Travels with The Rayman

 

This really is not fun anymore.  Rayman is out looking for the AAA guy who can’t seem to find us here at the RV park next to the fairgrounds in Corvallis, OR.  Snowy Corvallis, OR.  This is the snowy Corvallis that never snows so it has not invested in any snowplows.  None.  Nada.  And when a city does not invest in snowplows, the snow remains on the road.  Some of it turns to ice.  Some of it turns to slop.  Some of it melts and becomes, well, water.  And it makes it almost impossible to drive on even with chains.  Really, people, what are the city father’s (and mothers), thinking here?

A slight diversion.  So, well, we needed food yesterday.  It was Rayman’s birthday, a birthday he will never forget.  So, we braved the horrid conditions on the road and slipped and slid all the way to the grocery store.  And yes, we had our chains on the Fit.  We are located about 5 minutes from the store, but it managed to take us an hour to get there and back.  And we managed to get there and back alright but the clutch smelled funny.  Although, we can’t blame the clutch on the snow.  It started smelling in Phoenix, Oregon which is a burb of Ashland.  So, when we arrived here, the clutch was already a problem.

But, I digress, sort of.

We got to the store yesterday, and we got home yesterday.  This a.m. when we woke, the snow was beginning to break down a bit and we decided in the early afternoon to go to Albany, 20 minutes up the road to check out conditions and return some things to Target.  Well, then we decided to go to Eugene since when we escape this place with no plows, we will be traveling to Eugene, possibly.  The main roads are pretty good,  Side roads are still a mess.  So, we decided to take off the chains.  Well, easier said than done.  We pulled into the driveway for Hewlett Packard and parked the car.  Rayman got out and started working on the driver’s side.  I got out and worked on the passenger side.  We could not get them off.  I circled to his side and tried to assist.  Growling ensued.  The chain would not come off.  Rayman jacked up the car with a jack that he called, “pitiful”.  Still no luck.  I then sashayed around to the passenger side to look and compare and somehow the passenger side tire chain came off.  Divine intervention?  But try as we may, the other chain was not forthcoming.   So, we gave up and drove the car back to the RV park because Rayman wanted to get that chain off.   I was at the wheel driving when I noticed the “check engine light” on.  OMG.  What next?

So, Rayman decided if the chain wouldn’t come off the tire, the tire would come off the car.  And so it did.  However, the jack was such a piece of s*&t, that once the tire came off, Rayman could not get the tire back on.  The car sank somehow.  So, I called AAA.  The nice man informed me that they (AAA) were only responding to emergencies in Corvallis (and I think know why.  They can’t drive here either).  He said it would probably be tomorrow before help would arrive.  And our neighbors were out of the park so there was seemingly no help.

In the meantime, I was informed by the Rayman that the Invisibrake that we had installed so that the blinkers on the car signal at the same time the RV signals signal…that contraption’s wires under the car had come lose and they were on the ground.  OMG.  By this time, I was getting really getting concerned.  The clutch, the tire, the wires, the check engine light.  What would become of us?

As I was calling the RV park in Eugene (a back up in case we could escape someday), I received an incoming call.  It was a phone number from Irvine, CA.  Who could it be?  It was the AAA tow truck driver.  He was looking for us but couldn’t find us.  This caused Rayman to don his coat and run out to look for him I tried to explain where we were.  And that is where I started this story.

As it unfolded, Rayman found him and the AAA guy put our tire back on.  Then as I was sitting here composing this gruesome report, he asked me to fire up TDH and try the signals while he watched the Fit.  Eureka.  They worked after all.  Which led me to wonder, “Is the Rayman a drama queen?”

At this point, I think we need to start drinking.  Heavily.  Immediately.  If not sooner.  Because we still have a smelly clutch and a check engine warning light on.