Odessa

By 10:00 Monday morning our friendly tow truck operator had returned, and he and Bob got our motorhome onto the trailer again. It took almost two hours to drive to Odessa. We left first in the car, taking a different road, and about halfway there we suddenly found the RV ahead of us.

We followed it to the repair shop where we plugged in, put out our slides, and made ourselves comfortable. We kept tripping something whenever we tried to run the air conditioner, but we ran the generator until it started to cool off for the evening. That’s a problem for another day.

By 4:30 the techs were going over the engine with a fine-tooth comb. They’ve decided the rest of the hoses need to be replaces as well as something called an SCR, or Selective  Catalytic Reduction, which is part of the emissions control system. We may be here for a few more days because we were told the replacement may not arrive before Friday. We are able to sleep in the motorhome at least, so we don’t have to go to a motel.

Quiet Sunday

The tow truck that came for us on Saturday afternoon was one we’ve never seen before. It pulled a trailer meant for large motor homes such as ours, and the driver told us he could even transport 45 footers with tag axles.

Bob backed onto it with the guidance of our tow truck driver.

Then everything was secured for the drive, the tractor backed into place to hook up, and we left for the campground with the motorhome following behind us. We are hooked up in a campsite waiting for Monday morning when Coach-Net will contact the repair place in Odessa, TX to see if they can take us. If so, the tow truck will return and will move the motorhome two hours north to Odessa. We have no idea if the repair shop will allow us to sleep in it tomorrow night, though. If not, we’ll have to get a motel room nearby. Hopefully whatever is causing our engine to overheat will be a quick and easy fix.

We have had a relaxing Sunday, trying not to think about tomorrow.

This evening a flock of sheep came to visit across from our campsite, guarded by their faithful sheepdog. This is a nice place to wait.

It will all work out!

Another Breakdown

This is sure getting old. Bob and I headed out Friday morning for Fort Stockton, about 345 miles away. We were about 45 minutes from our destination when the engine started to overheat again. Another hose had started to leak. Yet again, we pulled off the road and there was an RV park right in front of us. This time we didn’t bother to call our roadside assistance—Bob knew what to do. We got a site in the park (the last one open) and Bob headed off to an auto parts store, 35 miles away. He was able to replace the hose with minimal problems; they don’t make it easy to get to the fittings but it’s do-able.

So, we were on the road again Saturday morning and the check engine light came on after 9 miles of driving. Bob pulled into a rest stop a few miles down the road, unhooked the car, and drove 30 miles to Fort Stockton to get a radiator cap to replace the one that had started to leak. The engine continued to overheat so now we are waiting for Coach-Net to send a tow truck. We are all out of guesses as to what might be the problem. We’ll be towed first to an RV park in Fort Stockton, then on Monday the motorhome will be towed to Odessa to be worked on. We have been able to push all our reservations back three days and hopefully we’ll be back on the road by Tuesday.

A Fun Day in Mexico

Thursday was such a busy day. Bob and I got up early and got everything stowed away so we could be on the road by 8:00 am. I haven’t said much about our campground but it had lovely mountain views.

About an hour into the drive to Deming, NM we started smelling a burning odor. Bob pulled over and saw that the tech last night had not threaded on the radiator cap properly so coolant was dripping onto the engine. Once the cap was placed properly we were good to go. Whew! It’s a good thing Bob knows about such things!

We arrived in Deming at about 11:00, having lost an hour when we crossed into NM. We set up and then headed south about 30 miles by car to Paloma, Mexico. Wow, the border sure has changed in a year. There’s a building we had to enter and pass through which seems to serve no purpose other than pass people through. We didn’t even have to show our passports. It did hold a bank and some other offices but not much else. Strange.

We stopped to see if we could get same day appointments with the dentist, but it was a no-go. We’ll have to find a dentist somewhere else. But by now we were hungry so we went into the Pink Store and had a nice meal.

It’s always fun shopping in the Pink Store; we picked up some hand blown glass for a friend who had asked us to get it for her, a painted parrot for our Mesa house, and a pretty hand painted jug that will hold my kitchen utensils.

