Eew, that smell, and finally a win!

Friday, August 30, 2013

Today Tony headed off to work early again, and I was slow to get moving. Kitties get up when he does and play for a bit, but then they came back to bed. We slept until 7:45 this morning, finally getting moving about an hour later.

I got started working fairly quickly since I now had my PC charging cord. Around lunchtime I took a shower and noticed a really bad smell in the bedroom afterward. We had an issue with this intermittent smell before, but usually when the tanks are getting full, and we thought it was the fan in the bathroom drawing the grey tank odors in.

I decided to investigate, and started by looking into the access hole below the washer hookups in the closet. With a flashlight, I could look and follow the drain pipe where it connects with the vent pipe for the shower and sink, exiting the coach there at the corner of the closet out to the roof. So far, ok.

But looking down, where that vent pipe goes down and behind the dresser, I could see a pipe separation! I could not reach it from where I was in the closet, so I pulled the dresser drawer open and could just barely see the pipes. Sure enough, where the vent pipe makes a 45 to go behind the drawers, it is broken! Such is the source for the odor entering the coach!


With the drawer in place, I can barely get a pic.

Removed the drawer and I can see for sure, it's a break.

This shows the pipe and how it's configured to go under the drawer guide.

I took some pictures and posted on the Heartland Owners Forum. Less than 30 minutes later, I had suggestions on how to remove the drawer, which helped get to to problem pipe easier. I was able to put some "Rescue Tape" around the break for now, until we can solve the issue with a permanent fix.

Red "Rescue Tape" sticks and bonds to itself for a 'connection' for now.

After the plumbing adventure, I did some more work, and the kitties were fighting over who could sprawl on the desk next to me. I finally moved their carrier that normally sits there, so they'd have more room. Here's the result:

Brothers share, lounging on the desk

About 5pm I stopped work and went to the office to finally pay for our stay. Then I got ready to head to Terrell for the high school football game. Tony had said the band was doing really well this year, so I can't wait to see them!

At the game.

It was excruciatingly hot and muggy, (still 94 degrees at 9pm), but I enjoyed the game and The "Fighting" Tiger Band did a great job. Their marching was excellent for learning two songs already for the first show! They are doing the music of Carmen, which is challenging, but I know it will continue to improve. The new directors, Kevin and Kerrie Webb, are really making an impact.

The "Fighting" Tiger Band, in band t-shirts, ball caps and khakis, since its so hot.

Rusk did not bring their band to the game, so Terrell got to monopolize the playing time. It was great! The kids did a really good job.

I opted to leave about 2 minutes left on the game clock when it looked like Terrell had it won. This is a big deal for Terrell, they finally broke an 18-game losing streak! The final score was 16 to 6.

At 11:15pm, Tony called and we decided he would just stay the night in Terrell, since he had to be up early for Orchestra practice, all the way in Mesquite. So, it was just me and kitties in the trailer. They still managed to hog the bed!

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Hot hot hot bluebird!

Thursday, August 29, 2013

This morning, Tony got up before the sun at 5:15, and got ready to head to work. The kitties really hogged the bed last night and I didn't sleep well. But I got up at my usual time and got dressed, so I could head over and pay for our stay. About 9:30 I walked over to the office, but it was closed and locked. Oh well, I'll try later. I went home and right as I walked in the coach, the power went off! I know that it's going to be hot and both ACs were running, along with our little fans, but nothing else was. About 2 minutes later, the power returned. Our surge/low voltage protector had worked, and then reset. I went ahead and turned off everything non-essential, just in case. The proceeded to set up to work, only to realize I forgot my laptop charger! Ok, that just means Tony can bring it and I am limited in what I can get done today. The power went off again, about 30 min later. Now I'm worried about the weekend! I checked the surge protector, it did not indicate a problem, so I just decided to wait and see.

Our site

Our little tree

Kitties lounging on the desk

Looking toward the office -- looks like a former KOA.

I did a variety if work, and the battery lasted for a good while. When I had all the time sensitive pieces done, I shut down with a little juice left, in case of an emergency.

I tried again to go by the office, but it was still locked. I even saw a couple folks try later, and same issue. Oh well, I had a reservation and I filled out their registration form so they know how to reach me.

