October 7, 2019
Not much to report today. It rained most of the day here in
Beckley, over 2” so far. Today’s high was 69 after last nights low of 55.
I visited the Virgil, he and his wife are in the 5th
wheel parked next to us. They used to live in Beckley. They moved here around
2000 but then moved to Georgia to be near kids & grandkids. Drew was
probably still here when they moved here. They are on their way north, to
Pennsylvania and New York, on the lookout for the fall color change. They spend
time during the winter at the Escapees campground in Summerdale, AL. We
probably stayed there at the same time, although we haven’t been there for
years. He likes his Dodge 3500 dually and 5th wheel. They had a 43’
Winnebago motorhome before the 5th wheel. Sort of reminded me of the
“motorhome from hell” stories. He said one of the slide roofs leaked the entire
time they had it. Dealers had done warranty work on it numerous times and then
he started paying to try and get the leak stopped. Said he finally got so
disgusted with it the he took money out
of his retirement plan and paid someone to steal it from him (not literally
steal it, basically he sold it cheap just to get rid of it).
I had to get the wheel bearing dust cap replaced before we
leave so I called the local RV place to see if they had one. Told them what
axle I had and they said sure. We drove up their and the guy gave me one that
looked to big. I told him that I thought the bore on the hub was very close to
2”. When I got out to the truck I measured the one he gave me, it was about
2.75”. When back in and the only other one he had measured about 2.25”, I took
it. Also paid $45 for 2 – 10’ sewer hose extensions so we could dump our tanks
while here.
Next stop was Rural King. I bought a grease gun and tube of
lithium grease for the wheel bearing. They needed some salt on their free
popcorn, but I managed to wolf down a sack of it all by myself.
We had lunch at a mediocre Chinese restaurant. Food was
adequate. Virgil was there and saw us as he was leaving. He told us it was one
of his favorite restaurants while he lived here. His wife was with a friend she
used to bowl with. They were at the Bob Evans. He didn’t go with them because
he said the babble on for hours. (Virgil is 74. He and his wife have been married for 54 years.)
When we got back to the camper I tried the dust cap, in the
pouring rain, it was to big. I retaped the hub to protect it as much as I could
from the rain and mud spatters from the rain. I found the dust cover I need on
Amazon (why does anyone bother to go to stores, other than Rural King, to try
and find stuff). I probably could have had it shipped to me at the campground
but it wouldn’t get here until Wednesday. We originally planned on leaving
tomorrow. If we waited on it we probably couldn’t leave until Thursday.
I
called NAPA they had 2 different sizes but I didn’t think either size would fit. I called Advance Auto. They had a generic cap that sounded like it might
work. I went over and bought a pair, they are only sold in pairs. The ones I
bought are aftermarket items that include a grease fitting for axles that don’t
already have a fitting. I had to take the grease fitting out of mine but
managed to get one on the hub. I pumped a LOT of grease into the hub. I hope
the bearing is still OK. I will jack up the axle and spin the tire tomorrow to
see if I can detect a problem, when it isn’t raining.
By then it was 3PM, the last coal mine tour was at 4:30. I
was wet and cold. We decided to stay another day, leave Wednesday. I took a
nap. I will tour the museum & mine tomorrow.
I called the Greenbrier Resort, in White Springs, to see if there was RV
parking available while people went on the "bunker tour". I was transferred to “Transportation”. A guy told me I could park at the train station across the street. We now plan to
leave here on Wednesday, drive about 2 hours to the Greenbrier, take the tour
and then continue on to another campground about 2 hours further east.
The Greenbrier probably
doesn’t want my 14 year old truck and 7 year old travel trailer anywhere near
their posh facility. I checked their room rates. There 2 night special, which
includes breakfast and a $100/day credit for dinner or the spa, costs $699. The
room is the size of a SMALL motel room. To eat in the dining room men must wear
a suit and tie. No ballcaps in any of their venues. You can’t walk through the
place wearing a swimsuit and robe, you must change in the locker room by the pool.
FAR to highbrow for this redneck, but I will be interested in seeing the over
100,000 square foot facility, under the mountain, that our tax dollars paid for
to keep politicians safe during a nuclear attack.
Good is good. May He bless you and yours.
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