It's HOT

We got to the Lone Point Corps of Engineers Campground on Lake Shelbyville in IL on Sunday July 1. As can happen when you pick a campsite online, the one we had reserved was not a great site to park a motorhome. But the nice gatekeepers for the campground suggested several alternatives in case I didn't like the one we were going to (maybe they knew it wasn't going to work). So we wound up in a nice site close to the boat launch and near the front gate. And we got a more expensive site than the one we reserved and paid for without paying any extra cost (the U.S. government computer system couldn't figure out how to charge us for the upgrade). So we have a full hook-up site (water, electric and sewer connections) instead of only an electric connection.

A Bay on Lake Shelbyville at Lone Point COE Campground

 

Lake Shelbyville from Lone Point Campground

It's been an "interesting" week, one of those weeks where "interesting" is a way to say it has been a difficult week. First of all, it has been HOT! Most days this week in south central IL have been over 100 degrees. I sure am glad for a coach with two air conditioners! When we stayed inside, it was comfortable (even cold if we turned the temperature control too low). However, we didn't come here to sit inside an air conditioned coach. We came here to paddle our kayaks around in a large lake. We've gotten to do that twice by getting out early in the morning and staying out until the sun and heat got unbearable (or when the recreational boaters got too obnoxious). In the heat of the day, any effort outside produced drenching sweat.

The first couple of days of the week, however, were marred by the discovery Monday morning that the awning motor had burned out in the extended position. The switch appears to be defective and not cutting off when it is released (it is a spring-loaded switch and is supposed to return to neutral when released. It didn't. So first of all I called General RV in Huntley, IL, to see if they can get the coach in for service. I get to take it in on Saturday (day after tomorrow). The real challenge of the week, however, was retracting the extended power awning without any power being available to move it! Now keep in mind that this is an 18-foot awning that extends about eight feet from the side of the coach. It is heavy and it is about 9-10 feet high in the air. We do have a ladder with us. One ladder. Two would have been nice. We had to try to release the awning's frozen motor and then manually roll it up. Unfortunately the directions provided by the manufacturer did not work. At all. They said remove one specific screw and the awning could be rolled up. Uh uh. Nope. Not at all.

If you're going to be an RV'er, you have to develop some ingenuity. I'll admit that the mechanical side of things is not necessarily my strong point. John Clark (my father) could probably have solved the problem in a few minutes. He was that way, a born mechanic. Unfortunately his sons did not inherit that gene. So Mary and I tried various means of rolling the awning up. Finally, brute force accomplished the deed and we got the roller filled with awning to lock into place on the side of the coach. Except the screws that I needed to put back in place could not be reinstalled. The holes absolutely refused to line up. I did check with a local RV dealer. They could get to me in about two weeks. What we did was to fasten the arms of the awning to the frame on the side of the coach with zip ties so they wouldn't flop down on while we were driving. AND then we taped the end of the rolled up awning with duct tape to (hopefully) keep the air from unrolling it while we drive home on Friday and then to the dealer who will fix it on Saturday. We'll find out tomorrow if our jury rig will work. If it doesn't ... .