Springs Sprung!

Yesterday was officially the first day of spring and it was a BEAUTIFUL day here in northwest Ohio. It was also the day we took our big girl for a test drive. We had to get her inspection done so we figured since it was such a beautiful day and James took the day off we might as well get her out.

Getting ready to roll is quite a process. Like everyone does after moving into a new place, we started stashing things here, decorating there, etc., etc. as a result it took us about an hour and a half to stash, store and secure things for her first trip in over a year.

Seeing the big girl rolling down the road was such a delightful sight. She had no problems with going or stopping, all the blinkers and brake lights worked, but wait a minute, what is that sound, that ear piercing squeal coming from the front of the coach? Oh no, the springs are sprung on the front of this big girl. GAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!

James was able to drive her and the springs didn’t cause any problems. We passed inspection with no problem and changed the title over to our names, drove her to the gas station to top her tank off at $3.99 a gallon when just a couple hours earlier I filled the van tank for $3.68 a gallon. How does that work?!

Anywho, I digress, the squeal in the springs did not go away. We were once again faced with a choice. Do we ignore it and continue with our plan to depart on Sunday and take the chance of it getting worse and causing more problems on the road, or do we dip into the gas fund once again to finance the repair? Well, being the sane people we are, we decided to bite the bullet and pay the $168 for the parts for the repair and we are possibly looking to leave on Monday, instead of Sunday. What is one day going to do to our trip? At least it’s not a week or two later, right?

In view of the fact that we were going to have to purchase ANOTHER part for the RV that is not in stock at any of the parts stores, I had to get up with James at the butt crack of dawn in order to take him to work and order the part from the part store. James has to be at work by 6:30 and fortunately the part store opened at 7:30 so I didn’t have to wait too long.

Thankfully, I made James find the part and the number on the internet so I could write the information down and recite it back to the clerk at the part store. According to the net we wouldn’t be able to pick up the part until tomorrow. Lucky for us we will be able to pick it up after 3 p.m. TODAY. Friday James will be taking the RV over to a friend’s house that has equipment to repair such a big gal so replacing the sprung springs shouldn’t take too long.

Well, I hope your first day of spring wasn’t as eventful as ours. And for those of you in NW Ohio, I hope you were able to get out and enjoy the glorious weather.

Thanks as always for stopping by. Stay tuned for more exciting reports from the RV Project!

Stop To Go

Well we have discovered the best way to go is to be able to stop….the RV that is. Here we are a week from the launch and James is working on the brakes. Last week we were moving our big girl around to get her out of the sink holes she was creating and James noticed he was having a really difficult time getting her to back up or move forward. Then he heard it, the whining of the brakes. We moved her into better positioning and then took off the wheels to check out the brakes. Wouldn’t you know it; the driver side brake was burnt up! There was hardly anything to it. Well heck! There goes MORE of our fuel funds out the window. Fortunately, the cost of the parts wasn’t as bad as it could have been. It was kind of a bugger finding them, or getting them in once we found them.

The first store wanted to charge us $60 for a brake line where as their competitor was only charging $25, yet neither place had it in stock and would have to order it from their warehouse. The earliest we could get the part in would be Wednesday, ummmm that is cutting it a bit close and is rough on James when he has to work all day. We shopped around and finally found a place that charged only $20 bucks and would be able to get the part in on Monday. The other part we picked up on Sat. afternoon only to find out it was the wrong part. When we took it back, one of the knowledgeable people was working and found out they could have BOTH the parts we needed in the store by Sunday morning.

Now all we have to do is run around and return pieces parts we don’t need. Thankfully, that will get us some much needed money back for the gas fund.

The repair seems to be going rather quickly which is a good thing. Once again I am glad we found out about the brakes BEFORE we were on the road. That would be a real bugger to try and repair on the road. As much as I’m eager to get out of here, I like the thought of being able to stop once we get there.

As of right now, things are looking pretty good for departure, but who knows what the next few days will bring. For now, I plan to start taking down photos and wrapping up dishes etc. we won’t be using for the next week. Busy work will make the time go by much faster, don’t you agree? Hopefully, my next post will be one reporting we are ready for take off.

Thanks so much for stopping by and stay tuned for more exciting events of the RV Project.

It's a No Go

I am sure you are chomping at the bit to find out if we are all set and ready to depart on Monday, March 12, 2012. Unfortunately, it won’t be happening. Given that we had to use $400 of our gas money to purchase two new tires.

As mentioned before, I am not all that upset about this turn of events. I would much rather have as many glitches out of the way before we hit the road. Also, hanging around a little longer gives me the opportunity to see Jorden once more before we leave. His spring break begins March 17^th so he will be home until the 25^th and that my friend IS THE DAY WE WILL BE LEAVING!!!!

A spreadsheet tracking all of our spending has been set up. James thinks I’m crazy, but I do much better seeing how much money we have rather than estimating. One too many times have we been wrong in either direction.

We have also started putting gas into the RV. We have a 5 gallon gas can that has been filled twice already. Hey, we need to have gas in her in order to get her to the gas station, right?

Temporary tags are on the big girl right now and we have decided that we will go ahead and get the inspection and plates while here in OH which will be done a few days before we need to leave because we will have to drive her to the inspection station. It was a bugger for James to get this big gal into the back yard, so once we move her out it will be for good.

Other than that minor expense we are good to go. We don’t have any other large purchases to make other than the gas. Keep your fingers crossed that we really can get out of here.

Being stuck here is starting to take its toll on both of our spirits. It is not that I despise Ohio, it’s just not where James or I want to be. The job opportunities are few and far between for me and James is not a fan of warehouse work. I know, I know we are in a recession so jobs are few and far between everywhere and all that, BUT there will be an ocean close by to provide us with some tranquility should the world be just as difficult to maneuver there as it is here. Plus, we’ve both had nibbles for jobs out there which gives us hope that it won’t take long for us to find something.

We just need to remember, everything happens for a reason and it is not for us to understand why, but to just embrace it and go with the flow. It certainly is a challenge and a learning curve.

Thanks for stopping by and HOPEFULLY the next time you hear from me it will be to tell you were are ready to roll.

Have a wonderful weekend!