RV AND TRUCK INSPECTIONS (BOB'S DAY FROM HELL)

Currently in Amarillo TX (Low 60 A Morning Thunderstorm in The Area Currently 65)
Heading to Santa Rosa NM (Currently 50 Times of Cloud and Sun High 79) 

As fulltime RVers residing in the great state of Texas we sometimes are out of state when we renew our registrations for the Lifestyle and Ford F-350. Safety inspections are part of the registration renewal which we have to complete shortly after reentering the state.

We pulled the Lifestyle and truck into the inspection place in Amarillo yesterday morning. We stayed hooked up and the Lifestyle was inspected with no problems. We unhooked and moved to the truck. The first glimmer of Bob's day from hell starts here. The insurance card Bob had in his wallet did not have an expiration date so Bob called the insurance office and had them fax the information. The fax machine received the first fax signal and died during printing. A second phone call with the same results. A third phone call and an email was sent which thankfully worked.

The truck failed the inspection, bad emergency brake, which the shop we were at couldn't fix until next week. Called the nearest Ford dealership who could get us in at 1:30 p.m. So we went back to the RV park and unhooked and setup the Lifestyle for one more night in Amarillo and had lunch.

Bob was so anxious to get this fixed he gets there 10 minutes early and they take the truck right away which are all good signs so far. Then the hammer drops. A seal is leaking onto the emergency brake pads so no friction and the pads are kinda thin might as well replace them since everything all tore out. Oh and the pads on the truck brakes are also kinda thin and might as well replace those too. Service tech said almost getting a free brake job since all the labor is going into getting to the seals. Brakes are kinda important so Bob says go ahead. The bad news is their time estimate is between 5 and 5:30 p.m. which is after the first inspection places closes and they are not open on Saturday morning.

Bob's day from hell continues with having to pay for the inspection twice. Not planning on 4 plus hours in the service lounge cellphone battery gets dangerously low. Luckily we have a mobile powerstation so Bob retrieved that from the truck but that one also ran down leaving Bob without any connectivity for about an hour.

5p came and the only update Bob could get was that the seal on the both sides were bad. 530p came and was told they were wrapping it up. Bob is now a little worried since they close at 6p.

The time on the credit card receipt was exactly 6p but now the day goes from bad to worse. Bob checks the emergency brake as soon as he gets into the truck and still not working. Luckily the service adviser was still there and showed it to him. Although the place does work on Saturday mornings they are swamped and have the JV brake guy so he wouldn't be much help plus we would probably be there 2-4 hours putting our trip to Santa Rosa today in jeopardy. 

Bob inquired about getting it fixed down the road and the service adviser said to have the Ford service place call him. So after 5 hours the problem brought to the shop still was not fixed although the truck passed inspection.

But the day still has some spunk left in it. Bob tries calling Jo and gets the "this number is no longer in service" message not once but twice, but he can text her so go figure. The GPS on his phone also wasn't working so he navigated to the restaurant by memory. Then after getting diesel then supper takeout and heading back he gets a phone call that when he checks the voicemail later says that Furnace Creek won't be having full hookup sites in Death Valley this fall as they have had electrical problems. Dry camping sites are available but as our loyal readers know, we don't do dry camping. So it looks like Death Valley may be off our list for this year.

Bob has called the service department at an Albuquerque Ford dealership and they are supposed to call back. We leave today for Santa Rosa New Mexico getting ever closer to our visit at the International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque and the fun time dealing with the emergency brake.

Sorry no pictures but days from hell don't deserve pictures except for this is what greeted Jo when Bob got home.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo