Nuestra casa rodante – Our Airstream, travels and such…

roger March 10th, 2010

Yes, it has been a while since I have posted or we have planned to go somewhere.  Both are happening now!

We are going to Paso Robles this weekend with our WBCCI unit, and another one for a joint rally.  It will be held at Wine Country RV.  We are using this as a great excuse to get out with the trailer.  We like Paso since it is pretty close to us and we are familiar with the town (lots to do).  We also have not been out with our WBCCI unit for about 3 years and we can reconnect with some of them.

Just because we have not had the trailer out does not mean it has been quiet in our RV life.  The tow vehicle, our F250, has given us some grief.  You may remember the problems we had with it on our Albuquerque trip and the transmission issue.  About 1 month after the trip the truck started surging at idle and it threw a code.  The code was for an ICP (Injection Control Pressure) valve.  As this was happening, I had the batteries run down to the point where it just had that clicking sound when starting.  Once I got the batteries charged, the truck started running rough and threw another code!

Wow!  Two at once!  The code mentioned something about an injector had low pressure.  I know that injector repairs are EXPENSIVE!  I decided to attack the ICP problem first.  A trip to Ford and about $200 later, that was fixed.  But the truck still was running rough.  I lived with it for a few more weeks.  Now it was time to take it to a local diesel shop.

The first thing they saw was the batteries were very low and were not holding a good charge.  Diesels are very hard on batteries, hence the reason for two in our truck.  They need a minimum voltage to start correctly.  These were having problems with voltage and they recommended I get them replaced.  I still had 1 month left on the full Diehard replacement so I hauled them both to Sears.

Their tests concluded the batteries were fine, naturally.  I tried to convey the information, from the diesel shop, that batteries in diesels are under a different set of requirements and the standard automobile load test is not pertinent.  After a day or two of ‘discussion’ the Sears manager was willing to warranty replace one battery but I had to purchase the other outright.  I can live with that.

I took the batteries back to the diesel shop.  They installed them and started looking for the injector problem.  It was gone, it cleared up after the new batteries were installed.  We deduced that the fuel injection control module (FICM) is very susceptible to low voltage but once the fresh batteries were put in, it relearned its program.  Fantastic!  Plus the shop only charged me two hours for easily four hours of their time.

So was that it?  No!  Next I started hearing a squeal when the A/C compressor would kick in (defroster).  I wasn’t sure if the belt was just slipping (preferable) or was the bearing going out on the compressor (oh no!).  It turned out it was the belt tensioner.  It was fixed in place and not movable, as it should be.  Hurray, another repair!  The tensioner’s are pretty pricey, about $180!!  So we replaced the belt at the same time, it was due at 90K miles.

The truck seems to be running good now (knocking on wood – my head) so we will test it out on this trip.

Our extended warranty expired in August around the same time we paid the truck off.  It seems that the truck knew the warranty expired.  However all of these repairs did not reach what our payment used to be so we are still ahead of things.  I am just curious if the people that determine these warranties are the same ones that make the actuarial tables for life insurance?

I will post about the rally after we are back, maybe even during.

• F250 , Trips , WBCCI , repairs
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roger October 13th, 2009

I have uploaded the photos from the trip, including the balloon fiesta.  They are on my Flickr page here.

• Airforums groups , Airstream , Albuquerque Balloon Festival , F250 , Trips , WBCCI , repairs
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roger October 8th, 2009

Sorry about the lack of a post yesterday, it will be explained further down.

I forgot to mention lunch Tuesday.  We looked online for a restaurant in Gallup, NM since we were heading through there at lunch time.  We had two choices, Earl’s and Genaro’s.  Earl’s was a bit like a Route 66 cafe so we opted for Genaro’s.  Might as well have one last meal that represented New Mexico.  We found out again how California Mexican food differs from New Mexico Mexican food.  I feel the difference is in the chile’s used.  I have not been a real fan of chile in general but I have liked what I have been tasting here.  One reviewer of Genaro’s raved about the Green Chile Cheese Fries so we thought we would try those.

I wasn’t so thrilled with them but they were OK.  Roxie had a burrito with Green Chile sauce on top.  I had a shredded beef taco. They both were good.  The salsa with the chips was the hottest we have ever had, I believe.  Roxie found out the hard way.  I have learned NOT to dip into the salsa before I get my drink if I have never had the salsa before.  Roxie didn’t wait, she dug right in and took a big dip.  She was VERY glad when her drink came.

The real topper was the sopapilla.  We have had variations of them, even two days previously.  A puffy pastry that you eat with honey.  It did not prepare us for the biggest sopapilla we have ever seen:

This thing was the size of someone HEAD!  It was huge!  It was pretty good but it would have been nicer to have a few smaller ones instead of a big one.  All in all we did like Genaro’s and would seek it out again.

