Finally A Plan

Is Thanksgiving over?  The weekend just went on and on.  It seemed like we got caught up in a whirlwind and couldn’t get out.  Finally, today, we’re regaining control.

This all started with the news, or maybe it was a bombshell, my mother dropped at the Thanksgiving dinner table.  She announced that my father had to have hip replacement.    At his age, that’s not uncommon so it wasn’t too much of a surprise.  They’re both getting up there in years and we sorta expect a health emergency at any moment.  At the dinner table on Thursday, she explained that he had been on a regular visit to one of his many other doctors who had noticed him limping, ordered a CAT scan, and sent him to an orthopedic surgeon.  The appointment with the surgeon was today.

That news sent Gene and I into emergency elderly care-giving mode and we have spent the rest of the weekend trying to decide what to do and make plans accordingly.  Our original plan was to leave Nashville heading south on Saturday or Sunday following Thanksgiving depending on how long my brother stayed in town.  Our travel plans included a stop for several days of hiking at Bankshead National Forest between Huntsville and Birmingham, Alabama before continuing south to Summerdale.

As it turned out my brother was leaving on Saturday so we would have been on our way, as well.  Mother said they wanted to have the surgery as soon as possible, but we knew that would depend on several factors.  My dad would have to be weaned off blood thinners before surgery could be done, and then there was the matter of the surgeon’s schedule as well as availability of operating room space.   After much deliberation, Gene and I decided to hang around Nashville until today to get the latest information from the surgeon before leaving town. We didn’t want to get to Birmingham only to have to come back at the end of the week assuming they were able to get surgery scheduled that quickly.  May I say this has been the longest weekend in the world?

The old farmhouse after years of neglect.

Friday, we were totally engaged and had almost more to do than we had time for.  Gene went for a hike at Warner Park and I went with my brother, my mother, and her two brothers down to “the country”.  I think this little trip is turning into a regular Thanksgiving tradition.  My mother is from the tiny community of Coble in Hickman County, about 60 miles south of Nashville.  Her line of the Lancaster family moved to this area in the early 1800s and her father owned a farm in Coble until late in his life.  My brother and I spent many, many summers on that farm and have a head full of memories of those times.  The farm is no longer intact, having been divided and sold to various people.  A new road has taken part of the land.  The old farm house was torn down and moved to some place in Georgia some 20-25 years ago.  The barn has collapsed on itself and there’s nothing but a pile of rotting wood in its place.  The only thing that remains the same is the springhouse.  It actually makes me a little sad to go down there, but I do enjoy hearing the stories that my uncles always tell on these trips.  And, I enjoy going to the cemeteries.

So Friday was our annual sojourn to the country, but much of the talk and all of my thoughts was centered around how much help my mother was going to need during the weeks my father was recovering from hip surgery.  We all agreed she was going to need around-the-clock help.  At 87 she just doesn’t have the physical stamina to run a household and care for the sick.  We also felt like she didn’t need to be there alone at night while he was in the hospital or a rehab facility.

The springhouse still looks like this today.

Saturday, Gene and I tried to get all our own household chores done.  With the cooking and visiting, things had sorta piled up around our home.  At the end of a busy day, Gene was relaxing a bit, minding his own business, surfing on the computer.  All of a sudden, he got an alert from McAfee and his computer went down.  His computer is like his lifeblood, so it wasn’t a happy moment.  It being Saturday didn’t help.  He had to suffer all through Sunday before he cold call for help.

Late Saturday afternoon the rains came.  Remember that leak I mentioned last week that we put on the back burner.  Rain brought that to the forefront.  And, boy, has it ever rained--nonstop since Saturday evening and is predicted to continue into tomorrow.  The flood advisories started Sunday afternoon.  Since we knew the rain was coming, at least that’s what the forecasters said, Gene went out on Saturday morning and did a little caulking on the roof where he noticed old caulking was peeling some.  That didn’t solve the problem.  We have kept towels on the floor to catch the water as it runs down the wall.  That has been a pain to do, but at least the carpet is not very wet.

We struggled through Sunday.  Worship was good, but the leak and elder-care were our constant companions as the rain continued to fall.  I think it was that helpless feeling that was the worst--no RV service centers open, no computer, and just waiting on a doctor’s appointment.  We were anxious for Monday morning.

We got up this morning, drank that coffee and watched the clock as it slowly crept toward 8 AM.  At the magic hour, Gene got on the phone to get his computer fixed.  He was encouraged to learn that it could be fixed for just $109.  We loaded up in the car and headed over to Donelson and the computer fix-it store.  Just so happened, the computer store was next door to a donut store.  Well, now, how convenient.  Gene had decided to leave the computer, even if that meant not getting it back before we left town.

We had some banking to take care of, so that was next on our list.  On the way home, we stopped by Camping World to set up our service appointment.  Gene had already called our RV dealer and they’re pretty booked with service until next week.  When he called Camping World, they could take us tomorrow.

We were feeling pretty good.  We were getting things done.  We were in control again, but we were still waiting for a report from the doctor.  Then mother calls about lunch time.  X-rays revealed nothing wrong with my father’s hip.  He has some back issues, but that’s not new.  No surgery needed.  That’s really good news and we’re thrilled, but who started this rumor?

