I expected in this post to be telling you all about kayaking in a sweet little lake. Ha, the reality of the last few days is far different than that idyllic scene!

After leaving the coast, I drove into Sylvia Lake State Park at exactly 2 PM, the official check-in time. It was a heavily wooded but small park with a few campsites clustered around a tiny lake. It was the first time that I have made a reservation in years, and I had to find my preassigned spot. It was long enough for my RV but there was almost no room to maneuver because the campground loop road was narrow and the sites were packed in tight. I tried for about 30 minutes to back in, with no luck. The campground host was not in so I decided to wait and hope that he/she could direct me as I backed in. However, as I pulled forward, I ripped one of my RV tires on a fallen tree. Yikes! I couldn’t go anywhere so I had to wait in the middle of the loop road for my insurance to send out someone to change the tire. If need be, I could have used my shop jack; however, I could not find a lug wrench. Anyway, that is what emergency roadside insurance is for! The park was not busy so only a couple of cars had to turn around and retreat. The tow truck guy came out pretty fast, and a camper who saw my plight came over and entertained me while I waited.

Once the spare was in place, I did not want to try again by myself and the host never showed up, so I left. I called the park the next day and asked for a refund since I could not get into their site. They were very nice and agreed to the refund.

Anyway, after the tire change, I drove to Shelton, WA, a decent sized city with a Walmart. I wanted to get a replacement spare tire ASAP! I found online that I could overnight at the nearby casino. Across the country, casinos are known for accommodating RV people who typically will go inside for a meal and some gambling. I never do either, but, with all their security cameras, I do feel like overnighting there is a safe bet, so I pulled in. The plan was to head to Walmart first thing in the morning.  

Another problem was presenting itself before I arrived at Sylvia Lake. I noticed in Olympic National Park that my RV batteries were not getting charged when I drove, which they are supposed to do. I did not have an electric hookup at my site so was planning on using the solar panel, but it was not charging them up either. As the batteries slowly dwindled, everything else stopped working, including the water pump and refrigerator.

I searched a bit online for some information on that problem while I was snuggled into the casino lot and, the next morning, I asked the Walmart technician to also check my RV batteries. Both had bad cells and were basically useless. So, I bought a new spare tire and two new batteries. Then everything in the RV worked again. As for the batteries, I figured it was just their time.

I decided to spend a second night at the casino so that I could see how the new batteries functioned overnight without an electrical hookup. As expected, by the next morning the batteries were down ¼. Okay, the next question was whether they would charge while I drove. I decided I would drive the 100 miles back to Sequim to answer this question. Since I often camp without electrical hookups this is extremely important because I rely on my daytime travel to top off the RV batteries.

I headed towards Sequim because I knew that if the batteries did not charge, I could pull into my local Elks Lodge, which has an RV park with electricity. This was a very good call, because, unfortunately, when I got to Sequim, the batteries had not charged back to 100%.

So, I set up at the Elks, my safe haven. I joined them for just this reason. I always had a place to go if I run into trouble. Besides, I need to check mail and take care of some other stuff while in Sequim. I was planning to be through here next week, anyway. 

After I plugged in there, the RV batteries went right back to 100%.  I spent over an hour reading RV blogs and forums looking for some clues as to why the batteries won’t charge back up when I drive.  It sounds like the problem may be with the van, maybe a fuse or another problem with the electrical connection between the van and the RV. I read about a tool that tells you if the connection is working properly, and I found one on Amazon for under $20 bucks. It arrives in only one day so I can start sleuthing tomorrow using that tool and also checking fuses. BTW, before you ask, I already checked the RV fuses and reset the circuit box. 

I can only hope that I can figure this out, but if my own investigation reveals nothing, I will have to take it to a shop. I may have had charging problems for quite some time, but, since I have been hooked up to a power source at RV parks, I never noticed. I do remember, however, when I had the RV in a shop in NM last August, the guy replaced some fuses in the van because the RV running lights were not coming on when connected to the van. Arrrrrggggggghhhhhh. 

So, tomorrow I will do what I can to find the problem. If it is the van, I can take it to my local auto mechanic. If it is the RV, I have to wait two weeks to get into the RV repair shop. I don’t plan on hanging around that long, though. I will just park the RV here at the Elks storage lot (after removing the battery cable from the posts) and travel with just the van until late June. After that, I fly to AK for a week, and after that, I can pick up the RV and head out to my first camp host gig. I will have electrical power there so I won’t have to figure out the problem until the fall when I am settled in again here. I just have to make sure the batteries stay above 50% or I will kill the new batteries too!

I have not given up on charging the batteries with my solar panel, and, after I do my sleuthing tomorrow, I will try that again as well. That is an acceptable solution short term, providing that I have sunny days.

Sorry for the ramble. I know that is more than many readers want to digest. However, other RV people will benefit from all the details I have laid down here and/or may be able to help me! Thanks for your patience and please send positive vibes and happy thoughts.