Difficulties beset us, and we had a lot to work on – sorry it’s been so long between posts, dear readers. We had several obstacles to overcome and have finally gotten to an equilibrium. We have had problems with our trailer, with our sticks and bricks, with my laptop (gasp!) and some family drama.
Wow, I had to look at the last post to see where I left off – it has been a long time! Life, as they say, got in the way. We left you in Wichita Falls, TX.
Trailer Difficulties
Awning Problems
Everyone that has stayed with us this long knows about our rookie mistake with the awning in Winslow Arizona. We ordered the awning to arrive in Little Rock when we would be there, so there’d be no delay. We scheduled a service appointment for the same time and planned to spend the school year in the area for Sierra’s 8th grade year.
Slide Out Difficulties
We had difficulties with our slide while in Silver City, NM. I did not write about it at the time, really just hoping it would “go away” – never a solid plan. It was not coming in even and was making a grinding sound. I had to get outside and push the corner not closing while Ash close it from inside (a Herculean effort – those things are not light, there’s probably still grooves from my shoes in the gravel!).
Our next destination was Bottomless Lakes State Park and the slide refused to come out at all. Sierra ended up lying on her side, pushing buttons on a motor regulator under the slide (dumbest place to put one that I can think of), and was able to get the motors back in synch. The slide worked from then on, but still made a grinding sound – nothing on top of the slide or in the track.
Leaf Spring
We were driving on I-40 between Wichita Falls, TX and Little Rock, AR and stopped to get gas at a Pilot. As I pulled into the parking lot, the leaf spring on the passenger side of the double axles on the trailer snapped! We had been dragging portions of the back of the trailer at every stop, and I thought it was my inexperience with a travel trailer instead of a semi, so I went slower. I tried taking things at angles, nothing worked.
After the leaf spring broke, I limped it about 50 yards into a pump aisle out of the flow of traffic. I did not want to create any difficulties for people coming into Pilot, or impede traffic. We got Roadside Assistance to come out and replace the leaf spring.
Difficulties with the Repair Shop at the Dealership
The repair shop did not order the awning prior to our arrival. We were then informed that our “appointment” was more of a “drop it off and we will get to it…eventually” kind of thing. This is our home, folks. I had set a hotel up for overnight, just incase they messed up something and had difficulties with maintenance. We did not set up for an extended stay. We ended up in hotels (3 separate ones) for 3 weeks!
I explained that I felt I was dragging the back end everywhere. I then let them know a leaf spring had to be replaced enroute – they sent their chief mechanic out and he immediately stated that all of the leaf springs were flat. Folks, if you’re not mechanically inclined, that is not good and does not happen in 6 weeks/4,000 miles. It also explained some of the towing difficulties I’d had the last 6 weeks.
Long story short, they fixed the slide, replaced the leaf spring with larger springs (an extra leaf) and (finally) replaced the awning. All in all, it took 10 weeks from when we arrived in Little Rock until the last repair was completed. We took the opportunity to track down a window tinting company and get the windows blacked out.
Stick and Stones (or Bricks) may break my bones…
We believed the contract selling our house was tied up and we just had to arrange to be back in the Little Rock AR area early June to sign our part. This proved way wrong. We went through 4 sets of buyers while on the road before we got one that was qualified.
The original buyer was contingent on selling their home on the east coast. The east coast housing market slowed well before the housing market in Arkansas. Their house would not sell, and they backed out. The second buyer’s loan was not approved. The 3rd buyer simply changed their minds halfway through.
Fourth time’s the charm? The 4th buyer was a VA loan. The house passed the VA inspection; check! The house passed the house inspection by a 3rd party, check – kind of. The inspector said he would recommend a closer look at 3 things. He stated; the pool was old and it should be inspected by a pool professional, there may be mold from some old water damage in the master closet and a strip of siding on the side of the house “could” be replaced.
Pool, pool pump, sand filters – oh my!
We had been back for about 2 days, and the pool pump started spraying everywhere, complete meltdown. We got the pump repaired and parts of it replaced. Then I noticed the pool was losing water and that the sand filter head was leaking. The pressure of the pump working properly for the first time blew the seals and broke some old pieces inside. Replaced the head. The pipes started leaking. Then there was a tear in the lining. Difficulties does not even begin to explain it. We got all of it fixed.
Mold, in Arkansas?
Due the inspector writing the word “mold” on the inspection, the buyers demanded a clean mold inspection of that area. If you have ever researched this, there is no Federal or State regulation or law that determines something is “safe”. If you have ever owned, rented, stayed in a hotel or driven through an area with a humid climate, you know there is going to be mold. The key to determine, is it dangerous mold?
