Saturday, October 10 - Day 26

 The good news is that Kathy & I made it home, safe and sound, around 8:30PM. The not so good news is that our camper is still 300 miles away, in Kenawee, IL.

I spent the morning calling people at Haylett RV & Lippert Components (mfg of both our old and new axles). Bottom line is that the new problem is totally the fault of Lippert. Our new axles have a self-adjusting brake feature (new to us because the brakes on our old axles had to be manually adjusted, but self-adjusting drum brakes on autos was a standard feature for many years). After all the dust settled, at least as much as can have settled at this point, Kathy & I believe that the brakes on the new axles functioned properly while moving forward. The first time we backed up the camper, leaving the water hydrant at Francis Park, something broke in the brake assembly.

I called Haylett RV first thing this morning and got the same woman I talked to the previous afternoon, I told her I wanted to talk to a service technician directly, rather than have her act as a conduit between the service person and me. She told me she would have him call me back as soon as he could break away from the work he was doing. 90 minutes later I called again, this time I Dusteny happened to answer the phone, I felt like the sun had just broken through the clouds. I explained my situation to her, she gave me her personal cell phone number and told me to call her back if I had not heard from her in 5 minutes. I didn't thing 5 minutes was enough time for her to resolve anything, and I didn't want to bug her while she was trying to get something accomplished, so I waited. It took about 15 minutes for her to call me back. She gave me the name and phone number of a guy at Lippert, so that I could talk directly to him as we tried to resolve the issue. THANK YOU DUSTENY, you are an awesome asset for Haylett RV.

As I discussed the problem with Don, at Lippert, he apologized and agreed that the problem appeared to be solely their fault. I told him we still had 300 miles to go to get back to Missouri and asked about the risk of just heading home with the noisy hub/brake/drum assembly. I suggested cutting the wires that activated the brake in that hub. He strongly suggested that I not go any further than necessary until the wheel/brake drum was removed to access the extent of the problem. 

The campground surface was like being on your lawn. While I was pondering whether or not I was going to put blocking on the grass, so that I could jack up the trailer and remove the wheel/drum assembly without the jack punching through the sod, I did some searching on my phone. The Lord provided a truck towing/repair facility (Hodges Towing and Repairs) less than 5 miles from the campground. I called them and the only guy working on Saturday was just heading out to lunch. He told me that he would check things out. I told him we would be waiting for him at the garage when he returned from lunch.

When Jason returned from lunch he crawled under the camper and used a flashlight to look through the brake adjustment holes in the brake backer plate. He said he could see broken parts loose inside the brake drum. He noted that it would be Monday before he could even tell me how long it would take to get parts. At that point Kathy and I agreed that our "vacation" was over and that it was time to head home, without the camper. 

I called Don and put him on the phone with Jason. Monday someone at Hodges is supposed to pull all the wheels and drums for inspection. They will then contact Lippert with a list of needed parts. Lippert will ship them the needed parts and Hodges will make the repairs. If the camper is ready for us to pick up in less than a week I will be shocked. 

The camper is parked in a lot adjacent to Hodges facility. After emailing Lippert a LOT of requested information about our camper and the new axles we finally left Hodges/Kenawee around 2:30PM and headed home. We had no means of transporting all the food in the refrigerator/freezer. Hopefully the refrigerator will run on propane until the repairs are done and we get back up to Kenawee to pick it up.

It was an interesting "vacation". I still have no idea of how all this fits into the Lords plans, I'm just sure that somehow it does, and that somehow good has/will come from these events. I am a Christian and I believe what the Bible says is true. See Matthew 6:25-38, Luke 12:22-34 & Romans 8/;26-28. But I  admit to also still being a sinful, imperfect man whose faith isn't as strong as it should be, similar to the father in Mark 9:14-29. 

