On The Road for Christmas

My first day out on the Christmas road trip began with a 15 degrees Oklahoma morning. And I know a lot more about the Marathon heating system that I did yesterday.

This morning I also had an inverter fault - high battery voltage, whatever that means. I reset the inverter and it went away but it had effected the bathroom heater and would only supply power to two of the three Cruisairs (making it think it was inverting power while it was tied up to 50 amp). After I reset it, everything worked as it should.

The Webasto ran like a champ cycling off and on all night long with the rear and center heaters working as needed.

When I got to McAlester this afternoon, I was able to set the galley SMX controller to run the electric heat in there and set the bathroom heater up to come on (hopefully) when it chills down some.

One thing I didn't plan for in the sub freezing temp was that I inadvertantly dropped the end of the sewer hose that connects to the coach and even though it only fell a little more than a foot, it snapped the ear right off the plastic coupler. Evidently that plastic doesn't like cold weather. So a trip to the local Wal Mart fixed that issue and the tanks took a steamy dump.

I was surprised that the bay temperature never got below 65. I also found a cold water leak on the lower radiator hose, so that will need tightening when it warms up some. At this point, I am thinking that my trip to Arizona may be via El Paso as the weather across Northern New Mexico is supposed to be way cold right after Christmas (single digits with snow).

We also had a near miss at the Flying J when my daughter's Jack Russell terrier came upon a man walking a ferret in the grass by the dump station.

I also realized the Hummer doesn't have the right washer fluid as it is now a block of ice......

JDUB,

Have you decided where you are going to stay in the Phoenix area? We will be at Eagle View RV Resort (Fort McDowell) until December 27th.

AJ

Yeah Jerry, we will be in Lake Havasu City from the day after Christmas, until New Years Eve!

If you are nearby, give us a shout!

Jerry-

Is this the trip where you asked about places to stay in Tombstone or did you already make that trip ?

If you already went, tell where you stayed and how you found the town. We stayed 3 weeks. I don't like the sour pus that runs the Wells Fargo RV park but that one is within walking distance to the shops and wattering holes.

South of Albequrque on the main Hwy leading to El Paso, there is a state park called Elephant Butte which is on a lake and there are hook ups but if you boon dock it, there's a killer spot right up against a cliff overlooking the lake. It's right off the Hwy. in case you go what way.

Jdub,

Keep the saga coming, we need a good replacement for Christmas Vacation for those of us at home with cold bus engines..

OK, Sparky.:D

Although the Anderson tribe is not having half the fun of the Winchesters, we are on the road heading to Myrtle Beach then possibly on to Florida for some warmer weather.

Attachment 1985

First stop Richmond to check out the lights and grab some grub. Couldn't find a decent taco anywhere.

Attachment 1986
Merry Christmas


mm

NORAD's tracking santa again this year.

Attachment 1988

Here's your chance to follow the big fella. (Santa not JDUB).

http://www.noradsanta.org/

Mike,

Don't know if this will influence your decision to head for Florida, but as I'm writing this, it's 80 degrees and sunny....

Oh, and did I mention that yesterday afternoon was spent in the pool...??

Happy travels.

Paul,

Your negotiating skills are finely honed.

One more notch in the FLorida bound decision factor.

mm


BTW Lew says you were skinny dippin' in the pool.

I'm not gonna suck up to Jon because I have told him everything I know about campers.

Just went out and shot this in Lew Land:

JPJ,

You're right. He always prefaced anything he's taught me by saying. "This is the way Jerff showed me."
mm

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Just Plain Jeff

I'm not gonna suck up to Jon because I have told him everything I know about campers.

Just went out and shot this in Lew Land:

---

Well what the heck did you "SHOOT," a ghost ??? By golly down here if you say "I went out and shot" something and post a picture of it on the internet, you need to be holding some kind of critter. And, if you want any "atta boys," the critter needs to be a big'n.

Now, just so you don't get your feelings hurt, let me be the first to say

Nice Ghost, Jeff!!

AJ,

We are going to stay at the same place you are staying, but we won't get there until the afternoon of the 27th. We are coming back to Tucson / Tombstone after the game, probably around the 2nd, then work our way back toward Houston.

