I'm OK

Deming, NM.

36 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast = Partly cloudy in the morning, then clear. High of 77F. Winds from the West at 5 to 10 mph.


I'm OK and am now in Deming, NM. It's been a hectic few days, but I think my problems are solved and my fuel system repaired. But, lets back up a few days and I'll see if I can bring you up to date on what's been happening since my last post.

By using some starting fluid, Jim was able to get my engine started Monday morning. We left the Eagle's Nest RV Park about 7:40 AM and headed for El Past to see if we could get my problem repaired.

I was a little nervous as we pulled out onto I-10, because I wasn't sure if my engine would continue to run right or not out on the highway. It ran fine though and by 9:15 we were pulling into On the Border Freightliner, which is on the East side of El Paso and about 1/2 mile off of I-10.

It was 98 miles from Van Horn to the Freightliner place and it had taken us an hour and 35 minutes.

After Jim went inside and talked to the Service Manager, he pulled me around behind the building, unhooked CLT from the back of me and backed me into a spot next to the fence.

Then, we had to wait until a technician was available to check me out.

We didn't have to wait too long though and soon the technician was driving me around to the other end of the building and then because all the shop bays were full, pulled me up right next to it.

As soon as I was parked, he checked under me for loose fuel fittings, tightened a few, and then found the problem when he got back to my fuel filters.

I have a little different set-up than most RVs have. I don't have a primary filter, as such, but have what they call a pre-filter/ water separator and a regular fuel filter. The pre-filter consists of a clear plastic part with a filter inside of it. It's small and sits right along side of the regular filter.

It was this pre-filter that was leaking at the bottom. There are "O" rings at both ends and the bottom one had been deformed when it was last installed.

Anyway, the parts were ordered, (new pre-filter and regular filter), and I had to wait over night.

Yesterday, the parts came in about 10:00, and the technician installed them without a whole lot of trouble.

It was a little hard to get my engine restarted, but once it started it ran just fine and there were no more air bubbles visible in the pre-filter. : )

After Jim paid the bill and got CLT hooked back up behind me, we left On the Border Freightliner 10 minutes before noon.

The traffic thought El Paso was heavy but moved pretty well, and soon we were North of the City and heading for Deming, NM and the Escapees club Dreamcatcher RV Park. This is where we were heading last Friday when my engine wouldn't start, so now instead of staying here for a week, we'll probably only stay for 3 or 4 days.

It was about 1:45 when we pulled up in front of the office / clubhouse so it took us about an hour and 55 minutes to travel the 114 miles over here.

Oh, at about mile marker 125 on I-10 in New Mexico, I saw a really disturbing sight in the Eastbound lanes. There were all kinds of flashing lights and police and fire vehicles all over the place and when we passed by, I saw what the problem was.

It was a large 5th wheel RV Trailer laying on it's side across both lanes of the Interstate road. : (  Couldn't see the truck that had been pulling it, or any other vehicles that were damaged, just the 5th wheel laying there. I don't know what happened and haven't heard anything about it on the news.

I just hope no one was hurt.

As soon as Jim and Linda had me set up, they took CLT and headed into town to get their mail. It had been sent to the Deming Post Office awhile back and they wanted to get it as soon as they could. Then, after taking naps and because the last few days have been very stressful for Jim, Linda and me, they decided to go back into town to a Pizza Hut for dinner.

Did you know that Deming is named after Mary Ann Demming Crocker, wife of Charles Crocker, one of The Big Four of the railroad industry?

Fireworks? Old Faithful? and Dinner

Boerne, TX.

67 deg. overcast, no wind.

Forecast = Overcast in the morning, then partly cloudy. Fog early. High of 79F. Winds less than 5 mph.
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Jim and Linda took CLT and headed into town yesterday morning to do some shopping. The first stop was at "Billy's Western Wear where Jim found 2 short sleeve shirts that he really liked and a new straw cowboy hat to replace the one that looks like it's been worn 3 too many years already.

From Billy's they headed to a place called "EWE & EYE". There, Linda looked at all kinds of craft and gift stuff like needlepoint items, yarn, thread and toys that are home made, such as dresses for the dolls and children's clothes.

She did find a Christmas present for one of the grand kids, but that was about all. The next stop was "Tweety's RV Parts and Supplies". I'm sure some of you RVers are familiar with Tweety's web site as they are quite popular. The only thing Jim bought there was a new high volume water pressure regular for me.

By this time Jim and Linda were getting hungry, so they came back here for lunch.

Being that yesterday was Jim and Linda's anniversary, they had decided that they would go out for dinner. As they were getting ready, Jim and I noticed someone backing back and forth in a site right across the street from me, trying to get his Dutch Star Motor Home properly positioned in the site.

Well, I could tell that the person didn't know what he was doing because he was constantly turning the front wheels the wrong way. A woman was trying to help guide him into the site, but it wasn't helping much.

Anyway, all of a sudden I saw the Dutch Star backing up right towards the utilities post and yep, you guessed it, the driver backed right over them!!!!!

He didn't just bump them, he backed right over them!!!!   The electric box which caused all kinds of fireworks, the cable box which caused even my cable to go off, and the water pipe, which when broken off, gave a very good impression of Old Faithful!!  : O

Then as he pulled ahead, the Dutch Star's splash guard got hooked on the broken off utilities and ripped it off of the left side of the MH!!!!

But, then as they say on those TV infomercials, "there's even more"!!!! Yep, after pulling ahead, he backed right back over the utilities again!!!!!   : O

About this time another RVer went running over there and got the driver to pull ahead and just park.

