Where Have All the Hours Gone? - Wed., July 17

Wednesday morning Bob headed to work from Camping World. I got up and started writing my blog for the past couple of days.

I had no idea when they intended to start the kitchen faucet repairs. As I was writing, someone opened the door of the 5er without knocking. It was one of the service writers looking for the repairman. I jumped up from the table and said, "Hello!" She was taken aback that someone was in here. The cats, of course, had to see who it was. I had to make sure they didn't escape.

She apologized for just walking in. No problem, just don't let the cats out.

At that point, I gathered up the cats and we went in the car. I also had the temporary kitty litter box which was still in from yesterday. That was 10:30 a.m. Make note of that, it's important.

Yesterday afternoon the refrigerator repairman reset the motherboard. They put a digital thermometer in the refrigerator to see if it was cooling. By this morning, the thermometer was down to 37 degrees. Yay!

The remaining repair was to replace the leaking kitchen faucet. It was so bad they told us we needed a new one.

The cats and I went to Naegelin's bakery where I purchased awesome pastries for Bob and I. The cats were in their carriers, but were protesting. We headed back to Camping World's parking lot where I let them out of their carriers to roam the car. Both of them wanted to be in my lap ... at the same time. Sunnie parked himself on my shoulder and Bowie curled up in my lap. We waited.

The first entertainment of the day was to watch the United Rentals guy put a scissor lift on the semi flat bed trailer.

He took it this far.

Then he used a lift already on his trailer to pull up the little one.

Bowie finally settling down.

At 1:00 p.m. I wanted to see how the repairs were progressing so we drove to where the 5er was parked. No one was working in our rig, but the kitchen faucet had been removed. So, no good to go back in the 5er yet.

The kitty crew and I headed down the road to Whataburger (it's really close) where I bought a hamburger for lunch. Then we went back to the Camping World parking lot. We waited. (You see how my day is going?)

Weather-wise we had massive thunderheads and black sky to the east. I could sit in the parking lot and watch the storms roll in. Three or four times today we sat in the car and watched downpours outside. That was more of our entertainment for the day.

One of the thunderstorms (taken through the wet windshield).

All the black clouds and rain meant the day was not hot. Between storms I could crack the car windows and let the kitties sniff. When the sun did come out for a little bit, the A/C cooled us down quickly.

[Something we learned yesterday: The Camping World in New Braunfels, Texas, has the busiest RV service department in the United States. We can sure believe it. This place is a buzzing beehive of activity. Wow!]

At 2:00 p.m., I started calling the service center for updates. The repair would be covered by our Good Sam Extended Service Plan; however, the kitchen faucet for our unit was obsolete. That meant they had to find something similar. The first faucet they put in was too tall and hit our spice rack. Nope, that wouldn't work.

At 3:00, I drove back over to the 5er to see what progress was being made. I just happened to wander up when the repairman was telling a go-fer that he needed to find a faucet that swiveled and had a sprayer on it. They told me they should be able to find one.

"Could we return to the 5er and wait?" I asked. He said we could but the water to the rig was turned off so they could work on the faucet. The kitties hadn't had any water or food all day. I grabbed a bowl and we headed back to the customer parking lot. I left the windows cracked and went in to get water from the drinking fountain for the kitties. Back in the car, we waited. The rain pounded on the roof of the car and I finally took a nap, as did the cats. I slept about 45 minutes.

At 4:00 p.m., I called the Service Desk to talk to our agent about when we could go back in the 5er. The cats and I were bored and stir crazy. We had been in the car for 5½ hours at that point. I was told they found the part, but had to drive to San Antonio to get it. They were installing it as we spoke and the 5er should be ready in (at most) ½ hour. The Service Desk closed, technically, at 5:00 p.m.  Bob called at 4:15 p.m. to say he was on his way from work to provide moral support and to hook up the 5th wheel when it was finished.

At 4:30 p.m. I was back at the 5er and saw the technician. He told me the faucet was installed and he was checking for leaks. The cats and I waited in the car.

At 4:50 p.m., I went to the Service Desk to pay. Thankfully, our Extended Service Plan covered the faucet and install. Because we had the work done at Camping World, our deductible was $50. There was no charge for resetting the motherboard. So our total cost for parts and labor was $50 (plus our drive time, gas, and my time sitting around waiting). We were at Camping World from 2:30 p.m. Tuesday to 5:15 p.m. Wednesday. Today, the cats and I spent 6½ hours in the car. Ugh! I don't want to do that again.

As soon as the paperwork was taken care of, Bob hooked up the 5er and we made our way back to Traveler's World in San Antonio.

Tonight, we went to dinner at Zio's Italian Kitchen, I wrote my blogs, and next I am going to get some sleep. All that waiting and time in the car with the cats wore me out! P.S. The cats are worn out too. They didn't wake us up at all last night and ever since we've been home tonight they're zonked out. I doubt they'll wake us up tonight either.

Travel Bug saying, "Nighty night."