7/16/2023. COW down

In the morning prior to leaving we noticed that the coach batteries were not charging while the generator was running. The inverter was showing negative amperage draw. I had Sandy turn off the inverter which turned off the refrigerator as I didn’t want to run the batteries to low thereby ruining the batteries. 

We had to continue driving West as we need to arrive in Portland Oregon by Fathers Day. As we drove west I was thinking what could cause the generator to not charge the batteries. After almost 200 miles I came up with a couple ideas. I pulled over at a Rest Stop just East of Boise Idaho

1. Possibly the battery inverter/charger burnout or tripped an overload. I cycled the inverter. It did not fix the issue
2. The COW has 4 different Electrical Panels. I checked the panels and sure enough a 30 Amp breaker had tripped. I reset the breaker and we were charging again. Problem fixed except continue reading

After fixing the electrical issue I decided to  walk around the outside of the COW and tow car to-make sure everything was buttoned down and in place. I noticed the rear of the COW was hanging low. Luckily the rest stop was fairly empty as I could hear an air leak underneath the coach. The air bag and the brakes require compressed air. The coach has an air compressor on board that provides 120 PSI into two air tanks. Even though we had a leak in the air lines the compressor pumps enough air to compensate for the leak. We could not continue much further without getting a diesel mechanic to fix this problem

We called the local freightliner dealer to see if they could work us in. They did not have the time or desire to handle the fix. They did recommend another company named “RentForFun RV rentals, repairs, Parts and Sales”.  Well you can’t judge a companies capabilities by its name. I called them and they said come on over. Thirty minutes later (had to drive appx 30 miles) to arrive.  When we pulled in the Service Manager immediately dived under the coach as the air bags were loosing air and the coach was lowering. I hate getting under the coach as it looses air in the air bags. It can crush you. He identified the hole in the air line and also found a set of fuses that was rubbing against the frame (which probably tripped the breaker that I had previously reset).  Turns out that a bundle containing  coach battery fuses and air lines had rubbed holes in the bundle casing, the air lines, wiring, and shorted the fuses to the frame. Knowing that we were traveling he pulled a team of 3 people to work on our coach to get us back on the road. Total bill was less than $300. Cheapest work I ever have had done on the COW. They fixed it, encased the repair in hoses so would not rub holes in the line again. 

Now we are back on the road. 

We will definitely return to them to get some additional work done on the way home

If you ever travel through Boise Idaho I highly recommend RentForFun RV rentals, repairs, Parts and Sales”

6/6/2023 The grass was starting to grow under our feet. Time to move out.

 We left home Tuesday June 6 with plans to arrive in Portland Oregon June 18.  It has been a while since I made an entry into the blog.  It’s time to catch everybody up on our travels

Day 1:  We arrived in Elkhart Indiana and stayed overnight at the RV/Motorhome Museum

Day 2:  We made it safely through Chicago and stayed overnight in a Travel America after spending $300 for fuel.  

Day 3 & 4:  We stayed overnight in a campground in Lincoln Nebraska.  During our stay we took a drive to the Corporate HQ of Berkshire Hathaway 3555 Farnham St, Omaha, Nebraska.  (I think Sandy was hoping to run into one of her idols CEO Warren Buffet).  To our surprise  Corporate HQ is a non-descript building.  It has no reference to Berkshire Hathaway (no sign, no fancy fountain in the front, just a painted black building).  If it wasn’t for the address on the front of the building we wouldn’t have known it was Corporate HQ.  

After finding the incognito Corporate HQ we took a drive through the neighborhood where Warren Buffet lives.  The houses are nice, modest, fairly large,  older, built in maybe early 1900s, and approximately 5 miles from Corporate.  Of course we didn’t go looking the the exact house.  

Corporate and the neighborhood support Warren Buffet stance that he does not flaunt his wealth.  He lives as he did growing up.

Day 5:  We stayed overnight in what turned out to be the very first Cabela’s store in Sidney Nebraska.  Corporate HQ is behind the store.  Cabela’s is named after its founders, the Cabela family.  All Cabela’s stores have opened up their parking lots to traveling RV’ers such as us.  They offer a large, well lit, safe place that we can stay overnight.  In turn we spend money there while overnighting.  I even joined the “Cabela’s Club” :-).  Many of the Cabela’s stores are located within walking distance of other shopping and local restaurants which is convenient for us to explore in the evening.

Day 6 - 8  We stopped at a campground in Cheyenne Wyoming.  To our surprise the campground had a Restaurant served up BBQ daily.  Yumm!!

Cheyenne is the capital of Wyoming and truly an old Cowboy town built in the 1800s.  To us it is best known for its annual Frontier Days the 3rd week of July.  We have attended in the past.  There is a Cowboy Parade downtown with horses, horse drawn wagons, rodeo Queens on horses, bronc/bull riders, and everything Cowboy/Cowgirl.  As the parade wraps up they serve a Western Pancake breakfast on a  street corner where the chefs toss the Pancakes in the air and you have to catch them on your plate then sit on hay bails to enjoy the food. Many of the downtown street corners have brass statues and large sculpted Cowboy boots.

From Cheyenne we drove our tow car 3 hours through rain, snow (snow can you believe it in JUNE??), and sleet to Breckenridge Colorado to catch up with our daughter, her boy friend, and their dog.  They acted as our tour guides for two fun days.  I wasn’t sure how Sandy and I would handle being at 10,000 ft of elevation for two days but we did fine.  We had a great time 4WDing, touring Leadville, Buena Vista, Frisco, playing with the dog, and eating out.  It was fun catching up with them.  I couldn’t believe the temps were in 30s and 40s the entire time we were there.  BRRR!  Andrea, Michael, and their dog are all training for adventures later this year.  Andrea and the dog will be backpacking the 486 mile Colorado trail.  Michael will be attempting to beat the United States running record of the “Mini” Triple Crown which is 210 miles of The John Muir Trail, 486 miles of the Colorado Trail, and 273 miles of the Appalachian Trail.  All to be completed in 1 month!!

Day 10:  As I write this blog we are overnight parked in a Love’s Parking lot after buying another couple hundred dollars of fuel.  Some Love’s Fuel Stops offers Rv‘ers overnight parking away from the mundane drone of diesel truck engines.

PS. I woke up at 6:00 AM to notice that a fellow RVer decided to shoe horn his RV between the COW and another RV.  He had barely 4” between the side of his RV and the COW.  No way was he going to be able to pull out without scratching the COW.  So Sandy and I moved the COW to the other side of the parking lot before he made the attempt to leave.  SOME PEOPLE??  

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