On our drive home Kathy noted: No one was injured during any of our experiences. We were never "stranded and alone". All problems occurred during daylight hours and close to needed assistance. God's provision allows us to be able to pay for the needed repairs without worrying about being able to pay other bills, or provide food or shelter. Instead of touring the Blue Ridge Parkway we spent an additional 18 days with family (including my Mom who had her 92nd birthday during this time) in Michigan and Ohio. 

It wasn't the vacation I had planned but God is a much better planner.

God is good, may He bless you and yours.

PS. For those of you  who have a trailer with EZ-Lube axles. While talking with Don, at Lippert, I told him I had lubed my axles per Lippert's instructions. This had apparently "blown" the wheel bearing seal, which created the problem with the original axles. I asked him for his opinion. He hesitated and then told me that he has a trailer with the EZ-Lube axles, he does not follow Lippert's procedure. He admitted that he might be overly conservative but said that every year he pulls each wheel/drum, washes and inspects the bearings before repacking and replacing them.

Friday, October 9th - Day 25

 This is a long one. Go get a cup of coffee, cup/glass of tea, etc.

This morning we left Coldwater. When we were still on a county road I worked with the new brakes a little to "seat" them on the drums. They seemed a little weak but braking improved after 4 or 5 slow downs from 40-20 mph. All seemed in order.

We headed west on US12, rather than using an Interstate or Toll Road. We did drive on I94/I80 around Chicago and part way through Illinois before getting on US6 near LaSalle, IL. We continued on US34 at Sheffield, IL. We stopped at an Interstate rest area on I80 and had lunch in the camper.

It was a little windy in the morning but by mid day the wind really picked up. If for no other reason than slowing down to minimize the effect of the wind, I was glad to get off the Interstate. Traffic was fairly heavy on I80 but it was surprisingly light once we were on 6 & 34. The road surface was in relatively good shape and it was nice to drive through some small towns. 

We saw some spectacular fall colors as the leaves are changing, and the colors will be even better in another few days. One town worthy of mention is Princeton, IL. There are numerous awesome old houses along US34. It would have been a nice place to spend a day to check out the town.

I had originally planned on our staying overnight at a campground near Sheffield, IL. Kathy called to check on campsite availability around 2 PM, they were full. She started looking for another place to stay and finally found Francis Park near Kewanee, IL. I think we travelled around 280 miles today.

It is a mile or so off US34, before you get to Kewanee, in the midst of fields. They have 30 or 40 power panels with 30 amp connections spread around in the grass. The panels are laid out in an orderly manner but the campground is apparently used so little that no wear patterns are evident in the grass. We pulled in and paid the gentleman $13 (cash or check) for an overnight stay. Water is available at a frost free hydrant in the middle of all the grass. Its like driving across a lawn to get to it. There is a dump station on the way out of the park.

There was enough playground equipment to keep kids occupied.

We noticed an interesting house in the park as we drove in, the Woodland Palace.

I have no idea about the purpose of the small double doors in the photo below. They led to a small vestibule area with a typical exterior door. They reminded me of the doors on old phone booths. I kidded Kathy about checking to see if Superman was in there.

More at: http://www.cityofkewanee.com/departments/grounds_maintenance/parks/francis_park.php

and at

http://cms5.revize.com/revize/kewanee/document_center/FrancisParkBrochure.pdf

No showers but they do have reasonably modern, and clean, toiles facilities in the brick building on the right. The building on the left appeared to be a storage building with an interesting roofing system.

The "roofing" is wood planks, in a clapboard, herringbone pattern. Unless the laps were "tarred" it doesn't look very waterproof to me, but it did look like it had been in service for a LOT of years.

There are maybe a dozen sites occupied around the park. Mostly travel trailers, but a few tents. The evening was a little warm but the wind, now relatively mild, kept it comfortable to sit outside. It was an almost idyllic evening, listening to the kids in the campground having a grand time playing on the playground equipment and enjoying other games. I saw several sets of pits for pitching horse shoes. After dark one group of kids had "light sticks" or "light balls" that they were throwing in the air (playing catch?). They sky was clear and stars visible.

