Breaking Bad And A New Coward Pedal

 

Getting a louder horn was not an option.

 

After our hair-raising trip home in the Big Lebowski the brakes were the first project completed. Two days later and twenty visits to the auto parts store, Tracy was on a first name basis with the guys at O'Rileys. I really do not look at being on a first named basis with the employees at an auto parts store as a good thing.

Once Tracy was ready to bleed the brake lines I was the only person around to help him. I am sure everyone that had been standing around watching him work on the brakes decided to hide before they were asked to perform the task of pumping the brakes. This meant I had to sit in the Captains seat and pump on the brakes. I am sure you all know what I am talking about, you pump and pump and pump, and then pump some more. By the time its all done your legs feel like spaghetti and it hurts to walk for two days.

I pumped until my right knee gave out, which did not take long because it was still healing from when I got thrown in the floor on our maiden voyage. I don't normally use my left foot on the brakes and so I felt a little spastic. My brain and left leg would not communicate and so the effort was a little uncoordinated. Tracy was yelling "Pump the brakes!" from underneath the Big Lebowski. All the while my brain was screaming "Pump, Pump, Pump!", but my left leg was screaming "WHAT?"

In total the new rotors, calipers, hoses, pads, and fluids costs us just over $300. I was surprised because if we had taken the Big Lebowski to a shop we would have easily paid over $1,200 and taken about "two weeks". Below are the pictures of the old brakes.

We also spent around $300 on a new custom radiator and Tracy installed it in just a couple of hours.

I still get chills when I look at the photos, and give thanks for our safe return home.

I think we still need a louder horn.

You know the large air horns found on big rigs? The kind that make you jump and pay attention when they get blown. That's the kind I want. I have become convinced we will not die in a fiery crash, but rather get mauled by bears. I think one of those big air horns will be an excellent deterrent when a bear decides he wants to come visit us in the middle of the night.

We have only taken the Big Lebowski out a few times but each time we have had a little car dart out in front of us and slow down, or just stop. I understand people don't realize how much longer it takes for a 12,000 pound vehicle to stop. I think hearing this horn would make some people stop and think, or move out of the way, or at least flip us off. Either way, they are going to want to put some space between us and them.  

 

So when you are out and about and see an RV, remember they may have brake trouble.

Once we got the brakes fixed we moved on to the interior of the Big Lebowski.  We removed all the unwanted furniture, fixtures, and flooring. We opted for vinyl planks and bought the Traffic Master Allure in the Alpine Elm color. I was little hesitant about the color because it is so light. I had to remind myself that I have no decorator skills and Tracy is much better at matching colors than I am. I tease him and tell him he knows far too many interior decorators, but if your a remodeling contractor the interior decorators are your best friends. The floor turned out beautifully, and I love the end result. However getting there was a chore.

Interior with all fixtures removed

 

We were in staple hell.

There must have been ten staples for every square inch. The lead time on the new flooring was two weeks. Which turned out to be a good thing. Since we could only work on the Big Lebowski in the evenings, after work, it took us every bit of the two weeks to get the staples pulled. By the end of the second week our knees were aching and we opted to pay our son $40 to pull the remaining staples. It took him about 5 hours to finish, and he earned every penny.

It took Tracy about three evenings to lay the floor. There were a lot of specialty cuts and some of the pieces had to be molded with a heat gun.

Flooring After: Facing forward -
Dog house and Navigators side unfinished

Flooring After: Navigators side

Flooring After: Dinning area

Flooring After: Facing towards the back 

Flooring After: Dinning area and Galley

 

Flooring After: Hallway and Bathroom

 Who let the dogs out?

The dog house is the large piece that sits between the Captains and Navigators seats. It covers the motor, so taking it out is not an option. After a few days we decided to recover it using some marine grade vinyl. I had purchase a whole roll to recover the walls on the Big Lebowski so we had plenty.

The dog house is made of fiberglass and had been covered in the same faded mauve carpeting as the original flooring. We pulled the old carpeting off and used it as a pattern to cut the vinyl. Before we could apply the new covering the fiberglass needed to be sanded so that the adhesive would adhere to the surface. The process of sanding took Tracy a couple of hours. Tracy did an awesome job recovering the dog house, it matches the floor, and the end result looks great.

