Great Escape from Ft. Stockton

Wed., Feb. 5, 2014

Traders Village RV Park .Grand Prairie, TX

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CONTENTS
RV LIFE
BROWSING THE WWW
BOOK REVIEW
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RV LIFE:
We are still in Texas and it's 27°!!!!!
FINALLY, we are on our way. We got our truck back at 6 pm on Monday. Scott drove it around a bit and all seemed fine. We decided to take off the next day on Tuesday. Our trip was to be 250 miles, but...
I'll let Scott explain (from his Facebook page)
Scott wrote on Tuesday: "OK, we've left Ft Stockton on our way to Tye RV Park, near Abilene, TX. 250 miles. Our re-manufactured by Ford, 6.0 Diesel engine, is running great. It really is as close to a new engine as you can get. It included EVERYTHING, almost. :( About 80 miles into our trip, we heard a slight pop, and then it sounded like a big fan was blowing in the engine compartment. Not the normal fan noises, but another fan. Power dropped, not good. We're on Rt 385, heading to Odessa and I-20. We've seen nothing since leaving Ft Stockton. Seems we've experienced this before, not long ago. Can we make 25 miles to Odessa, TX? I pull over and check everything I can. No leaks, no obvious problems, and no extra fan noise. I have Deb rev engine, all seems normal, so back on the road to Odessa and the nearest RV park and Ford dealer. (2 year unlimited warranty on engine.) I'm noticing a lack of power and "fan noise" when turbo hits about 10 PSI, it won't go higher. I pull over again and check turbo plumbing problems. Nothing obvious, but I'm thinking turbo problems. We make it to Odessa and an RV park that can only accommodate us for 2 nights. I called Fernandez Auto Repair, they did our engine replacement. He said to really check the 2 blue hoses that led from the turbo to the inter-cooler for leaks. I found holes, got replacements from the local Ford dealer, installed them. PROBLEM SOLVED!!! About the only thing that wasn't included with the engine had failed. But, an easy fix, and back on the road again tomorrow towards Tennessee , and Dina's transport to her new forever home. I hate to say it, but I'll miss her. She's a good dog."

See the blue piece just left of the top center?

Time for a new one.

Scott wrote on Wednesday: "Yesterday, after my 1st attempt at installing the 2 turbo hoses failed with a loud "shotgun" blast and blown tire sound. I re-did the connections and tightened them a bit more, over torque warnings be damned, and we hit the road today heading for Sunnyvale, TX. 354 miles away. (gotta get Dina to Nashville Saturday :( ) I was really sweating as the turbo pressure climbed to about 28PSI. But, it held. Maybe we will make it to Sunnyvale. Deb called for reservations. Sorry, we're full. Damn, now where do we go? Using our RV WIFI, DC powered, (we're cheap, we don't have those fancy phones), we search for RV parks along the route and find one in Dallas / Ft Worth area, and they have openings. We pull in about 4:30PM. We made it. The truck ran fine, my repairs held, and everything seems good in the engine compartment. I wasn't looking forward to driving around Dallas/Ft Worth at evening rush pulling a 35' RV, but it wasn't to bad. I guess that commute up the Garden State Parkway and NJ Turnpike around NYC has paid off, finally. :) These other cities with their traffic complaints should come to NJ / NYC area. :)"
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BROWSING THE WWW:

My brother likes to fool around with photo editing. I think this one is hilarious!

"Scott come forward"

I joined Book Crossing when we started full time RV'ing. This is a site that you register books that you've read and leave at different places. When someone picks up those books, they will see a link to the Book Crossing website to submit that you picked up this book. In theory, this is a cool concept. I'd like to see where my books end up. I usually leave them in the RV park laundry or bathroom, unless they have an actual book exchange. After almost 3 years, I have yet to have one of my books show up as picked up. I give up.
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BOOK REVIEW: Kindle Edition
Murder At The Rocks by Jill Paterson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Just an average murder mystery. Seemed a little drawn out. I should have counted how many times Detective Chief Inspector Fitzjohn introduced himself using that full title.
It is worth the read and the ending is a surprise.

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Keeping it short today. Long day for Scott driving and I knitted, as usual. If all goes as planned, we'll be in Arkansas tomorrow (Thur) and Tennessee on Friday. I must admit, I'm looking forward to heading South after that and to hopefully warmer weather. I truly love Winter time, but not in an RV.