Friday, November 20, 2009 - Hazleton PA

Faulty MLP/TR transmission lever position sensor about to be replaced, November 12, 2009

This trip to winter in the southwest has gotten off to a late start, much later than planned, but at last I'm under way.

I had a last breakfast/conversation of the summer with Doug this morning, took on a load of fresh water, dumped the waste tanks, gave my new canine friends Frankie & China one last skritch, wished I had caught up with Fiona and Chris and the kids to say goodbye, and hit the road about ten AM.

One could easily speak in clichés here, clichés having to do with best laid plans, stuff happens, better late than never and so on.

My rough plan to head out earlier this year than in the past, say around October 15th to avoid the colder northeast weather came acropper. This rig like most RVs is not well insulated and though nighttime temperatures in the 20s and 30s are tolerable they are not really comfortable. Being a tad lazy in my retirement I lazed my way through the summer, doing the usual property maintenance tasks, catching up on organizational stuff around the place, working through the last details leading up to the August closing on my house sale. Making improvements to LD, fixing leaks, tracing down leaks, cussing leaks. Designing and building an onboard workshop. Installing a solar battery charging system. And many smaller improvements. Like new LED taillights.

On and on it went at a leisurely pace. Too leisurely. I left some fairly straightforward (I thought) mechanical and electrical issues for last and then had a surprisingly hard time finding someone to do the work. After a disastrous experience with a well regarded shop I decided to tackle the work myself. That went well enough but it took a while to tune up rusty automotive skill set.

LD now sports a completely rebuilt and balanced driveshaft (again - don't mechanics realize how delicate these things are? - even when you remind them ahead of time? - oh, never mind), a complete new front brake system, and - as a last minute surprise - a brand spankin' new radiator.

Oh, and a couple of new sensors. While researching some issues on the net I came across a couple of old Ford TSBs (Technical Service Bulletins) relating to a couple of little problems I've been meaning to fix - a low reading and erratic temperature gage and rough transmission shifting during rainy spells. Both of those issues were dealt with years ago with updated sensors. We now have updated sensors.

Anyway, that's all behind me now and I'm off to warmer climes.

Dejá vu all over again

Heh! It's Saturday morning and here I sit at my laptop (still parked in the Walmart lot in Hazleton) composing this post when I hear this booming-rocking tune. Same tune - same Toyota pickup - same young woman rockin' and primping getting ready for her shift at Wally I heard in this very spot last spring when I stopped here on my way north. How fixed we make our routines...

Night camp

Wal-Mart Supercenter in Hazleton PA

Wal-Mart Supercenter Store #2255, 87 Airport Rd, Hazleton, PA 18201 - (570) 454-8322

• Some level parking - most with a gentle slope
• Verizon cell phone service- Very good signal
• Verizon EVDO Broadband service - Very good signal
• Locate this Walmart on my Night Camps map
• Find other Wal-Marts in the area
• Check the weather here