The doors are now on, and a fourth door had to be bondexed as it's surface was not level. All are now ready for painting, which will start tomorrow at 8, and won't be done until Wednesday.
Which means we are renting a room tomorrow night, as the RV has to stay inside at the shop. Since there will be nothing to report, next post will be Wednesday night.
Part of the border trim on one rug was ripped so they repaired it. Our wheel well cover problem, which was mentioned in an earlier post, was repaired and we are sitting in our new heated Captain chairs with the heat turned on. How comfortable!
The parts for the body repairs haven't arrived yet, maybe tomorrow. So we'll go to dinner and wait for a call for us to come in.
After lunch, we stopped in at Sunshine Mills, a large factory here in town which manufactures grain free dog foods. I mean it is large! Anyway, stopped in to see if they had samples of their food. They don't have a store but the manager gave us two 15 pound bags of food to see if our dogs liked it. How nice!
So we have at least another week or so here. In the meanwhile, the temperature has finally warmed up. Gorgeous weather! It should continue for a few days. If only there was a pool!
We then drove 58 miles to Florence for a scheduled blood test. On the way back, called for a status and found out parts needed to be ordered and couldn't get here before Thursday. So we took the RV to the second guy and he had his repair guy check it out. The levelers in the rear are 10K pound levelers (the engine is back there). They can't be found for replacement as the company that made them went bankrupt several years ago.
So he tested the leveler, and thought a gear had broken. He removed it from the chassis and together we took it apart. That amounts to removing it's motor from the leg itself to get to the gears. But none of the gears were broken.
Remember last week I mentioned how bad that one campground was and how uneven the site was? Well, there are two lifting rods in the leveler leg, one of which was bent from the pressure on the leg from the uneven site. They can't be replaced because the leg is welded together. So we had a good motor but a bad leg.
Fortunately he had in his inventory the same leg we needed, but with a motor with a bad bearing. After talking to the owner, they agreed to sell us the leg to use with our good motor. Long story short, we put them together and it works. We now have fully functioning levelers.
As to our satellite, we had the receiver tested and it works fine. Put a new module on the roof as we were told that would fix the problem, as we had the HDMI cable replaced last night. Nope, it doesn't work. That repairman is on his way here now.
Status update: he came, he fixed, he conquered. We now have satellite TV, at least from 2 of 3 satellites. Will find out more tomorrow or Wednesday with a little more testing.
A tornado watch was indicated for Tishomingo county in Mississippi. That's only a 1/2 mile up the road. The sky was very dark. I called the RV park office and asked for the location of the tornado shelter. She confirmed it was in the basement of the Methodist Church but had to call someone and see if it was locked or unlocked. I went up and checked it's location and that it was unlocked if we needed it. I then informed some of the neighbors of the situation.
Less than 1/2 an hour later the siren in town started wailing. One long continuous sound. We weren't sure if that was the tornado warning but we hastened out to the car. As we got outside a voice blared from the speakers at the police station "Seek shelter immediately! Get to a shelter ASAP!"
Well, that confirmed it! We had the dogs and hightailed it to the shelter where we were soon joined by others. Sure enough there was a tornado watch for Franklin county, where we are located. We were there for 45 minutes until the warning from the National Weather Service expired. Apparently a tornado was sighted but 30 miles east of our location.
Today we took the RV to the installer who put in our undercarriage mood lights last year and in about 30 seconds he fixed our problem with them. The remote and the controller were out of sync and he showed me how to correct it if it happens again. While there we inquired about and decided to replace our slide toppers and two Captain chairs. The toppers are showing their age (11 years), were sagging, and 2 of the 4 needed to be repaired/replaced anyway. So we decided to have all 4 done next week. Our chairs are frayed and giving us occasional problems so we decided to have them replaced as well with a newer model, which also includes heated seats. So next week will be busy.
We are sitting here listening to a great country music station after Nancy made a great dinner. I am so blessed to have found her. Later tonight or tomorrow our satellite technician will be here to replace a damaged HDMI cable behind the inside walls. While waiting we rearranged some of our overhead cabinets. Then a long weekend! The town rolls up it's sidewalks at 3:30 each day and all weekend so there is nothing to do here. If we have time maybe we'll drive to Tennessee and visit Shiloh Civil War Battlefield. At least since the tornado scare yesterday the weather has been sunny and will remain the same throughout the week.
Next up, or not, was our levelers. Three of them raised, but not the fourth. In the last post I mentioned how uneven our site was, remember (if you read it)? The weight of the RV came to rest on that one leveler in such a way that the leg, which rises up into a housing tube, was jammed at an angle against the housing with such pressure that it could not raise. For the next hour and a half I was under the RV, trying to raise it with a 4 ton bottle jack, then moving the RV forward to relieve the pressure, and using a drill manually to raise the leg. Once it was up the weight of the RV pressed down on the bottle jack so it couldn't be removed. We had to move the RV backwards this time to force the jack free. Then we had to reset all four levelers as they were out of sync.Thank goodness they all work. It would have been a big expense to have to buy a new one. I couldn't have done all of this without the assistance of my better half Nancy.
