Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Kuwait City, Kuwait on March 31st.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

"Something doesn't smell right!"

We wasted the morning away yesterday. Had a couple of coffees and teas, then Ruth made bacon and eggs for a bit of a late breakfast. Spent some time on the internet, and read our books a little bit.

We had been planning on going into the nearby town of Mazamitla, but that would entail taking a bus that goes by infrequently, or a taxi.

So instead, we decided to do the 1.8 km (1.1 miles) into Valle de Juraez, and if the bus happened to go by the opposite way heading to Mazamitla then we would hop on it.

Ruth, cooking up some bacon and eggs.

But before we headed out, we took a few seconds to stash things in the motorhome. Anything of value gets hidden somewhere, and we've got quite a few random hiding spots. Sometimes it's as simple as putting something in the oven, and yesterday that's where my good camera went. I just didn't feel like carrying it into town, so we brought the little pocket camera in case something worthwhile came up.

We walked into town and bought some milk, cheese, and a bottle of wine. Heading back, we stopped at Chema's restaurant to make arrangement to pay him for our three nights camping and figure out how to give him his keys back. He asked if we wanted a beer or something, but we said no. He asked again towards the end of the conversation and it doesn't take much persuasion for me. So we sat down at the bar!

Kevin, having a beer at Chema's restaurant in Valle de Juarez.

Back at the motorhome, we sat outside and read our books for while. It was a nice warm day, and I noticed that the temperature inside the motorhome was 30C (86F) and that was with all the windows open. Lovely.

Eventually, it got close to dinner time, and Ruth was making pizza!

She got all the ingredients ready, and turned the oven on.

A couple of minutes later, I heard a loud "Oh crap!" (or something similar) and she threw the oven door open and grabbed the camera bag out of the oven!

Oh crap is right!

She said that something didn't smell right, and then she remembered me telling her I had put the camera bag in the oven! 

Fortunately, the bag is well insulated and the camera was fine. And oddly, the camera bag itself is fine too. When I went to take the camera out of the bag, the steel zippers were too hot to touch. The bag did smell a little, but I couldn't see anywhere that it was burnt or melted.

Very lucky! Another minute or two and it might have been a different story. Maybe we'll not use the oven as a hiding spot any more.

Anyway, it all turned out okay, but it was a bit of a scary moment.

Chema was supposed to come by around 6:00pm to collect his money and arrange a hiding spot for the keys so that we could simply head out right away this morning, but he never showed. He said he was going to the airport this morning, so I doubt he'll be in town, but I guess now we'll have to go into town and try and find someone to leave the keys and money with.

After that, we're headed out to another RV Park. Sherman is going for his first decent drive in over two years, so wish us luck! We're heading about 200 kms (124 miles) to Delia's RV Park near Etzatlan. 


32 comments:

  1. On our RV oven we had to open the door to light the pilot light so that wouldn't have happened. I thought all RV ovens were like that, guess not!

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    1. Oh, you definitely have to light the pilot first. But it was dark, and she simply didn't see the camera stashed towards the back of the top shelf.

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  2. our oven you need to light the pilot light too..I store foil pans inside of it..no cameras :)

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  3. Our oven is used to store a few roast pans, so we have to empty it in order to light it up no problem. You sure got lucky there with you camera.

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    1. We have never stored anything in our oven so I guess that is why I never noticed the camera when I lite the pilot light. It was at dusk and I didn't have the kitchen light on, the camera bag was on the top shelf and it is black and pushed to the back and I just quickly opened the door, bent down and lite the pilot light, I can't believe that I didn't notice the camera bag or even remember that Kevin had put it in there when I lite the oven. Never again will we store anything in the oven!

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  4. I've had those moments. And some that turned out far worse. *note* pizza boxes with spontaneously burst into flames if placed in a too hot oven. Hey, this was decades ago and we were students, so what did we know?

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    1. Don't think we have ever had a pizza box burst into flames, then again it was rare that we ever had take out pizza, even before being gluten free.

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  5. Wow- glad you reacted quickly after it started smelling. Hate to think of what might of happened....

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    1. So am I! I still can't believe that I didn't notice the camera in there when I lite the pilot light but I guess when you are expecting to see anything you just don't notice.

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  6. I can see the insurance claim now. One camera lightly roasted :-)

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  7. That's a heck of a way to develop your pictures! ;)

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    1. Especially when it is a digital camera, lol!

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  8. ack! glad you caught it in time! guess you must take some pretty "hot" photos, eh?

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    1. I am so glad that I caught it in time. Guess they were too hot or they might have been in flames! :-)

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  9. I am surprised Ruth only said "Oh Crap"............ My language may have been a little different! But great the camera survived the experience.

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    1. Honest, that is what I said, I surprised myself! I am so happy that I caught it quick enough!

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  10. What is it with you two and cameras?!? LOL Great story!!! :-)

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    1. Literally it has only been the last year that we have had a problem with cameras. Kevin's old one lasted us from 2004 until 2012. Hope that is the last of it, we were pretty lucky this time round!

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  11. I never use my oven (have the convection microwave) well, at least not yet anyway. My paper plates live in there for now. Hope I remember to take THEM out if I decide to use the oven!
    Oh my!

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    1. I always use the oven and because we never put anything in it when it's not in use we haven't gotten into a habit of checking before turning it on. Lesson learned, we will never use the oven again for hiding or storing stuff!

      If you are going to forget, paper plates are better than a camera, hope you remember them!

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  12. Glad the camera and motorhome survived.

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  13. I just spent two hours catching up on your recent travels. WOW - I'm exhausted!

    I've noticed those wheeled backpacks you both use. How often to you wear them on your back and are they comfortable? Do you recommend them?

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    1. Yep, we've been pretty busy this past winter but we enjoyed every minute of it. Now we are enjoying a little down time.

      We haven't worn them very often but it is nice to have the choice when the terrain is suitable for rolling them along. They are comfortable enough for a short time but not something we would choose to wear on an all day hike. They would be better if they had a waist/hip strap for longer distance but I don't think that they are meant for hiking long distance. Our only other complaint is that the main compartment zipper doesn't go right to the bottom for easier packing and unpacking. Here is the post on when we got the pack www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2012/06/check-out-our-cool-new-luggage.html and here is the post after traveling with it for 5 months or so www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2012/10/heys-epac17-roller-backpack-review.html.

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  14. That was a close one! I bet that was a sigh of relief!

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  15. Sounds like something I would do! I'm so happy that things worked out for you.

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    1. We are so happy it all worked out as well and the camera seems to be working just fine.

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