Anyway, this afternoon we sat down to reevaluate.  We’ve decided to hang around town until the computer is fixed which should be in a couple of days, three at the most.  We have an appointment to get the leak fixed, hopefully, tomorrow.  Whew, glad that’s settled.  By the way, there’s snow in tonight’s forecast.

That’s plenty for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

RV Issues

I’ve been silent the past couple days trying to get my head wrapped around the almost constant rain, the leaks, and the failing braking system.  I’m not sure I’ve processed it all, but at least I feel like I can write about it without it sounding like a rant. I thought a couple flower pictures from times past might make things a little more cheery.

It was cloudy most of the day Saturday and started raining sometime during the evening.  We’ve had a few hours of occasional sprinkles yesterday afternoon, but for the most part it has rained nonstop since it started and some of that time very hard with accompanying thunder and lightning.  I don’t mind the rain.  I don’t even mind hiking in the rain if it isn’t a downpour, but by the third day I’m not so happy with rain anymore.  It’s hard to keep that pep in my step, a smile on my face, and a perky attitude.

That’s where I am with the weather.  Now let’s add to that the leak business.  I was convinced our leaks were fixed, but apparently not.  Well, let me rephrase that--all of the places where we noticed water before are dry.  Now we have water that seems to be coming in at the very back passenger-side corner in our bedroom.  Not sure if this is a new leak or an old one that has just found a different spot to show itself.  Whichever, it’s a problem.

Gene has decided to put the leak on the back burner for the time being and concentrate on the failing Even Brake.  Roadmaster Even Brake is the brand braking system we use in our car when it’s being towed.  We inherited this system when we purchased this Class C so we’re not sure towing hours (miles) it has on it.  Our understanding from our dealer is that the original owner of our motor home had had a Class A before purchasing this Class C.  That Even Brake could have been used for a long time.  Anyway, Sunday morning when we hitched up to come back to Nashville, Gene connected the Even Brake and ran it through the test cycle.  The Even Brake would not complete the test cycle and displayed the red “failed test” light.  That had happened only once before during the year we’ve been using it and that time it was a matter of not having the device attached to the brake pedal properly.  Gene undid everything and started over only to get the same red light result.    He fiddled with it for a while (in the rain) and finally decided just to tow without it the 100 miles back to Nashville.

Monday morning, while I was at the doctor’s office for my annual physical, he read every word of the Even Brake owner’s manual.  During the respite from the rains yesterday afternoon, he worked with it again, but always with the same result.  He called the Even Brake folks in Portland, Oregon and for a mere $300 he can package the whole thing up and mail it to them and they will be happy to fix whatever’s wrong.  That’s a whole lot less money then either of us thought it would be so we’re happy with that.  However, before we send our equipment across the continent, Gene thought a trip to our local Camping World would be in order.  This is the same Camping World that installed the second car towing package, including the Even Brake components, last fall.  We have an appointment with them Wednesday morning.  Sure hope they can fix the problem and sure hope it doesn’t take all day.

Mountain Avens

A few weeks ago I mentioned that Gene was researching a question that had come up about exercising the motorhome engine during the times when we sit for several months without moving.  We had heard from other motorhome owners that the engine should be exercised once a month by driving it about 100 miles.  The question came up when Gene saw in the May/June issue of Escapee Magazine a question to Mark Nemeth.  Here’s that question:  “I have a question related to my new engine in my 1995 Bounder with 454 Chevy.  I am usually parked 10 months of the year, so should I start the engine and run it periodically?  How often and how long should I run it to keep the seals from drying out?”

This is Mark’s answer:  “The best thing would be to actually drive the RV for 30 miles or so every month or two.  That also helps keep brakes free, tires exercised and all fluids circulated.  If that’s not possible, you should run the engine once a month at 1,000 to 1,200 RPM until it reaches operating temperature (or at least 30 minutes).”

In the Jun/July issue of Escapee Magazine, Mark had this to say about that same question--”I may need to rethink that strategy”.  That comment was prompted by a comment he received from another reader who had this to say about that:  “I was given a differing opinion by the Ford Motorhome Chassis Hotline.....I was told that the most harmful thing that is done to an RV engine is the dry start, which they define as one where the oil has had time to completely drain from the bearing surfaces, and they say that period is between two weeks and one month.”  This reader was also told that “the second most harmful thing done to most motorhome engines is to start it and allow it to idle and, that even if you increase the engine RPM, it is very hard on valves and other components to start it unless you are going to drive it for at least 20 miles at highway speeds.”

I’ll have to say that makes a whole lot of sense.  Gene thought so, too, so he asked around.  He called the Ford Motorhome hotline and they told him that if your only sitting a couple months, don’t worry about it.  They also suggested that if possible it should be started every couple weeks and idle for 20-30 minutes.  What?  Obviously, hotline folks at Ford are not in agreement.  Since Gene was taking our motorhome in for service, he also asked the folks at Mid Tennessee Truck for their advise.  They suggested driving it at least 30 miles every month or even every 2 weeks.  He also called Four Winds Hotline and their response to the question was “call Ford”.  I’m not sure this issue has been resolved.  I’m not sure we’ve learned anything, either, except maybe that everybody has a different answer.

Arctic Poppy

By the way, this week marks our 6th year anniversary as full-time RVers.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.