Month: December 2008

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Working On Problems

The closer I got to tomorrow morning, the sicker I felt. I just didn’t feel like I could consider myself to be leaving safely if none of my systems were working. I also realised that if I couldn’t get the hose off the Extend-a-Stay I wouldn’t be able to use my onboard tank either AND I’d have no heat tonight! It’s only going down to minus three, but my electric space heater is on the fritz and I don’t feel comfortable leaving it on all night. So, I really couldn’t just sleep on my problems.

Emboldened by the fact that late this afternoon my pump started to pump water (air in the line, methinks) and, several hours later, I can say that it’s working normally, I decided that I just had to tackle the propane. I know from my experience with plumbing that the way to fix a leak is often to loosen a connection, not to tighten it. I decided that I had to risk damaging the Extend-a-Stay and just put some elbow grease into the problem.

Elbow grease worked wonders and I got the hose off. The E-a-S has a little brass screw cover to plug the hole where the hose connects, so I tried to screw it in but found the hole to be too big for it. I couldn’t fathom how my elbow grease could have made that much damage, so I looked at the hose more closely. I discovered that the hose screws into a protrusion that screws into the Extend-a-Stay. That’s what I’d been trying to loosen rather than the hose itself. DOH! Well, I got that back onto the Extend-a-Stay nice and tightly and screwed the cover back in. Everything looks good, but, of course, I’ll need to watch for leaks when I run propane from the on board tank.

Then, I screwed the hose back on and opened the propane a tad. I immediately heard the telling hissing sound of a leak. In this case, I thought that tightening could be the answer… and it was.

Both my hose and Extend-a-Stay seem to be none the worse for wear, I have no leaks, and, best of all, I HAVE HEAT TONIGHT. 😀

I feel so much better than I did a few hours ago and really ready to go!

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And the Problems Multiply…

I don’t know which of these is worse:

1) I can’t remove the auxiliary propane tank’s hose from the Extend-a-Stay. The joint is stiff and I can’t remember if it’s a right or left turning joint, so I’m worried about damaging the very pricey E-A-S by forcing the connection in the wrong direction with a wrench… since just jiggling the connector broke something and the hose is now leaking. I really hope it’s the 30$ hose that’s damaged and not the 100$ E-A-S. So, no propane until I get the rig tank filled. At least, it’s mild during the day, but I suspect the next couple of nights are going to be chilly;

2) My water pump turns on but does not pump water. I’m really hoping that this is a case of something being frozen;

3) I’m not having any luck starting the generator.

Since I’ve unhooked the city water and I can’t use my water pump, I don’t need to worry about my grey tank filling up, so I’m going to stow away the sewer hose now that the sun has been on it for a while. There is no convenient place for me to store the 10′ rigid PVC pipe I purchased, so I think I’m going to have to stow it inside! When spring comes, I’ll bungee it to the roof or the ladder.

I’ll be putting away my desktop computer shortly and when that’s done, departure will be official.

Today turned out to be a gorgeous day and I think I’m going to regret not leaving. Then again, it was the first day that I could really unhook my water and sewer connections and do other work outside. Because the weather forecast is changing almost hourly, I’ve decided to leave tomorrow and just pull over at some point if things get ugly. That said, if I have no water, no propane, and no electricity boondocking sure ain’t going to be much fun. 🙂

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Gah, Major (?) Plumbing Work Ahead

That hose that melted? It’s the hose that links the fresh water tank to the exterior non-pressure outlet.

I discovered this when I tried to fill said fresh water tank and noticed water pouring out of my coach.

As I stop gap measure, I removed the melted section and plugged my water hose directly into the line going to the fresh water tank. But if I ever want to sell this rig, I’m going to have to do some major taking aparting to splice in a new, non-melted, hose.

At least, my tanks look okay….

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Making Progress

Wow, leaving in winter conditions after being stopped for almost twelve weeks is a major undertaking! Today, I managed to get my black tank thawed out and emptied. I filled it with potable anti-freeze and made a vow to use the resort facilities until I leave. 🙂 Tomorrow, I’m attacking the sewer and water hoses since it is supposed to be milder than it was today. I’m also hoping to flush my entire water system with chlorine since I’ve begun to notice a musty odour when I turn on the shower. So, for a variety of reasons, I’ve decided that a Thursday morning (January 1st) departure makes the most sense. The park in Surrey is expecting me anytime between tomorrow and Friday, for which I am grateful in that a lot of parks told me that I could not arrive on the 1st.

