Santa Fe and on to Alburquerque

Friday, 28 October

A good secure internet here so we took advantage to catch up on some banking and financials. And of course getting this far on the blog!

Early afternoon we took the Jeep into the center of town, the old town area and spent a few hours walking around with the dogs. A very pet friendly town, even a crowded gift shop with attached small museum said that Gillian could bring the dogs in rather than wait outside while Art poked around.

She did later take Prana into the museum for a few minutes without incident.

The museum was small but interesting, inside was the entrance to the oldest house in the US, dating from about 1646. That's 300 years older than Art!

Next door was a very old church dating from about the same time. Inside was this very very old church bell which had been brought from Spain. Cast in 1336 (you may be able to read the date cast into it). It was made from metals donated by the towns people (sorry forgot to note which town!) during the Spanish effort to chase the Moors out of Spain. The table lists the metal content. Sorry it is out of focus but it was taken with my old flip phone camera in very poor light.

The street we were on (and the site of the church) is part of the original Santa Fe Overland Trail which ran from Franklin Missouri to Santa Fé which of course still belonged to Mexico. The trail was established 1821 and took two and a half months to travel.






That evening, back in the RV Park Prana decided she needed some cuddle time














Saturday, 29 October

Just a short run today so we took our time getting ready and were on the road at 11:35. Unfortunately, when we unhooked the Jeep yesterday we noticed oil on the rear of the motorhome, towbar, cables and the front of the Jeep . Not a lot, just enough to give Art dirty hands.

While checking things out before hooking up Art discovered that the hitch ball was loose. Not even finger tight! While Gillian held the ball with a pair of large waterpump pliers Art tightened the ball with the large wrench we carry for just that purpose.

Note to self: Check that more frequently!

We gave everything a good wash (Thanks Dawn Dishwashing Liquid) and we will see what we find after an hour or two of driving. Art is suspecting that the fuel leak diagnosed by Chris, our tech back home, is still there and the broken fuel line was something else.

Out of the park we made a left onto the highway as advised by a local and were soon moving southwest on the I-25 to Alburquerque. Uneventful drive, weather quite acceptable.

Into the city, which we are somewhat familiar with, we proceeded straight through to the I-40 then eastbound for several miles to our exit. Which the GPS told us to bypass and take the next.

Suspecting that the street that we would need to turn left from may have had a barrier added since last year we followed the GPS then saw a KOA sign indicating that we were on the correct route. It was a bit round about, with one not very well marked right turn and zig-zaged through a few blocks to find the RV Park entrance straight ahead. Later driving the Jeep we discovered that we could have taken the original exit, I suppose that the way we went would be easier for longer rigs entering the park.

We arrived at the Albuquerque Central KOA at 1:00PM. Disconnecting the Jeep we found slight traces of oil. We will observe as we proceed to San Antonio, a run of several days. Our thought now to go via Oklahoma, a state that we have not yet visited, and thus earn another sticker for the Visited States Map on the side of the rig.

We will spend at least three expensive nights here (read KOA!) We have some good friends to spend some time with here and there are a few things we want to do to the rig, such as fix the recently failed roof fan in the galley. Hopefully just a microswitch. Then this afternoon Gillian was unable to open one of the bay doors to get the seating and tables out. It would appear that the lock mechanism has failed. Art was able to access and remove the latches via the bays at each end and thus open the door but this is not a long term solution! Monday he will see if he can order a new lock to be picked up in San Antonio. Later while fiddling with the mechanism, it seemed to be working. Think we'll look for a new one anyway.

Sunday 30th October Art messed with the fan for a while  with no joy and decided that the only way to properly diagnose what is wrong in to remove the unit entirely. Since this would entail working up on the roof which now is probably not the best idea since he is no longer stable on his feet and even climbing the ladder is difficult he decided to purchase a new one and have it installed by an RV tech. (He would probably climb onto the roof  to fix or install a ham radio antenna though!)

