I-DA-HO!

 

We were looking forward to cooler weather.

After spending two weeks in Utah with my cousin and his family we headed north to Idaho. Utah was starting to get a little too warm for our taste.

Our first stop was Lava Hot Springs. Lava Hot Springs is a little town built around natural hot springs. They have a water park, and community pools built on the springs.

 

Floating away in the hot springs!

We camped in an RV park in a little town called McCammon, Idaho about 12 miles from the hot springs. The RV park was nice, quiet, and shaded. There were only two other RVs in the whole park. I don’t know why, it was a nice park, pet friendly, and had a good location. No Wi-Fi or cable, but there were full hook ups with a picnic table. The price was decent so unless everyone else knows something we don’t, the park was great.

While getting set up we met a couple who were also camping in the park. After talking with this couple for a few seconds I was immediately reminded of the character Walter from Jeff Dunham’s standup routine with the puppets. Nothing suited this gentleman, he was sour, and life had just given him more lemons than he could use.

 

We couldn’t get away from this couple fast enough.

He was angry their kids didn’t visit. He was angry that they owned a motorhome. He was angry that the sun was shining. He was angry that Tracy and I were young. He was just angry. Tracy has a knack for just walking away from people. For me, it just seems rude to walk away from someone when they are talking to you. I eventually had to gather the strength to walk away. He was probably angry at me.

 

Once we crossed the state line into Idaho we had stopped at the Visitor Information Center and picked up a couple of brochures and maps. We learned that the Lava Hot Springs community pools closed at 11, and that after 8 they were half priced. So we decided we would go in the evening and enjoy the hot springs after dark. We arrived at the hot springs just after eight. The temperature was still a little warm and the sun did not set until almost ten that evening, but the hot springs were nice.

The Lava Hot Springs Community Pool consisted of five different pools. Each pool is a different temperature. They hottest and least used pool was 112 degrees, and the coolest most used pool was 104 degrees. Naturally, Tracy wanted to jump right in the hottest pool. I enjoyed the next warmest pool that was 108 degrees. The pools are spring feed with mineral water. No chlorine is used in the pools. We enjoyed the evening and floated around in each one. We felt very relaxed and slept like babies that night.

Lava Hot Springs, Idaho: Tracy's favorite, the hottest pool available.

We spent some time shopping in Pocatello on our way to Arco, Idaho.

My father went to high school in Arco about a million years ago. My grandfather was a contractor for the ERB-1 Nuclear Reactor. Tracy, Doug, and I got to tour the old EBR-1 National Historic Site. It was quite cool to get to see this, not only because my grandfather worked there, but because this was quite an engineering feat back in its time, but Homer Simpson was the only thing I could think about while touring the site. Just a note:  EBR stands for Experimental Breeder Reactor.

EBR-1, Atomic City, Idaho



EBR-1, Atomic City, Idaho

EBR-1, Atomic City, Idaho

Tracy, AKA Homer Simpson
playing in the  museum

The ancient controls fascinated me.

The ancient robotics fascinated Tracy.

The cold floor fascinated Doug!

Homer and Doug hard at work.

WOW! Technology of the 1940's and 1950's is scary by todays standards.

Sadly, there were only a few pictures of the construction phase displayed at the museum.

I had hoped to find pictures of my grandfather in the room designated to the construction of the unit. The curator told me I would have to go back to the county museum in Pocatello to look through their archives. I opted not to travel back.

I felt a little uneasy seeing this sign.

 

The Good Ole Days! I had a good laugh at this sign.
Its from the same era when cigs were good for you, and four out of five doctors
recommended Pall Mall or some other brand.

After touring the EBR we decided to find a camp site.

I had read about a gentleman who let Campers stay on his land for free and we decided we would give it a try. We meet all kinds of people and if it did not feel right we would leave.  

Our camp site in Arco, at Honey's Park.

 Our host, Scar, turned out to be great!

 Scar is a retired electrical engineer who is just lonely and enjoys the company of people stopping by, and we enjoyed his hospitality. He enjoys hunting and will take you out to his favorite shooting ranges if that is your thing. Otherwise, he just likes the companionship and meeting new people.  

He calls his land Honey’s Park, named after a beloved dog. He currently has two dogs which are just beautiful. The female is a red hound named Ruby. She is a rescued bear dog. Ruby is trained to hunt and track bears. What I did not know is that dogs used to hunt bears are trained with cats. Poor Boss Lady had to be kept under lock and key. Boss Lady did not recognize this as a favor, or as a necessity to keep her safe. Boss Lady was mad!

