First day on the road

Thursday, December 28, 2017

It was 10 A.M. when I finished hooking up the Jeep, kissed Dolly and Fergie goodbye and headed for warmer climates.  It was a good thing I didn’t plan to leave yesterday.

When we woke up Wednesday morning, the pipes were frozen in the bedroom end of the house.  Dolly asked me the night before if she should open the faucets to let them drip, but I said we didn’t need to.  What a dummy.  It got down to –4 degrees and I know the pipes behind the bathroom freeze when it gets down to zero.   This has happened before, so I took a space heater and placed it in the unheated utility room.  Around noon the water came on and thank goodness no pipes broke.

For the rest of the morning, Dolly and I loaded stuff into the MH so all I would have to do is put the food in and hook up the Jeep on Thursday morning.  After we were done, I decided to pull the MH back into the shed and hook up the electrical cord to top off the batteries for the night.  Guess what?!!  The darn MH would turn over, but would not start.

I was thinking since it was only about 4 degrees out, maybe I had a frozen gas line.  After trying a number of times over the next hour, I decided to hook the battery charger to the battery and top off the engine battery.   After waiting another hour, I thought I would try starting the generator to see if it would start.  Just before pushing the button to do that, I decided to give the engine one more try with the charger on it.  I’ll be darn, it started right up.

I talked to Evan, my technical engineer, and we’re thinking there is a loose wire or the starter solenoid is going bad.  Decided to try starting it in the morning before leaving.

The whole family went out Wednesday evening for Erin’s twelfth birthday at Outback Steak House.  There were eleven of us there and we had a great time and some yummy steaks.

Mr. Keaton peeking over the wall at me.

Here’s Mom, Erin the birthday girl and Grandma! 

We got home around 8 P.M. and we were both beat so went immediately to bed to rest up for the big day.  This time we started a faucet drip in the bathroom so we wouldn’t have the frozen pipe problem again.

Got up at 7 this morning and tried starting the MH and it wouldn’t start again.  Put the charger on it and it started right up.  Decided to just head South and worry about my starting problems tomorrow morning.

  My road trip today went flawlessly.  

Passing by the smokestacks in Springfield, Illinois on I-55 South.

I was worried about St. Louis because of all the traffic and turns, but I followed the I-44 signs and before I knew it I was on the southwest side of the city and it was in my rear view mirror. 

Got a lucky shot of the Gateway Arch.

The rest of the trip was a breeze.  Drove six and a half hours today with two stops – one at a rest stop and the other to get gas.  I didn’t shut down the engine either time.  I figure, if I’m going to have a problem, it will be in the Lebanon, Missouri Walmart parking lot.

Beautiful hills as I passed through the Ozarks in south central Missouri.

Fifty years ago on this very day, I was sitting in a barracks in Ft. Leonard Wood.  I had recently graduated from college and was soon drafted into the U.S Army.  I was sent here for basic training.  Had a horrible time.  Caught pneumonia in this damp cold country and nearly died.  Made it through training though and spent two years with one of those years in Vietnam.  Oh, the good ole days!

The weather was cloudy all day, but no rain or snow.  The temperature when I arrived here was 29 which feels great compared to the 4 degrees when I left.  We will have a low of 16 tonight, which isn’t bad.  Very little snow left around here.

So, here I am with the engine shut down and the Wave propane heater my wife gave me for Christmas, staying warm and writing my post.  I did try starting the engine after shutting it off for a short time and it did start back up, so won’t worry about it tonight.

See you later.