In Arlington, TX
Well, a lot has happened since last post. The computer came back with some minor damage that I was able to repair myself. They replaced one defective part and the motherboard. So everything works now, however there is a lot of hum in the speakers. It may be the power for the amplified speakers. I may look for some that aren't amplified to check that.
When the tail end of Hurricane Ike passed through Western New York, we got some very heavy winds and rain. Tom said he thought some gusts on the peak were in the 100MPH range. However only small and dead branches blown down there. BUT the trailer sure did shake around one night.
I gave up on getting Tom's Screwdriver antenna working on our trailer and went back to the Long Wire I have been using for Ham Radio.
So last Saturday, we secured and got ready for travel. However when we went to hook up, the 5th Wheel would not latch. So I removed that and found some small rusted springs that were not doing their job. Only one really appeared necessary to do the latching, and I located one in Tom's supply that took care of that. Hopefully I can finish the job here at Gil McClures as he has an extensive shop and may have the right ones in stock. That got us on the road about 2 hours later than expected but we had not planned on a rush trip anyway.
We fueled in Austinburg, OH and a short while later had a blowout on the trailer. As we can put the spare on in much less time than it takes road service to arrive, Loretta and I did that ourselves. That is quite a job with those heavy tires, the compartment where the spare is located and the hot day. We stopped at the Dutch Heritage Restaurant near Salem, OH for supper and spent the night in their truck parking lot. The second day was uneventful except we had planned a stop at the new Camping World facility at Bowling Freen, KY. However even though we saw it, the exit we took from Interstate 65 was not marked as how to get there. After a bit of driveing around we decided to pass that up.
Monday morning we had planned on getting on Interstate 40 in Nashville. However as we were so close to Columbia where I had purchased the defective tire, we opted to go to Buddy's Tire Store. He didn't have any of the correct tires in stock, but did loan us a tire that we could use for a spare. He also took the damaged tire to arrange replacement with the manufacturer for when we return in the fall. This gave us several hours of off Interstate driving which we prefer even though it takes more time.
By Tuesday evening we were well into Texas. I was getting tired and found no good place to overnight. So we stopped in Greenville for supper at Cracker Barrel. The manager said we could stay there, but as we needed a few items decided to move a short way to the Wal-Mart. Truckers use their lot as well as RV'ers for overnighting so felt a bit more secure also. Next morning I woke to find the trailer batteries totally dead. They hadn't been charging properly even though they were only 7 months old. So we went to the Wal-Mart Auto Center as they were Wal-Mart batteries. They found both dead but didn't want to replace under warranty. They told me that the warranty dated from when I had purchased the previous set instead of the ones that had failed. However they did finally replace them at no charge, but gave me no receipt and informed me that the warranty would date back to February. So perhaps no more Wal-Mart batteries??
We continued without event arriving here at about noon. After a short visit, we parked, unhooked and got setup. Then Loretta called her uncle Dick and we were invited to visit them. They only live 5 miles away so we went there for the rest of the evening and dinner. I have spent some time getting our computer records up to date, but not much else as we have spent most of past 2 days with Loretta's aunt and uncle. So hopefully today I will get to work on that 5th wheel and a few minor maintenance jobs on the trailer. As of now plans are to spend the afternoon with Gil and Bonnie and take a short trip with them.
Guess that is it for now
GOD Bless
Andy and Loretta
Andy@W2UCZ.com
Loretta@W2UCZ.com
RVTravel.blogspot.com
When the tail end of Hurricane Ike passed through Western New York, we got some very heavy winds and rain. Tom said he thought some gusts on the peak were in the 100MPH range. However only small and dead branches blown down there. BUT the trailer sure did shake around one night.
I gave up on getting Tom's Screwdriver antenna working on our trailer and went back to the Long Wire I have been using for Ham Radio.
So last Saturday, we secured and got ready for travel. However when we went to hook up, the 5th Wheel would not latch. So I removed that and found some small rusted springs that were not doing their job. Only one really appeared necessary to do the latching, and I located one in Tom's supply that took care of that. Hopefully I can finish the job here at Gil McClures as he has an extensive shop and may have the right ones in stock. That got us on the road about 2 hours later than expected but we had not planned on a rush trip anyway.
We fueled in Austinburg, OH and a short while later had a blowout on the trailer. As we can put the spare on in much less time than it takes road service to arrive, Loretta and I did that ourselves. That is quite a job with those heavy tires, the compartment where the spare is located and the hot day. We stopped at the Dutch Heritage Restaurant near Salem, OH for supper and spent the night in their truck parking lot. The second day was uneventful except we had planned a stop at the new Camping World facility at Bowling Freen, KY. However even though we saw it, the exit we took from Interstate 65 was not marked as how to get there. After a bit of driveing around we decided to pass that up.
Monday morning we had planned on getting on Interstate 40 in Nashville. However as we were so close to Columbia where I had purchased the defective tire, we opted to go to Buddy's Tire Store. He didn't have any of the correct tires in stock, but did loan us a tire that we could use for a spare. He also took the damaged tire to arrange replacement with the manufacturer for when we return in the fall. This gave us several hours of off Interstate driving which we prefer even though it takes more time.
By Tuesday evening we were well into Texas. I was getting tired and found no good place to overnight. So we stopped in Greenville for supper at Cracker Barrel. The manager said we could stay there, but as we needed a few items decided to move a short way to the Wal-Mart. Truckers use their lot as well as RV'ers for overnighting so felt a bit more secure also. Next morning I woke to find the trailer batteries totally dead. They hadn't been charging properly even though they were only 7 months old. So we went to the Wal-Mart Auto Center as they were Wal-Mart batteries. They found both dead but didn't want to replace under warranty. They told me that the warranty dated from when I had purchased the previous set instead of the ones that had failed. However they did finally replace them at no charge, but gave me no receipt and informed me that the warranty would date back to February. So perhaps no more Wal-Mart batteries??
We continued without event arriving here at about noon. After a short visit, we parked, unhooked and got setup. Then Loretta called her uncle Dick and we were invited to visit them. They only live 5 miles away so we went there for the rest of the evening and dinner. I have spent some time getting our computer records up to date, but not much else as we have spent most of past 2 days with Loretta's aunt and uncle. So hopefully today I will get to work on that 5th wheel and a few minor maintenance jobs on the trailer. As of now plans are to spend the afternoon with Gil and Bonnie and take a short trip with them.
Guess that is it for now
GOD Bless
Andy and Loretta
Andy@W2UCZ.com
Loretta@W2UCZ.com
RVTravel.blogspot.com
posted by Andy W2UCZ @ 8:00 AM
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