Well, the Jeep seems to like it here! I have done a little work to it here and there and got it dialed in for the most part. I decided that I needed a new fuel filter so I took it up to O'Rielly Auto Parts. Most of the fuel filters for that model and year/engine come back as a different fuel filter, so after taking the filter off in the parking lot the lady at the auto parts store matched it up for me. It had some problems getting to the store though. Anything over 40 mph and it was starving itself for fuel. I really did need the filter! I had to pretty much idle it the last 1/2 mile or so to get there.
When I pulled the filter off, all kinds of sediment came out of it, so I got a spare filter as well as new fuel line to replace the air hose that was put in somewhere along the line. When I installed the fuel line I also put another paper element fuel filter before the other one. It was a cheap Wal Mart filter that is easy to locate (easier than the other filter). That should prolong the life of the other filter some until a few tanks of gas are run through it.
Just need to do a few more things to it now. The differential input seal needs to be replaced which on this one, it should take about 30 minutes or so and the seal is cheap. It had started leaking a few drops from being towed. While I am down there, I will clean up the differential housing and paint it. Need a radio for it too! It is a blast to drive, but always enjoy driving more with some music. I am keeping my eyes open on Craigslist out here for a marine radio that is water resistant. (Craigslist hasn't really caught on out here yet, so finding deals is mostly word of mouth.) Just looking for something to plug my ipod in or the XM radio. Need to find a set of doors for it also! There are a ton of dirt roads here and things get dusty real quick, inside and out. It will be better to have them when the weather gets a little cooler too. Lastly, I need to rebuild or get a new windshield wiper motor. Mike threw me a bag of parts for it and the wiper motor was in there. I am going to re-pack the gear assembly with grease and fire it up to see if it works. If it doesn't, I will see what I can do to rebuild it or just get a new/used one. Other than those little things, it should be good for the rest of the season here.
Still trying to find a good place to fish. Have been on the Red River a few times with no success. (at the wrong time of day and not using live bait) From what I hear, north of the city, all the way to Canada is best. Record size walleye and chanel catfish have been coming out of those areas. We also went to Turtle River State Park (close to our house) where I got 4 trout. One was almost a keeper and the rest were 3-4" long. A lot of people in the area I was fishing, so that made it a little difficult. Talked to a guy at a campsite who was eating his catch as we walked by. He pulled a 14" rainbow trout out of there, so there are bigger ones in there.
Will have decent internet at the house soon! There is a place called Invisinet who offers long range WiFi. The antenna is on top of the grain elevator in Arvilla. It is close enough for us to get decent down speeds and the ability to use VOIP for our phone system. They were installing it here at the campground today and I talked to the tech and found out a little more about it.
Have met a ton of great people at the campground. A lot of people from Manitoba that come down here to go shopping. I guess our Wal Mart's are better here than up there and other places as well. Our last 3 'neighbors' have been from Manitoba.
Will post some more pictures next time I go to Joyce's work. Still using the camera that went through the washer and dryer. Every now and again it will give me problems trying to turn on, but other than that, it is still works as it should and takes decent pictures. I am really looking forward to picking up a digital SLR camera. There is so much here to photograph, especially with Fall just around the corner. Also planning on doing our own Christmas cards this year.
Ok, have wrote enough for today.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
PICS!
Finally able to upload some pictures. Got the Jeep up and running good. I drove it up to the truck stop and on the way back saw a tractor accident. The guy hit a culvert and before he knew it, it was tipped over on its side. Nothing runs like a Deere. It didn't do any damage!
Well, the bird died the other day. He seemed like he was happy and actually a little more active. He didn't have use of his legs and could barely grip my finger. He seemed like he was in good spirits though before he went.
Here are a bunch of pics...
Thursday, July 23, 2009
WooHoo!
We found a house out in the country!! And when I say country, I mean country! It is a 2 bedroom, one bath with acreage (if we want to use it). It is adjacent to Turtle River State Park (for those of you who wish to Google it and see how country it really is!). There is trout fishing in the Turtle River and PLENTY of deer/elk hunting opportunities on the property! The house is a little farm house that will be perfect for us! We were the first people who showed up and took it on the spot.
After seeing other houses going for over $1,000 per month to rent in the city, we decided to focus our efforts to looking in the country. Ask and ye shall receive. While we were getting ready to leave it started raining (no rain in the forecast) and there was a double rainbow! One end looked like it was on the property and the other end looked like it was around the campground. I have many pictures that I will upload when I get to Joyce's work. The internet connection is waaaay to slow here at the campground to upload pics.
