It's over? Already??

Sunday, March 29th

Today, we were slow to get moving. Tony got dressed and went to the rally hall to see about the continental breakfast. He said there were very few folks there, and most of the food was gone, so he came back. 

We had breakfast, then began to get ready to go. Booo! We just got here! Oh well, not as much time to spread out. We got all packed up and pulled out about 11:30. Josh and Farrah were just ahead of us, but they went left while we went right on I-20. 

We decided to get the rig weighed, since I was concerned about how heavy we were for our long trip coming this summer. We weighed, then unhitched the trailer and reweighed to get the pin weight. 

Once that was done and paid for, we decided to go ahead and get Food before we headed out again. 

The ride home was uneventful, and we were back and set up at Lake Leon by 3. It was a good Rally, but it was sad to see it come and go so quickly. 

We forgot to get Eileen's picture! Whoops! 

Rally catching up

Saturday, March 28

Today, we got up and got over to the Rally hall for breakfast, provided by the club. It was very good-- scrambled eggs, Sausage, bacon, and biscuits with gravy or preserves, and yogurt. 

It looked like lots of folks were there. We ended up visiting with a few folks, then decided to head back for a walk around the park. We came upon Josh & Farrah, enjoying the patio feature of their Road Warrior Toyhauler. They invited us to join them, so we did. That patio is pretty cool!

We visited for a while till it got a little toasty, so we went inside and visited more. After a while we realized we were getting hungry, so we parted ways. 

I made my mother-in-law's fruit salad for the potluck, then we decided to drive somewhere to eat. We had not been to Santo proper, so we went exploring. Santo is very small, not much there and no real place to eat, so we went back to the interstate. We ended up eating fajita tacos at Stripes, then going to Gilbert's Pecans to browse. We picked up a few sweet treats there, drove out to see the huge rocking chair at Natty Flats, got fuel and then headed home. 

Rocking chair seen from window behind Tony. 

Once we returned, we hung out in the rig a bit and I drifted off for a quick nap, while Tony went and visited folks.

Just before the potluck, I texted him and he returned so we could gather our stuff and head to the Rally Hall. 

They had a group picture, then we got in line to enjoy our potluck. 

The attendees

We enjoyed the food and more visiting, then we went for a walk around the park again. We stopped and talked to a few folks, then Debbie B asked to see our rig. We took her to see Mammoth, then we walked around some more. 

We stopped and visited some with Steve & Janet, whom we met back in 2010, in Arizona! They are still living in this park. We saw them last year when we were here for the NTX Rally. They are great folks. 

After that we walked over and saw Josh & Farah and the kids with their campfire going, they were making s'mores with Peeps. 

It was a nice night, but we were getting tired. We headed home and to bed not soon after. 

 

Ready to Rally!

Friday, March 27th, 2015

Yesterday, I traveled from home out to Lake Leon to join Tony for our trip to Santo, Tx, and Coffee Creek RV Park for the Heartland Owners Club North Texas Chapter Rally.

Tony took the day off, so we work up, ate and started getting ready for the trip. Since Mammoth hadn't moved since July, there was quite a bit to figure out "where to put it for travel?"

It took us about 3 hours to prep to leave, where before would have taken about an hour. We pulled out about 11:30.  

Once down I-20 a bit, we pulled into a rest area to check tires and such, then decided to make sandwiches and eat lunch. Our plan was to go past Santo to Wetherford to get a wash at the Blue Beacon. 

Well, upon our arrival at the Blue Beacon, we discovered a really long wait!  There were at least 8 rigs in front of us waiting, so we decided to skip it and head on to Santo.

We arrived and got set up, then walked around the park and visited with friends and met new ones. About 5:30 we decided to go get some food, and decided on Dairy Queen, not to far from the park. Upon arrival we saw some other Heartland friends, and they asked us to join them. We had a nice time visiting with Pam, Dan, Walter and his wife. 

Mammoth set up in site 7

Our view of other Rally attendees

After we returned to the park, at 7pm was the meet and greet. We ate ice cream and heard about eat of the attendees, where they were from, etc. it was nice to see new faces along with some old friends. We had a nice time visiting.

The meet and greet

After that, some folks decided to play dominoes, but we were pretty tired so we headed home. It had been a long busy day! 

The party's not over!

Well, I haven't posted in a while because we haven't gone anywhere in a loooong while. Sad to say, the Mammoth has been in one place since July! Crazy! She has been doing quite well as a residence, however, and she has lots of neighbors now as well. Right around December the park started filling up with rvs... They were pipeline workers, following their work. The park was completely full once January came around. 

Tony went back to Mammoth and work after the holidays, while I stayed at our home to do some projects. Somehow, a month flew by, and it was March! 

We are still having cold snaps, and one evening, Tony noticed the lights were getting dimmer. The party's not over, why are the lights going out?? 

After some investigation with park management, they determined it was probably the converter not working correctly. 

Tony hooked up a battery charger to get through the next few days -- they were having wintry mix, and temps in the 20s and 30s. He was finally able to test things and deduce the charger was struggling with the battery as well -- not holding a charge more then a few hours -- so I ordered a new converter on Amazon, and he finally got out once roads were clear and got a new battery and a new battery charger. Those held up to keep everything working until the converter arrived and he had time to install.

Luckily, with our sliding door mod, it made getting to everything relatively simple. Once the new converter was installed, everything worked perfectly! 

New converter

Mammoth gets new "joints"

Saturday, October 25-Sunday Oct 26, 2014

Once we returned from our trip to Colorado this summer, we knew we needed to replace our shackles and equalizers. Recall that we had one break in Colorado, so we knew the others were in need of service. 