In the afternoon, I decided I wanted to see the Cowboy preseason game, since Tony would be late getting back due to "Meet the Teacher". I was able to hook up the cable to the RV and do a channel scan, but the picture was grainy on all channels. I tried tightening all the connections I could find, but it still looked bad. :(

The power went off again about 6:45. Well, who knows? It doesn't appear to be load related to our coach, this time the second air wasn't running.

I watched and surfed on the phone and hung out with the kitties until Tony got home about 8:45.

We shared our day and took it easy the rest of the night, then hit the hay pretty quickly.

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A getaway on new shoes!

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

First, a little backstory.

When we returned from San Antonio, I noticed the off-door-side front tire on the Mammoth was starting to look a little "dried out" and possibly cracking at the seam of the tread and sidewall. I figured we'd need new tires before our next big trip this winter anyway, as we were getting close to the wear bars on the tread.

Well, I forgot to lol closely when we got home, and we immediately put her into our storage lot. A few weeks went by and we'd decided to escape for Labor Day weekend. We check on Mammoth usually once a week, just to make sure she's ok. Well, I went to look at the tire, and low-and-behold, there were chunks missing from the tread, and part of a nylon thread was sticking out!



Notice the white bit in center? That's the tip of a nylon cord coming out of the tread.

The overall wear on the tire looks pretty good, but the tread separation is starting (see white thread?)

Here, I could see a slight "crowning" as if the inner cords are breaking and the tire is starting to bulge slightly. It's so subtle, not easily noticeable, but I can feel it, as well.

So, we realized we'd need to get new tires much sooner than we'd planned. Our spare had been patched a while back but we were told it was not to be trusted for full time use, so really we had two "unworthy" tires.

We left and came back another day with tools for changing the tire. We had no issues raising the side of the coach with our Ground Control, and made good time getting it changed to the spare, so that we could safely tow to a tire store.

As we were changing the tire, a pop-up storm cloud was heading our way. We could hear thunder and smell the rain, but we got the tire changed just fine. As we headed back to Terrell, we could tell we were headed right into the rain. Sure enough, on. The edge of town it started to sprinkle, and we saw a beautiful rainbow pointing to our house!



Rainbow over Terrell, as seen from Griffith Rd out by Hwy 205.

It rained hard for about 10 minutes, but that's ok, we needed it.

Anyway, after researching tires again, we decided to go back with Maxxis. They really have held up well, for probably 25k miles. We ordered the tires from Discount Tire, and set up an appointment to have them installed.

Once at Discount, I told them we had a leveling system which would aid in the tire change. Unfortunately that didn't listen, and we had to stop them from using jacks on the axels. We then used the Ground Control to lift the off door side.

Unfortunately we had to stand and watch the process, and it was close to 100 degrees. Toasty!

Once that side was done, we went to raise the other side... Only to find the back ground control jack would not extend!! So after trying about 10 min, we went to plan B... Using our two 12-ton bottle jacks to lift the frame.


Hovering above the pavement, (two bottle jacks assisting), waiting for new tires.

They finished up the remaining tires and the spare, and gave us a pro-rated discount on the one tire that was deemed a "tread separation," by the manager.

Home and set up in the driveway for loading

Pretty new shoes!

We pulled her home and parked in the driveway. We were going to be heading out in 4 days, so we hooked up AC. Tony worked on the leg that wasn't working. He took it off, hoping to find a problem, but he could not. We did all the trouble-shooting in the manual, and decided I'd call the supplier to see what to do next.

The supplier had the manufacturer call, and he walked me through how to un-bind the leg. Tony was finally able to get it unstuck. Yay! He reattached the leg and we added tape to indicate a stop point on the leg, to keep from possibly sticking again in the future.

Wednesday after school was out and after-school duties were done, we hitched up and pulled out about 7pm. I drove my car as well, so we would I would have a vehicle while Tony was at work. The kitties rode with me, and didn't say a word!

We got to Bluebird RV Park, south of Wills Point, about 7:40, and of course the office was closed. The instructions said to pick a spot in the center pull-throughs, so we did. For some reason we had issues getting it in the right position... It took about 3 tries to finally get set. I think we were both tired, and it showed. It started getting dark and we didn't get some things done -- we flat forgot or just gave up. Oh well, we are here!!

After the usual set up inside, we collapsed and the kitties settled in for a nap.

