So we packed up what we thought we might need for our big Anchorage trip. We woke up fresh in the morning ready to hit the road! And Serenity wouldn’t start. 😮
In fact, she wouldn’t do anything. It was acting like the truck was getting no power at all. After a moment I went and tried the lights in the motorhome, and they were shining strong. Hmm… I immediately started trying to figure out what was wrong- and in desperation sent a text out to my newly acquainted, mechanically inclined, friendly neighborhood Redline mechanic. I knew it was a long shot and there was probably not a chance in heck he was going to answer- because Redline was closed that day…
…And out of the blue place that miracles are made of he called me back! He talked to me over the phone as I attempted to trouble shoot the issue. Eventually we tried running power directly from the battery to a solenoid switch I had located, and the moment both ends of the wire touched everything on the truck lit up…
…In the good way! The wipers started moving, the headlights came on, the monitor for the backup camera, and the heater fan. Luckily- we had figured out something. I thanked him profusely for his precious personal time, and decided to carry the wire and pliers with me and push on with the trip. Afterall, if we made it to Anchorage there would be vastly more options and resources for repair than we currently had. I deduced that the solenoid was locking up and not functioning correctly, and should research getting another one up the road.
So we were off! We had to do our trick only one more time on the trip when we first stopped to get fuel, but after that she turned over every time. I still was thinking the solenoid was a problem, but I should have payed more attention to the clues.
We had a wonderful trip! We did all kinds of fun things together and Serenity worked great on the drive up and the whole time we were up there. At one point we pulled in to the Diamond Center Mall, and as soon as we got out this Toyota RV came flying in next to us. This gentleman jumped out and said something along the lines of “I saw you and had to chase you down! You’re Toyota is awesome- it looks like a tank!” He was super excited- as he explained he had just bought his motorhome and was taking it for it’s first spin. He and his wife talked to us for about half and hour- as we gave each other tours of our rigs and talked about our dreams and future plans for them. The excited energy he exuded was contagious- and we had a blast meeting our first fellow Toyhome enthusiast! Wishing You and Your Wife are still having safe and happy travels out there my friend!
Another thing that was on our list was checking out the RV stores, and we drove to 4 different ones. One of them (ABC?) we drove into and the lady came out into the parking lot to ask us what we wanted. We inquired about parts and she looked at us like we were crazy and told us they didn’t do that. (They were listed on google being an RV part store) We thanked her and as we drove off I noticed she was super inquisitively staring at Serenity as we went. I assume it was because of the Gaco. I am still surprised more people aren’t sealing up their whole campers with the stuff…
Out of all the RV shops we went to, we ended up having the best luck at Alaska Performance RV-Marine. We ended up buying new RV skylights, and I was able to identify our finicky solenoid- it was called a battery isolator. They had lots of great products to choose from and the customer service on the floor was great. We definitely were inspired by a ton of their products, because it was the first time we had gotten to wander a RV parts supply store. We visited a few other places after that, and our RV store quest was complete.
That night we decided to stay outside the Diamond Mall. (I know… a bit tacky, but seriously- we were just happy to have access to some food, shopping, and entertainment!) We ended up checking out Dave & Busters for our first time- it was a blast. We still carry our card if we go there to keep storing up prize points. 😉 We played until closing time– and were happy to have a nice place to sleep right outside.
Everybody 
Was 
Kung-Fu 
Fighting!
Laura 
Wanted 
A 
Serious 
Picture 
Of 
Me 
So 
Of 
Course 
I 
Had 
To Oblige!
We ended up staying another night up in the big town- but Really, all we did was shop and mallrat during this first trip. We made the trip back home without any hiccups, excited by the results of our first big venture and we were officially hooked on the freedom. 🙂
Geoff Murphy 1/16/2020
Fun times!!! 😊