SATISFACTION SHINE~Independence Repair

July 15th: We waited to hear from RV PRO as well as the Insurance Adjuster Joel - both were supposed to "get in touch this weekend": the weekend came and went, and there was no word from either.

Holland was not happy.

He had planned to drive to Vancouver this morning to rattle cages.

Holland phone started ringing. After the third alert, he groggily reached for it … and immediately sat up, listening, and ended the convo with "I'll be right there."

I've never seen wake up so fast.

He was not happy.

RV PRO had started working on Independence without Holland being present - as agreed upon.

He was tearing up the freeway in a dark mood.

I was quiet: and praying. Praying Elohim would go before us and prepare the way to get things settled amicably. Praying Elohim's Will would be done: I always want to be in His Will regardless of our plans - our plans may not be in agreement with Elohim's Plan.

When we arrived, we saw that Independence was not sitting in her usual parked space: Holland started looking around for her - when he spotted a piece of her … he marched off in that direction.

RV PRO crewmen have moved Independence to a work bay …

Independence's 'nose' was showing - and Holland marched in that direction.

Holland jumped out of bed & hustled me onto the freeway …

Holland is going to be flexing his $$$$ muscles this morning.

Heads were gonna roll.

He was in the repair bay for a good 45 minutes. I watched the Bay opening to see what mood he would be coming out, in.

Thankfully, his blood pressure was not spiked.

He looked satisfied.

RV PRO is going to do what Holland is insisting …

Joel is the snafu.

Joel was not going to be satisfied … but the total repair tab would be in the range Joel was insistent on. And I'm pretty sure Holland will be shopping for another Insurance Coverage when the dust from this dust-up settles.

Holland does not like to be jerked around - especially by a jerk ;-)

Insurance Adjuster Joel's cutoff price, is $30,000: a $35,000 repair cost would effectively {total} Independence … and the Insurance Co. will not go that far. But, Holland looked at RV PRO's repair spreadsheet itemizing everything, and he says he's satisfied with the work scheduled to be done - and the price listed for each repair; his whole working life has been in construction, so he's familiar with the process and knows what to look for concerning labor and costs. The final cost will be slightly under Joel's cutoff quote.

Holland felt sure the RV would be totaled - and he was right; but apparently Elohim has other plans for us concerning this issue. I'm okay either way.

Work could be wrapped up in a month's time.

Plans on all ends are moving forward …

When we got back to Woodland, we rested for an hour or two; and continued discussing something Holland is considering.

Holland needs to be busy; he told me this when we first married - and it really hit home, with understanding, the entire first year of our marriage. Hauling Independence around - then sitting around relaxing his aching body just wasn't cutting it: he needs to be busy.

Inactive retirement makes him edgy, and edginess makes him snappy - which in turn, makes me snappy.

So, he is actively working on a solution to that undesirable looping snappy issue.

And I am supporting him in this venture he is setting in place: it could be a lot of fun for the both of us :-)

Then we went to the river - this is becoming an evening routine.

Collective Soul - Shine/Lyrics: 

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp5-xfQ8tKY)

Holland relaxes around water … and I'm learning to. We spent 1-1/2 hours parked on the beach, as close to the waves as we could safely get with Betsy; watching the busy river commerce, relaxing to the soft swooshing of waves gently breaking against the sand, and checked off things that need to be done this week in preparation for Holland's new adventure.

The proposed busy work being discussed, is a crucial step forward in this part of the new life I am creating with my new husband.

So, here I go – I’m not sure what will happen; but here I go.

One foot in front of the other, into the future.

I’m doing better with meeting new people and engaging in unfamiliar activities, but it’s still difficult for me: new situations and new people can be fun and filled with wonderous excitement … but they can also be scary, overwhelming, and stressful.

Chillin' at our favorite local stretch of sand ..

A heavy-laden Tugboat action.

A River Guide pulled up on the beach & collected a father with 2 young sons.

2 Tugs slide past each other.

The Columbia River was very busy today ;-)

This boat banked & hooked to the truck trailer, behind us.

Leaving the riverside, we watched busy work in the fields that span this end of Woodland's labyrinth of dike roads - hayfields, grain fields, vineyards, and small beef farms, are dedicated to specific rural area.

I like it :-)

This end of diked Woodland is farm land.

I also like where our life is going.

I like that we are finally moving past the angsts, and structuring a satisfactory Life Together where we will be pulling forward together; instead of yanking each other's chain, pulling in different directions.

We have learned to lessen our individual expectations and work on what's best for US as WHOLE.

(((THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, FATHER!)))

Tomorrow morning we begin setting The Plan in actual motion: we are excited :-)

FOUR WEEK DEADLINE; Vancouver-WA

Living in Woodland for a few months is actually an answer to prayer … I like Woodland, and off-n-on thought it would be kinda nice to live here; Elohim answered that musing of mine, by putting Holland in my life - and arranging for me to live in Woodland; I'm grateful.

BUT

We want our road gypsy home back.

The first week of motel living was fun. It was a new experience for me, and Holland was liking the open room environment. The Insurance representative had called, and we were assured he was "on it".

The second week wasn't bad either; but communication between RV PRO in Vancouver, us in Woodland, and Joel on the east Coast had come to a dead halt with the approaching holiday - phone calls and texts were blatantly ignored, so we were not being informed about progress in Vancouver. He had driven up there twice during this week, and couldn't get information out of anyone: the Office girl was no help, either. Holland was not happy.

