We made it through another week of social distancing and mostly keeping to ourselves. I mentioned in my last post how Donna has been picking fruit here at Viewpoint Golf and RV Resort. Just about all of the sites have a citrus tree – mostly orange but also lemon and grapefruit trees. So many people left the park earlier in the season than usual, the fruit would have gone to waste. Donna asked on the park’s Facebook group if anyone would like her to pick the fruit on their trees. About half a dozen people responded with site numbers and gave her permission to pick as much as she wanted.
She picks more than we can use, so we put some on a table in front of our site and invite people to help themselves. Donna also posted a notice on the Viewpoint Facebook group – the fruit disappears quickly.
More people pulled out in the last week. The park now has more open sites than I’ve ever seen here. The north side of the 5100 row is completely empty and only two or three RVs are on the north side of the 5200 row – our row.
At this time of year, sites on the south side with the rig facing north are more desirable so direct sun isn’t coming through the windshield.
I’ve been spending a lot of time sitting in the shade of the coach reading books. One day, while sitting outside, I noticed an odor of propane. This happened before when we were in Bishop, California. At that time, I thought the smell originated at the pressure relief valve on our propane tank. I did a search on the Internet and found that this can happen if the tank pressure rises. The pressure rise may be normal if it’s due to high ambient temperatures or atmospheric changes. We had both when we were in Bishop, so I didn’t worry about it.
I wondered about it here though, because our tank was less than half full. The temperature is higher than what we’ve experienced for a while, but I didn’t think it would cause enough thermal expansion in a half-full tank to vent gas. When I noticed it again a couple of days later, I checked the tank level and knew we had a problem. We were down to less than a quarter tank and we hadn’t used propane for anything since we arrived here over three months ago. We only use propane when we’re dry camping or driving to run the refrigerator or maybe the hot water heater. So there was a leak.
Working on propane systems really isn’t my thing. It requires some equipment for leak detection. Sure, you can try the soapy water approach by spraying fittings or suspected leak areas with soapy water and watching for bubbles to form wherever it’s leaking. But then you have to have a way to pressure check the system after repair. Actually you apply a vacuum to the empty system and use a manometer to see if it holds vacuum. I didn’t want to do this myself – I didn’t want to buy stuff for what is probably a one-time repair. Plus, I don’t like messing with propane – I had a bad experience with a propane fire that went quickly out of control in the past, but’s a story for another time.
So I ended up calling around for mobile propane service. A few operations were shut down due to the pandemic, but I was able to get an appointment with 4-Points Mobile RV Service. They sent a guy out on Tuesday and he was able to find a leak at the pressure regulator diaphragm.
They had to order a replacement part. On Wednesday, they told me they would be here at 11am on Thursday to finish the repair.
This morning, Donna went out for a bike ride. She called me around 10:45am and told me she had run over something and had a flat tire. She was at Two-Wheel Jones bike shop and thought she would need to have a new tire put on. She didn’t have enough cash with her or her credit card to pay for it if that’s what they had to do. She said she would let me know if she needed a credit card.
Right about then, the 4-Points Mobile RV Service truck pulled up. The guy got to work right away. I called Donna back and told her I would bring her credit card to her while the work was being done on the coach so I could be back before he finished. I wanted to see the system test and I also had to pay the bill. I drove to Two-Wheel Jones and gave Donna her card, then returned. I got back just before he ran the system test.
He connected the manometer to the gas line at the refrigerator. It held vacuum for three minutes and passed the system integrity test. We’re back in business as soon as I can get the tank refilled with propane.
I have one dinner plate photo to share this week. It’s a bone-in chicken thigh Donna marinated in a something called pretty chicken marinade. I smoked the thighs on the Traeger wood pellet-fired smoker grill. Donna served it with sweet potato mash and green beans with a pat of butter.
Our plan is to pull out of here one week from today. The temperature hit 90 degrees yesterday and is forecast to reach the mid-90s today. The coming week shows upper 90s and low 100s. It’s time to get out of Dodge. Barring any unforeseen event, we’ll be in Springerville next Thursday afternoon where the temperature will be in the 70s to low 80s.
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