This brings us to Wednesday.  As you may remember we had made it to the KOA at Holbrook.  That morning (Wed) we found out that we had to get home and cut our trip short.  The reason was not due to health reasons but something that we could not take care of on the road.  We decided to get on the road and get to at least Kingman that night.  We were sad that we could not continue on but we did accomplish our main goal, the Balloon Fiesta.  We can get to Arizona with only one night of travel so we can, and will, hit the locations we want to see.

So we got into some rain and cloudy weather in Flagstaff.  On a truck related note, the passenger door switch used to think it was closed all the time.  Now it is thinking that the door is open when it is closed and closed when it is open.  Another thing is there is a check engine light that came on again.  This is the ‘generic’ check engine light.  While refueling I remembered there was an auto parts store nearby.  I was able to rent a OBDII code diagnosis tool.  What it told me was the computer had not relearned some sequence.  I think this may have happened during the transmission service.  I read on the internet that I was supposed to clear the code and let the truck idle at operating temperature for 5 minutes.  I did so and the light is gone.  Yea!

We made it to Kingman but it was about 3pm and we thought that was a bit too early to stop.  We know that the more we travel this day, the less we travel the next.  We pushed on to Needles, but we wanted some more variety so we took Route 66 through Oatman, AZ.   The first part of the road was standard desert road wide, straight, bumpy.  However it did change to a more Route 66′ish road but narrower.  Right when it changed we came across these two in the road.

We had read about their friendly wild burros.  I read that as an oxymoron.

This road is very interesting.  Even moreso when towing a trailer.  Very narrow, curvy, a lot of up then a lot of down.  The truck handled it with aplomb and we eventually came to Oatman.  We were there just before 5pm and things were closing up so it is somewhere we need to come back and see again.  We did see some more of those burros.

These were being fed from a store owner in town.

We made it to Needles and stayed at the Desert View RV Park.  The price was good and they said their WiFi was very good.  Well it was not, we had to sit outside at the end of the trailer by the road to get service.  But it was a bit too cold (yes, we remember it being 100 degrees the week before) to be outside so no WiFi.  I think they need a few more antennas in the park.  I tried my 3G card but it was only Edge and it cut in and out.  Hence no blog last night.

On to Thursday.  Left Needles and traveled the boring I40 W to CA58 W.  Yawn!  Down the Tehachapi’s, the hill that started our truck fun.  No problems.  We made it home about 5pm.

Would we go back to the Balloon Fiesta?  Sure, probably not next year though.

Will we get to Northern Arizona?  We want to, this was the second attempt.

Do we want to east New Mexico cuisine again?  Definitely.

Did we meet many new interesting friends?  We always do.

Will we take another trip?  Come on!!!

• Airstream , Albuquerque Balloon Festival , F250 , Trips , repairs
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roger October 5th, 2009

Ok.  You know the drill.  I have good news and bad news.  Which do you want first?  What news is the good and what is the bad?  There are so many possibilities.  Let’s start with the bad news.

We did NOT set the alarm this AM for once.  We thought we would naturally get up early enough to see anything.  There actually was a Texas Hold’em competition for the balloons this morning.  There huge cards on the field (I did not go verify) and the balloonists would drop a marker to get the best card.  Depending upon the wind direction they would launch from the north or south to fly over the field.  The wind was blowing from the south, as it has for 2 days now so they launched from the south.  This meant they were coming directly over us!  I thought this might be the case but was unsure until we heard a burner ignite over our trailer.  We hustled outside to watch them float over.

Now this guy looks real low but he wasn’t so bad.  Here is another shot of him a bit further down his run.

See, he is gaining altitude!

As all this was going on I would look to the south to see what was coming, then to the north to see what the balloons were doing over the field.  This is the bad news.  We saw a balloon that was severely deflated and still very high.

It is the one on the left (this is a friends photo).  We saw it come down faster than normal and only stopped when it hit the ground.  That is just part of the bad news.  It appears this balloon clipped one of the hospitality tents at the south end of the field.  In clipping this tent, it tilted the basket enough to eject the pilot (or passenger, it is still unclear).  He tumbled about 20 feet to the ground appearing to suffer a broken hip.  Prior to this the pilot was attempting to gain altitude by hitting the burners.  Balloons do not react real fast so it obviously did not help enough.  The combination of extra heat and less weight caused the balloon to shoot into the air very rapidly.  This entire sequence was very frightening to the remaining passenger in the basket and she responded by opening the top of the balloon which caused the rapid descent.  We only say the descent but I am conveying the information from eye witnesses.  That was the bad news.  I am sure there is more on Google by now.

