Our US Travels

moonlitcoyote · May 31, 2013, 08:29 PM

What a trip, we went to Visone RV and bought an awning, 2 captains chairs and some latches for the storage doors. Strapped the awning to the roof, put the captains chairs on the couch and hit the road.....

Our next stop was in a walmart parking lot because Michael was teething and grumpy and he couldnt deal with riding any longer. We got some shopping done and hit the road the next morning, we only had about 2 hours to go to get to the next RV park we were planning on staying at.

Up and down a bunch more mountains and while going through a construction zone I could smell antifreeze really stong, so I checked the temp gauge and it was still holding right about 1/2 way. Continued on and the smell went away, gauge still holding at normal. Then suddenly the cab is filling with white smoke and I'm worried the engine caught fire. I gently applied the brakes and realized I wasnt slowing down, so I pressed harder and I was still doing 50mph, my heart sank.. Here I am with my 2 yr old sitting by the door, we are filling up with smoke and I have no brakes. GOT TO GET THE BABY OUT, was the only thing going though my head. So I stood on the brakes and we finally started to slow down, it took awhile but I managed to get her stopped and out of the way of traffic. As soon as I came to a complete stop we were overcome with smoke and the smell of antifreeze, so I told my son (19yrs) to get the baby out quick. While he did that I grabbed the fire extinguisher and started to open the doghouse. Thats when Eddie showed up and told me I blew a radiator hose. He had seen it all explode out the back but couldnt get around me to tell me to pull over. The other drivers seemed to get scared and were afraid to pass me...

After letting the rig cool down and with some help from some very special members here, we found the blown hose and headed to Autozone to find a replacement. They didnt have an exact match but we got one that was close and put it back together.. While searching for the culprit we also noticed another hose had a bad weak spot and another one was almost cut through from rubbing on something. SO after getting that hose installed we headed back to AZ with the winny to replace the hose that looked almost cut through.

What should have been a 1/2 job became a 2 hour job trying to find a hose to fit and then finding a way to make the hose so it wouldnt kink.. While working on it the manager of AZ came out and told us there was an outlet we could plug into so that we could use our AC to help keep us cool. Thanks to a member here, we now had the AC running and cooling things down a little. Finally got the job done but by that time it was way too late and Michael was way too tired to continue on, so we started thinking what to do and where to go....

Within 5 minutes of finishing poor Michael was vomiting all over me and he looked pale, NOT good. While working on the rig it was 100 degrees in there, Michael had spent time in the store trying to stay cool, but I was worried sick he was suffering heat stroke or heat exhaustion. ..

I have no idea where we are or where we can go to hook up to some electricity and get this boy cooled off, bathed and resting. But members here came to my rescue again and found us a camping spot not too far away and even gave us directions to get there and talked to my son on the phone to be sure we were ok and going the right direction.

We finally landed in the camping spot, got hooked up and set up as best we could, then took care of Michael. Gave him a cool bath, liquids and tried to get him to eat. He refused the food so we got him ready for bed. All cleaned and dressed for bed and he starts vomiting again

my poor baby, I feel so guilty, what did I do wrong to make him feel so poorly. ... Finally got him recleaned and redressed and into bed, then gave him 3 ounces of fluid every hour until morning to make sure he wasnt dehydrated.

Morning time and Mike seems better, he still doesnt have much of an appetite but he has color back in his cheeks. So the question is do we stay for a few days to let Mike feel better or press on the last 82 miles?.. Where we are has electric but no water or sewer and our fresh tank is empty so we decide to push on and just keep a close eye on Mike. We took a break about 40 miles into the trip and made Michael eat and drink. Then we hit the road for the last leg of the trip, stopped for gas before hitting the interstate and when I stopped Eddie noticed antifreeze pouring out the bottom.. OH NO not again!!... We pulled out of the way and checked everything and didnt see any problems so we headed out and prayed.. The praying must have worked because the winny didnt heat up and it didnt seem to leak anymore. We figure it must have been leaking from the overfill tube. Must have put too much in.

