Reman'ed Cummins Long Block
Well, I figured I better come back and finish this event. We have decided to have Cummins Coach Care of El Paso install a Cummins' remanufactured Long Block (basically a new diesel engine). The good part is that the new engine will carry the Cummins warranty and the bad part is the hit in the wallet, to the tune of over $10,000 for parts and labor. Had to do some real serious soul searching to decide exactly which route we wanted to go. It would seem real stupid to some to put that kind of money into a 1994 motorhome, but we know the solid construction of the monocoque structural build method that Foretravel used when building the chassis/body of a Foretravel Unihome. That made the decision easier. That and had we walked away from it, we probably would not have brought a replacement and it would have been the end of traveling for us.
Problems came when the new Long Block did not show up when they said it would. And after a week it appeared that Fed Ex had lost it somewhere nea rAlburquerque NM. We had been in a motel room with our two cats for a week and said enough is enough. Although La Quinta is nice, home is nicer, so we loaded up the Ford Focus sedan to head home, but what to do with two cats in the car. They hate their fabric carriers. It is amazing low long they can cry when in them. I solved that by buying a dog cage that took up 3/4 of the back seat. They adapted to that quite well, and refused to use their make shift tin foil baking pan that I set up as a litter box We traveled 8 to 9 hours per day plus meal and rest breaks. The cats somehow held it until they got into the motel room and had their regular litter box. We once had a dog who would do that and never complain. Well, there was not much complaining out of the cats. They do not like the traveling part, but like it when we get to where we are going. Next trip we will have a cat sitter for them at home.
The toad, a 2009 Ford Focus, really liked Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma, performing extremely well getting close to 40 mpg. But on the way home the mileage dropped off to normal (32 or 33 mpg) once we got east of Oklahoma. Must have been the "summer" gas in the southwest. Told my wife that we need a larger toad, considering the full trunk and very full back seat.
We did get to see lots of El Paso, and that was good, as we had planned on bypassing that fine city. Had heard and read of all the bad things that could happen there, but never heard or saw anything bad. The residents all appear to be extremely happy and very friendly. There were a couple really good restaurants, such as Cattleman's Steak House in Fabens and Ripe Eatery & Market. Those were the most memorable. Some that rated higher that Ripe Eatery, we considered over hyped and not where near as good.
We made the trip up to Carlsbad Caverns, via US Rt 62. Saw a lot of nothing. We planned on stopping at May's Cafe for lunch, but it was closed on Monday. It is the only restaurant in the 145 mile trip, 2 and a 1/2 hours, between El Paso and Carlsbad, and is well rated considering that it is the only restaurant in a 75 mile radius. Guess considering the amount of traffic we saw on Rt 62, that I can understand. We get lots more traffic on our end of US Rt 62 here in NYS. But it was nice to see the other end of it at the Mexican/US border.
April was insistent on visiting and descending into Carlsbad Caverns. I'm thinking, under my breath, that this is the woman who is extremely afraid of height and steep drop offs. I tried to tell here. I just don't like having 800 feet of dirt and rock over my head and have a fear of it all collapsing on me and burying me there. But she talked me into walking down instead of taking the elevator, me with my bad knees and diabetic sensory neuropathy foot pain. Well, I made it all the way down, but was not sure she was going to. Her fear of steep drop offs and heights really kicked in. She was in tears most of the way and there was no helping her!!! But she made it and was extremely happy to take the elevator straight up those 800 feet to the top.
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