Now the "rest of the story", as Paul Harvey used to say. After filling up our fresh water tank I planned on backing up, through the lawn, and then pulling into one of the campsites. I asked Kathy to watch for obstacles as I backed up. I noticed it felt a little bumpy when I started backing but thought the lawn was a little rough (lots of mole activity). Kathy waved for me to stop and told me the wheels on the back axle weren't turning, they were just skidding across the grass. She noted that they made a lot of noise.

I drove forward onto the roadway and tried backing up on the asphalt surface. She said the wheel turned, but they made a lot of noise. I drove around and pulled into the campsite I had originally chosen. It was 4:50 PM Michigan time. I called Hayletts RV and talked to a lady in the Service Department. Rather than connecting me with a Technician she acted as a relay between us. After several exchanges the Technician suggested disconnecting the 7 pin electrical plug and see what happened. Not wanting to keep her "on hold" I told her OK and that I would call back, thinking they were open until 6:00 PM. I unhooked the 7 pin, backed up and no problem. Reconnected the 7 pin and backed up. The wheels turned but did make strange noises, like a coil spring binding on something as it was being stretched. At 5:02 PM I called back and the phone rang and rang. Apparently they all ran out the door at exactly 5:00 PM.

I will call back in the morning hoping that someone in the Service Department works on Saturday mornings, on holiday weekends (Columbus Day).

The Lord has certainly allowed this to be an interesting "vacation" so far. Whatever He is trying to teach me I'm apparently not getting 😀.

God is good, may He bless you and yours.

Thursday, October 8th - Day 24

 FINALLY!!!! We got our new axles installed today. I took the camper up to Hayletts for a 9:00 appointment. 

Kathy had borrowed Mom's car so she wasn't tied to me for the day. She did a load of laundry at the campground laundromat and then went to spend most of the day with her sisters in Ohio. 

After dropping off the camper I went out to Davids, got one of his utility trailers. and came back to town. Once they had the old axles out they loaded them on his trailer and I took them out to his place. The axles may not be good enough for a camper but with some power washing to get rid of wheel bearing grease, and some new seals they should be good enough for use around the farm.

Then it was back to Hayletts to wait for them to finish. They finished around 2:00. I hooked up, went back to the campground, signed us up for another night and set back up on the same campsite.

On her way back from Ohio Kathy called to order a couple of pizzas from a place in Coldwater. I picked them up and met her at Mom's. David and his Kathy, along with Chasen (one of their grandsons) came down for supper.

After getting back we took a walk around the campground, to say goodbye to the lake. We will soon be in bed. Lord willing we will head west tomorrow morning.

The colors are really starting to change. The reds and yellows are coming out and it will soon be awesome.

PS. It was in the high 30's here this morning. When Kathy took her shower last night she left the vent open to get some of the steam out of the bathroom. I didn't pay any attention when I took mine and didn't even notice it was open. This morning I noticed the furnace was running but it was only 52 in here when I got up. Then I realized that the furnace fan was running but it wasn't putting out any heat. Camper Lesson - When you get a propane tank filled and put it back in place, you need to open the valve so that when the other tank runs out of propane it will automatically switch over to the full one.

God is good, may He bless you and yours.

Mon, Tue & Wed, Oct 5, 6 & 7 - Days 21, 22 & 23

 Monday, Oct 5

I went to Hayletts, the RV place to check on the status of our axles. Once again I was told that they would call the manufacturer and let me know. I was again told that they can't get information from the manufacturer. Hayletts did not call me back. While at Hayletts I asked for the specifics on what they found when they looked at my axles. I found out that there was nothing wrong with the axles/spindles that could not be repaired with new bearing races, brake backer plate assemblies, hubs and bearings. They had recommended replacing the axles because it was actually less labor hours to replace the entire axles than replacing hub assemblies.

I did see something interesting during my walk this morning.

