Fourth day - repairs needed: Day 864 (Yr 3, Day 131)

Independence, MO

Home of Harry S. and Bess Truman.

The drive was, thankfully, once again uneventful.  Since we went 50 miles farther yesterday, our trip today was only about 140 miles and only took about 2 1/2 hours.  We left Rock Port at 8:00 and arrived in Independence at 10:30.  Unfortunately, since we arrived earlier than check out time, the pull thru spot we wanted was still occupied, so we had to take a back-in.  One of the owners helped guide us in, though, so it only took about 15 minutes.

This is not one of the nicer campgrounds and I would not stay here again.  It is very crowded space-wise, hard to maneuver around, and is about a block from a very busy train track, with loud train whistles about every 10 minutes, all day and night.  And another place with non-stop barking dogs.  I did find, however, that most of the people here are very nice and friendly.  It was a mostly sunny day, around 70 degrees, so a lot of people were outside of their campers.  There isn't a lot of scenery to look at or places to walk.

Now, about the repair... last night, about 8:00, our electricity went out.  (Mitch admitted that he was having some problems getting it to start the last few days), but this time it went out and stayed out.  We called ahead to the campground we'd be staying at to learn if they knew of any RV mobile techs.  Very fortunately, there's a big and highly recommended and reputable company that works out here!  We called them and explained the problem and they agreed to meet us when we arrived (they actually ran a bit late and didn't show up until 3:00).  Turned out there were some loose wires in the cable which caused it to burn out, so the plug part needs to be replaced (something an electrician or RV tech needs to do -- not a DIY project, at least not for us).  They didn't have the part in stock, but promised to return tonight (didn't happen) or tomorrow morning.  While they were here, we also had them look at the hot water heater because it was still making a humming noise and I wasn't confident that the other person diagnosed it properly (since he never even looked at the unit and just said "you have hot water so nothing's wrong with it).  Turns out that, like many of my online peers suggested, it was a bad check valve.  Again, they didn't have the part and will need to return to replace it.  We couldn't have been more fortunate to have found some great techs (note: this is all covered under our warranty, including the onsite service call, although since the plug is a consumable, that may not be).

For a change, we're not in the middle of nowhere. We took a ride out to the local supermarket (Aldi).  It seems to be a very old, run down looking town, although there's a historical district and town square, which we haven't seen, so I can't draw my conclusions based on just this small area.  But this small area is kind of a dump.  But there are buildings and stores -- we're not surrounded by empty farmland!  Kansas City is also just a few miles away, and that's a very large city.  I'm told that driving there is like driving in NYC, so I think we'll stay away.

I'm hoping that tomorrow afternoon maybe we can pull away for a few hours and visit the Truman Library or his home but we have to play that by ear. I have 2 conference calls tomorrow; the last one being at 12:30 to 1:30, so that's the earliest I can leave.  Plus we have to prepare for Shabbat, which means cooking and baking.  Plus we don't know when the RV techs are coming back.  I really hope in the morning, or at least before my last call is over, but if not, then that will hinder plans as well.