Finally pulled into our destination this afternoon and I have never been happier to hang the keys up and forget about driving for a little while.

Froggy1936 · May 31, 2013, 08:38 PM

Hi Moon Heres an idea for traveling with 2 veh Get a set of walkie talkies My Brother and i used them on a trip from Pa to TX they worked good up to about 2 miles apart Frank

moonlitcoyote · May 31, 2013, 08:44 PM

do you happen to know what brand they were? We have tried them before but never found any good ones.

Stripe · June 01, 2013, 08:01 PM

I've used Cobra and Uniden and never had a problem with either.

I bought the second from cheapest Cobra and the low end Uniden.

Fredric

M & J · June 01, 2013, 08:43 PM

And an upgradable dash mount GPS.

Froggy1936 · June 01, 2013, 09:00 PM

Oregon Scientific NOAA Weather radio with FRS model WRF 108 I do not remember where i purchased them from back in 2000 Try google Frank

moonlitcoyote · June 01, 2013, 10:21 PM

Thanks I'll check them out

We took the toilet apart today and managed to clean it up so the valve would close but when we re-installed it and turned the water on to it, we found that the water would not shut off. Went to an RV place about 5 minutes away and were told that it is becoming near impossible to get the parts for such an old toilet so we went the easier route and ordered a new toilet with the same bolt pattern.. The new toilet should be here Wednesday, so going to rip up the carpet on Monday and start preparing the floor for some vinyl tiles. Then Wednesday I will put the tiles and the toilet in and have a new bathroom

Oz · June 02, 2013, 10:15 AM

I like Frank's recommendation of using 2 walkie-talkies. Tambra and I used them all the time when traveling with the RV and the car. Got some from Wal-Mart. Cobras as I remember. Worked great!

Stripe · June 02, 2013, 03:18 PM

OR, you can go with the newer handheld two way radios, they are more compact, there are versions that have ranges of up to 10 miles, fit in the pocket and you can keep them on you while walking around the park your at you could contact each other in case of, say, an emergency or to update a to buy list in case the park has it's own store.

moonlitcoyote · June 03, 2013, 07:30 PM

Thanks To oldrockandroller and his wife we got the awning installed yesterday. It's so nice having an awning now, it really makes it nicer to sit outside when you have shade to sit in.... Hopefully oldrockandroller will post some pics of the before and after and us working on it here..

Today I cleaned the captains chairs I got at Visone and installed them, it took 4 cleanings each but I finally got them looking clean. Now I just have to figure out how to get rid of the old ones.

Tomorrow's project is to cut out the bathroom carpet and prepare the floor to install tiles and a new toilet.

I'm really glad we are finally getting some things done. But now I am pooped so maybe more tomorrow.

DaveVA78Chieftain · June 03, 2013, 09:42 PM

Glad to hear things are finally on the good side MJ. You get all the water hoses replaced also?

Dave

JDxeper · June 03, 2013, 09:58 PM

MJ Put your old ones on Craigs list, someone will take them off your hands.

Stripe · June 03, 2013, 10:15 PM

Nice MJ, grats!

M & J · June 04, 2013, 09:00 AM

Ok MJ, I'll try to post some pics of us installing your new awning. Thank goodness the weather cooperated. It was a cool 70 degrees and overcast the whole time we were installing the awning. It would have been 10 times the job if we were doing this in high 80 degree weather we had a couple days before.

Eddie, with MJ on the roof and Oshen installing the awning rail on the side of the coach.
Then me on the left, MJ on the roof (smiling of course) and Eddie while we mount the center storage support. She's smiling because this was the last step before we opened it up for the first time!

FINALLY done and Janie, MJ & Eddie admiring 3 hours of hard work.. Looks great and the shade is a WELCOME addition to their Winnie.

And lastly Eddie enjoying an adult beverage sitting in the doorway IN THE SHADE!

