5/5 Bryce Canyon and My Favorite Gas Station

 Unless you own and drive a Class C motorhome, you will probably think this is a silly post.  

When I bought my rig way back in March, 2012, I knew I wanted a fairly large gas Class C motorhome.  A Class C motorhome can be identified by the overhang that sits above the cab where the driver and one passenger sit.  It most often contains a full or queen-sized bed for extra sleeping, and can have a gas or a diesel engine.  Many, like mine, are built on a Ford e-450 SuperDuty chassis, which means the front part containing the engine and the middle and rear containing things like the transmission, brakes, and such.  Many, also like mine, have the powerful Ford V-10 engine and transmission, and they work only on diesels, not gas engines.  

Basically, the larger ones like mine are similar to medium-duty delivery trucks.  I chose the gas engine because it had a very long and reliable life in Ford trucks and was likely to give me 300,000 to 400,000 miles of service.  It was also cheaper.   

My other choices were a Class A, which is a big bus with a flat front or a modified van, which is referred to as a Class B van.  The A was too big and the B was too small.  

Most importantly, the dealer who sold me my motorhome told me that since it was a Ford, I could just take it in to any Ford service place.  That was the biggest lie ever told to me!  I soon learned that regular Ford dealers, even ones that worked on pickup trucks, refused to work on my vehicle.  (Obviously, RV dealers can fix the motorhome part of my rig, such as the refrigerator, water pump, plumbing, stove, furnaces, AC, etc. but they DO NOT touch motors, transmissions, or anything else that came from Ford.  

The excuses given by Ford dealers are that their service doors are too narrow or too short, or they don't have a jack big enough to lift my heavy vehicle, their service people don't know how to work on gas engines and/or motorhomes, they don't have the right tools, etc. etc, etc.   

So, when I need engine work, I have to hope I can find a "fleet" Ford dealer who works on commercial medium-duty trucks, but these tend to be found only in fairly large cities.  Very occasionally, I will find a truck repair place or a gas station that will work on bigger vehicles.  I do have a specialized road service company called CoachNet that will tow me or help me find a place that will fix sometime if my motorhome is driveable.   

So, a couple of months ago, after i had been in several dust storms, my motorhome started overheating on hot days, when I was going up very long, steep grades.  When it has happened I turned off the AC and turned on the heater, which burned my feet but cooled off the engine.  I still do not what is wrong, but I wanted to at least get a new air filter installed, and have someone check the radiator.  

So, a few days ago, in the cold and rain, which soon turned to snow, I managed to get to this gas station at the entrance of Bryce Canyon National Park.  I had been here several years ago with a Check Engine light on, and they replaced all 10 spark plugs and half of the coils for a very reasonable price.  However, on this trip, they were swamped with work and could not look at the radiator, but at least put in a few air filter for me.  I'll be in a couple of bigger towns over the next two weeks so will try to get an appointment at one of them.  At least, nothing has overheated in the past three weeks, it is not an emergency. 

First, this is what Bryce Canyon looks like in May with snow!  I'll bet not too many visitors rented electric bikes!   The three photos below are of the Ruby's RV park at the entrance.

This might look like just an ordinary gas station, but when I first drove past it about 6 years ago, I noticed that it has some very large service bay doors!!  That and the sign above one bay that stated that it was a truck/RV wash was a big clue that this was a place I might need some time.  

It is directly across the street from the campground, and even better is that the town shuttle that takes you into the park to the visitor center is right in front!  This meant that when I had the check engine light on and found out I needed new spark plugs, that I could leave my vehicle and spend the day riding the town and park shuttles throughout the park.