On July 1, we drove to Taos and moved into our temporary spot until after the July 4th weekend. The park had seen better days but we hoped it would work out. On July 3, we were able to move to our permanent spot. We noticed the power was very low, in fact, it was in the red section of our volt meter without turning on our water heater or refrigerator.
Our "permanent" site at Sierra Village. So pretty.
Alan went to talk to the park owner, Ken, and he sent a couple of guys to check out the electric pole. They worked around for awhile and then plugged us back in. The whole entertainment center popped, cracked and made terrible noises. They worked awhile longer and the same thing happened to the microwave this time. One more time and lots of terrible noises but I couldn't tell exactly where they came from. Come to find out, they had wired for 220 and then plugged us in three times. By the end of that day, more than half our electric outlets did not work, our microwave was fried and we still had power too low to turn on any appliances.
The park owner knew our problems were now his problem, so he called a mobile RV repairman to come out on July 4. Danny (the RV repairman) and his wife, Judy, arrived about 11:00 am. He was very nice and capable and after 8 hours of working plus two trips into Taos for parts, he had all our outlets working. There was no hope for the microwave, so he and Alan removed it and set it on the picnic table. We were really glad we were not paying Danny's bill.
Here is our bed after I had to unload the whole linen closet to find the outlet for a washer and dryer (if we had one put in). Just one part of the mess after a 8 hours of work by Danny
Where our microwave was, now just a big, empty hole.
Poor old microwave looking forlorn on the picnic table.
Before I go on, here are some fun pictures taken in this terribly underpowered RV park.
The pickup truck of our next door neighbors, Becky and Mitch, at Sierra Village. Where do you suppose they are from???
This is Peanut, a very fun dog belonging to JeanAnn and Mike, some nice folks we met from Houston.
Again, we were faced with trying to find a long-term place to stay on short notice. We found another park in Taos but they couldn't accommodate us until July 24, so we decided to head to Santa Fe NM until then. We moved to Santa Fe on July 8, arriving about 11:00 am. Ken and Betti Hendrickson arrived shortly after that. They have been very flexible - first planning to meet us in Creede then in Taos and finally here in Santa Fe.
In the early afternoon, we called Danny, the RV repairman, who lives near Santa Fe. He had generously offered to help us find a microwave (MW) that would fit in the space we had. He and Judy arrived about 2:30 and he and Alan took off to find us a microwave. (Was I extra brave letting them pick it out?) Judy and I stayed at the trailer and visited. Before long, we had loud thunder, lightning and one of the worst rain storms I have ever seen. Water was rushing down the street in front of us - it had to be several inches deep. I was able to lower one end of the awning so the water wouldn't pool in it, but I just don't have the strength or height to take it all the way down. Needless to say, the water was pouring off the awning too, and we even had some hail and quite a bit of wind.
Pretty soon, Danny and Alan arrived and backed under our awning to unload the new MW. Danny had literally backed up to the front door of Lowes so they could load it in the downpour. It is now about 4:00 and they start to install the MW.
You know how nothing ever seems to go right some days? Well - the installation template didn't match the new MW, the new template they made was a little off so holes had to be redrilled, the MW wouldn't slip in the space, so they had to remove the tank gauge panel, they got it up and working and the door wouldn't open, necessitating cutting a hole in the wall. On and on.
Meanwhile, I had planned to make dinner for Betti and Ken and then added Danny and Judy. It kept getting later and later and Danny and Alan were still working in our kitchen. Finally, I slipped the ground meat from the fridge and browned and seasoned the taco meat at Betti and Ken's house. I kept running next door telling them not to give up on us.
About this time, they figured the door wouldn't open. Cutting the hole in the wall was a major process - the walls of this trailer are very tough. By this time, Danny and Alan were getting really tired, too.
Finally, they were done but it was nearly 8:00. Alan and I did a fast clean up of counter space, trying to remove sawdust, pieces of wood, etc. I quickly put the taco salad together and we ate shortly after 8:00, only several hours after it was planned. We had a nice dinner and Betti and Ken brought rootbeer floats for dessert, a big hit. We can't thank them enough for being so patient that night.
We were exhausted and had quite a bit of cleanup left to do the next day, but here is our new MW. Alan and Danny did a great job of picking out a simple-to-use model, just like I wanted.
Ken, the Sierra Village owner, has been very fair and honest through this whole thing. He paid Danny's original bill that had to be several hundred dollars, refunded the remainder of our money for a month's stay and will be paying for the new MW. Looking back, we wish he had just said the very low power was all he had available and we could have decided whether to deal with it or not. Sigh. RVing is always an adventure.
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