The roads in the campground are recycled ground up asphalt. They are surprisingly firm. This is what happens when you pull out of your campsite in your motorhome and wonder why your motorhome seems to be working harder than it should. When we pulled our CR-V behind our motorhome the proper procedure was to start the car, run the transmission through the gears, shut the ignition off and then turn the key to the position that allowed you to put the transmission in neutral, unlocking the steering wheel. I suspect these folks forgot to put their car in neutral when they left after an overnight stay. 

Tuesday, Oct 6

We went out Mom's in the morning and did some tree trimming. 

I did some checking online and found out I could order hub assemblies from etrailer.com and have them expressed shipped to me by Thursday. With that information I went to Gander RV, also here in Coldwater, and asked them about deliveries on hub assemblies. The Parts guy said he thought he could get them in a week. He had no idea how long it would take to get axles. I asked the Service Department about an appointment and was told that the first opening was some time during the first week of November. 

Then it was on to Hayletts. They said they could not get the axle mfg to return their calls. I told them I needed a hard date. I told them I could order hub assemblies from etrailer and have them in my hands by Thursday, and that since I had already changed one in a Love's parking lot I could change the others and be on the road by Friday. One of the Parts guys tried calling the axle mfg while I was standing there. He was told they would have to call him back. He said they had been told that yesterday but no one had called them back. He went and got the Service/Parts Manager, Dusteny.  She got on the phone and told them she needed an answer. When they told here they had to call her back she asked to talk to their manager. She was told the manager was in a meeting, she said that meant he didn't want to talk to her and that was not acceptable. She finally ended the call after being assured that she would get a return call. She apologized and told me that she would call them every 45 minutes until she got an answer, and that she would keep me informed of her progress. I asked her how much it would cost me to cancel the order. She said she would check and let me know. She called me back before they closed and told me she still didn't have an answer. She also told me that she had told me that she told them that if the axles were not delivered by Thursday she didn't want them. (After watching Dusteny in action she reminded me of a junk yard dog who had just been told, "Sic em.".)

Wednesday, Oct 7

Received a call from Dusteny first thing this morning. The axles are supposed to be delivered today. I got another call around 11 AM to tell me that the axles had been delivered and everything appeared to be in order. I have a 9AM appointment tomorrow morning to have them installed. HALLALULAH!!

We went out to Mom's today. Kathy helped Mom with some house cleaning while I loaded the branches we had cut down yesterday into one of David's trailers and hauled them back to the woods. Kathy took out some vegetable soup and some onion soup for our lunch.

In the afternoon we went back over to the Amish grocery store in Bronson and picked up some more ice cream bars, to take home. Kathy bought 5 more boxes, some should make it all the way back to Centertown. 

God is good, may He bless you and yours.

Sunday, Oct 4 - Day 20

It was another cool, wet day here. A very light rain would move in and then move out, with no significant accumulation. 

As I was reading Mark chapter 4 during the early morning I was once again dismayed how slow I am to to get truth into my heart, to the point that it becomes part of me. During the COVID panic the reduction in the times we Christians have corporately worshipped, or studied, caused some of us (me for one) to slack off on our personal study/prayer time. It was so good to get back to participating in a corporate worship service and with the guys for our Thursday morning breakfast and Bible study. That perked me up some and I was doing a better job of spending time in the Word. Thankfully we never discontinued our Tuesday evening Life Group meetings,

This is our 20th day of traveling, This morning as I was reading the Word I understood that I have again fallen into the habit of slowly reducing the time I spend with the Lord. I had no excuse during the virus "crisis", I'm an old retired guy who has time to do whatever he wants. I certainly have no excuse while we are traveling, especially considering we have been parked here in Coldwater since the 18th of September. 

There was nothing specifically in Mark 4 that pointed me towards the above thoughts. It was more the revelation that I was enjoying reading the Word and contemplations it led me to, again, nothing necessarily specific to Mark 4. (Those of you who know me know of my penchant for chasing "rabbit trails" 😀)

Perhaps Mark 4:23-25, as Jesus was teaching his disciples, did provoke some of the above thoughts. Mark 4:23 (NLT) Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand! [24] And be sure to pay attention to what you hear. The more you do this, the more you will understand—and even more, besides. [25] To those who are open to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But to those who are not listening, even what they have will be taken away from them.”