The good news is the truck!  It is fixed!  I visited a transmission shop, Mike’s Transmission which was only about 1 mile from us.  I immediately had a good feeling from Mike himself and he stated he would do a diagnosis on the transmission and give me an estimate and there would be no charge.  I could decide what to do then.  He called back in about 1 1/2 hours and told me what he had found.  The sensor gave two codes.  The first said it had reached 315 degrees!  He said if there was this code only then it would mean overheating but the second code showed it had reached -40 degrees, yes 40 below zero.  This pointed to the sensor.  I could get the part ($80!) replaced for a total of $170.  However, since the pan would be off I could get new fluid and the filter replaced for $250.  That was a no brainer.  Do the extra service.  About 2 hours later the repair was done and a new friend neighbor gave me a ride there.  I talked with Mike a bit and determined that not only was he a very nice and honest guy, he really knew his business.  Also I feel if he did not know how to do a job or felt he couldn’t, he would NOT do it.  Very recommended shop!  So remember, wait until Albuquerque before you have any transmission problems.  (Hey, Mike if you are reading this, you need to get away to the lake, SOON!)

This evening the group had another meal.  This was not a potluck but had bratwurst, hamburgers and/or salmon and other sides provided.  It was the last get-together before the rest of us bug out tomorrow (some already have).  This has been a fun rally. Bob and Phyllis came to the trailer for a bit to visit before they continue on eastward tomorrow.  We had fun with them and I know they will continue to have a good trip and I am sure we will see them again.  You always tend to see other Airstreamers again.

The distance to this rally is the real killer for us but we will do it again some time.  This is the first time that I can remember us dry camping for 4 nights without adding water or dumping gray water.  Roxie has done a great job in conserving.  As far as power, I created my extra battery box similar to this one so we have had 4 batteries for the duration.  However we have been running the generator regularly to charge the laptops (I don’t like my inverter).  It has been a learning experience.  But tomorrow night we WILL have full hookups so we can take nice long (7 gal hot water) showers!

• Airstream , Albuquerque Balloon Festival , F250 , Trips
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roger September 30th, 2009

So Needles ended the first day on a hot note.  High 90’s and lots of wind.  We used the A/C all evening.  In the morning the temperature was very temperate.  We were able to see how beautiful the river was right behind our trailers.  Here is Bob and Phyllis:

We hooked everything up and headed on to a relatively short day (200 miles).  We crossed over into Arizona and immediately became the slowest vehicles on the road.  The speed limit in AZ is 75mph regardless of vehicle type.  Well I still stay at 60-65 but even the big rigs were zooming right by us.  Except on the hills where we could pass the loaded ones.

We made a fuel stop in Kingman, AZ and noticed that the old Route 66 took off there.  We had been on this stretch before about 7 years ago on our Grand Canyon trip but don’t remember too much about it.  We thought we might as well do this stretch while we were there.  Great decision.  There was more traffic on this stretch but it was more scenic and more populous.  We were kind of looking for a quaint, Route 66′ish place to eat.  We thought at least one of the towns on the stretch between Kingman and Seligman would have something.  Phyllis produced a printout of a place in Seligman that looked very appealing.  Continuing to enjoy the scenery and nostalgia (even the Burma Shave signs) we headed to Seligman.  We found just the place:

Delgadillo’s Snow Cap drive in.  It was a very fun place and the Delgadillo’s are a very famous part of Seligman.  There were various other shops to purchase touristy stuff, which we obligingly did.  It was odd that for a period of time we were the only primary English speaking people there.  A tour bus dropped of a group of Europeans (I think German) and they milled around.  Later there was a Japanese group.  It was fun to listen to all the languages.

We parted ways with Seligman after almost 2 hours of leisure (sadly missing from our previous day) and stayed on the ‘mother road’ as far as we could.  We were eventually funneled back to I40.  We came across a sign on the freeway before Williams that stated slow trucks next 18 miles.  Usually slow trucks mean a grade but I could not think of an 18 mile grade that I have ever been on.  Well it was a grade and it was almost 18 miles long.  The transmission continued its’ light show but the truck performed just fine.  We made it to the Flagstaff KOA at any astonishingly early time of 4:15pm.  I called a transmission shop and discussed the problem.  I also conversed with my boss, who likes to rebuild vehicles also and every concurred that there was something probably bad with the sensor.  I am going to the transmission shop in the AM to get a type of temperature gauge for the outside of the pan.

We setup the trailers and decided to try another discovery from Phyllis, the spot this time: Miz Zip’s.  Very good food.  Chicken Fried steak with mashed potatoes was highly rated by the girls.  The guys liked the Roast Beef dinner.  We ALL loved the Peach pie with ice cream, even me and I don’t care too much for fruit pies.  We made a few more house keeping stops and came back to the trailers.  So what is the cold part regarded in the title?  The temperature tonight is supposed to be 32.  What a difference a day makes.

