I don’t know why I started this one, I already hurt from the day before, when I changed out the trailer brake pads. I called auto shops around Yakima, until I found one with a machine shop that was open on Saturday, and they could turn the brake rotors on the van. I drove the van to Grandma Darlings house, and disassembled the brakes in the driveway. With the brake parts in the back of Grandmas station wagon, we drove to the auto parts store in Yakima, with the plan of running other errand's while waiting for the machine shop to do their thing. When we parked in the station wagon in the lot, I thought it was right next to the front door, but no, we were around the corner, and the furthest of all from the front door. The distance from the front door isn’t an issue, except that the rotors weighed about 40lbs each, and are really dirty, so I hold it about a foot in front of my chest with both hands and just barely make it in the store before my arms turn into Jell-O, each trip. The guy that I spoke to took a look at the rotors and said “Can’t do em. They are High Performance slotted rotors, and our machine can’t do em.” I bought these special before we got on the road in 2009, and I thought that any shop could do this. I bought new brake pads, and we left for home.
This is what I had in the driveway, when we returned home. I was just hating the thought of getting on my knees, to reassemble the frontend of the van, really dreading it. My back ached before I started, and it was really throbbing now. Just a little over an hour of squatting and scooting around the wheels, and the project was put back together.
I think that I lost a few inches of height on this project, I am walking with a old mans crouch, with my knees slightly bent, and my shoulders hunched forward, and my right hand turned inward so it doesn’t hurt. I am an old man.
Today my back is sore, and my right wrist has a dull ache in it, and I don’t have the strength to do any more of this for about a year or so.
We had the trailer brakes get down to the metal to metal point when we were in Mitchell South Dakota, and I had to have two rotors turned, and I replaced the brake pads on those wheels. The O’Reilly Auto Parts Store only had one set of pads for our brakes, and we wanted to get on the road, so we waited till we arrived here to finish the job.
I ordered two sets of brake pads from the local O’Reilly parts store and Yesterday morning I got to finish the brake project. The remaining brake pads were down to almost being metal to metal, and may have not made it to Tucson. I replaced the left over wheel on the other side first, and then did these three all at the same time. The total time on yesterdays project was two hours, and the cost for the pads was $60. I haven’t done this type of work in a few years, and I just don’t see how I could do it anymore often than on demand. My back still aches this morning, and my knees have tender knobs on them. I couldn’t just get up and walk to the van for another tool, because my blood pressure medicine kept me dizzy when I stood up, and my back couldn’t get straight, and I walked at a half crouch and gradually straightened after about 20 feet. Anne-Marie helped me with tool fetching, and cleanup.
Yesterday morning the kitchen circuit breaker kept tripping, and I kept turning off devices and we got down to the coffee pot and the rice cooker, and it still tripped. The circuit breaker is a GFI 20amp type and the bathroom and kitchen both share it. I have a Kill A Watt volt meter, and I moved it about, measuring the wattage draw on everything that was operating on the circuit, and it was still tripping at about a 15amp draw. I need to get a clamp on amp meter to measure what is happening right at the circuit breaker. I may need to replace the circuit breaker if it is starting to get a little tired, or we may have a hidden problem that needs to be addressed.
Anne-Marie and I have been in Yakima since Monday afternoon, and we have signed up for a weeks stay at the RV Park.
We seemed to have fallen into projects at Grandma Darlings house on our first full day this week. Grandma has a new underground sprinkler system, and the neighbor that installed it did a rather rural installation for her. My Brother in-law Roger, buried the lines, and reworked all the plumbing to get it functioning, and I spent 1 1/2 days reinstalling the wiring. We should have just installed the system ourselves, and not had the neighbor involved at all, because nothing was done to code.
Anne-Marie and I have eaten breakfast at Waffles Caffe two of four mornings here in Yakima, and it is a treat for us to have a restaurant within walking distance of the trailer.
A wide picture of our house in Yakima. We are within two miles of Grandma Darlings house, and once we leave the trailer in the morning, we are busy till after dark.
Yesterday, Grandma Darling, Anne-Marie and I drove to Ellensburg Washington to meet my cousin Bud Bunger for lunch. Bud drives a truck, and arranged his schedule for lunch on his drive through. We had a nice visit, catching up with family, where they are and what all are doing.
We drove through the Yakima River Canyon on the way home, and Anne-Marie spotted this group of big horn sheep across the river, as we were driving. It looks to be about seven sheep in the group, and they stayed in this little open area during our stop. The wide picture shows a bend in the river, and the sheep are just left of center. We saw several fishermen with drift boats on the river, and near the end of the canyon was a resort, with boat rentals and guide service.
Today I hope to complete the brake project on the trailer, as I have purchased brake pads for the remaining wheels. Once I get started, I think that the project should only take a few hours.
Anne-Marie and I have arrived in Spokane, Washington, and we have 215 miles to travel to Yakima today. We seem to have regressed to being comfortable with less than 300 miles a day of moving the trailer, and 200 miles is quite comfortable. We plan to stay in Yakima for a week, and then on to the Oregon Coast to visit Andrew, our oldest Son.
