Three for Three Now We Can Relax.

Our Location today is at the Dream Catcher RV Park in Deming, NM.

Click on the pictures to Enlarge.

When I opened my eyes at 7:00 MST on Friday Morning after a good night’s sleep I was anxious to start packing. We had already done a lot when we got the Truck back but after sitting for over Three Weeks there was more to do. After finishing our breakfast we started loading the Truck and closing up our Utilities. Soon were ready to start on our next adventure.

It had rained all night but we hooked up dry.

With the Trailer connected I put the Truck in gear and the Engine started knocking like our older 6 Liter used to. This Engine has always been quiet and never sounded like this before. Knowing there was an extremely steep grade ahead of us on I-70 the decision to head back over to Vision Ford was made even with the Trailer connected. The 4 Mile trip took nearly Fifteen Minutes because the Truck did more chugging then accelerating.

Back at Vision Ford.

Darla the Service Manager was off but when we walked in with long faces her assistant knew we had a problem. After our brief description of what was happening she went into the shop and came back with Richard the Mechanic. Again we told Richard what was happening and he disappeared into the shop only to emerge with his Laptop. Plugging into the Truck he ran Scan after Scan and finally came up with the Error Code that counted. Again he disappeared and returned minutes later with some News. We had lost the #1 Injector and it just happen they had one in stock and his boss had authorized him to get us on the road as quickly as possible.

Mountains in the Mist.

The property at Vision Ford is wedge shaped so we were instructed to unhook the Trailer in the back of the lot and Richard would start the repairs right away. That was easy enough so we did that and lowered the Wind Deflector before parking the Truck closer to the shop. 

Chili's Hawaiian Chicken Fruit Salad.

Knowing we had time on our hands we walked across the street to Chili’s to have lunch. It had been over Four Years since the last time we in a Chili’s in Florida and were surprised at the changes to their Menu. We took our time and each had a Cup-of-Chili along with their Hawaiian Chicken Fruit Salad. For something so healthy we were really full when we headed back to Vision Ford. 

We spent time in the Customer Lounge talking to other customers and salesman that recognized us from our many visits in the last couple of weeks. We even had a chance to watch a couple of shows of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. When that was over I took a walk to see if the Truck was outside or not. When I returned Kathy said Richard had just told her it was nearly ready to go. Thirty minutes later we had paid a very reasonable bill and headed to the Back Lot to hook up.

Here is where we made a mistake at 4:00 in the afternoon. Instead of camping out at the Walmart or staying in the Back Lot we decided we’d push on to our next stop.

Passing White Sands National Monument.

We drove past the White Sands National Monument and the White Sands Missile Range Museum with no problem. Then we started that long grade through the mountain pass where everyone’s speed was reduced but then we were suddenly enveloped in a thick blanket of Fog that was so dense everyone had their Hazard Lights on. Just as suddenly everyone had crested the pass and were needing to practically ride the Brakes all the way down. It was a tense few minutes until we emerged below the cloud of Fog to see the town of White Sands clearly on the other side.

Not what anyone wants to drive in going through the mountains.

Making our way through Las Cruces was not a problem even as we mixed with Rush Hour Traffic. We were soon on I-10 traveling along making decent time. After clearing another Security Check Point we were watching as the miles were slowly decreasing on our GPS.

Coming out of the Fog to see the Sun about to set.
The town of White Sands is ahead.

I mentioned that this year I have been really keeping our speed down so when I was doing 60 MPH in a 75 Zone with only Twenty Miles to go to our destination, I wasn’t too happy when we had another Blowout but this time on a Curbside Tire. That’s right we just had one at the same speed in Missouri on I-44 a month ago. We used to use Pressure Pro Tire Monitors but were constantly getting False Alerts, No Alerts for rapid air loss when we had Two Blowouts and they became a major problem for Air Loss. We finally had to stop using them.

West I-10 headed for Deming, New Mexico.

Luckily there was a wide shoulder that we were able to pull off onto and call our Good Sam Roadside Assistance. I set up our Hazard Triangles along with our Four-Ways but the traffic kept flying by at maximum speed. Of course during the Hour and a Half wait the Rain started coming down fairly good. When the Roadside Assistance arrived we had to move closer to the line of Traffic so the Jacks wouldn’t sink into the soft shoulder. I worked with him trying to help the process along. Within another Fifty Minutes we had our Spare Tire in place and were finally back on the road.

It was 9:30 when we pulled into the Deming, New Mexico Walmart’s parking lot and it already had more RVs and Semis than it did Cars. We were both mentally and physically exhausted but we were hungry. We walked to Wendy’s to have a Burger and a Pop to quell our appetites. Back at the Trailer the only thing I did was set up our CPAPs so we could go to bed.

Waking up Saturday Morning I went On-Line to research nearby Tire Shops that I would call as soon as they were open. I started to write our Blog but Kathy was coming downstairs before I got very far and suggested we go have breakfast so we walked over to the I-Hop. We each managed to find something we craved but that wasn’t too filling. While waiting for our orders to arrive I called the Big O Tire shop and made arrangements for New Tires. Our breakfast was tasty and we were soon walking back Home at Camp Walmart.

Everyone always says things happen in threes. The Truck had Engine problems, then the Rear Seals led to the Brakes being totally rebuilt and finally losing that Injector made Three. We think the Trailer wanted equal attention since it had only Two Blowouts until now. When we got back from breakfast we were met with the sight of the Tire behind the Spare being flat.

In the fall of 2016 before we headed south we had all the Trailer Tires including the Spare replaced with Goodyear Tires. After leaving Big O Tire shop our only Goodyear Tire is the Spare. According to Big O the majority of the Trailer Tires they replace due to Blowouts are Goodyear. They just lost this fan.

We traveled a couple miles up the road to the Escapees Dream Catcher RV Park. We’ve stayed here a couple of times now and decided to stay a few more days in order to get calmed down before hitting the road again. When I finished signing in I realized that it was exactly 24 Hours since we had pulled out of the Alamogordo KOA Park. Not bad for a Two and a Half Hour Trip.

While setting up I met a couple Dell and Pepper who highly recommend another Pressure Monitoring System that they use so we might look into that.

Once the Trailer was set up we went to Walmart with the intention of replacing our Printer because instead of doing what we want, it just keeps saying there is an Error. While there an Associate gave me a few suggestions to try which might solve the problem. We also managed to scratch off a number of Christmas Gifts off of our 2019 List.

We headed over to the True Value Hardware to look for some Gift Ideas but walked away empty handed.

Since it was past 4:30 and we’d had breakfast eight hours before we stopped at Wendy’s where we had a Lite-Weight Supper.

Even at this early hour we are having a hard time to stay awake. Sorry for not writing yesterday. Thank you for following along and feel free to leave a comment.

Be Safe and Enjoy!

It’s about time.

Pictures taken by Kathy.

Krackers

Words of Inspiration

I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the heart's affections and truth of imagination.

John Keats, English Poet.