HappyTrails

Whew! Back on the road.

One overnight at Freightliner Odessa and a great diagnostician and we're back on the road.  We are currently in Pecos, TX at the Escapees park waiting for the wind to subside.  We'll be headed for Anthony, TX tomorrow where we hope to find some RV supplies at the Camping World. 

The air system problem that we have been encountering for almost three weeks without resolution from several Freightliner service points turned out to be just one problem, a disconnected wire that communicates between the air dryer and the governor for the air system that is crucial to the brakes and suspension. (I said it would be difficult for me to describe.)   For anyone reading with a Freightliner chassis take heed, if you ever hear a popping sound (no air indications at this point) behind the drivers seat, check your pressure relief pop-up valve on the air tank.  Ours exploded eventually because of the disconnected wire.  If anyone wants more details on this...email us. 

Happy Trails!

Busted, Disgusted...

Well friends and family and other readers of our journal...we are currently boondocking at Freightliner Odessa after being towed 120 miles across the desert and Guadalupe Mountains. 

Some of you know that we originally went into Empire Truck, a Freightliner service point in Pensacola, because our air system indicated a problem.   I won't go on and on with the technical details because I probably wouldn't describe it accurately.  Let's just say, en-route from Pensacola after the first repair/part replacement, we became aware that the problem was still not fixed.  We drove the hundreds of miles it takes to get across Texas knowing we would need to stop again at Freightliner and praying that we would make it to Las Cruces.  The glass half full way of looking at this problem is that now that the air system finally lost all functionality Freightliner should be able to pinpoint the problem.  Intermittent mechanical problems can be a bear and this one has proved to be just that.  The other glass half full view is that we are still under warranty..for a week.  We're cautiously optimistic that resolution will occur and we'll move on to New Mexico as planned. 

Continuing to live a lifestyle that involves a large vehicle with numerous systems sometimes requires patience and due diligence.  Sticks and bricks houses have mechanical issues from time to time too.  These things are to be expected and "this too shall pass." 

Happy Trails!

Ozona?????

Ozona, Texas is 372 miles from the Texas/New Mexico border.  We're stopped at a RV park with 100 pullthrough sites that are way too short for most motorhomes towing but we have made the best of it.  We just want a good night's sleep and then on to our appointments.  There's not much to this park but they do have an Auto Museum.  I was told that the property owner likes to build "hot" engines and that the museum has a truck that won Daytona.  We haven't checked it out yet but I guess we will. There really isn't much else to do here.

This is what we saw in the Auto Museum: 

Our Home in Ozona, Texas

  We'll be off early.  Happy Trails!

Don't Mess With Texas!

We started out on Friday after stopping back at the Newmar service center for a quick fix on a wire that had partially separated...I'm no good with technical stuff.  Another overnight in the Newmar parking lot was not in our plan but sometimes things just happen.  At least it was no cost to us.  So far this month we have spent $30.00  on RV spaces and power. Yippee, that will offset our high seasonal rate for February in Florida.  We went as far as Gulfport, Mississippi where we stayed at camp Wal-Mart.  If you don't need to stop in this area, I wouldn't recommend it.  Although the lot is close to the Interstate, it is also in the landing traffic pattern for the Biloxi/Gulfport airport.  The air traffic ceased around 10PM but then the night action in the parking lot took over.  Way to noisy for a restful sleep.

We drove through Mississippi, cutting over to Highway 190 (Thanks, Terry!) to avoid the Lafayette to Lake Charles washboard on Interstate 10.   We drove a bit farther than our typical 200 mile day to arrive in Beaumont, TX for our overnight. We recently purchased Gypsy Journal's Dash Board Companion which alerted us to an issue with the local Wal-Mart but our Passport America book indicated a park, Gulf Coast RV Resort. I called a few hours before we arrived and was advised that they were too busy to honor the PA discount and that they had ONE space remaining for the night.  When we arrived other travelers without reservations were being turned away.  I'm disappointed that the PA 1/2 price discount wasn't an option this time but we were thankful that we didn't have to search around for another place to rest after traveling 350 or so miles. 

Today's travels (this is for our dear friend John) will take us around Houston to a probable Wal-Mart overnight about 230 miles West .  We'll keep you posted.  Happy Trails!