Awake: 5:12am Temp 10 Clear & windy Overnight@ Nicktown, Pa.
Call Al @ 7:40am to set up a time for getting more wood @ his portable
garage later this morning. Our plan today: get firewood, satisfy Kathy’s
doctor’s appointment, do a grocery shopping spree @ Wal-Mart to re-enforce
the Footes cupboards & deliver the goods to the Foote home by mid
afternoon. It was a good plan so I thought.
What I didn’t plan on was: somehow catching what appeared to be, the
stomach flu. It started around breakfast time but I ignored it. Then
during the Wal-Mart shopping spree, I decided to come clean & tell my
nurse. I wanted only to go back to the bus, lie down & do nothing. She
could continue to Indiana, unload the firewood & groceries, go shopping
with Katrina @ the Mall, have fun, laugh & enjoy the day. My nurse
murmured that she would think about it after returning to the bus &
talking with Melissa.
It’s still plenty cold outside, so when I pushed the button to open the
coach door, it moved in slow motion style…not normal….something’s amiss.
“NO” I say. I don’t want to do anything but lie down & do nothing. But I
have to do something…this problem of low air pressure needs to be
rectified NOW.
Our motorhome has 3 ways to create air pressure: the 500 hp Detroit diesel
engine when running; a 120 volt unit which runs on the house batteries
powered through the inverter, & a 12 volt unit powered through the
batteries. We use air pressure to open & close our entry door, the 2
inside sliding pocket doors, the bathroom toilet flushing & all 4 slide
tube seals.
At this time, the main (when camping) unit in use is the 120 volt
compressor & it’s not working now. The backup for this unit is the 12 volt
unit or the Detroit engine. Running the engine @ this time… 10 degrees
outside, would be tough & I would choose to warm up the engine first for
easier starting. Using the 12 volt compressor would be fairly ok but it
would be very slow to build pressure & would most likely run throughout
the day & night.
Kathy calls Melissa to let her know that Dad doesn’t feel well & she
chooses to stay & be his nurse…. & that’s OK with Melissa.
I begin checking circuit breakers, making voltage checks, etc. This is the
one technical area I am the least familiar with so: Who do I call? The
Newell experts of course! I talk with Tommy….make a few more voltage
checks but it’s going nowhere…..call Newell again & speak with Mike. Mike
admits that this is not his area of expertise & said that I need to talk
with Charlie.
Charlie was the man: he knew the short cut for by-passing the voltage
checks & simply had me turn on the ignition, push the switch for air
pressure on our HWH leveling system & select the RAISE function…. & if the
compressor is good, it should run….& it did!
Charlie theorizes that our well head pressure switch that controls the air
compressor may have some moisture in it & it’s not switching properly. I
tell Charlie I’ll put some heat on it using my drop light. It’s been
working normal ever since. Ah, the challenges of cold weather camping.
Thank you Charlie!
Tea & toast for dinner for me tonight; Kathy has leftover beef stew.
I lay around with the heating pad on my stomach during the evening while
we watch the Barbara Waters special; Heaven, Where Is It & How Do We Get
There? After an hour I join Kathy in bed and learn that this is a 2 hour
show; another 15 min is all I can hold out for. Kathy turns off the
bedroom TV and goes out to the living room to watch the rest of the
program. She slept on the couch all night, giving me space to be restless.
High temp today: 22 Lights out: 10:20pm
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