We have a new family member! The best I can tell, it is a baby Purple Martin bird. I was walking over to the office to get a much needed Mountain Dew and he was laying on his back in the middle of a pull through campsite. It looked like he was missing a leg, but it popped out after a while. He has all his feathers, but is real small. I went back to the Wiener Bagel II and got a small cardboard box and put him in it. I gave him some water and he was extremely thirsty and then when he was done drinking, he fell asleep in my hand. He actually seems to enjoy being petted. I tried to feed him and he will not eat, so I am going to have to force feed him to get some nutrients in him so he makes it. He is not using his feet/legs at all and seems like he might have been kicked out of the nest. I kept an eye on him for a while before picking him up to make sure there weren't any parents around. After looking on the internet, the best I can see, he is a Purple Martin. He is used to me lets me pick him up with no problems. He falls asleep in my hand now every time I pick him up.
In other news, I got the Jeep up and running. I have to tune the carb as it is running rich and was blowing a ton of blue smoke out of the passengers side exhaust. It does start up and does not choke itself out when I hit the gas. The only other thing I need to do before I get it on the road is bleed the front brakes and it should be ready to go! I do think the Jeep will be a great vehicle up until winter! Maybe even after winter with a plow on it. We stopped off at a store that was kind of like a Tractor Supply mixed with a department store. It had everything you could possibly want/need and more! I found some of the screw in style snaps for the top of the jeep. I had the bimini top on it while we were towing it behind the motorhome and it came out of the track that was on the top and tore, so I want to put a few snaps along the front of the soft top so it doesn't pull off like the bimini top did. Can't wait to get it dialed in! Looking forward to driving it. It will struggle to keep up with the 75 mph speed limit safely, but we are more about getting there safely than fast.
We are tenatively planning on a trip back to Baltimore around the first of September to get our things out of storage and the Ramcharger out of storage so we can make the 1500 mile trip back out of here again! It should be more worry free, as it will be a rental truck we will be driving and we will have the Ramcharger being trailered on the back if trouble should arise.
Things are going great and we are extremely happy! We had a Cessna Skymaster spraying for Mosquitoes last night. Extreme low altitude flying at it's greatest. Met a lot of people here at the campground. The people here are nice and very friendly like the guy that was telling us about the skeeter spray last night. We talked for about 20 minutes about things to do here in Grand Forks. With both of us having grown up in Michigan, we are still amazed at how nice the people tend to be in the upper mid-west.
Thats all for now. Almost 3 am and need to get the Jeep done or as close to it as I can tomorrow.
After seeing other houses going for over $1,000 per month to rent in the city, we decided to focus our efforts to looking in the country. Ask and ye shall receive. While we were getting ready to leave it started raining (no rain in the forecast) and there was a double rainbow! One end looked like it was on the property and the other end looked like it was around the campground. I have many pictures that I will upload when I get to Joyce's work. The internet connection is waaaay to slow here at the campground to upload pics.
We have a new family member! The best I can tell, it is a baby Purple Martin bird. I was walking over to the office to get a much needed Mountain Dew and he was laying on his back in the middle of a pull through campsite. It looked like he was missing a leg, but it popped out after a while. He has all his feathers, but is real small. I went back to the Wiener Bagel II and got a small cardboard box and put him in it. I gave him some water and he was extremely thirsty and then when he was done drinking, he fell asleep in my hand. He actually seems to enjoy being petted. I tried to feed him and he will not eat, so I am going to have to force feed him to get some nutrients in him so he makes it. He is not using his feet/legs at all and seems like he might have been kicked out of the nest. I kept an eye on him for a while before picking him up to make sure there weren't any parents around. After looking on the internet, the best I can see, he is a Purple Martin. He is used to me lets me pick him up with no problems. He falls asleep in my hand now every time I pick him up.
In other news, I got the Jeep up and running. I have to tune the carb as it is running rich and was blowing a ton of blue smoke out of the passengers side exhaust. It does start up and does not choke itself out when I hit the gas. The only other thing I need to do before I get it on the road is bleed the front brakes and it should be ready to go! I do think the Jeep will be a great vehicle up until winter! Maybe even after winter with a plow on it. We stopped off at a store that was kind of like a Tractor Supply mixed with a department store. It had everything you could possibly want/need and more! I found some of the screw in style snaps for the top of the jeep. I had the bimini top on it while we were towing it behind the motorhome and it came out of the track that was on the top and tore, so I want to put a few snaps along the front of the soft top so it doesn't pull off like the bimini top did. Can't wait to get it dialed in! Looking forward to driving it. It will struggle to keep up with the 75 mph speed limit safely, but we are more about getting there safely than fast.
