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So our first excursion with the “King of the Road” went pretty well. We had a great time in Maine, met some fantastic people, saw lots of cool things, ate great food and most importantly made it home in one piece! We broke up the long drive by heading down the coast of Maine yesterday, taking in a whale watch, then camping on the southern coast of Maine last night and driving home today. There are so many things I want to write about...but I'm really, really tired and the motor home looks like a frat house on Sunday morning. We were doing a pretty good job of keeping things neat and organized until we left Belfast, but with the sightseeing, the boys and the electrical problems (yep, not solved, had to charge the battery last night and no headlights...again) it's a wreck. Dirty dishes in the sink, a lobster claw in the cup-holder and somebody's shorts are hanging from the lamp. In other words, a good time was had by all!

Just a couple quick pictures and thanks! We stayed at The Moorings RV Park, a terrific campground where we met some wonderful people. The boys made a friend and had a fabulous time on the beach catching crabs and sea stars with him and his family. It was great to have a friend for the boys to play with! We were fortunate to be camping next to a very nice couple from New Hampshire and had a great time visiting and getting to know them. Finally, I can't tell you what a pleasant surprise it was to return from our whale watch in Boothbay and find this note on our windshield:

Another wonderful couple who raised and survived camping with 4 boys! An added bonus of camping, seeing cool things and meeting great people!

Finally, a picture of the sunrise on Penobscot Bay Tuesday morning:

I hope to have one of a sunset over the Pacific to hang next to it soon!      

One Step Forward...Two Steps Back

The husband has spent the better part of 2 days now underneath the “King of the Road” and we sure have found some interesting things. The list of repairs is growing and growing. In addition to the electrical problems there is also a problem with the hot water heater and the oven. Both are non emergencies, but need to be repaired before we head out next summer. The bright spot...when testing out the hot water heater we discovered that the fire extinguisher is in fine working order. Yippee!

After our weekend adventure we inspected things a little more closely on Monday morning. We found this:

Now, I'm no auto mechanic, but I gotta think that wire may have been part of the problem. The husband replaced the alternator and that wire, charged up the battery and by Monday night we were able to get the King running pretty well. We were revving the engine, turning things on and off, and the battery was holding a charge. The headlights still didn't work, but otherwise, things were looking up! Then, quietly, the engine died again. No warning, just silence. Then nothing. Bummer.

Our fabulous teacher friend came over today to crawl around underneath the motor home and offer his problem solving skills:

Working together the 2 of them chased down and followed nearly every wire and fuse the King could throw at them. Somewhere, on the passenger side, a bit behind the front passenger tire, they found this:

Again, I'm certainly not a mechanic, but that just doesn't look good. Our fabulous friend will be back tomorrow and they are planning on replacing that wire and the slightly charred connector it is attached to. If all goes well, this will solve the problem and we can move on to the flaming water heater. If all goes the way they usually do, the headlights still won't work and we will have to find more wires to chase.

While the men have been sweating it out in the driveway, I've been inside, surfing the web for information on just this type of vehicle. I found this website:

http://www.tincantourists.com/

They have a theme song and I'm totally now following them on Twitter.  And according to their definition, The King is vintage. I don't no how I feel about that. The King was built the year I graduated from high school. If 1985 is vintage, what am I? The online dictionary I consulted gave 2 definitions for 'vintage' when used as an adjective, 1. Characterized by excellence, maturity, and enduring appeal; classic. And 2. Old or outmoded. I'm going with the first one.  

**UPDATE**  It's running and we have headlights!!  The alternator is also charging the battery.