Time to Fuel Up!

Today I have to do something about the tire pressure check situation, and get fuel.

I decided that I should check out the RV forums for advice and past postings on the tire pressure check problem. Sure enough I am not the only one to have this problem. The postings were numerous and of course varied in opinions. Just like being in a campground, going to the forums provides RVers that will definitely have an opinion on what to do. Some right - some not so right.

The postings ranged from "replace all valve stems with new longer valve stems" to "you must not be trying hard enough to get the gauge on the stem". Wrong. The gauge will NOT go on the stem through the small slot in the rim. And you know what? There were a relatively large number of people that had posted on the forum with that problem. And not just Fleetwood owners, but many brands, even the high end Diesel Pusher owners had this problem.

So I decided that I would make one more trip to a local auto parts store (Auto Zone) and if I didn't find a solution, that I would go to a truck tire service facility tomorrow and get long valve stems installed.

At Auto Zone, I found something that looks like it may work. They are 1 1/4 inch stainless steel valve extenders without caps but have the type of end that allows you to check the pressure or add air without removing a cap. Maybe they would be long enough to allow enough room to get the pressure gauge seated.

Sure enough, they work! I simply take off the valve stem cap on the tire, screw on the extender and check the pressure. Then I can remove the extender and put the original cap on. This takes a little longer that having a real valve stem that I can check whenever I need to, but it will work for now. When I replace the tires, or save enough money, maybe I'll invest in something more permanent.

That done, it's time to get fuel. I definitely don't want to save that until Friday night. Pam wants to ride with me for that so off we go to Fairview to McCoys Exxon; where gas is "down" to $2.84 per gallon. It only took 64 gallons. I make a note of the milage in my log book so I can check gas mileage on our trip.

While I was fueling up, someone spoke to me. It was Jerry Hinson, a friend of my Dad and Mom. He and his wife Georgia had a 5th Wheel and made a 9000 mile trip a few years ago. Some time back the sold it and bought a house in Ocean Lakes CG at Myrtle Beach. He walked around admiring our Bounder, talking about how he wanted a MH now that his fiver was gone. That made me feel a little better about the fuel bill.

Earlier in the day, while I was checking the tires, Pam was cooking. She cooked up several cassaroles and a baked spaghetti dish, put them in indivual serving containers, and put them in the freezer in the house. Now we will have ready made dinners for our first few nights on the road. We'll stop at Wal-Mart later in the week to complete the grocery buying, and stock up on all the items we'll need for the first week.

Now all that is left to do next week is add our clothes and bathroom stuff. Hopefully by Friday night all I will have to do is hook up the Civic and Saturday morning we'll be ready to ride!

I hope we can get fuel on the way out there!