We are tenatively planning on a trip back to Baltimore around the first of September to get our things out of storage and the Ramcharger out of storage so we can make the 1500 mile trip back out of here again! It should be more worry free, as it will be a rental truck we will be driving and we will have the Ramcharger being trailered on the back if trouble should arise.
Things are going great and we are extremely happy! We had a Cessna Skymaster spraying for Mosquitoes last night. Extreme low altitude flying at it's greatest. Met a lot of people here at the campground. The people here are nice and very friendly like the guy that was telling us about the skeeter spray last night. We talked for about 20 minutes about things to do here in Grand Forks. With both of us having grown up in Michigan, we are still amazed at how nice the people tend to be in the upper mid-west.
Thats all for now. Almost 3 am and need to get the Jeep done or as close to it as I can tomorrow.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
More Work On The Weiner Bagel II
Had made a few attempts to get the water running a few days ago that lead into a small flood. It was my fault for not checking the plumbing before I turned the water on. I located the source of all of the leaks and did the repairs. I went to Menards today and got a ton of fittings to hook the toilet back up. The compression nut for the water supply line was cracked. I found a fitting that I thought would work and put a little too much torque on it and snapped the threads off of it. Not a huge problem. We have survived this long without water and using the campground bathroom.
Still get a ton of people asking about what year and make the Wiener Bagel II is in the campground. We still had the rim that gave us problems back in Woodville Wisconsin and decided to make it a fire pit as it was no good and we did not get a fire ring at our campsite.
The campground is great. It is very quiet and the people have been extremely nice. It has certianlly been a lot of fun so far and Grand Forks, ND is exactly what we both have been wanting. I still have to get my fishing license though. There have been record setting walleye coming out of the Red River this year. Went to Cabellas yesterday and picked up another fishing lure. Ate at the Blue Moose Bar and Grill (In East Grand Forks, MN) before Cabellas. Had probably the best pan fried walleye I have ever eaten! We have also really enjoyed the food at the truck stop near the campground.
Speaking of the truckstop...we had went in to get ice for our cooler and Joyce went out. I got a call from her and she sounded like she lost use of half of her body or something. She asked where I was. I told her I was still inside. She saw the windows down in the car and couldn't find the dogs anywhere!! I reminded her that they were back at home in the Wiener Bagel II. She has been thinking she is loosing it ever since then. Good times! (This was the first time we left the dogs in the motorhome so she was used to seeing them when we go out to the car.) She was out in the parking lot of the truck stop yelling for them. It was extremely funny! The dogs are doing good alone in the motorhome too. Wini gets put in her cage (as she did at home) and Duke lays on the bench where I put his bed. We need to unpack the rest of our clothes and it should feel more like home!
The Mercedes loves it here too! The campground is down a dirt road and some of it is washboard. The seals must have reseated themselves in the hydraulic rear suspension because the back end has been riding at normal height and staying that way even after we shut it off which is a good thing! It has been running well too!
I am finally getting around to rebuilding the carburator for the Jeep tomorrow. We have been out and about looking for a house and checking the town out and been getting back to the campground too late to work on it. I have it off and sitting in a tupperware container with carb cleaner in it. It already looks so much cleaner. While it is off, I am going to vacuum all of the nuts and acorn shells off of the intake from squirrells making it thier home. Brakes are all done and fronts need to be bled and once the carb is back on, it will be ready to go! I also got the soft top on it and it looks great. I do need to get a new set of wider tires for it. The ones that were on it when we got it were 15" wide, but dryrotted a little and didnt sell. I put the other tires for the trip out here because they were newer and a lot narrower (less surface area hitting the road, causing less drag while in tow). It looks more like a military jeep with the narrow tires on it. I still want a little more aggressive tread pattern. It did clean up real nice though. I am going to put a tilt steering column in it because my big fat belly keeps hitting the steering wheel when I get in and out. Other than that, it is the perfect truck for here.
