We left you in Augusta, Me with us on our way west. We stopped back in Charlemont, MA at the same campground we visited on the way up to Maine. Had an uneventful night, and started out the next morning for our next leg to Corning, NY. We stopped in a rest area for lunch and as Jan was walking around outside she noticed a leak on the right rear of of coach. Damn. It is a hydraulic leak right at the bottom of our hydraulic tank on the right side of the engine compartment. I peer around and it seems it might just be a loose fitting, but man, they are big! There are two large, maybe 1 1/2" hoses going into the bottom if the tank and it is one of those fittings that looks to be leaking. Well, I have one adjustable wrench that might just get on it, but I don't have room to move the wrench it is so tight in there.
This hydraulic system provides power to our cooling fan for the engine and also the power steering, kind of important. We proceed to try a bunch of other tools that I can wedge on the fitting, and finally I kind of get a vise grip on and I really lean into it and maybe get it to turn a teensy bit, still leaking....
Hmmm, well we know that in Elkhart, IN is a RV shop with a stellar reputation, and one Karen has used and was pleased with, Elkhart Sales and Service, and that's not too far out of the way, is it? Anyway I call and talk to PJ to see if we could sneak in and get taken care of, he explains that he doesn't do engine and chassis work, he sends it all to another shop a block away, would he like me to have him call and see if they could squeeze us in? Oh yeah! He calls me back and gives me the info to contact Ronnie at Marv and Tom's Truck Service. I call and talk to Ronnie and he says if I can get there Thursday morning he'd be able to fit us in. Wow, super, except this is Tuesday afternoon and we are in NY state about 600+ miles away. No problem we can make it work.
Now we had planned to stop in Erie to visit Jan's Uncle Larry and Aunt Laura. Aunt Laura's health is failing and it was important for us to stop in. Although we had to cut our visit time down, we still had a wonderful time seeing them and Cousin Mark and Barb as well. It was a meaningful visit and we were sorry to cut it short. They understood and sent us on our way. Now we still had 350 miles to go, it was 2:30 in the afternoon, and we had to be there first thing the next morning. Okay so Jan starts looking for campgrounds and she can't find anything that will accommodate our size! On further inspection, we find the Ohio Turnpike operates several overnight spots for RV's in their travel plazas. That is new to us, not that we've traveled the turnpike very often. We decide we need to push to the very western edge of Ohio in order to be in Elkhart by 8 am. So that's the plan. We manage 450 miles with a 3 1/2 hour visit and pull into a travel plaza in West Unity, OH. It is a cool deal, they only have 10 spaces, there is a meter that takes cash only, gives you a receipt, you have to park in a marked spot, you can plug into 50 amp electric, and since the spot is 40' long, yeah we fudged a bit on our 45', have to unhook the truck and park it beside you. So for $20, you get 50 amp electric, and a secure spot for the night!
So we are off at 6am the next morning on our way to Elkhart. We pull into Marv and Tom's at 8, unhook the truck, they have a tech on us by 8:15! He also has quite a time getting to the fittings, as he believes also it is leaking from there. He pulls out the biggest wrenches I've ever seen and really leans into it and it moves a little bit, he then tightens up another spot that seems moist, and he has me start it up and move the steering wheel back and forth to get the fluid moving, still leaking! Now he searches around for another wrench that he can get into this very tight spot, finds a pipe wrench that seems to fit the bill, squeezes under and is just able to tighten it with all his strength! It appears to be dry, but he wants us to go take it out and drive around making sure we do a lot of turning and bring it back to recheck, so we do, and it's dry, and we call it fixed! Fantastic, and it is only 9:30am. I go find the boss, Ronnie, to pay, and he amazes me by saying no charge! But spread the word, so I am spreading the word, this is a full service truck repair facility that welcomes and understands motorhomes, the attention to detail and customer service are superb, we highly recommend Marv and Tom's!!!!
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