Monday, May 5, 2008

Trials and Tribulations

We left Colorado, and headed through windy Wyoming. The winds typically blow west to east, so I-80 was one big headwind. After a night stop in Rawlins (no water, still freezing up at night), we ended up at another park we had visited, Village of the Trees, in Declo, ID. Due to weather earlier in the week, our 2nd night's place in Utah was not open, so two short days were combined. Our third night was to be in the Boise area, before heading over into Bend, Oregon, to see some friends.

We stopped at a Flying J to fuel up before we got to our campground. Upon trying to leave, however, the rig would not start. It would turn over, but no workee! I called tech support, and they contacted Cummins in Boise. Several hours later, a mechanic showed up, hooked up the diagnostic computer, and said: "We'll have this figured out in a few minutes, and will get you back on the road in a few hours...uh, oh...!" I hated to hear that last comment. They put the rig on a lowboy truck, and hauled us 2 miles down the road. We noticed that a large wire was dangling down from the engine area. It was a 1/0 insulated wire that goes from the alternator to the batteries. A fastener had come loose, the wire dropped to the pavement, and after the insulation wore off, shorted out the engine control module (i.e. computer). Two days later we left Boise - and found out that they had programmed the new ECM incorrectly. The engine sounded terrible, we lost 2.5mpg in fuel economy, and the Jake brake and cruise control no longer worked. Not the best situation for traveling through mountains!
Uh, get out the blocks, we're bottoming out!
I was in the cab steering!
Flying J was happy to see us get out of the way!

Country Coach told us to get to their facility ASAP, so we passed on seeing our friends in Bend. Dave and Jeanie designed, market, and sell the RV game Rally-Ho. It's a fun game that combines RV knowledge with trivial pursuit. We're sorry we missed them, but will hook up sometime in the future.

We got to Junction City on Friday, and have settled into our spot, 500 feet from the railroad tracks. Ah, we forgot about that part! We've met several couples, and are enjoying the social hours after the rigs come back in from service. Tonight we're all going out for Cinco de Mayo. One of the ladies in the campground is a quilter, and she and Donna are at the local quilt shop having a quilt day today.

Happy Anniversary Jenna and Josh!!!

Happy Birthday Cheryl!!!