5C's Que Pasa

To answer a question. We broke down north of Quartzsite on Sunday and waited most of the day for a tow truck. We were towed to a facility in Ehrenburg, Arizona that said they could help us, they were unable to and we never should have been directed there. Monday we were towed to Blythe, California. This truck shop saw us Tuesday morning.

We really don’t know what is wrong with us, I don’t think they do either. Based on what the engine computer says is that the throttle positioning sensor is faulty and we have no idea what that means. Also the fuel lift pump needs replacing as it is leaking fuel on the ground. The lift pump is only needed to start the engine and runs for thirty seconds and then a gear pump takes over from there.

This facility was not even sure of that until after 2 -3 PM Tuesday. About 1PM Colin suggested that they order whatever they think it might be and if not needed we would pay the return shipping and restocking fee. It wasn’t until 4:30PM Tuesday that we found out that they had not yet ordered one of the parts and they had no idea when the other part would arrive but they thought it might be Thursday, the 31st.

Today at 1PM Colin went to check on things and found out that they had still had not found the throttle positioning sensor. He came back to the RV and within ten minutes he spoke with Spartan and they had one in stock. Where the heck was this parts department trying to get parts from? Napa? Spartan built this RV chassis and should have been the first source to find parts. So within 30 minutes we had paid for and arranged overnight shipping ( even thought it was 4:30PM Eastern time ). It will be here tomorrow.

Gosh had we known we might’ve been out of here today. Moral of the story, always order our own parts – same as we did back in November re the ball joints.  As it was, on Tuesday the mechanic spent a few hours trying to reach under the dash to locate the sensor. It was about 1PM Tuesday when Colin asked about the progress that we discovered this. Colin showed him that you can simply lift the dash up and there was full access. Next problem was that he was unable to reach a certain area of the engine. Colin suggested that they simply take the muffler off 😯

Every morning I cancel and rebook appointments and reservations.  I just realized that I forgot two today, one of which is for Friday. We have five driving days ahead of us to get home. A few of them are close to 450 mile days. We will go from heat to a high of 39F, low of 25F in Ely on Sunday – if we get out of here.

We are not sitting back, resting, reading a book or even walking the girls. We are working to survive. It is not fun living next to a homeless camp and be on constant alert.  Every meal is take out. Although tonight we had the best pizza in our life after Naples. A small shop based on the same  principle as Subway called Pizza Studio. Look it up. I also just realized that I haven food prep done for our travel to Canada. No time.

We finally found a place to fill our two 5 gallon drinking water garafons today. We had to get the Jeep washed as you can’t see out of the windows to drive. And to go a bank to get quarters and was told that I had to have an account. I had a mini melt down, got the quarters. Then I went to do a load of laundry at what was supposed to be the best of three places here in Blythe. OMG, glad it was the best. Someone was smoking pot, there was no AC and most machines were broken. There is not one to fix things here. When they all break they will shut down the shop. Blythe is such a sad place. I asked today and was told that is was not due to Covid as I suspected but that things were slowly dying and shutting down and not being replaced.

I needed to wash my hair but we have to ration our water so I called a salon to see if they could do it. There are only three in town We checked them out, there was only the one that I would go into and it was lovely but only one stylist so I had to wait a while. But oh so wonderful have clean hair again. I told her just a part of our story. She did not want to charge me so I gave her what I think was enough as a tip.

Meanwhile the girls had to hang out in the car, no fun for them. No walks today, just to do their business.  I wonder if they dream about running on the beach.

Tomorrow we are up with the sun and in the shop at 7:20AM.  They hope to get it all done tomorrow but no guarantee. So if that is the case then we will have to spend tomorrow night in a hotel. We checked a few out late this afternoon. All I can say is that they better finish the RV tomorrow. We are not allowed to be in the RV while it is in the yard – which is why we are staying mere feet from a busy road which is just off of an I10 off ramp.

No photos as I have not yet set up my desktop, too much trouble for just a few hours because of how we store it for travel.

I feel so badly for the girls, they did nothing to deserve this hardship. Tomorrow we will be living in our car until close to 5PM. There is no where to go and I am not exaggerating. Not even an outdoor patio to sit and eat and have the girls with us. I am so tired of sitting in the Jeep with no place to stretch-out. We did go to a very cute off leash dog park yesterday no photos till another day. It was just okay but it was different but in a small enclosed area, smelled of urine and we had to watch where we stepped but the girls were able to run a bit more than the length of the RV living room.

This is not a wee holiday but something to be endured. To be honest, without the dogs it would be much easier. This too shall pass but why is it taking so long?  Nothing we can do but live hour by hour right now. I did sleep well last night, hope to do so tonight. Prayers that they put the RV back together tomorrow and that nothing else is wrong.

Tonights sunset, hope it is our last here.