Hello from Algodones, NM

Hello from Algodones, NM

Saturday Morning March 20, 2010 (Second travelogue of this trip).

We are at the campground at Hollywood Casino (also called San Felipe's Hollywood Casino) map. Their website is here. It really is a hole-in-the-wall casino with a so-so buffet. However, it is conveniently located and their campground has 50 amp power at each site as well as water and dump station remote to the site. To top it off, it is only $10 per night.

In our last travelogue I talked about the light at the end of the tunnel. The jury is still out on the source of that light. The weather is still not good and the bus had a couple of minor issues yesterday.

We have about 2 inches of snow and darn cold weather here this morning. I guess I should be glad that we are not home where the TV reports 2 feet of snow in Conifer! I have included a photo of the bus here in the snow.

In addition, the electronics in the engine/transmission caused some problems yesterday. There is a connection between the two that allow them to “talk” to each other. The technology is called J1939 for the “techies”. Before we left I got an error code that the connection was “broken”. I played with a connection and the code went away. However yesterday it occurred two times. Same connection. The connector is a premium quality special unit designed for the rather critical communication process. I have closely inspected the connector, used contact cleaner and di-electric grease. Still the problem. Fortunately it only takes a minute or two to pull and reconnect the connector and that seems to cure the problem for a while. Worst case, I can probably eliminate the connector as a temporary fix.

We think Pat has to be at the fairgrounds tomorrow to sell tickets for her classes. We had planned to move to the fairgrounds in the bus today, but we will probably stay here again tonight and take her in the service truck tomorrow. She needs to be there early in the morning. I will then come back and drive the bus to the vendor parking area.

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.

Hello from Evergreen, CO

Hello from Evergreen, CO

Sunday Afternoon Feb 28, 2010

I have written a post or two that I did not actually post. I read them to Pat and she said they sounded too negative. So I have waited over a month until I could post something positive. In the meantime, it has been a real emotional roller coaster.

Lets go back in time a bit. Our last post was from Sante Fe. Our trip from Sante Fe to Evergreen was uneventful. Shortly after we left Santa Fe, we noted that there was very little snow on the ground and as we got closer to Raton, the ground was mostly void of snow. We got home about 4:00 on Monday. It looks like we hit a good weather window, as I 40 was closed a day or two after we went through.

One of the events that had me down in the dumps was that I crashed our PT Cruiser in a snow storm on 1/27. There was no body damage, but I ended up going through a shallow rocky culvert and that did a ton of damage to the undercarriage. We have been a full month without the car but should be able to pick it up early next week. In the mean time, we have been driving the service truck (recall that the Durango is also out of service). That was not all bad, as we have been having a lot snow and the four wheel drive has come in handy.

The other problem I have been dealing with is the bus. As you may recall, I had to swap out engines as our previous engine had some significant problems. After I installed the engine, we took a test drive before our Quartzsite trip and it did not have any power. I have been fighting that problem since we got home. We have a great bus conversion forum with a lot of very helpful folks On that forum there have been several threads on my engine sage. The latest thread is here. In that thread, I go into quite a bit of detail about what the problem was. In hindsight it seems pretty simple (mis-match of computer and sensor), but it took a lot of research and head scratching to figure it out.

So, maybe our lives can get back to normal. I have a ton of work to do on the bus to finish up the installation and clean up my terrible mess on the interior. That will take a week or two. Just in time to drive the bus to our next trade show (Major FMCA rally in Albuquerque – 3/22-25).

That is all for now.

Hello from Santa Fe, NM

Hello from Santa Fe, NM

Sunday evening January 24, 2010 (Third travelogue of this trip)

Our stay in Quartzsite was quite interesting to say the least.

First, lets talk about the motel (Super 8). It is one of two motels in Quartzsite, and the largest. Our cost was $116 per day plus taxes. For that we got a very mediocre room (at best), no internet in the room (router was too weak) and the “Super Start” breakfast (Fruit Loops and toast – literally). We brought string cheese so that we could have protein. The TV had about 10 channels the first couple of days and then the major networks no longer worked.

Then, lets talk about the weather. As noted in our previous post, on Thursday, the day started with very strong rain and got worse. The rain continued all day and then tornado-level winds came up in the evening (actual tornadoes near by). When we came home from dinner, a large Saguaro cactus had been blown over into a car. I helped remove it so the owners could go to dinner. It was about 7 feet tall and must have weighed over 100 pounds. Many streets in Quartzsite were flooded and closed to traffic. The area of the rally was very hard hit. A large metal culvert was washed down the drainage ditch (see photo). Friday was a bit better, but had very cold winds. Yesterday was clear and reasonably warm during the day.

In the last post, I mentioned that this was a GM/Flxible/Eagle bus rally. There had been some confusion about the rally schedule and the Flxible buses had their rally the previous weekend. This was a real downer for me, as I love the classic style of the Flexible buses. However, there were perhaps 75 buses at the rally. I was surprised that there were not a lot of GM buses, but there were 30 Eagles, several Prevost and MCI buses, and a handful of what we call SOBs (some other buses).

