Freightliner and Redding

The alarm went off at 6:00AM, Art staggered out of bed over a still sleeping Trekker who was curled up on his own bed at the foot of ours. We still had things to put away; supper dishes, maps etc. as well as disconnect the hoses, electric cable, battery charger, retract the slides and the jacks and move stuff from the car to make room for the dogs.

We got it done in time and Art fired up the diesel engine. The suspension bags still didn't want to fill, even after releasing the park brake. The "jacks down" alarm ding . . . ding . . . ding was still going on but after a bit of jiggling with the ignition key the alarm silenced, the step came in and the air bags started to fill! Now we began to suspect that the faulty ignition switch could be the root of many issues. Fortunately, when we phoned Freightliner yesterday we had asked them to order a new one.


With everything working, including the engine temperature gauge, Art drove off to the appointment leaving Gillian and the dogs to meet him at Freightliner with the car. On the dot of seven he was at the service counter giving the details to Mark, the service manager: intermittent temperature gauge, jacks alarm (ignition switch?) coolant leak, investigate air pressure switch, put the correct mileage back into the engine computer and align the steering wheel--which had been turned to the right since Kingman, after the replacement of the tie rod.


We went off looking for breakfast and settled for a Bagel shop, bought a few groceries then returned to the motor home to put the groceries away and pick up the laundry, we'll do it at the RV park while we wait for our house to come back from the shop.

At Freightliner we got a bit of news--the coolant leak is from the water pump. One hose is cracked but not leaking--all hoses are soft/aged and should be replaced, parts are available from Reno by tomorrow. We can pick up the rig tonight and return it again Wednesday at 7:00 AM!!!!



We returned to the park, did the laundry, caught up on the e-mails and worked on the blog--the wireless works fine in the laundry room. Sorry we couldn't get a picture of Art putting the laundry into the machines, but the camera was still in the car at that time--he says!

Clothes washed and dried it was time to go somewhere for lunch, so we set off for Sundial Park where there is a place to walk the dogs by the river and a nice cafe that we had found last year.


We found Sundial Bridge without difficulty and walked down to the cafe. Closed! Whether this is a sign of the economic times or not we don't know. Back in the car we let the GPS find a restaurant, had a nice lunch, dropped into a bakery we had spotted to find some good bread--very hard to find in the USA--they seem to like the sweet soft mass-produced factory bread here--not to our taste.

We then went back to Freightliner. They were finished with the rig for the day and we could take it back to the park for the night returning in the morning. Not so early fortunately, the parts won't be in until 10:00 or so. Art drove the rig back and got it set up while Gillian took the dogs to an off leash park to run and play. Art took the opportunity to catch a much needed nap!

Shortly after ten next morning we dropped off the coach as arranged and went looking for something to do-- The off leash dog park won the vote so away we went. The weather again was co-operating, very sunny and warm if you stayed in the sun. The dogs had a wonderful time and we met and chatted with several very interesting people and their dogs.


After lunch we went back to the RV park and sat in the sun, Art taking the opportunity to spend a bit more time on the internet while enjoying the sun. At one point he needed to get up for something and set the laptop down on the attached side table. As Art stood up he checked to make sure the computer was balanced but the moment he turned his back the table chair tipped over, the laptop landing on its side on the concrete. A few words were said, but the laptop seemed to still be functioning. Seemed being the operative word.

Later that afternoon after exploring a bit more we returned to Freightliner to see how they were progressing and were advise that it wouldn't be ready until at least 7 or 8 PM! Replacing the radiator hoses was not apparently an easy job--access to the top of the engine is from under the bed! They had to remove all the bed clothes, the mattress and of course all the stuff we had stored under there--things we won't need for a while--like some of our summer clothes and souveniers we were bringing home, then unbolt the steel sheeting and insulation between the bed and the engine. Art felt a bit guilty as he says he should have realised that and we could have had all that stuff out of there ourselves--instead of the mechanic doing it at $125.00 an hour!

So back to the dog park.Trekker and Tia couldn't believe their luck!! Tia finally got tired of running around and came to lie down beside the bench where Art was reading a book. Until of course each time a new dog appeared that had to be investigated and off she went again.

About 6PM as things began to cool off we decided to look for a place to have our dinner. The GPS gave us plenty of nearby options but of course no details about the restaurants. We checked out a couple before finally deciding on one that as we entered suspected it was probably a little more "high end" than we planned but what the heck--it's only money--and we were getting hungry!

We were quickly seated and immediately the cell phone rang--the motorhome was ready. We told the service manager that we had just sat down for dinner and would be there in an hour or so. Meanwhile the waiter had arrived with menus and a wine list and as we perused both we looked around the dining room and were quite taken aback by the lack of decor. Gillian said that it was reminiscent of the waiting room in a funeral home! Very pale off-white walls and ceiling which met in a large radiused curve so there was no clear definition between wall and ceiling. Absolutely no pictures or decorative highlights anywhere! Very strange--almost but not quite spooky. We felt that a few subtle painted outlines of plants or vines would have made a big difference.

The food and service though was excellent. As this is being written many weeks after the event neither Art nor Gillian can remember what we ate, but we remember enjoying it!

At Freightliner all was ready. The replaced ignition switch had stopped the ding . . . ding . . . ding, air bags filled and the new engine temperature gauge was working just fine! The mechanics way back in Poza Rica many months ago had diagnosed a bad gauge but were unable locate one easily. Art had been a bit sceptical about this diagnosis (see thePoza Rica entry in November) and according the Freightliner service manager the gauge itself is rarely the problem. But this time it was and the Mexican mechanics were right. The only thing he hadn't had time to do was re-centre the steering wheel.

Back at the RV Park Art checked the lap top--It advised that some files may be corrupted and should be checked. Art started the checking sequence and soon realised that it was going to take quite a while so letting it run, we had an early night and went to bed so to be ready to continue the homeward leg of our journey in the morning. Tomorrow would hopefully see us in Wilsonville where we had an appointment at Campingworld to have a cracked awning end cap replaced and to have Les Schwab replace the batteries. It would be a long day's drive, but we prayed that the weather would hold up for us.