I have had a few Electrical Demons lately that I felt are blog-worthy. I know that someday, someone will have the same issue and start out on a feverish Google hunt for a fix to the problem. Seems like a reasonable thing to do, as that is what I did

Getting someone to scrub your battery tray is much easier than doing it yourself!

The picture above is Damien helping me install new house batteries. We have only had the coach for about six months, but it sat on the dealer's lot for quite a while, and they obviously took it out to shows and such. I am sure the batteries were neglected, as they lost their charge very quickly. We went to Sam's Club and found the exact replacements for ~$56 each. They are Interstate 6V - the exact ones that came standard with the coach.

The two main issues I have had to deal with: a dead 12V system in the entire coach, and, a week or so later, a dead refrigerator. As usual, Monaco Tech Support was a great, and walked me through solutions. Click for pictures and story...

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What a night! Not that we go out and not expect to have a great evening, but this one turned out to be extremely unexpected. Those are usually the best

Ang and I decided to go downtown to check out the scene - find some food and drink, check out some old buildings, walk past the artsy shops. We asked Jill (AKA: Garmin Nuvi 350 GPS) where to go, and she led us to a little lounge/restaurant called Swig. When we got there, we were a little confused as to where to go, as we saw the sign, but no indication where Swig was. Ends up Swig is now called Fusion (or 32 Steps or something).

We venture inside and find out we have the place all to ourselves. Sometimes that can be a warning sign, but this turned out to be killer. We had some cocktails, and the bartender showed us around the whole place. There were three floors of areas - the restaurant, a couple of little lounges, a nightclub, outdoor patios. Very cool, and decorated as I would if I were to own a lounge.

We visited with Adam the bartender - a cross between Fred Savage and Billy Corrigan - for a bit, then ordered an amazing sushi roll. Reminded us of what we use to get at Sato Sushi in San Jose. Good stuff. We were beginning to enjoy this downtown area. Little did we know...

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I'm getting too old for Gonzo Driving anymore. It appears that it is necessary for us to get across the country, however, because we end up having so much fun, we need to scoot to the next place

Well, there is also the weather. I forgot that when planning to drive across the nation's midsection. Tornadoes? Lightning? Flooding? And to think, I was working on conditioning myself for heat and humidity.

This is our parting shot. Damien and Michelle and us split off in Oklahoma so they could continue on their journey north, and us to the west. It was a sad parting, as we were always "home" when we were with them. We love D&M, and parting at a roadside rest area, heading into a red Trapezoid of Death (tornado warning section on weather.com), did not seem like a fitting departure. The oddest casino experience, however, was much better suited for bidding our farewell...

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Thackerville, Oklahoma, more properly

Driving west and we decided not to mess with the floods and tornados and rain and hail and mass destruction. Hunkering down in a casino parking lot for the night before heading back out. We are hoping that the big mess misses us, but we have a fully stocked bar and Damien and Michelle with us, and right next to a casino, so at least it will be easier to deal with things...

--kev