Both the RV and the Truck need some TLC

Trip Start Jun 01, 2011

Trip End Jul 31, 2011

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Where I stayed

Arizona Roadrunner

What I did

Fix RV and Truck

Flag of United States Tucson, Arizona
Monday, June 13, 2011

We took our time leaving Kartchner Caverns State Park to make our way to Tucson which would only take an hour. Tucson would be a little warmer since it is at a lower elevation than Kartchner (it was great on the gas mileage as I got over 13 mpg). We went straight to the RV shop at Arizona Roadrunner which is in the northern part of the city. It is a local place owned by the same people for over 40 years. Sometimes you have to take a chance on these places over the big chain places. I did call Camping World (the big chain place) several times but could not get a hold of them. So I'm going to try this place. Driving in it does look like a ramshackle of a place with RVs in all kinds of state of disrepair thrown all over the place. The good news is that these people bent over backwards for us. They put the RV right away in a bay and hooked us up to electricity, water, and cable TV so we could spend the night here if need be.

After hooking up and putting the AC on our Quique, we went to Costco to get another thing done to the truck – this time preventative

Arizona Roadrunner - our camp spot for 2 days

. We can get tour tires rotated for free here. The only problem was the place was crowded. It took them four hours to get us squared away. First, I had to get Pooh some food so we went to the Costco food court where she got a cheese pizza and I got a Chicken Cesar Salad. Good food for a low price. After lunch we went down every square inch of that place very slowly to pass the time. Got just a few items which was a miracle for us at a Costco – most things we like are in the freezer section and our RV freezer is not that big. Costco’s around the US are different in some ways. Here in Tucson they had some SW art for sale and a whole row of liquor for really cheap – too bad I already have enough in the RV. For the next two hours Pooh read and took a nap as I worked on the computer and watched the people of Tucson go by. After four hours our truck was good to go and it was back to the RV repair center.

The news was not good. The motor would need to be replaced. However, they had to ship it from Indiana which would take many days. I could overnight it but that might cost $300 – 2 day might cost $200 of which would not be covered by my insurance. This is becoming the "repair" trip – spending more money on repairs and replacements than on the actual trip. So it looks like we might be here almost a week in the shop. At least they let us stay here.

After chilling out for a few hours to let the hot Tucson weather die down a little we went out to eat at what is said to be the oldest Mexican restaurant in the US – El Charro Caf�. It was one of those moderately priced places with a really retro interior and a huge bar. For some reason Pooh got the wings – in an original Mexican restaurant. At least she did not have the burger. I had this really excellent Chimichanga with all the fixings. The windows of the restaurant opened up to the mountains on the east side of town and it was really nice to see the sunset against it. After a big and filling dinner we did the free wi-fi thing at Barns and Noble for a few hours. I did more blogging and Pooh watched Dexter. After our session there it was time to go back to Arizona Roadrunner to spend the night in a garage.

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