Labor Day Camping

Stephen bought a new Aspen 29' travel trailer.  He just picked it up Monday and is anxious to try it out.  So, I went looking for a couple of side-by-side campsites at a campground somewhere between us.  Now this has been a really fiasco.

I finally found a pair at Prairie Creek campground on Beaver Lake in Arkansas.  It's a COE campground and though in bad need of updating, it looked okay.  So, I made reservations for both of us - site 93 & 95.

Dusty had shown an interest in possibly coming down to camp with us, so we called to see if they wanted me to make reservations for them too.  Both Dusty & Traci wanted to come, but was having a hard time pulling the trigger.  But, while we were batting it around, I was looking at the campground website for a possible nearby site when I noticed a warning about the road to sites 93 & 95 being very steep and narrow and not satisfactory for larger rigs.  Well, that pretty much settled Dusty & Traci's dilemma.  They opted out.  Then I had to find something more satisfactory for Stephen and us.  Luckily, the were two left up the hill in a loop that has sites for larger units.  I wondered at the time why these two were still available, but noticed they were $1 more because they have 50 amp electric service.  So, it must be the cheap seats fill up first.  Anyway, $24.50 later (fees for reservation change and additional $1 per site) we have reservations for Friday through Sunday night.

But, it wasn't over.  I was waiting for my doctor to call with appointment dates for a couple of tests he wanted me to take.  Sure enough, they have me scheduled for early Friday afternoon.  If lucky, they will be done by 3 or 4.  We are taking Pumpkin to the appointments and plan on heading on down to Beaver Lake from there.

If anything else falls out of the sky and lands anywhere nearby, I may give up.  We're keeping our fingers crossed.

Fine Tuning

Today I bored a hole in the side wall of the counter top - on the end next to the front passenger seat.  I found a power strip in the workshop with a long power cord and hung it on the wall next to the big side window.  The cord then drops down and passes through the hole in the side wall and runs underneath the counter top over to the inverter.  I have the TV plugged into this power strip and will also use it to power the Verizon MiFi (Internet device) and computer power supply.  If I can get my Dish Network receiver working, it will also power that for satellite TV.  The inverter can also handle my WDTV and an external HDD for movies.  This way I can operate most of my electronics on the coach batteries if there is no AC power available and not have to fire up my noisy generator.

Inverter Is In

I finished the inverter installation today.  I bought some 6 ga. welder cable which was perfect for the job.  It's very flexible and easy to route.  I mounted the inverter to the outside wall under the new counter as close to the stairwell as possible.  The battery compartment is under the steps, so I was able to keep the cables fairly short.

I routed the cables through the sidewall of the counter up next to the outside wall and down along side the door frame.  Then I ran them under the last step to the battery compartment.  The last step is a thick piece of plywood, so I cut away some of the underside to make a channel for the cables.  The only place the cable is visible (besides under the counter) is the short run along the door frame, about 12".

I still have to get a power strip with a long cord.  I want to drill a hole in the counter side wall on the opposite end toward the front and mount it on the wall just behind the passenger seat.  That's where the Internet modem mounts and is also near the TV cabinet.

TV On The Run

Not really.  Who needs to watch TV when the world is passing by outside?  But, I received my 1100 watt inverter today.  I need to get some heavy gauge wire to install it, but it should serve us well.  I plan to power our Verizon MiFi and laptop computer with it so we can jump on the Internet while on the road without firing up the generator.  With frugal use, we can brew a pot of coffee or watch TV for a while, too.

Speaking of TV, I ordered a new LNBF (knobby looking thing that goes on the satellite dish) and a satellite signal meter & compass.  Pumpkin has an old satellite dish built in and we can use our Dish receiver out of the kitchen.  Resurrecting the old dish is not too expensive, but it will require some tweaking to set up.  At least we should be able to get CNN and maybe even KY3 while on the road.