We did get together with Ken and Kathy at their home Sunday evening for an extended happy hour with some lovely appies and of course a nice visit with their dog Sandy Paws. We had stopped off at a car wash on the way to get the worst of the oil off the Jeep and tow-bar so it was at least presentable.

Monday we spent running around:

To AT&T where Art received a free new 3G free flip phone to replace his aging 2G phone that after the end of the year would no longer work on the AT&T system. Unfortunately it is not unlocked so he will not be able to use it on other networks. The rep said that Customer Service could unlock it for us, we will call them from San Antonio and see how we make out with that.

 To Camping World 10 or 15 miles to the west where we bought a new Fantastic Fan to replace the MaxxAir fan that has failed.  Several near by RV supply stores had fans but not with the exact options we needed; bi directional, tri speed and with a built in thermostat. We also located a new latch for the compartment door but it would require a piece being cut off with a hacksaw to make it fit. Since the old one is now working we'll keep our fingers crossed!

Then to meet Ken and Kathy for lunch in the Old Town where again we passed a very pleasant hour or two with good friends and good food.

In a the window of a book shop on the square Art spotted another Anne Hillerman novel, "Rock With Wings" (The Navajo name for Ship Rock.) This is her second in the series, her first, "Spider Woman's Daughter", he had purchased at the same store a couple of years ago! She is the daughter of Tony Hillerman whose detective novels set in the Four Corners area is full of Navajo culture references and features the Navajo Tribal Police. We were both very sad when Tony passed away some years ago. We had been avid fans since discovering his novels in the Twin Rocks Trading Post in Bluff, Utah years ago. We were pleased to see his daughter continue his style, characters and location. Always a good read; interesting insight into Navajo tradition and way of life mixed with a touch of suspense, though not what I would call "nail biters".

(To see where Ship Rock and the area of the Navajo Nation are located see the blue pointer in the second photo in the post "Cortez to Santa Fé". Ship Rock is at the top of the pointer, the town of Shiprock a bit to the north and east.)

Here are the first two paragraphs from "Rock With Wings":

     Officer Bernadette Manuelito had been sitting in her unit by the side of the road for an hour, watching the last of the twilight fade and the pinpoints of stars appear in the blue-grey sky. In that time she had seen two vehicles, both with the classic yellow and red New Mexico plates with the Zia symbol in the center. The grey Subaru advanced at close to the speed limit with no sign of driver impairment. The old green Buick cruised along more leisurely, with the windows rolled down and country music flowing into the night air. She knew the car and the driver and knew he was headed for home after a long shift at the Four Corners Power Plant. If he'd had beer or two, his driving didn't show it. 
     After that burst of activity, things slowed down.

Back at the RV Park we made the decision that we would leave in the morning if we could get ready to go by 11:00. There was still a lot to do, (replace the latch, replace a clearance lamp lens that had broken, set the dog crates up again etc etc) and it takes quite a while with the dogs needing a good walk before setting off.  Even leaving from a Rest Area where the Jeep is already connected, the slides are already in and there are no water and electric connections to put away, from the time the first of us wakes up in the morning (not counting the dogs!)  it takes us about an hour and a half to be ready to leave.

Cortez to Santa Fe, crossed the Continental Devide

27 October


 End of the Tire Saga:

We were away from Four State tire at 10:40, not far off our usual departure time. In Durango we found the Four State shop and pulled in. OOPS! This is not a big rig friendly area--essentially a strip mall with a one lane wide lane across the front! We unhooked the Jeep, and managed to reverse between a couple of buildings and then drive out again and park on the wide shoulder of the frontage road. A couple of cheery young men came out with a very large torque wrench, removed the wheel covers, re-torqued the wheel nuts to spec and reinstalled the wheel covers (which are bolted on). No charge, a smile and a wave earned them each a tip and we were eastbound again shortly after noon. Looks like Santa Fe will be doable today!






Half an hour later we stopped for fuel at Bayfield then shortly after that we turned southeast at Pagosa Springs on the US 84 enroute to Santa Fe. It was a very pleasant drive, crossing the Continental Divide along the way. . .







