Friday, June 2nd
I'm behind writing the blog, so I will try to catch up.
We prepared the rig during the week to get ready to head to Goshen Indiana for the North American Heartland Owners Club Rally.
We had a number of projects to get done before we could leave, and worked hard every chance we got to get them done in time.
Tony checked the U bolts and shackle bolts, checked the air in the tires and kingpin, and got the truck inspected and license tags renewed. We completed our install of our inverter (formerly installed in the ElkRidge), used exclusively for our air compressor if needed on the road.
I finally used our Wash Wax All on the rig, and boy did she shine! I also hit up the truck and shined her as well, though not quite as thorough since it was about to rain and getting dark.
no more bugs!
Look at that reflection!
Even does a good lob on the glass!
Finally clean!
So shiny!
We also bought new batteries from Sam's Club. Our original batteries were never that great to begin with, and we'd had issues with the Level-up landing gear auto-reset breaker tripping more and more often. (We replaced the breaker as well.) We upgraded our batteries from Group 27 wet cell to Group 31 AGM batteries. These definitely have more juice. They ought to, they weigh 69 lbs a piece!
Another upgrade made was to change our router. We went from a 4-year-old Pepwave Surf On-The-Go router, to a Pepwave Surf SOHO router. The technology has greatly improved in 4 years, and the transfer rate and multiple-antenna capabilities of the new router made a huge improvement. We also were at the end of our 2-year contract for the hotspot, so I upgraded there, as well, to the AT&T Unite Explore. We should have very few issues with internet connectivity!
We also unloaded a bunch of unneeded items into our storage facility, and found a way to get our bikes into the basement storage area (we spent some time also cleaning them up and replacing the seats, tire tubes, handle grips, lights, and adding a storage bag to each.)
So finally we were ready to go, headed out on Friday. We'd had rain the day before, and more was forecast during our drive to Oklahoma City. Fellow Heartlanders Mike and Peg, who live in San Angelo, were also headed to Goshen, but they were going a different route.
Ready to go!
We pulled out about 9:45, and the GPS was suggesting we head onto I-20 east. Well, that is not the route we had planned to take, so we stopped before we got on the ramp and checked the route. Looking also at the radar, we determined our preferred route through Wichita Falls and Lawton was getting heavy rain. So, going east to DFW and then north looked like a better route. So, we headed down the entrance ramp to get onto I-20, and who should go by, but Mike and Peg! We ended up following in behind them, and we stopped at the rest stop near Santo to say hi and share the amazing luck.
We recognize that Bighorn!
Mike and Peg!
They drive a little slower than us, so we headed on our own. They were going I-20 to Mount Pleasant, while we were going I-20 to I-30 to I-35 to OKC.
Rest stop at Bucee's near Texas Motor Speedway
We really didn't have too much trouble (and luckily very little rain) getting to Roadrunner RV Park in Oklahoma City. This park was hit by a tornado in 2015, but they have rebuilt and added on. We were in the new area. The roads are a little narrow for negotiating with a big long rig like we have, but the park is very nicely appointed. We had trouble at first with the power pole -- no power once the 50amp breaker was turned on. We called the office and they sent someone immediately. They basically worked to wiggle the breaker, and suddenly, we had power. Probably not the best scenario -- but our Electrical Management System (EMS) should monitor it and alert us if there are issues.
The new offices at Roadrunner RV Park.
Our site
We ate a quick meal, and I started working on a project for a client. Tony watched some TV. We stayed hooked up to the truck, so we can get a fast start tomorrow.
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