We got to spend a lot of time talking to lots of old friends and meeting many new folks. Because of the nice weather on Saturday, everyone spent a lot of time outside, since they had been cooped up for the previous days. I think most of the folks had a good time. Not having the bus at the rally was a real downer, but we still had a good time chatting with folks.

Pat and I attended the Eagles International board meeting. Pat is the secretary and I am a board member. Quartzsite is the designated annual meeting for our chapter and the board meeting is, obviously, required. In addition, we also attended the general meeting.

Our very good friends (Ed and Stevi) gave me a hard time because I mentioned having steak with friends, but not have a gourmet fired chicken dinner at the Loves truck step with them. So, now they are mentioned {grin}. Indeed, we had dinner with them two more times. We always enjoy their company, and regret that we will not be able to stay with them in Yuma this year. We had the best time the last two years sharing their beautiful lot in the Foothills area of Yuma. It is still possible we can get down there, but the probability is not great.

After the general meeting yesterday, we left Quartzsite about 5:00 and drove to Goodyear, AZ and stayed in the same Holiday Express that we stayed at on the way down. Today we drove 530 miles to get here. We traveled up I-17 to Flagstaff and then I-40 to Albuquerque and I-25 to Santa Fe. Flagstaff had over 5-7 feet of snow while we were in Quartzsite and the drifts were still quite high. However, the roads were dry and the driving conditions were good.

That is all for now.

This is the entrance to the Bus Rally

(note the irony of the photo)

 Replacing the culvert that was damaged by the flood

Hello from Quartzsite, AZ

Hello from Quartzsite, AZ

Thursday morning January 21, 2010 (Second travelogue of this trip)

After leaving Cortez, CO we traveled on US 160 to US 89 into Flagstaff. We had thought about taking a quick detour in the Monument Valley (a favorite of ours), but we were concerned about the weather. It turned out that we did not hit snow until just before Flagstaff. We got there about noon and it was snowing hard. We then traveled south on I-17. That highway drops fairly steeply as you head south towards Phoenix. After a bit less than an hour, we were below the snow level and the driving was not bad.

We stayed in Goodyear, AZ which is just west of Phoenix. The hotel was very close to the Wigwam resort that we used to travel to each year for a business meeting. It was a fabulous resort and we miss those trips. As a side note, that whole area was owned by the Goodyear Rubber Co. at one time. They made the blimps there and had huge cotton fields so that they could have a supply of reinforcing material for all of their rubber products during the WWII. When Goodyear owned the Wigwam is was fabulous. After they sold it, it was never quite as good.

Tuesday we made the short drive to Quartzsite. I made a quick run out to the site of the Blue Bird rally site to make sure I knew where they were located and to talk to the rally master.

Yesterday, I did my presentation to the Blue Bird folks. The day did not start well, as some BLM representative slid his truck in next to mine as I arrive and told me that I could not be in the area. He said I was selling and that was not legal without a permit. I told him I would leave, but needed to inform the rally master. When I talked to the rally master, he said that the “tin marshal” could go to @#$%. He did not think that the person was even an government employee (I do not recall that he had a uniform) and had been harassing them every since they got there.

We simply “hid” the truck and got on with the program. That was a challenge in itself. First, to be on the safe side, I announced that I was not there to sell and could not because of the regulations. Most folks understood that I was merely doing the official requirement. The seminar was outside and the wind knocked my screen down and tore the screen material. Then the projector was not powerful enough to overcome the sunlight. So we winged it. And it seemed to go well. There was reasonable attendance and good participation. We then did a fire extinguisher demostration with a pan of diesel/gasoline and that went well.

Yesterday afternoon, we went out to the bus rally site. It is an official GM/Eagle/Flxible (correct spelling of Flxible), but there are lots of MCIs and Prevosts as well. The rally does not officially start till today, but there were at least 50 buses there last night.

We were able to see and talk to many friends. We even had a great steak dinner cooked by some friends who invited us to eat with them. Everyone expressed their concerns about our bus problems as well as our family health issues. It just gave us a very warm feeling.

This morning I woke up to a terrible rain storm. There is flooding in Phoenix and a flood watch here. The forecast is for even heavier rain and high winds. I have no idea how this will all play out. It will not be fun looking at buses in the rain and most folks will be holed up in their buses, so jawboning will not be big. There is the huge flea market and the “Big Tent RV” vendor show, but my guess is that the rain and wind will close that show down at least for today.

I guess we will play it by ear. I have some sales to deliver, so we will stick around for at least another day.

That is all for now.

Hello from Cortez, CO

Hello from Cortez, CO

Sunday evening January 17, 2010 (First travelogue of this trip)

Well, we are on the road and this blog will go back to being what is was intended to be – a travelogue! We are headed to Quartzsite, AZ for a very large bus rally and a bit of business. I will be making a presentation to a large Blue Bird RV organization.

Before I get into the details, I would like to thank all of the folks who have expressed concerns and support related to some of our recent “trials and tribulations”. When you are involved in situations that really test your resolve, it seems unbearable at times. There were days when it was 16 degrees below zero and I had a hacking cough that I really questioned my sanity as I headed out to the shop. Then, when the results were not positive, it really seemed grim. The health issues our daughters (and their families) have experienced are very troubling to us and tend to make us quite emotional.