. . .until on entering Santa Fe we turned right onto Cerrillos Road towards the RV Park. Not only was it rush hour, but also most of the highway was under construction, or more realistically, destruction and were down to a crawl for most of it.

As we approached the RV Park, following the GPS carefully, we changed lanes to what we thought was the left turn lane only for find that this particular left lane was very short and led to a hotel! We managed to make it into a U Turn. The GPS showed a mile and a half route to another U Turn but suddenly Art spotted another left turn lane that led to another hotel, this one with an entrance and exit that we could make. As luck would have it there was no oncoming traffic—it was all held up at the traffic light.We made the turn, found the correct left turn lane and were at Los Suenos de Santa Fe only a few minutes later at 5:30.

Scipio to Cortez Colorado

25 October

As posted on yesterday's blog we were on the road Eastbound at 11:00AM along the last piece of Highway 50 which would join the I-70.  We were hoping for Cortez, Colorado, passing through the wonderful broken landscape of South Eastern Utah which we have seen many times before. One of our favoutite drives.

Not happy with this map photo. I'll try to take and post a better one.

This time though we would turn off at Montecello and follow the 491 to Cortez rather than continuing south to Bluff, another interesting place.

At 1:45 we stopped at a Rest Area on the I-70 for lunch then turned south through Moab and arrived in Monticello at 4:00 where we stopped for groceries. The GPS said it was about an hour and a half if memory serves, so it looked like we would make Cortez at a reasonable hour.

Here are a few photos taken along the way:

Following the GPS through Cortez we arrived at the KOA RV Park to find it closed! We had seen another a few blocks back so turned around in the parking lot of a business just up the highway and headed back. Gillian remembered that we had stayed there years before in the Triple E but Art didn't remember it. He didn't like the looks of it from the street--it appeared too tight and small with too many trees so another round the blocks detour and we continued past the old KOA to a new one several miles east. We arrived at Mesa Verde RV Resort at about 6:15 and booked in for 2 nights.

Next day we browsed around the town, had lunch at a nice pub with nice local beers, took the dogs to the municipal fenced off-leash dog park where Tia wandered around quite happily and Prana was of course delighted, chasing balls (no matter who threw them nor which dog for!) and running and playing with other dogs. We had no trouble finding the dog park: It was right next door to the closed KOA!

Art also dropped into Four State Tire to discuss our tire episode and decided to bring the rig in next morning to have the other four tires examined.

7:40 AM he arrived, Gillian and the dogs close behind in the Jeep. Art again explained the incident in Scipio and asked that the four rear wheels be removed from the vehicle and closely examined. Gillian also had a concern about an apparent dent in the right front tire on the Jeep. She was told that it was due to the manufacturing process and was not a concern.

 Then we went off looking for breakfast, at a place recommended by the tire shop staff, Beny's Diner. The gave us directions but we also set the GPS and off we went. The route did not exactly match the directions but was in the same direction and the same general area.  We arrived to find a vacant restaurant with FOR LEASE signs on it!

Gillian remembered seeing another place back down the main street so we set off in that direction. We spotted it as we drove past and as we looked for a place to turn around there was Beny's Diner on the corner. They had moved quite some time ago--it seems the GPS had not caught up.

We had an excellent breakfast, family owned and operated it was friendly and professional.Sated, we returned to the tire shop to find them all done. It seemed that they had misunderstood and had removed all 6 wheels! The good news was the the rear tires wire in fine shape, there was sufficient tread and no sign of damage. Art was both angry with himself and relieved. The cost for the check?  $64.50. They also suggested that we get them re-torqued at their shop in Durango which was on our route.

Art later did a Google Search for G&G Tire Scipio and the second item was Ripoff Report! ARRRGGGGHHHH!

Scipio and new tires

25 October

 We spent the night at the Flying J Truck stop on the I-15 at the intersection of the 50 East, our route for the morning.

Have been avoiding posting this entry because Art was and is a bit cross with himself, thinking that he was taken in by a less than scrupulous tire dealer.

Red sky in morning, Sailors take warning? We woke to this, and sure enough. .  .  . .

