Those who know do not speak.Those who speak do not know.
- Lao Tzu
I was unable to get to the Internet on June 3, so here is what I wrote that day:
I started out from Custer, SD, day before yesterday, heading northwest to meet a new RVing Women contact in Sheridan, Wyoming. As usual, I took my sweet time getting ready to leave and it was past noon when I finally hit the road. My new host said it would take about 4 hours to get to Sheridan. But then I realized that if I drove straight through, I would miss Devil’s Tower, a must-see on my trip through the West ("Close Encounters of the Third Kind" being one of my favorite movies).
- Lao Tzu
I was unable to get to the Internet on June 3, so here is what I wrote that day:
I started out from Custer, SD, day before yesterday, heading northwest to meet a new RVing Women contact in Sheridan, Wyoming. As usual, I took my sweet time getting ready to leave and it was past noon when I finally hit the road. My new host said it would take about 4 hours to get to Sheridan. But then I realized that if I drove straight through, I would miss Devil’s Tower, a must-see on my trip through the West ("Close Encounters of the Third Kind" being one of my favorite movies).
So I took a little detour that should have added about two hours to my trip; I would still arrive in Sheridan before dark, just barely. I got to Devil’s Tower in time to see it, photograph it, and be on my way. Where I made my mistake was taking the trail around the Tower. It was great! I got pictures of the wonderfully spiritual monolith from all sides, but I was glad when I approached the sign that would lead me back to the parking lot so I could hit the road. Unfortunately, the sign informed me that I was only halfway around! I had already used up my allotted time for visiting Devil’s Tower and now I was going to be late getting to Sheridan.
To make an already too long story shorter, it was dark and raining by the time I pulled into Sheridan. I was pretty stressed out, having been hypervigilant about avoiding the jumping deer pictured on a series of yellow highway signs. But my new RVing friend, Edith, made me feel welcome and showed me where I could plug into her newly installed 30-amp RV connection on the side of her house. Not only did it fail to light my bedside lamp and radio, it tripped my circuit breaker, so I decided to unplug and try again in the morning.
Next day I reset the breakers and tried again. I knew I'd made a big mistake when I still got no juice and I could smell burning plastic. The radio was fried and when I opened the breaker box a breaker was tripped and the smell was stronger.
Edith suggested that we go to her local RV repair shop and get it checked out. She also called her electrician; since I was the first person to use her new receptacle, we wondered if perhaps it had been wired improperly. Sure enough, the repair shop guy said the converter that allows the motorhome to accept regular 110 current had been blown and that we should definitely look to the new electrical outlet as the most probable cause (they had seen this before, more than once, and had several horror stories to share). The owner of the electrical company came to the house while I was at the repair shop and discovered that his employee had indeed wired the new connection incorrectly. Michelle had received a 220 jolt to her 30 amp system. The Good News: he agreed to pay for any damages.
So Michelle is in the hospital today, to the tune of at least $600-$800 just for a new converter and labor. They also will check out all her systems for damage, which could even include plumbing and gas lines. Then there’s the water heater element, microwave, refrigerator, heat pump, furnace, water pump, etc., all of which could be okay now but break down later from the stress of the power surge. Sheesh.
Meanwhile, Edith and I are in Billings, Montana, enjoying some great scenery and visiting with her sister.
June 8: That was then; this is now. While Edith and I were enjoying beautiful scenery up in northern Montana, including Great Falls, Bozeman, Helena (gotta get that capitol postcard) and Glacier National Park, Michelle was being fitted with a new converter, generator something or other, refrigerator electric coil, and I don't know what all exactly, to the tune of $1,500, mostly for labor, of course. Then we had to find a replacement microwave (which we did find, thankfully, at Sears for $69.99) and a new clock radio. Edith paid for all of it and will be reimbursed by her electrician, whom she trusts. I was so grateful that she did that so I didn't have to worry about getting reimbursed.
Yesterday the weather report was for freezing temps overnight and 70% chance of precipitation but I checked out the situation west of Sheridan and decided to continue on my way to Seattle. I had not even reached the Montana border when the snow started. Before I was through it, the ground all around me was covered in white and huge flakes were coming at me at 60 mph like big wet feathers blown by a giant fan. Fortunately the road was clear, so I plunged on. It's been a long time since I drove in snow but once I got over the shock of snow in June, I enjoyed the beauty and reminded myself that I had lived in Minnesota for seven winters and this was nothing I hadn't seen before. I wish I had remembered to put the camera in front with me before I took off because I could have gotten some really great shots of the only snow I've seen, or am likely to see, since January 2008.
