Catching Up.

Monday May 3, 2010

Catching Up.

I have not posted on this blog since April 1.  As I have mentioned several times, this blog was conceived as a travelogue.  We have not traveled since our fateful trip home behind the hook (tow truck).  I thought I would catch up on a few things that have been happening since then.  And for a change, it has been a pretty good month.

First, I have to tell you that we are still having some snow storms.  Over the weekend, the snows in the mountains were huge.  Two of our daughters were traveling in the mountains and had hectic stories to tell.  Daughter Judy and her family were traveling in their new to them motorhome and got into terrible snow on one of our highest passes.  Their story is here. 

Last week we talked to our former German exchange student, whom we keep in fairly close contact with.  She was asking about my analogy of the light at the end of the tunnel as related to some of the trials and tribulations we have been going through.  It was obvious that she was concerned.  I assured her that things were not as bleak as she had thought.  It is always fun to talk with her and catch up on her family  news.

Last week we went to a very sad funeral.  The granddaughter of our good friends died at the age of 34 from cancer.  She was developmentally disabled, but seemed to live a fruitful life based on considerable testimony from her many friends who live in the various community facilities with her.  It really brought home how fortunate we are to have healthy productive children and grandchildren!

Speaking of productive children, we must brag on two of our daughters.  Their books have been published recently.  Kelly has written a great textbook for new teachers.  This book is a continuation of a training class that she presents.  The Amazon link is here.  The ISBN number is:  978-0545167284    .   Daughter Judy has published a children's book  based on her llama business.  The ISBN is:  9780984532308.  It should be on Amazon in the near future.   She has plans to visit disabled children's facilities with one of her llamas with the goal of helping the children cope with life.  Now each of our daughters have been “published”.  Lisa co-authored at least one professional technical paper.

One of our major accomplishments this past few weeks is to establish a new doctor “network”.  As a retiree of Gates, we have to adjust to the changes of their insurance program.  For years we have been in the Kaiser system.  We felt comfortable with their program and our doctors.  This year Gates dropped Kaiser and adopted Anthem.  That meant that we had to find new doctors.  Sounds simple, but that is not the case.  Pat was finally able to find a rheumatologist.  That was getting critical as she had to have her bi-monthly blood tests.  Her rheumatologist recommended a doctor in Conifer (close to our house).  We have appointments this week for our physicals.  Hopefully we will feel comfortable with this new doctor.  My physical will include the paperwork for renewal of my CDL drivers license.  I have an appointment with the eye doctor who did at least one of my eye surgeries (now possible since we are in the new insurance system).  I will need his sign-off on the CDL form because of my sight issues. 

Now to the bus project.  I have been trying to put at least 4 hours most days to get some fairly major projects done.  The timing of these projects affect my ability resolve the transmission control problem.  The major sub-project was to revamp the hydraulic system.  I am adding a large hydraulic fan to cool the charge air cooler.  This has been an ongoing problem since I installed the Series 60 engine in the bus.  When the hydraulic system is finished (hopefully today or tomorrow), I will be able to operate the jacks from the same system.  The jacks will permit me to easily elevate the axles off the ground.  This, in turn, will allow me to place the rear axle on blocks in order to do some preliminary testing in the shop.  That will make the troubleshooting much easier.  I am sure that is paragraph is clear as mud to most folks, but the crazy bus nuts will understand {grin}.

Guess that is all for now.

Hello from Wagon Mound, NM

Hello from Wagon Mound, NM

Subtitled: What is that light at the end of the tunnel?

Thursday evening March 18, 2010 (First travelogue of this trip).

Let's talk about the sub title first. I have wanted to make many posts in recent months, but either Pat or I vetoed the content – it was just too negative. Since our bus experienced its engine problems in July of last year, the events of our lives have been considerably less than what would be contained in a fairy tail. Maybe a nightmare type movie would better describe our lives. Bear in mind, that it probably seems worse, since the rest of our lives have been mostly trouble free and we feel very fortunate for that.

First was the real downer of not having the bus. In some of our travelogues, we detailed our disdain for traveling by more conventional means and staying in Motels. Hugely costly and often very frustrating.

Getting the bus repaired was a true nightmare. We could not afford to rebuild the engine and had to settle for a reasonably good used engine (I hope – it was rebuilt about 220K miles ago – not much mileage for a big truck diesel engine). I won't go into all of the sordid details, but I have been working on it pretty steadily since September and just got it on the road last weekend. As most of you know, the engine and transmission are huge and that makes everything more difficult (see photos). In addition, both the engine and transmission are fully electronic and I have had some serious issues with both units. Lastly, all of the work was done in my shop. Many days the temperature outside was below zero and even with my torpedo heater, it would usually only get to 35 degrees many days.

Our next downer was the weather this winter. I have lived in Colorado all of my life and I don't recall it ever being this bad. I wrote about our big Oct. snowstorm (here). That snow is still on the ground – even in the open areas and on our deck. Every time I needed to test the bus, it snowed. It has been generally very cold most of the winter and our heating bills are off the map.

Next downer was been the economic issues that we are all having to deal with. I keep thinking it will get better, but I don't see it happening.

Lastly, our daughters and their families have had some pretty serious health issues. Those issues really eat at your psyche.

Now, what is that light at the end of the tunnel that I mentioned? I can only hope it is that beautiful sun the we crave so badly. Hopefully it is not a train headlight. So, lets talk about why the light might not be a train. The bus is running and we left on our first trip today. The weather is slowly getting better. It has been nice in Evergreen for the last few days. However, we had to beat a path today to get out of a snow storm that is predicted to dump a bunch of snow in the Denver area. The economic issues are still not good, but we are not alone in that area. And, most importantly, the health issues seem to have gotten much better.

So, maybe our painful eight months will be something in the past.

Now to Wagon Mound. We are (here).  According to Wikipedia: Wagon Mound is a in Mora County, New Mexico, United States. It is named after and located at the foot of a butte called Wagon Mound, which was a landmark for covered wagon trains and traders going up and down the villageSanta Fe Trail and is now Wagon Mound National Historic Landmark. The shape of the mound is said to resemble a Conestoga wagon. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 369.

We are parked in a vacant lot next to a gas station. The town used to have two restaurants, but they are both close. It is about 70 miles south of Raton, NM. We drove about 300 miles today, leaving about 10:30.

Tomorrow we will drive to a favorite stop: Hollywood Casino just north of Albuquerque. That is a short 150 mile drive. We will stay there a couple of days before we drive to the fairgrounds where the FMCA rally will be.

BTW, I was a nervous as a whore in church today, but the bus did very well. Hope that continues.

That is all for now.