An Unusual Event

We were heading out for a walk when we heard some vehicle with a diesel engine really laboring up the road. It was so loud and slow, we wondered if it was a Sherman tank. When it finally passed by, we saw a 3/4 ton truck with a large motorcycle in the bed, towing a fairly good-sized travel trailer. We started walking up the road and saw this trail of drips. It gives a new meaning to a bread-crumb trail. Were they afraid they wouldn't be able to find their way out of the park?

Then we heard the campground gate attendant call over the radio that a camper who had just left there had lost a large amount of some sort of fluid as they drove away from the gate. He suggested it might be transmission fluid. We started looking to see if we could spot that camper.

It didn't take long. We came on the noisy diesel truck, motorcycle and trailer right in the middle of the one-lane campground road. There was a large puddle of black liquid under the truck and the hood was up. "We blew the transmission," they reported. While they called their roadside assistance for a tow, we called the ranger on duty to report the blocked road.

While we were waiting for the tow truck, another camper came by, saw the problem, and offered to get a tow strap and pull the truck and trailer off to the side of the road. When they returned with their truck, they decided to unhook the trailer, tow the truck out of the way and tow the trailer to its campsite. Talk about helpful campers!

Since two park rangers had arrived to handle the situation, we went on with our walk. Soon, the friendly camper drove by, towing the stranded trailer. They were followed by a park ranger.

After we returned to our RV, we saw the tow truck responding to tow the disabled truck to a Ford dealership in Colorado Springs. Would you believe, this was the third tow truck called to the park today? As far as we know, it is the first time all summer a camper needed a tow. We just never know what to expect when volunteering in a state park.

Staying Flexible

It is important to stay flexible and go with the flow when plans change. Especially since we are retired and it is very seldom our plans really make a difference--to us or to others. It isn't like when we were working for a living or raising children.

This morning we left the RV at 9:30 to drive to church. Yesterday, one of the truck tires was low, so we went to the air pump and filled it. Everything was fine during our shopping trip. We checked the pressure again this morning and it was fine--for a while.

Soon the Pressure Pro began beeping. The tire that had been at 77 psi was down to 67 psi. Then to 66 psi. Change of plans. We used the GPS (we call her Cairn) to find a tire store. We spent the hour we would have been at church, and even more, waiting to get a new valve stem on the tire.

We were really sorry to miss the worship service. But we tried to make the most of our time, reading the very good selection of magazines at the tire store. I even copied two recipes from a Woman's Day.

This is the second time since we arrive in Mesa that the truck has kept us from church. In October we went to find a dead battery. That day we spent time with the AAA service tech, getting new batteries. He was a very nice and efficient young man.

Don't Try This--at Home or Elsewhere

DON'T LEAVE THE KEYS IN THE VEHICLE IGNITION IN THE ON POSITION. Why? Because the battery will be dead in a few hours. That happened to us yesterday. We noticed the lights were on, then tried to start it. Click. Again. Click. It was 5 pm, so we decided to wait till this morning to address the problem.

Around 11, we called AAA. Guy arrived in less than 30 minutes. After jump-starting the truck, he returned to his shop for a second battery. We were only vaguely aware that a diesel truck needs 2 batteries to get started. Soon, he returned and started the installation.



He removed numerous bolts and took out one battery.



He used that battery as a step to make it easier to install the new battery.





After repeating the process for the second battery, he tested both to be sure they were putting out the correct voltage and to make sure there was no short circuit somewhere, draining the batteries. He was able to print out these reports for us.



In less than two hours after placing the call to AAA, and after a hit on our credit card for over $300, we were back in business, able to drive our truck again. It was really very simple, if a little pricey.

You better believe, we won't do that again. (Cross our fingers.)

Alaska -- Day 59

We walked around the campground early this morning and were delighted to see that Harry and Marilyn, friends and distant relatives from Iowa, were in the same campground. We knew they are part of an RV caravan to Alaska, but didn't know they would be here today. We have a short visit before they pulled out.



Last week we had the valve stem replaced in one of our truck tires because we were losing air pressure. Today we drove to Wasilla Chevrolet to get the proper Chevy pressure sensor and valve stem installed. We also bought a new air filter since we drove through so much dirt and dust in Yukon.

Then we shopped at Walmart. They sell items here in Alaska we haven't seen in the lower 48--like a gold panning kit, fish cold storage boxes, and game cleaning tables. They really are stocked for the local market.

The rest of the day we took it easy, did some cleaning, and relaxed.

Alaska -- Day 53

We have great scenery as we drove from Fairbanks to Cantwell, a small town south of Denali National Park.



We crossed the Tanana River a couple of times and drove through the Tenana Valley.



At one crossing, we saw this river boat and several barges for carrying freight up and down the river. Since the Tanana flows into the Yukon River north of here, freight can be shipped a long distance to and from this part of Alaska.



Buried somewhere in these clouds is Denali, "the high one," Mt. McKinley. We hope to get a better view of the 20,320 ft mountain, but, just in case we don't, or you have never seen it, check out the photo at the top of the blog. That is what we saw 8 years ago when we visited Alaska. Because of cloudy, rainy summers, visitors have only a 30 to 40 % chance of see North America's highest mountain.



Everything wasn't roses today, however. About an hour from Fairbanks, our Pressure Pro tir pressure monitoring system started beeping, telling us one of the truck tires, which should have 80 psi, was only registering 69 psi. As soon as we saw a
parking area, we pulled off and John used one of our generators and a small air compressor to refill the tire. We are so glad we are equipped to deal with situations like this.



As soon as we were set up at our RV site, John asked where we could get the tire checked. They sent us maybe 1/4 mile down the road, where Ken helped us.



We had our doubts when we pulled into his yard. There was "stuff" and junk and old rusty things everywhere. But we left with a new valve stem. Hopefully, it keeps the tire solid till we get to a Chevy dealer in Anchorage.



This is the view out our front window (at least it was until another rig pulled in). See that orange line? We were told we could drive across it, but not park with our wheels on it. Seems that is the water line and, if we parked on it, our neighbors wouldn't have any water. It is certainly something we have never seen before.