Newsletter 22

10 April 99- 12 Apr, 1999

On the road alone

Hello again!

Well folks, we left off  last time as I was pulling out for the appointment at the factory.  Just me and Bogart, and two days to get to Chanute, for the Monday April 12th appointment. 

Lynn stayed behind for her medical appointment. 

Bogart was "bach’ing" it with Dad (me), and I was sure that I could make do for a week on my own just fine. 

I used to take quite good care of myself before we got married 26.5 years ago!  (Wow!  It's been awhile! LOL!)

As I pulled out onto the interstate and merged the rig into traffic, I noticed a shimmy at several speeds.  Nothing violent but a cause for concern all the same.  I figured that it would make the trip ok, but I needed to get the rims and tire balance checked as soon as I had a chance. 

Since it would be hard to read the map and drive at the same time without my navigator, I'd downloaded the route from a map service online.  I was in a hurry and used a new site that had terrible graphics but the written directions seemed straightforward enough. 

It routed me around Texarkana and North through Oklahoma, instead of 71 through Arkansas.   I wanted to stop by and visit with Jim and Linda in Arkansas, but with the previous delays, and only two days to get there, the most direct route seemed wiser.

I finished my first travel mug of Java and realized that I was stuck!  Pouring coffee from a thermos and driving safely just seemed too risky so I resigned myself to only getting a fresh cup at every fuel stop.  I also drive with my running lights and headlights on at all times to help keep folks (who don't know how long it takes me to stop) from pulling out in front of me. 

That was when I noticed that one of my fiver clearance lights was out.  I pulled it over and found that while my brake, tail, and directional lights all worked, none of the fiver's clearance lights were working.  So driving at night was out!  Sheesh! 

Glad I was heading for the factory.  I drive in daytime only anyway, so barring unforeseen problems, it wasn't a showstopper.

As I pulled into Texarkana, I realized that the trip route I'd printed was taking me through residential neighborhoods!  And then it named a street that didn't come up on time.  Or ever!  I should have caught it when they mentioned turning north on 84.  See all East/West roads are even numbers and all North South roads are odd numbers. 

I was so occupied it didn't hit me until I was almost completely lost.  I found an interstate sign and picked up 30 West, which was mentioned in the directions hoping to find the route again. 

Then I pulled off and realized it said to get on I-30 for 1/10 of a mile, from a non-existent road.  Now I was heading for Dallas!  The route was worthless!  I wasn't risking any further delays with no clearance lights. 

I headed east on 30 and decided that I really needed to honor my commitment to visit with Jim and Linda, just off 71 (a route I knew) near Fort Smith.  Almost an hour wasted. 

Bogart was doing fine and we stopped for diesel in a small town midway to Fort  Smith.  As I began to pump the diesel in, the filler nozzle came apart from the hose!  It was a quick-disconnect thank god!  But I still got diesel all over the leg of my jeans.   So I walked in with the filler nozzle in hand.  (Wish I had gotten a picture of that! LOL!)  The lady there said that she'd have to get it fixed "again", so I'd have to use the big truck nozzle for now.  Fortunately my truck has a big enough filler neck to fit the larger industrial size filler nozzles.  And that pump wasn't possessed!  Bogart finally got a walk and I finally got to refill my coffee mug. 

We started up again and were on the 71 roller coaster as it passed through the Ozarks.  Up a long hill, then down, all the way in.  I let the cars and the truckers pass me whenever I had a place to pull over.  I can remember being "stuck" behind a slower vehicle for miles on a two-lane and wasn't going to do that to the other drivers on the road. 

Boy!  You could actually see the surprise on their faces as they passed me and waved a thank you.  It was no big deal.  I do believe that if we all invest a nickel's worth of courtesy a day, we'll get at least a thousand-fold return on the investment.  Works for me!

On one long stretch, with no pull over, I finally found a great place to let the 18-wheeler and about ten cars behind me get around my rig without even stopping.  I got on the radio and told the 18-wheeler to come on by as I was slowing for him to pass. 

The surprise in his reply of "well...thanks driver" gave me a chuckle.  He passed and then asked me where I was going and I told him I was visiting friends just outside of Fort Smith and had no clue where their little town of Alma was.

Well!  He informed me that his handle was Coyote, and that he was from that area and heading home.  He told me to tuck in behind him and he'd lead me almost to Jim's doorstep.  Remember that nickel's worth of courtesy?

For you non- RVrs I need to explain about truckers and RVrs.  There are a few truckers out there that don't like RVrs and vice versa.  Very few.  Driving an RV is a lot like driving a big rig as we are long, and have to drive at least a couple of city blocks ahead of ourselves to avoid sudden surprises. 

I have noticed that a most RVrs are silent on the radio, and don't do truck signals.  I realize that the big rig drivers are expert but still flash their lights to let the other "driver" know when it is safe to pull back over after a pass.  Then the one passing says "thanks" with a flash or two of his taillights. 

