The Summer of ’14 – Phase One

The summer of ’14 started pretty much after we got back from Mule Days, which was a story in itself! On the way home, the “LOW WATER” alarm light came on. We had blown the water pump! After a HUGE hassle with Good Sam about getting us a tow truck, we FINALLY got one and were towed to Temecula Valley RV where we just left it. We didn’t have a tow car with us, having just purchased a 45-50 Mpg Prius V computer-on-wheels (non-towable), so we called Alisa who came up from Lakeside to save us. Since this was the Memorial Day weekend, we had to wait until Tuesday to call them and tell them that the motorhome at their service entrance was ours. We made arrangements to get it fixed and then went on with our lives.

We went back to Temecula RV on the 11^th, paid them the $800 and change we owed them and headed for the storage yard. We got as far as almost to Miramar Road and the motorhome engine started “bucking” and decided to lose power and quit. I deftly threw on the four-way emergency flashers and coasted to a stop in the area between the freeway and the Carrol Canyon Road offramp.

After another EXTRA-LARGE, DOUBLE-HUGE fight with Good Sam about tow trucks that took somewhere around six hours of sitting on the freeway, Claudia got REALLY pissed and TOLD a Good Sam supervisor that we were through with them playing around. She told them to call the CHP and have them dispatch a big rig (tow truck) and that THEY, Good Sam, would be paying for it. They did…and we soon had help. We were then towed to San Diego Freightliner for what we thought were plugged fuel filters. We got home at 1:30 in the morning! I had a fishing job at 5:00 am, so it was a VERY short night for me.

Freightliner called me on Saturday and confirmed the diagnosis as plugged fuel filters. We made arrangements to pick it up on Monday. That bill was (only) $300 and change! We made it to the storage yard in Santee without  further incident.

We then headed for our monthly RV club campout on Friday and came home on Sunday for a MAJOR cleaning and rearranging of equipment. We got “Godzilla” all cleaned and straightened up and ready for our next project, a three-month “job” as Camp Hosts at San Elijo State Beach. This will be our third stint as Camp Hosts there. I moved “Godzilla” down to an administrative (free) site for a few days until our regular Camp Host site opened up. We probably got the worst site in the campground! We had to sit right at the cliff edge and watch the waves and surfers and girls in bikinis and porpoise and ocean all day long! It was tough!

Claudia left me on Thursday to head for Vancouver, BC with Erron to go on an Alaskan cruise with Jacque, Jeff and Kyndi. I had to stay home to take care of the animals and work! She will return on the Fourth of July.

I moved the rig over to our permanent site on Saturday and got it pretty much set up for the duration. I then went back to the condo and got a pickup truck load of additional “stuff” we needed, like my rifle, shotgun, ammunition, camouflage clothing, predator calling equipment, hunting boots, radio-controlled helicopter, boogie boards and fins…the stuff I really need for the summer. Most of this got put in the now-empty bays of the motorhome. I am now ready for summer to begin…I think! 

Front yard

Back yard

The Fourth of July is here! Much to my happiness, almost all of the campers have been in the park for the past week. There have been very few check-ins. I only had three yesterday. Everyone has been asking about a parade today. Normally(?), the rangers set it up, but today the Camp Hosts did it. We got all set up at the store and started the trek around the campground promptly at 10:00. We had kids on bikes, kids on skateboards, kids walking, kids being carried, kids wondering what the heck was going on, and dogs all decorated up in their finest holiday creations. Dan and Shari, our Camp Host partners, led the parade and Gizmo and I brought up the rear. We probably had around 75 “entries” and a few “support entries”. It was fun. I had my camera, but never could get a picture. Sorry! The rest of the time before my shift starts will be taken up with cleaning the motorhome, changing the sheets on the bed and getting rid of any evidence of mischief. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to replace the two half-gallons of ice cream I ate. Actually, each carton was slightly depleted before Claudia left, but it’s all gone now! I will have to take the heat on this one. Everything else has been covered up…I think!