Lunches, Truck Repair, and Changes of Plans

Saturday 3/10/2012

Deer Run RV Park

Troy, AL

Tuesday, the 28th, we went out for lunch with our friends, Robert and Becky.

They’ve been fulltime RV’ers since 2007 and are workamping here at Deer Run for the winter.  They’ve traveled all across the country including Alaska.  We went out for lunch with them to Hook’s Barbeque last month.  This time we went to Rodeo Mexican Restaurant in Troy.

The food was delicious, and we all had a good time talking and enjoying each other’s company.  Again, I forgot to take pictures of our food.

Wednesday, the 29th, Terri and I went to Lee’s China Buffet in Troy.

We wanted to compare the Troy location to the Ozark location that we visited last month.  I thought the two were just about the same, and Terri thought the food tasted better at the Ozark location.  We think that maybe the food was just a bit tastier at Ozark because we ate there closer to the lunch time rush, about an hour earlier.  Some of the food at the Troy buffet had probably been sitting a bit longer and may not have been quite as fresh.

Nevertheless, we both enjoyed our lunch.

Like many fulltime RV’ers, our plans are written in pencil.  That’s a good thing because recently a few slight problems developed which caused us to make some changes.  Originally, our plan was to leave here on Thursday, March 1st.  The first problem was with our truck.  Sometimes when I would insert the ignition key an “idiot” light on the dash would display a quickly flashing padlock image, and the truck would NOT start.  I didn’t think too much of this the first time it happened, as I thought it might have to do with the fact that the truck had been sitting for quite some time AND was left unlocked for a period of time.  I fiddled with the keyless remote and hit the power locks a few times.  It seemed to reset, and it did start up.  But then the other day when we went to lunch with Robert and Becky, it started acting up again.  Once again I fiddled with the remote and the power locks, and again it reset and we were able to get home.  I was really worried we were going to be stranded .

So on the morning of departure - Thursday, March 1st - I went out to the truck to check tire air pressures.  I topped off a couple of them successfully, but was having trouble with the left rear outer tire.  I had to have that valve stem replaced last year, and it just has never worked right since.  I couldn’t get it fully inflated this time.  It was about ten pounds under inflated, and I wasn’t comfortable with that at all.  I decided to run into town and get the valve stem replaced.  So I got in the truck, and it wouldn’t start again!  Same “reset” procedure as before, luckily it finally started, and off to the tire store I went.  I went in and talked to the guy, and he said he could get to it in about ten minutes.  I gave him the key, and he headed out to the truck.  I followed him out because I knew what was next… no start.  We went through the “reset” ritual and …no start !!  I volunteered to try starting it for him, and he went back inside.  It started right up for me on the first attempt.  So I just left the engine running, and I told the guy inside that it had started and was running.  Well, he instructed his technician to not shut it off, so it idled for about forty-five minutes while he changed out the valve stem.  I just kept thinking about that expensive diesel fuel just burning away. 

While I was waiting, I decided to stop at the Ford dealership, which is on the way back to the campground, to have this starting issue checked out.  Of course, they couldn’t look at it right then on Thursday, but they could look at it first thing in the morning… on MONDAY!  I went ahead and set up the appointment with them.  I didn’t want to get stranded somewhere and not be able to move the rig.  We went ahead and paid for another week at the campground with hopes of leaving on Thursday, March 8th.

Fast forward to Monday morning, March 5th.  I got in the truck, and guess what happened…. it started on the first try.  I stopped for some diesel on the way in to Ford, and guess what…  it started on the first try.  I got to Ford, shut it off, and gave it another try, and it fired right up.  Sooooo, I went in and talked to the service manager and told him that it now was NOT acting up and that I understood that if they couldn’t duplicate it, they might not be able to diagnose the problem.  I went ahead and left it with him and headed home.  Later Monday afternoon the service manager called and said they couldn’t duplicate the problem, but they did pull a code which indicated a Passive Anti Theft System (PATS) transceiver fault.  He also said that they don’t stock the replacement part (the transceiver), and it would have to be ordered with arrival on Wednesday.  Once the part arrived, they would be able to get it replaced in about an hour and a half.  I told him to go ahead and order it.  Since the truck was there, I asked him to also perform an oil and filter service on it.  Fast forward again to Wednesday, March 7th.  Mid morning the service manger called and told me the truck was ready.  We went and picked it up, and brought it home.  It appears the problem has been resolved.

In the meantime, Robert and Becky and Terri and I went out for lunch on Tuesday to a place called Sisters’ Restaurant.  I forgot, again, to take pictures.  We all enjoyed our lunch and time together.  Also on Tuesday, we received an email from our friends, John and Ginny.  We met them at the RV-Dreams Rally in SC in 2010, and we’ve kept in touch with each other since then.  They’re in northwest Florida right now, so we decided to meet for lunch on Thursday.  That worked out well since in the meantime we had already decided to extend our stay until Friday. 

Unfortunately, by late Tuesday it was obvious that Terri had come down with a stomach virus or something.  Sooooo, we decided to extend – again - our stay until at least Tuesday of next week to give her time to recover.  Thursday morning we made arrangements with John and Ginny to postpone lunch until Monday, the 12th.  Terri  didn’t feel well at all Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  She slept quite a bit and finally started feeling better today.  (Thanks Robert and Becky for stopping by to check on her status.)

Again, our plans are written in pencil and, like many, we have a big eraser so to speak.  That’s one of the many benefits of this lifestyle.  So now the plan is to leave here either Tuesday or Thursday.  I wonder if that will happen or if we’ll come up with a new plan… again.  Stay tuned!!