• Airstream , Albuquerque Balloon Festival , F250 , Trips
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roger September 29th, 2009

We started our trip to Albuquerque today with Bob and Phyllis from Eureka.  They are a very fun couple that are new to Airstreaming, so they decide to go from California to Arkansas for their maiden voyage.  We offered to travel with them to the Balloon Fiesta and they readily agreed and stayed the night (their second) in front of our house.  The trip was pretty boring until we started up the Tehachapi’s (CA58 E).  Both of us were moving along and I looked down at my gauges and saw the Check Gage (sic) light lit up!  What?  Also the Tow/Haul light was flashing on the shifter.  Huh?  To top it all off the transmission temperature was pegged at high!  Ouch!  We pulled over and watched the gauge.  About 10 minutes of idling and the gauge dropped back to normal just as suddenly as it went to high.  OK.  Just an anomaly.

Back to the pull and it happened again about 3 minutes later.  Pull over again.  This time we looked for leaks, we pulled the transmission dipstick.  The fluid was nice light red, no metal particulates, and it did NOT smell burnt.  I called the Ford dealership in Bakersfield but they were not much help, didn’t want to do a over the phone diagnosis.  The truck still ran great, seemed to be performing normally.  There were a few weird feels but that could have been my reactionary driving now that I thought something was wrong.  We still had 10 miles to get to the town of Tehachapi.  So off we went.  The meter pegged itself again for about 2 minutes but then it dropped back to normal operating range for 10 seconds, then back to pegged.  Very odd behavior.  It did this all the way up the hill.  We stopped for lunch and to see if cooling off helped it or perhaps the computer might get reset.

Off again.  The trans temp started at cold and gradually warmed up, like it should.  Then it hit the operating temp and shot up to HIGH with all the various indicators doing their dance.  I knew it was all downhill to Mojave (the next Ford dealer) so we pretty much coasted down the hill.  The gauge bouncing between normal and high all the while.  We were feeling pretty good that the transmission temperature sensor was malfunctioning.  It all pointed to that.  We pulled into the Ford dealer and the service coordinator listened to what I had to say but said she was short two technicians and could not look at it today.  I guess there are no special privileges for people traveling, I will have to remember that when we retire.  She was able to pass the symptoms onto a technician when he came in and he stated that a bad sensor could be a probability.  But they would not commit to anything.

Confident with the sensor being the culprit we moved on down CA58 E, next stop Barstow.  I was going to stop at this Ford dealer but I called first and told them my lament.   He said he would need a full day of troubleshooting and he could start it first thing tomorrow.  Nah.  The confidence is building.  We only stopped their for some fuel and got on I40 E for Needles.  Along the way the truck did fine, but I didn’t.  I was constantly hashing and rehashing this in my head.  Roxie would ask me if I wanted a snack and I would always decline.  I definitely do not eat when I am nervous.

At Ludlow we turned southeast for a bit to travel on old route 66.  Phyllis really likes the old road.  I know I must have traveled on it from time to time.  We went for over 30 miles, at 60mph (freeway speed) before we saw anyone else.  It was amazing.  The mountains were stunning.  It was HOT!  I think it got to 104 in one stretch.  After about 70 miles on the mother road we rejoined I40 E.  It was only 7 miles longer going the alternate route but much more fulfilling.

We have made it to Needles now.  We ate dinner around 7:30.  We are parked on the bank of the Colorado river at Moabi Regional Park with full hookups.  Bob and Phyllis love it, remember this is only their 3rd night in their trailer and it is pretty nice here.  Just 90+ and 30mph winds.  It is supposed to be 30 degrees tomorrow night in Flagstaff.  What a change.  We will see what tomorrow brings.  Roxie is sound asleep and I am going be that way very soon.  A long day.

• Airstream , Albuquerque Balloon Festival , F250 , Trips
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caadoptees June 6th, 2008

Not a good milestone though.  Last Wednesday night I paid $5.039/gal for diesel.  That is about what it is going for in the central valley of California.  The gas station (USA) has a sign that Visa and MC cards will only allow you to do $50 at the pump, but Discover will do $75.  They say to start another transaction if you need more.  However, if you go inside, there is no limit.  So I went inside, I knew it would take more that $75.

I tried to leave my card and the lady said I couldn’t.  I was to tell them an amount to put on the card.  I guessed high, $200.00.  She ran it on my card and had me sign the receipt.  They charged it right then and there.  I asked what to do if I got less.  She said come in for a refund.

I pumped $126 in to the beast and went back in for my refund.  It was kind of weird to do that and I will probably just double-dip the card at the pump the next time.

The good news in all of that was time between fillups.  This fillup was on 6/4.  My previous fillup was on 5/9.  Almost 4 weeks!  I had put on a bit more than 300 miles.  Just back and forth to work.  All of our driving is now done in the Camry Hybrid.  I got over 45mpg yesterday on a trip from Porterville to Visalia (about 30 miles).  I can live with that.

• F250 , Life in General
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