Jumping Hurdles and Avoiding Road Blocks to Get on the Road

First, I have to say once, again, that I can't say enough about Three Way Campers. The awning over my slide has been installed, and I feel better now that I have it. My worry was not only leaking, but debris collecting on the top of the slide and interfering with the operation. Problem solved. The dealer that I purchased the trailer from said it would probably take 3-6 weeks to get done. Three Way Campers goes way above the call of duty in everything they do. My new hitch works beautifully, and they refused to take the reimbursement that Hensley sent to me on top of installing my new hitch without making a dime on it.

On to next hurdle. Truck air conditioner quit. I won't go into how it was "fixed" to the tune of $1500 two-three years ago. There were winters where I wouldn't have noticed and one whole summer after surgery when I drove very little. When I went in for oil changes and said I didn't think it was running cold enough, I was told it probably just needed a shot of freon--no problems. It stopped recently when I made a trip to NY. Fortunately, I have a nephew who is a great mechanic. He measured the freon and put some in and it got me back home with air. I called the Dodge dealer the other day because it was blowing very cold one minute and hot air the next. The first thing the dealer said to me was that my warranty had run out--sure it did--enough stalling and he was right, it did, and the tune changed to "It could be the compressor which could cost up to $2000," over the phone.

In the meantime, I ran into a neighbor who told me that he stopped going to Palmer Dodge because he felt they were ripping him off. There is a Chevron station in my town that has been here since we moved here in 1978. I didn't think they worked on diesels because they don't sell diesel fuel. At any rate my neighbor suggested I give him a call. As it turns out, it has nothing to do with the compressor. There is a short between the Fuse Box and the compressor. Is it expensive to fix, yes, but I'd bet my life that this mechanic is right. When I picked the trailer up from Three Way Camper, the trailer wasn't getting any juice from the truck. It turned out that a fuse had blown, and they replaced it in two seconds. I also had lost the light in my radio a while back and just lived with it. I won't get the truck back until tomorrow if the parts get to them in time, but I'm glad this happened now, not on the way to Colorado.

So, hopefully, this is the last issue. I was starting to feel like I shouldn't make this trip, but if all things go right from now on, I'll be on my way Friday or Saturday. Westward Ho!!

(I hate writing a post without a picture)

Hope you'll see this in a campground somewhere on the way to Colorado by Saturday night. Sorry for the repeat.