Act I Scene I: The protagonists are heady with optimism about the journey ahead.
Act I Scene II: The shit hits the fan.
So, let's just suffice it to say that the rain that was plaguing our preparation efforts in the Keys somehow followed us all the way from our temporary home at the Bowdens to the Solar Ark in New Mexico. (Thank god we got the roof sealed BEFORE we left!)
We stopped to see Art & Barb in Naples, FL (causing what we are certain must be quite the "buzz about town" in their peaceful, quiet neighborhood). At least we only stayed, leaking various vehicular fluids onto strategically placed cardboard, for one night. Art was quite the trouper, waiting up for us until the wee hours of the night (3am, if we recall correctly), and Barb fortified us with an awesome breakfast the following morning before we unceremoniously ate and ran!
Then, having bailed out completely on our plan to swing east to Melbourne to visit Marianne (sorry, Baby Bird), we pointed ourselves straight for Bainbridge, GA to see Ace & Kathie. Again, we arrived incredibly late, ruining the fabulous seafood feast they had planned for us.
(that, by the way, is a real, unaltered image of a deep sea fish called a blobfish
(Psychrolutes marcidus), which looks about as sad as we felt!)
But, we managed to squeeze in a nice visit the next day, touring both our RV and theirs (a much younger Winnebago with slides... slides!!!). They gave us several incredibly useful RVer things, including a pair of walkie-talkies that have been saving our tails ever since: we really don't know how we got along without them for that first little bit of our journey. Thanks so much!
Then, it was off to Saltillo, MS to visit my brother Curt and his wife Teresa (and see my mom and dad, who drove down from Ohio to bring Curt a trailerful-- that's a word, right?-- of stuff he has been storing at their house for, um, well... who knows how long). I have not seen my brother in eight years, which I still cannot quite fathom. Tempus fugit. It was so nice to catch up a bit, and we ended up actually spending a few days there, instead of the less-than-24 hours we had initially planned. I also got to hand off several boxes of stuff (mostly holiday decorations... ok... mostly Christmas decorations) that I just couldn't bear to part with, and I am hopeful we will be able to use once we build a house. Thanks so much to Curt and Teresa for graciously letting us spend a few days parked next to their house, shamelessly sucking their power and even more shamelessly working on the RV in the driveway of their new home!
Act I Scene III: The protagonists believe the worst of their troubles are behind them, but the RV gods have more in store for them on their cross-country odyssey.
So, yes, that is Nate with Baba G at a Cummins/Onan generator service facility just outside Little Rock, Arkansas. As we drove from Florida to Arkansas, and despite the constant rain, the outside temperatures continued to climb, which meant we needed to run the generator for the roof AC (since the dash AC is totally frozen up... and not in the good way). Nate had already disconnected a terrible Hades-like underbed heater that was piped directly in to our engine cooling system and was broiling the cats as we drove, so at least we didn't have a heat source inside the RV. With that evil thing disconnected and the roof AC running, the temperature inside the RV was quite pleasant. But, alas, the generator died after a very brief run, and we could not get it started again.
So, we found the Cummins/Onan place and made a beeline for it from Saltillo. And, what a break! Two great things happened: we found ourselves in the hands of a fabulous mechanic, who gave us a little "Generator 101" lesson, which revealed that our set-screw was simply cranked down too much, so the generator was putting out 75-ish Hz alternating current, instead of the 60 Hz all standard electrical devices, including our roof AC, expect and need in order to run properly. Oops. Thank goodness the AC simply shut down under the incorrect electrical frequency: it could have died for good. :(
The second great thing that happened is that we got to spend a free night camping-- with water and electrical hookups, no less!-- in their parking lot for the night!
Our Cummins campsite.
The next morning, with renewed optimism, we pulled back onto I-40 W and headed for Oklahoma.
Act I Scene IV: A riddle: what goes up and down hills, from dawn until midday, and then won't start again once you've stopped to pee at a rest area? The answer: Baba G.
Yeah, so apparently the Chevy 454 Big Block is a unforgiving, hot-ass beast. Thank goodness for our little Honda Civic (not being towed: we now know that would NEVER EVER work), which Nate drove to several nearby-ish (heavy on the -ish) parts stores to procure a new starter and a new relay solenoid. We (ok, mainly HE) replaced them both, and still no ignition: just that terrible, dull click that tells you something is still wrong in the circuit. So, Nate was at his wits end and then I had the genius idea of taking the (very shiny, rust-free, and generally new-looking) solenoid he had just swapped out from under the hood and using it to replace the (rusty, old, beat-up looking) one under the doghouse (in between the front seats inside the RV).
And, then, the old girl started right up!... a mere four-plus hours after she died. I think we win the award for longest rest area stop ever. :-{ In any case, we were back on I-40 W and made it to a cool little campsite on a river island somewhere in central OK... neither of us remembers quite where.
The next morning, we hopped back on I-40 and headed for the Texas border, where we stopped for gas, and... (do you have any awful guesses about what happened next???)... Baba G wouldn't start. Again. Holy hell.
On the bright side, we knew exactly what was wrong. We were cooking starters to death, primarily because the start is located (you are going to *love* this) DIRECTLY UNDER the exhaust manifold. For those of you who are not vintage 454 afficionados, this is the hottest place next to the engine block and an absolutely asinine place to put a(n apparently) temperature-sensitive starter. So, off went Nate again, in the Civic, to get ANOTHER starter. And, after he brought it back, and installed it (next to one of only two RV/truck pumps that we blocked for well over two hours), we were once again on our way west.
The funny thing about all this is that there IS a heat shield made for this starter, which totally makes sense, given its location. There is even a part number on file just about everywhere. But, Nate could not find one ANYWHERE. 12 NAPAs in three states: every parts store had the starter, but no one had the heat shield that would prevent one from needing replacement starters insanely often. Hmm... can anyone say "planned obsolescence?"
Finally, we made it out of Oklahoma (which we now believe might just mean "death to starters"), lighter in the pocket, but with two starters (yes, we kept the one we swapped out as a spare, believing it could come in handy once it cooled off enough), and jaws clenched waiting for the next challenge.
We were certain that challenge would come from our first real camping adventure, at a place Kathie had recommended, called Palo Duro Canyon (a Texas State Park). While it was a crazy steep grade for Baba G (when you mention "10% grade" in front of Nate, his eyes still get sort of crazy and distant and he breaks out in a barely perceptible sweat), she got in... and more importantly, OUT, without a hitch! The campground was beautiful, but we still felt the intense pressure of being THREE WEEKS LATE to the Solar Ark, so we took off the next day without really spending any time de-stressing at all.
NEXT UP: We FINALLY make it to New Mexico!
