Today we head to my home town, Crawfordsville Indiana 276 miles to the North West of where we are here in Berea Kentucky. This will be our longest pull so far this year. In our effort to slow down as best we can, we have been only traveling as far as one tank of fuel can take us. We have a 38 Gallon fuel tank and that can take us roughly 250 - 270 miles without being on fumes when we get to our destination. So we will probably need to pull off and get fuel this time. Just depends on how hilly it is and how much traffic.
We arrived here at Walnut Meadows RV Park in Berea Kentucky on Friday around 3 pm. We had no problems on the 236 mile pull up from Chattanooga TN. The park is quite a bit run down but at least the cost is only $20 a night and the WiFi works great! I guess I shouldn't bitch much, the sites are mostly level, good size, lots of grass, and did I say only $20 per night! The park is basically a place to pull over for a couple of days and chill.
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| Our site in Berea Kentucky |
This area is very much in the heart of redneck country USA. We are just a half mile off of I 75 with all of the usual stuff you have at an interstate exit; Walmart, several gas stations, and every fast food joint you can think of. Funny story - Friday we went to Walmart and saw 5 large people get into a 2 door 90s model pickup truck. One of the ladies was actually hanging out of the passenger window!
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| Walmart parking lot. 5 full size adults in the cab of that pickup truck. |
Yesterday we went into the town of Berea to check it out. It really is surprising that this small town of 13,000 has so much stuff. They have a public swimming pool, a college, an arts center, and many festivals, which we missed. We walked the 4-5 blocks of the arts district in town in the afternoon. We got an ice cream cone and just did a relaxing walk saying hello to people on the sidewalks as we went by. It was sort of like being in Mayberry and Otis should have been at the gas station. Several couples asked us where we got the ice cream as they wanted some too. It was a nice afternoon!
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| This is the store where we got ice cream cones |
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| Tourist trolley bus. No one on it, but they are ready |
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| The log cabin to the left dates to the revolutionary war. The cabin use to sit a few miles from here and was donated to the town by the descendants of the original inhabitants! |
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| The town has lots of these hands done in many ways. In the background there are 2 guys under the tent, one playing a guitar and the other playing a fiddle. |
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| Hand made out of wire |
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| The old Berea Hotel |
When we arrived and set up the rig, the bedroom AC unit would not turn on. It was getting an error code saying there wasn't any power to the control boards. I tried rebooting the control system and turning off the breakers. Nothing worked. Good thing the temperature outside was only 80 and it was getting dark, the big AC unit in the living area could handle that load easily. Saturday morning I climbed up on the roof, took the cover off of the AC unit, and then took off the cover to the control boards. I was looking for a loose wire or a blown fuse, which didn't appear. I then checked with my volt meter for power and there definitely was no power at the unit. So the problem seems to be somewhere in the rig itself.
My next move to diagnose the AC power missing was to check the circuit breaker panel in the rig. The breaker panel is located in the kitchen below the area where we have our coffee pot. I have been wanting for some time to pull off the breaker cover and see how it was wired. This was going to be my time to do it. The cover comes off real easy with the removal of 5 screws. As I was figuring out how the panel worked I noticed 4 burnt wires in a row! Upon further examination, I found that the 3rd wire down was the one that caused the others to overheat. I also noticed that the wire was loose in it's connection. Ha Ha! I found the problem, a loose wire in the breaker panel. I tightened the wire and turned on the AC and it started up immediately! Problem solved!
What we have found is that warranty repairs are a pain in the ass. First, it takes weeks to get an appointment at an RV dealer. If I had to take this in for a warranty fix it could have been several weeks if a part was needed. RV dealers do not seem to stock warranty parts, everything must be ordered from the manufacturer. When you live in the RV, this can be a real pain. This is why I try to fix stuff or at least have an idea of the parts needed so I can work on getting the parts delivered before I arrive to have the work done. So far this has worked for us and our manufacturer, Prime Time, has worked with us to get things done.
We are heading out of Kentucky in about 2 hours (10 am) for Crawfordsville Indiana. We should arrive around 2:30 pm. We have doctors visits over the next 3 days including an 8 am blood work appointment in the morning in Lafayette (the home of Perdue University), an hour away from our site in Crawfordsville. Then on Wednesday I have a colostomy scheduled in the afternoon. The colostomy is fine, it's the freaking prep on Tuesday that I dread. Oh well, need to have some "crap" so the good is so much better!
These are some pictures around the campsite.
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| The clubhouse from long ago here at the campground |
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| An old bus conversion (into and RV). Just behind the driver is a telephone on the back wall. In another life I would love to do a bus conversion. |
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| An old fire truck |
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| Nameplate on the fire truck. |
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| This is a picture of Rosie, our plant just after we arrived in Florida in December. She was liking the Florida weather and was blooming even though she had very few leaves. |
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| Now look at her! She has lots of leaves and has 15 - 20 buds at any given time. She just didn't have any flowers at this time which has been unusual for the past few months. She usually has 3-6 flowers every day. Maybe she knows she is going back north! |
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| Very cool flower pots at this campsite. |
Stay tuned!
6 comments:
Colostomy, or colonoscopy? That is the question. The first one, you end up with a bag of....and the other, they Rote-a-Router you. Had one several years ago when the medical "experts" were trying to find the reason for chronic stomach pain. The prep is pretty crappy (ha), but you don't remember the actual procedure. Mine ended up being my gall bladder so the procedure was totally unnecessary. Lovely. :)
That was my question too. I hope it is a colonoscopy and not the other. Two things...First - what did you expect in a Walmart parking lot in Kentucky :-) and second - thank you for posting your trouble shooting for some of the issues you have had with the 5th wheel. Dude you are a very handy guy. I hope I am able to handle issues like that when we get on the road next year. Great information. Enjoy reading your blog and following along. Curt
Yes it was a colonoscopy, rotor router. As far as being handy, it's not much difference in owning a house except there is less of it. It is so inconvenient to get service at an RV dealer I try real hard to fix stuff myself. I try to save the dealer for parts and stuff I can't do or don't think I am qualified to do. I am going to have the axles re lubed and the brakes adjusted at a dealer in July at the one year point. It looks easy to do but I feel better having someone who has done it and knows what they are looking at in the suspension. Just don't do stuff that you can't undo to keep you moving. Lot's of people on-line to help also.
Awesome! I love your stories and pictures.
Zion National Park RV Campground
This is a bunch of interesting things you shared with us about your continuous adventure. I think that living in an RV is pretty interesting. You get to see a lot of places, see a lot things, meet a lot of people, and gain a lot of experiences. But to make all of these possible, knowledge about how to keep your wheels turning is a must. Well, I don't see you having a problem on that one. :)
Liza @ Prairie City RV Center
Great written post I like that. For RV roof repair prefer long term repair like Repair RV Roof Leaks so that you can enjoy its long warranty with security.
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