The male is a Visila, named Stig. He was stray that just wondered up one day and stayed. He could care less about Boss Lady or Doug.
 

Ruby.

 

Stig, and our host Scar.

 

In 1955, Arco, Idaho became the world’s first nuclear powered city. What a claim to fame! The town is rather remote and sparsely populated so it is no wonder why it was chosen to be the site of the world’s first nuclear power plant. 

 

Our sunset in Arco.

 

Have you ever gone someplace and instantly felt at home?

The people are just the kindest souls we have met on the road. They were so kind and hospitable that I had to wonder if it was the heat or the radiation that baked their brains. It’s not every day you meet a town full of people that are ready to just open their lives and homes up to strangers. They were all very helpful in locating an old high school friend of my fathers. I guess in a town of 995 people you get to know each other quite well.

 

The main drag in Arco, Idaho.

 

The main drag in Arco, Idaho.

 

The main drag in Arco, Idaho.

The Suicide Count. 

 

 The Hill of Numbers is where each graduating class in Arco has painted the last two numbers of their graduation year on top of the mountain. This has been going on for almost 100 years. There is no rhyme or reason on the placement of the numbers, they appear to be randomly placed in most cases. The favorite local story is that the numbers represent the number of suicides each year. I guess Scar seemed pretty convincing when he told the story because Tracy had to clarify with me that the numbers really were graduation years. I had a good chuckle, because Tracy is not normally that gullible.

 

The Hill of  Numbers

 

Why in the world is that the United States has more than one national park full of old lava flows? Is one just not enough?

To the South of Arco is another National Park that consists of lava scorched earth. Craters of the Moon National Park is 30 miles to the south of Arco and we decided to check it out. As we drove through the paths and bitched about the heat, I flashed back to our time in New Mexico at Valley of Fires National Park.

Our experience at Valley of Fires in New Mexico was bad enough. Our stay at Valley of Fires was so bad we found pebbles embedded in the side of the Big Lebowski. We had heard pebbles pelting the side, but did not think they were getting stuck in the side. We did not stay very long at Craters of the Moon. It was so hot I was worried abut melting the car tires.

I always make sure WACO is represented.

 

Craters of the Moon. It was blazing hot!

 

Craters of the Moon. It was blazing hot!

  

Craters of the Moon. It was blazing hot!

 

There was a heat wave predicted for the North West and we wanted to beat it.

 

The temperatures were starting to heat up and Arco, Idaho was not spared this summer. We decided to leave Idaho and head over to Oregon and Washington to find cooler weather. We got up early the next morning and headed towards Oregon.

 

We decided to camp on the Oregon side of the Snake River. I was so excited to get to spend a few days floating in the river. We go up and headed out of Arco around 6 am, before the temperatures started to rise.

 

Our escape was slowed by a mowing truck through the mountain pass.

I was ready to get out and walk.

 

Imagine my irritation when we slowed to three miles an hour behind a mower, while trying to get through the mountain pass between Arco and Boise, Idaho. Naturally, we were in a no passing zone with a steady stream of traffic from the opposite direction when we got to  passing zone. We eventually made it to Oregon that afternoon.

 

 

We are no longer chasing Big Foot in the Hoh Rainforest (future post).

 

Thank you to everyone who has stuck with us. We are now back in a populated region with cell and Wi-Fi reception. That means we can start posting on a more regular basis again. The next post will be about our time through Oregon and into Washington.

 

Thank you to everyone who has subscribed so far.

If you want to subscribe to the blog you can use the subscribe function at the top right corner of the blog. You will receive an email notice when we make new entries on the blog. Leave us a comment or suggestion below.

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Gilligan’s Island – The Texas Version

 

 

 

I love TV show theme songs.

They just stick in my head and rattle around. I often catch myself humming the theme song to Sanford and Sons, but today it was the theme song for Gilligan’s Island.

After having the mechanical difficulties and staying in Dallas, Texas longer than planned we finally headed out west. We head out west on Interstate 20 from Dallas to the western region of Texas so that we could get on Interstate 10 to Junction and then cut off around Fort Stockton to head south.

