RVing Northern California Part 2

Wednesday morning at 8, a man came over and looked at the radiator. The belt that connects the radiator to the alternator broke. It was fairly new and no one knew why it happened. That's what caused the overheating. While he was removing parts, he showed me a pipe (radiator filler neck) that had a small hole in it. He sent the pipe to a radiator shop nearby to be soldered. Because there was a cap on the pipe, the hole prevented it from holding pressure. Also, he recommended replacing the thermostat just in case.

While I was waiting for the work to be done, I found out there was free wi-fi. I was able to catch up on the work I had missed. I also called my friend Rick, told him what happened and he told me to travel at night. It was much too hot to stress an older RV like Lucy. We both know I hate driving at night, but I would do so.

She was finally ready at 3:30 and we drove away. I was going to travel about 20 miles to Yreka and wait but it was still much too hot. The heat and lack of food (I was keeping hydrated) made me dizzy. We stopped in Healdsburg and found a McDonald's with air conditioning. And iced coffee. And ice cream. And ice water. Lots of it. I had one of the two things a vegetarian could eat at McDonald's: fries.

It was so pleasant there and I noticed a closed gas station across the street with a semi parked. If I had to, I could spend the night there. Meanwhile, I was happy just drinking ice water and staying cool.

I asked one of the employees what time they closed. 6. Very strange. Why would they close when most people are just leaving work or trying to decide what to have for dinner?

So I left at 6, determined to get to Eureka about 3.5 hours Car Time away. If you look at MapQuest or one of the other mapping programs including Good Sam and Flying J, you'll notice the miles in Car Time. RV Time is different. Always add at least 30 minutes for RV Time.

The first part of that trip involved driving with the window down, one eye on the road and the other on the alternator gauge/temperature gauge. I waited for the weather to cool enough to close the window. I was determined to travel north until it was cool.