Fix’n Disc Brakes On a 06 Classic in Mitchell South Dakota

Friday we got a later start than we like, but the travel across Minnesota and into South Dakota was uneventful, and we arrived in Mitchell South Dakota after 5:00PM.  The RV Park that we chose is a part of a hotel, and we were told to chose a RV site, then check in.  As we were setting up the utilities, I noticed the brake that we heard dragging a few hundred miles ago, was actually a badly gouged brake rotor on one of the trailer axels.  We signed up for two nights stay, to give me a chance to plan on how to get the brakes repaired.

We drove to a large home improvement store, looking for some type of a jack, to lift the trailer, and found this truck in the parking lot.  Hail damage, and we were fascinated with how many dents there were.  Later on in the evening Anne-Marie and I went to a Ruby Tuesdays for dinner, and every where we looked, there were cars and trucks with hail damage, perhaps a third of the vehicles in the lot had hail dents on them.

Yesterday I disassembled the brakes on the trailer, and made a dash for the NAPA Auto Parts Store, and it was closed. The auto parts store is located two blocks away from the Mitchell Corn Palace.  The Corn Palace is decorated with different colors of grain and corn, and they change the patterns, colors, and pictures every year.  The left side of the front sign has a incomplete sign, two years ago when we visited, the whole outside was largely under construction.

Our trailer is a 34ft Airstream Classic, and it has three sets of axles, that are equipped with disc brakes.  Two years ago, in Carson City, Nevada, our brakes had wore down to the metal, on the same two wheels, and I rebuilt all of the brakes on the trailer.  Disc brakes are good, they stop smoothly and firmly, but I found out after calling Craig at the Airstream Dealer in Grand Rapids, that the brake pads only last 15,000 miles, and then they need replacing.  The folks at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Store that I took the rotors to, said that disc brakes on a trailer only last 12-15 thousand miles, and that is just the nature of how they work.  These are the two scuffed rotors, and the parts folks at O’Reilly’s looked up the numbers on the rotors, and they are a common rotor used on dodge trucks.

The worst brake pads, and the work site, here in the RV Park.  The brake pads, are regular automotive pads, that are used on some GM cars from the 1990s.

I got the system reassembled to this point last night, and today I hope to have the trailer road ready today.  The O’Reilly Auto Parts Store turned the rotors, and had brake shoes for one axel, and if we want more, they will be here on Tuesday.  We have chosen to take a chance, and hope that there are four or five more travel days on the remaining brakes, to allow us to get to the North West.

Doing the repairs myself, I have saved a bundle.  The cost of turning the rotors, brake pads, oil seals, bearing grease, and other goo’s and parts was $120.00.  I had to buy a 6 ton bottle jack and two jack stands for $65.00.  I don’t like this type of project, and I don’t like getting dirty, but I like getting it done on a weekend without any more layover days.  My only delays were my own energy levels.

We are leaving Minneapolis, Minnesota, and on to points West

We arrived here in the KOA RV Park on the northwest side of Minneapolis on a gray Wednesday, and on our layover day we just did a few shopping errands.  Today we are traveling west, and our plans are to reach Mitchell, South Dakota.  After I have looked at the map of the US, I see 4 1/2 days of travel to reach central Washington, from Mitchell, so we should be there before the end of next week. 

A neighboring RVer here in this park has the same observations as I, about the Wi-Fi system here in the park.  Yesterday morning I got up before 5AM, started the coffee pot, turned on the TV, and started the lap top.  The TV and coffee pot were working away, and the computer came alive and was working, but no internet.  I logged into the antenna, this is the big one on the outside of the trailer, and all three of the RV Parks Wi-Fi radios are off.  I scanned and rescanned, looking for Wi-Fi systems, and they were gone.  I looked at maps on the Lap top, watched the news on TV, and drank coffee till a little after 6AM, and I checked for the RV Parks Wi-Fi radios, and they had two of the three on.  I checked for the other radio later on and it also was working.  The neighbor says that the park needs some help with the Wi-Fi system, and it is up and down during the day and at 2AM it goes off, and doesn’t return till 6AM.  They must have it on a timer to auto reset the equipment, but it doesn’t need to be for four hours.  During our travels, we seem to find RV Parks that have Wi-Fi issues, and if someone knows a little about radio, and networking, there is an opportunity to help some folks out.

Installing New Brushed Nickel Backsplash in the bathroom

The backsplash behind the bathroom sink was a strip of wall paper that the factory installed.  The vinyl backed wall paper border strip was the type that had the adhesive already applied on it, with a protective paper backing, to be removed on installation.  The gold green colors matched the old gold colored fixtures, but I changed them out to what is in place now, in 2009, and the paper was starting to wrinkle a little then.  With the occasional splash on the wall paper, and the paper expanding and shrinking, the glue holding the paper has started to release from the wall.  The paper was also eroding away from the face where the cord of the electric toothbrush rubbed it.  This was clearly the wrong material to use in a occasionally damp environment.