Yesterday early evening, I heard what sounded like a big and loud motorcycle start its engine, and move about the park, just outside of view from our trailer. I walked as close as I needed, just to see that I needed to dash back to the van to get a camera. The really tall trailer had a Hot Rod Dragster on the lower level, and the owner was getting ready to load their car on the upper level. Apparently the dragster is heaver, and it gets the lower level for travel. The owners are from Edmonton, Alberta, and are returning home from a racing event in Oregon. The owner said that they travel to Drag Races as far south as Las Vegas, and up and down the west coast. The owner is the primary driver, and a nephew fills in occasionally. The car is 15 years old, has a 500+ cubic inch engine, and can do a 8 sec. quarter mile. He was eager for all of the spectators to take pictures, and offered so much information, that we only had to ask a few questions.
Yesterdays moving of the trailer cost 47 cents per mile. We had hills to climb, but we kept our speed down to around 60 mph, and I think that this really helps keep the cost under the 63 cent per mile cost when we were trying to travel at 70 mph all day.
Yesterday was a travel day for Anne-Marie and I. We pulled the Airstream from a KOA RV Park in Bozeman Montana to a KOA RV Park in Missoula Montana. The KOA RV Parks have turned into a standard for us, we have only had a few unpleasant experiences with this franchised brand and none this year. Choosing to to stay in a KOA is kind of like eating at a Denny’s or a Cracker Barrel restaurant, once you know their system, you know what to expect.
When I was driving yesterday, I needed a rest after driving a little over 130 miles, and we pulled into a rest area. I told Anne-Marie that she should take over driving because I needed a nap. Anne-Marie said that she couldn’t drive because she also was nodding off, so we both went into the trailer and took a 1 1/2 hour nap. This is a good thing about dragging your home with you, as you travel.
We refueled the van when we arrived here in Missoula yesterday, and the cost to pull the trailer for the last two moving days has been 43 cents per mile. We have been driving a bit slower, even though the speed limit on the freeway is 75, no wind, and only a few hills to climb, all this helps the travel budget.
The Sunday Morning News programs seem to keep us in the trailer longer on travel days, than the normal weekday news. Sometimes it is a struggle to want to unhook the utilities and get the van attached to the trailer, and move down the road. Once we get on the way, it becomes an adventure, and is interesting, but starting is kinda like getting ready to go to work, sometimes it’s a drag.
We have 400 miles of travel to get to Yakima Washington, and we will break it into two travel days. We haven’t yet decided which route to take, north through Spokane, or south through Lewiston, Idaho. When we get on the road, an executive decision will be made.
Anne-Marie and I needed a second day to finish our visit of The Museum of the Rockies.
The first section that we toured was the Treasures of Napoleon Exhibit. This again is another time that I wish that I had retained the history stuff that we were taught in School. As the title says, it was a lot of gold, gilt covered, silver stuff and original paintings, artwork, manuscripts signed by Napoleon, and gifts given by or to Napoleon during his lifetime. No pictures allowed. I believe that there is no value established for any of the items, as they must be priceless, and most all are one of a kind.
The Native American exhibit did a lot to explain the hard work that the natives endured in just existing, and the hardships of being moved and confined to reservations that couldn’t support their skillsets and traditional way of life.
This hunter has a spear, and is launching it with a shorter stick, that has a cup on the end, nesting the end of the spear.
The Montana History Hall had displays that we hadn’t seen before. This display was showing about the introduction of balloon framing, and its introduction in Montana. Balloon framing is similar to todays framing construction, but it was called balloon framing because it was thought that it wasn’t strong and would blow away like a balloon in the wind. The picture of the kitchen stove, also shows a cutaway of the wall construction.
The sign and the airplane hanging in the exhibition hall show the story of two Montana farmers that built a this airplane in their home and largely in the house during the winter of 1931-1932, and it’s powered by a Ford Model A engine.
A Tarpaper Shack, and typical furnishings of the time. No utilities, water or electricity, and tarpaper siding. No frills living for the poor during the depression.
This open touring car is a Oldsmobile. A firefighting hose cart, and a 1930s Ford station wagon.
This is a wooden headstone marker, and it says that W.H. O’Dair was killed by Indians, July 26, 1854.
The inside of a sheep herders wagon. This herders wagon was used till the 1960s. This stage coach was used locally here in Montana.
There were several display cases of guns, and interesting stories of where they were used and how they were donated to the Museum. Trapping played a big part of the early history of Montana, and this display has a really large bear trap.
Today is a travel day for us, and we are heading west to Washington, one step at a time.
Wednesday, Anne-Marie and I had a short day of travel, and we are staying at a KOA RV Park in Bozeman, Montana. We are settled in, and there is a few weeks of exploring here, but this pass through we have time for only one stop, The Museum of the Rockies.
This Museum is too large to see it all in one day, and if all sections were open, a week might be needed to explore it thoroughly.
There were displays of fossils with models of what the animal or plant would have looked like, and most all were collected in the mountain states. There was a room where the scientist types were using Dremel type tools to chip the stone away from the fossils. At different times there may be up to three folks working on different projects here.
