Day 5 - Part 2 - 911 Emergency

After we left for Wall Drug, we headed towards Mt. Rushmore.  We wanted to drive up that evening to get a head start on seeing the monument.  We were very close, driving through Rockerville, SD when I heard a loud whistling/hissing sound.  The windows were open because the air conditioning wasn't working again (a story for another time).  Since the windows were open, I could hear the sound (knowing what I know now, it was a good thing the air wasn't working so I heard the sound).  I thought we had blown a tire and told John to pull over.  I even said, "Great, now we've blown a tire.  What else can go wrong."  We pull over into the pulloff area for the Black Hills National Forest.  He gets out and comes back in and I immediately smell the propane.  It's still whistling.  I start yelling to the kids, "Get out, get out". We all jump out and run as fast as we can away from the RV.  I'm screaming at John, "Can I get angry now", as we've had many issues with the AC not working in the 100 degree weather and we have been pretty miserable and the rental company has been useless.  He hasn't gotten angry yet and when I do, he tells me I don't have any reason.  I think I have a reason now.

I then proceed to lose it and am in full meltdown, crying and almost in a panic attack thinking the RV could've blow up.  Liquid propane is flowing out of the propane tank.  We had all jumped out so quickly none of us had shoes on, except for John, and thankfully Sam had his old flip phone to call 911 as we jumped out with nothing.  He called 911 and about 10 minutes later 2 full size fire trucks arrive along with some other vehicles and personnel.  They put on full gear, pulled out the water hose and went over to check out the RV.  They were also scared of a fire starting as the entire area was in a high fire warning alert.  They finally determined the propane was still leaking from the tank and we shouldn't drive it.  Thankfully an RV repair place was 1/2 mile down the road.  The firemen called and they said they would look at the RV for us.  At this point, we figure we have no RV and no place to stay as we have no transportation to the campground and even if we had transportation, no RV to sleep in.  It is also the night before the 4th of July so I'm anticipating not finding much of anything. 

It is decided that John can drive the RV the 1/2 mile to the repair place and the kids and I will get to ride in the fire truck.  Of course that just makes Jack's day.

Once we arrive at the repair place, I start calling trying to find a rental car.  At this point we're hanging out in a convenience store waiting and making phone calls.  John calls the RV rental place and explains the situation.  They actually had the nerve to say they were closing for the weekend.  We're standing on the side of the road with firetrucks and he has to go for the holiday weekend.  Nice!

A little while later John comes in and tells me it's fixed.  Apparently the place we rented the RV from had overfilled the tank.  Since we were in 100 degree weather and the tank was located next to the engine, it overheated.  Normally, the pressure relief valve would kick in and slowly release excess gas.  Since it was so overfilled and so hot, it blew the valve off.  The repair person told us that someone must have been watching over us because the tank could've blown up.  Any sort of spark and it would've been a much different situation.  I was so emotional again thinking about what could've been.

The kids and I were very scared to get in the RV again even though the repair person assured us it was safe.  We decided to head to Mt. Rushmore.  By the time we got close to Mt. Rushmore it was 9:00 and we were all exhausted and just wanted to get to the camp ground. 

It took about a week to feel safe again.  I even made John completely turn off the propane that night as Jack's bed was located over the tank.  I think we're good for now.