The area to be replaced is 43 inches wide, and I had already purchased a package of wallpaper border to cover the area, but I was so cautious of the project, that I was a bit afraid pulling off the gummy adhesive vinyl backed paper, and replacing it with water activated glue type paper that we had bought, even if it was a vinyl type paper.  The strongest part of the old paper was the vinyl backing, and the adhesive stayed on the wall as it was pulled away, and I didn’t to ruin the wall trying to remove one type of glue so another would stick.  Anne-Marie and I went to the big home improvement stores, here in Duluth, yesterday and she found a color and style of backsplash material that she thought would work.  The old paper pulled off without much problem, and it left a nice tacky surface for the next material.

The new backsplash material is made to be used as a backsplash, and the larger panels are used as ceiling tiles.  This is a lesser expensive material than the metal tiles used on 100+ year old buildings.  The plastic is black with a metallic finish, and it just doesn't show well with a flash.  Cutting it to size was easy with scissors, even trimming another 1/16th inch off for the best fit.  The manufacture suggests a double sided adhesive strip, or a permanent glue.  We bought a roll of the double sided sticky foam to use. 

The backsplash had to cover the wall between the shower stall on the right and the bedroom wall on the left, and the walls are a plywood covered with a vinyl wall paper material.  The walls did not fit flush against the back wall behind the sink, but they already had trim on the edges.  The backsplash panels were able to slip behind both walls, left and right, and this made sizing and adjusting easier.  The backsplash trim pieces are called, Inside Trim and J-Trim, and I used them only on top and bottom.

The finished backsplash, and a seam that hardly shows.  The seam is in the center of the picture on the right.  The color that we used is called Brushed Nickel and in the natural light, it is close to the same color as the backsplash in the kitchen.

The time for the project was about 1 1/2 hours, and the cost for the two 18X24 sheets of backsplash material is $19.95 each, and the glue strip material, and trim pieces brought the total to $60.17.

Today is a Travel Day for us, we are leaving Duluth, and heading to the Twin Cities.

Our RV Park/Marina in Duluth

Yesterday was a busy day, but we didn’t tour anything.  We found a Laundromat and finished that chore, and took a drive around town.

A wide picture of our trailer, in the marina.  The RV spaces are used in the winter for boat storage.  In a normal winter, the ice gets up to 4ft thick in the marina, and it would hurt the boats , so they lift them out and set them up on a boat stand to save the hull from being crushed.

This white boat belongs to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and it is parked next door to our marina.  The freighter ship is at anchor, waiting for room in the harbor.

Anne-Marie and I walked downtown across the high lift draw bridge in search of a restaurant.  We chose the Old Chicago.

Our mail has arrived, and we are leaving Duluth tomorrow.  Anne-Marie is planning our trip as I write this.

Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, on the Skyline Parkway, Duluth

Sunday was a blue sky, and warm day.  I walked down to the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center to pick up some brochures.  The Visitor Center is just across the bridge, and it was being busy letting boats in and out of the harbor.

I had to wait for this sail boat to pass under the bridge, before I could cross over to the Visitor Center, and before I was off of the bridge on the far side, the bridge operator signaled that it was raising again for another boat.  While I was inside of the Visitors Center, the bridge returned down to allow cars and pedestrians to pass, and raised and lowered a third time for another boat to pass.  I read that this bridge raises an average of 20 times a day, and a lot of those times is for small boats over 20ft tall, above the water.

The touring that we chose to do, was the Skyline Parkway Scenic Byway drive, and perhaps the Hawk Ridge Bird observatory, that was located on the northern most part of the Scenic Drive.  There must have been flooding or something really harsh last winter, because the Skyline Parkway had sections of road closed that extended for 2-4 miles in a section.  Using the GPS map display, we tried to circumvent the closed sections of road, only to find that the cross roads were closed also.  The Scenic Drive is 25 miles long, south to north, and I think that we must have drove over 50 miles zig-zaging back and forth, trying to find an open section of road to drive.  We only were able to find two roadside markers, on the open sections of road, and this wide picture is a view of the lake in the distance.

After we had worked our way to the northern part of the Scenic Drive, the road changed to gravel once we entered the Hawk Ridge Nature Preserve.  We found the road congested with parked cars and many people walking about and standing in the road, most were looking up and hardly anyone was looking for traffic.  We didn’t try to push through, as there was a lot of signs before warning of the congestion.  We made our way to the far end parking area, and walked back into the crowd.  The picture of the sign with everyone behind it looking and pointing a different direction, was normal throughout our visit.  The folks on the observation deck were charged with keeping a tally of the birds passing by, I was told that they each were assigned a quadrant of sky to watch.  The tally board has a up to the hour count of the larger birds counted by the official observers.

The signs explain how the birds use this ridge, all along Lake Superior, because of the naturally occurring thermals for hundreds of miles, and where different species are most likely to be seen.

