Saturday, February 4, 2023

Finally a Road Test

 Today is the day!  I was up around 7 o'clock and quickly got my coffee and fed the Yuma.  Deb was outside looking for the sunrise.  It is finally shorts weather once again.  Sunny, very little breeze and a high of 73 degrees predicted today.  By 8 o'clock all of us were sitting around enjoying our beverages and chatting.

Tom, Deb, Deb, Riley, Barb and Jim

Poor Jim, has to head back into Los Algodones this morning for another dentist appointment.  Won't be as bad as yesterday.  They were off at 9:30.

They have a huge camper on that huge truck.  We said our goodbyes to Jim and Barb and off they headed to Mexico.  See you in Quartzsite next week.

I made a quick dash over to the White Lion and started filling the last little bit of oil and additive to top off the engine.  Then, I made sure everything was safe to travel and off Yuma and I headed to the sand dunes rest area for water.  The WL started easily, just like the old days and that is a relief.  Still smokes, but now out the side near the exhaust pipe, so no more smoke getting up into the fan and radiator.

Yuma giving directions

It was about 15 miles to the rest area and being Saturday, the dune buggies were on the dunes.

We filled the WL with 75 gallons of water and also filled four 4 gallon plastic containers.  I turned off the engine while filling and then moved out of the water area and shut down to just enjoy the sand dune activity for a bit.  Yuma found more friends.
Decided to just forego more road testing and just head home and get my second cup of coffee.  It's after noon already.  The WL started right up again and off we headed.   The temperature guage never read over 190 degrees and that was great.  I'm hoping my overheating problems are a thing of the past.  It looks promising.  

When we got home, I waited for an hour or so relaxing in the warm sun.  Actually, I hate to say this, but it was too hot to be in the direct sun, so let out the awning and sat partially in the shade.
I checked the oil and it was right on the full mark, so I can at least go 30 miles without using oil.  That's a good sign.  When I leave next week, I will check the oil often till I get a feel of how much is being burned.  Do not want to get 7 qts low again.  My little friend is still guarding his food.  These guys are very territorial.
At 3:30, we met for Happy Hour and it was so nice outside finally.  Almost up to sundown it was still t-shirt weather.  No visitors today.
Caught the sun just as it disappeared behind the mountains between the Ocotillo plants.  Fixed a pork chop and potatoes on the grill.  It was so nice out, I stayed outside while they cooked.  It turned out to be a perfect day.

Thanks for stopping by.

10 comments:

  1. The weather was great and the WL passed its tests. A perfect day in the desert.

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  2. It sounds like all went well for you.

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  3. It was a good day and the warmth was welcome! I’m glad the WL starting easily and hopefully you have fixed the overheating issue.

    Deb

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  4. Sounds like you had a pretty good day all around! Awesome sunset pic! Hope that weather stays around for you.

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  5. I can't believe the weather. These two days are like the Arizona of old. Glad the WL is running good again. It's such a relief to have everything working! You've done a great job of getting her fixed up.

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  6. Glad it all went well for you! Sounds like a wonderful day :)

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  7. Great that the WL is running well, keeping my fingers crossed 🤞 for you. Looking forward to seeing you next week.

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  8. Glad your test run went smoothly! It was great meeting you, perhaps our paths will cross down the road somewhere!

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  9. Nice day, nice test drive and a nice sunset!

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  10. OMG...that sunset picture is beautiful 😍.

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