Next we had to fill up with fuel. When we finally got going, I missed a turn because the GPS had not caught up to where we were so we had to detour around. Not so easy, we got stopped at a RR crossing while a long arsed train took its time crossing.
The entire 263 miles from Jackson to Red Bay was fraught with high winds and gusts as a remnant of winter storm Ulmer, which although it died early created high winds across Mississippi and Alabama.
The nice part of the trip was that the GPS routed us on 59 miles of the Natchez Trace Parkway and the Tombigbee National Forest. Although the speed limit was 50 mph, it allowed us to look around and see things we might have passed at a higher speed. We saw three young turkey hens and about four redtail hawks. Even better we were at the front of the line, with multiple cars behind us. At one point on the two lane road we saw a tractor trailer that missed its exit and went into a ditch blocking the southbound lane. The driver was alright, attempting to back the rig out of the ditch. As soon as we had cell service we called 911 to get him assistance.
So here we are, where we will be for at least a week or two as we get things on our list repaired or replaced. At least we have phone service.
Nice people in an RV passed us and held up a sign saying one of our bay doors was open. Stopped right away and it wasn't a bay door. The wheel well cover was flapping, the third time this has happened. The cover vibrates and in doing so enlarges the hole where the bolt attaches it to the frame, eventually cutting a path thru the fiberglass and allowing the cover to get loose and flap. I taped it closed and continued on.
We thought we would stay here for a few days and see what Jackson has to offer, but with the RV park as it is, we are just going to do the remaining 271 miles tomorrow and maybe get some work on the RV done early.
So not much more to report as all we did was drive all day.
We left Corpus at 10:16 and for a brief moment thought of going back to Schertz and surprising Marjorie and Mom again. We didn't, just turned off and started our drive to Baytown. Stopped for fuel at a Buc-ees, a place I mentioned in an earlier post. Fuel prices everywhere we saw were over $3, but at Buc-ees we paid $2.47/gallon. A great savings!
The ride went well until we got to Houston. They had blocked off the exit we needed which backed up traffic for miles. We went nine tenths of a mile in one hour. Overall we lost almost two hours due to traffic. Finally was able to get off highway 59, worked our way around and got to Interstate 10 and on to our destination, where we will stay until Tuesday morning, when we head to Mississippi.
The weather here should be in the mid 70's, although with a high chance of rain, but maybe we can get to the pool tomorrow or Monday.
We just finished having our lights fixed today. We were done, or so we thought. We had to turn right back into Freightliner; they had messed up our dash ac fan. An hour or so later, Mark, the service tech, and the foreman, with the foreman driving, were on a test drive down I-37. The RV in front of our RV kicked up a stone and chipped our windshield. Freightliner refused to pay or even help pay the deductible for the windshield, and they claim the problem with our ac fan is not their fault, even though we didn't have the problem before they worked on our lights . Soooooo, we are back at the Shriner's tonight, and tomorrow am we will be waiting for someone to come to us to repair the chip. Then, maybe, we can get moving and back on schedule.
We called RV parks in the area for an overnight stay but they were all booked, as it is Spring Break. But we lucked out as one block away was the Al Amin Shrine Temple, and they had a vacancy. They actually have 10 water/electric sites and 4 full hookup sites ($25 per night). So here we are for the night. Depending on when Freightliner finishes tomorrow (the part won't arrive until noon), we may or may not be on our way to Houston. We have an appointment in Red Bay, Alabama on the 17th, so we will still have time to make it even if we are delayed a day or two
When we leave, we have to stop at Freightliner in Corpus Christi. We discovered that when our headlights are on, they blink on and off along with our fog lights. Somewhere we have a poor connection that needs to be identified and corrected. We contacted several RV mobile repair services, but they don't have the experience to help us, so on to Freightliner, our chassis manufacturer.
JUST KIDDING!
It's Mark. Along the way, with all the wind shaking us, a wine box holding 3 bottles fell from it's location under our table and hit the floor. It cracked the bottom off one bottle of blackberry wine and sent it all over. What a mess! Had to steam mop the floor after we were down in our knees wiping it up. RV smells like a winery now.
Our campground is over 100 miles away from any interesting sites so we are going to stay here tomorrow to relax, then continue working our way to Alabama. At least it was warm today, 74°. Of course it will be in the 60s tomorrow, too cold for swimming, but better than back home.
We left Las Vegas yesterday, but had to take a more southerly route than the one we had planned. Flagstaff had, and was continuing to have snow, like 15 inches. So there went the Grand Canyon. Holbrook was due to get 3-5 inches, but up to 10 inches, so there went the Painted Desert and Route 66. Amarillo was going to have that white stuff too, so for sure that killed that route. Snow and cold is what we wanted to get away from on this trip.So we drove south to a little KOA on our new route. We drove thru mountains 5000 feet high
and thru dessert at 4200 feet. We drove thru the Joshua Forest Parkway of Arizona, where we saw more Joshua Trees than we saw at Joshua National Park in California. We saw Nancy's favorite cactus, the saguarro, all over the desert. Just stunning!