US Interstate 20 West from Dallas, Texas to Lake Colorado City, Texas



Us Interstate 20 West from Dallas, Texas to Lake Colorado City, Texas.
The terrain starts to change just outside of Abilene, Texas




Us Interstate 20 West from Dallas, Texas to Lake Colorado City, Texas.
The terrain starts to change just outside of Abilene, Texas

 

We only made a few stops along the way because we wanted to cover as much ground as possible.

In all we did about 360 miles the first day. We decided to spend the night at Lake Colorado City State Part in Colorado City, Texas. We called the park directly to make reservations around 4:30 pm. The Park Ranger told me not to worry they had plenty of camp sites available and gave me a cell phone number to call in case the gate was locked when we arrive. The parks gates close at 7 pm nightly. I thought that was a little odd because in the spring time most state parks with a lake are full on the weekends in the spring and at most state parks in Texas close at 10 pm on weekends.

We continued on our route taking I-20 West. We found the exit for the Lake Colorado State Park. Once we exited off the highway I did a quick mental inventory of provisions. We had forgotten to stop for food and beverages. I saw a local store as we started down the road and it had obviously been closed for a few years. I thought to myself well it looks like we are having macaroni and cheese, chili, and ginger ale for dinner.

When we were having mechanical difficulties we were parked un-level.

RV refrigerators do not work well when they are unleveled. So to error on the side of caution we cleaned out the refrigerator and had not restocked. I always have some canned or dry goods on hand so we are not going to starve.

The bad news was that we had no milk for coffee. This saddened me a little because I looked forward to drinking a nice hot cup of coffee and looking at the lake. Tracy and I would have to settle for hot tea.

The park is about seven miles off the highway down a winding, narrow, two lane road. We arrived at the gate at 6:30 pm and did the self-check in and grabbed a park map. After meandering around the park we quickly realized there were only about six other campers in the whole park.

I thought that was pretty awesome.

Lake Colorado City State Park, Texas:The view from our camp site.

Lake Colorado City State Park, Texas: Our camp site for the night.

Lake Colorado City State Park, Texas: Our camp site for the night.

Lake Colorado City State Park, Texas: Doug exploring the park.

Lake Colorado City State Park, Texas: LOOK WHAT DOUG FOUND!

Lake Colorado City State Park, Texas: WHERE DID IT GO?

 

Then we realized that the lake was almost empty. After doing some research on-line I found that the lake is only 22.5% full. That means that the lake is down by over 75%. The boat ramps were nowhere near water and if you did get a boat in the water you might be able to go about 10 feet before you hit a sand bar. The vegetation and wild life have just about taken over the park.

We picked out our site.

A nice pull thru for the motorhome with a covered picnic area and fire ring. Since a full burn ban is in effect for most of the western region of Texas the fire ring would go unused. After we docked the Big Lebowski and got the interior set back up we stepped outside to enjoy the view. We made it about 10 feet before Doug and I both started chocking on gnats. Tracy was flailing and shaking his head while screaming curse words and damning the gnats to a life in a fiery hell.

We braved them for a few more minutes and then ran back into the house only to let in a swarm. I turned on a few lights so they would be attracted to the light and leave us alone. I told Tracy to just wait until the sun went down and the wind would pick up. He looked at me like I was crazy and set about turning on the air conditioners. I set out to scrounge up some dinner and get us fed. We were starving, even the cactus outside was looking good.

By the time I finished making dinner, Tracy was outside marveling at how the temperature had dropped 30 degrees and there was an almost chilly breeze blowing. The gnats had dissipated enough that we could eat at the covered picnic table and enjoy the view. We ate Chili Cheese Mac, Rosemary Triscuits, and Ginger Ale. Not the healthiest of meals, but it was filling.

After washing the dishes and getting a bath I went back outside and Tracy settled in for a movie.

I was amazed at the number of stars in the sky, and how dark it was. It was so silent outside I could hear my own thoughts. I had not heard silence like that in years. I think I sat outside for two hours with Boss Lady by my side purring and rolling around on the picnic table. The cactus flowers smelled amazing. It reminded me of a lotion I used to buy called Boss Lady. No joke. The lotion was cactus flower scented. Sadly, they went out of business a few years ago.

The park host stopped by to let us know that a tornado watch was in effect and to welcome us to the park. They told us that if the weather was bad enough we were to go to the communal showers because they served as a storm shelter as well. I cringed at the thought of being in a communal shower, but took note of the fact that the closest one was about 100 feet away through a group of mesquite trees and cactus.

