6 September — Lassen Volcanic National Park

Here we are in Lassen NP. There’s a long story about how we got here a day early. The plans we made on 09/04 were not to be!

Our kitchen sink has been leaking. We asked our RV storage place to fix it before we picked Diana up for this trip. When I arrived to pick her up, they said they could not find a leak! How can that be when a huge puddle appears under the coach every time we drain the sink?! I was not happy to leave on our trip with the sink leaking but I couldn’t do much at that point. So, on our trip I was trying to not use the kitchen drain. I filled up a container to wash dishes and another container to rinse them. Then I would put the water down the bathroom sink. I did not want other campers to be concerned that our sewage was making that big puddle at our campsite.

On the morning of 09/05 before we were scheduled to leave for the Azalea campground in Sequoia, I washed the dishes and, as I started to throw the wash water down the bathroom sink, I decided it would be a better idea to put it down the toilet–we were going to dump the tanks that day and more soapy water in the black tank, I figured, would be a good idea. As I poured the water down the toilet I saw my dishcloth slop into the toilet and disappear down the drain!!!!!! Now, that is pretty much a disaster because our tanks do not empty by gravity flow; they empty using a macerator that grinds everything as it pumps out the tank. Anything like a dishcloth will plug up the macerator. I was in big trouble!

I rode my bike to the ranger kiosk and asked if there was an RV service/repair person we could call. No luck! I called the RV Park that we originally planned to stop before Lassen thinking we could stop there for a night or 2 and have someone come to the park to retrieve the dishcloth. They said they did not have anyone to come to the park but they gave me the number of a repair shop that does some RV repair. (All of these calls take place at the visitor center pay phone using MANY quarters; our cell phones did not have service here.) The man I spoke with at the repair place said I need a “black water tank specialist” and he knew just the man. Just at that point my time on the pay phone ran out! So I had to run get more quarters. As I was doing that he called the tank specialist and discovered he’d moved to AZ. He suggested that I look for a repair shop in Fresno, the city at the bottom of the mountain from the park.

So, with long faces, we packed up and headed down the hill. At the bottom we pulled off when we had cell reception and started searching the Internet for “RV tank specialists” with NO luck. Howard thought there might be a chance he could fish the cloth out of the tank if he had some bailing wire. He plugged in “hardware store” in the GPS and found an Ace Hardware within a mile of where we were at that moment. (We were in the town of Sanger just outside of Fresno.) As we made the turn on our way to Ace, I saw a sign that said “RV Service and Repair.” I actually could not see a building so I thought it was probably an old sign. But then we saw a driveway that looked to be the way to the RV shop.

With pleading eyes and lots of begging, Frank, the owner, said they could start right on it. So Howard and I and the dogs decamped to the unairconditioned office and crossed our fingers that they could do this. We watched “D,” the repair guy, carry all sorts of tools and materials out to Diana. The toilet gets removed; the vehicle is jacked up; Howard says there are a million flies in Diana–I HATE flies. After 3 hours they must have decided that desperate times call for desperate measures. They drove Diana to an adjacent dirt lot and apparently opened up the underside of the tank and dumped the whole mess on the ground!!!! And there was the dishcloth! (At one point about 2 hours into the work Howard asked me if I was sure a dishcloth went down the toilet–I had to think real hard on that question but I was sure it had.) We don’t care if they created a toxic waste dump; we were happy that it was done. It took a bit more time to put everything back together and 4 hours and $480 later, at 5 pm, we were on the road. We tipped “D” $50 because the poor man had to work in 100 degree heat and in a stinking mess.

It was 2 1/2 hours to the RV park so off we go. The park is in Lodi and is called the Mokelumme Beach RV Park. Doesn’t that sound like a lovely place? NOT! The beach is actually a dirt stretch on this pond that looks out to the homeless camp across the water. There are only 3 sites for visitors; all other sites are rented long term. It was an incredibly sad looking place right next to the freeway with LOTS of freeway noise. And it was only $35! (Note the tone of sarcasm.) But it served the purpose of getting us within 4 hours of Lassen and here we are!

That night when we were finally able to relax at the “beach resort” we enjoyed rosé champagne. Howard made a quick dinner of soft tacos using left over grilled turkey thighs, feta cheese, salsa, sour cream and arugula.

We take our time getting on the road this morning. I wash up the dishes and ask Howard to look to see if the sink is still leaking. They were supposed to fix the leak yesterday along with the tank problem. It’s still leaking! Oh well–the most important thing got fixed.

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