5C's Que Pasa

We have spent the past two days on the phone on hold. At this point we have two generators supposedly being shipped to us to arrive Friday. However the one being sent by Amazon has either been lost or stolen by UPS. It has gone thru on our Visa. So in answer to that we ordered another small one from Home Depot who claimed it would be here by Friday. It soon became apparent that it would not be delivered as stated on our invoice. We spoke ( 3.5 hours wait ) to Reese at Home Depot yesterday and he said that he could not stop the shipment but that it would not be here for a week or two. Well we will not be here.  Tough, we have to return it to get a refund. Spent over fours hours with Clancy today at Home Depot  who is not sure if the shipment can be stopped but did state that there was no way it would arrive by Friday as stated on their website. He said that we should contact Visa to block the payment.

So we waited 1 hour and 49 minutes for the fraud department at our Visa and when the agent came on line she said I can’t hear us and hung up. So we started all over again and now at 10:30PM we have been waiting another hour. We have been on the phone to resolve this since 1:30PM. Home Depot says that we have to pay even though it will not be delivered to us in time.

So the original generator ordered on November 9th has been declared a loss by Amazon, that took about ten hours online yesterday. So at this point we have two generators being delivered Friday and charged to our Visa.  The original shipper of the generator said he would resend it.  BUT he would not add that it needed to be delivered to our site and not the main office ( who will refuse it ). Too big of a parcel to accept. Basically it looks like neither will be delivered but we are on the hook to pay for both despite them saying that it will be here by Friday as we are leaving Saturday.

Visa has been of no help.  We have been on hold for a long time, both had showers and ate dinner. What to do? Now after 11PM we have closed the phone – like the office shut down a fee hours ago. They kept saying that the call would be recorded, I hope so cuz I will be on to them tomorrow.

Meanwhile we discovered that our palapa roof was NOT repaired in full, just the part that was obvious  area from the ground and not the exposed and torn plastic on top.

At this point we have no idea what comes next.

We have the RV tech here tomorrow at noon but the 2 day priority mail did not show up with the part for the Roadmaster tow bar. Hopefully it will come early tomorrow morning. At least he can fix the stairs. However we can’t go anywhere without a functioning tow bar, never mind  a generator.

Looks like we may need to involve a lawyer to deal with all of this but is worth the money or do we just take a 2K loss. It still does not give us a generator.

VERY VERY frustrating. We have spent the past two days on hold or at least one of us has, we take turns. Masking is no longer a thing at Walmart, I asked and was told that Walmart no longer cared. So on and so on.

It is 11PM and we have had the phone on hold since 1:30PM. We have an RV tech coming at noon, will we have the parts??

I am totally done and we have talked about going back home. We are exhausted.  Anyway I just put this put this together so that you know the que pasa of what is happening.

Off to bed…..who knows what tomorrow will bring. We do realize how fortunate we are compared to many others in BC dealing with the mudslides and severe flooding, loss of life and so many farm animals.

Published without proofing.

PS, Lucy we have well over 1200 miles to go before we get to the Isla.

Certainly not a normal day. This is going to be a brief post.  Our day did not go as planned.

But it started off with some relaxation for the girls. One in each corner of the dash. The RV is in an upheaval as we are waiting for a mobile tech so nothing is put away properly.

The first mobile company finally showed up almost three hours late. They drove up in a brand new Kia sedan and claimed that the company truck was in the shop. They held a few tools in their hands. Colin and I both knew that this would be a no go, Colin was very gentle about turning them away. So back to calling for some mobile tech help.

The girls are always number one and got set up outside. They are enjoying their new long dog water dish from Auntie Karen. Thank you again.

Sadly many of the mobile companies have a recording on their phone saying that they are booked for the week or until sometime in December. Happy Hals  is booked solid. We called many but only the one returned our call. They were not free until next week, we are leaving Saturday.  After some pleading and grovelling on our part we had a tech show up within an hour. Prices are high, $150.00 for coming out and then another $150.00 per hour. So we spent $310,50 for someone to tell us that our jacks are just fine, the $10.50 was the extra charge to put the $300.00 on a credit card 😯 He did suggest a different way of using our jacks than we have been.

However there is something wrong with our steps so while he was here we had him check it out.  Looks like we need a new gear assembly, maybe $500.00 if they can get parts in.

A piece fell off our Roadmaster tow assembly.  Took us a  few hours this morning  ( there are no parts here in Las Vegas ) and we now have the part coming on priority mail. Of course we will need an RV tech to install it. Kaching, kaching 😥 Oh and a string broke on one of our blinds. Masking tape works well thus far. Who repairs RV blinds?

