TRAVELS PLANS FOR FALL 2014 AND WINTER 2015

Sunday, August 17 – With all the summer hustle and bustle behind us, it is time to look ahead to our winter travel plans. At best, these are quite sketchy and subject to change but here's what we are considering, so far!

September
-----Charleston, WV, Wytheville VA, Charlotte, NC and Columbia, SC Visit the capitols and Appalachian Mountain Area for hiking and sightseeing
-----Augusta, GA – visit family; ALS Walkathon
-----Mississippi/Alabama Gulf Region – beach and RR

October – December
-----Houston, TX – stop and see Carrie
-----Mission, TX – visit friends/Mexico dentist for about three weeks.
-----Houston, TX – Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays

January
-----New Mexico – Las Cruces/Deming/Socorro sightseeing
-----Arizona – Benson, Bisbee, Kartchner Caverns, etc...
-----Tuscon, AZ – hiking and sightseeing
-----Quartzsite, AZ – RV Show, Visit with friends
-----Yuma, AZ – Mexico
-----Arizona/California - Anza Borrego Desert SP; Borrego Springs, San Diego, Catalina

February
-----California – Palm Springs/Desert Hot Springs
-----Las Vegas (maybe) or Page, Cottonwood, Sedona, AZ
-----Congress, AZ
-----Apache Junction/Mesa, AZ

March
-----Phoenix, AZ – CLEVELAND INDIANS SPRING TRAINING; Sightseeing, etc....
-----Scottsdale, Sedona, Jerome, etc...

April
-----Houston
-----Head towards Ohio

Of course we may run out of money by the time we get to Houston, so who knows where we will be exactly...lol

If anyone out there in Blogland will be in these areas during our time, please let us know. We would enjoy meeting up with you. Also, if you have visited these areas and really enjoyed a certain sightseeing spot, place to eat, campground (within our frugal budget) or hiking area, we would love to add it to our agenda. Many of our stops will not be new, but we know we have missed something at each stop.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

BETTER THAN NEW

Saturday, August 2 – In the previous post, we mentioned Paul had a little project to do on the 5^th wheel. That involved the installation of a “wet-bolt kit” on the suspension.

Old shackles are on the bottom; new replacements on top.

This was a pretty “heavy lift” project, and Paul was a little hesitant to take it on by himself. Luckily, he now has a boy in the family, new son-in-law, Dave, and Rick, visiting for a few days from Mission, TX. Together they tackled this project.

The biggest and scariest part of the job involved jacking the 12,000+ fifth wheel off the ground and securing it on jack stands so it would be safe to crawl under. Dave is experienced working on automotive projects, and Paul felt confident that with his help we could “getter done.”

Great to have a young man around – the young have no fear!

Notice the heavy duty jack (20-ton hydraulic) and the big jack stand.  No fair looking at those boxers.

It took a while but we were successful in jacking up and securing the trailer on several jack stands. Then we dismantled the suspension system that holds the springs and axles onto the trailer. The object was to replace the under-sized shackles and bolts the manufacture installed during construction and that have been reported to break while driving down the road. Any maintenance to prevent roadside breakdowns is a good thing!

Notice Dave has detached the spring from the trailer.  We are holding up the axle with  a floor jack.

Paul is working to remove the spring from the front hanger.

Dave’s electric impact wrench sure came in handy breaking loose those bolts.  A little scary crawling around under the trailer and around all those jacks and stands.

We were amazed to see the difference in construction of the new shackles compared to those installed during construction. What were those builders thinking?

Check-out the new shackles on the left compared to the old on the right.  If you look carefully, you can see the wear on those old bolts. 

The new bolts even have grease fitting for applying grease to the inside of the spring eyes to prevent the bolts from wearing and eventually breaking.

See the grease zerks.  Look carefully at the bolts on the right and you can see the holes the grease comes out of to keep the bolts well oiled. After installation, we greased them up and they squirted grease nicely.  Again, you can see the wear on those old bolts.

Rick, our guest from Texas, hammers home a new copper bushing inside one of the spring eyes.  The old install had plastic bushings.

Check out the new shiny shackles!

It was a dirty, greasy, and sometimes scary job, but with the help of Dave and Rick, it was successfully completed and Paul tucked the 5^th wheel back into its parking space until we depart in early September. Thanks Dave and Rick for all the help!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

2014 HALL OF FAME PARADE

Wednesday, August 6 - Saturday, found Marsha and Angie attending the Hall of Fame Parade. This is actually one of the largest parades in the country. They enjoyed the morning. Paul and Rick stayed home to do a little “5^th wheel job” which you'll read about in a future blog.

There were bands.

Floats

Horses

Clowns
 

Tons of balloons

Mascots
 

Past Enshrinees

Gale Sayers chose to walk the route and interact with the fans.

2014 Enshrinees
Andre Reed
 

Michael Strahan

2014 Class

Marsha said it was the best Hall of Fame parade she has seen in awhile.

Saturday night was “off to the races” without leaving home. We had nine family and friends over to gather around the kitchen table and play the horse racing game that the gang made (Actually, we made 49 sets.) several years ago down in the Rio Grande Valley over the winter. That was a fun night enjoyed by all.

After church Sunday, Angie and Rick headed toward Chicago to spend several days with other “Winter Texan” friends. We had a nice visit and will seem them in October when we spend several weeks in Mission, TX.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!