Mrs. Amana, meet Mr.Leaky.....

Saturday saw the final installation of the new Kitchenaide refer in Tom and Darlene’s 2002 Newell.  As you will recall, once we had the refer right side up again, and inside the coach we had to wait 24 hours to allow the freon to settle back down to the compressor.  That time came about 4 pm……however, I get ahead of myself one more time.

The rain came about 1 am Saturday morning, sometimes very hard, but without let up until near 6 am.  Every time I awoke briefly I heard the soothing rain on the roof, and smiled, not knowing at the same time Forest and Cindy were fighting a leak coming in their 1996 Newell from their living room slide that allowed over a gallon of water to ingress over that same period of time.  To be honest I felt a little guilty in the morning for enjoying the rain on the roof, and hoping it wouldn't stop.

When TLE and I were looking for our “next” motorhome starting back in 2007 we focused initially on coaches that had slides, but ultimately decided we did not want slides due to the potential for this type of problem, and other kinds of slide related issues.  No doubt we have had our own issues as we have traveled, but overall we are still happy with our choice, in spite of the loss of a lot of extra square footage.

So Saturday morning when I saw Forest outside around 9 am and asked “what’s happening” I found out about the “deluge” during the early morning hours.  Water was coming in from the top of the slide, and getting into the ceiling.  He was in the process of removing light fixtures, and vinyl ceiling covering (about 50 staples) to drain out whatever water had not already done so.  Once the wood dries they will need to treat it to prevent mold, then button back up the ceiling, and while that is going on reseal the area of the water ingress……meaning that once the sealant is applied we will need to sit still for an additional 24 hours before Forest can move.  The sealant cannot be applied to the exterior until it the old sealant is removed, the area cleaned, and is dry, so for right now it appears we will be here at Beaver Dam until at least Monday.

The good news, and there is good news, is 1) that once we have paid for 5 days we revert to the weekly rate, which is $215…..we are paying $40/day so when we pay for Sunday we will have paid $200, leaving only $10 more for the last two days; 2) the scenery here is amazing; 3) I am learning a lot about installing household type refers in RV’s, and about fixing leaks; and 4) we are just plain enjoying our time with our friends…..as one text message to me yesterday said, “Life is as much about the journey as the destination.”  Great observation, and so true.

Tom and I worked with Forest at finding the point of the leak, and we believe we have found it.  In order to examine the top of the slide properly we had to put it in, remove the ZipDee awning topper out of the way, then re-open the slide.  Once we identified the only obvious point of the leak we put the slide back in (it will be easier to repair the leak with the slide in from the inside of the coach) to re-attach the slide topper…..while we were re-attaching the ZipDee slide topper the coach began to re-level itself.  The top of the ladder forest was on got stuck under the trim at the top of the coach and began to bend inward in an arch toward the coach…..at that point Forest’s arm was wrapped around the ladder and got pinned between the bending ladder and the coach…..I was on the other end of the slide re-attaching my end of the ZipDee when I heard him yell out in pain, and asking that I do something quick to help him….it took me a few seconds, which seemed much longer to Forest I am sure, to figure what was happening……I then got under the lower portion of the ladder and began pushing the arch back the other way……just enough for Forest to extract his arm from the pinch point.  Thank goodness we were with Forest helping him, because had he been alone who knows how bad this would have gotten…..another good reason why we should always have someone with us when we are working on, or around these behemoths.

Fortunately Forest will just have some soreness and a couple of deep bruises, and nothing worse.

4 pm finally rolled around and we convened back in Tom and Darlene’s coach to insert the refer into its spot….we finished a little after 5, and turned it on to begin cooling.  Who would have thought the refer odyssey would last from Wednesday until Saturday?  Only the Jello knew for sure!

Around 7 we got together for spaghetti and garlic bread…..very, very yummy by the way, and then watched “Cowboys and Aliens” starring Daniel Craig, and Harrison Ford…..a very unusual western to say the least!

Thanks for stopping by!