My House Smells Like Gas

 It started out as a lovely early morning in Quartzsite.  Little did I know what the day had in store for me.  It's so crazy, I'm laughing!  I had to, to keep my sanity!

I packed up, loaded up the kids and headed out for fuel at the Arco station, usually the cheapest on my entire trip.  While usually $2.30 or so, this time it was $3.99 a gallon.  Off I went, but gee, it sure took some time to stop at that light, and my rearview camera isn't working.  RATS!!  It's connected to my headlights, so I turned them on and off twelve times.  Nothing.

As I rounded the corner on the onramp, I noticed ..... hey ..... I don't have trailer lights.  Ding Ding Ding!!  You guys already figured it out.  I forgot to plug the trailer back in to the truck.  There's a learning curve here and I'm in kindergarten.

Here's the generator when it actually worked.  It's retribution towards me for apparently putting too much fuel in it was epic.

The drive itself was very nice under cloudy skies.  I arrived to my second home to find Doug and Nick still here trying to get some work done on their rig.  No problem at all ... they backed out and I backed in under the RV cover, then they pulled back in to await the repairman who had gone for a few more parts.  What could go wrong?

Everything of course!!  I got distracted, hit the wrong button on the "level it" keypad and it locked up.  No amount of cajoling would change it's mind.  Oh well .... I plugged it in and went inside my house.  Beep beep beep.  Oh yeah ..... one of those smoke detectors that's a hundred years old was scaring the daylights out of Cooper.  He was cowering in the corner.  

No worries little buddy, I'll fix it.  It took a ladder and fifteen minutes to get the battery in it, but it kept beeping.  I just LOVE duck tape.  I put a little piece over the battery door to hold it tight and it quit yelling at us.  

Back outside I retrieved a Christmas present from the front door and we partook of a petit fours or two.  That's when the REAL trouble began.  I walked back through the garage and smelled fuel ... VERY STRONG fuel.  

OH NO .... there it was, dripping from my truck.  What the heck?  I couldn't tell if it was diesel or gas, but it was really strong.  I grabbed a flashlight to look underneath and got lots of drops in my hair.  GREAT!!  Now I smell like gas.  You wouldn't think it could get worse, but it did.  

I finally decided it was coming from the bed of the truck.  Must be the little gas can I had in the tool box.  Nope ... it's just fine.  I went to the back and unlocked the generator, moving it to the floor.  HOLY COW!!!  It's leaking gas all over the truck bed, going towards the cab and running out underneath.  It's not just a little bit, it's a LOT!!!  How could that be?

Doug lifted it off, we put it in the wheelbarrow to catch the fuel and took it outside.  Oh my gosh!  No amount of wiping would clean up that mess nor lessen the smell.  Thanks to Doug, we figured out the problem.

Yes ... it got even worse!!  In the meantime, I had a little difficulty getting the inside heater to work.  I should have given up there, because when it did finally come on, my air return is right next to the garage door.  You guessed it!  Unknowingly, every time I went out the door, it sucked the lovely smell of gas into my house and spread it all around.  

About that time I went back out and noticed I left my trailer door open.  I closed it of course.  Then we heard it .... Doug's precious Yuma gave a yowl.  It's dark and we think it came from down the hill.  Coyote?  Javelina?  I ran to the house for my big flashlight and we searched the entire area calling for him.  No Yuma.  

At last Doug said maybe my trailer.  Nah ... he wouldn't go in there!  I opened the door, and sure enough, there he was, tail wagging.  Okay, I'm cooked ... tired ... stressed and ready to go hide.

I go inside to plug in my phone and watch a little TV.  The phone won't charge.  Gee, what else can go wrong.  It appears not one, but TWO of my kitchen outlets have decided to give up the ghost.  Of course I thought it was the phone.  It took almost 30 minutes to figure out that problem.  

That was the straw that broke the camels back.  I went to bed ... at least I have a nice soft bed.  HOWEVER, the fuel smell is so bad in here now that I couldn't sleep.  Today my truck will go to the car wash, I'll open all the windows and turn on the fan, and I will try to find out how to reset my leveling system without dropping the front of the rig to the ground.  Maybe, just maybe, I'll graduate to first grade on the learning curve.