Aside from courtesy, it keeps you from being sideswiped by a tired "driver".  I like to flash em over and participate as a "driver".  Actually it helps me by keeping me alert and in touch with traffic behind me.  Sure, we've all met drivers in all kinds of vehicles that are rude and discourteous.  But they are the minority. 

I've also had very little luck in saying hi on the CB to other RVrs!  A lot of RVrs say that channel 13 is the RVrs normal channel.  Well, I have not reached even one on 13 or 19.  Guess the cell phones are enough for 'em nowadays.

Back to Coyote.  Drafting him from a safe distance (edge of the "envelope") kept me up to speed and we had a great time for an hour or more talking on the radio.  He had to jump back to channel 19 every few miles or so to say hi to a base station along the road as he knew everyone with a CB along highway 71 from driving that route for the past 50 years! 

He knew every inch of the road, and told me when to back off, and when to tuck back in.  He even knew the state troopers by name!  Waved to 'em all and said Hi to a few on the air. 

We talked about our back problems (He's having to go in for a back surgery soon-Good-luck bud), our grandkids, and then solved most of the world's problems in that hour. 

I was keeping up with traffic because of him and my route was now taken care of.  O learned he has a four year old granddaughter that can quote the line from the movie "Titanic" when asked why the ship went down.  She replies with the line about it being "too big in the butt . . . etc" - I can't even remember it!  LOL! 

Coyote sure was proud of the family. 

And his stories (well told and engrossing) were an entertainment bonus, on that boring two-lane road, in the middle of nowhere.  As we pulled onto the six-lane to his house (and my destination) he made sure I knew which exit, where the truck stop with diesel was, and how to get to my friends area.  We said our good-byes as the signal faded away. 

My first trip alone wasn't!  I made great time because of his help, and surprised Jim with a call just five miles from his house.

A little about Jim and Linda.  We met them at the Lackland AFB RV park (they call 'em FamCamps on base) During our first week living in the RV back in Dec of 97.  I was waiting to have my hitch installed and had never driven my rig.  I could get no one to install the hitch until after the holidays.  In San Antonio all the reputable installers were on two-week vacations! 

Jim, Linda, and their daughter Vickie, were there for their son's graduation from Basic Training.  Jim taught me a lot about my RV, and RVing in general.  He even volunteered to tow my fiver across town to have it inspected, a requirement before you can register it in Texas. 

They had no camcorder so I lent 'em mine and they got their son's parade and grad day on tape.  We spent a lot of fun time together. 

Jim and Linda made us promise to stop by anytime we passed by on 71.  They have a place to park a rig, with water and electric on their property!  And they are the same age as we are!  (We are the young ones in the RV world! LOL!)

Jim came to the truck stop and led me to his place.  Wow!  He had built a "shop/garage" big enough to store his 36-foot Travel Supreme 5th wheel and his 1 ton dually that is polished and kept under a cover inside the shop!  He backed me up to the shop and saw that my shore power (110v) cord wasn't going to reach.  I told him I had an extension cord and before I could get it, he had fished one of his extensions out, and told me to hook 'er up!  Wow!  He had built the whole thing himself.  It looked like a brand new commercial shop, minus the lift, and clean as a whistle. 

I plugged into the cord and since it was sunny and 80 degrees, went in to turn the A/C on for Bogart.

The A/C kicked on and then died!  Then it tried to kick on again.  Jim was just  coming in the door as I looked down and saw smoke curling out from under the computer station!  I shut down the A/C, and pulled the plugs to the computer area and the smoke increased!  I hollered that I had a fire to Jim and asked him to get the extinguisher as I checked for the source.  It was the power controller/surge protector!  And the smoke was increasing. 

I disconnected everything from it, yanked it out by the cord, and threw it outside.  It had caught fire internally and almost caught the cabinet on fire!  Had I not looked down from the smell, it would have caught the cabinet space (it was tightly built into it) on fire.

I checked everything and then went out to the power cord to check it with my circuit tester.  I disconnected everything and started from the power outlet in the shop . . . no problem there, the OK lights were fine.  Then I checked from the end of the extension cord . . . found it.  The female plug was so loose that it was only connecting when it was pushed in and held.  Jim was mortified! 

But I was the one at fault.  I have a rule to never plug in without checking the outlet with my tester.  The tester I have has three colored lights on it and checks for the most common wiring faults like reversed polarity, open ground, open neutral, open hot, hot and ground reversed, hot on neutral hot unwired, etc. 

I keep an adapter on it that will plug it into the 30 amp outlets that are used for RVs.  I have seen bad outlet wiring melt down a motorhome's expensive control panel in one park, and eventually found that the wiring at home was the cause of the problems I had last year.  So it was shame on me!  At that point I had to consider that all of my systems, both 12-volt and 110, may be fried!  But at least there was no fire damage except for the surge suppressor. 