While Gillian was walking the dogs a man wandered past and said the the right front tire looked low and that air was available at the G&G Service tire shop across the lot. Art got our air pressure gauge and exited the rig. The right front tire was about 10 psi low. The man then looked closely at the tires showing him edge of the tread (that was worn more than it should have been) stating that that type of wear was indicative of the likelihood of  air within the tire wall, a dangerous situation.

Art's first full time job after high school was at D&D Tire in Duncan, which served the trucking industry as well as passenger cars and trucks so had some knowledge albiet somewhat dated--by 50 odd years! To him, the front tires looked to have been under inflated for some time (worn on both outside edges) though we kept them at 95 psi as recommended by the Michelin chart for tire type, size and individual wheel load. With our previous tires (our current tires were three years old) we had rotated the tires annually and no significant wear was noted.

What to do? We were miles from another shop unless we went out of our way up towards Salt Lake City so decided "Better Safe Than Sorry" so replaced them both. A blown front tire on a motorhome can be very exciting.

Art became even more suspicious when the tire guy checked the rear tires and pointed out a sidewall bulge in one tire (which Art could not see) and showed him how the tread on the inside dual was very rough and appeared damaged, he recommended that all 6 tires be replaced. Again, Art couldn't see anything amiss and so declined, paid the bill and at 11:00 we went on our way. 

Susanville Ca to Utah via Austin Nevada and the US 50

23 October

Left Susanville at 11:00AM, quite late for some reason. Must have slept in. Gee, I wonder why?

Today we would be heading towards Utah, aiming for Cortez, Colorado with likely two stops along the way. We have taken the I-80 route several times, across the Bonnyville Salt  Flats then down through Salt Lake City. We have also once taken the US 50, known as the Loneliest Highway. We were pretty sure we wouldn't get through Nevada today no matter which way, so decided on the 50.

At Reno we picked up the I-80 to the US 50 at Fernley where after a couple of hours on the road we stopped at the Flying J for fuel and were pleased with the price, then a few miles later saw it at the Fallon RV Park for 35 cents a gallon cheaper. Always the way.

Once eastbound on the 50 the landscape changed to high desert.

At 2:40 we were getting a bit peckish so we stopped at a wide pullout where we noticed this sign.

After lunch the terrain continued pretty much unchanged for the rest of the day.

Just before 5:00 PM we stopped for the night at the Pony Express RV park in Austin. Very basic, no public washrooms but for $22.00 and 50 Amp power we had no complaints.

24 October
 

It was however near the bottom of a very long and fairly steep hill, and by 9:30 we were grinding up it.

But soon we were back on the long and flat desert country. This area known as the Great Basin. At one point we clocked more than 35 kilometers without a curve.

Driving through Eureka later in the morning we had to take this photo through our dirty windshield of the Eureka Opera House and the Jackson Hotel, Saloon and Cafe.

As we crossed the border into Utah we lost an hour as we moved into the Mountain Time Zone as the rain began to fall. We joined the I-15 North bound in fairly heavy rain for a few miles then called it a night at the Flying J in Scipio.

Finally out of Medford

After breakfast and walking the dogs we hit the road once again. We were hoping for Susanville in eastern California near the Nevada border.

Didn't take long on the highway to find that YES, the Cruise Control is working. A little different than the original but great to have.  I don't think we would have completed trip without it, far too hard on Art's legs. In conjunction with the Exhaust Brake, it holds the cruise speed up and down hills, even long fairly steep ones.

The shop told us that the cruise control stick was not Freightliner OEM but was in fact a GM part. It would seem that my tech's supplier had made a substitution.  Apparently, the original part required an additional electronic module which was built into the new one. Once the additional module was removed all was well. Although the recommendation on the work order was that the OEM part be installed.

The only things we lost from the fridge being off for three days was 2 litres of milk and one package of frozen smokes salmon. We thought about the salmon but the package stated "keep frozen" and it was quite soft so we chucked it. We had 6 frozen lamb chops which were fresh when frozen so figured they should be good--lamb chops for dinner three nights in a row is not a struggle.

