful. Angel and I took walks every day.

We were parked in a clearing by the tall trees.

We needed to make repairs for items that I mentioned as they happened enroute. The first order of business was figuring out why the propane repair failed. Until this was fixed, I had to run back and forth between the RV and the trailer, to get food to fix for meals and put leftovers away after our meal was done.

The double door refrigerator we have in the trailer is 3.1 cu. feet. It was a lifesaver. The freezer compartment was large enough to hold everything from the freezer in the RV refrigerator. Everything else fit in the refrigerator section. We got our black two-door compact refrigerator from Walmart. We have been so thankful that we selected this two-door model.  Several things sold us on this particular model. First of all, it had two doors, the freezer will hold a gallon of ice cream, and the amount of room it has for its compact size. We used it constantly for the first seven months that we lived in the trailer. Since then, we have relied on it twice for emergency use until we could get propane leaks repaired.

First on our Agenda was Finding the Propane Leak 

The first chance they had, the guys drove the back right side of the RV up on blocks so John could get under it to have a look. It actually turned out to be an easy fix. The flare nut that the dealer had put on the line to fix the leak was not tight and all of the propane leaked out. We can only surmise that the employee only tightened it with his fingers instead of using a wrench to make sure it would not loosen up. That is why we ended up losing a whole tank of propane. If that wasn't bad enough, the cost to refill the propane tank was $3.89 per gallon, the most we have ever paid anywhere for propane, but I guess that is what one can expect to pay at a small one-stop convenience store where there is no other competition.

Finding a Garage That Could Do the RV Brakes was next

We called Reliable Tire and Auto in a nearby town to see if they could do a brake job on our P130 chassis motorhome. They said they could. We drove it over to their shop so they could take a tire off to make sure they ordered the correct parts for our rig.

Instead of taking a tire off and looking so they would know what to order, we could hear them walking around our rig, discussing back and forth what kind of front brakes we had, even including whether we had dual wheels on the back. It was frustrating to listen because their conversation did not give us any confidence in what they were about to order. However, they assured us that they had the parts on order and could do the job the next day.

The next morning we made another trip to their shop, and they had us drive inside. After they took one wheel off and started the job, they realized they had ordered the wrong parts. Then they wanted to put the new brake pads on even though they did not have the other parts, but we told them not to because we did not want bad impressions on the pads. (Needless to say, those were two extremely frustrating days!) Now the tire was off and they could see exactly what to order.

So two days later, we made a third trip to their shop at the appointed time. This time, instead of having us drive inside, another vehicle was inside, and they parked us on the outside. There was a doorway between the front of the rig inside and the front of our rig on the outside. It made me think that they were already booked up that day, but needed to work us in, after they screwed up ordering the wrong parts. They finally had the correct parts, and completed the job. We were on our way with new rotors and pads. It was not a job we were totally happy with, but our brakes were metal to metal and we needed brakes.

The job was done; we had new brakes, brakes that squealed like a banshee all the way to Florida when the brakes were  applied! That is, unless we coasted to a stop. And they still do, to this day, even after arriving in Florida! In addition, we have noticed that the dust cover is missing. I have to wonder if they actually took the time to clean off all of the residue before putting on the new parts. I'm no mechanic, but it is frustrating, especially after paying $739.54 to get the job done. The other thing that I wonder about is who did the work; were they the most knowledgeable person performing the work, or was someone else walking them through the procedure. After all, they did not have the right parts for the day they set the appointment, and they were so busy the day they had us come back, that they parked our rig outside to do the work because another vehicle was on the inside bay. The picture this paints is perhaps worth more than a thousand words, if you get my drift.

Repairs to the Trailer 

Repairs were needed to re-secure the brackets for the solar panels mounted to the top of the trailer. The brackets had weakened due to the constant vibration of bouncing over uneven pavement as we drove down the road. This required removing the brackets so they could be taken to a nearby welder, who welded all four for only $25.

Ratchet strap kept things taut until brackets were re-installed.

Brackets at all four corners were welded and reattached. 

Then John fabricated an angle to attach at a 45-degree angle to the sides and upper portions on all four corners of the assembly to stabilize everything and keep the brackets from weakening from the  continual bouncing over every little bump in the road.

It was a relief to finally get all of the repairs made.


More Fun!

In between getting repairs made, we enjoyed going with our friends and seeing different places in the area. We stopped at Lowes to get some bolts for the trailer repairs. We visited a casino north of Kinder. Although tempted, we did not play any of the machines. We listened to the machines in the room, but did not hear enough winning action to want to get involved. One evening we returned to the casino and were entertained by a somewhat untamed, very energetic Mustang Sally Band. We also enjoyed a chicken dinner from Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen. Seeing the different countryside as we travel across the country is relaxing as we see how local areas offer a variety of interesting sights. 

One day the ladies decided to gad about. Being so far behind on my blog, not to mention thinking about spending in excess of a thousand dollars in one month for repairs since leaving Ehrenberg, as well as driving a gas vehicle that gets 7.6 miles per gallon maximum to get to Florida, I decided to stay behind and do some much needed writing. It was a good time for me to set it all aside and lose myself while reliving our adventure in my blog post and do some more catching up. We had no internet signal without driving to a nearby location, but getting on the computer and catching up with writing more posts was time well spent. I would add photos and post later when it was easier to get on the internet. The ladies came home with this beautiful doll they found for the right price at a thrift shop.

30-inch doll found at a thrift shop

It was another great day! That's one thing about full-timing. What's not to love about this lifestyle? Reminds me of a song... The stars belong to everyone -- The best things in life are free -- I could go on and on, but sometimes the most memorable adventures are just that!

Incidentally, one of the most beautiful night time scenes that I have experienced is waking up at night, reaching above my head to pull the blind away from the window and looking up into the nighttime sky to see if the stars are out. When they are out, they look amazing! They also appear much larger than earlier in the evening. Several times, I have been tempted to get up and go outside to see if they are really larger, or is the angle I view them through the window creating an optical illusion. 

Playing it by Ear

As to how long we would stay, we were playing it by ear. At first we thought we might stay a month. A Mardi Gras celebration was scheduled for the end of February, and it would have been nice to attend this gala affair. Then John discovered Ed Helvey, a blogger who had boondocked at our house for a week before we picked up stakes, was enroute to Texas. When he learned how close we were to where he was headed, he stopped to boondock for a few days, so we could all catch up.

Then the unthinkable happened...

We needed to dump our holding tanks, and when John took the sewer cap off at ground level, it was full right up to the rim. There was no more room. We waited a day, but the level had not changed. After further investigation on dump stations that would be on our route, we decided to go ahead and head out. We would find a place with a dump station as we headed northeast.

It was time to get on the road again. We thanked our friends for their hospitality and bid them good-by. Ed left the day before. Our friends had family arriving later that month to go to Mardi Gras and see other things in the area. Leaving when we did turned out for the best, for me and my sis, as I will write about later.

In my next post we will cross the Mississippi River, our first time to cross at Natchez, Mississippi. From there, we travel across Alabama into Florida. Please put your email in the box at the top right of this blog if you would like to be notified when it posts. You will need to go to your email and click on a link to confirm that you want to be notified.

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