About 10 Tony headed to bed and I soon followed. He has to go to work the next two days, but luckily it's only about 30 min more in travel time. I'll be doing my usual work from "home"!

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Silence is golden!

Wednesday, July 24

Today we were moving a little slow. Probably because we just didn't want to believe the trip is nearly over.

Tony made French toast, then we started packing stuff to go. I gave the kitties their sleepy treat, and we ended up pulling out a little later than we should have, but Tony's back was slowing him down a little and like I said, we didn't get moving fast.

Eileen at Alamo KOA, San Antonio, TX

We pulled out about 11:40. We decided instead of going back all of 130, which would have been quiet and easy, that we wanted to stop at Buc-ees for lunch and some great jerky.

We got to Buc-ees about 12:30 and ate BBQ sandwiches in the car, and of course got some jerky.

Mammoth and Buc-ees

The huge row of fuel pumps

The drive was pretty uneventful... Luckily traffic moves pretty well, even though a lot of I-35 is under construction.

We decided once we got close to Dallas we'd stop at the Blue Beacon and get the truck and Mammoth washed. I stayed in the truck with the cats, and since it takes very little time, we didn't even get too warm.

Sparkly-clean!

We got home about 6:45 and began unloading. Man it was hot!!

That took all the energy we had, and we crashed for the evening.

Oh, and the title? Silence is golden? Well, the kitties didn't cry at all on the whole trip home!! Even during the Blue Beacon wash! They did so great! We are very happy they have adapted well to traveling.

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Cooked Squirrel?

Tuesday, July 23

Kind of a repeat of Monday, work for me and conventioning for Tony.

Out the window, we continue to watch the squirrel antics. Today, one decided to "relax" on the grill. I happened to have my camera ready, and it made for a fun Facebook post!


fresh squirrel, anyone?

I worked most of the day, and when I finally had a break I went to the park office to see what kind of ice cream they had. It was pretty hot today, and I deserved a treat. I got Ben and Jerry's "Every Thing But The"... It was great! Chocolate and vanilla ice cream with whit chocolate chunks, Heath bar bits, fudge covered almonds, and peanut butter cups. YUM!

After snack I worked until Tony got home, about 7. Then we had dinner, the ribs I cooked yesterday. They were great!

We both kinda chilled for a bit and watched some of our favorite type of shows: Counting Cars, and American Restoration. I worked some more, but Tony headed to bed. He hurt his lower back sometime Tuesday am. We think a pulled muscle or slept wrong. Hope it will get well soon.


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Ribs and Mexican Food

Monday, July 22

Today Tony headed out early to catch the bus to the convention center, and I spent the day working. I also started the crock-pot cooking some BBQ ribs.




Mambo had been sneezing yesterday and today, so I called the vet to see if he thought I should take him in. We decide to wait and see... He didn't think it was serious. (They had something like this when adopted.) We watched squirrel antics next door again, out the window of my "office".

I had a nice visit with a new customer, and took care of proofing changes on the Heartland newsletter.

About 6:15, I took the truck to meet Tony so that we could pick up the other directors and go to dinner at La Margarita, a good Mexican food place near downtown. We had a good meal and visit, then dropped them off and headed home.




Oh, also, when I was heading out with the truck, I saw a couple outside their trailer with a soft-sided crate with two cats in it. I stopped and visited with them for a minute. They said they were from West Virginia, and headed to Oregon, and the cats were well-traveled! Cool!

A full day, but both of us enjoyed it.


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Work + Chauffeur

Sunday, July 21

Today Tony headed over to the convention center for a clinic or two, while I worked. Kitties kept me company all day and slept some on the desk behind my computer, because they enjoyed watching the squirrels that were visiting the long-term campers' site next door to us. Someone left a bag of large marshmallows out, and the squirrels were fighting over it!



Squirrel working over a bag of marshmellows

After dinner, I went for a walk around the park. It was pretty pleasant... We'd had partly cloudy skies all day, which helped keep the temps down. I think it was only 89 when I went out.

A typical site

Some more of the park

Lots of mature trees add shading

Our site

Tony had decided to stay for a concert that would end about 9:45, so when he was done, I went to pick him up. (He rode the city bus to the convention center that morning.)

Even though I drove the same streets we had been on the day before, in the dark they looked different... I almost got turned around, but found my way to the pickup point. I let Tony drive us back!

We chatted about our day's events, then hit the hay.

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