What was really annoying was that when we mentioned this to the tech who had worked on the rig he said that we should have mentioned it and they would have plugged the rig in each night to keep the fridge running.  Oh well.

The rain seem to have left us for the most part, engine running fine, things are good. After an enjoyable run to Susanville through some very picturesque (Or as B-I-L would say "Pictureskew") country we arrived at the Susanville RV Park at 3:00PM. We could have gone on a bit further but that would have left us at Reno or at a Truck stop and frankly the last few days had left us a bit stressed.

 

Mount Shasta. Essentially cloud free for once.

 

The road from Mt Shasta City to Susanville.

Getting to Know Medford, Oregon

The Comfort Inn was quite nice. It even has a pool and hot tub and allows dogs in the room.

Breakfast was included; cook it yourself waffles, scrambled eggs (possibly from powdered eggs) which were quite dry, bacon, sausage patties, a few dry cereals, toast, English muffins, coffee, tea, juice. Nothing to write home about (which is why I'll write it here) but enough to get you going. And a darn site better than the usual stale coffee and muffin that many places call a "Continental Breakfast".

I must mention here our thoughts on this hotel, the Comfort Inn on Biddle street in North Medford (Exit 30 off the I-5). Just off the exit and a little hard to find, tucked in behind another hotel. We were very pleased with what turned out to be a three night stay. All the staff were friendly, courteous and helpful. The room was clean and spacious with a fridge, microwave, coffee and tea, iron and ironing board. And of course the hot tub. Far far better than the motel we stayed in in Seattle when we picked up Prana.

We had been getting messages on our phones, which now of course have the AT&T chip in, that after December 31st our 2G phones would no longer work on their network, and to contact them to arrange a new free replacement 3G phone. We eventually found the AT&T shop (next day) to find that yes, even for the Pay As You Go phones there was a free replacement. But they had none left. Could be ordered on line and one would be sent to us. Not though to Canada, which wouldn't do us any good at all. Art did later buy a cheap SMART PHONE! (Though to tell the truth he still hasn't transferred the sim card.) Gillian did put her phone number in it for him though.

We were directed to a great fenced large off-leash dog park a few miles away by one of the hotel staff who had her dog at work. Prana in particular needed a good play and run and had a great time.

We did some shopping, chasing down restaurants for lunch and dinner and generally kept ourselves occupied. A few comments on the restaurants:

Shari's at the north end of town ( I think just out of the city) was very disappointing. Dirty, shabby, the salad could have been made yesterday, the fries mediocre at best and when we asked for malt vinegar were given a bottle of what had probably once been balsamic vinegar but was so thick it would hardly pour. No complaints about the staff. We were told by one of the staff at the hotel that that particular location has been like that for some time and the other one in the city was much better.

Red Lobster. We ate here twice, the first time just a light lunch, a wonderful seafood chowder and a large salad. The next day we were a bit disappointed though the chowder was still great.

McGrath's Fish House  Located near the AT&T store in the center of the city. Excellent! Wonderful chowder, a large plate of breaded oysters--at least 20 small ones, MMMMM

Cicily Italian Restaurant, advertised as "Voted Best Italian". By whom? we wondered. Powdered parmesan cheese on the table though Gillian's pasta did come with grated parmesan on top. Art's salad again could have been made yesterday.

Next day the shop phoned to say that the supplier had only shipped two of the four air bags. The fuel line had arrived and was being installed, the other two bags should arrive by noon tomorrow.

The rest of the day was occupied much as mentioned above, including a run to the dog park.



Next day we got some good news from Pacific Truck Center; the last two airbags should be here in an hour, they think the cruise control problem has been solved so should be back in the rig later this afternoon.

It turned out to be quite late before all was done. We had checked out of the hotel and didn't see the value of checking into an RV Park so the shop moved the rig to a pad alongside the shop where we settled in for the night. After going out for the disappointing Italian dinner mentioned above.

A Little Help Getting Up the Canyonville Hill.

