I am going to try to catch up with my blog posting tonight. I have been very busy with just managing broken things in this motorhome and being in places where I have not had good cell or internet service. At least that is my excuse.
Problem #1 - Grey Tank Not Draining
To begin, I have to explain that I have had a problem with my grey water tank backing up and not draining correctly. Grey water is the waste water that results from things like showering, washing hands and brushing teeth in the bathroom sink, and doing dishes in the kitchen.
The other kind of waste water is black water that comes from your toilet, in other words, it is the nastier kind of sewage. Actually, it is easier to unclog a black tank problem because my motorhome, along with many motorhomes, comes with a built-in flushing mechanism. Basically, there is a connection on the outside of my rig. After I dump my black water tank, I attach a hose to the black tank flush connection, attach the other side of the hose to a connection at the dump station, and turn it on. Water sprays inside the black tank and washes the gunk and other unmentionable stuff from the sides and bottom of the tank.
However, there is nothing like that in the grey tank. My grey waste tank holds 35 gallons, which in the past, allows me to take a short "Navy" shower and do dishes each day for 3-4 days before dumping. Since I got back from my trip to the UK, I have been able to take only one short shower and maybe rinse a couple of dishes in the kitchen sink, and the water starts to back up in the shower pan. It is the lowest place, so if the backup continues, it could run onto the floor and make a serious mess. I have used two bottles of drain opener and am convinced that the problem is not the shower drain or the drains, but is an issue where the water leaves the tank when I dump it into the campground dump station.
I had one mobile mechanic look it over, and he felt I needed to get someone to flush my tank, but not every RV repair place can do this, and I have not been in places where there are a lot of RV service places, so I have been managing by dumping my dish washing water into the toilet and dumping both tanks once each day.
Problem #2 - Wobbling Dual Wheels
My most recent and most serious problem was with my dual tires on the passenger side of my motorhome. As I was driving west on I-76 just past the
Colorado line yesterday afternoon, I started to hear and feel vibrations
which got really bad. I slowed down, put my flashers on, and made it a
mile to a very welcome Welcome Center. Whew! Called CoachNet and
discussed the problem. They called around to find a truck repair place,
but nearest was 30 miles east. They also had trouble getting tow service
way out here in the middle of nowhere. Only one they could find could
not pick me up until 9-10 pm. Luckily, I had the generator running
(just been serviced) and my AC on. But this meant I would not arrive at
Ogallala until almost midnight and might not have a place to stay in
this horrible heat wave.
Anyway, I noticed an older run-down RV park across the road and walked
over there. It had maybe three permanent residents, but I called the
number on the door and a lady came from town and checked me in. Not a place I would choose to stay, but good
news was that power was reliable and full hookup if I needed it. I
drove slowly across the street and got hooked up. Good night with AC! Much better
than spending the night at a truck stop or the welcome center!!
The next morning the tow truck driver arrived and pulled off hubcap from
the passenger side rear outside dually. (This consists of two tires that are bolted together to take the huge weight of the rear of my vehicle.) Note in the photo above that it takes a big tow truck to tow my vehicle!
The shocking news was that of the 8 lug nuts holding my
tire on, there were only 2 attached. The other 6 were rolling around in
the hub cap!!! They were just sheared off completely. I had been very, very close to losing the entire two wheels that are bolted together in the rear of my vehicle. Had they fallen off, there would have been thousands of dollars of damage to stuff like water and sewage tanks, electrical wiring, and who knows what else under my vehicle. In addition, the side wall of my rig would also have been substantially damaged, probably resulting in my rig being declared un-salvageable.
Because this affected the rear tires, the tow truck driver said he would have had to tow
me backwards, and because I have one of those Cs with a very long rear overhang, that would be difficult, plus it would put all the weight on the front tires. Each of the six tires on my vehicle are capable of carrying about 2,500 pounds of weight. So the single front tires could hold only 5,000 of the 14,800 pounds of weight of my vehicle. They would no doubt blow out, causing even more damage, so towing was out of the question. And, it could take days to get a big enough flatbed truck and who knows if they could even pull it up onto one of those!!
So, I asked if someone could repair it here. He made a long phone call to his boss and went
back to his shop to return the big tow truck and get a smaller one with
his tools and some lug nuts. At this point, I was very happy to have full hookups so I could run AC in the 98 degree heat. Luckily, this tow company was a family-run business, and they also did work on big and smaller vehicles. The result was that it took him about an hour-and-a-half to replace all of the bolts and lug nuts, check the other set of duallies for damage, and send me on my way.
Anyway, I was happy to pay the bill and get back on the road. Made it an hour later to North Sterling State Park, got a fill of water, and plugged into the power at my site!
Not much in this part of northwestern Colorado but grass, cows, corn, and a very few farms. Traffic was pretty scarce, as well.
I was too tired and hot to take any photos of the campground, but just imagine a lake in the middle of all of this grass, and a few flies and grasshoppers like this one.
Tomorrow, I head for Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park, where it will be at least 15-20 degrees cooler!! Yea!
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