Friday, April 01, 2016

#WYFF - God's April Fool's Day Joke

Today is a travel day. We have a "quick jaunt" to Eugene and will celebrate at Bre and Bella's baby shower.  Michael's Parkinson's meds has turned him into a morning person. Go figure....blessings in disguise and all that. I enjoy our mornings before the kids wake up. ::snort::

This morning we got up early and set about breaking camp. Remembering the blown van tire on the last travel day, Michael set Nolan the task of checking air pressure and filling tires. We ARE careful travelers.


We laughed and talked about how fun it would be to arrive in Eugene....stopped in Grants Pass and turned in the van repair estimates.  How did we miss there was a Baskin and Robbins right across from Les Schwab? I guess we were focused on tires and lunches when here a couple of days ago.  The kids all had gift cards to Baskin and Robins from volunteering at the chapel, and so we hopped over for a treat while Michael took care of the automotive details.
Our first #WYFF photo for the day
We left Grants Pass in high spirits. We thought we'd arrive between 12:30 - 1:00 p.m.  I had just turned to Michael and said, "We'll be in Eugene in two hours," when we heard a loud pop...which kept up. We thought maybe a fan belt had broken. Michael pulled off...the best spot we could find. On our left was two lanes of I-5 and to our right was an on ramp to I-5. The kids found the timing of the breakdown, right after I said we'd be there in 2 hours, hilarious. Alex said it was, "God's April Fool's Day" joke on us.

"Did you check the blinker fluid?" 

It's not the fan belt, the 3 visible spark plugs on each side seem o.k. 

We thought we'd drive into Canyonville, OR - the nearest town, but it sounded HORRIBLE, and the check engine light came on when we started the engine. The code reader told Michael, "Ignition coil J Primary and Secondary." We called a shop and were told they'd be able to see us next Thursday or Friday. We called our insurance company, and they began arranging two tow trucks to meet us while we kept investigating where to be towed TO...the nearest RV park was an easy call for the trailer. RV Parky (a great app) told me Seven Feathers was closest, and the price was surprisingly cheap. They have a few spots they reserve for "emergencies" and booked us into a spot for a week - just in case. 



Michael found Bill's Auto was coming to tow us, AND they could fix it...turns out we were the second v10 engine with this problem TODAY. It's a design fault - which often shows up after a tune-up. If the spark plugs are cranked too tight - they blow the spark plug and coil right out of the engine block.

Seven Feathers RV Resort is the nicest RV park we've stayed at to date (review to follow).  Bill's Auto called, and they had the van done!Michael picked it up.

While Stacia and I were disappointed to miss Bre and Bella's shower, we enjoyed a night in the pool and hot tub....we'll think about the rest of the trip in the morning. 


#WYFF (Where's Your Feet Friday) is sponsored by Fulltime Families. View more of our Friday exploits by clicking the #WYFF tab above.