Anne-Marie and a giant Mastodon skull. This is a cast of a fossil find, with real fossils, showing how the dinosaurs became stuck in a wet clay area. The mud primarily only held the younger dinosaurs, and it is believed that the larger ones were strong enough to pull free.
The central part of the US was covered in a shallow sea, and this animal is a air breathing four flippered, meat eater, and the fossils were found in the Mountain States. A display showing toe nails of various dinosaurs.
There is evidence of some dinosaurs nesting like birds, and some others just building a pile of eggs, covering and letting them be on their own. The case of the two dinosaur feet, are showing the differences between a Tyrannosaur, and a Duckbill.
These two cases show skull sizes, and features of plant eaters, and carnivores.
The inland seas and waterways had amazingly large and very ferocious animals. The large Nautilus shell was nearly three feet across.
The big room, called the Hall of Horns and Teeth, had large life size displays. I wore out at the end of the Dinosaurs, and rested by laying down on a bench at the ending of this exhibit area, while Anne-Marie was catching up with me.
We called it a day and walked briskly through the rest of the Museum and out the door. Today we are returning to the Museum to give the Native American Historical Hall, the Montana History Hall, and other exhibits a good study.
We have completed two days of traveling, each 300 miles, and being in a hurry, we have traveled at or near the posted speed limit on the highways. In Mitchell South Dakota I filled the van with what looked like a better fuel with a higher octane rating, but it was an ethanol blend. The octane rating was something like 89 or so, and the cost was less than the lesser octane rated regular. I think that the cost per gallon was around $3.74 at this pump in Mitchell. We have had two days travel with hills, headwinds or side winds, and being in a hurry, I have been traveling between 65 and 70 MPH, and our fuel cost has gone way up. The last two days of travel have cost 62 cents per mile, and we have felt the need to refuel midday to reach the planned stopping point. This fuel may not be the best preforming solution for our van, and I’ll be careful to not use it in the future.
Sturgis South Dakota is a town that is geared up for an incredible number of people in August. The grocery store even had RV utility hookups in the parking lot, as did several other parking lots down the same street. The town was pretty tame the evening that we were there, but it looked like it could handle thousands of visitors when the Motorcycle Rally is happening.
Anne-Marie and I traveled northwest on Hwy 212 and we saw antelope in small groups and large groups for nearly the entire distance, and there must have been hundreds of them. There must be some attraction to the Hwy, or their numbers must be in the thousands within several miles of the road. We were looking from the left and then to the right, here’s some and there’s some too, for over a hundred miles.
Today is another travel day, and it is becoming a bit of a drag not being able to tour any of the neat places that we have discovered. Anne-Marie wants to stop in Bozeman, Montana to visit a Museum, and I think that I will be up to the rest from driving, and a busy day of touring.
What is interesting about traveling, is that we get to see a lot of interesting places in our visits across the US, but a sad thing is that we can’t see it all. There is just too much to see and not enough time in several lifetimes to see it all.
Anne-Marie and I stopped at this diner for lunch in Murdo, South Dakota. The front of the building is a restaurant and gift shop, and the back of it is a museum of cars and tractors, and such. Anne-Marie is leaning on a huge car, it must have been made on a old truck chassis. The restaurant had a 57 Chevrolet on the roof and the gift shop had a 55 Chevrolet used as display case sides. The Museum looked to be the size of a football field, and a half a day could be spent there. Not enough time today, another place that we have to come back to.
We changed drivers at this rest area, and it made a good picture. Our home in Sturgis, for the night.
Today is a travel day, and Billings Montana is 300 miles away. We will be two days travel away from Yakima Washington.
Travel day today. We are in Mitchell South Dakota, and we are done with delays and want to be traveling west. We had a mail delay in Duluth, Minnesota, and now we are getting over a brake repair delay in South Dakota. We have four weeks before my annual physical in Hood River Oregon, and there is just enough time to travel to all of the places that we need to, to visit our family and friends. Just as soon as we are done in Hood River, we need to dash south to Nevada, to visit Anne-Marie’s family, and then on to Tucson.
The distance that seems to work for us on a travel day is 300 miles, we can do more but I get really numb early, and Anne-Marie, who usually finishes up the days driving, is ready to quit when we reach that mile stone. I did a quick check on a mapping program, and Sturgis South Dakota is a 300 mile drive from Mitchell, so that is our goal today. We haven’t stayed in Sturgis before, and it might be fun to explore another new town.
All assembled and torqued down to 120lbs, and good to go traveling tomorrow.
I found storage for the jack stands, and the 6 ton jack. I’ll need to use the new tools when we get to Washington or Oregon, when I pickup some more brake pads . Craig at Woodland Travel told me to not try to buy the parts from a RV Supply Store, because there are more people in the supply chain, and that equates to a much higher price, than a auto parts store.
Tires and brakes are hard work, and really dirty work, and I do this on demand, not for fun.
Tomorrow is a travel day for us, we plan to travel 300 miles, or so, and we will know where we will stop when we get there.