The prospect of this week's stay is wearing thin - we are paying a hefty rental fee with a limited income (all other motels are steeply out of our budget): so, last night, Holland decided to drive to Vancouver this morning to fetch Independence … and take it where someone may actually get busy settling accounts & working on repairs issues (he had already spoken to two other RV Shops, this weekend, that were willing to help), so we can get back to living in our home again.

Hopefully down South. He is not keen on PNW winters spent in an RV - and I agree, having lived through several winters in another 5th Wheel RV from 1995 to 2001 with my first husband and granddaughter, during her infancy through 6th year. I don't mind the RV life … but I, like my new husband, do not like the body aches or constant chill of PNW winters.

We need the road damage to (and our towing concerns about) Independence to be satisfactorily addressed so we can get on getting on, instead of living in expensive and clueless limbo.

Neither one of us are good at waiting - and neither one of us like being jerked around.

I am 100% behind Holland concerning this issue.

Vancouver-WA from Woodland-WA; 19 min (17.5 mi) via I-5 S

When we arrived at our destination point to hook up … the battery was dead. Holland hunted someone down to jazz the battery back up so we could hook up and haul away. While waiting, he received a call for Joel saying RV PRO had sent him memos with repairs costs that included roof and pin box work. Holland said, "How can they possibly give repairs quotes when they haven't even removed the nose to inspect the pin box! I'm standing right here looking at my RV, and the nose is still intact - it hasn't been inspected, at all. They've had our home for three weeks and all we've gotten was motel room fees. If the roof and pin box aren't scheduled to be repaired, I can't safely tow my RV: these are my main concerns." Joel said the motel fees could be reimbursed, and he'd get back with RV PRO as soon as both men hung up their phones; letting Holland know something one way or the other, by the end of this week.

3 weeks of sitting & waiting; we planned to kidnap it, but the battery was run dead.

As we were leaving Vancouver, Holland received a phone call from RV PRO, assuring Holland that the roof and pin box would "most assuredly be  taken care of, as requested"; and telling Holland "the nose would be removed this week, inspected, and a notation sent off; I'm gonna call Joel right now." Holland then said, "Fine. I'll drive up towards the end of this week to see how things are progressing."

Holland was establishing a four week deadline. And I'm in agreement: this needs to get underway and wrapped up.

Hopefully a fire was kindled under RV PRO's butts, and things will start moving along.

When we got back to Woodland, the outside temperature was hot, so we let the day cool some, before Holland suggested a drive.

We took a drive around the backside of Woodland; Holland has fished the river here, and passed through jetting between jobs … and I had visited a Tulip Farm & a Lilac Garden solo lobo, a few years back; as well as passing through the backroads on my solo lobo drives to my Messianic Fellowship in Vancouver - and had done Winter Bazaars here for decades: but neither of us had ever actually explored Woodland, before today. Our individual ventures here were always with a specific destination in mind, and we never deviated from those destinations.

Today we broadened our recent explorations: and Holland gave me another peek into his Life :-)

Holland had spent a lot of past fishing hours here … and he shared this place (as well as the fishing stories) with me today.

Deep waters - 50 ft deep shoreline; 90 ft deep by the pylons.

Green Mountain in the distance - for decades I spent a lot of time driving backroads, up there.

Heat Wave on 'til tomorrow evening.

Back at the motel again, I dug into the food cache and tried something new:

Something new; it sounds interesting; soba noodles, beef bits, cabbage, cilantro … a definite repeat ;-)

Today was informative.

Today was filled with curiosity.

Today was fun.

A GAME OF NUMBERS; Woodland-WA

We had planned last night to go to Vancouver this morning - before the morning phone call. Holland received a call from a man in Seattle giving him a quote for the repairs to Independence … none of that sounded right (quote or location), so we drove straight to Vancouver to find out what was going on.

Holland worked in construction for decades; he would know pricing on materials.

The drive went smoothly and convo was enjoyable.

I waited in Betsy while Holland paid a visit to the Office.

Repair quote sounds pretty low, so to Vancouver we go …

$21,000.00 is the quote for full inspection and repairs …

Vancouver-WA from Woodland-WA; 19 min (17.5 mi) via I-5 S

RV Pro; #418 NE Repass Rd Ste A1, Vancouver, WA

Holland making sure all the boxes were checked & match the repair quote.

I watched clouds while I waited … fat, fluffy, heavy, & low floating clouds ;-)

When he came back to Betsy, he said they had done a thorough inspection, and the quotes were right - so, now all we are waiting for is the Insurance inspector to check Independence out and submit his quotes. Independence will be repaired, not totaled.

Holland says the repair quote was correct.

It's a numbers game of waiting until everyone involved in the {fix} has had a look & an opinion.

Both the RV Repair Shop & the Insurance Rep's are winners; we want to get a good deal, too.

On another note, Holland is working on marriage repairs also; it's been 14 days without alcohol or Vicodin - the withdrawals are strong, but so has he been. My Taurus swan man did not like reading the posts his feisty Capricorn posted about his behavior: he said, "I do not appreciate what you posted for everyone to read." I replied, "I do not like living through what I posted for people to read." 

Things started changing yesterday afternoon.

We will be here in Woodland, until the 21st, then possibly in Kalama for a few weeks. After that, we don't know where we will be … but we know we will be working things out together - the hardest hurdles are being cleared, and everything else looks promising :-)