Spent the afternoon cleaning on the coach and making a few last minute preparations prior to headed for my grandmother's house. She's 94 and lives out in the country (same farmhouse for last 50 years). We boycotted holiday food, so the menu is Mexican and with 55 Winchesters in the house, I'm betting some taco disappear.

I'll post some pics as we head west. I had to buy a new camera cuz some a-hole stole both the throw down Canon and the Supremely Expensive Canon D30 from the front seat of my pickup while it was parked in my driveway.

Hope everyone has a great Christmas.

JDUB

Nice neighborhood you live in. You can leave all doors and windows open in Lewland.

I saw a guy posting 2 used Canons on Ebay, down Ga way..

Trukster, is that you with the Canons ?? :confused::D:p

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tdelorme

Well what the heck did you "SHOOT," a ghost ??? By golly down here if you say "I went out and shot" something and post a picture of it on the internet, you need to be holding some kind of critter. And, if you want any "atta boys," the critter needs to be a big'n.

Now, just so you don't get your feelings hurt, let me be the first to say

Nice Ghost, Jeff!!

---

Is it the Ghost of Christmas Past, Present or Future?

Who knows?

Hmmmmm.

Stealth cloaking device has been invoked....

Lew,

Bite me.

Okay, now that that's over we made it from the snowy, rainy weather of Oklahoma all the way to El Paso this evening with no issues.

I do need to check to see what the idiot light that looks like the back of the bus with wavy lines underneath it means. It as come one twice for less than ten seconds and then back off. Any thoughts?

Stopped in Van Horn for tacos. I can tell you that Chuy's may be the place the John Madden stops on his cross country jaunts, but their food sucks. And the service is not much better. Oh well, a stop tomorrow in Tucson for lunch will fix that.

Jerry,That idiot light might be the one for slick pavement,it is activated just above freezing.I guess 15 degrees a few days ago does not qualify as possibly slick pavement.

Jack,

I thougth that might be it. When it was 15, I was parked and when it came on I was driving and the temp was 33-34 degrees, so I am guessing you are right. I am about to launch out this morning and it is 23, so if it comes on again, that should confirm it.

I'm glad I stopped in Pecos to let the locals hand wash everthing after the first 100 miles in the rain. Everything is shining like a diamond in a goat's ass, so all the truckers here at the rest stop will have something to whine about.

I feel some breakfast tacos coming on...........

Hey Jdub!

You got your tracker system installed/working on this bus?

If so, what's the URL again?

Ray

Ray,

Of all the things I do have going, that isn't one of them. I will get it rigged up in a couple of days and let you know.

We made it to Fort McDowell this afternoon and I have done nothing but work on crap all evening.

An intermittent clicking in the area above the driver's seat turned out to be a Xantech AC-1 relay that senses the plasma powering up and turns on the audio system. I got to trouble shoot this one going down I-10 while Rae was driving. Marathon's parts department is down due to inventory, so a quick Google search turned up the offending part for about half price.

So after checking into the RV park, I went out to unhook the Hummer and find a belt hanging out of the engine compartment. Opening the doors show not one but two belts off (one of the three going to the fan drive and one of the two going to AC compressor). But I think the resourceful Jack14R left me some spare belts, so that is tomorrow morning's task.

Then while I had Marathon's lone tech guy (what happens if this guy goes to take a crap and a snake bites him on the ass?) on the phone, I asked him about the ceiling accent light not working. I figured it was the bulb, but where is the unit? He says it is under the sink in the bathroom. So I go look and there is a panel under the sink and sure enough there the unit is. And since the fan runs, I pull the bulb out and it is bad, so another item to procure tomorrow.

So unless something else runs a wheel off, I may end up with a maintenance day tomorrow. Oh, I also kicked a hole in the Mickey Mouse plastic diffuser under the front Cruisair Saturday night, so I had ordered one of those on the leg to El Paso yesterday.

Hi Jerry. I got that same light coming home from Branson in the middle of the night. It was in the low 30's at the time. My front air bags or shocks got a little noisey also in the cold weather.

Gary,

I had the same noise yesterday when it was so cold. I figured it was a bushing or some such item, but when I would hit a good dip the impending bounce would produce a groan. Kinda like the same noise Loc McNew makes when driving with a Cracker Barrel turtlehead.