These two wide views show the road area just as it was when we drove through, everybody looking up and away.  The little trailer had snacks and drinks for sale, and T-shirts.  Anne-Marie and I both have a new shirt.  The lady watching over the vending trailer was quite interested in Anne-Marie’s and my travels, and encouraged me to include a picture of Erik Bruhnke in the blog.

Erik Bruhnke was in the road directing the folks left and right to different raptors and his sight must be a lot better than mine, because what looked like a speck or dot in the sky to me was a specific species of hawk or falcon to him.  He didn’t seem to dwell on a individual bird for more that a few seconds, as he would find another to point out.  Erik was difficult to get a picture of, because of his enthusiasm for showing another find to the group, he wasn’t still for long.  I looked at a blog of his and Facebook page, and he even provides a guide service for serious bird watching.

Margie was showing the group a raptor that had just been captured in a net.  They catch, band and release many birds, and through this system they can judge ages of the birds and distances traveled. 

The banding of the smaller birds was being done by these two, and it was explained that there were several netting stations close by.  All bird handlers were very cautious in how they held the birds. 

Anne-Marie and I didn’t escape another road closure before we got off of the ridge, and we had to detour another 6 miles before we got back into town.  This old building  with the clock tower is the old Duluth City High School.  The building is huge and massive, and being made of stone it was difficult to heat in the winter.  The building was last used as a High School in 1972, and the primary reason is believed to be that it took 8 tons of coal a day to heat the building in cold weather.

Last night Anne-Marie and I walked over to the bridge, and down Lake Ave.  and this is a view of the bridge at night.

A Huge Freighter Ship in Duluth

A gray day in Duluth, with rain squalls passing through during the morning hours, and we couldn’t muster the enthusiasm to tour anything.  We did venture out and find a Wal-Mart, and many shopping centers west of town.  The town of Duluth is on a hill, and the Downtown area has streets as steep as Hood River Oregon.

The RV Park we are parked at, is just 3 short blocks from the shipping path for the huge cargo ships to enter and exit the Duluth and Superior Bays.  The Lake Superior Lift Span Bridge is 390ft long, raises 141ft and was completed in 1930.  Yesterday afternoon, as we were returning to the RV Park, we could see a huge cargo ship out in the lake heading to the shipping channel, and that meant that the lift span would be raised.

It looked to be over 1/4 mile long and the pilot house looked like a 6 story building on top of a deck that is already four stories tall above the water.  The back side of the pilot house is a maze of balconies and stairs, and as the ship passed there were several yellow hard hats visible, moving about on the deck, as the crew was preparing for docking.

These wide pictures show how long this ship is, but the massive height just isn’t shown.

Our mail did not arrive Friday or Saturday.  We were planning on being on the road heading West tomorrow, Monday, but after a call to the mail service in Hood River, and they traced the package, delivery is expected on Wednesday this week.  We have five days travel to get to the North West, and this delay here makes travel days closer, and a bit more rushed.

The pictures show a grey day yesterday, but we have blue skies today, and with four touring days left of our Duluth visit, we have to choose which attractions we would like to visit today.

The Colonial Michilimackinac Fort, Reconstructed

Wednesday Anne-Marie and I had a very busy day of touring, and picture taking, in Mackinaw City, Michigan.

This old fort was originally built by the French in 1715, and acquired by the British in 1761, and dissembled and moved to Mackinac Island in 1780.  This is a reconstruction of the fort from archeological evidence.

Anne-Marie and I got to see the cannon demonstration and later I got a picture from the stockade lookout.

The Indian camp and structures were shown, and the guides explained how well the cooking and heating of huts worked in the winter weather.

This demonstration shows how animal skins were dried and prepared for trade.

A sedan chair.  This must have been used to carry a person of higher status.   This was a store room of supplies and tools, and even small cannons.

The commanders quarters, and this room had two fireplaces. I read that they burnt 17 cords of wood a winter in each fireplace, and in the end, they had to travel 30 miles to find wood large enough to burn.  A British Traders quarters, with blankets and rifles.

The store with goods on display, and Anne-Marie looking at some furs.

The cooking demonstration, this girl was showing how cast iron pots, and Dutch ovens were used for cooking over the fireplace.

Anne-Marie and the garden demonstration, showing the types of vegetables grown in the 1700s.  There were many artifacts on display, alongside of replicas.

The soldiers outside of the barracks, they were preparing for the musket demonstration on the parade grounds.  The traders room with bundled furs and goods.

lots of cannons were on display around the grounds, and even in the stockades.

We are in Duluth, Minnesota, with our Airstream parked at a RV Park right on the water, and there are weeks and weeks of exploring and touring that can be done all within the city limits.  Last night we had dinner at Grandma’s Restaurant, Saloon and Grill.  This restaurant has two floors of seating and a 2nd floor balcony looking over the water.  We haven’t decided on our length of stay yet, but we won’t run out of places to tour.