I wanted a hotel night….
Hate to rank on a city, but uck!
When I called I asked if there was a hotel near them, they suggested LaQuinta Inn in Fowler, not quite the hotel I was hoping for, but it will be nice to have space and take a long shower! Though I have yet to enjoy a hotel night, I know this will be more difficult, as the van won’t be in the lot. That means packing all the food I will need, throwing out what went bad, packing clothes, toiletries etc and all my dirty laundry. I do not want to haul this into an uber with Lambert and all his necessary things as well. I get to the hotel at 10:30 and explain my situation, I d not care how many beds, or what floor… any room will do! The manager was very accommodating, so I proceeded to unload all my crap and head to Fresno’s Camping World.
RV service, or any auto service, generally
I arrive and meet my service advisor, who wants to walk thorugh the entire RV with me. They always want to do more than you need! I oblige and realize there are a few things that could be addressed. The screen door doesn’t close evenly and some of the lights inside are out. I am trying to get out of here as quickly as possible, he keeps trying to tell me all of the things they will check. Fine. Let’s sign it and move on. After more questions, paperwork and waiting I am finally able to leave. I ask if they can give me a lift and the answer is no. Okay, I call an Uber and head on my way; Lambert’s first Uber ride!
Back at the hotel to do laundry, take a long shower and relax. I receive a phone call from ‘service manager’. This is the first of many. They fixed the propane leak, it needed a new regulator, great. My gray tank lever is loose, should they replace it, fine. The screen door is partially fixed, okay. It will be ready at 11 am tomorrow, perfect. Another call from ‘SM’, there is an issue with my battery, should they look into the problem, of course. Call number 5?? I need new batteries, what? There have not been ANY issues with the batteries, check it out, I guess. He will be in touch in the morning, can’t wait.
Lambert and I head out to dinner, another Uber ride. I have to say, as much as Fres-no was a bust the Uber drivers were ALL really nice and chatty!
Day Two
9:05 am my ‘SM’ calls and wants to discuss the batteries again, they will give me a deal since they have done so much work already. Wait, I do not NEED batteries and my coach batteries are EXPENSIVE! Oh no, it’s the batteries that charge the coach batteries. (I have done my google research and brought my manuals into the hotel, so I know what he’s talking about, thankfully.) The two batteries are four years old and are due to be replaced anyway, so whatever it was they ‘saw’ should be fine now, IF I get new batteries, FINE. Will it still be ready by 11?, yes. Okay, I will see you then.
Car stuff, right? I leave the hotel at 11:45, hoping the extra hour will allow me to get there and GTFO. At 1:30 it’s ready. It’s 90 degrees, the van was left open and in the sun. Get me out of here! I run some errands in Fres-no, it’s awful, no shade trees in anywhere, very dirty, just yuck! Again, sorry Fres-no.
I have a stay reserved at Ridge Creek Dinuba Golf Course. It was lovely, happy hour on the patio, Lambert was happy and all was good. It felt a but weird sleeping in the parking lot, but the staff was so kind and I was exhausted. While Lambert and I are watch Midnight in Paris the inverter starts making a loud buzzing sound, so I shut it off, within seconds the whole coach shuts down – no power. I make sure the engine starts and it does, so I go to sleep – this is a tomorrow problem.
Day Three
The Fres-No Camping World is closed, it’s Satuday. They have Camping World hotline, so I call. They gook me up with a tech via phone and he tells me to go Bakersfield CW, the coach will charge as I drive. so we’re off! The service manager and the mechanic are really kind. It’s lunch time but the mechanic stays and checks out the battery. He finds that the one in the engine compartment is in backwards! GREAT! He needs to check and see how they will bill this, so he asks if I can come back after lunch, sure. I head out to lunch and do some errands, there is a Sprouts here AND shade trees to park the van! Woo Hoo Bakersfield!
I meet them back at CW and they first have to make sure the battery isn’t ruined and how they are going to bill his time to Fres-No! They sort it all out, the battery is still good and I am on my way. A friend of mine used to say ABL, Always Be Learning. I feel like I am learning something new every single day!
You have a lot more patience than I would have had!
HAHA!!
Wait, the Camping World in FresNO hooked up your chassis battery backwards??? Like, negative wire to positive terminal and positive wire to negative terminal? Good gawd—you’re lucky it didn’t damage ruin your battery and damage a lot of your electronics.
Yes. It was crazy. I realized about a week ago that the inverter for the TV is broken (likely fried, as that is what buzzed and shut off before the whole coach shut down). So I will go to another Camping World soon and hope to get that replaced. I should probably have them check out anything else that could have been affected too!