Better go and get the windows shut. It is supposed to rain/thunderstorm tonight. On;y a 30% chance, but dont want to get the inside wet if it does. Today was extremely nice out. Got up to about 80 and the wind was blowing. The nights have been getting pretty chilly, getting down into the 50's. It is hard to complain about though. It stays light until about 10pm here.
Goodnight.
Still get a ton of people asking about what year and make the Wiener Bagel II is in the campground. We still had the rim that gave us problems back in Woodville Wisconsin and decided to make it a fire pit as it was no good and we did not get a fire ring at our campsite.
The campground is great. It is very quiet and the people have been extremely nice. It has certianlly been a lot of fun so far and Grand Forks, ND is exactly what we both have been wanting. I still have to get my fishing license though. There have been record setting walleye coming out of the Red River this year. Went to Cabellas yesterday and picked up another fishing lure. Ate at the Blue Moose Bar and Grill (In East Grand Forks, MN) before Cabellas. Had probably the best pan fried walleye I have ever eaten! We have also really enjoyed the food at the truck stop near the campground.
Speaking of the truckstop...we had went in to get ice for our cooler and Joyce went out. I got a call from her and she sounded like she lost use of half of her body or something. She asked where I was. I told her I was still inside. She saw the windows down in the car and couldn't find the dogs anywhere!! I reminded her that they were back at home in the Wiener Bagel II. She has been thinking she is loosing it ever since then. Good times! (This was the first time we left the dogs in the motorhome so she was used to seeing them when we go out to the car.) She was out in the parking lot of the truck stop yelling for them. It was extremely funny! The dogs are doing good alone in the motorhome too. Wini gets put in her cage (as she did at home) and Duke lays on the bench where I put his bed. We need to unpack the rest of our clothes and it should feel more like home!
The Mercedes loves it here too! The campground is down a dirt road and some of it is washboard. The seals must have reseated themselves in the hydraulic rear suspension because the back end has been riding at normal height and staying that way even after we shut it off which is a good thing! It has been running well too!
I am finally getting around to rebuilding the carburator for the Jeep tomorrow. We have been out and about looking for a house and checking the town out and been getting back to the campground too late to work on it. I have it off and sitting in a tupperware container with carb cleaner in it. It already looks so much cleaner. While it is off, I am going to vacuum all of the nuts and acorn shells off of the intake from squirrells making it thier home. Brakes are all done and fronts need to be bled and once the carb is back on, it will be ready to go! I also got the soft top on it and it looks great. I do need to get a new set of wider tires for it. The ones that were on it when we got it were 15" wide, but dryrotted a little and didnt sell. I put the other tires for the trip out here because they were newer and a lot narrower (less surface area hitting the road, causing less drag while in tow). It looks more like a military jeep with the narrow tires on it. I still want a little more aggressive tread pattern. It did clean up real nice though. I am going to put a tilt steering column in it because my big fat belly keeps hitting the steering wheel when I get in and out. Other than that, it is the perfect truck for here.
Better go and get the windows shut. It is supposed to rain/thunderstorm tonight. On;y a 30% chance, but dont want to get the inside wet if it does. Today was extremely nice out. Got up to about 80 and the wind was blowing. The nights have been getting pretty chilly, getting down into the 50's. It is hard to complain about though. It stays light until about 10pm here.
Goodnight.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Some Pics
Our internet connection here at the campground is a little shaky, but sometimes it isnt too bad. Here are a few pics.
It is so nice to be out of the city! We are having a blast here. I am hooked on a place called Taco Johns. Fast food tacos. Comparing Taco Johns to Taco Bell is like comparing Mc.Donalds and Burger king. They do have an item called Potato Ole's. They are tater tots that taste a lot like Burger Kings breakfast hashbrowns and are coin shaped like them also. They put beef, maters, refried beans, cheese, guacomole, olives and sour cream on them. They are great! Just what I need huh? :)
It has been windy yesterday and today. We had a storm come through on Tuesday. It was unreal! It is so flat here that you can see for miles. When we were driving, we could see such a large area and at any given time, we could see 3-5 lightning strikes, miles away! The rain came down sideways for a little while, but we stayed dry and so did the Weiner Bagel II.
The dogs are getting used to campground life for the most part. They enjoy being out in the country and going for rides! You would think they would be sick and tired of being in the car, but when we ask if they want to go, they go crazy!
I got all the parts to fix the jeep and have the front brakes on. The drivers side wheel cylinder was frozen, so I replaced both wheel cylinders and the brake shoes in the front. It got a little chilly out, so I will finish that up tomorrow. I also have the carb rebuild kit for it and will do that tomorrow as well.
