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C-677946

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Blog Entries posted by C-677946

  1. C-677946

    On the Road Again

    By C-677946,

    Picked up the coach today. Brand new, warranted, Cummins 6BT 5.9 diesel. Not a long block as we expected. Rocky Mountain Cummins Coach Care really took good care of me in this deal!! I came out smelling like a rose!
    Spending the night at Mountain View RV Park in that Infamous RV city of Van Horn, TX. Appears to be a very nice park.
  2. C-677946
    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.
  3. C-677946
    Stressful two days. Was driving toward between Marfa and Lobo Tx on US 90 running right along with a good tail wind and suddenly I hear a pop followed by a continous rattle, blowing a blueish colored smoke out the exhaust, and loosing power. Got into a picnic area and that was all she had left.
    After a hour and a half tow we arrived at Rocky Mountain Cummins in El Paso where we spent the night hooked up in their RV lot. After checking numerous things like the turbo, and fuel delivery system components, they determined we had dropped a valve on #3 cylinder. Just installed a re-manned head last year. No warranty on that cause I went for a ebay deal. Hard lesson learned. Injector hole is to small for a bore scope to pass through. The only way to determine what damage was done to the cylinder is to drop the pan and go in thru the bottom, and you still don't know what the top of the piston looks like. So after a days labor and a questionable head, I don't think we will mess with the engine.
    So we are looking at a reman engine or a used engine. Was thinking of cutting our losses and just signing the title over to Cummins, but I think we are going to try to do the re-man engine if we can get a good price. They say that we are looking at 40 hours of labor just on the installation - ouch. Just had 6 new tires installed and got a new mattress. If I could sell it, but how do you sell a old Foretravel with a blown engine??? Especially when it will not pull out of the Cummins lot under its own power!
    Oh, the happy note, Coach Net came thru again in Flying Colors!! Top notch outfit in my book.
  4. C-677946

    Near Lobo, Texas

    By C-677946,

    We saw this huge thing that looked like a big white spaceship way off in the distance. When we got closer you could see what appeared to be stairs going up to the nose of it. Sure looked like we had been invaded by little green people.
    Ended up being a Border Patrol tethered surveillance radar blimp. It is tethered via a 25,000-foot cable. Sure puts a different meaning into the word surveillance. Wonder how they keep planes from flying into the cable?
  5. C-677946
    Spent the night at the Marfa Lights Viewing area. Parked right behind the "Gone with the Wynns.com" coach. Wanted to stay another night but it was just to cold for boondocking a second night. So we left the nex morning. Made it almost to Lobo, and heard a quiet boom followed by rattling, and lost power. Pulled into a picnic area and waited for a tow from Coach Net. Currently seating at Rocky Mountain Cummins in El Paso. Lets hope the damage isn't to bad for the pocket book.
  6. C-677946

    Judge Roy Bean

    By C-677946,

    We stayed at the the "campground" across the street from the Judge Roy Bean Museum and Visitor's Center on US 90 in Langtry Tx last night. Was a bit concerned, but it ended up being the quietest and most peaceful night we have had on this trip so far. The reason for the concern was old dilapidated Bounder parked in one of the 6 spots. It appears to have caught fire. It was hooked up, but no one around. Very quiet night, did not even hear the goats next door!
  7. C-677946
    We stayed last night at Family Motor Coach headquarters campground in Cincinnati, Ohio. It had snowed. Did I say it had snowed? Snowed enough that I was concerned that I might not get out once I got in!!! It had not been plowed. Deep snow on top of ice. But we made it in and out okay.
    We made a side trip to Jungle Jim's International Market. The place was huge, and overwhelming. with more than 200,000 square feet of grocery shopping!! You could spend a day there, easily. And you don't want to go when your are hungry! Lobster tails for $6! Cheese from all over the world and a whole section of hot sauces that took up as much area as Brooks Grocery store.
    Tonight we are at Texas T campground in Cornersville, Tenn. Nice little place right off the interstate.
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