Breaking Bad reruns.

The morning after recovering the dog house, as Tracy and I were getting ready to walk out the back door to leave for work, there was a knock on the door. We never have visitors early in the morning. Tracy and I looked at each other, really confused about why the police were knocking on our door at seven o'clock in the morning. The first thought that rushed through my head was that something had happened to one of my kids. My heart raced.

We opened the door and one of the officers informed us that they had received a complaint about our RV. I felt relieved and even more confused. He went on to say that the complaint was that there was a smell coming from the RV and the accuser thought we were manufacturing drugs in our RV. Tracy let our a roar of a laugh. I did not find this accusation funny at all. We offered to unlock the Big Lebowski and let the officers take a look inside, but they informed us that they had already done so. This slightly angered me.

Are there not laws about that kind of thing? Illegal search or something. I mean what were they doing standing on their car hood peeping in the two windows that did not have the blinds pulled?

Dog haters revenge.

 

While speaking with the cops they were eager to point out that we were legally parked and within our rights to have the RV where it was. They asked us a few questions about the RV and the remodeling work. Tracy told them about the flooring and sanding the dog house. That's when the cops determined the smell that was reported was from Tracy sanding the fiberglass and using the spray adhesive. Evidently fiberglass lets off a horrible odor when heated from the sanding and the spray adhesive is a little noxious.

The cops were eager to point out that one of our neighbors did not like us. Tracy was surprised to hear that statement. He was sure all of our neighbors loved us. The instant the cop said that I knew it was the Dog Hater that lived about four houses down. So no, not all of our neighbors loved us. That's all I have to say on the subject.

 

Dog House After
 

City Scape.

I made new drapes and for the Big Lebowski and they turned out petty well. I chose a city scape pattern. What do you think?

 I made new drapes for the Big Lebowski. I chose a city scape pattern. The scissors in the picture to the right are for scale. I was thinking of eventually putting little LED twinkle lights in some of the windows.

The pattern makes me think of all the places we will go. I think they turned out pretty well. The finished picture of the front end with the drapes is below. Let me know what you think.

Finished Front: New drapes, cleaned seats, and recovered dog house.

While installing the new flooring and covering the dog house Tracy took advantage of the fact that we had to pull out the seats. He used this time to relocate the Captains seat so that it could turn all the way around. In it's original location the seat could only turn side to side. By moving it back an inch we gained enough room for the chair to turn completely around. He reinstalled the seats with all new nuts and bolts.

Having the seats out also gave us the opportunity give them a good cleaning and inspect the hardware and seat belts. Everything was in good working order. We decided against recovering them for now because they were in good shape and the blue is not a horrible color. We did look into new seat covers and they were going to cost around $200 each. We put them on the "When We Win the Lotto" list and used the $400 for a new shower.

Let us know what you think so far and leave us a comment.

I will reveal photos of the new bathroom in my next post. There is a subscription option on the right side, near the top. You will be notified by email as soon as a new post is made.  Be sure to share us with your friends and family on any of the social media sites listed below.
 

 

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The Calm Before the Remodel Storm

We knew right away that there were changes we wanted to make to the RV. 

The bathroom was way too small. The shower would have been impossible for us to use. It was made for tiny people, people who were less than five foot tall and weighed less than ninety pounds. The original shower/tub was for children. The toilet was nasty and I wanted a new one.

The flooring had to go.  The original decor of the motorhome had baby blue furniture and valances with a mauve carpeting that had long since turned a funky orange. There was linoleum flooring in the galley area, but I think linoleum is impractical for us. There is no simple way to repair a tear or rip, and with my crew it would happen. 

We had a goal to get the Big Lebowski comfortable enough for us to move in full time by the end of January. We wanted to get out of our house and into the motorhome full time so that we could pay off what few bills we had left and start socking more money into savings. 

Here are some before pictures of the interior.