We got to the campground after dark , at 6 pm, so the office was closed. This KOA was in the desert, where we were traveling.The last 1/4 mile to the campground was so full of potholes, we could have scrambled eggs. At the campground no lights were on to see our way. A map to our site was left outside the office but it was so dark we missed the turn to our site. It took us an hour to find it and get backed in and it was not a large campground. Never again!
Yesterday it rained all day, so we stayed in. At most they had one inch of rain but it caused over 100 serious accidents. Most of them were from run off down the "washes". Winds were 45 mph with gusts to 60.
Today we saw a comic magician, Derek Hughes. He was on Comedy Central, MTV, and a host of other shows and competitions.
He did one set where he had people think of a town, a name from their phone list, and pick out a word at the top of a page in the dictionary. He then wrote on a pad his thoughts of what the people was thinking and got every one right. No tricks, because Nancy was one of the people. He was really good, and funny.
We decided to skip Fremont Street, saving it for another visit, as we will be leaving early tomorrow, Saturday, for Holbrook, AZ. I'm a little concerned as we have to pass by Flagstaff, which is having snow, and it makes driving very hazardous.
So, I will be posting next from Arizona. Have a great weekend everyone.
The dam was completed in 1935 and was named Boulder Dam. In 1947 it was renamed Hoover Dam. It goes across the Colorado River, and when finished the backed up water created Lake Mead. There is a sluice for runoff if the lake gets too high which would divert the water behind the damn and down into the river.
However the last time the lake deposited water in it was when Ronald Reagan was president in 1983. You can see how low the water is from where it used to be in this picture. The white calcium shows it's former height.
Here is the dam
These towers are where the water is sucked into the turbines, which in turn generates electricity. The water behind the dam goes from this
to this
Can you see the river down there?
Here is a view of Boulder Basin, which is 1/4 of Lake Mead, from an overlook 400 feet above the lake.
The north shore is 6 miles across from this view. The lake has a depth of 532 feet, is the largest water reservoir in the US, and was the first national recreation area.
We didn't go on the tour thru the inside of the dam as the line was too long. The wind today was 45 mph and almost blew me over the wall!
We will be staying in Las Vegas all week, leaving on Saturday for Winslow, AZ. We decided to stay till then as we have to drive thru Flagstaff, and it is having 3 days of snow and high winds this week, which would make the drive difficult.
After 2 hours of desert driving and seeing more Joshua trees along the way we saw brief civilization in Needles, which was larger than I imagined. But we were soon on two lanes again until Nevada.
You could see the state line from a distance. Whereas 95 was two lanes and dusty looking in California, it was 4 lane and looked new from the state border forward. Straight road with hills on both sides and our elevation increased several thousand feet before dropping again. When we got to Henderson, we could see snow capped Mt Charleston west of the city. Shortly afterwards we entered Las Vegas, and got to our stop, Las Vegas RV Resort, a 5-star resort, at 1:25 pm. A very nice place off of Nellis Boulevard right in the city. Pool, spa, palm trees, 24-hour security, adults only, and they guide you to your large site.
So that's it for now. We had Chinese last night after stopping at Walmart (where else would I shop?), and chillaxed today. Well, I did. Nancy did our laundry. Tomorrow we plan to see Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. Until then!
We left at 9:30 am yesterday and drove 80 miles to the Cottonwood Springs Road entrance on the south side of Joshua Tree National Park. The park contains two deserts, the Colorado and Mojave, and has more land mass than the state of Rhode Island. We entered the Colorado, and drove north, and constantly uphill, to the Mojave. The elevation there is over 3000 feet above sea level.The Colorado is distinguished by the yucca cactus, and the Mojave by the Joshua Tree.
It was 39 degrees and windy in the Mojave, 52 in the Colorado. It was 38 miles from the south to the north, with stunning scenery. The Cholla (pronounced choy-ah) Gardens were interesting, the big rocks area, and have I said the stunning scenery? We were near Twenty Nine Palms, San Bernardino, Riverside, and the town of Joshua Tree.
Skull Rock
Cholla Garden
Cholla Cactus
From there we went back the way we came and went West to the Salton Sea, which is 236 feet below sea level. Just another landlocked body of water, which like the Dead Sea in Israel, has no influx of fresh water and gets saltier as the water evaporates. In one century it has shrunk from 45 miles to 36 miles in length. At one point we were only 120 miles from Los Angeles.
On the way home, we stopped in Coachella, the site of a huge annual music festival, and had dinner at the buffet at the Spotlight 29 Casino. We got back at 8:30 pm, after driving a total of 356 miles.
Today, we are doing nothing but relaxing.