A feral cat showed up and proceeded to meow at the top of its lungs.

I could not shoo it away and Boss Lady was not happy. She guarded her human better than Doug does. We went back inside to find Tracy swatting gnats and moths all over the ceiling, off the TV, and off the overhead lights. He was fussing and whining and all I could do was laugh. Having grown up living next to a lake and having grandparents who lived next to a lake, I guess I just assumed everyone knew that the moths and gnats are part of the natural fauna. I had an instant flash back to being 9 years old and watching the moths flutter against the screens at night. Then I thought about how we will be vacuuming moths and gnats off the screens, and cleaning them out of the light fixtures for months to come.

Around 10 pm we went to bed with a nice chilly breeze blowing, bright starry sky shining in, and a feral cat meowing.

It was lovely! Around 2:30 am I sat straight up in bed and realized the breeze had stopped, there were no animal sounds, and it was black outside. It took me a minute to get my bearings and put my tennis shoes on. Tracy woke up and instantly did the same thing. We grabbed the weather radio and listened as the wind began to blow hard. I watched out the window between lightning strikes so I could remember where the shelter was located.

As the wind picked up even more it began to rain. I was able to get a live weather radar on my phone and saw that we were right in the middle of the worst part of the storm. The Big Lebowski was shaking and rattling, but the storm stopped. Me, Tracy, Doug, and Boss Lady all just looked at each other and went back to bed. I slept with my tennis shoes on. The bed was very small that night with all four of us pilled in. We didn’t sleep too well after that.

Upon waking up we decided to leave rather than stay there another night.

A new storm was expected and I did not want to be a part of it. We were both tired and ready to get some decent food. When we checked out we had a nice visit with the Park Ranger. She is a very nice woman and we enjoyed speaking with her. We told her about the feral cat and she said they had been trying to catch it, but have not been successful so far.

On our way back to the interstate Tracy and I took note of how there had once been a thriving community around the lake. The stores are all closed down and the nearest restaurant is in Big Spring, Texas, about 30 plus miles away.

Once we made it to Big Spring we stopped to eat and look up the weather.

Since the weather was not going to be favorable at Big Bend National Park we decided to go on to Carlsbad, New Mexico. It was only 168 miles away and it was on our list of places to see. After eating a big meal and having gotten little sleep the night before we decided to take a nap at the truck stop.

We rested for about two hours, all four of us piled up in the bed again, and then headed out US Hwy 180 to Lamesa, Texas. Our original plan was to shoot straight across to Hobbs, New Mexico and then drive down to Carlsbad to spend a few days there.

We left out of Big Spring around 1 pm. We made it to Lamesa in no time, only to find that the highway was closed due to mudslides and high water from flash flooding the night before. We followed the detour signs that took us onto a narrow, windy road through oil patches. From experience we know that oil field guys don’t slow down and they are not going to budge over at all. So you can imagine the curse words thrown around the Big Lebowski this afternoon when an oil tanker came barreling down towards us and we had to pull over into the grass because the oil tanker wanted both sides of the road, or when a hot shot driver hauling pipe was doing the same thing.

So now we are in the middle of oil fields in west Texas with 60 mile an hour winds and dust storms started blowing in.

Somewhere in the western region of   Texas: Dust Storm.

Somewhere in the western region of   Texas: Dust Storm.

Somewhere in the western region of   Texas: Dust Storm.

 

The detour took us 100 miles out of the way, and the whole time I kept hearing the theme song to Gilligan’s Island play in my head. A three hour tour….

New Mexico state line, crossing from Texas.

Finally, civilization! Yeah, the windshield needs to be cleaned.

We finally made it across the state line. The trip that should have only taken us four hours max, ended up taking us over six hours and we still have not made it to our destination. We needed to call it a day, so we are laid over at the Walmart in Hobbs, New Mexico for the night. 

I swear the west Texas winds stopped as soon as we crossed the state line.

It was like New Mexico said no to Texas wind, and I am so glad. It was hot as fire when we got here, but it’s the Chauhan Desert. It’s now 45 and awesome outside.

Thank you to everyone who has subscribed so far. If you want to subscribe to the blog you can use the subscribe function at the top right corner of the blog. You will receive aan email notice when we make new entries on the blog. We will eventually get some place interesting. Leave us a comment or suggestion below.

