The Continuing Saga of Motorhome Living

It seems like life keeps rolling along with another adventure in the saga of the motor home.

Last Tuesday while I was working at Northwood I received a call from Ron to come to Grandview and N. Star Rd as there had been a fire in the motor home. Let me say right off the bat, that no one was injured and for that we are very thankful.

Needless to say I left abruptly from the church and headed towards the motor home. I could not imagine what had happened. I was trying to picture what I would find...the picture of a totally burned out motor home kept coming to mind. When I got to the motor home I found the engine cover off, fire extinguisher foam all around the front of the motor home and Ron on the phone with the insurance claims person. As I stepped into the motor home it reeked of smoke...ugh!

What happened: the diagnosis from Jerry Chambers Chevrolet was that a oil hose burst and the oil on the monifold caught the engine on fire! The fire burned up the speedometer and throttle cables and all the hoses leading to and from the engine including the leveler hoses that run the length of motor home, the master brake cylinder. But I am getting ahead of myself...back to making phone calls...I quickly called Kristy to tell her what happened and to see if she could take Charlie Brown ~ I had no clue what was going to happen or where we would be I just knew if Charlie Brown was being taken care of that would help ~ just what do you do with a dog in the midst of a crisis. Well, Kristy came to the rescue and met me at Fred Meyer's so we could do the dog exchange ~~~~ thanks Kristy and Norm for helping us out in this jam.

Next was a phone call to our insurance agent Jim (if you need insurance he is the best agent to have!) Jim drove out to where the motor home was to help us brainstorm what all needed to be done. Knowing that the motor home was going to be out of commission for at least a little while I asked Jim if he had an open unit in their fourplex ~ yes he did...so my next job was to gather up all the food, the pillows and my med's and go and get our stuff organized. Jim and Ron continued to make phone calls to the adjuster and the tow company. After making arrangements to have the motor home towed to Jerry Chambers Chevrolet and finding a tow truck company that could tow the motor home (it needs the big tow truck like for semi's because of the type that it is) and gathering some clothes together Ron and I made our way back to the condo unit ~ thanking God and Jim that there was an open unit just when we needed it.

Now it is Saturday and this is where everything is...Ron spoke to the adjuster and was told that it would be the middle of next week before we hear if they are going to repair the motor home or total it so we are kinda in limbo for the time being...we have a place to stay ~ the condo in Birch Bay and everyone is okay...we just have to be patient as we await the outcome of their decision.

Our mind wanders as to what we will do...if they fix the motor home it will just mean we are displaced for a couple of weeks...no big deal Alice will continue to work at the church and Ron will work as a plumber...just need to get a few jobs :) and life will go on. BUT if they total the motor home then we have to decide what to do....do we buy another motor home or get a 5th wheel or do we find an apartment/house to rent and put our dreams of traveling and working on the road on hold?????

We are in a space of much prayer as we continue to trust the Lord, knowing that He is in control and just take one day at a time ... believing and trusting that He will open the right doors and guide us in our decision making. We would appreciate your prayers for us as we deal with the insurance adjuster and make decisions as they are needed.

One thing I keep thinking about is the holidays...as you know we have been planning to be in Napa/Middletown for the Thanksgiving holiday with Alice's Aunt Joan and Uncle Don...with everything up in the air about the motor home that decision is now also on hold....once we know what is going to happen with the motor home then we can decide what to do about Thanksgiving...some friends are saying just go as we planned everything else will work out and yet some are saying maybe the timing is just not right and we should stay in the area...Ron says we won't make a decision about Thanksgiving until after we talk to the adjuster later in the week. I keep thinking of the plans that have been made and how everything seems up in the air and not really sure what we should do...I just wish a decision one way or the other would be made but I guess this is where patience comes into the picture and more trusting of the Lord...not making a decision until we have more information...ugh I hate waiting and not knowing.

Well, now that I have rambled on about all the thoughts that have been going through my head the last fews days I will close...stay tuned for the next chapter in the life of Alice and Ron.

Back in Blaine

We are back home in Blaine!

Our return trip to Blaine was very uneventful. Weather wise we saw snow, rain, felt lots of wind and sunshine. The motor home ran great except for three small blips.

Friday night the main battery quit working. Fortunately Ron could jump the motor home off the house battery and get the motor home started. Saturday morning we pulled into Les Schwab in Pendleton, found the paperwork on the battery and got help from a young man who identified the problem ~ the battery was not powerful enough to run the motor home and so it wore out. Fortunately for us it was under warranty. So 45 minutes later we were on the road for Portland/Vancouver.

We faced some pretty strong head and side winds all the way from Pendleton to Portland. Then the rain started and it came down in torrants at times. The blip of the day was when we were pulling out of the rest area the motor home acted like it was gasping for air (gas). Ron babied the motor home for about a 1/4 of a mile and then it was fine. We stopped for the night in Rochester just south of Olympia.

This morning we woke up to total fog. We waited until close to 10:00 this morning before leaving to allow the fog time to burn off. Once the fog was gone we had a beautiful sunny day. Our blip for the day was just like Saturday where the motor home acted like it couldn't get gas. After some coaxing the motor home did just fine the rest of the way home.

We are now settled in at Beachwood till the 10th of November when we will move to Thousand Trails till the 20th when we will leave for California. The next trip will be in the suburban - going to California to see my aunt and uncle for Thanksgiving.

Thanks for traveling with us on our vacation and for your thoughts and prayers for us to have safety on the road. As we look back over the past four weeks we see God's hand in protecting us as we traveled along with helpful strangers in just the right place at just the right time. We saw some beautiful scenery, spent lots of time resting and relaxing and just enjoying being together.

Alice