We spent Monday night at the Demontrond RV dealerships parking lot. We were able to move the rig close to the service center when they closed so we could get shore power.
We went out to eat at a small seafood restaurant. It looked liked they specialized in raw oysters. We were sitting at the counter and were we could watch them shuck and prepare the oysters. We like smoked oysters but these things were huge. We did not have the guts to try them. I did not want to risk getting sick when we are already broken down. We settled for some shrimp and catfish. Not too shabby.
The engineer never called us back Monday evening so when we got up on Tuesday I called the Mobile Suites factory back to find out what was happening. The quality manager was going to call me back with more info.
So all we could do was wait. We decided that we might as well wait on a full stomach so we found a IHOP close by and headed out for breakfast.
During breakfast I got a phone call asking us for which dealership we were at. They said the engineer would contact us soon. We got back to the rig and I started doing some small projects when a car pulls up and a guy gets out and asks me if I am Mr. English. It was the engineer.
I went over all of the issues we have had in the past and what the system was doing now. He told me that it was a pressure issue and it is a classic case of what happens on a very small percentage of these units. He said he can fix us by rerouting the hydraulic lines and that would equalize the pressure at the pump. The problem was that he needed a kit to do it.
He wanted us to drive to another dealership south of Houston where there are better technicians. He would have the parts delivered overnight and could get us back on the road Wednesday afternoon. He help us get the jacks and legs up to where they would stay up so we could travel the 75 miles to the other dealership.
Max and I started down hwy 45 through Houston where we would pick up hwy 288 south. The traffic was terrible and Max was a little ahead of me and I could not see her due to the truck traffic. Somehow I did not see the 288 exit and I missed it. Max did not. I quickly realized my mistake and got on the CB to see if she made the exit. I could barley hear her on the CB that she did make it. Or that is what I thought I heard. I went to the next exit and turned around. This is in downtown Houston! Not fun with a 40 foot rig.
I finally got back on 288 south but had no communication with Max. I knew that if she was ahead of me she would pull over and wait but she would do it farther out of downtown in a safer location. I started calling out on the radio every 15 seconds to see if I could reach her. No luck. I was starting to panic. I drove farther south on 288 and was starting to doubt that I heard her say that she made the exit. What if she did not? That would mean she would be behind me. I drove south out of downtown to where I could pull off and wait to see if she came up from behind me.
After sitting for about 10 minutes I was not sure what to do. I knew that she would find a safe place to pull over and get off the bike and call me on the cell phone. After another 5 minutes of waiting a big tow truck pulled up behind me and asked if I needed help. I told him no, that I was separated from my wife. He told me that I was in a safety zone and I really needed to pull off at an exit. I said ok and decided I would get off at the next exit and wait for Max to call me.
I pulled out onto the highway and went about another half mile and could barley hear Max calling for me on the CB. The farther south I went the stronger she got. I finally caught up with her about another 2 miles down the road patiently waiting for me. Now those that know me know that I will take any opportunity to tease Max about anything, and I tease her about being directionally challenged. It did not take her long to make the point that it was I that missed the turn. She has me there! I think she will keep this incident handy and will pull it out every now and then. I get the “Goofoyle” award.
So hopefully the parts make it in on Wednesday and they can get us back on the road. We can still make it to Pensacola on time if we can get a jump start Wednesday afternoon.
Enjoy Your Day!
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