Difficulties, sure, at first. We got an inspector who came out and pronounce it clean – but that he would replace the carpet just to be sure. Not good enough. Buyers “needed” a clean report. This meant they wanted equipment out and testing, and were demanding we pull the sheetrock off.
This is when it moved from difficulties to soul trying. I removed the carpet and the mold team came out for their check. Each check was not cheap and took a minimum of 36 hours, usually 48 hours to process. The first check is balanced against an outside check for ambient mold in the environment. The house was lower in every single category, but had one additional species that was at the lowest detectable level.
What to do next?
Buyers insisted that in order to close, we pull the sheet rock, and that it had to be a “clean” mold report. We were concerned that all repairs be made by contractors going forward (there was more behind the scenes drama). We had a contractor perform literally every other step, and got receipts to go with the sale.
It ended up being 3 more trips. Half of the wall removed, insulation removed, concrete pad scrubbed and interior of the wall “treated”. Finally, no detectable additional mold. Then we got a contractor to replace everything, and lay a floor in the closet.
Ever color match vinyl on a 9 year old house?
This one we punted directly to a contractor. Then to a second contractor when the first was unable to color match it. Then had to get permission from the buyers to intentionally put it in darker because it would fade in a season. Finally we had to get the contractor to explain, in writing, that it was physics and color fades…Finally completed.
Additional Obstacles, Drama and difficulties
Laptop crashed, literally
I had my laptop, the only one we own, the one I update this blog with, perched precariously on the edge of the counter and Sierra barely brushed it, causing it to crash to the floor. Well, that’s her story. I had the laptop on the counter, open because I was cooking while attempting to sum up the trailer difficulties and send that as a post (that was 4 weeks ago). I asked her to set the table, she came crashing through like a bull in a china shop, knocking the laptop off, trying to grab it, crushing it against the counter by the screen and finally dropping it.
Time to buy a new laptop. Well…technology has changed and I wanted to be able to move along with it. We post on Instagram, are going to move into youtube at some point and want to remain relevant. Sigh. $2500 later, we have it ordered and it is due to arrive the next day!
When it doesn’t arrive, we check the tracking, it was just delayed until tomorrow! Huzzah! I waited for mail delivery like a child at Christmas. Mail comes and goes, UPS comes and goes – no laptop. Checked, now it has been updated for sometime the next week.
This went on for almost two weeks before we got a solid report that it was in Memphis and would be at our campsite the next day. It finally arrived, and really is sweet – but it only added to the angst.
Sierra, school changes and anxiety
Sierra was in Cheer and excited to go to her school. However, this lead to some body image problems that we had to address. We then discovered that the school was allowing children to wear fake ears and tails, call themselves “furries” and bark and meow at other children during school, at the school. Did I mention the school was allowing this at the school? This is middle school, not that it makes a difference.
We found all of this out after jumping through several hoops to ensure she could still attend her school even though our long term campsite was about 3 miles over the county line. We then had to go undo all of that, get her enrolled in the current county school system (much smaller and we all love it so far) and get her scheduled for the bus – in 3 weeks.
Motorcycle DOA
We had stored my Indian in climate controlled storage – but were unable to hook it up to a tender during this time. I expected to be dead, have to recharge it and get it out of storage. The battery would not take a charge. I inspected the bike before calling for the tow. I asked for rear tire, front tire, oil change and new battery. “Aha!” I thought. “I beat them to the upselling, they can’t possibly try to sell me any other maintenance, they just said the brakes were good less than 1k miles ago”.
How little I know, and how much to learn. “Mr Holland, were you aware the starter is going out? It’s not bad yet but will be soon.” I told the dealer “Yep, add it on there”, I did not want to be stranded with Ash somewhere. Dang starter added over $500 to the bill. Got my bike back though!
What doesn’t break you, makes you stronger
We managed to work our way through everyone of these and come through the other side. It has been difficult. Now that we are managing our routine, not running out to a house to repair something, not calling a repair shop to ask for updates, not waiting anxiously in a hotel room, we are happy in our campsite.
We’ve had a few campfires (after the burn ban lifted). Had our grandson over for his first campfire! Seen some beautiful sunsets and have begun planning our travels these next 10 months. Stay tuned for future exploits, tales of dread, excitement and just general knowledge. Our next post will cover one of the most frequently asked questions by new RV/Travel Trailer owners going full time – it involves maps!
