GOOD NEWS!!!

I was wrong about the slide out motor. (And so was the first mechanic.) The darn thing was not 100% certifiably dead after all.

After a very restless night trying to sleep in somewhat cramped and very noisy quarters--the KOA in Rawlins is located at an exit from I-80 and jake-brakes on the semis coming off the highway make one hell of a racket--we got up early this morning and were on the road by 6:45 AM--along with three or four other couples camping next to us.

We drove for a couple of hours and then stopped just short of Laramie, WY to gas up and make some phone calls to possible suppliers of electric motors. I reached two and both said they didn't have the part in stock and it would take close to a week to get it. A third got me voice mail only.

Undeterred, we drove on to Ft. Collins via US 287. There we began to hit a couple of RV centers. The first had almost no parking and informed us that he too did not have the part in stock. I carefully backed out and returned to the highway.

The second, RV America at Johnson Corners was an immense place. There, the parts clerk checked his computers and found that he didn't have the part either, but he asked to take a look at it anyway so I lugged the motor in from the truck. He walked over to the battery display and put the motor's wires to the terminals and...IT'S ALIVE!!! The bloody motor turned! Why it didn't do that when still connected to the trailer, neither the clerk nor I had a clue. Then the clerk said something strange. He said that he could "feel" that the motor was pulling too many amps because his fingers (the ones holding the wires on the terminals) were getting warm. While he couldn't help us, he did suggest a place over in Loveland on State Highway 402 that deals in lots of Fleetwood products. It was in the opposite direction from which we were traveling but it was just five miles or so away so--what the hey!--off we went.

Loveland RV Service isn't the biggest or fanciest RV place around, but it was easy enough to find being just 4 miles east of I-25 on SR 402. The woman behind the counter listened to my story and then suggested that Nate, the head serviceman, might be better able to assist. He came out noted that the motor was a PowerGear and stated to tell me about his problems with the company! Great, I thought, this thing will never get fixed until we are home. Unwilling to let it go, however, Nate called out Nick, his coworker who, like his "boss" was only in his mid to late 20s but "he's had experience with these kinds of things on the Prowlers." (Prowler is a comparably sized travel trailer.)

Nick took the motor over to the battery rack and ran the same test as the clerk from RV America. However, Nick said, the wires felt cool enough to him. He didn't think the problem was the motor at all. Seems, hidden deep within the bowels of the trailer (actually under a plastic shroud beneath the bed in my case) there is a control box that is the brains of the slide out motor. A little gizmo that tells the motor how hard to push, when, and in which direction. Sometimes, Nick says, it simply needs to be reset. So, while I remounted the motor under the trailer, he ran a few tests on the "brains" of the outfit and pronounced them properly chastised for their errant behavior. We hooked everything up and then pushed the wall button inside the trailer.

VOILA! Out the slide went.
SHAZAAM! In the slide went.

It was a miracle! And no chocolate coated miracle pill was needed to resuscitate the bloody thing! And a bill of just $45 for time, knowledge and labor vs one for between $400 and $500 just to get the motor in a timely fashion can not be beat.

When we got to the Colorado Springs KOA this afternoon, Terry and I crossed our fingers...and our toes...kissed a little St. Christopher medallion and said a little prayer to St. Jude. (We were fresh out of four-leaf clovers and rabbits feet.) Pushed the button and out went the slide out! Very, very quietly. It hasn't been this quiet in ages. Perhaps it felt ashamed.

So here we are in Colorado Springs with lots of room in the trailer thanks to the work of Miracle Nick at Loveland RV Service. If you've got an RV problem anywhere near Fort Collins or Loveland, Colorado. I can highly recommend either the RV America just off I-25 on Frontage Road at exit 254 or Loveland RV Service (same exit but west on State Highway 402 about 4 miles).

Time for a dip in the pool before we head up to La Casa in Monument for dinner and margaritas with some good friends.