All in all, we are extremely happy here so far. As soon as we crossed into Fargo from Moorehead, MN we saw the speed limit was 75 mph. They were doing construction on 29 and had merged the northbound traffic onto 29 southbound and only dropped the speed limit down to 65! The only thing separating northbound traffic from southbound were cones. Anyplace else, the speed limit would have been 35! It's just a different way of life out here.
The campground is next to a sugar beet field. The night pictures were taken from that field. We are on the south side of Grand Forks, just outside of town and you can see the line where the town starts.
Well, it is not letting me upload pictures this time. I will try to get some uploaded from Joyces work next time I am there.
Keep checking back!
It is so nice to be out of the city! We are having a blast here. I am hooked on a place called Taco Johns. Fast food tacos. Comparing Taco Johns to Taco Bell is like comparing Mc.Donalds and Burger king. They do have an item called Potato Ole's. They are tater tots that taste a lot like Burger Kings breakfast hashbrowns and are coin shaped like them also. They put beef, maters, refried beans, cheese, guacomole, olives and sour cream on them. They are great! Just what I need huh? :)
It has been windy yesterday and today. We had a storm come through on Tuesday. It was unreal! It is so flat here that you can see for miles. When we were driving, we could see such a large area and at any given time, we could see 3-5 lightning strikes, miles away! The rain came down sideways for a little while, but we stayed dry and so did the Weiner Bagel II.
The dogs are getting used to campground life for the most part. They enjoy being out in the country and going for rides! You would think they would be sick and tired of being in the car, but when we ask if they want to go, they go crazy!
I got all the parts to fix the jeep and have the front brakes on. The drivers side wheel cylinder was frozen, so I replaced both wheel cylinders and the brake shoes in the front. It got a little chilly out, so I will finish that up tomorrow. I also have the carb rebuild kit for it and will do that tomorrow as well.
All in all, we are extremely happy here so far. As soon as we crossed into Fargo from Moorehead, MN we saw the speed limit was 75 mph. They were doing construction on 29 and had merged the northbound traffic onto 29 southbound and only dropped the speed limit down to 65! The only thing separating northbound traffic from southbound were cones. Anyplace else, the speed limit would have been 35! It's just a different way of life out here.
The campground is next to a sugar beet field. The night pictures were taken from that field. We are on the south side of Grand Forks, just outside of town and you can see the line where the town starts.
Well, it is not letting me upload pictures this time. I will try to get some uploaded from Joyces work next time I am there.
Keep checking back!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
MADE IT!!
We finally made it to North Dakota!! We will be posting more pictures when we can. It has been an adventure to say the least. Despite the few minor problems with the motorhome, it was actually pretty fun. The engine and transmission were both good and it ran strong, even through the mountains towing the jeep, we never dipped below 45mph, so we cant complain about that at all.
We got most of the parts for the jeep last night at the O'Riellys auto parts store here in Grand Forks. I have to pick the carb rebuild kit up and the rear brakes up tonight, so the jeep should be up and running (and stopping) tomorrow if things go well. The drivers side front wheel cylinder was frozen, so I got both front wheel cylinders for the front to replace and new brakes all the way around. I will spend some time on rebuilding the carb tonight and it should be ready to go!
It was actually pretty funny, when we went to the auto parts store last night, the guy behind the counter used to live close to Baltimore, MD and he said that the people in Maryland do not know how to drive! I completely agreed with him about that! I am glad that I am not the only one who saw that. Once we got outside of the Baltimore Beltway, for the most part, the people drove like they were supposed to, even through Chicago on 94!
We are glad to be here though! I will post pictures soon!
We got most of the parts for the jeep last night at the O'Riellys auto parts store here in Grand Forks. I have to pick the carb rebuild kit up and the rear brakes up tonight, so the jeep should be up and running (and stopping) tomorrow if things go well. The drivers side front wheel cylinder was frozen, so I got both front wheel cylinders for the front to replace and new brakes all the way around. I will spend some time on rebuilding the carb tonight and it should be ready to go!
It was actually pretty funny, when we went to the auto parts store last night, the guy behind the counter used to live close to Baltimore, MD and he said that the people in Maryland do not know how to drive! I completely agreed with him about that! I am glad that I am not the only one who saw that. Once we got outside of the Baltimore Beltway, for the most part, the people drove like they were supposed to, even through Chicago on 94!