Or BCAA RV Plus to the Rescue

 Tuesday, 18 October


Since we were so late arriving at Blue Ox and since we had a lot of time to make our appointment in Redding we got off to a late start, about 11:30! Rain on and off though not the downpours we expect they were getting at home.

Art was really missing the lack of cruise control. We had had a new lever installed before we left but due to the mechanic's location and our time constraints we really had not been able to confirm it working. It wasn't. At all. At least the old one worked some of the time! Oh well, one to add to the list at Redding.

The drive continued through on and off rain and shortly after 2:00 PM we pulled of at Exit 99 to a 7 Feathers Truck Stop for fuel and lunch break and to give Art a rest and the dogs a bit of a walk. Back on the road an hour and a half later. Returning to the rig Art noted that the engine seemed to be running a little rough. In hindsight should have looked for a mechanic there instead of thinking "One more for Redding Freightliner" Thursday morning.
This was Tuesday.

While grinding up the very long and fairly steep hill over Canyon Creek Pass, near mile marker 92 the rig was pulling very hard, seemed very low on power as a car passed in the next lane honking the horn. A close look in the mirror showed grey smoke apparently coming from the back of the rig.

Art immediately pulled off onto the shoulder, turned the flashers on, set the spring brake and told Gillian to get the dogs out of the rig. He ran back to look expecting the worst, wondering when was the last time that he had checked the pressure on the Compressed Air Foam fire extinguisher, and took a look. There was definitely a significant amount of grey smoke coming from the rear grill and underneath and fuel was spewing on the ground and running down the road. LOUD RUDE WORD! He hadn't shut the engine off!

Dashed back inside, shut it down and looked again. Still smoke, no sign of fire and the fuel had stopped running out. And I mean running out, not leaking out.

Next he disconnected the towing cables etc while Gillian stood back with the dogs. The smoke soon stopped, so Gillian put the dogs in the back and reversed the Jeep several dozens of feet back and well off the road.

Needless to say the Jeep was covered in fuel oil as were the tow cables. With a bucket of warm water, a bottle of Dawn Dishwashing Liquid and a few rags we began to remove the oil from the windshield and front of the Jeep so she would be able to see while driving to somewhere there was a phone cell.

About 4:30 Gillian and the dogs set off leaving Art to baby sit the rig and have a nap. Art was surprised when she returned within the hour. The tow truck would be here at 6:35.

She had called BCAA, (answered by AAA) explained the problem, the size and type of rig we were driving and that we would like to be towed to a Freightliner shop. They gave Gillian the name of the shop in Medford which she called. The service department said they handled Freightliner and were open until 11:30 PM.

The tow truck arrived at 6:15, earlier than promised and got right to work:

Once he got the main tow attachment made he had Art put his foot on the brake and release the spring brake then sloooowly release the foot brake. The 37,000 pound tow truck was connected and holding us just fine.

Then the fun parts--where to connect the air? Apparently our rig has four air tanks, though only gauges for Front and Rear. Eventually he was able to feed air from the truck so that both motorhome airtanks showed full pressure (130 psi). Then he had to disconnect the drive shaft, connect the safety chains and off we went.

For the uninitiated a bit of explanation about air brakes; In vehicles with air brakes, the brakes are applied by air pressure. BUT the rear brakes have a secondary system where the brakes can also be applied by very very strong springs which are held OFF by air pressure. If a vehicle should loose air pressure the spring brakes apply and lock the rear wheels. So the tow truck driver had to make sure the motorhome system held air or things could get very exciting.

You have probably seen the two pairs of black rubber skidmarks angling across the road. Probably caused by the loss of air to a semi's trailer and the trailer brakes locking up.

In an hour our so we were on our way  to Medford, Exit 30 -- a run of about 62 miles.

The log book was in the rig so no times or mileages for our arrival but eventually we were parked. We were told we could sleep in the rig but the shop opened at 7:00 AM. We opted for the Comfort Inn more or less across the road. While waiting back on the highway we had profitably spent the time by packing a couple of bags (yes bags, not suitcases!) in expectation of a night or two in a hotel. We piled into the now very crowded Jeep and set off. Gillian thinking there was an entrance to the street where she had parked simply drove over the curb, turned right, them crossed the road to the left turn lane to the hotel. She should have gone back the way we came and entered the street a block or so further up with the aid of a traffic light!