Interior before: Captains Seat, "Dog House", and Sofa.
See the ugly orange carpet on the "Dog House"
(the thing between the seats)

Interior Before: Navigators Seat, and "Dog House"

Interior Before: Front and Overhead

Interior Before: Looking towards the back, Galley on right

Interior Before: Passenger Seating 

Interior Before: Galley

Interior Before: Bedroom

Interior Before: Looking towards Bedroom

Interior Before: Left Side of Bedroom

Interior Before: Right Side of Bedroom

Interior Before and During: Looking towards front, Doug and Tracy removing Dinette

Interior Before: Hallway

Interior Before: Bathroom - Shower and Lavatory

Interior Before: Lavatory and Vanity

Interior Before: Bathroom - Medicine Chest looking into shower

Interior Before: Toilet

Interior Before: Location of old Dinette Table I accidentally tore out

Interior Before: Bathroom and Doug

Interior Before: Shower and Skylight

 We knew that some changes were going to have to wait. 

Along with the remodel there were also some mechanical issues that had to be made. As we established in a previous blog post, The Big Lebowski needed brakes. It also needed an oil and fluid change, new tires, radiator, and all new hoses. The furnace, generator, roof, water filtration, and water pump were also in need of repair or upgrade.

In addition to the remodeling we had some large purchases to budget. We needed a new mattress, furniture and drapes, and a solar power system. The windows needed to be tinted and the Big Lebowski needed a good bath and wax job. 

The first thing we did was register the Big Lebowski. 

Before Tracy could dive in and get to work on the Big Lebowski the issue of registration and title change had to be taken care of. These were the easiest tasks to knock off our lists. We also needed a new inspection so the brakes were at the top of the list.

On Monday morning I called our insurance agent to drop my car and add the motorhome. We got the new proof of insurance instantly and then Tracy was off to the tax office to take care of the registration and title change. It took the State of Texas a week and a half to send us the new title. 

Once all the legal stuff was taken care of Tracy dove in and started tearing the Big Lebowski apart. 

During: Tracy and Doug removing the Dinette

During: Tracy removing the dinette

During: Tracy and Doug removing dinette

During: No more ugly dinette

During: No more ugly dinette

During: everything removed

Once everything was removed we were better able to asses any additional repairs or upgrades that needed to be made. We discovered that the sky light in the bathroom was cracked and leaking. I quickly saw that the Big Lebowski was a project that would keep both Tracy and myself busy for quite a while.

I felt anxious about getting everything done and it not costing us a small fortune. We had a budget and needed to stay on track. With every new expenditure I started to think more and more about the movie The Money Pit. Everything we ordered took "two weeks" to be delivered. We had done our research so I wasn't surprised when everything we purchased fell into one of three price ranges - $300, $600, or $1,000. 

Our next post will feature the brake repairs and new flooring installation.

We start our trip on the road March 6 so be sure to stay in touch. We added a subscribe option for those of you who want to be notified by email when the blog is updated. This feature can be located near the top on the right hand side.

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Nomenclature

The morning after our trip home I wanted nothing to do with the motorhome. 

Tracy was ready to dive in and start working on the remodel and mechanical repairs. My knee was still swollen and blue, the goose egg on my head ached, and I was a little skeptical about the trade. Scenes from the movie The Money Pit played through my head. 

That morning we sat on the patio drinking coffee, staring at the motorhome in silence. Tracy ventured to say we should name our vessel. We started throwing around a few ideas like "Bug Smasher", "The Last Resort", "The Mystery Machine". None of them seemed quite right. A name says so much, it conveys who you are. It tells the world so much about you. 

I knew we wanted the name to be fun. 

That was the whole point of the lifestyle change we were making. I asked myself a few questions, and eventually decided to just let the naming issue percolate a few days.

• Why did we get the motorhome?
• What do I want people to know about us?
• Was the assignment of the naming task really Tracy's ploy to distract me?
• Am I crazy?

I had faith that the right name would come to me, at the right time. 

On day three Tracy had picked me up from work. We were pulling in to the driveway when I caught a glimps of the motorhome. The perfect name struck me. Being the movie fan that I am, it only seems fitting to name our motorhome after one of the greatest bohemian adventures ever made. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce you to ....

THE BIG LEBOWSKI.

His Dudeness, The Big Lebowski

We will be embarking on the biggest bohemian adventure of our lives. Who else better to take along than the Dude?

