Thoughts that had occurred to me
during the night and that I verified with Kim in the monrning:
1. Before we left Charlevoix, Kim
mentioned that we should get new tires on the camper when we get to Arizona…therefore,
did the first tire blow because just because of normal wear and tear? His answer was ‘Yes’. 2. So, can we assume the second
tire blew because it was in shitty shape?
His answer was ‘Most certainly’ and 3. Since we traveled almost 1000
miles with no problem but now, we can’t drive more than 20 miles without
risking a blowout, can we assume the reason for the third blow out was a recent
development? His answer was
“Probably, but it might have been brewing for a while and when the
circumstances were right, it became an issue.”
And in further discussion, we wondered if the weight of the bikes has
been a contributing factor, even though the camper is a toy hauler. If so, what
do we do about that now? We aren’t inclined
to take them out and leave them in the middle of Kansas. And if this happened over time (5 years) on
the original axles because of the bikes, would a new axle allow us to get to
Arizona and back home where we could assess what to do about the entire
situation? New camper, smaller bikes, no
bikes? So much to think about and so
little brain space right now.
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Another rather random thought
that occurred to me upon waking this morning: What about the chicken?? I had stocked the camper with some groceries
off our shelves so we wouldn’t have to go shopping immediately. I also put some frozen chicken breasts in the
freezer compartment along with two frozen half gallon milk jugs (filled with
water), figuring everything would stay cold until we got the fridge turned on
at the campground. Yesterday, the day was sunny with the temperature getting into
the low 40s; in fact, it was still in the mid-30s when we went to bed. My mind
was consumed with the tire debacle and never gave a thought to the state of the
chicken. Well, this morning, I
remembered and was concerned about the possibility of it thawing while sitting
at the truck stop. I had no heartache thinking
about throwing it in the dumpster, but it’s been so freakin’ cold that I knew
there was no possibility of it thawing today.
Maybe tomorrow or the day after but not today.
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Morning musings:
8:20 a.m.: Wandered up
front to fortify ourselves with a hotel breakfast consisting of scrambled egg
patties, sausage, very burned toast (Kim, not me) and weirdly mixed orange juice
so we’d have some energy to face the task before us.
While we were up there, Kim asked if we could have the room for another
night, explaining our issue with the camper.
One clerk mentioned that his brother knows ‘a guy’ that maybe could
help; he’d give him a call. We were back
at our room, preparing to head to an RV center when the clerk came running up,
excitedly saying that ‘the guy’ isn’t doing anything today and will head over
to the hotel to meet us. Sounded
sketchy, but okay, we had the time to wait for him. (Turns out the friend’s name is Michael)
9 a.m.: Kim starts making
calls; during one call, the technician surmised that it probably wasn’t a
bearing problem but an axle issue, compounded over time by the weight of the
bikes, which is what Kim had been tossing around in his head. The tech also
said we’re probably looking at a towing situation as the two RV service centers
in town don’t provide mobile service to the RV, they provide service to mobile
RV’s. Two entirely different concepts.
9:45 a.m., Michael shows
up, knocks on the door, introduces himself and asks about the camper. He reminds me of Marshal, willing to do
whatever he can to make the situation better. Although we’re fairly certain
that he can’t provide the kind of help we need, we head out to show him the
camper anyway. Seriously, what else did
we have to do with our time? Michael may
not have been able to fix the issue, but a fresh perspective certainly can’t
hurt.
11 a.m.: Regardless of
Michael’s lack of official credentials, between his and Kim’s observations,
they got the axle to a point where the tires weren’t rubbing against the frame;
at this point, Kim felt it was okay to pull the camper back to the hotel. Michael
followed to make sure all went well.
11:30 a.m.: Back at the
hotel with the camper. Don’t know how to
proceed from this point but it feels good to have the camper in the parking lot
near us as opposed to it being 17 miles away.
Back at the hotel, Kim made another
call to Hoyt’s truck repair, left a message, then took a call from someone back
in Charlevoix. That lasted for a while. I passed the time by writing emails to
my representative and senators, thinking how stupid loud the heating unit is
and trying not to scream at the futility of just sitting in a hotel waiting for
someone who may hold the answer to our problem to return a phone call. We can’t make a plan until we have some
options. And it’s not like we can haul the camper all over Topeka in an attempt
to get someone to help us. Over lunch, I
asked Kim what he thinks God is trying to teach us in this situation. “Patience”
was his one-word answer. I’m working on it.
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About 2:30 we discussed food options within walking distance since the
truck is attached to the camper. Cracker
Barrel is directly to the left of our room, Texas Roadhouse is across the road
from the hotel. I’m not a huge fan of
the Cracker Barrel experience but it was closer and since we had to walk and the
wind was raw, distance was a valid consideration. But the tantalizing smells of the Texas Roadhouse
chased us as we walked in the direction of the Cracker Barrel and doggone, if the
smell of steak wasn’t enough to make us rethink our priorities. Never made it
to the Cracker Barrel.
Back in the room a little after 4 p.m. with full bellies, wondering what
to do with the rest of the day. Taking a
walk required more fortitude than I had to offer so we listened to The Black
Echo. However, listening while sitting
on the bed had me fighting the urge to take a nap. So, we plugged the Switch into the TV and
played a few games of UNO…Kim and I against an AI team. It’s ridiculous how satisfying it felt to
beat them. And tomorrow I’m going to ask
if we can get another chair because sitting on the bed gets old quickly. Later we played a few games of Yahtzee on the
Switch.
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We’ve
resigned ourselves to being here a few more days. No forward progress with the trailer until
Monday and then it’s a matter of getting the repairs done. While the camper is being repaired, we’ll
have the truck free to do a little snooping around to see what Topeka has to
offer besides the four walls we’ve been looking at.
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