This was the first blowout we heard happen.
And it was the first blowout that did some damage to our rig. The damage was less that first apparent, but still something that will take some time to fix.
The AAA guy, Duck, arrived right at the predicted time, and did a quick wheel switch. I had paved the way by jacking up the rig and pulling the spare out from under the rig.
Our experience at Firestone was surprisingly pleasant, given the circumstances. The Tire Sales Manager, Angela Gutierrez, was smart and friendly, and stayed on top of the guys who actually did the physical work. We were in and out of there pretty quickly.
We finally arrived at Soledad Canyon about 3:30 and quickly found a 50-amp site in the section we prefer.
After setting up, we had an early dinner of barbecued pork ribs (from Trader Joe’s) and settled in for the evening. We had been told they were making some improvements at Soledad, but they were not apparent. There are still some junky areas where some fairly permanent people live.
Tuesday was a day of relaxation, and frustration. Our phones and mi-fi barely worked, and we felt a little isolated. On Wednesday, we decided to move to a site in a different area of the preserve---up the hill in N Section. We relocated, and everything was much better---except that we started blowing the breaker on our electrical monitor. I have no idea at this point what's wrong.
Thursday, we made a field trip to Flagstaff, Arizona (436 miles away) without the rig (Ramsey was with us), for a scheduled appointment (on Friday) with a doctor there. We spent the night there at the La Quinta Inn. Nice place.
We had dinner at Hiro's Sushi, a favorite of ours. We had lunch on Friday at Pato Thai, our favorite Thai restaurant anywhere. As usual, I had Chicken Cashew and Becky had Shrimp Pad Thai. Both were excellent.
A few months ago I was diagnosed with an early stage of prostate cancer, and it became time to schedule some real treatment following hormone therapy that was started in March. We met with Dr. Andrew David on Friday afternoon and began the somewhat complicated process to schedule radiation therapy.
It looks like we will be spending a few months in Cottonwood, Arizona, since the necessary equipment is in nearby Sedona.
At 3:00 PM on Friday, we headed back to Soledad, with Becky driving the whole way. We arrived home at 9:30. It was a long two days.
Saturday, Becky got her hair and face done in Los Angeles, while Ramsey and I just hung out in the rig. I happened to read the Privacy Notice from the doctor's office, and found a few English errors. I marked up the booklet, and will mail it to those folks on Monday. I so enjoy being a word nerd.
Sunday I figured out that the 50-amp service at our site is flighty, and the voltage on one line kept dropping below the minimum our electricity monitor will allow. (Less than that and our sensitive electronic equipment is put at serious risk. Thank you, monitor.) I switched to the 30-amp service and the power is much more consistent.
I also wrote a letter to Firestone to tell them about our good experience with the Moreno Valley store and its tire sales manager.
The rest of Sunday was spent getting ready for our trip to Europe on Tuesday. (We're leaving the RV park on Monday to spend the night at the airport.) From the amount of clothing I see lying around, ready to be packed, it looks like Becky is not planning to ever come back.