If you shop on Amazon remember to save our blog to your favorites and enter the Amazon web page by clicking on the icon displayed on our blog. We make a few cents from every sale made through our blog. It’s not much, but it helps pay for our internet while we are on the road.

Tomorrow we visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park. I am so excited because I have not been since I was a teenager. That’s when I fell in love with New Mexico. Tracy has never been to Carlsbad Caverns and is excited to go.

 

 



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Old Eyes and Angry Men

 

Doug riding on the dog house. He loves it!

It seems that a lot of people are wondering if we are ever going to make it out of Texas.

I am one of those people. We have taken our time getting the Big Lebowski ready and enjoying time with our family. We celebrated our youngest daughter’s 21^st birthday, our youngest son’s 19^th birthday, and moved our oldest daughter into her new house. We mourned the death of our beloved Princess Kitty Princess. Doug and Boss Lady were very upset for a few days. They still continue to look for her.

Before I go much further I have to say I realize that this blog post is going to make us look like idiots, but I have to tell the stories of our experiences. The good and the bad, and the really bad. This blog post might sound like all we do is stand around and yell, but in reality we have many laughs along the way too. I share the story about the temper tantrum because it the story that sticks out in my mind. I share the story about the water pump because so far it is the worst thing we have been through, and hopefully it will be the only awful moment we encounter.

We made many modifications to the Big Lebowski over the last month. The biggest modifications were the new roof and the addition of our solar power system.

Our old roof was worn out. Luckily it had not started leaking so there were no big repairs that needed to be made. We ordered the materials for the roof from Amazon and Tracy did the work himself. It took a full day but was well worth the time. The hardest part was waiting for the rain to stop long enough to give us a dry sunny day. The new roof has helped a lot to keep the Big Lebowski cool on the inside.

We installed three solar panels and four deep cycle batteries, along with the needed hardware. We purchased the extreme power kit from Go Power. We thought this would be a fairly easy task, maybe two and half days of labor. No, it took two weeks. The biggest issue we found was that the instructions were lacking and contradictory. There is no one installation manual or set of instructions. Each piece of hardware has an installation manual and you have to basically figure out how to tie them all together.

 

The issue with the instruction manual led to some pretty awesome temper tantrums on Tracy’s part.

One of the things no one really tells you about getting older is that your eye sight just stops working somewhere in your mid-40s. For Tracy this has been very upsetting. He has had eagle eyes all his life and then suddenly at 45 his eye sight just went wonky. It makes him even more upset when we get our annual eye exam and the doctor tells me that my eye sight is getting better with age. Hey, it’s not unheard of, it happens. I just like to think that I am one of the lucky few it happens too.

We spend a small fortune on readers every month.

Mostly because they get lost, scratched, and on occasion they get broken. Especially one pair in particular. Like I said earlier, Tracy threw a pretty awesome temper tantrum while installing the solar power system. Some of the work required some detailed wiring and naturally all I heard from Tracy was that he couldn’t see. I hear that every day, all day. So I thought nothing of it. Finally, at the height of his frustration he grabbed the readers off his face, broke them in half, threw them down on the ground, and then gave them a class act cussing for good measure. They were finished. Done. Gone.

There was no way those readers were going to be resurrected from the dead.

I went to bed. I learned a long time ago to ignore temper tantrums. A person has a right to be mad. So I am sure you can imagine my surprise when I woke up early the next morning to find Tracy sitting in front of the television happy, and wearing the last pair of readers from three pack. He was so happy that morning that he proudly told me he figured out why the readers were not working.

There was protective film on the readers.

I felt a little angry at this new revelation. First, I was angry at him, but then I was angry at the reader manufacturer. People buy them because they cannot see. If they cannot see how are they supposed to know there is a scratch resistant film on the lenses if the manufacturer does not print something on the film?

Old habits die hard.

Once the solar power system was installed and working I gathered up all of the instruction manuals and went to work on them with my red pen. I made notes about where the instructions lack detail, where they contradict each other, and what extra parts and tools they forget to mention. I felt like I was back at work rewriting an SOP or a protocol. The kit includes three solar panels, but they only send you enough connectors to hook two up to the system. We had to order another set and wait for it to arrive. The list of grievances goes on, so I will not bore you with the details. If you are interested in our solar power system and would like to contact us you can email Tracy at wilsonswork@yahoo.com.

