Accident aftermath.

All's well that ends well, except for my checkbook and except that there are still a few more things to take care of. The Tracker ABS is on the fritz (understandable) and the front wheels need wheel covers to shield the whatchamacallit center of the wheels from road debris. 

Upon my arrival at Roger's Half Acre at the BLM lands at Quartzsite, concerned Lazy Dazers streamed over to commiserate and see what happened. Everyone was so kind and supportive. And my cautionary tale is causing several other LD owners to reconsider their safety features.

The big RV show is in full swing at Quartzsite, known as Q for short, for obvious reasons. The RV show is in the "Big Tent" and its pretty big. There are plenty more RV related vendors outside the tent too, even if some of them are pretty tenuously related to RVing. My goal at the big tent was to research and purchase safety related items that my very scary experience pointed out to me that I needed. 

First was fire extinguishers, which I had been wanting anyway. I purchased three Fire Fight Products Class A and B extinguishers from Mac the Fire Guy. One for the kitchen, one in the RV driver's side door pocket, and one for the Tracker. I try not to have nightmares, realizing how extremely lucky I was that my vehicles didn't catch fire on the side of the road. 

Second purchase was a TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitor System). If I had had a TPMS it would have alerted me to a loss of tire pressure, and an increase in tire temperature long before the passing motorist was able to get my attention. I would have had much more time to react, had more options of where to pull over, had much less risk of fire, and much less damage to the Tracker. Even though the horse had already left, I decided to close this particular barn door, and purchase the system. My experience has more than a few of my fellow Lazy Dazers running over to the vendors at the tent and getting their own systems.

Third purchase was a Progressive Industries Power Surge Guard, hard wired into my rig. The portable ones are less expensive, but they are prone to getting stolen, or forgotten by careless owners. Campgrounds, particularly older ones which are the kind I like, commonly have power supply problems, low voltage or power surges primarily, which can damage all of the electronics in one's motorhome. These days, most of the RV systems have some circuit board somewhere in their innards. This is a problem I do not wish to encounter, but when I do, the surge guard will shut off power to the rig rather than let bad power get through. 

Speaking of which, my fourth purchase was a new ignition control board for the water heater. Yes, my water heater wouldn't light, even after a thorough cleaning (thanks, John), and it was clearly an electrical problem. Time for a new circuit board, and now its working fine. 

By now my checkbook is bleeding heavily, and my credit cards are melting. But, there is one more thing that I "need" that is only available at Q. It is a grill or burner windscreen for outdoor cooking. My previous attempts at outdoor cooking have been hampered by wind, and when is it not windy at campsites? I have a propane grill, and a butane single burner which both need shielding. I'd been cursorily looking in the Bay Area, but was not able to find anything suitable for camping. So I sprung for a GrillGuard. This thing is beautiful. The man who invented and markets it used to do assembly for Boeing, and it shows. The alminum sheets are heavy duty, the fastening system is elegant, there are no sharp edges, and the craftsmanship is impeccable. I've avoid sauteing in the confined space of my rig kitchen, but now I'll be able to rock my heat sources outside, where they belong.

The first purchases will do their jobs quietly, and I hope I don't need them. But, woohoo, now I can cook outside! Good eats to follow, and yes this might turn into a food blog, you never know!