Our second challenge in 48 hours was more sudden, more immediate, and more dangerous!

The Monday after we got back from Ohio, we were working in the Visitors Center.  Tom and I were both upstairs doing living history when we were notified that the Chief of Interpretation wanted one of us on the phone.  Tom went to answer the phone and then disappeared for an hour.  When he came back, he filled me in on what happened.

Ranger Jody, the Chief of Interpretation, told him on the phone to return to the RV immediately.  She didn’t say why, but it sounded urgent.  Tom got in the car and drove the 1/2 mile to the RV.  When he arrived he found law enforcement vehicles and a fire truck at the RV.  Not good!

One of the people in the nearby picnic area had smelled gas and reported it to law enforcement.  Law enforcement realized it was coming from our RV.  They called the fire department as a just-in-case.  Meanwhile, they turned off the propane at the RV.  When Tom got there, propane had spilled from under the RV and run all over the asphalt driveway.  Our primary use of propane in the RV is for the water heater, which was already turned off.  There was nothing further for Tom to do, so he returned to work.  We are both grateful for the quick response to a potentially dangerous situation.

The next day Tom got under the RV and looked at the propane line.  It had a hole in it.  Some animal had chewed a hole in the propane line!  Obviously we couldn’t use the propane until the issue was fixed.  Tom did some research and found a mobile RV repair company in Corbin.  He called them first thing Wednesday morning and they scheduled an appointment for us later that day.  What a quick response!

The RV tech was at our site around noon and worked under the RV for the next couple of hours.  It turns out that we have four propane lines running from the manifold and three of them had holes in them!  The only line that didn’t have a hole in it was the biggest line running to the hot water heater and the furnace.  We don’t use the other three lines, so we told the tech to cut off the hoses and plug up the lines.  We will get the hoses repaired when we get back to Ohio in the fall.  No point in doing it in Kentucky when we don’t use them and when they might get chewed on again.

The chewing culprit?  Mice.  Tom and I were pretty surprised that mice would chew the propane lines and leave such big holes, but the tech pointed out the teeth marks.  Mice have easy access to the lines – they can just run up the stabilizers.  On the recommendation of the RV tech, Tom surrounded the RV with mothballs and then added some lavender / peppermint spray to the jacks, tires, and other climbables.

Second challenge overcome!  We hope.  Tom is definitely nervous that the mice will decide to attack the line to the water heater.  But, for now, things are working as they are supposed to.  Even if the RV does smell like mothballs.