We'd never done anything like this before so it took us a while to work through and think through the process. An 18 ' awning is heavy! About 2 hours actually doing the work and the first hour was thinking through the process (And a quick trip back to Lowes for self tapping screws).

It looks great MJ & Eddie. We were happy to help out and finally meet you guys.

moonlitcoyote · June 04, 2013, 10:04 AM

Thanks for posting the pics Oldrockandroller, I was too pooped to say much about anything yesterday. It was great to meet you guys and have some adult company for awhile

Dave, Eddie will be working on the water hoses today while I work on the carpet in the bathroom, we also need to replace the belts, but before we remove them we need to make sure we can buy new ones.

JD, no one would buy my old captains chairs, they are in sad shape, the fabric is ripped and the foam was falling apart. Thats why we had to get new ones.

Thanks Coachman, when are you coming East so we can meet up?

DaveVA78Chieftain · June 04, 2013, 12:08 PM

You guys did a great job. Hope the toilet replacement all works out just as well

Dave

Stripe · June 04, 2013, 04:52 PM

Your welcome Guys, Not much longer now, to do list getting shorter..
Can't wait to meet all of you guys that I can get to in my travel home..
Do I understand this right? Does the awning roll back up INTO the aluminum tube?

If so, that's pretty cool!

Fredric

M & J · June 04, 2013, 05:36 PM

The aluminum tube wraps around the awning when its rolled up. Its kinda cool how its done.

moonlitcoyote · June 15, 2013, 04:52 PM

Due to life's very cruel way of working I wont be traveling anymore, and I find it very difficult to even put together 2 thoughts about what needs to be done to the winny and how to do it, so I wont be doing anymore repairs for awhile either. I wish every one the very best and happy/safe travels.

Froggy1936 · June 15, 2013, 07:38 PM

God Bless, Best Wishes and i hope you land on your feet ! Frank & Louie

joanfenn · June 15, 2013, 07:47 PM

So sorry to hear that. I am sending prayers your way. God bless.

maxximuss · June 15, 2013, 11:03 PM

Very sorry to hear, I wish you all the best. Hope things will turn better for you.

Stripe · June 16, 2013, 01:30 AM

I tried to type something witty, but, I'm out of words at this moment. Suffice it to say, all I know of life is that sometimes you have to suffer through rough times before you are rewarded with good times. And it's cyclical..

Please keep in touch anyway, just because you may not be traveling dun mean your not welcome to stay on the boards and contribute to life here as well..

Respectfully,
Fredric

ClydesdaleKevin · June 16, 2013, 10:48 AM

Yes, please stay in touch! Life always turns around, and we will all still be here for you.

Kev

moonlitcoyote · July 09, 2013, 08:51 PM

After a very difficult few weeks we have pulled ourselves up by our bootstraps and decided that we will deal with what life is giving us the best we can, but we still need to live, love and laugh as much as possible..

So for the living part...

we put 2 coats of Zep floor wax on the winny we still need to put 2 more coats but we cant seem to get away from the rain long enough to get it done yet.

We re-named the Homebago.. "The RockinBago" .. Due to the Winny rocking in all the wind and storms, it just seemed to fit.

We got the oil gauge working so now I know there's oil in it..lol

Changed all the belts, now the PS works great

And we "plan" on fixing the starter on the onboard generator and checking the brakes in about a week.

For the "love"...

We are learning not to take time for granted, you never know when your time with someone will come to an end, so we make the most out of every minute we have together and make lots of memories to fill our minds and hearts.

For the laughter..

Besides laughing at the wonderful people here on this site (joking) we find laughter in many ways, sitting on a dam fishing (about 20 minutes from the jeep) when it starts pouring, yup that gave me a real good laugh. Watching a wonderful little boy try to find a baby red bird because he saw it on tv, watching a bird bathe in a mud puddle so dirty you have to wonder if the bath is doing any good...There is laughter everywhere you just have to open your eyes to see it. And open your heart to feel it.