Turned off and down flat....

Bet that title's got you thinking.....LOL! Started shortly after midnight Thursday (or should I say Friday). Getting ready for bed, I walked into the bathroom and the first thing I noticed was that my motion sensor nightlight didn't come on. I turned on the overhead and checked it out, thinking the bulb must have burned out. The bulb looked fine but I figured I change it out in the morning. Did my routine and headed to bed.

Hmmmm, my alarm clock wasn't lit. Okay, so maybe the bulb was okay and my power was off. Walked out to the living room and sure enough, the light was off on the TV. As I turned back to the bedroom to check the circuit breakers, I noticed the microwave light was still on. Stranger yet...

All the circuit breakers were fine but I flipped each one off and back on...no change. Okay, it's after midnight and it's COLD outside so figured it would wait till morning to try to figure out what was going on.

Morning came and as I did my morning bathroom routine (trying to do go into TMI here...LOL!) Still no power except the microwave...which made me think to see if the outlet over the sink had power. Plugged my cell phone into the charger and sure enough...it worked. Okay, so why would the microwave and the outlet over the sink work but all other outlets not? Back to the bathroom on a whim...pulled the nightlight and looked at the GFI. Sure enough...it was popped. Reset it and VOILA! Everything back to normal...

No idea why it popped (since all I had done was turn off my reading light and the TV before going into the bathroom), but at least now I know what to do if it happens again. So now on to the rest of my Friday morning....

One thing I had forgotten to mention about picking up my RV. I had asked the folks to check the air in all my tires as well as my air bag, just so I would be set to head north. They did and all should have been fine. As I worked to reset out all my dash/console items, once I had them in place I plugged them in. This included my Pressure Pro system. (I always plug it in at least 10 minutes before departing, giving the monitor time to pick up the readings.)

Next thing I know, one tire is alarming....it says it only has 55# (should have been 80). I go out with my tire gauge and sure enough, the tire is low. I go inside to see if they have a portable compressor and the owner assures me they did air up the tire and asks if I have a slow leak. They don't have a portable compressor and since I was in the middle of getting ready to leave, I opted to just air it up with my portable one even though I knew it would take a little time.

The trip up to Williams was fine except BOTH my inner duals alarmed at 92-94# (still need to find out why they are doing that - not sure what could be causing the pressure increase and have talked to the McFalls about it before). I stopped in a rest area for a break and they both settled back down to 82-84# and I finished the trip uneventfully. The outer dual that had been low stayed up just fine.

Fast forward to Friday morning....feeling cocky because I fixed my power issue without having to call in outside help, I step outside. Hmmmm, the coach seems to be leaning a bit more than it was when I checked in. Figured my air bag was the cause since it still has its own slow leak. Check it out and find it's not low by much but put some more air in. Still leaning....I glance down at the tire. Remember that outer dual that was low....well now it's all but flat. Sigh....

I call up to the campground office to see if they know of someone local that might be able to fix it (assuming I picked up a nail or something) or put on my spare if not. Turns out less then 1/4 mile away there was a shop. I called them and they told me to carefully drive it over. Sigh...have to reverse all the stuff I just did the night before to get settled. Figures....

So I drive over and they pull the tire. No sign of a nail or damage so into the tank it goes. Hmmm, no immediate apparent leak so they suspect it must be a small one. As they continue to search I wander into the attached convenience store and get a soda. When I come back out they have found the leak. It was at the back end of the valve extender....and only apparent when in the mounted position with pressure on the tire.

They call the local NAPA store and they don't carry the large extender that I need. But fortunately the shop mechanic found one on an old tire and it appears to be in excellent condition. They put it on and test it....no leaks and it's long enough (barely). They remount the tire and I ask how much. He hems & haws and says, "How about $15?". I reply, "How about $20 and you don't have to make change." He says, "If that's what it's worth to you....". Heck yeah it was!

I start to back up and something feels funny. Next thing I know it feels like I'm driving on a completely flat front tire. I pull back in. They know immediately what it is. There is something like a dowel that keeps the duals running together. Sometimes it isn't so easy to get it in place and aligned....thus my "Mister Toad's Crazy Ride" feeling. They quickly jacked it up again, took the tire off, realigned it and remounted the tire. We laughed as I told them they had just earned the extra $5.

Backed out...no problems....back to the campground and settled back in...again. See what fun this is? LOL!

The campground filled up to over 50% on Friday. Lots of trailers, a few fivers and one new motorhome. Definitely a lot of weekend campers....several of whom seemed to know each other and gathered in groups.

The motorhome pulled out this morning, sometime after dark a trailer pulled into the empty spot beside me, and the park has continued to fill up today. Definitely a different feeling than the campgrounds I was in last fall and early winter. Different place...different time.

Today has been a veg day, reading a good book and relaxing. It's 80, sunny and breezy. On Monday I plan to go out to visit the couple of boondocking spots that have been passed along to me...figure the weekenders will be gone then and I can better plan for a place to head to on Thursday. Just going to enjoy the weekend....

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna