Roughing it

That’s us!  No phone or TV or Wifi for almost TWO WHOLE DAYS.  Don’t know how we survived before the microwave was invented.  I’m not going to get all nostalgic but I just recalled when we got our first microwave.  It was huge, almost more than one could carry.  And of course, after trying all the recipes that came in the accompanying cook book, we soon settled down to not much more than reheating coffee.

Teri and I just discovered a secret.  We figured that the reason our parents never took us to Death Valley was because you only went there to die.  The real reason probably was they had enough desert by the time they got to Barstow or Mojave, why look for hotter and drier places?

Well this place is a very well kept secret.  Not only do you not die here, unless you do something stupid (like go out side in the day time), but the place is beautiful.  A lot like the Painted Desert, in AZ.  We never imagined so much color without vegetation. 


 



 

 









 



And this place has one serious salt flat.







 


The “Devil’s Golf Course” reminded us of the auto sized ice blocks that form on the mud flats in the Turnagain Arm.




This was once a paved road, a bit narrow, until 2+ in of rain triggered a gully wash.

Stay cool.

Cautiously Optimistic

That's us.

Well we’ve had two good long days and a short one today and are just outside Kingman, AZ tonight.  The truck continues to run strong and smooth.  We are finally in the desert where it cools off at night; yeah!  Don’t know what our connection will be like for the next few days so thought I’d give you our plans.

We were able to get two days stay at the Furnace Creek Resort in Death Valley for Monday and Tuesday.  So that is the plan for now.  We hope to go from there to Lancaster Wed and on to Moorpark Thursday.  Beyond that, just get to Redmond, OR by the 9th of April. 

Teri got a few more shots from the hip, so to speak.

This means Texas is visible only in the rear view mirror

Then, with Texas only a nagging memory, there was New Mexico overpass art.

Updates when ever I get time and a connection.

Stay between the ditches.

Windy

That would describe Van Horn, Texas.  I can’t figure out how anything could set root here.  It would have to do it on the run.  The nearest weather reporting station at Pine Springs in Guadalupe Mountains National Park is currently reporting the wind to be from the west at 45 gusting to 59.  The KOA we are staying in has a weather station; it is a 10 lb rock hanging on a 6 ft rope. 

Teri got some more dash shots.

They say you can't take it with you; apparently, not everyone has heard that saying.

The scenery is so exciting...........

that they paint the roads to provide some.

Don’t want to count our chickens yet but truck is running strong.  Hope to get to western New Mexico today.

Be careful out there.

Living in a country western songbook

Traversing Texas on Interstate 10 is like leafing through those old remote jukebox machines they had in every booth at Mel’s Diner on hwy 82 in Lubbock. 

Every time I tell BW how we are doing he responds, “That sounds like a good title for a country western song.”  Like, “I’m finally leaving Houston, for the second time today.”  Or, “Even if I push it, I still have three days of Texas ahead of me.”  Others include “Sometimes I think my truck doesn’t like me any more.”  And, “Happiness is finding a really good diesel mechanic.”

Yesterday, after leaving Houston twice, we finally got to San Antonio.  Today we met an old high school friend of Amy’s for lunch and tomorrow we set out for what should be four long days between here and Death Valley.

Texas highway architects love elevated roadways.

We thought that it might just be a Houston thing.  Then we got to San Antonio.

Both also have a strong affinity for specialized U turn lanes.

Stay Safe

Happiness

Today BW told me that happiness is Texas in your rearview mirror.  I don’t want to seem ungrateful to the fine citizens of Texas.  After all, M D Diesel here in Houston have done a fine job of getting us back on the road once we let them dive into it.  But the drivers here are definitely are crazy.  I think they drive with one hand holding their gun, alternating occasionally with the steering wheel, and the other either texting or holding their beer.

Houston Caddyator, check the hub caps

To say that we don’t think alike politically would be a gross understatement.  According to those we have been unluckily enough to engage in conversation, the liberals have screwed up everything.  I saw a poster yesterday with a picture of “W” with his perpetual smirk and the caption read “Miss me yet?”  It’s so depressing when I think of how this country will soon forget what a really bad person he is and rewrite history to make him out as a hero.  Happiness will be the "Welcome to New Mexico" sign.

 

John Stewart would love this one.  It is just wrong on so many levels

North Houston Flea market.  Fleas of all kind available.

Back to how to get out of town.  Looks like we may be about to get back on the road soon.  Monty at M D Diesel has run down everything that he can think of and should be able to do final road test tomorrow.  So far the list reads like this:

    R&R cracked front engine cover.*
    R&R fan*
    R&R # 1 injector*
    R&R hot side boost line (a 4” tube from Turbo to intercooler, about 4’ long)
    R&R fuel supply pump (inside fuel tank)
    Remove exhaust line between turbo and tailpipe
    Reinstall same after we took it to Dallas for modification and cleaning
    R&R engine crank balancer (also functions as serpentine belt pulley)
    R&R fuel filter and regulator
    Re-torque injector electric connections
    Change oil

    *work preformed in Tallahassee, some possibility exists that some of the subsequent work was      necessary because of omissions there.

The current plan is to get the truck back tomorrow and try to get to San Antonio early the next day.  If that works out, then we will think about where we will be and when for the rest of the trip.  For now happiness will be a Welcome to San Antonio sign.

See you way down the road, I hope.

Houston’s nice, but.......

So we drove to Dallas on two of the last three days.  A shop up there took our exhaust (basically from turbo to tailpipe, which we were hand delivering) and cut it apart, welded flanges so it could be serviced in the future, then cleaned the catalytic regeneration unit and the particulate filter.  Dodge’s solution is to sell you a new one (quotes up to $7,000).  Many are just yanking the whole thing out and replacing it with a delete kit (around $1,500).  But then you are illegal, and all diesels will be required to have particulate filters by 2012.  Texas is one of the states where you will be stopped if a cop notices your truck smoking.  It is easy enough to look under the truck and see if you have the required filter, if not you get a ticket.  Don’t know the fine, but whatever they are, they’ll be getting larger in the future.

So now we have a nice new, clean and legal exhaust.  This allows further diagnosis.  The technician took it for a drive with the computer hooked up and it seems like we have fuel pressure issues, beginning with the supply pump (located, naturally, inside the fuel tank).  So we are installing a new pump and then another test drive.

This process will eventually get us to the injectors but there are lots of expensive parts in between.  The manager at the shop has been real good about keeping us informed and moving the process along.  I don’t want to think about going through this at a dealer.

Hard pressed to provide any photos.  Did see an enormous white guy just outside of Houston.

Sam Houston, just north of Houston on I 45

Sam is hard to catch at 70 MPH out the drivers side window

And there was this steep bridge approach just as you get to beautiful down town Lake Charles, LA.  I knew there was a reason I never went there during the time I was stationed at Ft Polk.

Today Teri and I washed the trailer (got tired looking at the black streaks down the sides) and now are catching up on paperwork while watching Man U vs Marseille in the UEFA Champions League. 

Stay tuned.

Maybe we’ll stay in Houston a while after all

We last left our storied travelers making a early morning dash from Houston to San Antonio.  Hoping to salvage an afternoon and evening on the river walk before moving on to Carlsbad in time to meet up with the Hatches and resume the original schedule.

Well the dash made it three signals until it stalled.  It restarted but with smoke and an engine warning light;  a few more miles later it started missing again.  It seemed that we’d better let the shop have it for a few days.  We had been asking them to give it a quick miracle cure with only a description of symptoms.  The mechanic knows his stuff but we weren’t letting him take the time for a complete diagnosis.   So we started to adjust our plans again.

Since there was a national stock show and rodeo going on and spring break beginning, we had to go over 20 miles north to find a decent RV park that could keep us for as long as we might need.  So we are giving them whatever it takes and probably a nice chunk of change before we try again.

Houston is actually quite nice this time of year; it just has all these Texans living here.

Pictures soon, really.