HOWEVER, in the grand scheme of things, we are really quite fortunate. None of the health issues are in the category of cancer (or similar). Pat and I enjoy pretty good health. All of the things we have endured in the past few months will seem like a small speed bump in the future. We have been so fortunate in our lives, that a period of setbacks is probably magnified far beyond realism.

Apparently I have raised some concern with a few folks. We got a call yesterday from Irina, our German exchange student ('81/'82) that we have kept in close contact with over the many years including several visits on both sides of the ocean. She read the blog and wanted to call and make sure everyone was doing OK. We sure enjoyed that call!

Now to our travels. Because of the bus problems, we made the decision to make the trip in the service truck. It travels well, but is a bit hungry when it comes to fuel. Part of our decision to make this trip can loosely be called “avoiding the issues”. I am not sure that is all bad. Sometimes people just need to “get away” and clear their minds a bit. I spent today being able to think quite a bit more clearly about several issues that I have been wrestling with (obviously the bus was the focal point).

In the bus, we would normally take the “conservative” winter route of I 25 south to either I 40 or perhaps down to I 10 if the weather dictated. However, since the service truck is 4WD, we decided to take the scenic route. We traveled US285 (which is close to our house) down to US 160. That route took us over Wolf Creek Pass, through Durango and on to Cortez in south western Coloarado. That is about 350 miles. This is the most direct route, but also the most scenic. We have driven this route several times when I used to attend business meetings in Phoenix each year. We are really looking forward to tomorrows drive. The scenery is very unique and beautiful. I will fill in the details in our next blog.

The weather today was not all that bad for this time of year. A bit overcast, but no snow. The roads were dry. We were amazed at the amount of snow on the ground in various locations. Tomorrow will be a different story. If you follow the weather much, the majority of the south western part of the US is going to experience several days of rain and snow. The area we are traveling through will have snow. Before we leave tomorrow, I will check the road conditions. However, the predictions are for about 1-3 inches and that will be later in the day.

That is all for now.

Love/Hate Relationship.

Thursday January 14, 2010

Love/Hate relationship.

First of all, I want to wish everyone a great 2010. Unfortunately, ours has not started out all that well.

It has been almost a month since I last posted. I had hoped that I would be able to post something positive about the bus replacement engine project many days ago. That did not happen.

Yesterday I drove the bus for the first time since the engine replacement project began. It did not go well!

When I talk about the Love/Hate relationship of our bus, I have to recall that we have thoroughly enjoyed our travels in this unique vehicle. It is a great way to travel in and we have always felt very cozy, safe, and comfortable in it. It is fun to drive and handles/rides much better than a commercial RV. It is not very fancy, but it has everything we need to live comfortably for weeks on end. Our travels in the bus have been almost trouble free for the three plus years and 550 nights spent enjoying distant and fun locations (over 53K miles).

The hate part has reared it's ugly head again as a result of our engine problems. I have to say that building the bus was not the fun/rewarding project it should have been. I have always enjoyed my various car projects (several major frame-off projects), but I can't say that about the bus. The conversion has consumed well over 2000 hours. Most of that work was done under pressure to meet some sort of deadline. The components are very large and often hard to get to. The engine replacement project is much the same. I have not kept good track of my time, but since I picked up the engine parts on 11/17/09 and started the installation process, I estimate that I have spent at least 150 hours on the project. Add to that, the time spent removing the damaged engine and this project approaches 200 hours!

Every component I worked on, had some sort of complication. I did spend a significant amount of time improving many of the component designs from the original conversion, but the majority of the work was fighting some issue with the multitude of components comprising the complex engine/transmission system.

Perhaps the fact that the engine and transmission have very sophisticated computer control systems, complicates the issue. I am having significant issues with the transmission control system.

The test drive yesterday revealed a very low turbo boost pressure and a transmission control problem. Neither of these issues appear to be a major costly problem, but they will need a lot more work. In addition, they really add to my lack of confidence that the system has been made robust again. I will need to resolve the problems and take a number of test drives to build up my confidence.

I have been fighting what has become a very tight schedule in order to be able to travel to Arizona for a huge bus rally next week and then on to Yuma for a month or two of relaxation. The troublesome test drive has now eliminated any possibility of taking the bus on that trip. I am considering driving the service truck down to Quartzsite for the rally and a seminar that I am scheduled to do. I will finalize that decision in the next day or so.

In addition to the bus problems, we have had some very serious health issues in two of our daughter's families. Each family has had more than one health issue. One daughter just had surgery and one appears have serious enough back problems that she may require surgery in the near future. In the latter case, Judy has documented her family health issues in her wonderful blog (here). Pat is very concerned about leaving the area when these families are struggling right now.

I apologize that this post may sound a bit whiny. I try to put a positive spin on my posts, but this one does not lend itself to that approach.

I will try to be better about posting and perhaps I will have a real travelogue to write (that is the purpose of this blog) in the near future.