We are glad to be here though! I will post pictures soon!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Another Minor Setback...
We left Grams yesterday (Saturday) and headed out. We got into Wisconsin and the brakes got a little spongy so we decided that we would stop at the Jellystone Campground. It was a little on the pricey side, but it was a nice place and TONS of activities for families. The brake booster and reservoir is located under the drivers side floorboard. It took some work to get the wooden floor/trap door open so I could check the brake fluid. When I finally got it off, I found I needed brake fluid. We got on the road this morning and it was as good as new. Got to western Wisconsin and there was a viberation coming from the rear. I pulled off thinking it was a tire either going flat or one that was flat. Pulled into a BP gas station in Woodville, WI.
After pulling the hubcap, I noticed I sheared 2 lugs at the brake drum and the grease cap for the wheel berings was off and the axle grease (which is supposed to have a consistancy close to pertolium jelly) had heated up to the point of liquefying and it had leaked out all over the ground. After talking to the owner of the BP, Steve, he called an emergency tire place and put us up in his motel that is just behind the station where I am writing from right now. The tire guy will be here in the morning with the correct size lugs for the wheels and will swap out the brand new tire on the bad rim to the spare rim. I believe the lug nuts were not the correct ones and were the initial cause of the problem. The lug holes were oblong or oval in shape which caused more play in that wheel and eventually causing the 2 lugs to fail and shear. Hopefully this will be taken care of about 7 hours from now and we can make the last leg of our journey to Grand Forks, ND! We have about 5 and a half hours to go and if all goes well, we should be able to make it there tomorrow!
Internet here is extremely slow and it will take forever to load pictures into this post, so I will upload some more when we get better internet.
On another note, we did finally get some Wisconsin Cheese and summer sausage while waiting for the tire guy to get here. It was very good!
I also think the dogs will be happy when we get to the campground. Duke is finally starting to get used to campgrounds while Wini is taking over in the barking department. Never ending cycle!
After pulling the hubcap, I noticed I sheared 2 lugs at the brake drum and the grease cap for the wheel berings was off and the axle grease (which is supposed to have a consistancy close to pertolium jelly) had heated up to the point of liquefying and it had leaked out all over the ground. After talking to the owner of the BP, Steve, he called an emergency tire place and put us up in his motel that is just behind the station where I am writing from right now. The tire guy will be here in the morning with the correct size lugs for the wheels and will swap out the brand new tire on the bad rim to the spare rim. I believe the lug nuts were not the correct ones and were the initial cause of the problem. The lug holes were oblong or oval in shape which caused more play in that wheel and eventually causing the 2 lugs to fail and shear. Hopefully this will be taken care of about 7 hours from now and we can make the last leg of our journey to Grand Forks, ND! We have about 5 and a half hours to go and if all goes well, we should be able to make it there tomorrow!
Internet here is extremely slow and it will take forever to load pictures into this post, so I will upload some more when we get better internet.
On another note, we did finally get some Wisconsin Cheese and summer sausage while waiting for the tire guy to get here. It was very good!
I also think the dogs will be happy when we get to the campground. Duke is finally starting to get used to campgrounds while Wini is taking over in the barking department. Never ending cycle!
Monday, July 6, 2009
More Pictures...
Top Pic is at the Mason Dixon Campground just across the border in Pennsylvania near Frostburg, MD. It was real nice and quiet there and was a great little campground. They had several pull through sites with full hookups (Water, sewer and electric). They also had a pond for fishing. If we had more time, I could have easily spent a week there. The dogs liked the nature trails.
Second picture is on 70 near Frostburg.
Third pic is at the Mason Dixon Campground again.
Fourth is at the KOA Kampground in Washington, PA. The hosts were extremely nice and we have had good experiences at the 2 KOA's we have stayed at.
And the last one is in Indiana.
Finally Made It To Grams!!
Valparaiso was a very welcome sight for us yesterday! Smooth day driving yesterday. We got on 65 north and about 10 miles away from the exit we were supposed to get off on and there were signs for construction traffic and we had the opportunity to wait in traffic for an hour and a half to go about 6 miles. Who works on roadways over a holiday weekend anyway???
Anyway, we got here and are safe. It was very nice to relax on the porch today and finally be able to clear our heads. The dogs are loving being able to lay on the grass and sleep without the worry of people bothering them!!
Also, got to have White Castle for the first time in 2 years and was extremely happy about that!
