Trip to Arizona

[Russell E Johnson]

Day 1, Monday 8-22-16:

I was planning on leaving the house at 2PM today, so as per usual we left at 3PM. Which is better than the 4PM it would normally have been. When DW finally realized that US 412 is mostly a 2 lane highway she got noticeably upset. Being the well trained husband that I am I answered "Yup, it sure is." maybe not one of my better responses but it got the point across and dagger stares for the next 50 miles.

For those of you who have not traveled US 412 across Arkansas it is really pretty. Lush, rolling hills, some are even kind of steep, relatively speaking when compared to the Rockies, which we usually cross over at least one trip a year.

We are spending the night in Cotter, AR. We made a whole 195 miles today but I am not complaining, we have done less on the first day out. Tomorrow we search out a place to get propane, the tank ran dry today. 

Be safe all and travel wisely.

[Lakota Wolf]

Rich is on to something Russ.. I have had one of those *False drawer faces and they are secured from the back side,,, real pain in the butt at times to get to,,, pretty much resorting to feel and find method,,(find cobwebs that way to). You almost have to be a contortionist with a mirror,,, Hope its as simple as getting the drawer face off so you can see the situation.

If you cant get the water leak contained, (I assume its when your connected to city water), I would just add water to holding tank and use the pump and water from the tank,, Then of course, Drain it down before you head down the road,, No use to lugging 100 gallons of water down the road,,,

[Rich Thomas]

Russ is it possible its a fake drawer. like the ones in my kitchen under my sink or have you used it before. 

[Russell E Johnson]

Day 3, part 2:

First the bad news, we have another water leak. As near as I can figure it is where the fresh water inlet would connect to the main water line feed. It is coming out from under the bathroom sink cabinet. I tried to pull the drawer out so I could look under the cabinet, and what happens???? the drawer will not come out. It is tied in there for keeps. 

So my question to all of you, is their an easy way to open that cabinet without resorting to my sawzall??? I really do not want to gut the bathroom to get to this leak, but that appears to be my only alternative.

Now for the rest of a highly enjoyable day spent with Pat & Linda Daly and Lady Dog.  They are among the nicest, most sociable people it has ever been our privilege to get to know. Pat took us on a tour of Tulsa and the surrounding area. Then we got to see their beautiful home and enjoy good conversation over pizza and peach iced tea. I personally have not had a day this enjoyable in a long time. Many Thanks for your hospitality Pat & Linda.

Safe travels all and hope to see you down the road somewhere.

[Rich Thomas]

By all counts Russ it seems your having a normal first trip out after a long dry spell. lol .Stay safe old friend and say hi to pat for me. look forward to reading your next post.

[Lakota Wolf]

Dontcha hate when a thing-a-ma-bob doesnt let the doohickey work like its supposed to? Glad you got that squared away, and the water leak issue is fully resolved.... Now,,,, back to enjoying the road trip,,, Thanks for keeping us posted... be safe.

[Russell E Johnson]

Day 3, 8-24-16:

It has been a confusing and busy morning. Pat made arrangements for us to take Betsy to Bob Hurley's RV to get a new regulator put. Was just about to pull out and an RV Tech from Bob's called and asked me a couple of questions. Come to find out the LP detector has an electric relay connected to it. The detector started chirping last time we were out so I shut it off, intending to replace it this past winter. So color me forgetful or ignorant (don't know which LOL) but I turned the LP detector back on, it quit chirping and VIOLA we have propane working again. 

Big thanks to Pat or doing so much leg work for us.

Next thing is we had a water leak, major one, with water trying to flood the basement underneath the hot water heater. So I found a loose connection on the tank (yep my doing, cannot blame anyone else, I did it when I put in the new water heater). So we got water running coming out from under the bathroom sink and from under the kitchen sink. Hopefully 12 hours of leak will not take too long to dry out. Pat will e coming here shortly so I will get to part 2 tonight. Safe travels to all of you out there. 

[Russell E Johnson]

Day 2, Tuesday 8-23-16:

Well today started out to be good, but we did not get to leave the campground before noon. Tried to get the propane tank filled, but no go. Which is not bad, cause it is already full. The problem seems to be the regulator is bad and not letting any propane through. So I started down the road thinking (I know here I go again trying to be smart about stuff) that we would find an RV dealer to purchase a new regulator from. Well that did not pan out, by the time we found any dealers it was after 5 PM so they were all closed. DW said to make the run to Sand Springs and find an RV dealer here. So at 9:30 PM we pulled into the Riverview RV Park (why it is named that I cannot tell, as near as I can see we are too far from the river for it to be seen, unless they are talking about the ditch that runs down the side of the highway LOL).  So tomorrow we get to herd the MMP around Tulsa to get what we need to get the propane going again. Ole Betsy did want to run though, i had to fight to keep it at 55 or 60. We got on 4 lane so I lt her have her head and she settle in at 68 and just purred down the road. LOL, it was kind of fun to run with the big dogs instead of just being in their road LOL. That is all for now. Be safe all till we meet down the road.

[Rich Thomas]

Glad to see you on your way Russ be safe and enjoy your travels.

[Lakota Wolf]

I have to admit, Arkansas does have some real nice byways,(not the super slab interstates).

Its really awesome when the leaves change on the trees. Glad you got an Early (*cough cough) start and stayed *ahead of schedule. (going to have to duck a back to the head smack from your DW when we visit,) You don't have to be like me when driving,, hyper drive gung ho kamakazi get there yesterday.. Take your time and enjoy the adventure.. Safe  travels my friend,, keep us all posted along the way,

[Jack Wasmuth]

Good on ya mate. Keep the greasy side down and the shiny side up.