We had been retired for a couple years and had a yearning to own a recreational vehicle (RV) to see the country. I came across an advertisement listing a 1978 motorhome, almost 30 years old. Arlene and I decided to take a look at it. We looked, we bought. That seems to be a failing of ours.
We attended a presentation on timeshare vacation resorts. We looked, we bought. We attended a presentation on RV vacation sites. We looked, we bought. We attended a presentation on discount purchasing membership. We looked, we bought. There seems to be a trend here. Perhaps we should not attend any more presentations. But I digress.
We bought the motorhome, knowing that it was a fixer-upper, but the price was within our means. We just didn't know how much fixing was going to be required. We soon found that the refrigerator and the air conditioner did not work. Next time check them out before we buy. I am a pretty good handyman, so I began fixing things I found in need.
I plugged the motorhome into our home electrical system. Lights worked, water pump worked, water heater worked in electrical mode, refrigerator immediately popped the circuit breaker. Reset the circuit breaker. Air conditioner blew cool air, but not cool enough. The gas stove worked, furnace worked, water heater worked in gas mode. But I could smell propane.
I drove to an RV repair shop and had them check the electrical system and the propane system. They fixed a small gas leak and pronounced the electrical system A-OK. They serviced the engine and pronounced the rig road-worthy.
I then decided to remove the refrigerator. I removed all gas and electrical connections and mounting screws. I looked around and saw that the refrigerator had to be lifted over a kitchen counter. No way I could handle that alone. I also measured the width of the refrigerator and the outside door width. The refrigerator was about an inch wider than the door opening. That meant I had to recruit someone to help lift it over the counter and I had to remove the door frame. Would I have to widen the opening? It turned out that the refrigerator and the raw door opening were exactly the same width.
Before I bore you too much, I'll continue this story later.
