Ninja Tony

Day 31
Cortez CO- Moab UT

Ever wake up in the morning and try to start your RV in a Wal-Mart parking lot but it just doesn't start? I know, happens all the time. 
There I am at a bright and early 0900. Turn the key and nothing. No noise of the engine turning. No click. Nothing. So I bust out my little tool bag and start going to work on the problem. Follow along as we diagnose our little parking lot conundrum.

1. Relays- First thing to check is that the electrical relay boxes are in working order. Do they make clicky noises? Yes. That's good. Next thing is to swap them with an identical box and make sure the other thing still works. OK, that's fine. Next step.
2. Check the starter for power. So it turns out  this is getting everything it needs. Well it must be a bad starter solnoid.
3. Take starter to O'Reillys and get a new one. The new guy who's a little high (we are in Colorado) goes to get a part. Then the seasoned guy will come up and ask if you want the starter bench tested. Heck yeah, I didn't know that was an option. Everything comes back ok.
4. Go back to the RV with the original starter you thought was bad and be puzzled for the next 1/2 an hour.
5. Call your buddy Tony and ask for guidance. Tony is a mechanic ninja who can talk you through the most complicated of problems and dumb it down so that even I can understand. He's able to dissect and troubleshoot the problem over the phone with nary a hesitation
6. Re-install all of the original parts without replacing a single thing.
7. Turn the key again and the RV starts right up. Ninja Tony explains that sometimes all parts of an electrical system are really OK, but just need to be re-cleaned and re-tightened for proper connection. 

Now it's time to leave our pavement boondocking spot and hit the road. Thanks to Ninja Tony and his mad troubleshooting skills life is back to normal. We are full throttle out of Colorado and burning northwest towards Utah looking for home. The rest of the evening is spent with me getting frustrated with Katie in the act of finding parking. 
We finally score a spot at Lone Mesa Campground after hours of looking around. It's a free place to call home and we are both ready to just call it a night. It wasnt' easy though. The road in was rough and parking spaces were minimal. I said a friendly hello to the neighbors and asked them if we could squeeze in just in front of them. They kindly obliged and our new parking spot was found in the glorious landscape of Utah.