Ground hog's day...Ground hog's day...Ground hog's day...

Ahh what a week we had trying to escape our home town. We had planned on staying in the rv for a couple nights to get used to it before we left. The furnace heated things nicely, the leaks were fixed (mostly) half of our road gear was packed. I decided to go get propane as it was low, and maybe wash some dirt off as it was pretty dirty from sitting for so long. At fleet supply they told me they couldn't fill rv's, only portable cylinders.  No problem, I would just head across town, but first I would stop and use the truck wash. I put in my $3.00 in quarters the pressure washer sprang to life and then coughed and died. It pissed water for the entire duration of the clock. There are no attendants and no numbers to call for help, so I cursed and left with a wet, dirty rv. Filled her up with propane, went home and I decided I didn't like the soot stain by the furnace exhaust. The furnace had been sitting in the back of my mind for a couple days. It lit fine and heated nice. The CO detectors were ok with everything, but I had an itch. So I called the local rv dealer and begged them to do an inspection and maybe a cleaning. Bad news, the furnace was filthy and burning poorly for starters. We also discovered that the main burner gas valve was defective and deemed a safety hazard by the manufacturer. It wasn't available for replacement, or even legal to put in if we could find it. Long story short we had to delay over the weekend our departure, and pay $160.00 to have the furnace taken out and put in a cardboard box in pieces. No Heat! I found 2 nice heaters at fleet farm, figured they would do the job nicely. Turns out we can only run one at a time because they blow the breaker where ever we are plugged in. I want a 30 amp hookup!!! On the up side I discovered that my halogen work light puts off enough heat to keep the water from freezing up. BONUS! 

Leaving day at last, all our stuff is packed. Myself and the dogs in the rv and Dracomama and Munchie in the car following. The engine makes a squealing noise if I try to go over 50 mph, I pullover and determine that it is the belts. I think if I drive easy we can probably make it to our destination 60 miles away. We make it 10 miles and stop at a gas station as the squealing is unbearable, and still can't get over 50 mph. I break out the tools and get one set of belts tight, but I break my rachet trying to get power steering adjuster loose. I also crush a finger breaking the nail so it's pushed into the nailbed, Yay! I hope the one adjustment is enough, go wash up and come back out to talk to Dracomama and notice the engine of the car smoking. I look at the dash, temp is redlined! I ask her to shut the engine off and pop the hood. Coolant vomiting everywhere! Great! We all pile into the squealing camper and return home. I take the spare car and run 30 miles to get parts and the electric heaters I spoke of. On the way back I stop and put a new thermostat in the broken car. Then go home and lay on the shoulder under the rv and change belts. The adjuster for the power steering is useless, so I have to pry the belt off. The others came off fine but I discover that the weenie at the parts store has given me one wrong sized belt. I put on what I can put on. I put the old power steering belt back on as the new one is too tight. We camp out in the rv as that is where all our stuff is. heater works ok, but this is where we kept blowing breakers. Frustrating!  We head out the next day and only make it a mile. it becomes obvious that the culprit is the power steering belt I can't adjust. Laying on a dirt road I used strong vocabulary, my german stubbornness, and some ninja like reflexes to get the belt onto the pulley. We then pick up the repaired car and made it to our destination.