No such noise today.

Also, the light didn't come on this morning either. Go figure.

It's Rae's fault, she was driving and belts flew off!:p Check the pressure regulator to make sure you have the right pressure on the bellows, I believe it's about 50-60 lbs. and hopefully there isn't a bellows problem. I just changed all my belts as a PM item. I put green lines (HD) on everything except the CC bus air/alternator belts.

Call me if you need part numbers Sparky...

JDUB,

We left Fort McDowell early this AM. We are currently at Desert West Coach in Phoenix (had a exhaust manafold gasket replaced and they chased down some air leaks for us). Desert West does warranty work for Prevost and Marathon, if you need to find any parts they should be able to help.

We're off to Tucson in the AM... Any tips as to where to stay?

AJ

AJ,

I have only stayed at Beaudry's and we are going to hit Wells Fargo in Tombstone on the way back, so that's no help. I hate it that we missed you today.

When you are in Tucson, go eat at Mi Nidito. Order the beef burrito enchalada style.

http://www.minidito.net/main.html

You can park the coach around the corner by the car junkyard and they will be closed on the 31, 1 & 2nd.

If you are going to be there next week, let me know.

JDUB

This is where the offending part lives

Attachment 2000

Clicking culprit

Attachment 2001

However, I once had an odd noise in my airplane that suddenly showed up in flight and caused me more than a little concern. After cycling or shutting down everything I could, I found out that the noise was in fact my wife snoring in the back seat.

No such luck this time, but she was in fact snoozing while enroute.

Attachment 2002

Here is what was left of the bumper

Attachment 2003

It's former location

Attachment 2004

The damage

Attachment 2005

New parts installed

Attachment 2006

Nice green belts and just for the record, your problems are because you don't have any rivets!:( Is that the same door we beat to death at Branson?

We're all envious, we wanta make some smoke.....

Gettin ready to take a run over this weekend and thought of GaryDe while under the bus greasing the "U Joint"-

I know Paranoia - what is a guy to do?:cool:

Have fun on that run.

Be cool in the stool.

Keep that clean side up;)

Jerry,

Good call, re: Mi Nidito, beef burrito enchalada style!

Thanks.

AJ

Wow another JBUB work-cation. Rae and the girls must be thrilled. Come to think of it, they probably are, it keeps you busy and off their backs. Nice comment on the groan sounds coming from the front of your bus. The light (wavy line under bus) is the Freezing Indicator - Flashes for about 10 seconds when the outside temperature drops from 2°C to 1°C (35°F to 34°F). Enjoy the parking lot for the day. Let us know how the bob and weave goes at midnight.

AJ: Be aware that Mi Nidito is in the roughest part of South Tucson. I suggest a daylight visit with your family. Better safe then sorry. Enjoy the meal, we'll be checking it out in Feb.

Well we got a break from the parking gods and they let us stay in the lot at the stadium last night. Good win for the Pokes, great fireworks and the weather was just right to enjoy the "Campfire In A Can".

We holed up at McDowell Mountain Regional Park today for a family dinner and then on to Tombstone tomorrow after another Mexican food soiree.

Made a pit stop in Tombstone on the way home

Attachment 2027

Then we overnighted in Las Cruces and ran into the elusive AJ and wife Sara along with the Red Storm. Had a good chat and saw his sweetly rigged Marathon complete with dual elevated car seats. Between AJ, Loc and Kevin, maybe we need to have a Bunk Coach Rally?

Attachment 2028

Oh, forgot the game pics. Some tailgate action

Attachment 2029

Game Over

Attachment 2030

Well that was fun. About 2800 miles since we started on Dec. 21st. We hit Houston this afternoon and with a stop at the Flying J for fuel and dumping the tanks we are done for a while.

Attachment 2042

Attachment 2043

Attachment 2044

Nice job of keeping us up on your trip. I'l bet it will be hard to get back to work.

You have a nice rig, always enjoy seeing photos of it.

Sounds like it was a great trip! 7.1 mpg, not too shabby!

Next time you get as close as Az you let us southern CA folks know. That's only a day's drive for us. We would have loved to joined you for a night or two!

Ray