Repairs ☹️
On Sunday night, we stayed at Moose Creek Campground along the Klondike Highway. It was a great campground, except that the large trees interfered with our Starlink satellite internet signal. But it was the first time we had a campfire in several weeks, which Greg celebrated by making S'mores.
The next morning, the diesel burner failed. Again. Since we were driving, we used the electric element to heat water for a shower, but we can only do that for a few hours unless the campground has power.
Two separate groups told us that we had to stop at Braeburn Lodge along the drive to Whitehorse for cinnamon buns. We heard that their cinnamon buns are huge, perhaps large enough for an entire family. Our verdict: they were giant as promised, but they were the second best cinnamon buns of the trip. (They were also the second cinnamon buns of the trip...). They were too sweet and slightly stale. Go instead to the Chicken Creek Cafe in Chicken, Alaska.
When we reached Whitehorse, Amy did laundry at the campground while Greg ran errands. The RV was absolutely filthy after driving the unpaved Dempster Highway, so one of the first stops was the local car wash. (Sorry, we didn't think to take before-and-after photos). Next, Greg went to a shop that he contacted about repairing the chip on the windshield glass. They were no longer able to fix it on Monday, so they said to return late Tuesday morning.
Since the vehicle was clean, Greg climbed underneath to try to figure out the problem with the diesel heater. While Greg was looking around, he saw that one of the vehicle suspension arms was dangling with no bolt to connect it to the vehicle!! Greg carefully drove the vehicle to a tire shop, who said they couldn't fix it but offered him a few zip-ties as band-aid solution. The next shop said "I won't even look at a Mercedes. Go to John's Auto Repair." It was not easy to find John's Auto Repair: they didn't answer their phone, their website no longer exists, and one of their street addresses was wrong. Greg eventually found the shop, and John said that they couldn't look at the problem until October. "For one bolt?" Greg asked. Right, not until October. But John sent Greg to Alaska Highway Services. Finally, Greg found a friendly Canadian, who fixed the problem in a matter of minutes and didn't even charge Greg for the bolt or even for his time. Finally, one repair complete!
After dinner, Greg realized he needed some parts to work on the heater, so Amy and Greg drove to the Canadian Tire store. In the parking lot was a tent with a guy doing windshield chip repairs. After we bought the parts, we drove over to the tent. Although it was late, the guy said it would be no problem and he could fix the windshield while we waited. When he inspected the windshield, he found a second, smaller rock chip. "You drove on the Dempster Highway, right?" How did you ever know! While we waited, his 10-year-old daughter Maria came by and talked to us about her two businesses: one to clean bugs off cars, the other to offer advice. We were just at the car wash so we didn't have bugs, but we did pay Maria CAD $1 to get 3 pieces of advice: where is the best place for dessert in Whitehorse ("Boston Pizza"), where is a good place to visit in Whitehorse ("Chadburn Lake and Carcross"), and what do you like best about Whitehorse ("the sunsets"). We said how much we liked visiting Carcross when we were here in June. Maria was adorable, and it was a great way to pass the time while her father repaired the windshield chips. Two repairs complete!
Unfortunately, the rest of the repair story isn't happy. Greg opened the burner assembly again (the 3rd time this trip) and the diesel glow plug was melted. Next, it seems that the burner overheated and made it nearly impossible to reassemble. And it still will not light. The electric element still works, but again, the vehicle batteries only have enough power to heat the vehicle for about 4 hours. It's beyond Greg's repair skills, and we've found that almost no repair shops will service this specific heater. Fortunately, we're in the last few weeks of the trip, and the weather is not too cold yet. So between the mild weather, the battery and campground power, we should be able to get home, but it's still annoying. Greg just emailed the heater manufacturer to schedule service for when we return.
Greg's cousin Rick once told us, "An RV is like a home that goes through an earthquake every time you drive". Truer words have not been spoken.