Monday and Tuesday were travel and work days. Hey, it can not be vacation all the time, right?
We rolled out of bed at 5:30 on Monday morning and the Green Machine was hooked up and we were pulling out of Tanner Williams Holiness Church by 6:45 or so. We cut through the woods to I-10 and stopped at the first rest area to empty our holding tanks so we did not cover very many miles our first hour.
But we made up for it over the next several hours. Without the trailer behind the BoggsMobile I can bump the speed up closer to the speed limit and cover some ground. We stopped for fuel in Louisiana and a time or two for a quick bathroom break and walk around the bus and that was it. 440 miles just faded away and we were pulling into Baytown, Texas area by around 2:30.
I had contacted an authorized Aqua-Hot mobile repair man, Rudy, in the Houston area and made an appointment to have the engine coolant leak repaired. I told HERE about the coolant leak and I needed to get it fixed as soon as possible. I was also way past due on regular service for the Aqua-Hot and needed some help on other issues.
It turns out our system is burning really clean so it did not need to be serviced even though it was plenty past due according to the calender. That saved me a pretty good hunk of change. Rudy also gave me some very good information/diagnosis about a long standing problem I have been having with the unit as well. I should be able to take care of that once I have the time.
As far as the leak is concerned he was afraid it was a bigger job than we had daylight to finish and messier than the location allowed too. But he left me some parts to fix it and I paid him for his time and knowledge and we parted happier to have met.
Rudy had made arrangements for us to park on the property of one of his friends in order to do the work and then stay there overnight Monday. The friend's place is beautiful with a nice big concrete slab, 50 amp hook ups, water and sewer. I could get comfortable there for a week or two! Oh, did I mention it is right on a lake? Yep, we are parked just a few feet from the lake. The sunset was gorgeous. I even sneaked/snuck a few peaks at it while I was working.
Here is a picture of our new friend, Ralph and a couple of his dogs. He has some real cool dogs, some birds and even a Mountain Lion. I neglected to get a picture of his lovely wife, JoAnn. We sure appreciate all of their kindness and hospitality. We had a super visit.
We left our lakeside parking place a little after 8:00 Tuesday morning and gingerly made our way across Houston to the new Prevost facility on the northwest side. I have had an intermitant air leak near the drive axle for about 1 1/2 years. I could not get it to duplicate when I have had the bus in for other repairs in all of that time. However, I could hear the leak more often recently so I was hoping it would present its ugly head Tuesday morning and it did.
They were able to trace the leak to a leveling valve on the driver's side immediately in front of the drive axle tire.
They finished up the repair just before closing and we loaded up and headed out. In just a few miles I noticed my air pressure was not holding properly. It usually holds between 120-130 lbs on each gauge but as you can see in the picture below it was down to 110 and 100 lbs. The lower gauge even dipped down to 95. The system was holding perfect pressure even with the previous leak so this is new.
That is not good. When the air pressure drops suddenly it is time to get off the road now! If it drops too far the brakes will lock up and that would not be pretty especially in Houston rush hour traffic. Ouch!
I called Prevost but it was already past closing time so we headed for an RV Park that we had scoped out and parked for the night. I sent the service manager an email and he is expecting us at 7:00 AM Wednesday morning. I sure hope this pressure is dropping for an obvious reason and it is an easy fix. Will you pray that God will guide us?
We did go eat Tuesday night at a special place for Odie's upcoming birthday. I hope to tell you all about that later in the week.
Davy
