The good news is: I bought a car to tow behind the RV. I had entered an internet used car search in the San Antonio area, and a local Ford dealer found a little 2001 Pontiac Sunfire: manual transmission, mileage 78,000, silver-colored, weighs about 2700 pounds. I called General Motors and they assured me that the car can be towed four-wheels-down, with no modifications.
Here's the bad news. I took the car to Wagner RV here in San Antonio to have them mount the tow plate on the car, and the hitch bar on the RV. Sonny, the owner, called Remco Towing (the ultimate tow experts here in the US), and, sure as hell, a lube pump must be added to ensure the transmission is protected. I should have called Remco myself before trusting the manufacturer of the car. Who knew, right? Another lesson taught; not necessarily learned, because "I should have..." is gonna be the title of my memoirs. I can't tell you how many times I should have (insert damn near anything here)....
Ok; I'll accept my punishment, which is gonna be about $800 worth of lube pump work. I'm going to smile every time I think of this and move on. What else can ya' do?
When I bought the RV back in November, Cindy and Kent were helping me with a name for it. Most RVers I know actually give their rigs names. I told them the RV is a Dutchmen Express, and Kent suggested a famous Dutch person. We were thinking about it when I blurted out "Van Gogh", then immediately realized what a perfect name it is for the RV. "Van GO"! I've named the toad (which is a play on the word "towed") "Oor", Dutch for "ear". As you can see by the photo above, Van GO has silver, black, bronze and gold "swooshes" on the design, and Oor is silver. They make a fine pair, don't they? And hey: look at that clear blue sky. Not exactly what I'm used to seeing in Houston.
So: I've ordered the lube pump, tow bar and tow plate and when they arrive, will have a friend from the Park follow me and Oor to Wagner RV to get the fuel pump and tow plate installed, which is about a two-day job. In the meantime, I'll leave Oor with Wagner and go back to the Park and stay in Van GO 'til Wagner's ready to install the tow bar. After everything's done, I should be ready to head west again.
On the domestic front, yesterday I made a big pot of stew. It's the first time I've done any big cooking, and it went well. Storage, however, of a big pot of stew is another matter entirely and called for some innovative thinking. Or so I thought. Come to find out, the pot fits in the tiny refrigerator just fine.
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