Jim and Linda were ready to leave by this time, so on their way out of the park, they stopped by the office and told the person behind the desk what had happened. He had already received a phone call telling him about the accident, but he didn't realize that all the utilities had been wiped out.

After stopping at the office Jim and Linda headed to the Hungry Horse Restaurant in town. It wasn't exactly what they had expected, but it was fine.

At this restaurant, you first go to a counter and order your food. then when it's ready they call your name and you pick it up, like at a fast food restaurant. The difference here is that this is not a fast food restaurant, and the meals are cooked just like they would be in a sit-down restaurant.

Anyway, Jim had the beer battered cod dinner, (which was excellent) and Linda had the chicken fried steak dinner which was also excellent. The prices were good, all the food was very good and Jim and Linda enjoyed their meal. : )

By the time they came back here to the park, Old Faithful had been shut down and the electric and cable had been shut off to the site.

Oh, and the Dutch Star, (which really doesn't seem to be damged too much), and another MH had been moved a few sites down the row to sites that were not affected by the damaged utilities.

The evening was spent reading and watching some TV. I think both Jim and Linda had a very good day. ; )

Before I forget, Jim and Linda want to thank everyone who commented / e-mailed / called yesterday to wish them a happy anniversery. : )

Thank You.


Did you know that The first suspension bridge in the United States was the Waco Bridge? Built in 1870 and still in use today as a pedestrian crossing of the Brazos River.

Davenport, IA To Rantoul, IL and Settled Back Into Site #5

Rantoul, IL.

73 deg. Hazy, no wind.

Forecast = Hot and humid. Mostly sunny with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 90s. Southwest winds 10 to 15 mph. Heat index readings 102 to 107.

The trip from Davenport to Rantoul was uneventful. We left Davenport about 5 after 9:00 and once back on I-280, crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois, turned South on I-74 and followed it all the way to SE of the Bloomington / Normal area where we turned East on US 136.  136 then brought us here to Rantoul and back to the Prairie Pines Campground. 

It was about 12:35 when we pulled in so it took us about 3 1/2 hours to travel 188 miles.

I'm now settled back into Site #5, where I was before we left for Wisconsin. I had hoped site #7 would be available when we returned, (I like that site a little better), but it was not. This site is fine but I like how 7 is positioned, and there is more shade on that site during the late afternoon part of the day.

I don't know if you heard about it, but there was a plane crash here in Rantoul while we were gone. A small plane carrying 3 people hit some electrical wires and crashed in a field right next to the CG.

If you want, you can read about it here. Rantoul Plane Crash

Anyway, they still have to do some more repairs on the wires that the plane hit so Louise informed Jim yesterday afternoon, that this morning, at about 8:00, all the power to the CG will be turned off for awhile. She said that they have all the equipment in place and hopefully it won't take too long, especially since the temperatures are supposed to be in the mid 90's today.

Jim says that if it takes too long and it gets too hot inside of me, he'll just fire up my generator for while. It's really not a big deal if you have a self-contained RV. ; )

Don't know what's going to be happening today. Jim and Linda need to get a few groceries, but other than that, I don't think much else will be happening, especially with the very high temperature and humidity conditions that we'll be having.

Did you know that today is "National Milk Chocolate Day"?

I'm Worried, Problems and A Few Pictures

Rantoul, IL.

72 deg. clear, SE wind @ 7 mph.

Forecast, Showers and thunderstorms likely. Highs in the mid 80s. South winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts to around 25 mph. Chance of precipitation 60 percent.

Oh! No!!!!! I'm worried!!!!!! Yesterday I was wondering if anything important would happen for me to write about, and now I wish there wasn't!!!  : (

 First of all, there's a problem with my main awning!! You can put it out but when you want to retract it, it stops and you have to wait for awhile before you can retract it some more and then it stops again!!! Second, my Aqua Hot furnace has developed an anti-freeze leak. Third, when Jim went to dump my tanks, he took off the sewer cap and got a handful of sewage water, and then when he went to flush the black water tank, water squirted all over the place!!!! Then, to top it off, Jim fell down my entry steps!!!! I don't think he hurt himself too bad, (mostly his left leg), but I think he's going to be sore this morning. : ( 

What I'm worried about is that if I'm having these problems and I already caused Jim to get hurt, will they want to keep me? I heard Jim talking to Steve, (the foreman at R & S where they bought me), on the phone and they're taking me back there tomorrow.

I'll bet Myrddin is still there and they just might put all their belongings back in him and leave me there!!!! Then what would I do? Once an RV gets "tagged" as a "lemon" or a "bad luck RV", they just set on the dealers lots for years and years until the dealer finally sells them as junk!!!!

I know!! I've seen it happen!!!!

Oh, No, What am I going to do???????

I was going to show you a few pictures of me that Jim had taken, but now I don't know if I should or not. But, I guess I might as well. : (

This is of me sitting in site #5 here at Prairie Pines Campground

This second picture shows my 2 slides on my left side. The front one has the couch, stove and sink it it, so it's pretty big and extends about 18"  The rear slide has the head of the bed in it, and extends about 24"

Jim and Linda have both been working on organizing their things. Linda spent most of the afternoon yesterday going through old papers and documents and Jim worked some more on the things in my basement. Then for dinner they went to Monical's Pizza.
I sure hope today goes better than yesterday, I"m not getting off to a very good start. : (

A Point to Ponder : Grandmas are just ancient little girls.