A Trip to The Thing

Apparently we are not the only denizens of the RV park with electrical issues.  I took this picture Monday morning.  This was a golf cart that burned to the ground.

 

Even the steering wheel is gone.

 

Walking back to the RV, I noticed a cholla (type unknown) that is blooming.  I need to go back and see if any more of the buds have opened.  Look at the thorns, that is a vicious plant.

 

Ah yes, the electrical problems to which I alluded in my opening statement.  Ken got the parts installed yesterday for the awning.  It was a struggle.  Apparently Carefree of Colorado was implicated in attempting to steal another manufacturer's design for a wind sensor using an anemometer.  Due to their perfidy and malfeasance, they are now forced to use a motion sensor mounted out at the end of the awning support arm.  It's a stupid design, just stupid.  And, it does not work.  More parts are being over-nighted to us to attempt to fix this.  The awning goes in and out flawlessly, but it does not retract automatically if the wind comes up.  So, there will be more work to rectify this issue.

While Ken was here, he discovered why we are so hot.  Neither one of our air conditioning units was installed correctly.  The cold air return is supposed to take air from the inside of the coach and run it in to the air conditioner.  What is happening is that we're pulling air from the plenum that runs along the length of the roof, that would be extremely hot air being fed to the AC units.  Additionally, the front one is dying, it's venting coolant into the duct and will stop working soon.  So it must be replaced.
But wait!  There's more!  The inverter is dying.  It's not charging the batteries the way it should.  After Ken put it on the battery equalization setting for awhile, badness happened and it blew a fuse in the 12 volt system, knocking out the air conditioners.  Aaaarrrrrrrrgh.  It's always something.
It's very aggravating.  I get that things wear out and have to be replaced.  The RV is 6 years old, we have no idea how it was cared for or anything, but the AC installation is just shameful.  Monaco Beavers have a really good reputation for a quality build, which is one of the reasons we bought it.  This should not have passed QC.
We went out to see The Thing.  It's between Benson and Wilcox.  There are bill boards announcing its presence for miles.  I can only imagine a poor beleaguered parent being pestered by the kids wanting to stop and see it for a seeming eternity.

 

It's not all that expensive.  However, we did not pay the buck to go see it, because we did not want to leave the RV out in the sun getting hot.  Maybe next time.

 

We saw this on the way out.  There is a pickup truck on its side, that had been towing a travel trailer.  The tanker truck is also in the median.

Same accident on the way back.  This was the second accident we saw today on I10.   One always wonders how did this happen?  It's a clear day, no wind - what caused these people to depart the freeway with such disastrous consequences?

 

At this point, we have stopped making plans.  Apparently the universe will decide when we're leaving Tucson, and we have little or no say in the matter.  Resistance is futile.