California Biker Lawyer Norman Gregory Fernandez riding around a curve on Mulholland Highway

I am typing the this short blog post from the dining room table of my RV in a RV park in Tuscon, Arizona. Yes, my trip around the USA has begun.

My trip was supposed to start on July 15, 2012, but due to unforseen circumstances and a last minute repair that needed to be made to my RV, I did not depart my home in Acton, CA until around 9:30pm on Wenesday night, July 18, 2012, 3 days and about 13 hours later than my original plan.

I contemplated just starting out on the morning of  July 19, 2012, but I knew that if I did not leave, I would never leave, so I left. When I got to Blythe, CA, I was wiped out, so I decided to pull my rig into a truck stop with all of the other trucks, fire up the generator, and crash out in my rig parked in line with all of the truckers.

I woke up in the morning and got back on the road around 10:30am. Another glitch arose while on the road, this time I discovered that my generator which ran all night in Blythe, would not start up. It was cranking, but not starting. I decided to stop at the Camping World in Pheonix, AZ to see if there was somthing that they could do. What a mistake that was.

First off when I got to the Camping World parking lot, I discovered that my generator started. I figured that I have either some heat problem, a clogged air filter, or maybe a clog in the fuel system. I figured I would have them check it out and I would be back on the road; wrong…………..

At Camping World it was probably over 100 degrees yesterday in Phoenix, and the humidity was off the charts. It felt like I was in a Sauna. Second, when the tech came out to check the generator from Camping World, it started like 4 times in a row with no problem. I should have told him to just forget it and that everything was ok. Finally after having this guy mess with my generator a bunch of times, he got it to fail. Great………. I sat in the friggen heat for hours waiting for this guy to fix the generator. The generator runs the central air so I could not run the air the whole time he was working on it. Since I have all of my possessions in the RV I was not about to let him stay in it by himself.

The tech from Camping World finally shows up with his manager to tell me that they thought the problem with the generator was a coil or a circuit board, and that I should call the local Koeler generator factory authorized dealer and service rep. After the guys from Camping World played with my generator, I could not start it all all. I was freaking out in the Arizona heat and contemplating returning home before I got too far away.

I called the Koeler dealer and at first got a voicemail, and then after trying multiple times, I  finally spoke to someone who told me that their service guy had left for the day, it was only 4pm, and that the service guy said he was booked for the next day. I told them my situation but they did not seem to care. Talk about shitty customer service, I decided to move on.

Suffice is to say, I decided to head to Tucson and take my chances there. After stopping at Walmart in Phoenix to stock up on water which I drank in great quantities due to the heat, I decided to try the generator again; thank god it started.

I know I have some kind of heat problem with the generator, but it is not going to ruin my trip. As long as I can get it to start after it cools off, I am ok with that, especially since I will stay at RV parks like the one I am at right now, and they provide me with the 50 amp service my RV requires.

Let me tell you about the RV park I am at right now, it is awesome. The front office closed at around 8pm. I called them from the Walmart parking lot at around 7pm to tell them that I was a member of a certain RV club and that I was on my way. My RV club membership gives me 50% off on all member RV parks. I was told my fee for the nights stay was $18…….. awesome!

They kept the office open for me. They knew I was in a 35 foot class A with a 10 foot motorcycle trailer. They set me up in a drive through space with easy hookups in a class operation.

The manager gave me a bag of apples and told me he would keep the pool open for me. Once I hooked up to electrical, water, and sewer, I threw on my bathing suit and went to the pool and jumped in. All I can say is ahhhhh what a relief. There is nothing like floating in a pool looking at the Tuscon, Arizona sky, knowing that an epic journey is ahead.

There is no way in hell you will ever meet nicer people while traveling, then the ones you meet doing the RV thing. I used to think bikers were the best, well RV’ers are right up there on top.

So even though my trip got off to a rocky start, I will jump into bed in a few, wake up early, have some breakfast, and get back on the road in the morning. I anticipate spending the night either in New Mexico or possibly Texas depending on how far I go.

For me this trip is not about rushing, it is about quality, just like my motorcycle trips.

Good night for now folks. look for another update soon.

By California Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., July 20, 2012