We had been a little nervous about coming back through Customs into the U.S. with all the border hoopla going on but it ended up being our easiest border crossing yet. Since it’s so late in the season there were not a lot of tourists passing through and we had no one ahead of us at all. The agent even joked around with us, which is not that common in our experience. So, easy peasy!

So we are caught up and ready to head off to Fort Stockton, TX tomorrow where we’ll spend a night before traveling to Kerrville Saturday afternoon. Tomorrow we’ll also pass into another time zone so we’ll just be one hour behind our family on the east coast. Two time changes in two days is hard but we’ll get used to it.

Uh Oh...

We had a great time in Tucson with our friends, Chuck and Linda. Linda and I visited a nice little gift shop/cross stitch store called The West, where I picked up two charts to stitch. Years ago when I lived in Winchendon, MA I worked in a cross stitch shop and did a lot of that type of needlework, stitching store samples as well as lots of samplers. But I haven’t cross stitched much since the early ‘90s. I’m looking forward to working on these projects.

We then went to SAS Fabrics where I found some denim for $4.99/yard and some fabric for a new bag....then stopped in to an antique mall for some browsing. We topped it off with a lot of catching up and conversation. My kind of day!

On Wednesday morning we said our goodbyes to our friends and headed east along I-10. It was a beautiful day and we were enjoying the scenery. Arizona is so pretty in the springtime.

A couple of hours into the trip, however, a check engine light came on to indicate we were overheating. This is never a good thing. Bob pulled off the road and discovered we were leaking coolant.

Fortunately we had just passed an RV park a couple of miles back and were able to drive the rig to it and arrange for a campsite for the night. Our tow company sent out a mobile technician who arrived at about 6:30 pm. He and Bob spent 45 minutes poking and prodding in various orifices of the motorhome before a cracked hose was found. So at 7:15 the technician headed out for an Auto Zone, that was 25 minutes away, to get a hose.

About 9:00 pm he returned, removed the old hose, then asked Bob if he had any hose clamps. Really! He didn’t think to get one on his hour and forty five minute trek to the parts store?? Amazingly, Bob did have one and by 9:45 the job was done. Whew!

We’ll be back on the road early this morning and see if we can still get last minute dental appointments in Chihuahua, Mexico today.

Time to Go

Bob and I have spent the last few weeks readying ourselves for closing up the park model and getting back on the road. We left earlier last year so we missed the change in the park. On April 1st hundreds of people left for their homes up north. All activities stop (a very few continue until as late as April 15,) and only the pool and fitness center remain open. Canadians can only stay out of country for six months a year before losing their health insurance, and many in our park hail from Canada.  But even most of the Americans left as well. It was ironic to us that these people had experienced an unusually cool winter here in Arizona only to leave the now-warm weather and return to areas that were still snowy. Here in Mesa the temperatures had turned warm and the blue skies beckoned, with soft breezes and air perfumed with the scent of blossoming plants. It is a beautiful time of year.

Bob had his final post surgical eye appointment as well as his follow-up with the vascular doctor, and was deemed fully recovered in both areas. So we were cleared to travel. This year we brought the motorhome, out of storage and back to the park for loading, six days before leaving. I figure it took us 26 person-hours to ready the rig and to move everything from the park model to the motorhome. It was so nice after 3 or 4 hours to listen to our aching backs and say that’s enough for the day.

Monday morning we got up and gathered up all out bits and bobs for the final push. Everything went smoothly except I was unable to locate our Verizon Hotspot to give us internet access. Now where did I put that last fall?? A search of the house and the rig turned up empty. Rats! It looks like we’ll be getting a new one.

 I took a picture of the kitchen (as promised) with the newly shortened kitchen cart, just before leaving.

By 11:30 we were on our way to Tucson and enjoyed the sight of blooming plants along the way.

We arrived safe and sound by 2:00, with a brief pause along the way for lunch. We have decided to make stops regularly so as to avoid blood clots in the future. A good thing.

We have settle into our site and are enjoying a lovely visit with our friends Chuck and Linda. On Wednesday we head to Deming, NM, and our first of three time changes in our journey East.