About 40 minutes after we left Mt. Shasta on Friday my husband turned to me and said, "I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?" This happened to be one of those mornings when all was silent in the truck, everyone reading or doing school work. As far as I could tell nothing had occurred out of the ordinary. I replied, "doesn't matter!" So Donald cheerfully said, "The good news is that we are mobile, on the road and there is nothing stopping us from getting to Salem today." Which made no sense at all since I had no reason to suspect otherwise. Then came the bomb. "The bad news is that when we stopped for gas there was a small incline and the RV bottomed out. The black plastic drain outlet tube completely shattered."
This doesn't seem like too big a deal; just a drain tube right? Except that every ounce of liquid from one toilet, three sinks and a shower all has to drain from that one tube. The boy's have their own toilet with separate tank/drain system so that is all we can use. No cooking, washing dishes, brushing teeth, washing faces, and certainly no showering because our holding tanks can only hold so much and then have to be drained through that very important outlet. Luckily Salem has a dealer for our brand of RV, not that we can claim this one under warranty! But it means another delay in getting to Washington.
We are beginning to wonder if we are meant to get there at all because last night we noticed a significant grinding noise in the truck coming from the vicinity of the brakes. Since all this is happening at the weekend we have to wait for Monday before we can get any repairs started.
As depressing as all this could be, it is actually one of those "blessing in disguise" things because we have dear friends from seminary whom we have not seen in nearly 10 years living about a mile from the RV park whose bathhouses have become our own. I had that camp nostalgia again when the boys and I were sprinting through the rain in the dark to brush our teeth the first night! Instead of seeing our friends for one evening as we pass through town they have opened their home to us most graciously and we are having a wonderful weekend. They even have boys (plus an adorable daughter) so my kids are over the moon! To boot, Donald's former pastor's daughter also lives in Salem with her husband and two girls and we've been able to connect with them as well.
We do not know how long we will be in Salem but we do know it's an awesome place to be "stuck" so far!
It was SO great to see all of you this weekend, and to meet the whole family. We really enjoyed our visit with you, and hope to see you again some day. Call us if you're ever back in Salem again!
ReplyDeleteI told my brother I saw you guys, and he'd love to reconnect with Don. Here's his my space: http://www.myspace.com/paulguntherjr , plus you can find him on facebook too. Best wishes on the rest of your trip!
Just got an email from Earl, and he said they are going to hook with you guys. I hope you will be able to spend a few days at the coast with us.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, did he mention that Lyndell and Dave are flying out and will be at the coast Wed. evening. They are hosting a 50th wedding anniversary for us in Bellingham at our church on Sunday, April 17. Of course you are invited.
There's nothing like a good, old RV trip. It's nice that you guys had a great time. Well, I hope to read more of your journeys.
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