Ponderosa Falls RV in Washington Part 2 - 2022/08/09-16

 Let's continue our time near Spokane Washington. 

Just yesterday we were at Tire-Rama to get our leaky tire inspected. They thought it was a leaky tire bead, cleaned it up, and sent us on our way. The next morning though, hopping in the car, my dash monitor was showing that that same tire was low again. Not flat, but hanging out around 50 psi. Hmm. We drove back into town to the same shop for them to take another look. 

They got us right in, but again they spent 45 minutes looking and couldn't tell for sure what it was. They were doing the soapy water in a spray bottle method, looking for bubbles, but just couldn't see anything wrong with the tire. Not being able to figure it out, they suggested we go to their sister store about 15 minutes away. They have a dunk tank to put the entire tire underwater where you can easily tell where the bubbles are coming from. We put the spare tire on, tossed the leaky tire in the bed of the truck and headed over. 

I wheeled the tire in and was chatting with the worker, about to fill out paperwork, when 30 seconds later they came back out with the tire. They'd already found the problem, not with the tire, but with the tire rim! Looking at the rim, there is a small crack in the aluminum that is bubbling due to the water. Bummer. 

I called the nearby Ford dealership to see if this was covered under the warranty. They weren't sure and would have to inspect it. Okay... when can I come in? How about an appointment in 4 weeks? Uh. We leave in 4 days... that's not going to work. Thanks a lot Ford. 

Speaking with the Tire-Rama guys they suggested that instead of buying a new rim ($800), we could head over to see the Wheelman. He's the only guy in the area they know of that does aluminum welding on tire rims ($129). 

We drove it over and dropped it off. It's Thursday and we were hoping we might have a quick turnaround. The receptionist showed us all the work they had in front of us. We said that we were only in the area for the next few days, being full time RVers, and hoped there was an expedited fee we could pay. They didn't do anything like that, but she'd see what she could do. Theresa went ahead and modified our campground reservation a few days just to be safe. It's good to be flexible. 

Since we're up here at the Wheelman, what else is there to do around here? Another Chuck E Cheese? Why not? 

Hiya Chuck! 

Ooh, they have a Gear-It-Up! I like that they have these games that other arcades have too. With unlimited gameplay here, we can practice our skills so we'll be even better later. 

Alli and I Toasting Stay-Puft and winning bonus tickets. 

The kids HATE this game. They don't want to hear the loud balloon pop. 

Ian and Alli taking on Stay-Puft. 

What do we want? Cotton Candy! When do we want it? Now! 

Jacob came over again for dinner and afterwards we all went out to play mini-golf. 

They have a course unlike any of the others we've done. It's just a giant continuous course! From here you can see holes 16, 17, and 18. 

And many of the holes had either 2 or 3 places that you could aim for. There's one in the middle of the green and another inside that brick "U" 

Alli got soooo close to a hole-in-one. 

Luckily there was a strong wind that blew it in! 

Good job Alli!

Theresa taking an unconventional stance for this putt. 

The 19th hole had plenty of extra balls to take more shots. Unfortunately a hive of bees decided they liked hanging out here too, so we stopped so as not to disturb them too much. 

It's been good seeing you Uncle Jacob! Time for him to move on. Think we'll see him again? Good bet. 

We were expecting it to be a couple more days, but we got an early call from the receptionist at Wheelman saying that our tire was ready to pick up. Excellent! She told the guy that he needed to squeeze this one in so we can be on our way. Thank you! We brought her a plate of homemade cookies when we picked it up. 

I'm still driving around with the Spare tire on. I could have done it myself, but we're not too far away from that original Tire-Rama we went to. The kids have loved coming here because they have a free popcorn machine in their lobby. 

I'd rather not put the repaired tire in the back with the whole weight of the RV on it, so we asked them to rotate the backs to the front. They did that for us, and even re-linked the right tires to the Ford dash monitor. When we went to pay, they said to not even worry about it. Thank you! We wrote them a glowing review online (especially since they got us in immediately every time we came here) and even brought the whole shop some treats as a thank you. Thank you Thor! 

Ho ho ho. What do you want for Christmas? 

Walking through the gameroom at the resort, Theresa and I found a puzzle. It's a giant Hershey kiss! We've got to do that one. 

Being a community puzzle it's no surprise that there's a few missing pieces. 

Could you eat one this big? It's a lot bigger than the biggest one we tried! 

We kept driving by the giant Franz Family Bakery whenever we went into town. They have a ton of trucks here. But do they have a bakery tour? 

Let's go see the bakery outlet. 

The worker here confirmed that there was no bakery tour, due to Covid. Hmm, still? I feel like that's been an easy excuse for places to cancel some of the "niceties" they offered. 

We weren't particular impressed with the prices here at this outlet. It seemed to be as much as retail, or even more than the grocery store. $3 for a sleeve of donuts? $3-4 loaves of bread? 

But at least they still give out free treats for the kids. Frosted cookies

Except the kids thought they were terrible... Both only ate one then threw the rest away. Unfortunate. 

Well despite all the craziness, it's still been a good visit here in Spokane. We celebrated our last night with a fondue dinner. 

And steak! Yum! 

Tomorrow we are leaving Washington so we've got to get that Washington RV sticker on.