CanYouFind.Us

That’s how it has seemed for us lately! We came home from a long day of work in LA, and noticed a puddle under the RV. These do happen on occasion for various reasons ie; leaky hoses, AC condensate, surrounding sprinklers. Since we had the awning out, a lot of these weren’t very likely. This spot is one that we typically see AC runoff, but the awning should have been pushing that out another 8 feet. Turns out-our water heater was leaking. I put some silicone tape around the plug, then a bit of electrical tape, and we called it a night. We woke up to neighbors knocking on the trailer to wake us up. First of all, I don’t take too kindly to this, especially before noon. When we are working nights, I really don’t like to be up early. It turns out, they had a very valid reason to wake us-the nylon drain plug had burst open and was pouring water right out the side of the trailer. Just as fast as the water lines could get water to the tank, it came right back out. Now THAT is a way to start the day!

We took off to a local trailer store and asked for a new plug. He suggested we upgrade to an anode plug that would go in instead. Hopefully someone reading this is as novice to RV’s as we are, and they can learn something here as well. It turns out that this rod actually works to combat the minerals in the water tank, and give you cleaner water. Unfortunately, it cost us $20 and I have no idea how long it will last. Either way, after the hour it took to remove the burst nylon plug, this went in effortlessly, and not a drip has leaked out since.

Not a drip, from the water heater that is.

A few days later we moved up the road to the San Jose area. I can tell you that the drive was nothing short of amazing. We left late at night and spent most of it driving to black skies. Come morning, we were lucky enough to be driving through the San Luis State Park. I still regret that I didn’t have time to pull over, but we were already at the point of only getting 3 hours sleep before work. Driving through the park was like driving through the hills of England. Soft rolling hills were everywhere, and the giant State Reservoir sat in between them still and calm. Every twist and turn, and every hilltop, gave you a new view that was absolutely jaw dropping. I promise, we will be going back to get a few pictures of this beautiful area.

Two days after we parked in San Jose, we noticed a puddle of water in the bathroom. Do we really need more water leaks? Apparently we do. There happened to be, 2 leaky water pipes under our bathroom sink. We made a quick run out to Lowes and picked up a set of ‘push to connect, self sealing connectors’. These were garbage. Totally worthless, and a giant waste of time. We had the pipes cut smooth and square. I seated the connections just as the manual directed, and we fired up the water connection. Water went EVERYWHERE. Each connecting point became a geyser aimed right at my face-and it was hard to run when lying on my belly on the floor. At that point, we removed all the new parts, and went to Home Depot. The big orange might be a bit harder to navigate at times, but we did manage to find the Shark Bite connectors that I had in mind. We picked these up and went back home. Finally, we have water in the trailer again. The new pieces did the job they described, and sealed everything perfectly.

I also managed to get a bit of silicone tape on the shower drain valves, so now we aren’t leaking outside at that point either. Of course, as soon as all these repairs were made, the water pressure regulator on our hose…broke. So I’m still leaking-but at least this one is outside and only affects us by lowering the pressure when we first open up a line. This RV is starting to turn into an episode of ‘This Old House!”

This weekend we were able to join a group of LA area cigar smokers at a local bar for a few drinks and a few cigars. The day turned out much better then we could have possible expected! The chosen meeting place was called Sagebrush Cantina. It’s location is quite interesting for a cigar smoker. Literally across the street, you will get a ticket and a fine for trying to have a smoke. Walking into Sagebrush, and you are embraced. Well, almost embraced. After we valeted the beast of a truck, we were quickly stopped by security showing great concern for my cigar case. Apparently, it looks like a handgun case! Sagebrush is known for being ‘biker friendly’ so maybe he thought I was a clean cut, gun totter? In any event, he was very polite about it (although, I guess I would be as well, if I was confronting someone about a gun) and just asked if there were cigars in the case. I confirmed and offered to show him the inside, but he declined and explained his concerns.

We went inside, found the group, and commenced in having a great day. The LA group provided a ton of laughs, and never ending conversation. We went through several rounds of drinks, a mound of cigars, and even managed to meet a celebrity or two! After the music died down and we left the Sagebrush, we headed out for oysters and mussels. While it was definitely a new experience for both Karen and I, it’s also one we don’t plan to do again. Ever. For the sake of our readers-I will let that subject drop right there.

Here are a few pictures we took at the Cantina, enjoy!