Take time to smell Spring, it’s in the air ya know.

Back at it

OK, lets get on with it.

We dropped off the truck at yet another diesel specialist in Houston.  He found a leak in the turbo boost. So that had to be fixed before we could search further.  A few bucks (don’t ask) later, we can’t seem to find any more of the missing we had yesterday.  So we will hitch up the fifth wheel and try once again.  At least that will put a good load on it and if it is going to miss we should know before we get to San Antonio.

Unfortunately, the San Antonio park we are staying at doesn’t have room for us over the weekend.  So unless we can find something, we’ll be moving on Saturday and be back on schedule when we roll into Carlsbad Sunday evening.

Once there, we hope to do a bit more of nothing.

At least we got through the storm front (some where between Baton Rouge and Houston) unscathed.  Looks like much high pressure for a few days at least.  Once we have some form of normalcy,  maybe some pics.

Hang in there.

Ragged start

Departure was delayed while I struggled to retract the slide outs.  Seems as though my attempt to waterproof the slide out floors by adding a piece of angle aluminum to the bottom edge interfered with their ability to retract.  You may wonder why I hadn’t tested that out earlier.  So do I.

So, two hours late, we head out on I-10 with an engine warning light on and the on-board diagnostics telling us to see the dealer.  We stopped at the Tallahassee diesel guru but could find nothing definitely needing fixing.  So we continued on to Biloxi.

No more warning lights but a definite miss under load.  It acts just like gas engines used to when it was time to replace the spark plugs, wires, rotor, condenser, distributor cap and points.  Which you did before discovering that it was the fuel filter.

The Tallahassee shop belongs to the “Association of Diesel Specialists” a network of very competent shops across the country.  So we got a few names and today pulled up in Baton Rouge for more diagnostics.  Seems like we most likely have a malfunctioning injector.  And given our desire to make progress Westward, they set us up with a shop in Houston that can hopefully figure it out with out removing all the injectors.

So, we continue toward our Carlsbad rendezvous with the Hatch’s.  Maybe by then we will be able to relax an enjoy the view.  I have a feeling that we will be contributing to the local economy soon.

Speaking of that; Biloxi still has areas damaged by the past hurricanes but the beaches look great.  They just need to shovel the sand from the street back to the beach once in a while.  Lots of rain today but forecasted clear tomorrow.

Stay tuned.

Ready or not

Tomorrow is the day.  We leave first thing after breakfast.  We are just going to Biloxi and  then on to Houston after an extra day either on the beach or dodging tornados, depending on the weather. 

Got the playhouse almost to the playing stage.  Amy and Derek get to spread 15 cu yds of cushion that is getting delivered tomorrow and the playing will get started in earnest.

 

 

Dad's making room for the 15 yds of cushioning.  Then it just needs the yellow slide on the end and hang the swings.  The fort is already occupied.

Maybe once we are on the road I’ll get more photos, we’ll see.  Gotta go top off the truck.

Stay safe.

The Prius is gone

But the thrill remains.  As much fun as the Prius has been, not the least of which was the satisfaction of a whopping ten gallon fill up every 450 miles or so, it was time to let go.  Owning 4 cars and a humongous fifth wheel was getting on our nerves (and cash flow) so we found a deserving family in Moultrie, GA to pass it on.  Seems that they are making a trek to Tallahassee twice a week so their daughters could take riding lessons.  Take note Ryan, Equestrianism is difficult to cure, and very expensive.

Progress continues on the playground.  It has been a really good kit.  A COSTCO kit, it is made by a Canadian company and the quality has been great.  All kiln dried cedar, the dimensions have been right on and you can usually understand the instructions.  They are all written in Canadian but the translation is good.

about 3/4 done

Helpers ready from the beginning

Got a rock chip in the truck windshield today.  A nasty looking star that threatens to spread all over, so we got an appointment for repair tomorrow morning.  Hope to get the  swing beam set on the playground after.  Meanwhile, preparations continue for a Monday launch.

Talk to you before then, I hope.