I woke up before daylight. Well, that's actually overstating the case. I hardly slept. It was cold and I would wake up wondering what was wrong with the trailer I had just bought. Why was there no heat or hot water? I got up and made coffee; at least that was hot. I figured that at least the wind wasn't blowing in the trailer, so it must be a little warmer inside than outside, but I needed to see if I could find anything wrong outside the trailer. When I stepped outside, there was a flock of huge wild turkeys grazing close to the next campsite. I called Jo Ann and she emerged from her sleeping bag and grabbed a coat and came outside to see them. They were absolutely magnificent and the largest must have been close to four feet tall. While we were watching the turkeys, the "neighbors" next door, who were the host family for the campground, came out. I figured they might have enough experience with various trailers to be able to point out what we had done wrong. So I introduced myself and asked for their help.
They came over and looked closely at the hot water heater control box on the outside of the trailer and pronounced it in perfect condition, and had no idea what had caused out problem. But the woman mentioned that sometimes these trailers have a tendency to trip breakers or blow fuses, and that can shut you down pretty effectively. I went back inside, checked the breakers and fuses and they were all in order. But in thinking about that eventuality, I realized that I had three GFCI outlets in the kitchen and bathroom, and the one in the bathroom also had a "reset" button on it. So just for the heck of it, I punched the reset button. I didn't notice anything different, but returned to the hot water heater switch and punched it, too. Lo and behold. The water heater began to make noises like water heaters do. It sure sounded like it was heating water. Too soon to tell for sure, though. Jo Ann suggested that if that was the case, then maybe the furnace was now able to work, as well. So she went through the exact same motions as she had done the night before, and bingo! There was hot air coming out of the vents. In a few minutes, we had hot water coming out of the faucets, as well. All because of a tripped GFCI. Let me tell you that a warm trailer with warm water surely felt luxurious that morning.
We drove on to Austin, to visit Nathan and Jenn and celebrate Oliver's birthday. We faced a strong south wind all the way to Austin, and it became obvious that my pickup was just not going to be able to handle the combination of the trailer and hills and wind. It will pull the trailer, but the strain on the engine will eventually wear it out and I'm thinking that the mountains in Wyoming, Montana, Alberta, British Columbia, the Yukon, and Alaska will be too much for it. I'm going to have to have a bigger pickup.
They came over and looked closely at the hot water heater control box on the outside of the trailer and pronounced it in perfect condition, and had no idea what had caused out problem. But the woman mentioned that sometimes these trailers have a tendency to trip breakers or blow fuses, and that can shut you down pretty effectively. I went back inside, checked the breakers and fuses and they were all in order. But in thinking about that eventuality, I realized that I had three GFCI outlets in the kitchen and bathroom, and the one in the bathroom also had a "reset" button on it. So just for the heck of it, I punched the reset button. I didn't notice anything different, but returned to the hot water heater switch and punched it, too. Lo and behold. The water heater began to make noises like water heaters do. It sure sounded like it was heating water. Too soon to tell for sure, though. Jo Ann suggested that if that was the case, then maybe the furnace was now able to work, as well. So she went through the exact same motions as she had done the night before, and bingo! There was hot air coming out of the vents. In a few minutes, we had hot water coming out of the faucets, as well. All because of a tripped GFCI. Let me tell you that a warm trailer with warm water surely felt luxurious that morning.
We drove on to Austin, to visit Nathan and Jenn and celebrate Oliver's birthday. We faced a strong south wind all the way to Austin, and it became obvious that my pickup was just not going to be able to handle the combination of the trailer and hills and wind. It will pull the trailer, but the strain on the engine will eventually wear it out and I'm thinking that the mountains in Wyoming, Montana, Alberta, British Columbia, the Yukon, and Alaska will be too much for it. I'm going to have to have a bigger pickup.
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