HOW TO BLOW YOURSELF UP ON THE ROAD

Hauling a large tank of propane around under your seat is maybe not the best idea but it is convenient. It runs the motorhome hot water heater, refrigerator and furnace. It’s a necessity if you want cold beer, a bath and a warm space to enjoy hot coffee on a chilly morning. The tank itself has what is known as a pop-off valve. When filling the tank you want to make sure the attendant opens the pop-off valve. When the liquid fuel reaches the valve it starts spewing gas and you know the tank is properly filled to 80%.  

The way you know it is not done right is very simple. You start in Montana with a guy with brown teeth who’s complaining about it being cold and that he was lassoed into doing this filling job. I should have been watching him but I was busy doing other things. I thought, when he handed me my bill, that $39.78 was a little steep for propane, but I paid and headed down the road into Kalispell, MT. 

All of a sudden it sounded like someone took a shot at us with a shotgun. A few seconds later they fired again. My thought was the refrigerator was trying to light and getting too much gas. I pulled over in the perfect spot--a funeral home parking lot. After inspecting the propane tank I thought maybe it was through expanding in the morning sun and finished with the mini-explosions. Again, we started down the road, and again the explosions. 

I saw what I thought was another propane dealer. I pulled in and discovered it was a Schwan’s Food distributor. Luckily for us, the manager was well-trained in propane as all their trucks are run on propane. He grabbed a pair of gloves and popped the valve, releasing lots of pressure. I could see the dollar bills shooting out of the tank. He said not to touch it without gloves as it was two million degrees below zero. He also suggested not releasing it like this around any smokers or open flame of any kind. On a cold morning he said it would just float low to the ground looking for something to blow up. The moral of the story is: Know how your propane fill should be done. Watch the attendant to make sure it is done properly, especially if he has brown teeth and complains a lot about having to work on a chilly morning.