I am a week and a half weeks of living out of a tent, minus two nights that I sprung for a firm mattress.

Sylvia went into the shop finally for the collision repair on August, Monday the 7th.

The shop and I had the hopes that this would be completed in a week. It has been longer, because I pointed out another concern.

Over the July trip north to Montana, I noticed a wire hanging off the bottom of the rig. I was so nervous that it was my emergency brake wire, so I pulled off to an RV dealer to take a quick look.

He off-handedly said a few things: after seeing my collision, he mused, “Oh, insurance didn’t total this?” (Yikes! Thank goodness they didn’t. No frames were damaged) He did say that the wire wasn’t the emergency brake wire. Looking at the front of the rig, he saw a big red wire that was totally fried and burn; he tested it and it was not live, so that’s a plus.

I got back on the road with some relief and more confusion.

Back to the shop… I got a call on Friday, 5 days of work down, that the wire was from the my rooftop solar unit, and that I need a controller, which not having one caused the wires to fry.

Whaaa???

When I made the purchase, I said that I wanted solar, and was given two prices: one for rooftop and one for portable solar. The portable was $500 cheaper than the rooftop at $700. This included two batteries. Nothing was ever mentioned about a controller. Nothing was also never mentioned about an inverter, which I also found out that I would need if I ever wanted to use my outlets while boondocking.

So… guys, there’s solar on my roof.

I about hit “the roof.” I was sold equipment when there was already equipment on the unit, and because of a component that was left off in the original install it caused a wire to burn… a potentially major hazard.

Monday morning, a week after I dropped her off, I happened to be passing Lazy Days on the way to work, so I stopped in. I needed a few more fresh clothes and and supplies for making work. I got the keys and she looked so fabulous with the damage repaired. I walked in and had that wonderful “There’s no place like home” feeling wash over me.

I checked in with my service rep and then waited to chat with a sales manager about my issues. At this time, they will be taking care of all the labor for re-hooking the wires, adding in a controller (not sure who will pay for said unit as of yet), and hooking up my rooftop solar unit, which I am told is a unit that doesn’t put out much power. I opted against getting an inverter, as I was told it would be $1200. I find that hard to believe, but hard pass on that amount.

Thursday afternoon, I went to pick her up.

She was lovely, but noticed that what I call a fender, but a part they call a radius, (but circles involved) at the front of the unit was missed. She’ll go back again on Wednesday.

The solar seems to be in working order, and I also had an outlet installed. So far so good there. I also timed the arrival of my new DVD player so I wouldn’t have to make a separate trip. I keep wondering what the damn warranty I purchased will cover – not the DVD player.

It was a joy being back in my home, after picking her up, we went north to Cheyenne, hoping for good foot traffic at the Cheyenne Arts Festival, as people make their way north to Casper for viewing the solar eclipse on Monday. I’ll be headed south that morning as it is the first day of classes.

Here’s to a new schedule, and being close to Denver for the next 17 weeks. I will be popping to Estes Park a couple times, and down to Monument, but hoping to stay in one place for a little longer stretches.