Life in a canned ham

Sorry for the lack of photos - things have been busy and we've just been presented with our first difficult...er, I mean, opportunity for learning. You'll see....keep reading.

It’s been a busy couple of days.  On Sunday I went back to finish up my motorcycle training course.  Again the weather was perfect with blue skies and cooler temperatures.  Our classroom training involved a couple more video presentations with interactive communication.

We were presented with alternate situations and asked what we had observed and how we would proceed.  In the scenario where the biker is racing down the entry ramp into six lanes of very busy traffic I said that right after a change of underwear I would find an alternate route.

Then we were given information on fatal motorcycle crashes and asked to see what the main contributing factors.  I noticed right away that it appeared to be mostly men aged 30 through 60 involved in these crashes and they happened in the early morning hours.  I commented that I was pleased not to find any old women on scooters listed as fatalities.  The instructor then reminded us of a story he had presented earlier of a woman returning a library book at 10 mph in the daytime and how she hit the uneven edge of the new road construction and died.  This is why I have a kindle….returning those library books can be dangerous!

I came close to acing the written test with only one wrong and then we broke for lunch and our return to the dreaded closed course.  That afternoon we worked on making tight U-turns (think figure eights in a small 10 x 20 foot block), making sudden emergency stops and swerving to avoid obstacles.  This is a tough class but I’m glad for having taken it and believe it will make me a much better driver and learning things that just may save my life someday.  Let’s just say that I passed the course, it wasn’t pretty….but I managed to pass.

Fast forward to this morning.  We scurried about to prepare for our big departure, finishing up cleaning, packing the car, loading the scooter on the back of the car and the like.  The plan was for me to run into the DMV, show my paperwork and get my license and return to the parking lot where Left Brain will be waiting after dumping the tanks and filling up with propane.  There was nobody waiting for me in the lot to hook up the car.  Hmmm.  I went back to the campground and found him still in the same position.  This isn’t looking good.

It seems that although we were ready to leave, Seymour (the RV, See More….get it?) didn’t want to go anywhere.  Like a recalcitrant toddler, he had his jacks all firmly down into the dirt and wouldn’t retract them.  Who know he could be so stubborn?  After attempting several procedures to fix this, Left Brain finally lifted them manually and we strapped them into an upright position with our ratcheting straps.  Then it was off to the RV Center to see what repairs could be done.  This was in the wrong direction but hey, whatcha gonna do?

We limped into the RV center during lunch break and were told it would be 1:00 before the mechanics returned to look at it.  Since this was in familiar area I ran to Quiznos for sandwiches and returned with them to eat while we waited.  Then we were told at 1:00 it would at least another hour before we could have any one look at it.  So, I tossed the laundry in the back of the car and headed out to the laundry mat while Left Brain babysat Seymour.  Therefore, instead of being somewhere in Iowa heading towards the rally, I’m waiting for the washer to finish so I can dump stuff into the dryer.

We are bracing ourselves for the worst here.  We may have to wait for parts or adequate time for repairs.  It’s a bit awkward when you live in the rig you need fixed and perhaps we’ll end up “boondocking” at the service center.  Oh well.  The worst that happens is that we miss the beginning of the bootcamp.  But, now it’s time to toss the laundry into the dryer and see if I can send this with my phone as a hot spot.  Wish me luck!

Long Live the Queen of Jacks