This is all that I had ordered from Amazon to pick up here.

It felt like Christmas opening up the boxes. Most of the things are as advertised but I may have to send a few back. But I don’t have a printer to print out labels! The girls just watched all the opening of boxes and packages, very intrigued but not interfering – except for Ciela tackling one of the new squeak balls.

Oh and then there is the generator issue.  No one seems to know where it is 🙁 We have been in touch with the shipper but he really had no idea what to do. Maybe tomorrow they will have some information 😯

On the plus side we drove to Target and then to Kohls to get new bath towels for the RV. Ours have been here for a very long time and have started to fray. It was time for them to go the the rag bag. We now have four sets of fluffy and soft towels. Two for the RV and two at the lavenderia.

It also appears that we going to be able to keep to our original schedule of traveling to Mexico. Lucy, at the moment I do not have the answer to your question about the number of miles from here.  Too busy to look it up.

“D”, about that Freightliner company you suggested here in Las Vegas. We have dealt with them, about four years ago, about a small fan issue. We were parked there for three days while they tried to source a part. Finally on the third day I insisted that they give us the original part and we drove to an Auto Zone and were back to Freightliner within 30 minutes with the exact same fan – cost $20.00. They could only find parts from their official sources. It was a twenty minute install but we ended up paying for three days of hanging around for nothing. No way will we ever deal with them again. I had no idea that this is who you had recommend until I suggested them to Colin this morning.

Kathy we also love that part of the drive, just not so much the straight part past Hiko. Thanks for theupdafte of the Mexican roads. Ken you touched my heart with your words, love you always.

Meanwhile we are feeling so very bad for all those in our province of BC dealing with flooding, mudslides and avalanches and now high winds in our home town. It has not been a good day all round.

It was very cool this morning when we woke up in Ely. Yet once we reached Las Vegas this afternoon it was hot, hot, hot.  The girls loved is as we did. Despite the cold the sun was shining this morning and the twins were not into sitting under blankets as it felt very warm inside the RV.

The day started with a fight over who got this chew bone.

Once again despite careful planning and getting up on time we still left 30 minutes late at 8:30AM.  All I could think about were Ken and Margot. We traveled back with them from Mexico one year. Ken is English and a real stickler for adhering to a schedule. There was no way that I could even negotiate another 10 minutes of sleep. We certainly had so much fun traveling with them and their doxie Hilde. On that trip Margot and I talked on the CB’s all the way back. This morning Ken was all I could think about as I could see his disappointment as me not leaving precisely as we had planned, day after day.  In this blog, written in August of 2015, the last time we saw them, Ken was still trying to stick to his schedule.

I took this photo for Croft this morning. He and Norma would always stay at the Prospector Hotel RV lot. Norma loved to gamble. Since their last trip passing thru Ely that RV lot is now a Holiday Inn Express.  Sadly neither Margot nor Norma are with us. They both passed because of the big C. It truly was a day of reminiscing. Margot and Norma were both very special ladies and I miss them.

Carlie wouldn’t share the bone so Ciela showed her who was boss by trying to hump her – a sign of dominance. It did not work.

When they tired they napped on me. Today their naps were very short.

For the first time Carlie was brave enough to sit on Colin’s seat as he drove.

The drive from Ely to Las Vegas is long and boring. However there is this one short section that is extremely scenic. The rock formations are vivid and varied within these few miles.

We finally got to Hiko where it was toasty warm. We stopped here to let the girls out to do their business which they refused to do. We dry camped here one year under this tree.

Turns out it was a doxie meet up. Hard to see but this was a rare cream longhaired sister and brother now 13.5 years. They were rather shy of us and our girls. Paula ( ?? ) and her husband Colin live in Summerland, very close to us. There are newer RVers but good for them to get back out there. Please keep in touch with us Paula.

Ciela in the bed and Carlie again on Colin. You might note a dark screen behind the dog bed, we were trying to keep the sun from heating up the girls too much. Seems to work. We stopped at the Love’s just before I-15 for the girls. They have refused to do their business since first thing this morning. They finally did once we got settled into our site here in Vegas.

Smoggy/hazy day. Being a Sunday there was very little traffic.

We checked in at the Las Vegas RV Resort about 2:30PM and were more or less set up in our site by 3:15.  I was extremely slow setting up the inside.  I had no energy and had to keep sitting down after doing one or two things. Meanwhile the girls were beyond happy.  They have a certain way of showing their happiness mostly by expressing with their eyes and bestowing me with dozens of kisses. This would go on for a few hours. I think I am worn out from the prep before we left and the pace of the past few days. I wouldn’t even drink wine so that tells something.

