Our RV Adventures

Well, weather.com said the rain would start here between 11 and 12 noon. and right on time, it started about 11:30, not really heavy, but just steady.

About 10:30 we got an email from Jan’s sister Debbie to let us know that her daughter-in-law Laura had given birth to our new great-niece, Anisten Morgan Robinson, this morning. The ‘Morgan’ is significant because that’s the maiden name of Jan and Debbie’s mother. In fact Morgantown, WV is named for the Morgan family.

Our daughter Brandi called a little after 11 to talk about our Thanksgiving trip up to the lake near Marble Falls, TX. We’ll go up on Wednesday and come back on Sunday, so we’ll only have a couple of days back in Houston before we leave again, at least for a few days.

Sometime in there our power glitched for about 10 seconds before coming right back on, so I guess it wasn’t weather-related.

A little later I called the Honeybaked Ham store back home to reserve a ham and a turkey breast for Thanksgiving. I plan on picking them up on Monday to avoid the rush later in the week.

Next I called Galveston Bay RV Park to confirm that our site would be ready when we get there next Sunday. Looks like we’ll be in site 80, the same site we were in the first 2 years we were here in 2008 and 2009.

My next call was to American Coach to follow up on my battery disconnect questions. They confirmed that the disconnects should have shut off everything, and that since it only turned off partially, it was possible that some engine electrics may have been intermittent, which might have caused my fuel problem last week. If the fuel pump lost power for a short time, long enough for the injectors to run out of diesel, it would act just like the tank was empty.

They said I should talk with Spartan to follow up. I’ll probably wait until we get back to Houston for that, but I’ll know more this Saturday since I’m going to top off my diesel in Foley before we leave the area. That will give me some idea about how much fuel my diesel tank now holds.

About 2pm Jan and I headed out for some errands and ‘linner’. Our first stop was the Wal-Mart in Gulf Shores for some groceries and supplies. Then heading toward Foley we stopped off at a Winn-Dixie looking for a couple of things that we couldn’t find at Wal-Mart.

Then, after a quick stop at a Family Dollar, (Jan was looking for a small squeegee for the shower, we headed on up to Foley. Then after a stop at Lowe’s for a new screwdriver bit, we drove right next door to our ultimate destination, Lambert’s Throwed Rolls. Jan had her usual Fried Chicken, and I decided to try the Chicken Fried Steak.

Jan said her Fried Chicken was some of the best she’s ever had, and of course the veggies there are great. And my CFS was fork-tender on the inside and had a great crispy-crunchy crust.

We’ve eaten at all three Lambert’s and it’s always delicious.

Leaving Lambert’s, we drove a little further into Foley to check out Dodge’s, a local gas station, to see if we can get in and out in the RV since they have a good price, $3.75, for diesel. Looks like it will be good place to stop on Saturday as we leave.

Coming back to the park we stopped off at the Wal-Mart Market to gas up the truck. There’s some sort of gas war going on there, so I only paid $2.96 for unleaded. Nice!

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Thought for the Day:

Never judge a book by its movie. – J. W. Eagan

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After coffee for breakfast, and our leftover Sonny’s BBQ for lunch, Jan and I just enjoyed the day. Good coffee, good BBQ.

After lunch I started looking at my Battery Control Center problem again. I printed out some schematics of the box, and with my voltmeter, I went outside and started tracing out the circuits. It took an hour or so, but I finally got it mapped out on paper, and was starting to get a picture in my head, too.

Now for some studying and thinking about it.

About 1:30 I emailed our friend’s Jeannie and Eldy to see if they wanted to get together for dinner tonight. Thought we might go to DeSoto’s. We’ll see.

One thing I noticed while I was outside is that the wind is really picking up. We’ve got another front moving through, a cold one this time. Tonight’s low is supposed to be 63 and tomorrow’s is supposed to 41, with a 70% chance of rain, and maybe even some flooding.

About 3:30 after some more time looking over the schematics I suddenly had a B. D. I. F. D. moment.

Could it really be that simple? And if that is the cause of my BCC problem, then there’s something else I don’t understand about the system. Of course that wouldn’t be the first time.

At the entrance to the coach, on the left hand side, there is a control panel for inside/outside lights, the manual step control, and the chassis and coach master disconnect switches. The disconnect switches are right at floor level and the indicators are hard to see without moving some stuff.

But when I checked, the indicator lights were not lit on either the chassis battery or the coach battery. Pressing the buttons turned the lights on, but did it fix the problem? My first check was to toggle the step switch and close the door.

Eureka! The step retracted!

Next I went back to the BCC and checked for the missing voltages. And they were all there. I’m going to assume that the engine will now crank normally too. So the BCC problem is fixed.

But now I have two new questions. How did both disconnect buttons get pushed? And more importantly, I thought that with both batteries disconnected, everything electrical on the coach would be shut down. Why did only the step and the ignition crank signal not work?

And a third question just occurred to me. Could this chassis battery disconnect have anything to do with my fuel problem up in Athens last week? Did something happen to the power feeding the fuel pumps or injection system?

Well, I guess it’s back on the phone with American Coach tomorrow. At least I’ll have a whole new set of questions.

BTW B. D. I. F. D. stands for Boy, Do I Feel Dumb.

About 4 I checked back in with Jeannie and Eldy to find out that they were out running around, so they haven’t seen my email, and had already grabbed a bite to eat. So we’ll have to get together another time.

About 4:45 Jan and I headed into Gulf Shores proper to have dinner at DeSoto’s Seafood Kitchen, another of our favorite must-eat-at-while-we’re-here restaurants.

Jan had the Fried Seafood Platter, and I had the Shrimp and Grits, with Fried Green Tomatoes and their wonderful Sweet Potato Casserole.

It’s all good every time we come here.

Before we set down I went to the restroom to wash my hands and found this sign over the lavatory where the mirror would normally be.

Glad they think so.

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Thought for the Day:

Remember you can only have a new experience once, so make it worthwhile.

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