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The Highway to Hell

I am not one to normally give in to spontaneity. I am a planner. 

Everything is planned in advance, mapped, laid out in spreadsheets, and collated for reference. Tracy, well he is a fly by the seat of your pants kind of guy, dive in head first and figure it out later. He's a thrill seeker, I am a spectator. 

Tracy came up with the plan to trade my car for the motorhome. We would need to get rid of the car, it was just sooner rather than later. I went with it - gave in to spontaneity. I reasoned that I had left the purchasing of the RV up to Tracy. He would be the one doing the bulk of any needed maintenance and repairs on our RV. If he felt comfortable with the swap, I would trust his decision. 

If I had known then what I know now, we never would have left the house that day. Sometimes I quietly pray that our trip home was not an omen of things to come. 

As I told you in our previous post, motorhome Mike told us the brakes "need a little work". I didn't worry about it, Tracy didn't seem too concerned when he looked at them, and brakes are his specialty on car repairs.

After seeing these I realize how lucky we were to make it home safely.
Just a hint, the brakes are not supposed to be bent or cracked.

Bad brakes from our motorhome.

After the titles were signed and exchanged, hands shook, and well wishes given Tracy and I loaded up in the motorhome. He looked at me and said "I hope I can drive this thing, it's pretty big." I elected to sit in the back at the dinette. We road in silence.

After a few miles Tracy turned to say something to me. I couldn't hear him. Since I was feeling a little better about riding in the motorhome, I stood up to move to the front. As I stood up Tracy had to apply the breaks. I flew forward, tearing the dinette table out of the wall.

I had already decided I didn't like that table and wanted it replaced so I didn't worry too much about the table. I was more concerned about my right knee. I had landed on my hands and knees in the center aisle.

My right knee hurt way worse than my pride.

I thought how stupid I was. I knew better than to stand up while riding in a motorhome. My grandparents had drilled that in my head as kid. Tracy felt awful. I climbed into the navigators seat next to him and rubbed my throbbing knee. 

After a few more miles we stopped and fueled up. I got some ice for my knee, a large bottle of water, and some Advil. We were feeling confident and started back on the road. Tracy was feeling better about driving the motorhome, and I was feeling a little more at ease. 

We made it about half a mile down the road before Tracy came to a traffic light and had to stop hard because a little Honda had darted in front of him and stopped. Once the light was green we started through and made it about 100 feet before Tracy said something was wrong.

We pulled over into what was an abandoned KOA camp ground. It must have been very nice in it's day. It had a restaurant and large community pool near the office. It was once a large camp ground. The shrubs were overgrown and the grounds long neglected, but I still marveled at how it must have been a beauty in its day. 

Tracy climbed out of the motorhome and walked around to the driver's side. As his head disappeared from view I thought to myself "I bet the brakes are on fire." I calmly stood up and gathered my purse and bottle of water. At that same time Tracy came running out from underneath the motorhome screaming "FIRE!" while running to the door. I do not know where my calm reaction came from. I managed to rip the fire extinguisher off of the wall and throw it to him. I remembered there was another fire extinguisher under the sink. I grabbed the second fire extinguisher on my way out the door.

Neither fire extinguisher worked. 

They were empty. I handed Tracy the liter bottle of water we had purchased at the gas station. We watched the steam boil out from under the motorhome as he dumped the water on the brakes. The brakes were still glowing an angry red and the water had just dampened them. We began to frantically search for water. The pool was dry, no water spigots were in sight. 

I was starting to to really wonder what we had gotten ourselves into. I started to think, "What about insurance?" I wondered why we had been so stupid to take possession of this thing and not make sure our insurance would cover us. We had traded a perfectly decent car for a motorhome and set it on fire. How do you explain that to your insurance agent? If we took it back could we get the car back?

Alas, there was an extinguisher just inside the restaurant door. We did not break and enter, we just entered. The extinguisher would not spray. It had lost it's charge, but somehow Tracy managed to get the top off. He dumped the contents of the fire extinguisher onto the brakes and we waited.

We stood there staring at the motorhome. I was wondering what I had allowed my husband to get us into, he was wondering if I was mad. 

