Day 11 - Friday, November 21 - Car Rental & Refrigerator Repairs

 When I went to get in to the refrigerator this morning to start my breakfast I noticed that the light didn't come on. I looked at the information screen and saw an error message. Last March we learned that a heavy rainfall can't cause a fault in a safety device on the back of the refrigerator, but yesterdays rain was not heavy. If you are interested you can read about last years rain and the campground flooding at:

https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2025/03/days-120-121-friday-saturday-march-28.html 

Like last year I didn't have a magnet strong enough to reset the safety device relay (I was praying that would get the refrigerator going). Today was the day I was supposed to pick up a rental car so I figured I  would go buy some magnets once I had the car.

On to breakfast. I did good.

A guy from Enterprise called me to tell me he was on the way to pick me up, and that he would be here in about a half hour. 45 minutes later another guy called me to tell me he was waiting for me, I told him I had been standing outside for nearly a half hour waiting on him. Three phone calls, and 20 minutes later he finally made it to where I was waiting for him. He was a nice young man who rides a Ninja ZX-14 back and forth to work, from the north side of Houston, every day, year round. He is a Christian. He loves the bike and says that it has been a blessing for him. It costs him about $5/day to commute. (A ZX-14 has 190hp and a top speed of 180 mph.) He said he really has  to be watch his speed. Several days ago he looked down and was running 110 mph, which felt totally comfortable.

After I picked up the car, a Hyundai Elantra, I went to an Ace Hardware store and bout $20 worth of small rare earth magnets. I bought the only 2 packs they had in stock. I wanted a larger size but they were out  of them.

Then it was off to lunch. I checked Google and saw 2 local BBQ places that were far from chain restaurants, and not to far off the beaten path. I drove by the first one because the parking lot was packed. When I got to the second one, just a mile down the road, there was only 1 vehicle in the parking lot. I went back to Florida's Kitchen.

My brisket sandwich and an order of onion rings. It was very good and EXPENSIVE. They did have a $14 lunch special, chicken. If they had paid me $14 I would have tried it. (Chicken is not on my list of edibles. Fowl/foul is a good name for it. 😀)

Back at the coach I tried the magnets and it appeared that they were not going to work. I wasn't sure if they weren't strong enough or if the relay was bad enough that it wouldn't reset. Finally after fooling around with them for several minutes I heard the click of the relay resetting. So far, so good. THANK YOU JESUS!

My tendency is to get upset over problems like the coach jacks and refrigerators that quit running but fortunately I know enough to try and focus on the promises of Scripture. Things like these are just patience builders. I like the way the New Living Bible translates Galatians 5:22&23: But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law.

Back to the levelling jacks. I know that a jack is  leaking, but I'm not sure how bad it is leaking. I did some research this afternoon and after some searching I located the hydraulic pumps that control the jacks, and the hydraulic fluid tank. There is just room enough to get my head in to a position to see the tank and the dip stick. In order to get my hand in a position to unscrew the dipstick and check the level I have to remove my head. Sunday afternoon I may go buy a gallon of fluid, and a flexible funnel with along spout, and try adding some fluid. Maybe that will let me level the coach once I get to Harlingen, and put the slides out. The leak will probably make it necessary to relevel regularly but that may get us by until I can find someone down there to work on the jack. The jack weighs over 100#. There are two coil springs STIFF looking coil springs that retract the cylinder. It's not something I'm up to messing with.

I walked around a little and took a few photos of the campground. This is a big place. Below is a Google shot of the campground. There are campers under all the trees in the photo.

The main entrance is up near the red dot. I'm parked down close to the blue dot, near the Escapee Care Center. The Care Center is a place where Escapee's with mobility problems (knee replacement, etc) can come stay and recuperate. There is a dining room in the care center and both paid staff and volunteers

 who do cooking and cleaning.

Note the ramp access to the Class C.

The coaches under these roofs all have ramps for access.

These units are across the street from me, not part of the Care Center. Note the little "house" at the back, similar to the one in the photo of the Class C. If I brave enough I'd ask to look inside one. I  suspect they have bathrooms and a kitchenette in them.

Tomorrow I head to prison, to visit a cousin. I've never been to a prison before so it should be interesting. The prison is an hours drive north of the campground.

I just got off the phone with Kathy. She picked up the Flex this afternoon, after the $2,700 water pump replacement. Everything seems okay, except for the sharp pain I have on my left butt cheek, in the area of my wallet. 😀

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.