Colin set up the dish around 4ish and then suddenly it was getting dark. I actually checked to see that we hadn’t changed time zones. Dark before 5PM.  Surprise.

I took this but it was difficult to show the colour in the sky but I did get something bright in the sky. Is is Mercury or Venus? I know one of you will tell me for certain.

Drove 255.3 miles today.  Happy to not be moving for a few days.

Well the lovely wee RV park is not so quiet on a Friday night. At least 8 RV’s came in after us. That is to be expected but not the two who arrived at 12:15AM and then at 12:35AM.  Then there was the car full of partiers who came home at 1AM and wanted to share their joy with us. Colin and the girls slept thru it all.

This series of photos were taken between Twin Falls , Idaho and Ely, Nevada. Carlie is working on getting under the blankets in the tiny bed on the dash.

Something has been missing since we left home. Colin has looked for it every time we stop. Last night he took everything out of the Jeep to no avail. Finally we called our friend Inger and she went into our house and found what was missing. It was exactly where they should be had we been home. I think what happened is that they were out on the counter to be packed and Colin put them away as he cleaned the kitchen. He put my crock pot away instead of taking it to the RV.  What is missing are all the girls treats plus small spilt antler bones for chewing. They have resorted to chewing their blankets and making holes. I could only find this particular product online and in Winnipeg and had it shipped from Winnipeg a few weeks ago. They work out to close to $6.00 CAD each, in the USA they start at $8.00 US each but are not the same quality and not the same consistent small size. I don’t have all the details as that info is in my desktop and I have been using the laptop since we left. So now we can stop looking for them and instead I will spend my energy trying to get them to Mexico. Also missing were several bags of dog treats but those can be replaced in the US.

Shortly thereafter Ciela moved to the bed between us. I was free for a short period of time. They love to sit on me as we drive.

I wanted to mention that my foot is almost 95% healed.  Sitting with it elevated all day has helped a lot.

Then Carlie soon joined her, first time ever having them both there. Eventually we hope that is where they will stay while we travel – for the most part.

Just as we were about to leave this morning when Colin had something happen. We were ready to pull away, the airbags were full and it was time to go. For some reason Colin put his plate containing a muffin halved and covered in peanut butter on his seat as he slid in.  Not easy getting into our seats because of the stool with the dog bed on I between our seats and the ramp. He sat on it 😯  Needless to say his shorts were covered in peanut butter as was a section of his shirt.  He changed and added more peanut butter and then we were good to go.  Wish I had thought to take a photo.

It was a very foggy morning and we finally left ( late again ) at 8:45 AM. Not so easy merging onto I-84. Fortunately the sun soon broke thru the fog and it was a lovely travel day.

Such a spectacular entrance to Twin Falls, Idaho. Pretty good for a point and shoot.  There is no room to stop with a hooked up RV. One day we will have to park somewhere and drive back in the Jeep to check this vista out properly.

There is a new huge Walmart on the loop road ( Pole Line Road ) to Nevada. We needed carrots for the girls, a few treats for them as well and I needed some new wine and a watch.  Yes a watch. I dropped mine on the floor at home two days in a row.  On the second drop the band broke, I have the tiny screw but need a proper repair. So I took a quick look at watches and found the perfect one for $8.88. Only thing is now I can’t get the clasp to open. Working on that now.

They are in constant motion even when sleeping.

I have to say I was rather surprised when I walked into that Walmart. No one except myself and the staff were wearing a mask 😯 I made a comment to another shopper and she said that they don’t wear masks there. Okay! So I did a very fast essential only shop – only three bottles of wine. As I checked out I was upset with myself for not bringing in my bags. Totally forget in the decision to make a quick stop. No worries it turns out. This Walmart ( perhaps all in Idaho ) still give out free plastic bags and like to double bag as well. At least we now have some garbage bags 🙄

Of course that shopping stop made us another 45 minutes delayed. But we did make it to Nevada.

I was such a lovely day.

Mother Nature treated us to a sunset that seemed to last for over an hour.

It was difficult to choose just a few photos for this post. We both really enjoyed just watching the changing colours and the shadows over the mountains.

A long drive at 416 miles but we did get to Ely at 5:45 in the dark.  Tomorrow the girls will be in for a whole new experience.

