We're patiently waiting in the dealers lot

Here we sit, patiently waiting in the service shop's lot.   But we're living high on the hog by Sandy's standards.  We have electric, water and sewer connections.  So Sandy gets to cook with her convection oven.  That opens up a whole new world for meals.  So we're not complaining about that either.

We did keep busy today with housekeeping chores.  First on the list was getting our laundry done at a laundromat.  No big deal if you bring it (the laundry) along.   When we arrived at the laundry, Sandy asked, "where are the towels?"   She had rolled them into a roll in the bathroom and I had carried them forward in the motorhome, stopping to put my shoes on. The towels never made it to the car.   So I had to return to fetch the towels from the driver's seat.  Thankfully, it was only a mile one way and traffic wasn't too bad.

I've always thought of Avon Park as being a kind  of upscale area for snowbirds.  Well, we walked out of the first laundromat, a first for us.   The floor was dirty, water was leaking from some machines and even the machines were dirty on the outside.   So we found another laundromat only a half mile closer. It had a unique wall on two sides (just an iron grating).  It was a little better.  Sandy's big complaint was that one of the dryers had very little heat.  Also, I was surprised to see that the change machine was mounted in an iron framework on the outside of the building.

With the laundry done and our letters mailed,  our next task was to make ready to travel again.  So since we have plenty of good water available, we emptied our fresh water tank and refilled it.   So  now we're ready to leave if the rightful owner of this lot returns early.  (He is off site attending a "flywheelers' gathering" in the next town south.   Flywheelers are old steam engines and antique tractors.)

It was about 5:30 when the shop manager showed up and asked if they could take a look at our problem.  Obviously, we invited them in.   It was readily apparent to me that the mechanic that was along had worked on  HWH systems before.  A quick call to HWH in Iowa and a short discussion between the mechanic here and the service tech at HWH quickly identified what had to be done.  Unfortunately, we were stymied for the night because they need a brass cap from someone's tool box so that they can pull a hydraulic line.  With that line pulled and capped, they can point to the failed unit if certain things happen.  They'll finish that part of the job in the morning.

They left and I was assigned the task of unwinding the emergency mechanical retraction screws that pulled the slide in.  Sandy and I figured that it would take about 300 turns on each of two rods.  The retraction rods need to be released so that the hydraulic system can retract and extend the slide.  I have the needed tools and it just takes some time to make that many turns on the rod.

Let's just hope that tomorrow morning they decide that the bad item is a small valve, which HWH has in stock (they have already checked)   The next issue is getting it here.  Thankfully, our schedule for the next few days is very flexible.   Sandy likes the services here, so she is in no hurry to head back to the boonies.  

But we both are getting tired of living in a very confined space!  It is tight quarters!

Gene