Day 2 Feb 17 Friday

It’s Daylight and the problem with the water tank plug continues.  I can’t get it to screw in far enough to seal. I’ll have to take it to a shop.  I will try to find a Camping World or I will go to McKay RV Services in Albany where I have been before, they do good reliable work.  We have water in the water tank so we just turn on the pump to get it, no hot water of course.  So, out of the Kelso Elks at 44217 miles @ 10:40.  We almost immediately hit a closure of 2 of the 3 driving lanes and a long backup; it took us 1 hour to go 20 miles, not a great start.   Into Flying J in Oregon at 1:00 @ 44287 miles & filled up at $2.24 a gallon less 5 cents I get off using my Flying J charge card.  We also got a foot long sub sandwich on sale at their Subway for lunch.  There was nowhere to park our rig there so we left at 1:40.  It took longer this gas stop because we had to wait for someone to come & fill the tank, Oregon doesn’t allow self serve and it takes a while to put in 62 gallons plus the lunch shopping. We found a rest area at 2:15 at 44329 mi, for lunch and back on road at 2:45.  Then off again to McKay RV Services arriving at 2:50 @ 44329 mi. They found that the internal threads were damaged probably by someone trying to get a stuck plug out with a screwdriver.  On route there thanks to potholes and rough road we also lost the catch that holds the water heater access door closed.  They were able to use a tap to ream out the threads so they could get the plug back in. All they charged me was $5.00 for the door catch I purchased. Finally something went well ! Out at 3:20 and down the road to the Albany Fred Meyer at 44335 mi where we got groceries & a new one year phone card as our year time expires in March. We thought of staying overnight at Fred Meyer, (I asked & it was OK), but we both wanted to get to Seven Feathers Casino RV Park with their hot tub & swimming pool.  So off we went, leaving Albany at 4:50 and finally arriving in the dark at 7:05 at 44469 mi.  We hooked up & headed for a relaxing hot tub, Sheila even swam a while in the pool. Then a late supper in the RV and to try to catch up on emails, blog entries and logging my expenses. I have decided that no more driving in the dark on winding roads going up & down hills.  I was wishing we had Ken with his great night vision with us. Also, so far the water heater plug seems to be holding fine, no leaks.

252 miles - close to 6 hrs with lots of stops, starts,