By the time we got checked in it was getting late, most of the restaurants apparently close by 10:00 PM so our only choices were Denny's a bit down the road and a sports bar in the hotel next door. We couldn't leave the dogs in the room so the back of the Jeep for them while we walked across the parking lot to the bar.

We sat at the bar and ordered a beer each while we perused the short menu. The beer, from a local micro brewery, was very good. Or perhaps we were just really ready for them. It was a good thing that we were hungry; it soon became obvious that Fish and Chips were  probably not the best thing to order--we should have had the burgers. The fish was OK but the batter was actually chewy. The chips. . .  . Art picked one up with his fingers and it just drooped down like a wet piece of string. They did have malt vinegar though. At least not present was the common wailing of country and western music. The bartender and waitress were very professional, managing to deal with several difficult customers very well. An interesting end to an interesting day

We returned to the Jeep to rescue the dogs and back into the motel for bed.

After breakfast and dog walking and feeding next morning we returned to Pacific Truck Center to pick up some more things and to check the progress on the motorhome. I must say that the the staff there was very accommodating, not fussing about the several trips in to get various items such as clothing, computers, camera some times a couple of times a day!

The fuel was spilling from a fractured fuel line from the fuel pump to the injector. The tow truck driver had mentioned that he had noted that the airbags (suspension) we all showing signs of age and one had what appeared to be a crease in the fabric. The service advisor agreed that yes they were all showing signs of age, but there was no way of telling how long they would last, weeks, months or more. Having spent time on the roadside in Mexico in the past we decided to have them all replaced. They could be here next afternoon.

Also, since the new Cruise Control lever was not working Art asked them to look at that too. Of course that could not be done until the rig was running again. It looked like this was going to be at least a two day job.  Guess we'll get to know a little about Medford, Oregon.

The 2016-2017 season begins

Just as a teaser I'll start here with post or tow (That should read two--talk about a freudian Typo)  as an outline and fill in the details when we get internet again.

Monday 17 October

We had planned to set off on Sunday but the weather forecasts were not encouraging: the third of three wind and rainstorms due on the Saturday to Sunday.

We had also had the rig in to the tech last week to check an annoying small diesel leak which left a film of oil on the towbar, cables and front of the Jeep. Chris advised that is was very small and appeared to be coming from the lift pump that we had had replaced in Redding California last March and should be under warranty. Since time was getting tight we decided to have Redding Freightliner see it on our way south.

So Monday morning we caught the 10:30 Coho from Port Angeles. On the other side we didn't have to stop for the Ag inspection so Art went for fuel at Safeway while Gillian shopped there for the groceries that we couldn't bring in (Fruit, veg, dogfood). Art was in the process off hooking up the Jeep to the motorhome when Gillian arrived back the supplies so we were soon on the road south.

The rain was holding off for the most part, not a bad drive down the 101 to Olympia where once on the I-5 the rain began to increase but not too bad. Prana was traveling fairly well, a bit of fussing and wining on occasion but generally settled. Our late lunch stop was at the first Rest Area on the I-5 south of Olympia.

After lunch and a rest, we pressed on through increasing rain finally stopping for the night at the Blue Ox RV Park in Albany Oregon. We would be in lots of time for our 7:00AM Appointment at Redding Freightliner Thursday morning. Yeah, Right.

Tempus Fugit. And then some

Time flies when you are having fun! Somehow never got around to completing the posts concerning the rest of our trip home.

We got through Mexico without further drama, stopped at Death Valley for a few days--windy and dusty. Just missed the height of the desert flower blooms but it was still good the see. There were enough to keep Art's allergies working!

Back home to get the rig into the shop--found that the air drier installed in Mexico was the wrong one and far too small.

Hope to be back on the road south in less than two weeks, no saying how much blogging will get done!