Saturday, July 21, 2012

July trip update -- eeks. bad tranny. bad!


Hi, hope all is well with everyone.

No pics today. I was able to get a millisecond of airtime on my sprint card! So sending this post out asap.



I've not had any internet for a few days now. Actually, not since I left Tenneseeeee. I'm now in Arkansaseeee.



Recap: (hmmm, not sure what's up with the eeee's, I'm not in Louisianaeee)



Left titusville, Pennsylvanieee on Tuesday, July 17th.



Drove through Ohioeeee, till I could no longer drive. Well, that is, between walks & walking dogs. And getting gas. Ellie has a serious drinking problem! I plan on recapping all the gas expenses & mileage once I get back to Texas & settled back in.



Wednesday, July 18th. I get up, walk dogs at rest area, freshen up & head out.

Dang it though. One of the things that help break the monotony for me is the CB set. Just hearing different noise helps, but nope. I hook up the antenneeee & plug in the Cbeee. OK, we're in business! Then nothing. El Deado. ARGH. There's a short in the wireeeee's. Oh well. So no CB, but at least the radio decided to workee! Yay~



I digressee.



Wednesday, drive, drive, drive. Drop down through Kentuckyeeee.



Keep driving because I'm routing down on 65 south now, so it's not that long to drive through. SUCH beautiful country though! Kentuckyeeee is gorgeous!



Then I get to Tenneseeeee & I'm looking for a state park at this point. I stop at the welcome center & get a state map & maps of state parks & campgrounds. Welcome centers are GREAT! I'm always grateful to get those items. So I finally pass where I can pull off the highwayee & drive, drive, drive to a state park. Hmmmm, not all state parks are close to the highway. So I'm always a little hesitant of what I'll be driving into. But then, there's nothing like American back roads. Not that I have any other country to compare to on my travels. Cept Mexico & that is only border towns.



So I go to the state park that I previously posted about, it's a nice park. I had a nice stay there, but could only stay one night. I'm prettty much a little further west in central Tn at this point.



Thursday, July 19th, I leave the state park in Tn. I drive, drive, drive. Walk dogs, drive more. I get to Arkansaseeee!! Yayeee!! Now to head for the welcome center for Ark maps. I get them, then decide where to go. But I realize I've not written them down, so I decide, oh well, you get signs along the way anyhow. Can't read maps & drive at the same time. So I'm getting tired of driving, foot hurting major bad. Thank goodness for cruise control when I can use it! I pass one state park because the sign doesn't show the camper icon. Image. Whatever you'd call it on a sign.

I finally get to another one, yes, it shows a camper! So I pull off. And this state park is 13 miles off the freeway. 13 miles of beautiful back country roads but yet, I wonder if I'll ever get there! Finally, find it.

Village Creek State park in Wynne, Ark. Nice place. More of a family oriented type of park that has tennis courts, bike trails, equestrian things, golf, etc. And a lake, but I didn't see the sign to the lake till I was leaving the park the next day. But to park there, it's somewhere around $30 a night according to the check in station. I'll do a post about the parks I've stayed in later.





I get up, walk dogs, etc. Take a walk myself, then leave. Pay on the way out as I got in too late the day before to check in & pay then. I head for one of my favorite state parks to spend two more nights. After several hours of driving (ouch, this hurts the el footo. Use cruise control as much as possible, but don't like using it when the RV has to climb hills.) Oh and a few gas stops too. Again.



Friday, July 20th. I finally make it to one of my favorite campgrounds! A COE park. The Iron Mountain Park at DeGray Lake in Caddo, Arkansaseeee. It's just outside of Arkadelphia. I pull up. Arlene, the campground host (work camper at that :-) ) recognizes me as I stayed here in May! That's always fun! She told me to drive around, find a spot, then come back to let her know which I want. I'm up with that. I knew where I wanted to stay, but didn't know the site numbers, so went do choose mine....uh oh...my black cloud returned!!! NOOOOO, not again!!! Noooo, no black clouds!! ARGH!!! Yep, I catch a rock between my duallies. Fortunately, that pops back out. But then I hear another strange noise! And all of a sudden, Ellie does not want to go up hills!! OH NO!! This is NOT good! I make it back to the office, which is Up hill!! Then Ellie makes a horrendous noise! I cut the engine. Arlene comes out & wants to know what's wrong. I told her I didn't know, but I think it may be transmission. She calls one of the rangers. A young ranger guy comes to my aid. He takes a look. There is NO transmission fluid left in my tranny!! So he takes me to a store, we get 5 bottles of it. He puts it in, but after the 3rd bottle, he comments that it's really weird that the stick isn't reading the levels. I then comment, maybe it's pouring back out on the ground!! OH NO! IT IS!!! A huge puddle of the stuff, all over the ground. He crawls under the rig & can't see anything because of the dust cover. So I go in the office & pay for my time that I'll be here. He quickly pours the other two bottles in just so I can make it to my site. I make it just in time, quickly drop leveling blocks, level & park. Sooo, now it's Saturday, July 21st & I'm extremely grateful that I'm here & not somewhere on the highway with this problem!!! At least I'm parked, plugged in & have groceries. Arlene was looking up mechanics for me. I hope we can get one to come out on Monday to take a look. I can get the RV towed to them if needed. I have a doc appointment on Tuesday, but now that's looking like I'll have to cancel. I'm about 8-9 hours from home still. If I have to cancel, I might come back here for a few days before heading back then.



OH & I fixed the flat tire on my bike! Little old me. Yep, I did. A back tire at that. I watched youtube when I was in Pa on how to do it. I bought a new tube in Pa, but didn't put it on then. Out of desperation today, I did. I need to go to the office, which is quite a way away to pay for tomorrow night too. BUT no. One of the brake pads on my bike is worn out & I have no brakes on the front tires!! Why-o-why does this stuff have to happen to meeeeeeeeeeee!! Geezeee.



I would have walked up there today, but the foot hurt way too much for any walking. Which is why I wanted two days of down time anyhow. So today, the dogs got walks instead. I cleaned kitty litter boxes & cleaned the RV. Turned my passenger seat around for seating for myself. AND I have tv reception here, so it's all good. And a/c, so that's good too. This global warming is too much! It's an oven out there. Even with today's breezes, it was hot out there. But at least the park isn't too terribly busy. There's a few other folks here. And a girl that has a TT across from me that has worse luck than I do!!! Can you belive that???



I'll post this when I finally get internet again. One day. Sometime when I get back to town. One day. Can only stay here 2 weeks, so one day....byeeeee



~As always, be kind to your pets, clean up after them on your travels & respect your neighbor~

4 comments:

  1. Hope you get things worked out with the transmission and you ankle stops throbbing.

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  2. Perhaps it's a broken transmission line, that just broke as you pulled in. If the hole is that big, it had to have just happened. Could not have come in off the highway with no transfluid. The MH would not have been able to go forward or backward. Don't panic ! It will all work out

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  3. Had one of those tranny fluid coming out the wazzoo situations once upon a time. Turned out to be a line from a transmission cooler. Was a simple fix. Hope yours is too.
    Good luck.

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  4. Thanks all, if this is a broken line, that would be great!! Hopefully, I'll be able to find a shop tomorrow. Will keep ya'll posted.

    ReplyDelete

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