Chapter 3 - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

By

.....IT IS WHAT IT IS.....


When we last left our Superheros, they were broken down on the side of Route 70, west of Columbus, being rocked by every passing truck........

We got Cochella towed to a Freightliner dealer about 10 miles away and barely made it to the yard before they closed for the holiday.  Cochella couldn't be diagnosed until after the holiday, so we had a few days to chill our jets........


THE GOOD:


Rick and Laura live the lake life, where neighbors are friends and friends are neighbors.  Everyone was welcoming and we were met with hugs and handshakes everywhere.   

Riding on Rick and Laura's coattails, we were invited to a neighbor's pool party for the 4th.  

We met awesome folks, ate awesome food and even got to try some Pappy Van Winkle 12 year Lot B.  Heck of a day, I says.   

Shout out here to Chris and Loretta Adams for hosting a great 4th celebration party.....much love and thanks......

Such a fun time.  We are grateful for having met so many wonderful people.   Ohio folk are the best.

It's important to note here that we hadn't planned to pass through Columbus  The morning of our departure, Gigi pointed out that our planned route had a lot of tolls.  At the very last minute, we decided to change routes and take the path that led us through Columbus.  This decision was not fortuitous, this chapter of our life was meant to be.



THE BAD:


Clearly, this is not how we had planned the trip.  We were going to meet up with our good friends Derek and Jackie near Chicago and travel together.  E-bike rides, breweries and amazing scenery was to be the order of the day.

A lot of work went into this trip.  Planning began more than a year in advance and countless hours were spent going over all of the places we would visit together. 

We had it all planned out.  

Meet near Chicago and head west.  

We are well aware of the delay impact, and Derek & Jackie have been super supportive. Let's be for real, the lag means an "alternative" adventure for both couples.  But, we will figure it out & catch up.  Fortunately, the Tiplady family visited the Black Hills and Rapid city a few years before.   If we are going to miss some of the sights, better that it's someplace we have already checked out.   


Jackie & Derek are doing all of those planned activities and look for posts from their solo adventures later.

When we catch up with them, it will be one hella reunion! If you know, you know 😉



THE UGLY:


What's a Transfer Switch, you ask?


After a few days, we went to check on Cochella.  We needed to make sure the fridge was working and to monitor the battery levels.  The circuit breaker at the power pole was tripped.  When I reset the breaker our surge guard immediately cut the power with a resounding THUNK.  When I started the generator, readings looked OK, yet we had no juice to the roof AC units.  Something was very wrong.   A little troubleshooting and confirmation from Jeff Malatesta (RV troubleshooting guru), we had a bad transfer switch.  Without this switch operational, you have no juice to anything inside the coach except what runs on the batteries.  You also have no way to charge the batteries (remember that there was no serpentine belt so starting the coach was not an option).  Freightliner would not repair this, so we were on our own.

In searching for a new Switch, it was Amazon Prime to the rescue.........they had an exact replacement on 1 day delivery.


We had a new switch shipped to Rick and Laura's and despite all of the signs saying  "NO REPAIRS ARE ALLOWED IN THE LOT", I went there early Sunday morning and did the work myself, with Gigi standing guard.


As for Cochella, the repair has gone something like this.

Day 1 - Tow to Freightliner just before holiday closing

Day 4 - Compressor is bad, needs replacement.  New one is on backorder everywhere and we have no ETA for when it will be in stock

Day 5 - Found a compressor and it will take 2 days to arrive

Day 8 - Installed Compressor and dryer, leak detected.

Day 9 - Need new compression line, which runs from one end to the other.  No one has one in stock.

Day 10 - Found a cross-referenced part and are fetching it.

Day 11 - As of this writing, cochella is in the shop, part has arrived and we are waiting on confirmation of completed repair.


We Wait