Hwy 58 to Konorock

 August 23 2023

Millie and I made a slight error in our schedule; luckily it became an extra day. Millie told everyone we were leaving today and going to Raccoon Branch, a federal campground near Konorock Virginia. I’m the one who made the itinerary, but I said ok and never checked the calendar. It did seem like we rushed around in order to get the cemetery work done and meet with family on the day the monuments were set.

Late in the afternoon I mentioned that I didn’t think we were supposed to leave until Thursday. Finally we checked our appointment book and sure enough, we were prepping for departure a day early. We briefly discussed leaving anyhow, but there is a problem with the RV and if I was going to be able to repair it on the road, Martinsville has a lot more parts stores than Konorock which has none.

You may remember I replaced the propane lines that run from the tanks to the regulator at Tom Johnson Camping Center in Marion NC. What I didn’t tell you is the original leaking hoses each had a check ball in the regulator end of the hose. I assumed this was a run away valve to top propane flow in the even of a major leak. I know Never assume anything! It was an educated guess ok, but it turned out it was a wrong guess. 

Not a good sign!

At the time everything appeared to be normal and on the next morning when we left the propane refrigerator flame lit as normal. When we got to Martinsville, the check system light was illuminated on the frig. Troubleshooting revealed I was getting no propane thru the regulator. None of the run away valve reset procedures did anything, I surmise (that’s a fancy word for assume, I know....I know) the original hoses with the built in valves were an essential component of the dual auto switch over regulator. I do not know of any other reason the regulator just stopped working. 

There is no RV dealer in Martinsville, but we checked every store we thought might have a replacement, no luck on that. I looked into an Amazon delivery to Betty’s house in Konorock. The one day service I’m used to at home would be a week delivery up here in the mountains. 

I should say it was not necessary to repair the frig, it works fine on 120 volt AC current when we are plugged in to power in the campground and acts as a big cooler when traveling. It is not absolutely necessary to switch to propane when rolling down the road, in fact some of the YouTube “experts” (and I’m being facetious) warn of extreme danger in driving with the propane on. 

When it comes to "expert" advice always get another opinion.

If it wasn’t mean to be used in motion, the manufacturers fearing liability would have a lock out device and/or six pages of warnings in the owner’s manual. We have driven over 100,000 miles in three different RV’s with the frig running with no problems what so ever.

Back to the repair, I got the bright idea to substitute a gas grill regulator for the dual tank one. The propane had already leaked out of one tank and I will only be using one for the rest of the trip. We purchased a gas grill regulator from Lowes and quickly installed it. All the propane appliances fired right up, problem solved, or so I thought. Throughout the afternoon I had a nagging concern about the BBQ regulator, although the appliances worked I noticed they had a larger flame than they had with the old regulator. 

Seemed like a good idea!

I did some research online and discovered that due to the high demand for propane on gas grills the regulators are designed to put out much more pressure than the RV appliances are designed for. Had we used it, the YouTube “experts” may very well have been making a video about us! 

Life is a learning process!

Martinsville to Konorock

August 24, 2023 Thursday

We made the drive from Martinsville to Raccoon Branch Campground this morning. It was a trip of about 120 miles and we made it with everything in the (turned off) frig still cold, in fact our ice cream stayed frozen in the freezer compartment. The trip took three hours due to construction delays at the Lovers Leap area of Hwy 58. There is a massive rerouting and expansion of the road thru this area, they literally are moving mountains to create a four lane highway.

A new road past Lovers Leap

We are not going to fret about the refrigerator anymore. I will order parts and repair it when we get home.

We are set up in Raccoon Branch and enjoying our quiet little woodland camp site. (#10) There are only two other campers and the camp host here in the park.

Our favorite spot at Raccoon Branch

PS: We had the cutest little black bear run across the road in front of us as we neared the campground. It is very rare to see them even out here in this huge National Forest. 

Baby bear.