We are planning on leaving here on Wednesday morning to finish up the last half of the trip, hopefully problem free.
Now that I have a decent internet connection, I will post many pictures from the first half that I was not able to post due to the lack of bandwidth.
The pictures from here on out may not be that great of quality due to the fact that my camera went through the washer and the dryer today. I had to charge the battery and made sure it was free from any water and it powered up and took a few pictures and everything looked fine! It looks like it went through a tornado, but still works!
Keep checking back for more updates! Will update when we can.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Richmond, IN Has A Nice KOA!
We got up and onto 270 from the campground yesterday. We made it out onto 270 and the drivers side rear tire gave up its tread! Another trip to Wally World and we got one tire replaced and were able to get it to the Wal Mart to get the 4th and final tire on it. Now the Weiner Bagel is sitting pretty on 4 new tires under warranty! WooHoo!!
After getting tired of the alternator belt squealing away in my ear for miles on end, we stopped in Richmond, IN at a Love's truck stop to get fuel. I decided to pull the engine cover and tighten the belt. I had a spare that we picked up in Columbus at NAPA. I broke the bolt on the alternator!! It was a steel bolt inside of a threaded aluminum housing on the alternator and being subjected to years of engine heat, the bolt finally decided to give way. The other bolt that held the alternator to the bracket was stuck. After a few hours of getting dirty and greasy, I finally was able to get the alternator out so I could drill and tap the alternator housing after extracting the broken bolt. (all still sitting at the gas pump!). I put the old belt back on it and we were able to limp back one exit to the KOA Kampground. It is raining outside right now and doesn't really look like it is going to let up before nightfall, so fireworks are going to have to be viewed from inside the Weiner Bagel II. We also have some snakes that should be entertaining to light off in the wet road.
Trying it again tomorrow. Planning on getting out on the road around 10am and keeping our fingers crossed. The new belt we got today from Auto Zone works great and was 1/4th the price of what NAPA charged for the same belt. (got an extra as a spare). We got all the bugs worked out and the rest of the trip should go smoothly. (hopefully)
After getting tired of the alternator belt squealing away in my ear for miles on end, we stopped in Richmond, IN at a Love's truck stop to get fuel. I decided to pull the engine cover and tighten the belt. I had a spare that we picked up in Columbus at NAPA. I broke the bolt on the alternator!! It was a steel bolt inside of a threaded aluminum housing on the alternator and being subjected to years of engine heat, the bolt finally decided to give way. The other bolt that held the alternator to the bracket was stuck. After a few hours of getting dirty and greasy, I finally was able to get the alternator out so I could drill and tap the alternator housing after extracting the broken bolt. (all still sitting at the gas pump!). I put the old belt back on it and we were able to limp back one exit to the KOA Kampground. It is raining outside right now and doesn't really look like it is going to let up before nightfall, so fireworks are going to have to be viewed from inside the Weiner Bagel II. We also have some snakes that should be entertaining to light off in the wet road.
Trying it again tomorrow. Planning on getting out on the road around 10am and keeping our fingers crossed. The new belt we got today from Auto Zone works great and was 1/4th the price of what NAPA charged for the same belt. (got an extra as a spare). We got all the bugs worked out and the rest of the trip should go smoothly. (hopefully)
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Columbus is nice this time of year...
Well, our first real opportunity to update the blog since we have left. A few minor inconveniences surfaced, but nothing major that we could not deal with:
We got on 70 West, just past Frederick, MD When I realized that the door to the Weiner Bagel II was not latched. 65mph (or 112 kilometers per hour, as the Weiner Bagel was manufactured in Canada) and Wini decides to check out the scenery outside of the door which is hovering open!
Duke, the big ugly dog decided that he was going to act up too. We made it into the mountains in Western Maryland when he decided that he wanted to be the driver and tried to weasel his way in under my feet while driving! Had to pull over near the runaway truck ramp, which scared the crap out of Joyce because she thought my brakes had gone out. After transferring both dogs to the other car, we were off...well almost. The shifter linkage had gotten a little loose from it sitting so long. Fire ants were EVERYWHERE! Had no way of laying down on the ground to get to the linkage, so I had to wait for it to cool down a bit before I was able to get a wrench on it to tighten it down. Part of the problem was that I had stopped downhill and it was just hard to get it into gear with the Jeep trying to push it downhill too.
