If you are going through hell, keep going-- Winston Churchill

Ahhhh - me and Dorothy at the concert in Norfolk, VA
May 30, 2011

Monday, June 13, 2011, Tucumcari, New Mexico

The cats were still feeling like they were in the last time zone. They were up playing at 4:00am, although to them it was 5:00am. Thank goodness we went to bed early last night and got some sleep.

The wind had died down this morning. It was actually pleasant. There was a breeze which was cool. I’m sure the wind will pick up later.

Our RV under the overpass yesterday - hot!

Charlie called the AR Towing and Repair this morning at 7:00am. They are the ones who helped us yesterday. They said they opened at 8:00am and we could bring the RV in to have it checked over. The lady said that they had had about 8 vehicles yesterday with fuel pump problems. It was so hot that the pump overheated and freaked out.

Some of the pink tow trucks

We left the campground at 8:00am and took the RV to the auto repair company. As we drove up, a pink tow truck was leaving. I commented that I bet the guy, Dennis, who helped us yesterday was glad he didn’t have to drive the pink one.

Love the wagon wheels on the windows - looks better than the bars we usually see

The building was pink and on the door was “Think Pink”. Charlie went inside and talked to them. When he came back, he said yes, a woman, Linda, runs it. Not a problem as long as they know what they’re doing.

A man, the mechanic’s manager, came out and took a look at our engine. Charlie explained the problem we had yesterday. The man had the name “Pontiac” on his shirt, but Charlie said everyone called him “Jimmy”. We never did figure that one out. But, we think that maybe “Pontiac” and “Linda” are either married or an item. Linda came out to “Pontiac”, gave him a hug and said, “Welcome to Monday!”

They replaced the fuel filter in hopes of solving the problem and they found a bad alternator belt. Charlie saw it and it was frayed. The mechanic had heard something rattling first thing. He said the belt looked like it was original! This RV is a 1993. We always have pre-trip checks and had one in April before coming on this trip in May. The belt must have passed inspection. We had a new alternator installed in Virginia on May 31 and the belt was not replaced then. Either it looked fine then or this happened during the trip since then.

The fuel filter didn’t solve our problem. The fuel pump was not producing the pressure needed to fuel the engine properly. It’s supposed to be steady at 46-50 and it was only about 40. Charlie saw the air bubbles in the line. We need a new fuel pump.

We were told they’d be done by 2:00pm. It was around 10:00am then. They know we have pets with us, so they said they had a concrete slab we could park and plug in to electricity while they worked on putting the new fuel pump in. That way we could have A/C. The cats heard the noise outside and each one stayed in their safe place. Sheila was quiet and went to her kennel.

We called the campground and told them we would be back tonight. Then I called to change the other 2 campground reservations for tomorrow and Wednesday.

This is going to delay us from getting home another day. It will be Thursday, the 16^th now. We are anxious to get home and see our other cats. They are being well cared for and we’re not worried about their welfare. But, we do miss them and we miss our home too!

At 4:10pm we were ready to leave the garage. The engine seemed to be running fine. Our fuel gauge did not work though. It had worked before the new fuel pump. We drove it around and around the gravel parking lot, hoping that it would set itself. It did register more gas, but not full, which it should have registered. When they put the new fuel pump in, they had to empty our full tank of gas. They said they had put the gas back in.

Charlie knows how far we can drive before having to get gas. We usually do not let it get below ½ tank. So, we can use the odometer to gauge our gas used.

We didn’t get far away from the garage when Charlie noticed the “Rear ABS” light was on. We went back to the garage. Charlie talked to “Pontiac” and said “I just want to know if my sensor is bad or do I have an ABS problem”. We would have brakes, but the anti-lock braking system is safer for this size of vehicle, especially in the rain.

“Pontiac” said he ordered a new sensor and if we wanted him to install it, bring the RV back tomorrow. We left. After talking about it and calling my brother, Robert, we decided we would go ahead and drive the RV home. We have two more stops, Holbrook, Arizona and Barstow, California, before getting home. We stopped and topped off with gas. It took just over 5 gallons, so we had a full tank to start tomorrow.

We went back to the campground and had dinner. It was a long day. Thank goodness we had our Kobo’s and Kindle’s! The cats and Sheila had slept all day. It was 104 degrees outside and very windy.

Kaci and Jason

Jonesie drinks lots of water

We’re hoping we don’t have any more problems!

More later……….