We officially hit the road on May 5, 2015.

My small gnomes have a front row seat

Mini Robin gets to hang out too

 

We headed to Garland, Texas around 12:30 in the afternoon and arrived at about 5:30 that evening. I spent the entire trip white knuckled and tense. The wind did not help. We picked the windiest day to leave, so the Big Lebowski rode like a brick on ice skates. I worry because the Big Lebowski is so big and we are still very new at driving the bus. I have to give Tracy credit though, he has done pretty well so far at maintaining a safe speed and not letting the traffic get to him.

I-35 North was not so bad once we left Waco until we got to Highway 20 East from I-H 35. Then we hit rush hour traffic and I think my heart moved to my throat. I make a horrible passenger. Normally I will just look at my phone when we get into heavy traffic, but with the way the Big Lebowski sways I get motion sickness. Tracy navigated us through the crowded residential streets in Garland to his mother’s house like a pro.

I would like to say our trip to the Dallas area has been uneventful.

We visited with Tracy’s family for about an hour and then headed to Mesquite, Texas to visit an old friend. We needed to drop some tools off for safe keeping and to get the weight of the Big Lebowski down. We parked the Big Lebowski a block from his friend’s house because the streets are narrow and there are cars parked on both sides of the street. Tracy took great pleasure in showing his friend the motorhome and talking for about thirty minutes until he noticed a leak. We watched as the water pump on the motor dumped water onto the street.

There were four of us standing there with our heads turned sideways staring under the motorhome in silence until the last drop fell. Tracy and I just looked at each other. I felt my heart sink back down into my stomach. I had to look on the bright side, at least we were not on the highway and we were in a safe neighborhood.

I could not believe that it happened. We had custom radiators made for the Big Lebowski in December. While we were waiting on them to be finished Tracy and I discussed changing out the water pump too, but decided against it because it looked to be in good shape and the seals seemed ok. I distinctly remember Tracy saying “The worst thing that could happen is that the water pump goes out and I have to pull the radiators out to replace it.”

So, ok, the worst just happened.

Tracy was able to locate a water pump, and thermostat rather quickly. This is his hometown. He had the radiators and old water pump out within about an hour. He went to put the new water pump on and realized it was missing a bracket. Our quick repair was foiled. By this time it was 11pm and everything was closed. This was also the time we realized that we were parked in front of the entrance to a construction zone. It seems that Mesquite ISD is on a building spree for their schools.

Not to worry, there was another entrance down the street that could be used. We decided to try and get some sleep and get up early in the morning and try again. Neither of us slept very soundly. Well, Tracy did not sleep very soundly. I slept like a dead person only to be awoken to shouting and hollering. It seems that the job superintendent was not happy about where we were because we had blocked the entrance for all the dump trucks he had coming.

I thought to myself, “Why can they not use the other entrance? Yeah, it’s inconvenient because it’s a tight corner, but they are licensed professionals. They drive in the Dallas area every day. They can make that corner.” Tracy tried to explain the situation, but the guy was having none of it. The guy insisted his truck could pull the Big Lebowski the twenty feet. Ok, have at it, the Big Lebowski weighs 20,000 pounds, but if you think your El Trucka can move it be my guest. The emergency brake engages and can only be disengaged when the motor is on.

So after two unfruitful tries the guy gets out of his truck and screams at Tracy to release the brakes.

Tracy tries turn the motor over in an effort to release the brake but oil starts to shoot out. Now everyone is angry and the guy yells at Tracy that he better get some kitty litter and clean it up because he has to report it to the EPA. The guy leaves to go to the job site office. Tracy grabs the cats litter box from the basement and dumps it on the oil.

By this time there are about ten Hispanic men standing around making derogatory remarks. I know enough Spanish insults to hold my own. I may not understand every word, but I know enough to get in trouble. I felt my temper flare and shot off a dirty look. They quickly dispersed and went back to work with their heads hung in shame. We had no problems with them after that. They were even nice enough to offer me something to drink later in the day.

About ten minutes later the fire department shows up because the guy had called 911 to report an oil spill. They looked at the kitty litter and left.  By this time the dump trucks are showing up. There are six 18-wheeler dump trucks lined up waiting to get in the gate. They sat and waited an hour. Someone finally had the bright idea to use the second gate.

Eventually the City Code Inspector shows up and decides we need to call a tow truck to move us twenty feet.