I connected my extension cord and verified that the power was stable.  Jim waited to plug it in until I was inside to spot any further ignition.  He plugged it in and I saw no smoke.  I checked the fridge, antenna amp, 110 outlets, circuit breaker panels, microwave, fuses etc.  Nothing, no damage but one blown fuse. 

Before I tried my expensive computer equipment, which I was sure had to have sustained damage, I cringed and turned on the A/C.  Perfect!  No problems! 

With fire extinguisher in hand, and prepared for the worst, I plugged my printer/scanner/fax/MFC7000 in directly and waited for the smoke.  Nothing!  It powered up normally and passed it's self check!  Then the Zip drive . . . same there. 

Finally the laptop power supply, green there too!  Whew!  No further damage!  I almost couldn't believe it!  The surge/distribution panel had not allowed the surge through, but it had simply chosen that moment to short internally and fry!  It could have done that while we were asleep at any time!  GAs again?  Had to be.

Now the only problem I had was Jim.  Poor guy was devastated.  He wanted to buy another one for me because he thought his extension was at fault!  I was just glad it stressed the controller in front of me, instead of having it burn up when the A/C cycled at night while we slept, and burning us up!  He threw the cord away but didn't see it my way.  He and Linda are wonderful hosts and he thought it was his fault for the fire.  (He's finally come around and realized it would have fried eventually, a favor, not a mess-up)

Jim and Linda were really disappointed that Lynn wasn't with me but made time for us to go out to eat.  When I told of my tight schedule, they were further disappointed that I wasn't going to visit for a week or so!  We had a great evening out and the next morning I was "forced" to have breakfast with 'em in the southern style.  MMMMmmm-homemade biscuits and Linda's gravy with pork, sausage, and eggs. 

Then Jim suggested we fix the running lights just in case.  We pulled the umbilical fuse box and found that the fuse for the lights was blown.  It was a buss type 8 amp.  We went to the truck stop and they only had the common ones, then to Wally World, same there.  Finally we went to O-Reilly auto parts and they had no 8 amps on the rack but did have em in a loose fuse bin! 

I bought several.  We installed em and every one blew.  There was a dead short, somewhere in the rig.  I had a six-hour drive to Chanute and an appointment the next morning so we had to wrap up and get me on the road to arrive before dark. 

Jim told me of a new six-lane that would cut at least an hour off the trip.  We hugged (Linda not Jim!) and shook hands (Ok now with Jim LOL!) and I got on the road.  It was 2 PM.

The shortcut was a dream and I made great time.  Cut over on 40 to Kansas 166, then North on KS 169.  It looked like I'd make it in four hours. 

Now I gotta say that Kansas is pretty dull countryside unless you are a farmer and enjoy miles of flat, easily cultivatable fields.  The weather and the trip were perfect. 

I was almost to Chanute, and finally saw a sign that proclaimed 12 miles to my destination.  I savored that sign, smiling to have made such good time, and looked back ahead to see . . . a 4-way stop 50 feet ahead of me! 

I was cruising at 60 mph and stood on the brakes.  It wasn't enough to stop 18,000 pounds of rig!  I grabbed the trailer brakes and manually increased the braking but too late!  I barreled through the stop sign in my lane at 40 mph! And saw . . . an empty intersection!  Acccck! 

I got the rig stopped about 50 yards beyond the intersection.  No damage, no accident, just a very shaken driver.  I pulled over and stopped, shaking.  I'd never been that inattentive.  I had never had an accident on the road in 32 years of driving!  There were several cars behind me that saw the whole thing. 

As they passed they waved and made sure I was OK.  The only thing wrong with me was a case of latent adrenaline and terminal embarrassment.  (I could also use a change of shorts!)

I cranked it up and headed in to Chanute very carefully.  Pulled into the park 15 minutes later hoping Bob and Gloria were there, and there was a space.  We made it! 

Boy was I missing my significant harassment at that point.  Then Gloria came out with Bob and helped me back it in.  I left it hooked up to the truck to save time in the morning. 

I had to get it to the service dept by 0700 the next morning.  Bob offered me a cold beer.  Boy did it ever taste good!  I went inside and found that all the inside setup stuff that Lynn normally did wasn't as easy as I thought.  And boy! Did I miss my navigator and extra set of eyes on this trip!  Guess I'll keep her around!  And that was only the first two days apart!  LOL!

Derek, Lynn, and Bogart the wonder dog

Next issues:     

Lynn, Bogart, and the 5th wheel all get surgery      

Nuwa and the repairs

Bogart and the new carpet

Kevin saves the day!

Lynn and the bus trip

Chanute this time around

New itinerary!  Grand Canyon first!

Oklahoma City and the storms

Run to Amarillo skirting the storms

Santa Rosa - Blue Hole!

Route 66 - it's everywhere, it's everywhere!

Albuquerque a rest!

New radios, antennas

The tires and rims

Sandia Peak and the ice marbles

The cliff dwelling ruins and the pueblos

Wind, wind, and more headwind

On to Arizona

Holbrook, the painted desert, and the petrified forest

On to Williams and the Grand Canyon