Utah and Salt Lake City

During the night we were awakened by the drumming of rain pounding on the roof. Reminded us of home! We finally got up at 7:45, the weather seemed to be clearing

Before we left the rest area Art phoned a Jeep dealer in Salt Lake City and were told to bring the Jeep in. We were  on the road at 9:20 the day now looking quite pleasant. No idea why it takes us so long to get moving.

We were driving along and over the Bonnyville Salt Flats, miles and miles of dead straight road on quite a pleasant day now. As we got a little closer the dry flats became very shallow lakes, we're guessing due to the recent rain. The reflections made for some nice scenery.





11:30 we arrived at the Jeep Dealer in Bountiful. and received excellent attention. A service rep looked at Jeep, discussed likely cause of problem, showing Art that the door seal had in fact been replace in the past following a service bulletin concerning a problem with the originals! The problem did seem to be in the top seal which was not placed exactly right and had therefore been deformed and was probably diverting water inside. He ordered the part and we are scheduled for an appointment of 2:00 PM tomorrow assuming the seal arrives from Denver! The weather between here and Denver however is not the greatest. Tomorrow will tell.

Just before lunch time (remember we eat late!) we were settled in at the Pony Express RV Park a few miles away. While disconnecting the towing arrangement Art noted splashes of oil on the Tow Shield on the front of the Jeep. On further checking he could see a small leak of red transmission fluid under the rig. Seems to be coming from a hydraulic line from either the slides or the stabilizer jacks. We are hoping that it is in fact the hydraulics and not from the transmission. The hydraulic system uses transmission fluid so it is hard to be sure.

On the bright side, the park is very nice, very clean with spacious concrete pads for the rig and the jeep and grass and shrubs between each site, laundry open 24 hours, and the entire park surrounded with a walking trail.  (The photo was taken next day)


The weather could be better though! Rain, cold wind, in fact the wind gusts were so strong we were loath to deploy the satellite dish. The weather forecast not good.  Even using the 4 letter S word!  AAAAGGGGHHHHHH!

The park has cable TV with all the major US Networks so Art had connected that along with the power, water and sewer lines. One problem: the Toshiba TV in the front won't respond to the remote. We bought a new remote last year but it doesn't work either! We can adjust on/off, sound and inputs using the buttons on top of the set but we cannot change channels without the remote! However the small bedroom TV works fine so we were able to catch local news and weather there.

The rest of the afternoon was spent first of all by Art taking a long nap while Gillian took the dogs along the walking trail. Later some more internet time and then the wind dropped enough for the satellite dish so we watched the news from home, steak for dinner with wine, a Scotch or two to follow, a little more TV and so to bed.

Tuesday

More driving rain over night but it cleared for the most part by mid morning. The Hydraulic tech was supposed to call about 10:00 and hadn't so at 10:30 Art called him. Recording answered so he left a message and was called back within half an our our so. The tech was running late and would be here in an hour or so.

Gillian took the washing down to the laundry and got it started, the tech showed up about 1:15 and soon diagnosed a leaking fitting on one of the hoses to the bedroom slide. Unable to repair the end, the hose needs to be replaced. All 25 feet of it!

As Art is typing this, the tech is under the rig removing the old hose which he will take to the shop to duplicate (Length DOES matter in this system). Gillian has headed off to the Jeep dealer for the top seal  repair and will lunch somewhere in town while waiting and do some grocery shopping on her way back.




We have pretty much written off Nebraska this trip. When we leave here we will likely cross to the south east corner of Utah, perhaps to Bluff, a small old historical town we have visited several times before. When we leave will depend on the weather and the hydraulic line repair. The forecast for later in the week in the south of Utah is very good; sunny and temperatures in the 70s.

Well the hydraulic leak was fixed, replaced 25 feet of hose at almost $10.00 per foot plus time. The hydraulic hose was deteriorating and leaking at the fitting. There was also a crack in the outer cover about halfway along. The Jeep repair was covered on warranty. Hopefully the rain leak has been fixed. Unfortunately according to the weather forecast we might be able to test it soon--if it doesn't snow!

The evening news here advises that the snow level will likely reach the valley bottoms as early as tomorrow morning and if not then, by Thursday. The high today was about 7C according to the thermometer in the Jeep when Gillian took it in for the service. The clouds have been moving lower all day, there is s little more snow on the nearby hills than there was when we arrived. The good news is that it is forecast to improve for the weekend. We will decide in the morning if we are moving south or not. We will be heading for the southeast corner of Utah, through Moab and on to Bluff. Meanwhile we have just come in from grocery shopping, dinner is under way and rain is falling on the roof. Time for a drink.