It all started yesterday as we were all hooked up and ready to pull out of Desert Gold in Brenda. We never ever pull out without a final check of all the lights. And on this occasion the right turn signal on the tow car would not operate. I disconnected and reconnected the tether wire several times ...and nothing. It may not sound like a big deal, but lane changes in traffic, like say in Albuquerque, can be disastrous if others don't know where I am headed. It's a big rig and despite lots of mirrors there are blind spots- so I really needed to get this blinker working. On past occasions, some dirt has gotten in one end or the other of the plug and kept it from working. Cleaning usually helps, but not this time. Moisture maybe? I licked my thumb and wiped the end of the contacts, and tried again. Still nothing. It was hot and very windy and my thumb had pretty much dried before I wiped the contacts. Maybe if I licked the plug real quick and sanitary like? Oh, the other end was still connected to the coach. Any idea what 12 volts feels like applied directly to the tongue? Remember the old hit: Good Good Good Vibrations? My tongue vibrated that tune for the next 300 miles.....oh, yes it WAS a bit dumb. BUT: it worked, the blinker came back and off we went. That is the extent of my mechanical skills, but what works....works.
Today should have been better. But while breaking camp this morning one of the slides refused to pull in. Running down the road with an open slide? Not possible. So today started about the same as yesterday. But a few pokes and prods, a couple jiggles, and maybe a kick or two with the back of the heel and that too began working again. Ready to go? Lets check the tire pressure. Oh oh, one tire monitor not working; we had a spare, took the time to reprogram that on the front right tire of the rig. Now ready to go? Here we go.....
But as we got ready to pull out of our campsite, the "STOP ENGINE" light came on the dash. I did. The jacks had not fully retracted. Tried it again. Came on again. The third time this happened though I let it run through its cycle and eventually the warning light went out. Let's try this again.
A couple of mildly nervous travelers cruised down the road. Feeling any more at ease? Maybe. Until we tried to pass a couple other big rigs and while doing so, another tire monitor was set off. It showed the back left tire on the tow vehicle was losing air rapidly. That's what they are for- to let you know you are running too soft before the tire heats up and blows. We completed the pass and pulled over quickly on a tight stretch of highway in heavy traffic. With little room to work I ran back to check the tire. Yep. Problem. But the sensor that alerted us to the problem was also actually causing the problem as a seal on the sensor had popped loose and was leaking. Again, we had a spare (part of the Gundy redundancy program) and reprogrammed it and set it in place. But the tire was still too low on air. I carry a 50 foot compressed air hose which hooks up to an on board compressor in the front of the coach. But that doesn't reach the back tire of a car in tow. I carry a portable compressor too. But these new sensors require a lithium cream lubricant to keep the brass and steel stems from "freezing" and this stuff is sooooooo slippery. How slippery is it? Slippery enough to keep the nozzle of the compressor from locking on to the tire stem, so the minute I hit 70 pounds of air it popped off. I needed 80 pounds. Not good. After all else failed, we limped down the road until we came upon a travel stop owned by the Hopi Indians. They had fuel; I didn't need any. They had a free air compressor- but it didn't work. Drat! They told us where there was tire shop nearby. Two bucks and two minutes later and we were back on the road. My insides were all torn up... something or other had been going "south" all day while we were traveling north and east. The nerves were shot. It felt like there would be more. There was....
A fifth wheel we had passed a short while back now passed us pointing wildly down at the bottom of the coach. Other campers often wave or give a thumbs up, but this was different. Were they telling us something was wrong. That's a roger! One of the locked basement doors had somehow bounced off its hold and was flapping in the breeze- a 70 mile an hour down the highway breeze that is. Again we pulled over and took the time to repair the lock. We didn't loose any cargo, the door was not damaged. Onward!
Despite all the delays and setbacks, we completed the 350 miles we had set for a goal for today. This is a mountainous trail we are traveling and the uphill sections are slowwwwwwwww. If there was good news in the day, the snow showers were no harm no foul at the higher elevations. We made it to our campground, and a nice guy jumped in a golf cart and guided us to our site. He parked and talked for a few minutes, then jumped back in his cart and....... nothing. His battery was dead as a doornail....
It was just one of those days! Tomorrow is another day, and I hope a better day. But ya never know! Do ya? I'm a bit nervous.
1 comment:
That's quite the story, I really feel for you guys. Annoying and scary. But I believe it will be smooth "sailing" for you the rest of the way home!
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