Jesus says, pay attention to what He teaches, think on it, be open to His teaching and while doing so more understanding will be given. I know that in my head but my head is so far from firmly planting it in my heart.

The rest of the morning and early afternoon consisted of a 30 minute walk around the campground, some study on potential campgrounds and places of interest along the path we plan on taking once we head back to Missouri. Technology can be such a blessing. As I was walking around the campground I fired up an app on my phone and listened to a sermon by Adrian Rogers. Pastor Rogers was a great teacher/preacher. Even though he went to be with the Lord 15 years ago his sermons are still available to all.

Ed, Cindy & Nancy came up and we went to Bill's Steak House for supper. Bill's Steak House, located between Coldwater and Bronson, has been there as long as I can remember, over 60 years. It appears to still be going strong. It was a nice visit.

God is good, may He bless you and yours.

Saturday, Oct 3, Day 19

 We hung around the campground in the morning. It was a cool and damp day. While listening to a good sermon by Adrian Rogers I walked a couple of miles around the campground getting some exercise

In the afternoon we picked up some KFC and went out to Mom's for her 92nd birthday celebration. It was another chance to spend time with family. 

It is great that Mom is still spry enough to live by herself and get around as she needs to, although my David & Kathy (David's wife) spend time checking on her, making sure she is eating, running some errands for her, etc. Mom still gets out on Fridays and drives herself to a salon to get her hair done.

Mom's much younger half-sister Penny also picks her up once a week and they spend the day poking around stores in the area, finding bargains.

God is good, may He bless you and yours.

Friday, Oct 2, Day 18

It sprinkled rain on and off today. Last nights low was 32 degrees. It was 33 when I got up at 7AM.

Kathy did some grocery shopping in the morning. After lunch I checked in with Haylett's RV again. Found out that Lippert has not even shipped our axles yet, even though they were ordered on Sept 21st, and the Service Dept people told me 5-7 days. (When I talked to the Parts Dept guy Wed of this week he told me that they (at least the Parts people) originally knew that the promised delivery was 7-10 days. I told the Service guy I would go to Goshen, IN and pick up the axles if that would help. He was going to check and said he would call me. He didn't.

Even though it was a little COOL, and the days high was a somewhat windy 51 degrees, we decided on a campfire.

We toughed it out until it started raining. Does it look like we were having fun yet?

The afternoon blessing was a beautiful rainbow.

It was cloudy most of the day but occasionally the sun would burst through the clouds.

God is good, may He bless you and yours.

Thur, Oct 1 - Day 17

 It rained on and off today but the wind didn't blow as hard as it did yesterday.

We picked up Mom in the morning and headed over to Lagrange, IN. A girl Kathy knew from Teen Challenge used to live there and work in an OLD bakery. It was a nice day for a drive in the country.

Lots of beans have been harvested and some corn.

Kathy and Mom headed for the bakery (Foltz Bakery) to buy donuts while I checked out the town. The brick paved side street was an interesting touch.

Main street looking south.

Main street looking north.

Interesting water fountain. Don't know if it was shut off because of approaching cold weather or the virus.

Mom bought us lunch at Romer's. It was OK but nothing to rave about.

We went through Bronson, MI on the way back and stopped at the "Amish" grocery store. We stocked up on junk food.

Back at the campground the sky to the north was looked threatening.

It looked better to the south.

I was walking out to the lake to take photos but before I got it to the lake it started sprinkling. We even got a little BB size hail.

The high today was in the low 50's. Out in the sun felt OK but in the shade, with the breeze, it was quite cool. Lows are supposed to dip down into the 30's tonight and tomorrow night.

God is good, may He bless you and yours.