After a few minutes Tracy broke the silence and said we needed to find a Wal-Mart. I was still staring at the motorhome. I started shaking at the thought of getting back on the road in our newly acquired death wagon. Sitting in the navigator's seat meant I had the job of looking up the location for the nearest Wal-Mart while Tracy tried to drive.

Being dyslexic, I can barely tell left from right.

I have always struggled with reading maps, much less use Google Maps on an iPhone. We figured out that Wal-Mart was seven miles away. I pointed Tracy in the direction I thought was correct. Holding my breath and hoping I was correct. 

Tracy kept asking how much further. The map navigation froze up and was not keeping up with our location. I was terrified of the death wagon, traffic was stop and go, and I was scared I had pointed us in the wrong direction.

All I could hear at this point was the AC/DC song Highway to Hell playing in my head.

That seven mile ride was the longest seven miles of my life. It took a few moments for us to catch our breath. We just sat, Tracy still had a death grip on the stearing wheel and my knees were truly shaking. We decided we had to take an inventory of what tools had been left in the basement compartments and double check that the front jacks would get the motorhome high enough to get the front tire off.

I did not want to move my knee was still throbbing and had turned an ugly blue. I realized I couldn't just sit there and let Tracy take care of this all on his own, he needed my help. Forgetting to watch out for the TV and compartment above me, I stood up smacking my skull against the overhead.

I saw stars and crumpled in my seat. 

I was ready to let loose a flood of tears and swear words that would make a sailor blush. At this point my sister called and it was all I could do to keep myself from telling her to come get me right away. Half not wanting her to worry, and half not wanting to let anyone know what an idiot I was,  I just told her we had a little problem with the brakes but would be heading home soon.

We were in luck. We just needed a lug wrench large enough, some pliers, and a couple of other small hand tools.  I said a little prayer as we worked the jacks to make sure they would get the RV high enough to take the tire off. We were in luck there were a couple of pieces of wood in the parking spot next to us that helped ensure the jacks were high enough. 

I limped behind Tracy with a throbbing knee and growing goose egg on my head into the Wal-Mart. We found everything we needed except a tire iron large enough for the motorhome. Tracy walked around the automotive department fuming, then I remembered I had seen an O'Riley's Automotive across the highway.

We paid for our purchase and decided to brave the trip across the highway in the death wagon. I just held my breath as we waited for the light to turn green and darted across the four lane highway. I was still shaking, knees literally knocking together, as Tracy ran inside the O'Rielys to find a lug wrench large enough.

The repair needed to get us back on the road took about twenty minutes. Tracy got the tire mounted back on the motorhome. We were putting the newly purchased tools away only to find a lug wrench in one of the basement compartments that was just the right size. Must have gotten over looked.

I thought of the Tom Hanks movie The Money Pit. I remembered the scene where Tom Hank's character had a nervous laughing fit.  

We were both still stressed and scared as hell when we decided to return to the Wal-Mart to get something (I really can not remember what it was). Tracy was putting fluid in the brake lines and needed help. I could not hear what he was saying and this must have pushed his patients to the limit. He barked at me like a drill sergeant. This pushed me over the limit. I had enough. I sat down on the couch opened a coke, propped up my now hugely swollen knee and decided that I was done for the day.

As far as I was concerned we could now live in the Wal-Mart parking lot and I wouldn't care.

Eventually we headed back to Waco, Texas. Home sweet home. It was a quiet trip. Neither one of us spoke. I was holding my breath and Tracy had a death grip on the steering wheel. We finally made it home. My sister was outside excitedly waiting on us as we arrived. I bailed out of the death wagon to hug my sister. I was so glad to see her.

Seeing her meant I could finally take a breath. It meant I was home and safe. 

I learned a lot that day.