We made it to the Mason-Dixon Campground that night. Nice little place. We decided that after busting our butts packing and everything, that we would take an extra day to get some much needed r&r, so we spent 2 days there. It was a nice little campground. Got to go fishing and caught a couple too! The campground had full hookups and was very quiet. It was just into PA.
We packed everything up and were off with plans of making it as far as Columbus. We made it to Washington, PA to the KOA campground. We had another minor problem that was a quick and easy fix. The negative terminal on the battery broke at a truck stop where we were got fuel. After diagnosing it, the girl behind the counter at the truck stop told us there was a NAPA a block away. One battery terminal later and we were back in business. We left this morning (Thursday). We got almost to Columbus, OH when I felt a shimmy in the front end. Tire. The tread tore off of the tire, exposing the belts. Pulled over to a gas station. Come to find out, we were in....yup, you guessed it...BALTIMORE, OH!! It was like Baltimore was issuing one last swift kick in the pants! Several trips to a few tire places and many calls and dealings with the locals, we found that Wal Mart (which was the next exit up) had a size smaller tire. One of the guys there stayed after his shift to help us with mounting the new tires.
We finally wound up at the campground we had picked out in our original plan of being our first stop, in Columbus. The Cross Creek Campground is...well...packed! The KOA was pretty busy in PA, but we got the last site available in the campground, minutes before they closed. It is nice here. There are activities scheduled just about every day and they have lots to do! Too bad we aren't planning on staying.
The plan is to make it to Indiana tomorrow (Friday). With the 2 new tires on the front, we are keeping our fingers crossed that we will make it with no problems. Everything else seems to be doing good. I do need to tighten the alternator belt before we go (or replace it), but just minor stuff. Have all my tools with me, so shouldn't be too bad.
Anyway, will try to update when we get to Valpo!
We got on 70 West, just past Frederick, MD When I realized that the door to the Weiner Bagel II was not latched. 65mph (or 112 kilometers per hour, as the Weiner Bagel was manufactured in Canada) and Wini decides to check out the scenery outside of the door which is hovering open!
Duke, the big ugly dog decided that he was going to act up too. We made it into the mountains in Western Maryland when he decided that he wanted to be the driver and tried to weasel his way in under my feet while driving! Had to pull over near the runaway truck ramp, which scared the crap out of Joyce because she thought my brakes had gone out. After transferring both dogs to the other car, we were off...well almost. The shifter linkage had gotten a little loose from it sitting so long. Fire ants were EVERYWHERE! Had no way of laying down on the ground to get to the linkage, so I had to wait for it to cool down a bit before I was able to get a wrench on it to tighten it down. Part of the problem was that I had stopped downhill and it was just hard to get it into gear with the Jeep trying to push it downhill too.
We made it to the Mason-Dixon Campground that night. Nice little place. We decided that after busting our butts packing and everything, that we would take an extra day to get some much needed r&r, so we spent 2 days there. It was a nice little campground. Got to go fishing and caught a couple too! The campground had full hookups and was very quiet. It was just into PA.
We packed everything up and were off with plans of making it as far as Columbus. We made it to Washington, PA to the KOA campground. We had another minor problem that was a quick and easy fix. The negative terminal on the battery broke at a truck stop where we were got fuel. After diagnosing it, the girl behind the counter at the truck stop told us there was a NAPA a block away. One battery terminal later and we were back in business. We left this morning (Thursday). We got almost to Columbus, OH when I felt a shimmy in the front end. Tire. The tread tore off of the tire, exposing the belts. Pulled over to a gas station. Come to find out, we were in....yup, you guessed it...BALTIMORE, OH!! It was like Baltimore was issuing one last swift kick in the pants! Several trips to a few tire places and many calls and dealings with the locals, we found that Wal Mart (which was the next exit up) had a size smaller tire. One of the guys there stayed after his shift to help us with mounting the new tires.
We finally wound up at the campground we had picked out in our original plan of being our first stop, in Columbus. The Cross Creek Campground is...well...packed! The KOA was pretty busy in PA, but we got the last site available in the campground, minutes before they closed. It is nice here. There are activities scheduled just about every day and they have lots to do! Too bad we aren't planning on staying.
The plan is to make it to Indiana tomorrow (Friday). With the 2 new tires on the front, we are keeping our fingers crossed that we will make it with no problems. Everything else seems to be doing good. I do need to tighten the alternator belt before we go (or replace it), but just minor stuff. Have all my tools with me, so shouldn't be too bad.
Anyway, will try to update when we get to Valpo!
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