The Untold

There isn't one thing in life that doesn't get worn or never has to get maintained and replaced. I think it has all been designed to fail at some point in order to keep commerce alive and thriving. If you think about it everything has a shelf live or a life expectancy label on it. Even the bare essentials and basic ingredients in life, such as water, don't last forever. The obvious ones are, of course, the human body. We all know that it fails. Sometimes in a predictable manner but other times it takes everyone by surprise. Houses are notorious for always having something to repair or replace. So it shouldn't be any different than our home on wheels. For some reason when something breaks down on your car or motor home, in our case, you begin to have that tight feeling in your lower extremities. You are bracing for how many digits will appear on the bill and how long it will take. Everything has a cost and it seems that when you purchase an expensive home on wheels those costs are just as high to maintain and replace.
We find ourselves sitting in the back parking lot of a Cumins Service Center. Nothing like waking up in the morning and taking that first deep breath to awaken the senses and be greeted by the smell of grease and diesel fumes. You look out the window and see the back of a huge warehouse filled with stadium lighting with the bright white light spilling out the windows at all hours of the day. Soon the orchestra begins to warm up and within a half hour the sounds of air ratchets whizzing, metal hitting metal, engines running, and members of the orchestra shouting to each other to be heard above the chaos fills the air. The sight of these men and women moving these huge trucks and motor homes around the yard, almost in a choreographed fashion, seems dizzying at times. You're expecting the huge crash at any minute but thankfully it never happens. Here we sit as we wait for the estimates to be tallied up and parts to be ordered. Crossing our fingers in hopes of not breaking the bank and getting out of this environment before the smells become impregnated into our rig.
In our first evening in the lot, after the workers left for the evening to get reinvigorated for another day of making noise, we had the chance to meet other RV'ers that have chosen to spend their Florida time in the back lot as well. Some of the horror stories we heard sent chills up and down our spines. Stories of how they were on the highway cruising along and all of a sudden lose all power without warning. Then, spend an entire week of camping in the back lot while their rig is worked on everyday just to hear the technicians tell them that they still don't know what the problem is can make one a little upset.
We were promised that our work would be done tomorrow so one can only hope it turns out to be true. Regular routine maintenance and replace the Fuel Injector Solenoid is all that is on our docket. I wish our fellow campers a speedy recovery.
Just another part of owning a motor home that no one really talks about. Instead, one usually has images of an RV parked along a sandy beach with shadows of a palm tree blanketing the rig. Maybe an image of a RV surfing along the black ribbon of a scenic highway while rolling green hills try and swallow it up. No, no one talks about the nights spent in back lots across America, waiting for your number to be called and hoping the fumes don't kill you before the digits on the bottom of the bill does. Maintenance and repair has a price to pay and it isn't just with the money in your pockets. You pay a toll with your mind, sanity and patience. Just remember the next time you find yourself in a position like this that you are doing this to lessen the time and money you will spend down the road.
At least that's what they sold us on.