Week 12

Monday, June 17, 2002

I woke up very early this morning, around 5:30. I was at Leon’s Muffler shop by 7:30 waiting for them to open. Jim, the service manager took me right away and removed the spare tire ratchet and showed me that it was completely shot. He said he would have to order one from the local Chevrolet dealer. I volunteered to go get it. The Chevy dealer said, “This is not a Chevrolet part, it’s an Airstream part.” So I called Airstream in Ohio. They referred me to an Airstream parts dealer in Idaho. I stopped at a drug store in Eureka to pick up a few things, and while I was there, the whole building started shaking. I didn’t realize it at first, but I was experiencing one of California’s minor earthquakes. I decided that I had enough of Eureka, CA and I wanted to get going into Oregon, so I left Eureka and the blown tire and bent wheel and headed on up the coast past Crescent City and across the line into Brookings, Oregon, arriving around 2:30. It was too early to stop for the day, so I pushed on to Coos Bay, OR. It was much better than the roads that I had traveled on earlier in Northern California, but as I arrived in Coos Bay, I noticed that my engine was racing. I decided that I needed to get this taken care of, right away. The spare tire could wait, but this couldn’t. I checked in at the “Lucky Loggers” campground. It was a very nice campground right on the banks of a logging river, very scenic. The manager gave me the names of a couple of RV dealers in town that he said could take care of my problem. I turned in early.

Tuesday, June 18, 2002

I was up at the crack of dawn again this morning. Called a couple of RV dealers and found one who would take me right away. Bay Center RV said come right over. I was surprised at such a large garage in this small town. The service manager came out and heard the engine racing. He opened the engine compartment and stopped the racing, then removed the accelerator cable and showed me how frayed it was and said it would have to be replaced. He said he didn’t have one, but he was doing a nationwide computer search to see where he could find one. Fifteen minutes later, he came out and told me that he found one in the State of MarylandJ. He said it was being shipped out today and it would be here tomorrow. I thanked him and told him of my other problems with the spare tire ratchet, tire and wheel. He said, if I could get the part from Airstream, he could fix it. I called the Airstream retailer in Idaho, and he said he would have to order the part from the factory in Ohio. He called me back fifteen minutes later and said that he placed the order, it would be sent air express directly to Bay Center RV in Coos Bay and it would be here on Thursday. The Bay Center service manager then contacted a local tire dealer who had my tire size but said he would have to order my new wheel, but he thought he could have it by Thursday. So here I am in Coos Bay, Oregon. I am spending tonight in the RV parked in the garage parking lot. He did hook me up with electricity, so all is well. He even gave me a beat up Oldsmobile Cutlass to drive around in. I went to the library, got a hair cut, went to Wal-Mart, and then went to the Mill Casino, an Indian casino here. I put $10 in slot machines, and then ate at the $9.95 buffet. There was an RV club called the WINS (Wandering Individuals Network, Inc.) visiting the casino. I saw all their rigs parked in the parking lot so I talked to a few of the members. They were very nice folks. They gave me some information. I will have to read up on this, but it sounds like an organization that I would be interested in. I returned to the garage after closing time and prepared to spend the night here.

Wednesday, June 19, 2002

I slept in a little later this morning, until I saw the UPS truck stop in front of the garage. I waited a few minutes for them to see what they got and then I went and asked John, the service manager if my accelerator cable had arrived. He said it had not and he wasn’t expecting it until tomorrow. I knew the spare tire assembly would not arrive until tomorrow, so I wasn’t too disappointed. I decided to take the Olds and go for a little drive around Coos Bay. The Olds was in horrible condition and I wasn’t sure if it would get me anywhere. This gave me concern about a mechanic whose car was in such terrible condition, but I am stuck with what I have. I went to the Coos Bay library again and wasted some time on the internet. The day sure is long when there’s nothing to do and that’s what there is to do in Coos Bay. I ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant down the street from the garage.

Thursday, June 20, 2002

Once again, I watched the UPS man come and go. I waited a little while and then went to talk with John. He said that he had good news and bad. The good news was that the cable had arrived. The bad news was that it wasn’t the right cable. I was very disappointed. He said that he was doing another search to see if he could find the right one. A little later he told me that he had located another one and this one was also located in Maryland. (Hmmmm). Meanwhile he neglected to tell me that the other part, the spare tire ratchet HAD arrived. A glimmer of hope. Again to past the time, I drove the Olds up to the library and went to some local restaurant for a bad meal.

Friday, June 21, 2002

UPS man came and went. Still no cable. John wasn’t surprised. He said he didn’t expect that it would arrive until Monday. Now I am really getting disgusted. Then he tells me that I should go to a tire dealer down the street and order the tire and wheel that I needed. I was annoyed that he had not done that earlier. I heard him talk with the tire dealer, but he did not order it. He said it would be cheaper if I ordered it directly from the dealer rather than him ordering it. I said that I thought he had already ordered it and he said it was a misunderstanding. Keep cool, Ed! Days are getting longer and I am getting bored here.

Saturday, June 22, 2002

I went to Wal-Mart this morning to pick up a few things. There was a classic car show there and I spent a lot of time looking at the cars. I also took my laundry with me and stopped at a Laundromat to do it. When I got ready to leave, I discovered that I had a flat tire on the Olds. I opened the trunk and there was no spare tire there. I was disgusted. I figured that I would drive on the rim to a gas station right down the street. As I started to pull out, the lady parked next to me started screaming that my tire was coming apart. I stopped and looked, and she was right. The steel lining was literally coming apart. I called the garage and they were trying to get someone to come to help me. Then it occurred to me to look under the floor mat of the trunk and lo and behold there was a donut spare tire there. I called the garage and sheepishly apologized, then changed the tire and returned to the garage on my own. I went to Blockbusters and rented several movies to get me through the weekend.

Sunday, June 23, 2002

I did one thing today. I walked about 2 miles down to the Mill casino that I went to a few days ago. I actually found a penny slot machine there. I put a dollar bill in it and got 100 credits which allowed me to play for a couple of hours without loosing much money. In fact, by the time I got bored of playing, I had $2.00 credit on the machine, so I cashed in, had dinner and returned to Bay Center garage.

Hopefully, next week will be a lot more exciting.