Well, I purchased the parts we needed via Amazon, and they had arrived a few weeks before. We purchased a complete shackle, bolt and Never-Fail bushing set, as well as a pair of 6-8K Trail Air Equalizers. Both were sold under the "Mobile Outfitters" brand, which was a division of Lippert, targeting Aftermarket sales. Lippert has since disbanded the "Mobile Outfitter" idea.  

We knew this project would likely take t least two days. We started by pulling all the slides in, hitching the coach up to the truck. Tony pre-loosened all the bolts before jacking the rig, using penetrating oil and a lot of elbow grease, so they would remove easier.

We raised one side to remove the tires. We added plenty of backup jacks and blocks to make sure the rig was safe to be under.

We removed the wheels, then went to work on removing the bolts. Some took far more effort than others, including some help from a 5lb hammer. Removing the bushings was also a challenge, but not as hard as we thought. We had a metal punch to help remove them. Reassembly took longer, as we had to work to get things properly aligned so the bolts would seat correctly. It was also hot and we were in the sun, getting hungry and thirsty, but did not feel safe to go inside the coach with it being suspended as it was. Tony ran and got us lunch, and we had access to the park facilities for restrooms. 

Coach is raised using our Ground Control system, but a jack under the axle helps support it to take pressure off the suspension.

Tony preps the bolts with lubricant and works (before the rig is raised) to get the nuts free.

Removing the bolts requires some hammering, some wrenching, and ultimately some pulling.

Yay! It's installed! Just need wheels! 

He finally had everything back together about 5pm (we had started about 10am). He was very happy!!

The next day, we began about 10 with the other side. It went a little faster since we knew what to expect. We had more challenges getting things aligned, but we got done about 2:30.

Using the punch to remove the bushing.

Adjusting (jacking) the axle height to align the spring and hanger.

We reassembled this side and then proceeded to "settle in" again, putting outr blocks and stabilizers in place, extra jacks for stabilizing, wheel covers, etc.

At least now if we want to go, we can feel safe doing so!

Top is new, Never-Fail bushing. Two middle are old bushings, bottom is standard nylon bushing (like the two worn ones.)

Old vs new-- you can see how worn the shock-absorbing rubber is.

Old vs new -- there should be a lot less "play" in the suspension now.

Old shackle vs new. Notice the elongated holes!

Bringing the Rally to us

The October Thursday 2-Wednesday 8, 2014.

I failed to blog about this when it happened, and for that I feel bad. Life's just been busy!

Since Manmoth is now our home for the time being at Solid Rock, we are unable to "pack up and go" for RV trips like we once did. It just so happens that a Heartland Rally was coming up in Bullard, TX, October 11-13. We had originally hoped to attend when we were in Terrell, and Tony would have just driven back and forth for part of it.  Now at Lake Leon, we were not able to attend. However, some of our Heartland friends would be attending, and droving right by us on the way. 

Dan & Ann, our friends originally from Austin, TX, would be passing through from Breckenridge, CO headed to Bullard, TX. They agreed to stop in and visit for a day. Also, our friends Malcolm and Valerie, were actually not going to the rally, but decided to stop and visit as they headed from Nashville, TN to Wichita Falls, TX to see their son, in the Air Force. Also passing through were Amy and Dave, our friends from Cody, WY that decided to take their vacation down to TX just to see their HL friends. How cool is that? They stopped by and stayed a few days, too! We were very blessed to have them all visit. We took Val & Malcolm and Dan & Ann to attend a Cisco High School football game. It was a little chilly, but we all had a great time enjoying the band and the good game.

The next day we did some running around at WalMart, had an impromptu potluck, sadly Tony had to work. 

Sunday we said bye to Dan & Ann, and Monday said hello to Dave & Amy and their dog Tucker. 

Monday night we had another impromptu potluck, and Tony got home late after practice and joined us to visit a little.

Tuesday we said bye to Val and Malcolm, and had another great meal visiting with Dave & Amy. They left Wednesday AM. 

First there were two...

Enjoying the game with Ann, Dan, Malcolm, Valerie

Three rigs!

Now a different one!

Enjoying the Heartland family! Malcolm, Valerie, Amy, & Dave.

Bye Dave & Amy!

After they all left, I ended up heading to Terrell. I attended the Heartland Rally with Tony's sister, Tori, and staying with her during Friday and Saturday nights, as she lived in Tyler, just 10 minutes away. It was great to see other Heartland folks there as well. Too bad Tony could not attend, but I know it meant a lot to him that folks would stop and visit.

Home Sweet Home Away from Home

August, 2014

From August 1st through the 10th, 2014, The kitties and I were able to spend time with Tony at Lake Leon. I worked at home in the Mammoth, while he had band camp.

Here's a few pictures:

Lake Leon. Wow what a view!

Down by the lake, at sunset, with my sweetie.

Dusk falls on the RVs of Solid Rock RV Park

Mambo and Tango overseeing the creative process.

Tango enjoys a nap with a view.

Our site and the lake, just down that road about 200 yards

Opposite side of the park, looking back toward the premium back in sites.

Mambo "helping" me work.

For those of you who have never heard of the Cisco Loboes, they were the 2A Div. 2 State Champions in football last year. A long-standing nickname of the school is the "Big Dam Loboes".  Click here for the history. We drove out to see the famous Williamson Dam at Cisco Lake. Very interesting! Some more information on the dam and World's Largest Concrete Swimming Pool. More info and vintage photos, here.

Williamson Dam on Lake Cisco, built in 1923, the largest "hollow concrete" dam in the world at the time. 

I have to periodically return to our "sticks and bricks" home for work, so I never know exactly where I'll be.

Expect fewer posts as we won't be getting to travel for a little while! If you are passing through the area on I-20, give us a shout! Solid Rock usually has sites available.