Stop #46: I got a call on Tuesday saying that the Jeep will “tentatively be ready on Friday.” So I said I would “tentatively be in Forth Worth on Friday.” The issue was that they were waiting on ONE last part and there apparently was ONE at a shop in Austin and then there weren’t ANY others…anywhere. So basically, they had to beg for that part in Austin, which had been ordered for another car, have it transported up, paint it, and have it put on. If they couldn’t get that part, I was basically screwed. They had no idea when they would be able to get it. They would apparently have to ask Chrysler to make it special. From my understanding, that can take a VERY long time (2-3 months). To say I was nervous, was an understatement. What do you mean there is only ONE in the world???? How is that possible??? What was the part, you ask? The grill. Yes, the honeycomb grill. Really??
Luckily, when I called on Wednesday they let me know that they were able to get the part from Austin. Phew! I took off early on Thursday and drove straight through from New Orleans to Fort Worth. I got in Thursday night, got up Friday morning and drove right over to the shop. Figured perhaps my actual presence might put a little extra pressure on them. The guy I have been in contact with there brought me right back to see it and it looked great!! He told me that they had a few last spots to buff out and then he wanted to take it for a spin to make sure he was comfortable with me driving it back across the country. Not sure why he hadn’t done that a week earlier when he called and told me the car was running on its own and they were just waiting on a few last parts. But hey…glad he’s checking.
While I waited for the call that the Jeep could be picked up, I decided to go get the camper ready. I had left it for three weeks, so I was a little nervous what I might find. I made a couple of decisions when I left it that in hindsight weren’t the best:
- I left a Fantastic Fan open. My rationale was that it would get pretty hot in there, and they shut automatically when it rains (I’ve seen it in action and it really works), so thought it be best to have some ventilation in there with the Texas heat. The solar panels should keep the batteries charged if that’s all that would be running off of the battery power. I shut everything else off.
- I left the fridge on with the propane tanks to power it. Two 30lb propane tanks with only the fridge running off it I thought should last. There wasn’t much in there, but I was afraid the fridge would get moldy if I didn’t leave it on.
Well, this ALL backfired. The batteries were completely drained when I arrived. This led me to believe that the solar panels were not working or not charging the batteries for some reason. Great. It had been raining since late the night before and because the batteries were dead, the fan didn’t close. The fan is directly above my bed, so the comforter, sheets and one side of the surface of the mattress were soaked. Fantastic. I stripped the bed and took the mattress off because the wood under the mattress was wet on one half too. Dad suggested I turn on the heat in the camper to dry everything out. So I propped the mattress up on some bowls in the kitchen area, right in front of the heater and left the board open to the air. 
Everything dried out in the couple of hours I was there organizing and cleaning. Luckily it was cool and rainy that day so having the heat on wasn’t agonizing. Crisis averted.
The propane tanks didn’t work to keep the fridge going for some reason. Fantastic. I’m not sure if this is because the batteries completely died and therefore the gas shuts off as a safety precaution or if the tanks were empty. The gauge that shows whether the tanks are empty or not was no longer working when I arrived. Awesome. As a result of the fridge being off, everything on the inside of the fridge was covered in black fuzz and specks. Luckily there wasn’t much in the way of food in there, but everything that was in there got tossed and I bleached the whole inside of the fridge. Fun fun fun. I was able to get everything cleaned up, organized and ready for setting out whenever the Jeep was ready to be picked up.
I finally got the call at 5:30pm to come pick it up. I went and returned the rental car. I had driven 3,614 miles in the three weeks I had the rental: Dallas, TX – Hot Springs Village, AR – Memphis, TN – Nashville, TN – Knoxville, TN – Asheville, NC – Myrtle Beach, SC – Charleston, SC – Savannah, GA – Sarasota, FL – Tallahassee, FL – New Orleans, LA – Fort Worth, TX…WOW!!!
Due to not getting the Jeep back until late, I decided to set out on the trek home on Saturday morning. I spent the night finalizing the path and stops.
In the morning, we drove (CAREFULLY) to go pick up the camper. The last thing I always do before taking off is pick up the wheel chocks. I have this phobia (that Mike got annoyed with when he was visiting because clearly he had wheel chock duty) that there will be “hitchhikers” in the bottom of the chocks when I pick them up. So I always make sure to check them to make sure there aren’t spiders, toads, snakes, etc. (a.k.a hitchhikers) on the inside of the chocks before throwing them in the camper. HOLY CRAP!!! My phobia was realized!!! There was a huge black spider in there with eggs and a nest and thick web all on the inside of one of the chocks. I drop kicked the thing and left it behind. I’ll get more on the way to Arkansas. Couldn’t deal with any of that after everything else. No thanks spidey…not up for the fight.
Next stop, Arkansas!
Lesson of the Day: Don’t bank on solar panels and propane. Bummer.
Oh and your phobias might not be as unrealistic as you or others may think.
L&K Take America 