Another issue I need to deal with is Miranda’s key slot for the ignition as the key is difficult to insert and remove. Those who know think that it’s simply dirty and in need of a good cleaning, that someone probably WD-40ed it at some point and the oil had time to congeal over the past several weeks. I don’t think that this is so urgent an issue as to prevent me from leaving, but it’s something I’ll want to deal with before the spring.

I had the pleasure of hosting Donna this afternoon and realised that it was the first time anyone had come to Miranda for a social call! I have to confess to being a bit of a recluse and extremely protective of my ‘bubble’, but I discovered that having a friend over for tea (my jasmine/Earl Grey blend!) and a good gabfest added an unexpected layer of ‘home’ to the rig.

It’s hard to believe that, weather and road conditions permitting, forty-eight hours from now will find me within minutes of the ocean and a short drive away from family and friends I have not seen in too long. I thought that the Okanagan was my ‘final’ destination on my cross-country trip, but now I realise that I need a glimpse of the Canadian Pacific Ocean to feel that this part of the trip is truly over. Last November I was in Halifax, walking along Atlantic beaches, never guessing that just a little more than a year later, I’d find myself on the opposite coast. I’ve covered a lot of ground in the past eighteen months.

I’d say that I’m ready to go. 😀

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Waiting for a Clearing

It feels like years have passed since my last post. That’s how it feels, sometimes, when the internet is down a for a few days!

I learned at 8 o’clock Sunday morning that my duties at the resort ended at 11PM Friday night. At least, I was eventually informed of this…. My last ‘discussion’ with management really got my butt in gear in terms of departure preparations. I’m not hanging out here a day longer than I need to. I’m waiting for a clearing in the weather (or, at least, ‘less worse’ weather) and confirmation from the park I’m going to that it will be okay to pull in on December 31st or January 1st. What irritates me the most is how hard I worked at a job for which I will not be getting a reference. I so badly needed this reference in order to update my resumé in the areas of hospitality and bookkeeping. But if one place was willing to hire me based on outdated qualifications, surely there will be another.

The park I’m going to sounds like paradise. The difference in cost between parks located near Vancouver isn’t very much, so I picked one with an indoor pool, hot tub, and sauna!  I will be walking distance to the United States and about forty minutes from downtown Vancouver. Fewer than 400km separate me from this park, but the terrain between here and there is mountainous. Poor weather here could mean very bad weather on the road; I am expecting the drive to take a full day and my backup plan is to break up the trip with an overnight stay at the Walmart in Chilliwack.

Miranda is just about ready to go. I would have liked to pull out at first light tomorrow, but we had tons of snow again today so I must go back up on the roof and clear some of it off, plus I’m pretty sure that my sewer hose is frozen solid (author pauses for a moment to laugh at the absurdity of her life). So, tomorrow will be a ‘apply heaters to all external fixtures that need to be removed and packed away’ kind of day.

There was a thaw on Sunday that allowed me to begin assessing the damages. My air conditioner cover cracked from the weight of the snow, but the fault line is on the side, not on top, so I do not think this is something I should worry about. A hose melted in the basement compartment I was heating, but I’m not sure what melted it, or even what the purpose of the hose was; I need to do some research on that. Within Miranda, there is evidence of water damage, but it is too early to tell yet if the damage is from condensation or infiltration. I hope it is the former! Only a test drive will tell if she is mechanically sound. After recharging the engine battery, I was able to start and run the engine without any effort, so I think Miranda is as ready to leave as I am. I have faith in her. “She’s tore up plenty, but she’ll fly true.” Another quote from the movie that gave Miranda her name. 🙂

I am melancholy. I remember how enthusiastic and naïve I was when I arrived in Oliver in October. I feel so much older now, worn out and wrung out. The past eleven weeks have sometimes felt like eleven years and there is not much of them I will wish to remember when I look back on my first year on the road. But I do not regret this time, or, more truthfully, I am happier to have been malcontent here than I was back in my old life.

Because the winter thus far has been exactly like I planned, my spring will not be. Unless something extraordinary happens, I will be in British Columbia until May. I have but one goal when I get to Surrey, one that makes me laugh: stability. I need to find work and rebuild my coffers and keep one thought in mind: summer will bring me to the Yukon.

Even though the past weeks have not been good, they do not diminish the quality of a life that allows me to leave when I have had my fill, a life that makes it easy to find fresh beginnings when endings taste like ash.