A Rough Start…
Bump in the Road
After months of planning and preparation, the day had finally come to start our RV journey. We started off the morning of September 6, full of excitement and enthusiasm. Fred rode his Harley to Vegas to store with my parents and I followed about half hour behind him in the car. Our enthusiasm was abruptly dulled when Fred hit a rough patch on the freeway, causing his phone to break loose from its storage compartment. Fred immediately called me and asked me to be on the lookout for his phone along the freeway - yeah right, I thought. But I was actually able to track the exact location of his phone using our family GPS tracking app, and pinpointed where it landed. It had skipped over three lanes of traffic and landed in the bushes along the right shoulder. Lead by the pin on the map, I began pawing through the bushes (yes, on the side of the freeway) in search of his phone. Miraculously, I found it - and most importantly, his credit cards, cash and drivers license were still in the silicone sleeve on the back of the case! Fred backtracked and pulled up just as I emerged victoriously from the bushes, proudly waving his mangled phone in my hand. The phone was damaged beyond repair, but at least he still had his drivers license, cash and cards. Unbelievable! We were able to quickly recover from that “bump in the road” and looked forward to our first stop - Williams, Arizona and the Grand Canyon.
Power Hungry
The coach purred along while we took in the beautiful scenery along the way to Williams, AZ. We were eager to set-up our coach for the first time at an actual RV site. We had rehearsed the steps and were fairly confident given our exhaustive preparations including hundreds of hours of You Tube videos:) Fred had masterfully managed to secure all our hook-ups (electricity, water and waste). On that scorching Arizona day, with temperatures over 100º, we immediately discovered the air conditioning was not working, there was no power coming into the coach. The transfer switch (an electrical switch that controls power to coach and generator) had failed, and we needed to replace it. So we limped along during that stay using the generator for power and partial air conditioning. After calls to the manufacturer to overnight the part and several no-show mechanics, we eventually got it repaired and were mechanically sound once again.
Viral Overload
On our last day in Williams, we received alarming news that my mom, dad, sister and sister-in-law, all in Vegas, tested positive for Covid. We abandoned our plans for our next destination in Sedona and hurried home to take care of our family. My mom, sister and sister-in-law were all hospitalized due to their Covid symptoms while my Dad seemed to have gotten a milder case and was holding his own. Our daughter, Paige, had contracted Covid a few weeks prior. We thought she was recovered but called that day and informed us that although she was over her Covid, the virus had left her with pneumonia. A course of antibiotics and an inhaler should fix her right up. Just hate being so far away when our girl is braving the virulent Covid Pneumonia without us. So, a bit of a rough start to our RV adventure but we are just so grateful that our loved ones are making a slow but encouraging recovery!