Our RV Adventures

(Cue the Drifters)

Today was a work-around-the-rig day. First I touched up some caulking in the shower to patch a small leak. Then it was up on the roof.

Today was the day to replace the fan and fan motor in our front Fantastic Vent fan.

First I removed the MaxxAir Vent Cover and then the retaining bracket that controls the lid cover. That gave me access to the fan motor itself.

I was able to use my WORX Power Screw Driver for all this, and it really comes in handy. It has a revolving cylinder holding a number of different types and sizes of bits. So I don’t have to bring as many tools up on the roof.

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Taking out the four screws holding the fan motor in place, and after clipping the wires, I removed the old fan unit and set it aside.

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The new fan came with crimp spade connectors, so I installed one set on the cut-off ends on the fan chassis.

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Note that I used real ‘crimpers’. Some people try to use pliers or diagonal cutters (back when I started in electronics, we called them ‘dykes’. I don’t think we can do that any more.), but you will never get a good connection that way.

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So here’s the finished install with the excess wire tied out of the way.

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And here it is all buttoned up and ready to go.

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When I was putting the MaxxAir cover back on, I noticed a crack in it. Some of these plastics don’t take to glue very well, so I’ll use a piece of Eternabond to seal it up.

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Another plastic that is not easily patched are these RV engine coolant tanks made from polypropylene. A new tank costs from $100 to $600! , depending on your rig. A new one for my rig was $130

So I decided to try Eternabond. Wal-Mart sells these packages that are perfect for small repairs.

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And it worked great. Five years later and still no leaks.

Sometime in the next few days, I’ll install the new dome lift motor on the other vent fan.

Later I met our next site neighbors, Roy and Vicky Hall, who turned out to be gate guards who worked for Gate Guard Services just like us, and we know a lot of the same people. Small world.

About 4pm Jan and I headed up to Peters’ BBQ in Ellinger for dinner. Along the way I stopped to get some photos of the Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrushes along the way.

Hopefully all the rain we’ve had this year will mean a good year for wildflowers.

We really enjoy Peters’ BBQ and try to eat here a couple of times whenever we’re in the area.

Besides the delicious BBQ, one of the things we really liked is their ‘sides’ available on a buffet table. Everything is really good.

And they’ve also got really good desserts, including Banana Pudding, Jello, Chocolate Pudding, Peach Cobbler, and a soft serve ice cream machine.

Really great!

Coming back from Peters’ we came over a hill and found this herd of bison.

We’ve driven this road many times and have never seen them before. You never know what’s over the next hill here in Texas.

And speaking of that, coming over the hill coming back into the park, we found a herd of deer blocking our path.

The rest quickly moved off the roadway.

Tomorrow we’re heading back down to Clear Lake for some things, and of course, lunch at King Food.
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Thought for the Day:

The problem with today’s schools:

The parents are afraid of the kids. The administrators are afraid of the parents. The teachers are afraid of the administrators, and the kids ain’t afraid of anybody.

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The Date: May 15

The Time: 10:00 AM

The Event: My seminar on Gate Guarding for Fun? & Profit at the 54th Escapade in Goshen, IN from May 12th to May 17th

Hope to see you there.

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Well, as I suspected, the Tractor Supply shear pin sheared after about a second when we tried to bring in the slide before hitting the road this morning. But, luckily, it proved to be pretty easy to crank it in manually as Jan was bringing it in with the motor.

About 15 minutes after we were finished with the slide, Dave Evans showed up to see if we needed any help with it. I told him that his timing was perfect: He got there just in time to miss the work, but early enough to show his concern and get credit. LOL

Plus the breakfast casserole that his wife Janice brought over yesterday made for a delicious breakfast this morning. Thanks again, Janice.

The next problem occurred when I brought the levelers up. Visually they were completely retracted, but the lights on the control panel said they were still down. Normally this means the hydraulic reservoir is low on fluid, and that proved to be the case this time too. I always keep a couple of quarts of ATF on hand just for that purpose. So a few minutes later we were ready to go. We pulled out a little before 11, hooked up the toad by the Activity Center, and were on our way.

Being a Monday midday, traffic was pretty light. We headed south on I-45, then took the Houston Tollway for 18 miles and then got on I-10W. 65 miles later we turned off on to SR71, and a few minutes later we were at the Colorado River Thousand Trails.

It was an easy trip, and for an added bonus, after passing through Brookshire, we started seeing more and more Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrushes all along the highway, and a really big patch where we turned off SR71 toward the park. Hopefully it will be a good year for them.

Due to the warmer weather, and the easy-popping, weak 30 amp breaker we had here last time, we upgraded to 50 amp this time. After checking in at the office, we got parked and set up, and using the same manual/electrical combo we used this morning, Jan and I got the slide out with no problems.

A little later I called American Coach and told them that I had received the incorrect shear pin. After a little work, they finally found what I think is the correct one. Unfortunately they only had one in stock, but they did say they would send it out free because of my receiving the wrong one before. Hopefully it will be here by the end of the week.

Our daughter Brandi called about 4 to let us know she’s got the flu, diagnosed and everything. Luckily (for us) we haven’t seen her since last Wednesday so we should be outside the window of opportunity.

Dodged bullet there.

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Thought for the Day:

The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits. – Albert Einstein

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