Thursday. 03/30
A Ride to Blythe.
We drove to Blythe, Ca yesterday to get our Taxes done.
As we were heading west on I-10 the wind was coming from the southwest at about 20 MPH with strong gusts that were knocking us and the other vehicles all over. It was hard to stay in our lane.
Taxes.
We made it to Blythe safely and went to see our tax lady. For the first time in many years we are getting a refund. A mixed blessing as the reason for the refund was that we had a bunch of losses in our IRA’S. Of course the refund doesn’t make up for what we lost. Oh well, that’s life.
Sizzler for Lunch.
After leaving the tax place we stopped at Sizzler for lunch.
We had the Salad Bar. By the time we finished lunch we were stuffed.
A Stop at Ace Hardware.
After lunch we went to the big Ace Hardware store. I wanted to see if they had anything that I could use to help with the pipe repair job. Unfortunately in these big stores it is hard to find any one with any expertise to answer questions. I ended up purchasing the largest “Easy Out” they had. for $16.00.
Heading home.
By the time we left Blythe the wind had increased. We drove very carefully and made it home without being blown off the highway.
Borrowing a Pipe Wrench.
I don’t have a pipe wrench with me so I had to stop at Becky and Dennis’ to borrow one from Dennis as he has a lot of tools down here.
Hair Cuts.
After leaving B&D’s we went to our friend Debbie’s so I could get my semiannual hair cut. Patti also needed a trim.
We visited with Debbie for a while and headed for home.
Hot Temperature and High Winds.
By the time we got home the temperature was in the mid to high 80’s and the wind was howling. With gusts in the 40 to 50 mph range and blowing dust.
I decided that this was not a good day to work outside so I stayed inside for the rest of the day.
Friday 03/31.
Pipe Repair.
The wind howled all night shaking the RV but this morning it had calmed down a lot.
I got out early (around 9:00) to work on the pipe project. I decided to just try and unscrew the broken pipe from the tee. Of course as I expected it would, the pipe broke off at the tee.
I tried the expensive “Easy Out” that I bought at ACE but it was too small.
Now what?
I love Herb’s Hardware.
One thing that Quartzsite has that a lot of other towns don’t, is a really good hardware store. I don’t know why I go to any other hardware store when I need some thing special down here.
They have a bunch of friendly older guys working there with a lot of expertise.
When I walked in one of the guys asked if he could help me.
I explained my situation to him and after looking at some plastic slip connectors that I would have to cut the pipe to install, I asked him if they had anything like an large “easy out” that I could use on 3/4 inch pipe. He said that they had what he called a nipple extractor that would probably work to get the broken piece out of the tee.
I checked it out and decided that that was exactly what I needed.
It is officially called an internal pipe wrench. It works with a cam action that grips the inside of the pipe.
I bought it for $4 and change and took it home.
I inserted the tool in the pipe, got my long breaker bar with a couple of extensions and a 3/4 inch socket and it worked perfectly to extract the broken piece of pipe out of the tee.
Now I needed to re-thread the end of the long piece of pipe so off I went back to Herb’s. It turned out that they had a pipe threading machine there and put new threads on the pipe. It only cost me a buck for the new threads.
I went back to the RV and after putting some Rector Seal on the threads I screwed the pipe into the tee and waited for a while for the sealer to set. After about a half hour I turned on the main water valve and checked the connection at the tee.
NO LEAKS!!
I filled the hole in and let the water run to get any dirt out of the pipe that may have gotten in during repair.
Okay, that’s done.
Loading the Jeep.
I took a short break and then it was time to load the jeep.
We had a bunch of stuff in the shed; extra chairs, my old compressor, the camp boxes and the plywood platform that is normally in the jeep when the back seat isn’t installed and a bunch of other stuff. I was able to get it all in the jeep so now we are ready to head back to California.
Leaving AZ.
We will be leaving here tomorrow morning and going to Bullhead City, AZ where we will spend the night. On Sunday we will drive to Bakersfield, CA. We will spend the night there and on Monday morning we will drive from Bakersfield to Santa Rosa and home.
It has been a great season down here. We lad a lot of fun but it seemed to go by way to fast. We are looking forward to what next season will bring.
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