Leaky Plumbing

While at Babler, Joyce notice some dampness on the floor in the bedroom.  It was an old spot - meaning I had repaired a leak in that area before.  I opened up the panel that exposed the plumbing behind the water control vavles and sure enough, the floor was wet there.  But, I was unable to find a leak.  I connected up the city water line and applied city water pressure (if you want to call Moore Bend Water Co. city water).  After the higher pressure was applied for a while, a little seep leak began at one of the joints I had worked on before.  I tightened the clamp and added a second clamp for insurance.  That seemed to do the trick, however, I need a good water regulator to keep the pressure down.  I have two of the el cheapo regulators available at Walmart and they have both failed.  So, I need to get a better regulator.  In the meantime, the plumbing doesn't leak with the internal pump pressure.  So, I'll just fill up the tank when needed and switch off the city water.  No need for that excess pressure anyway.

Update: 2 days later with the pump left on and still no leak.  I'm going with it as is.

Home Again

We packed up and left Babler State Park about 1 pm.  It was a long but pleasant drive home - except for that damned Travel Plaza where we stopped for gas.  Those places aren't set up for an RV towing a Jeep.  As I left, I wound up pushing over one of their signs just to get cranked around and out of there.  You can't back up with a car in tow.  You would think a place that calls themselves "Travel Plaza" would have fueling spots for RVs.

We got home about 5:30 pm.  It was a nice trip.  And, Oxford was here waiting and all the chickens are accounted for (I think).

Funny thing...as we turned the corner to start down Cox Rd, Pumpkin quit again.  Just like before in almost the precise location.  Weird!  It started right back up with no problem.  We may have a "haint" hanging around that corner.  Where's the Ghost Busters when you need them?

It's A Miracle

Dusty and the boys pitched a tent and slept outside Saturday night.  Traci (knowing her husband's curse) and Laurna slept in Pumpkin.  It did not rain.  It was a miracle or something really bad is coming.

The St. Louis bunch went home after breakfast.  They invited us to a fish fry and had to get home to make the preparations (yes!).

Joyce and I made it to their house about 5 pm and Dusty had the fish in the deep fryer.  He had already made grilled asparagus and Brussels sprouts and roasted corn-on-the-cob.  Traci was making au gratin potatoes, slicing up cucumbers and had just taken a pound cake out of the oven.  She sliced fresh strawberries to go with the cake.

The fish came from the Gulf of Mexico.  The gang had gone to Destin a few weeks ago and caught a bunch of Vermilion snapper.  At least they were told they weren't Red snapper because Red snapper were not in season.  A lot went into catching these fish...and a lot came out while catching these fish.  Traci and Laurna contributed the most - the "out" part while Dusty and the boys fished.  The result is possibly the best fish I've ever eaten.

Dinner was fit for a king.  Sooo delicious.  They had outdone a lot of super good seafood restaurants and it was a whole lots less expensive - for Joyce and I, anyway.  Dusty said it worked out to somewhere around $50 a pound.

After dinner we sat down to a game of new Trivial Pursuit (Bet You Know It) where you get to bet on whether the person answering the question would get it right or not.  We let Traci win (wink, wink).

After a wonderful evening, it was time to pay the piper.  Traci made me haul off bags and bags of old clothes and toys she was giving to our local fire dept.  We filled the Jeep up, leaving just enough room for a couple of over stuffed adults and a little dog.  We slept well.

Well, We're here and it's thundering

Should have known. We're camped near Dusty and it's raining. No, Dusty is not camping, but he's close enough to have his usual effect. The trip up yesterday was long, but uneventful. However, I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out. I wanted to gas up at the Casey's Store in Forsyth. I knew it would be easy to get in and out. But, when I got there, someone had left their car blocking the pumps. We sat there for quite a while. I even asked an attendant who was dumping trash if she would see if the person could move their car. The attendant disappeared inside and that was that. I don't know if the person was in taking a crap or chewing the fat or was locked in the trunk. The car was sitting too far out from the pump to have been there for gas. I finally gave up and drove off. I wasn't in that big a need for gas.

We stopped at Strafford for gas and on up the road a ways to a rest stop just beyond Marshfield, we stopped for lunch. What a nice rest stop. The DOT has been working on it for what seems like years. But, it's finished now. Actually, it's a Welcome Center. It has a huge parking area for trucks and a special convenient area for RVs. The picnic tables are all under neat little cabanas built like old-time gas station and motor court fronts. A wide sidewalk leads down between all of them and has a yellow center line painted like a highway and U.S. Highway 66 road signs along the walk.