Love your comments and yes it will get warmer starting tomorrow.  Hey Vern, we passed Boise about 9:30PM. Lots of new road construction going there. Sorry I missed you, maybe next time.

No one at the border at all yesterday.

😎

Yesterday was Remembrance Day and it was touching to drive along Main Street/ the highway and see American flags lining both sides of the road the entire length of the town of Tonasket, Washington.

We drove through Washington state, through Oregon and into Idaho today. We have driven 587 lies since we drove home. Many more miles to go. But I only have taken 29 photos during this time, many blurry.

This was our drive yesterday, 276 miles.

It rained all night last night but the girls were troopers and did their business outside. They also slept in their own crate. We had quite the delay leaving this morning. Part of our problem setting up last night was due to the front right jack which was not taking any weight. This morning Colin was emailing our RV tech, Erik, in Mazatlan about it.  It could be a number of things with the worst requiring a six week wait for a new jack.  So at this point we have an appointment Monday the 22nd in Quartzsite to check it all out. Does anyone have a good RV tech or company that they use in Las Vegas? We have never had luck getting things repaired in Vegas. The person we spoke to today in Vegas said that the first he could see us would be December 3rd.

I put their new sweaters on yesterday morning so that they would be warm with the front door left open as we went back and forth with the final bits. They were warm but tended to walk out of the sweaters. They wore them for a few hours today but prefer having 4 -7 blankets piled over them.

Carlie laying between the electric heater and our propane Mr. Buddy heater. Thank you George for helping us figure out that this is what we needed. We think of you everyday.

So we left an hour late and while we were driving I called ATT and after five attempts to get a human I was successful.  Long story short, the store in Omak gave me $5.00 coupon to use as a credit. However it only registers as a $30.00 purchase instead of $35.00 and so the computer decided that I owed ATT $5.00 before I could get any data.  All fixed now.

We stopped just before crossing into Oregon at Metro Diesel where we have stopped annually to get some inexpensive diesel fuel. We paid $3.79 per gallon and would have saved .10cents had we used cash. I decided that this trip we would just use the credit card. While there Colin checked and discovered that our propane tank was under 50%.  We had been using the propane to keep the RV warm so with two cold nights ahead of us it was a good decision to fill the tank. However there was only one worker running the business and it took forever for him to get the propane filled.  We had to wait until he was free to leave the till. After 20 minutes Colin said let’s just go. I said we have waited this long, let’s wait a bit more and within 5 minutes we were being filled.

The girls always whimper when he is outside and keep pawing at the window to try and get to him. Can you see Carlie on the left with her paw on the  window up near the mirror, Ciela is laying on her side using both front paws to get thru the window. However 55 minutes to get diesel and propane was much too long of a wait.  Wow 9.9 gallons of propane for $37.63!  Isn’t that expensive?

A dreary driving day but by afternoon the rain had stopped. I think that might be the end of it.

What was this guy thinking?

Later we saw a Tesla in the right lane driving ever so slowly with his blinkers on. Looks like he ran out of battery. He really should have pulled over, stopped and called for road side assistance.

I saw this on FB just before we left, so apropos.

Speaking of electricity, just as we entered Pendleton there was this large, very very huge set up of solar panels, good for the city.

Colin would like me to mention that he did the Pendleton Pass at 80 km/h ( 50 mph ) in 4th gear at 2000 RPM. There was no one in front of us in either of the three lanes.  He is so proud of his motorhome towing a 4500 lb. Jeep.

Missed the Oregon sign, I always do as it is behind a wide bridge column. This is out of focus but we are here.

We are staying at a lovely wee RV park near Caldwell, ID. Country Corners RV park only charges $44.00 per night and we are grateful for the electricity. It is just a few minutes off exit 17 and I-84. Busy night here, at least 7 RV’s perhaps a few more came in after us.  Cool at 46F but no rain, bonus!

We drove 311 miles today.

Thanks for all of your comments, so nice to get them.  Don’t have time to reply to them all but just a few thoughts. We love our BC wine and to pay an extra. 21 cents per bottle is not a hardship. Frankly I am getting tired of the same reasonable priced wines year after year. Will still be picking more wine before we cross into Mexico. All the more reason to stock up so that we can avoid extra grocery store visits this coming winter. As an aside, the only person we have seen wearing a mask has been the border agent yesterday. Katie, don’t worry about your girls, they  are loving traveling. Their only fault is that they have become loud barkers. And as for waiting until we get to warmer climates to post updates, no way, once we get warmer we will be out enjoying the sun and the heat. Besides I use these blogs as notes for the future 😎