I have lots of pictures of incredibly beautiful scenery but since I'm camped at WalMart, in Butte, without electricity, I'm trying to get this post done before I run out of juice. Here's just a sample. More later.
To make an already too long story shorter, it was dark and raining by the time I pulled into Sheridan. I was pretty stressed out, having been hypervigilant about avoiding the jumping deer pictured on a series of yellow highway signs. But my new RVing friend, Edith, made me feel welcome and showed me where I could plug into her newly installed 30-amp RV connection on the side of her house. Not only did it fail to light my bedside lamp and radio, it tripped my circuit breaker, so I decided to unplug and try again in the morning.
Next day I reset the breakers and tried again. I knew I'd made a big mistake when I still got no juice and I could smell burning plastic. The radio was fried and when I opened the breaker box a breaker was tripped and the smell was stronger.
Edith suggested that we go to her local RV repair shop and get it checked out. She also called her electrician; since I was the first person to use her new receptacle, we wondered if perhaps it had been wired improperly. Sure enough, the repair shop guy said the converter that allows the motorhome to accept regular 110 current had been blown and that we should definitely look to the new electrical outlet as the most probable cause (they had seen this before, more than once, and had several horror stories to share). The owner of the electrical company came to the house while I was at the repair shop and discovered that his employee had indeed wired the new connection incorrectly. Michelle had received a 220 jolt to her 30 amp system. The Good News: he agreed to pay for any damages.
So Michelle is in the hospital today, to the tune of at least $600-$800 just for a new converter and labor. They also will check out all her systems for damage, which could even include plumbing and gas lines. Then there’s the water heater element, microwave, refrigerator, heat pump, furnace, water pump, etc., all of which could be okay now but break down later from the stress of the power surge. Sheesh.
Meanwhile, Edith and I are in Billings, Montana, enjoying some great scenery and visiting with her sister.
June 8: That was then; this is now. While Edith and I were enjoying beautiful scenery up in northern Montana, including Great Falls, Bozeman, Helena (gotta get that capitol postcard) and Glacier National Park, Michelle was being fitted with a new converter, generator something or other, refrigerator electric coil, and I don't know what all exactly, to the tune of $1,500, mostly for labor, of course. Then we had to find a replacement microwave (which we did find, thankfully, at Sears for $69.99) and a new clock radio. Edith paid for all of it and will be reimbursed by her electrician, whom she trusts. I was so grateful that she did that so I didn't have to worry about getting reimbursed.
Yesterday the weather report was for freezing temps overnight and 70% chance of precipitation but I checked out the situation west of Sheridan and decided to continue on my way to Seattle. I had not even reached the Montana border when the snow started. Before I was through it, the ground all around me was covered in white and huge flakes were coming at me at 60 mph like big wet feathers blown by a giant fan. Fortunately the road was clear, so I plunged on. It's been a long time since I drove in snow but once I got over the shock of snow in June, I enjoyed the beauty and reminded myself that I had lived in Minnesota for seven winters and this was nothing I hadn't seen before. I wish I had remembered to put the camera in front with me before I took off because I could have gotten some really great shots of the only snow I've seen, or am likely to see, since January 2008.
I have lots of pictures of incredibly beautiful scenery but since I'm camped at WalMart, in Butte, without electricity, I'm trying to get this post done before I run out of juice. Here's just a sample. More later.
I'm headed for Missoula and maybe a rendezvous with another RVing woman, although she hasn't called me back yet. After that it's on to Idaho on I-90. I'm told Coeur d'Alene would be a great place to spend a couple of days. I'll let you know.
2 comments:
I said early on, when I first found your blog, that I would be living vicariously through your travels, and you have not disappointed! Can you say "Oh beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain. For purple mountains majesty, above from the fruited plain. America, America ..."? You are so lucky to be able to do all this, traveling and meeting new people. And even with those pesky little problems along the way, you are dealing with them as they come up and then moving on your merry way. You go girl! (And be careful out there!)
Okay, so it took me a minute to remember Michelle is the official name of the sweetass motor home. At first I thought I was some lesbian RVer with very strange problems, but I didn't want to judge!
Catherine says you can plug in at her house if you come through Bend.
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