The rest of the trip went by like the countryside we passed. I drove about 55 mph because we were bucking a headwind and were not in a hurry anyway. So, it was a nice trip.

We went to Dusty's for dinner and to catch up a bit. Then came back to the park for bedtime. Having Coors along makes this kind of camp much more enjoyable and convenient.

I'm sitting here now with Joyce, Ditto and Laurna still in bed. Yes, Laurna came to camp the night with us. Everyone else has a part in a neighborhood triathlon this morning (in the rain). Poor Laurna didn't have a part to play so she came home with us last night. She's all sprawled out on the cab-over bunk still sawing them off. I love that little girl.

Going To Babler

We're just about all packed and ready to go on a short trip up St. Louis way.  After having the transmission worked on, I wanted to get a few miles under its belt before we started out for Custer State Park in South Dakota next month.  So, we're going to spend the weekend at Babler State Park just outside Chesterfield.  We're towing Coors so we will run back and forth to Dusty's.  Dusty has a fish fry planned - ummmm!

The Ol' Switcheroo

Well, I got the latest emergency flasher to work.  The flasher has + & - and L (load) pins and the + & - were reversed - not per flasher spec, but per Ford spec.  Anyway, I made up some short wire extensions with spade connectors on them so I could cross the two leads.  Works good now.

Bleed Man Bleed

Yesterday I got Joyce up and out to help me do a another run at bleeding the brakes.  I had bled the front brakes after changing the calipers, but they still felt a little soft so I wanted to bleed the rear brakes, too.  After crawling around cussing and groaning for a while I decided it just wasn't worth it.  It was time to pay some younger guy to do it.  So, today we took Pumpkin to a local shop.  We had to go to Ozark anyway, so we dropped Pumpkin off and went to town.  When we came back, it was done.  The fella said I had actually done a good job.  He went ahead and vacuum bled the rears and bled the fronts anyway, but did not see a lot of air.  I had to pay him $30 for the compliment, but I'm satisfied there is no air in the lines.

Then on the way home, just as I started down the hill on Cox Road, I let off the gas and was touching the brakes a bit when all of a sudden they quit slowing me down.  They still felt firm, but just weren't slowing Pumpkin down.  So, what the heck???  Then I realized the engine had died - the fire had gone out.  Why?  I do not know.  It started right back up and didn't so much as hiccup again.  So now I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Oh yes, the transmission temperature gauge seems to work okay, although I'm still not sure of it's accuracy.  It only got as high as about 125-130 degrees.  I may have to wait until I'm pulling Coors up and down a few hills in hot weather to give it a good test.

Okay, now I'm getting pissed.  I received the replacement emergency flasher I ordered (the 2nd time) and IT DOES NOT WORK!  I'm too ticked off to investigate further right now.  Maybe tomorrow.

Temper Temper

I put the transmission temperature gauge in today.  I hated cutting the transmission cooler return line since the transmission was just resealed, but cut it, I did.  Didn't lose much fluid and managed to catch most of it.  It was a messy job, though, as fluid kept trickling out and running down my arms to my elbows.  Pretty difficult to use a wrench that is sloppy wet with transmission fluid.  But, I got that part done relatively easily.  All it amounted to was cutting the steel line and putting in a tee with compression fittings.  The temperature sensor screwed into the tee.

Next I had to run the wires.  This involved removing the panel between the door and windshield, the driver's side kick panel and the driver's side step (formed vinyl insert).  Running the wire from the sensor wasn't difficult.  I had to run it along the top of the cross-member which I did not particularly care for, but I couldn't run it up and over the transmission because it would have been too close the the exhaust.  There is several wire bundles running through the step well already so it was easy to just follow them.  In fact, I had ran another wire for the tow bar brake indicator through that same area some time ago.

I was able to snake the sensor wire, a ground wire and the "hot" wire up out of sight at the end of the dash.  I spray painted the back side of the meter (wires and all) with flat black paint then glued the gauge with rubber cement to the top of the dash over near the door post.  The paint was so it didn't looked too yucky from the outside, through the windshield.  I'm not sure how well the glue will hold, though.  Time will tell.

