Redding to Colorado

In the morning we checked with Freightliner, they said the parts would be in sometime after 10:30, they would call when the rig was ready. We thought we would take the opportunity to explore Redding, after all, we we have driven past on the I5 countless times, and never stopped. It was another beautiful day, so we might as well enjoy it! The service manager gave us directions to a riverside park which had a museum, coffee shop etc. We found it without too much difficulty, and were pleased to find that dogs we allowed in parts of the area so we set off to explore.


The Sundial Bridge is quite remarkable. Very simple lines, but also a functional Sun Dial! We walked around a bit, Gillian took Trekker down to the river, and Art took Tia to the Cafe! He was allowed to bring Tia into tho outside area, and when Gillian and Trekker returned some time later, Art was engrossed in a book, and Tia was napping under the table in the shade.

After lunch in the cafe, we still hadn't heard from the shop so we called. It was just over at Cummins, and would be back any minute and ready to go.

Great! Back to Freightliner, we were more than ready to go! We hoped to pull away by 4PM or so, as it was less than a couple of hours drive back to our park in the California mountains. The paperwork wasn't quite ready so Gillian took the Tracker up the block to fill with gas and Art moved the motorhome away from the shop door and off to the parking area ready to hook up. SURPRISE! The odometer read 000,000! Back into the shop, they called Cummins who had had to reprogram the computer after the fuel valve replacement. "No problem, run it back over and we will put the mileage back in".!!!??? OK! Over Art went, with a blast of the airhorns at Gillian as she was filling the car at the gas station on the corner, and into the Cummins shop across the street. It was 4:50 PM by this time and the shop closed at 5:00!

By 5:30 (on a Friday of course) they had exhausted all known options, and had phoned several people to help them figure out what was wrong. The service manager announced "Well, we'll have to wait until Monday to find some one who can figure this out"! "Oh no we won't said Art!" A quick test drive to check that the speedometer worked (it did) and the odometer was at least accumulating miles (and/or kilometers). (It was.) Soooo! Hook up, and we're out of here at 6:10 PM with a 6 year old motorhome with 4 kilometers on the clock!

Some miles back up highway 44 to eastern Ca we heard a faint beeping coming from somewhere. Art finally pulled off the road and we went to investigate. The Fridge! Fault Message alternated : NO - FL - NO - FL - NO - FL etc. Having no idea what that meant, we of course assumed the worse, shut the fridge off and carried on, realizing full well that we would not find an RV Tech before Monday. Why do these things usually happen on weekends? We arrived back at the same park on Hwy 89 at ten to eight, parked, plugged in, and had a drink!

First thing Saturday morning we bought a bag of ice at the office store to add to the fridge. Fortunately we have two in/out thermometers with remote sensors, so we put one in the fridge and one in the freezer. The fridge was holding it's temp well.

We were soon on the road again, and fueled up in Susanville, stopped for lunch in a closed weigh station and finally stopped for the night in a rest area halfway across Nevada.

While there, we decided to dig out the manual for the fridge and see if we could find out what the fault code "NO - FL" indicated. Oh......"No Flame". "Fridge failed to ignite or re-ignite." "Possible cause; no fuel, fuel valve closed..." Oh.

"Did you turn the propane on?" "I don't remember. Did we turn it off?" "Don't remember." "Let's check." OOPS! Turn on propane, end of problem! Go ahead, laugh. We deserve it!

Sunday we continued across Nevada on Interstate 80, not exactly teeming with activity. Many more miles of desert scenery. By early afternoon we were in Utah, and fueled up at the Bonneville Salt Flats at 3.359 US per US gal. 5 miles earlier, in Nevada, we could have filled at 3.279 per gal. For 60 gallons it added a few bucks to the trip. (Still better however than the +$4.00/US Gallon back home in BC.)

Gillian wouldn't let Art try for a Land Speed Record in the motor home as we crossed the Bonneville Salt Flats, so she drove to make sure! (http://www.gmccoop.com/land_speed_record.htm) Across I-80 through the Great Salt Lake Desert; 50 miles without a hill or curve, then a slight twist through some hills, then flat and straight for almost another 50 miles to Salt Lake City. Here we turned south where we soon ran into a delay due to a traffic accident investigation, but finally arrived at our destination for the night, the Lakeside RV Campground in Provo Utah, where we had planned to do LOTS of laundry, and catch up on the internet stuff. Of course the office was closed as it was Sunday, so no door code for the laundromat, and no "key" for the internet!

We discovered next morning at 10:00 when the office opened, that the internet is open, and didn't need a key! Art started the internet stuff while Gillian started the 3 loads of laundry and went off to the grocery store. The campground allowed us a late check out for a $6.00 fee, and once the groceries were stowed and the laundry folded and put away we were off to our appointment with Doug and Cathy in Colorado for our window sun screens.

We stopped for the night just before the Utah-Colorado border on the I-70, at a rest area above the highway with a terrific view of mesas and other rock formations. No Trains, Planes, or Freeway noise, just a refrigeration truck next door. (Good white noise for sleeping says Art, not so much says Gillian!)

We were up by 8:00 and running by 9:30, arriving at Doug and Cath's at 12:30 for the sun screens. Doug had given us excellent direction to their home, located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, about 75 Km WSW of Aspen, Colorado. We were welcomed and directed into our parking place, a 50 Amp extension cord provided, to give us power and work on the sun screens got under way promptly.

Later we joined them on their deck for a view of the sunset. It had been a beautiful sunny day, the fall colours developing nicely. Art recognized the ancient dying cherry tree in the front yard as a "Bing", and as the conversation developed, discovered that Doug too is a wood turner, turning pens and other miniature items.

This area is home to large flocks of wild turkeys. This afternoon we got a few pictures of their very colorful plumage as Doug cast out several hands full of corn on the lawn. When returning to the motorhome from their deck the number had increased to at least 60 birds. They are all now roosting about 30 feet behind the motorhome, just this side of the RAILWAY TRACKS!!! To see the turkeys' colours in detail "click" on the picture and a high resolution photo will load.

Well dinner is almost ready, tomorrow is as yet unscheduled, possibly retrace our track a little and stay in Moab, Utah for a few days and explore the canyons, or perhaps another night here, as we have been invited to stay if we wish to explore this area. We will see. It may depend on how cold it gets tonight!