Altoona, IA - Refrigerator Saga 2

We waited and finally the day for our new refrigerator came. The delivery truck came, Gary had the front door unhinged and open as far as it would go. We all looked at it and - NOPE - it wasn't going to come in. We all look at everything: the door was wide enough but the dashboard was angled in and the refrigerator couldn’t go over it without hitting the cupboards above it. So, the guys took it back to the store and we’ll work on Plan B - coming in through the driver’s side window. Yep, the window. Right over the steering wheel.

So, to skip ahead to the second delivery. Gary’s brother-in-law had made us some small platforms, higher than the steering wheel so that the refrigerator can rest on it while is coming in and won’t have to rest on the steering wheel. Here they are, looking towards the driver’s window. Taller than the steering wheel so the refrigerator won’t have to rest on that.

Gary has the window off, we’ve pulled into the circle we’re camped on so that the delivery truck can get perpendicular to the RV and the window.

The plan is that 3 guys will lift it into the RV through the window on its back with the bottom coming first. One guy will stay inside and guide it in and then rest it on the platforms. Then 2 guys will come inside and all three on the inside will pull it through and set it up. That’s the plan.

Cathy and Tom came over at 1:30 and Cathy had brought quite a spread of food. She knows that I’m a bit handicapped here for food. She has buns, delicous cherry-wood smoked ham, chips (2 kinds) chicken salad and spring salad, Monster cookies and several drinks. Like I said a ‘spread.’ And, we enjoyed every bite.

Now, we’re fed, the RV is ready, the platforms are in place. Finally at 3:00, the delivery truck came. Gary rushed out to explain how it was going to happen. One guy. That’s Joe, he was with the first delivery when we couldn’t get it in the front door. He’s here for the second one, too. The other guy on the first delivery is ‘on vacation’ today. Hmmm. I’m thinkin’ he told them, ‘if that RV refrigerator comes in - tell them I’m on vacation.’ Nah, probably not. He was pretty congenial and wanted to get it in the first time. We gave the two guys a tip since we knew this delivery was a bit unusual and would require more than usual.

So, here are our pictures. The delivery truck came and is getting as close to the RV as it can.

Here’s Tom inside the RV resting on one of his platforms waiting for the guys to take the doors off the refrigerator and push it in.

They work inside the truck on the refrigerator.

And, here it comes towards the window. Tom is waiting.

He grabs it and rests it on the platform.

Gary and one of the delivery guys rush in to help him move it further into the RV. The other guy, Joe, is outside holding it with Tom.

Here it is, in the RV.

Hey, at least it's in.

I’ll have more pictures later. The saga is not done. There are a few more twists and turns.

Altoona, IA - Refrigerator Saga 1

Well, I said that I was going to give the blog a rest but I left it just as we were trying to get a new refrigerator into our RV. And it's too good a story and I have cool pictures of what we did so I'm continuing with the refrigerator saga.

We needed one that was <69” tall which limited us quite a bit. I went on line and checked the applioance manufacturers that I knew of: GE, LG, Frigidaire, Whirlpool, Amana, Maytag, Samsung (which lots of others with RV’s have used to replace their old refrigerator and found: Whirlpool had 3. So, we have a new Whirlpool coming - in 14 days.
Gary worked hard to get ready for the new refrigerator. He took all the drawers out of the kitchen so he could re-route the porpane tube in back of the old refrigerator. We wanted it to come into the living room so we could eventually install a propane heater.

Not only did he find the propane tubing, he found lots of wiring. Seems that Winebago makes a wiring harness for the largest size of RV and then installs it in smaller ones. We must have the wiring for a 45’ RV and we’re just a 34’ RV.

Drawers all over the house.

And, stuff all over my kitchen counter.

Gary has spent so much time in the old refrigerator niche that we’ve begun to call it the ‘Man Cave.’ Here’s he’s covered the two refrigerator vent holes which he can use for entry to the new refirgerator.

He works on taking the driver’s side window out. Here he is prying the putty between the window and the frame loose. Tough putty. Commercial grade putty. But, it worked, we never had a leak.

And, the window is out.

We unbolt the driver’s and passenger’e seats. Gotta get them out of the way. Not a lot of place to put them in an RV - how about in the middle of the floor.

Gary’s a neat guy - well, maybe he just wants to know where each of these screws goes when he tries to put them back in. But, who said he could use my deviled egg carrier to do it?

I’ve lived with him too long. I put the chair bolts on a paper towel and labeled them in blue ink: here are the passenger bolts.

On the other hand, we’ve put new states and provinces on our RV map.

We’ve washed and waxed the RV so that the sun shines and reflects off the side.

And, we’ve enjoyed the beautiful Iowa sunsets.