After all that work, and I'm not sure the gauge is working right - I can't tell without taking Pumpkin for a spin and heating up the transmission.  The gage's lowest reading is 100 degrees and just idling didn't seem to bring the temperature up enough to start registering.  So, I don't know if it is working right yet.  I've got to do some more brake bleeding, but when that's done I'll take pumpkin for a shakedown run.

Shot Myself In The Foot

Pumpkin's hazard flasher was too weak.  With Coors in tow, the rear lights were hardly visible.  They flashed so fast the bulbs did not have time to light up.  So, I went shopping for an electronic heavy duty flasher.  Local parts stores did not carry any (that I found) that could handle more than 6 bulbs.  With Coors in tow, I needed at least 8 bulb capacity.  I found what I wanted on-line and ordered it.

First, after several days, I had not received notice of shipment.  So, I emailed them and was told they were on back order.  I waited several more days and finally received notice it were on it's way.

Second, it had a USPS tracking number.  But, after a couple of days, when I checked the shipment progress, it showed it being repeatedly processed through the same facility in Pennsylvania.  Over and over each day it was the same...Processed through blah, blah, blah.  I contacted the postal service and they put a query on it.  I got a call from our local postmistress letting me know they were looking for it.

Eventually, it came, nearly 5 weeks after I ordered it.

Yesterday I stuck it in Pumpkin and immediately blew a fuse.  After all that crap, I had ordered the wrong part.  Now not only do I need a new flasher, but I need a new fuse.

I did a little better research this time (I hope) and ordered another part.  But, I ordered it from a different seller because it was several dollars cheaper (and maybe I was a little embarrassed after giving the first seller a hard time).  Now if it just doesn't go on back order and doesn't get lost in the mail...

I Don't Believe It!

I didn't go back to O'Reilly's yesterday after all.  Joyce and I went today.  Joyce needed some more groceries and it was a much cooler day.  Anyway, I returned the wrong size caliper repair kit (turns out they had ordered one for an F450 pickup, not an E450 van) and I bought a rebuilt right side caliper.  While there, I went ahead and bought a couple of quarts of synthetic transmission fluid to have on hand while on the road.  I got the parts and we came back home.  I jumped right in and installed the new right side caliper.  I was all set to add brake fluid and bleed the system.  I started on the left side, but try as I might, I could not crack open the bleed valve.  Finally it got so buggered up I had to give up.  I checked the right side and it opened right up.  Now I have to go back to town, AGAIN, to return the caliper and get another.  It wouldn't be too big a deal except it's 25 mi. one way.  That means I will have traveled 100 miles because of a mis-order (O'Reilly's fault) and a bad part (O'Reilly's supplier's fault).  So, I called O'Reilly's customer service to vent.  They're sending me a $25 gift card.  That about breaks me even with expenses, but not time.  Oh well, I am retired and wasn't doing anything anyway.

Update: Ditto and I went to town and got the replacement caliper.  It's on and Pumpkin is back down on the ground.  Joyce & I tried bleeding just the front brakes, but it's still pretty soft.  I'll have to move Pumpkin up on the driveway apron along side the garage so I can use my creeper to get under and bleed the rear brakes, too.  I needed it parked there anyway to add the transmission temp gauge sensor, so it's not a wasted effort.

Broken Brakes III

This is getting old.  Nobody carries the caliper piston - at least no place I can find.  So, I had to get the entire caliper.  I went to O'Reilly's yesterday and picked up the replacement caliper and one repair kit for the other side.  Shortly after I got home I made sure the caliper would fit the bracket.  It did.  Then I decided to go ahead and install the repair kit so both sides would be ready to go back together.  Double crap!  The seal and o-ring are the wrong size.  I called O'Reilly's back.  Wouldn't you know it, they can't get the correct part.  Sure wish they had determined that last week before I jumped through all these hoops.

So, today I'll be going back to O'Reilly's to get the caliper for the other side.  That will mean my brake job will have cost about $100 instead of the original estimate of $15 if the seals had been available AND the piston had not been chipped AND rabbits carried shotguns.  Oh well, I may as well spend another $20 or so and replace the brake lines while I'm at it.  Afterall, it's only money and it helps keep the Chinese and Mexicans working.