Monday, April 25, 2011
Well, it’s travel time again. Greetings from the roamin’ Bowman’s.
It’s our first night out, and we’re at Kamp WalMart in Bend, OR – only 135 miles down the road, but away from Eugene. So, it’s a good thing. One of the few good things from the last few days. Getting away is always interesting. What did we leave behind? What did we forget to do? And then, late Saturday afternoon (too late to do much about it) we discovered that the dining room slideout awning had some kind of problem. Just looking at it, you knew there was a problem. One of the arms for the window shade part was hanging loose, and the awning just looked like there wasn’t any tension on it (there is a spring inside the rollup tube that keeps the fabric tight on the tube and from blowing away when you’re driving down the road).
Well, lo and behold, the awning just rolled out when the other arm was released from the side of the slideout. In early March we had the awnings checked by a local rv repair place, and they seemed to be working when we brought the coach home a few days later. Turns out the spring had broken, and now we needed to replace it. Didn’t want to spend any more money on the awning (beyond buying a new spring), so I eventually gathered up enough courage to try and fix it myself.
I poured over anything I could find on replacing an awning spring from the manufacturer (Carefree of Colorado). Found out our particular awning is not made anymore, but you can still get parts. Also, found out that working with the spring under tension can be dangerous, and there were plenty of people “out there” that left things like that up to the professionals. But, there were those other people that would fix anything, you just be careful with things like springs under a lot of tension.
So I got brave, took the awning off the motorhome, and proceeded to take it apart. Got the spring out (in 2 pieces), and now had to find another spring. Called around Monday morning, no luck. “Tell me the part number, and we can order one for you.” Found a couple of places on the internet that sold the springs for about $90. Then I decided to check out Northwest RV Supply. That’s a local Eugene rv parts place (new and surplus) that has something of everything (almost), including about a hundred awning springs – mostly Carefree Omega and Omega II springs. We just happen to have the Omega awning on our coach. And the best part, the price was only $39 each. With a deal like that you just have to buy a spare (we do have 2 slideouts). So, off I went to fix things.
Eventually, I got the spring in, wound it the right number of turns, put the pin (a nail) it to hold the spring from unwinding, and got it back on the motorhome. And the best part, it worked!
But, it took most of the day to figure out how to do that, and then do that. So, we finished putting the rest of our things in the coach, then backed it out of the driveway (you need to stop by someday and watch that process take place), put all the gear on the hitch and the car and then hooked the car up, and we’re ready to go.
Oops, forgot to check the air pressure in the tires. Just a bit low, so start the generator (too far from the 20a plug) and start checking and filling. By this time, it’s so cold in Eugene it seems to take forever to bring all 6 tires up to snuff. Finally that’s done and we fire up T-Rex (what the neighbor calls the coach), but it’s almost 7 pm, and it was snowing on the passes 2 hours earlier.
Putting good judgment behind us, we left anyway, but went over Willamette Pass instead of Santiam Pass (looked better on the cameras the Oregon Dept of Transportation has up there). Stopped in Oakridge, ate at the local DQ and headed into the recent darkness, up 4,500 feet into what? Snow is what, I can tell you. Just don’t stop until you get to the top – might not get going up again. Next thing we know, we’re going down, and we haven’t even seen Willamette Pass or the ski area there. About 10 miles down we get to the Crescent cut-off, and the road is mostly clear of snow, so we turn. 12 miles to hwy 97, and there’s no snow anywhere. Whoopie!!
Turn north and head for Bend. Get there about 10:30, park at WalMart and get out. There’s a white medallion of snow on the front of the coach, and the bikes on the back of the car are covered in ice. Knock off what we can, and bring them inside to dry out (with towels on the floor). I think I heard them say, “Thank you.” Car is covered with ice. There is ice on the bottom edges of the coach. It’s cold, but we’re done for the night. Tomorrow the ice will melt, it it doesn’t overnight. And things will be even better. We get to see our son Paul and his girlfriend, Toni, for a couple of days. Always have a good time here.
After Bend, is Boise (and my cousin Debbie and her husband, Ted). We might even get to do a bike ride there – if the weather cooperates.
So, we’ll see you when we see you. Some of you during our trip, and our family and friends in Eugene/Springfield when we get back sometime in early August (we think). I’ll try to keep the words flowing when I can find the internet. Till then, so long.
rod, rita & lucy
LATER IN THE WEEK - FRIDAY
We’re still in Bend. We moved to an RV park about a mile north of WalMart Tuesday morning, where we have hookups. It has snowed the last 2 mornings – whoopee, winter is still here! That’s not what you’ll hear passing Rita’s lips! She is ready for some sun and warm weather. We haven’t left yet because the weather in Wyoming is pretty iffy right now, and will be through Sunday. So we plan to drive to Boise on Saturday and leave for Evanston, WY on Monday. Of course, that is if Mother Nature is willing.
If it warms up, I may ride my bike today. Rita said, “Have fun.” It was 32 when we got up at 7:30. If it hits 43 or above I’ll try it – I think.
Till next time,
rod
