I try to be an optimist looking for the silver lining in the not so good adventures that find us on the road of life.  Many of my friends and family know that I use my mantra, “If this is the worst thing that happens to me today,” as a way of reframing any adverse situations.   Luckily, in my almost 48 years, I’ve always been able to fill in that blank by saying, “I’m just fine…”  I may not like what’s happening or how much it’s going to cost, but I’m just fine.

With a month of extraordinary expenses totaling over $12,000, not including campsites, meals, fuel, etc., this is our most expensive month EVER on the road of adventure.  And no, it didn’t come with a receipt from one of the uber nice RV resorts.  It primarily came in the form of credit card receipts from repair shops.  And it could have been worse if we weren’t savvy shoppers or didn’t have an extended service plan for our RV.  Without this, we would have been looking at an additional $6,000 for a total of about $18,000.  

What happened?  Somewhere along the road, I believe in South Dakota, while doing a routine engine check before departure, Brian noticed that our coolant level was low.  We had an appointment at an RV repair center in Rapid City for the installation of a new washer/dryer combo (to replace the stackable unit that only worked for once) as well as service to fix our Aqua Hot.  We figured we would have them check the coolant situation out as well.  They confirmed that the coolant was low and as they don’t work on engines, advised us to add more fluid and consult a chassis repair center.  In the parking lot, we added over a gallon of coolant to the engine. 

With so much coolant missing, this brought to question where it was going.  It was at our next stop in Gering, Nebraska, that we identified a leak from our radiator by way of moisture on the pavement not associated with the air conditioner.   Phone calls to Spartan Chassis for a service center on our route led us to Transwest Trailer & Truck in Frederick, CO, just 10 minutes from the state park where we had reservations for two weeks.  Luck would have it that they could get us in on the Tuesday after our arrival in Colorado. 

Transwest confirmed the radiator leak, discovered an oil leak in the engine cover, diagnosed a belt that needed replacement, and provided general routine maintenance for our chassis all at the estimated cost of about $8400.  After contracting with an inspector to substantiate the claim, our extended service plan provider agreed to pay about $4900.  Of course, we wish that they paid all of it, but it’s better than nothing. 

In the weekend between diagnosing the RV problems and the acquisition of parts to fix these problems, we went by Jeep to Rocky Mountain National Park (read more).  Three-quarters of the way through our day in the park, Brian smelled something that reminded him of burning rubber.  Additionally, the manual transmission wasn’t shifting right in low gears.  A shudder and jerk when in first and when switching from first to second had us hoping that we would make it back home without needing a tow.  We were relieved to make it back that night without further issue.  We planned that I would take it to a local Jeep dealership in the morning to have it checked out. 

Early in the afternoon, the dealership called to tell us that the clutch needed replacement.  The dealership estimated $2100 for the repair, which wouldn’t include replacement of the flywheel or the slave cylinder.  Both might need replacing and would add to the final cost.  A quick Google search told us that this was 30-50% more than the average cost of the repair.  Several phone calls later, I found a shop that would make time to get us in that week AND replace all parts for about $1275.  While the repairs might have taken less time at the dealership making for less inconvenience and fewer UBER rides, we were happy to save $100s.  I called and had the dealership shuttle pick me up to take me back for the car.  I paid the $140 diagnostic fee and offered the feedback that we would have stayed for repair if it was a modest difference in price.  They cared less about feedback, and I moved on.

Meanwhile, I was waiting for a call back from one auto repair shop when I received a phone call from YRC terminal in Aurora, CO saying that our e-bikes had arrived and needed to be picked up by Wednesday to avoid storage fees of $26.50/day.  Yes, indeed, our expensive Christmas gift to each other had arrived and would also be on our credit card bill for the month!  With the imminent replacement of our clutch that would have us without a vehicle for a few days, we decided to get the bikes that evening.    

Our appointment to complete our RV service needs for Thursday/Friday left us homeless and staying for the night in a hotel.  With the Jeep still in for service, we had to UBER around town for meals. 

On Friday, the completion of work on the Jeep had us mobile once again.  And while Transwest didn’t complete our service until Monday, it was drivable by Friday evening.  We were able to take the RV back to St. Vrain State Park to spend the weekend. 

Like kids on Christmas Day, we were up early on Saturday morning with plans to take our new e-bikes out for a ride on the St. Vrain Greenway.  We would ride, stop for lunch and a beer, and ride back.  It was a beautiful day, and riding west towards the Rockies was picturesque.  A wrong turn had us stopped off the Greenway looking for a lunch spot.  We found a nice spot for a refreshing beer and lunch.  Full and ready for the rest of the day’s adventure, we got back on our bikes and headed towards a brewery for our next stop.  Brian crossed the main road ahead of me and was not in sight when I made it across.  A new sound from my bike had me looking around only to find my front tire flat.  Brian turned back to see what was delaying me.  We decided that I would walk my bike back to a taproom we had just passed, and he would ride back, get the car, and return to pick me and my bike up.  Just as we arrived at the taproom’s parking lot, his back tire was flat. 

Brian took an UBER back to the parking lot to get the Jeep and returned to pick up me and our bikes.  We set off to a local bike shop to see about getting the tubes replaced.  The bike shop pointed out the “goat heads” that were in our tires.  It seems our first real ride resulted in the need to replace all four of our tire tubes.  It felt a little like pouring salt on a wound to have more money going out especially since we could have avoided these and are bikes were brand new!  If only we had stayed on the bike path.  We had good luck in being directed to a bike shop that not only had four tubes for our fat tires but were willing to get them replaced before closing for the weekend. 

With snow in the forecast, we were anxious to get across the Rockies before needing to spend money on special tires or chains.  Monday had us back at Transwest for completion of service on the RV.  With repairs complete on the RV, Jeep, and e-bikes we hit the road.  Thankful for great weather to enjoy the scenery as we headed west, we have less money but are wealthy in our experience.    

My silver linings:

1. We earn 1-2% back for all credit card transactions
2. We were in a populated area with all the repair shops that we needed
3. The repair shops while not perfect all treated us well and helped us to fix our issues and get us back on the road
4. Except for one night, the repair shops we took our RV to allowed us to stay for “free” in their parking lots
5. We are only five months into our four-year Extended Service Plan and have recouped about 75% of the cost to date
6. We have savings to pay for all of these things
7. No one is dead or dying
8. And most importantly, if this is the worst thing that happens to us, we are just fine!  😊