The Propane Saga Continues…

The finale of the propane saga… Well, it's New Year’s Day we really need propane today.  It feels like there is very little hope of making that happen on a holiday.  But we need to try. 

There are only 2 places in Belen that sell propane and they are both closed.  We have looked online and to find the closest propane provider.  The ONLY thing that comes up is the U-Haul in Albuquerque—yes, the one we had such a ridiculous experience with yesterday.  Some people just don’t learn.  So I call the store again!  I explain our experience from yesterday, telling them that we are coming from out of town.  I ask if the person there is CERTIFIED to pump the propane? Will they be taking a break at any time in the day?  Do they have propane (didn’t want to risk them being out)?  Is there any reason that if we drive back into Albuquerque we couldn’t get our propane tank filled… they assure us there is NO reason.

So we immediately head 35 miles back into Albuquerque with great hope.  We get there and are told our tank is not certified and must be certified every 10 years.  Although we tell them our RV is only ONE year old, they show us the date on the propane tank is 01/02.  (We learn later this is a real law, it is rare that anyone enforces it on a tank in good condition.)   I am sure, by now, they are sensing my panic… ok… I TOLD them… "I’m panicking here.  Do you get that?"   Are you kidding me???!!!  Of course, there is no one available to certify the tank on the holiday.

We have a few to no choices. 

1.  We can wait yet another day.  
2.  We can wrestle the young man to the ground and force him to fill the propane.  (I’m sure that would be a good witness for Jesus!)  
3. We can throw a fit and panic.  (OK, I did that and it did no good.)  
4. We researched and found out Camping World would be open for one more hour.  We called them and they had 40lb propane tanks in stock.   

We would wait another day to get propane, but the temperature was colder than we expected.  The forecast is another 20 degree day, and we are forced to stay an extra day to deal with this propane mess.  Our basement storage is duct heated, so it helps prevent frozen pipes.


So we make the trek over to the Camping World.  We spend $130 on a new 40lb propane tank.  (Which by the way has a date stamp that is already one year old.)   With our new propane tank in tow, we go back to the now infamous U-Haul store.  We spend $30 and leave with a full propane tank.

It has been a frustrating, painful process dealing with the propane.  But we will keep this additional tank as an emergency to prevent this crisis in the future.  I still plan to “deal” with Redwood on this.

We remind ourselves that we are thankful for our gypsy lives and all the blessings that we have.  We will live and continue to learn.