I called our Good Sam’s Roadside Assistance. We had a wait time of 120 minutes. That just was not fast enough to please anyone. I called a couple of other tow companies in the area and they were all at least two or three hours away. By this time Tracy was really upset. I told him that if it was a true emergency that the city would send a tow truck, and I pointed out that the cops had not even showed up. The cops knew we were there because they had driven by in the night and checked on us. We were on a public street, not breaking any laws, and trying to abate the problem. This calmed him down.

The drive shaft for the motorhome had to be dropped because the emergency brake could not be disengaged. Just as the last dump truck dropped its load, the tow truck showed up an hour ahead of schedule. At this point Tracy realized if the guy had just let him leave to go exchange the part for the correct one he would be done by now. The good news is that the tow truck moved us the twenty feet and it did not cost us anything. I think this really pissed the guy off. Hey, this is why we bought the premium road side service package.

Six hours had gone by and it was raining off and on. Eventually we got the part exchanged, got the new part on, and then had to connect the drive shaft. We spent thirty minutes looking for the u-bolts that hold the drive shaft on. Tracy had set them on the steps after removing them. When the tow truck driver showed up I moved them to the inside steps so that we could close the door and the exterior steps could be folded up for safe transport. That was the last I remembered seeing them. So it was thirty minutes of Tracy yelling at me for moving them. We eventually found them in the basement compartment that houses the litter box. That’s when I remembered watching him take them off the interior steps and set them in the basement so we could go inside after the tow truck left. Now I was angry.

Another pair bites the dust.

Tracy got to work putting the drive shaft back together. Again, all I heard was “I can’t see!” The next thing I know I pair of readers come flying out from under the Big Lebowski and land right in the path of an on-coming car.  I am guessing they had grease on the lenses.

Of Couse nothing is easy. The pins in the bearing for the drive shaft would not stay in place. Tracy was very frustrated and decided to just go get a new bearing. It’s a good thing the auto parts store was just two blocks away. Once he got the new bearing it took about ten minutes to get the drive shaft reinstalled. Everything is now working and we are better off than when we started. Tracy was able to find the problem we were having with the cooling fan for the oil cooler and get it fixed. Plus we now have an all new cooling system.

It might be important to mention that during this whole ordeal the only thing that bothered me, up the point of finding the U-bolts on the basement, was the fact that the cover for our fresh water tank kept getting blown open by the wind. I could not find the key that locked the cover and the fact that it was open really upset me. It worried me that someone might put something in our water tank or that something would get blown in to it. I eventually got it closed.

We were both so exhausted, starving, and dirty by the time we were finished that we decided to stay in a motel room for the night.

We didn’t have the energy to drive to the RV park in Rockwall or find a Walmart that allows overnight parking. I can tell you none of the Walmarts in the Dallas, Mesquite, and Garland areas allow overnight parking for RVs. I called them all. There are city ordinances in place that prohibit the overnight parking.

There is a Microtel Inn in Mesquite that we stay at when we are up here and luckily it was about four blocks away. We were too tired to go out to eat after getting showers so we decided to order pizza. The guy at the front desk gave us the numbers to two pizza places that deliver to the hotel. Our first choice was Pizza Inn. We called, they were closed. What pizza place closes before 9 pm? So we had Dominoes’ and it was the most delicious pizza I ever ate.

No rest for the weary.

Tracy was able to pick up a little work while here in Dallas and spent the day working. I spent the day cleaning up the RV and writing you this blog entry. Tonight we are parked in Dallas behind a friend’s office off of Carroll Ave. and Highway 30. Yeah, right in the heart of Dallas. Doug and Boss Lady are not used to the city sounds. I cannot say I enjoy them either, but on some level its comforting. We will spend the night here with free hook ups and head out west first thing in the morning, hopefully before the morning traffic starts.

So far the solar power system has been great.

We had power the whole time we were broke down and were able to run fans, make coffee, and keep the household going.  The solar power system can run all of our appliances – washing machine included, but struggles with the AC. If we added one more panel and another bank of batteries we could run the AC, but we have a large generator that can run both air conditioners when we need it. We have only needed to use the generator for a short time.  This makes me happy because we are not burning thru our fuel.

It works so well that we are thinking about being a distributer. So if anyone is interested in a solar power system send Tracy an email at the address listed above or leave us a comment below.

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We head out towards the Big Bend National Park tomorrow, keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

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