We pulled out of the parking lot in Deming, NM, this morning to… in the words of Sal… “No turbo.” The RV had some go, but it had no umph.
We pulled off and called our buddy Rene at Mack Massey Dodge. When we started the engine again, the turbo was working again, but we needed to get this problem solved, so it was back to El Paso for us. Ugh.
Rene warned us yesterday there was the possibility of an electrical glitch, but we all hoped that was the case… no dice
We’re gonna have to stay the night in a hotel… sigh.
Confession, I’m a fan of cave tours. There’s something about the underground world that makes me feel like I’m an entire planet away from home. Carlsbad Caverns left me feeling I was an entire galaxy away.
The sheer size of the self-guided tour exceeded anything I’d ever experienced. The high ceiling of the Big Room and the field of upright stalagmites on the floor looked more like an auditorium filled with people than a damp cave. In fact, the elevator ride down was the most claustrophobic part of the visit… and that was just a regular elevator ride. Well, any elevator ride that takes you 750 feet below the surface.
The walkways in the cavern rolled around corner after corner. Each bend revealed a new formation, a new “room,” something different. Although the paths covered only a fraction of the cave, the route was extensive and just kept going and going, and the spaces were high and wide — something I did not expect, and the volume and quality of formations outdid the sum of all the caves I’ve visited in my life.
As amazing as the cavern was, my mom impressed more. She walked the entire mile-and-a-half route… quite an achievement for a woman with two new knees and two new hips. It also speaks well to the paths in the cave… only a few spots were steep, and they were only on the extended section route.
They say it takes 1 to 1.5 hours for the regular tour. It took us about 2 with the bionic hips and knees and frequent stops.
When we finished, I honestly wanted to go back and walk the route again… I liked it that much!
We were less than 20 miles outside Las Cruces, New Mexico, when we stopped at one of those tourist trap trading posts. The moccasins and shot glasses didn’t tempt us, so we pulled back on the highway.
As soon as Liam stepped on the gas pedal, it was clear something was wrong. The RV could hardly get enough power to get up to speed and the “Engine Unit Malfunction” light came on… don’t you just love the names they give these things.
The symptoms were similar to a “known problem” we had with the engine last summer, but that troublesome part had been replaced by the dealer. And last time it happened, the alert light with the fancy name didn’t appear on the dashboard… that light had us a bit nervous.
We called the Winnebago dealer back in Las Cruces. He directed us to (more…)
We’ve been diligent about maintaining our RV. Tune-ups, oil changes, cleaning and even fixing things like the light bulb under the vanity that never gets used. The rig was too much of an investment to neglect.
This morning, I checked the oil. The dipstick read above “minimum” line but significantly lower than when we started.
Corey cracked open the quart of oil and poured in a quarter of the jug. I checked the dipstick… it went up a wee bit. Corey added another portion. It was up a wee bit more. We debated on how much more to add, and in the end, half the quart was added, and the dipstick still read well below “maximum.”
Proud of our gear-head achievement, we left Hobbs, NM. Twenty miles later, our dashboard chimed and an “Oil High” light appeared. Oh dear! (more…)
We spent the last two days wandering our way across northern Texas. The secondary roads have been perfect for RVs… very little traffic, four lanes most of the way which makes it easy for people to pass us and the roads still go through the small towns. Granted, many of these towns aren’t much more than a Dairy Queen, Sonic and a Family Dollar, but it’s much more interesting than the freeways.
This little trip has given me a little different impression of Texans (as much of an impression as two days can leave). I’ve known a good number of Texans in my life and found them all quite enjoyable. That said, they’ve been loud, proud and a bit over the top, but lovable. The Texans I’ve met while traveling, well, they’ve been all those things times 10!
I remember my first visit to Blarney Castle, where a woman wearing a flourescent windbreaker, fanny pack and a mile-high hairdo announced, “Now, I’m from Texas, y’all, and I go up the Blar-Nay ev’ry yare…” when it was clear everyone in the vicinity didn’t hear, she stopped by one of the workers, tugged his sleeved and repeated her announcement a few decibels louder. Then there was the church group at Kilkenny Castle who piled off their tour bus wearing tight jeans, red/white/blue spangly shirts and cowboy hats – they cued up a boom box that blared Danny Boy and proceeded to two-step a choreographed dance number in front of the castle with a guy in a leprechaun costume waving a Texas flag.
Pat and Liam in front of the first Walton's 5 & 10 in Bentonville, AR... the precurser to Walmart.
For some RV owners, Walmart parking lots offer a welcome home. No matter how you feel about Walmart as a store or a company, their policy of letting RVers stay overnight is a smart move (FYI – some locations do not allow parking lot camping). When we’re on the move, I quite enjoy the free, no-utilities overnight… I wouldn’t want to do it for an extended stay.
Yesterday, we crossed Arkansas north to south, and along the way we stopped in Walmart’s birthplace in Bentonville. It was a Walmart lovefest inside with everybit of Walmart and Sam Walton memorabilia. It struck us as funny that if you wanted to buy any of the Walmart gear, you’d better have cash or a checkbook, because they don’t take credit or debit cards at the Walmart Welcome center. If Lamplighter Studio can take credit cards, you’d think the site of the first Walmart would take them too.
We’ve got a few more photos, but we’re having trouble turning our Flickr account Pro (my problem has been forwarded to a “senior representative… an effort to obtain the best answer” and it might take up to 7 days to get an answer – if that’s the case, I’ll find an alternative).
Last year, it was the Missouri/Iowa border where we found a noticeable difference in the weather. There was no sign of snow and the temperature was very comfortable. This year is quite a different story… lots of snow and brrrrrr. Here’s a before and after shot taken from about the same spot outside Jim’s Antique Mall in Bethany, MO. You can just see the edge of the yellow and orange sign under the snow in today’s photo.
It’s going to be a while before we escape the winter weather… especially with this year’s frigid temperatures. That means we won’t be “roughing it” overnight in the RV until we hit milder temps. The plan was to stay in budget hotels as we head south, but we had an unexpected surprise when we visited Liam’s brother Patrick in Sumner, Iowa.
Patrick helped out the woman who owns the B&B next door, and she offered him a night at the B&B when his mother came to town. Well, the hostess, Lynn, got more than she bargained for when Corey and I showed up too.
Lynn's shard pin/pendant
We insisted on paying for our stay, but Lynn would have none of that. Fortunately, she was charmed by my jewelry and picked out one my favorite pieces… a German cake plate I recovered in Ireland.
Dream House
This Pennington House B&B is one of those old houses you (more…)
It’s nothing fancy, but here’s a clip of us leaving my mom and dad’s in Posen, Michigan.
Yes, I then had to chase after the RV… when it gets warmer, maybe I should try a through-the-window load, like they used to do on the Dukes of Hazzard.
As expected, Pat needed a pitstop before hitting the road.
We are officially on the road!
Things were looking bleak as a blizzard held us up in Milwaukee for 24 hours and a leaking toilet in the condo stalled us another four hours.
Before our adventure could begin, we headed to Posen, Michigan, where my dad went to work building shelves for our new trailer… and a couple other projects. Temperatures may have been between 0-15 degrees outside, but inside his greenhouse/workroom, it was balmy and warm…heated with only sunlight.
I’m not sure how he does it, but dad got the job done with only one trip to the hardware store (I can’t even hang a picture without a two trip minimum)… and all the materials came to $130… a bargain considering the shelves will probably outlive us.
Now, ALL our show supplies and our bikes fit in the trailer… (note to thieves and ne’er-do-wells… there are only (more…)