• I learned to never buy or trade for a vehicle without checking on the insurance. If something truly disastrous had happened we could have potentially lost a lot. I am the one always reminding Tracy to limit his liability when it comes to business. I don't know where my head was that day. 
• I learned to appreciate my husbands abilities to fix things on the fly. I have always known he was a McGyver type, but I took it for granted and never really appreciated it until now. 
• I learned that for some unknown reason I take note of fire extinguishers. I am the least likely to stay and try to put a fire out, but I have some ingrained need to know where they are.
• I learned that I have a conscience that doesn't quit. This happened in late October and it is now mid-February. I still worry about taking the fire extinguisher from the vacant building. Our need was great, but for me there is no justification that makes having taken someone else's property right.  I owe someone somewhere an extinguisher. I do not like carrying guilt in my heart. 

We can laugh about our experience now.

We laugh about how sore Tracy was the day after our trip because of the death grip he had on the steering wheel.  I laugh about how stupid we were to not just wait and make sure the insurance was taken care of before taking possession of the motorhome. Tracy laughs about my guilty conscience. 

We will make mistakes along the way. 

We will make lots of mistakes. I hope you will continue to join us on our journey. If you enjoy our blog leave us a comment in the comments section or share our posts on Facebook.

I have added a subscribe by email link on the right hand side of the blog. Subscribing will ensure you are notified of each new blog post and will never miss exciting new details of our journey. Our next post will about the naming of our motorhome, so check back next week or subscribe today.

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Rolling Turd Anyone?

 I will spare you the gory details of our hunt for an RV. We looked for weeks at new dealerships, used dealerships, and RV Trader adds. Our search took us as far south as Austin and as far north as Fort Worth. We had initially set our sights on finding a Montana fifth-wheel. We found a brand new Montana fifth-wheel for $15,000 under market value. It would have been great if anyone knew how to get rid the fish smell. There was the trailer that had a new paint job from the local high school shop class. There were awful sales people, and a couple that were very informative and helpful.

I really had no interest in a motor home. Every time we looked at one I had flash backs to my childhood and of spending time with my grandparents and their two poodles in the "Big Green Barf Wagon". I would lay awake at night when they took me camping and think of the movie National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. I had night mares of cousin Eddy dumping pooh everywhere while exclaiming "Shi**ers Full!" It echoed in my dreams over and over. 

I don't know exactly how it happened, but we decided to just go look at a motor home for sale by an individual in Joshua, Texas. We got up early on a sunny Saturday morning and set out to "just go look". Little did I know of the adventure that lay ahead. 

Side Note: At some point Texas developed a love affair with toll roads. Did you know there is a toll road in the middle of nowhere in Texas. I didn't either until we encountered it on this trip. It's called the Chisholm Trail Parkway and it runs north from just outside Cleburne, Texas all the way into Fort Worth, Texas. 

We made it to Joshua, the toll cost us $2.55 by the way, and met up with a gentleman named Mike, who was nice enough to let us look at his motor home. After about thirty minutes of tire kicking and the guys spitting the time came for a test drive. The three of us loaded up, and Motor Home Mike took us for a ride in the 31' Fleetwood Pace Arrow. Tracy had never ridden in a motorhome and was a little uneasy as Motor Home Mike took out across a bar ditch and jumped a curb to get on the road in front of his house. 

As the motorhome began to sway back and forth with each bump on the dirt road, I felt like a little kid again. I thought back to going on trips with my grandparents and how they were always so excited to take the motorhome out. I thought to myself "This isn't so bad. This motorhome is a lot nicer than the Big Green Barf Wagon."

I paid no attention to the conversation between Tracy and Motor Home Mike. I do recall hearing "Yeah, the breaks need a little work." I thought nothing of this because if there is anything Tracy can fix on a car, it's breaks. Breaks are his specialty when it comes to cars. No big deal. 

When we returned to Motor Home Mikes yard there was another 30 minutes of dickering. Then a deal was struck. My car was traded for a Fleetwood Pace Arrow motor home. That's right my car. The car that I really loved, bought and paid for by myself, the one place I got peace and quiet everyday, was traded for a used motor home in Joshua, Texas. Papers were signed, hands shook, and keys exchanged. 

The Big Lebowski

I had to tell myself "Trust your husband, he will take care of you." as we drove off leaving my old car behind.......

Remember nothing comes easy! The ride home was shear terror so be sure to check back next week. I will tell you about the big goose egg I got, my busted knee, stealing a fire extinguisher, and the very silent ride home. 

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