Roadrunner Memories: Camping at the Repair Shop(s)

We were in Richmond VA at the Atlantic Cummins shop earlier this month to check out our 'cold start'.

We scheduled our time here to check out our starter.  At times, it is sluggish even after preheating the engine overnight.  We have new chassis batteries, so we were thinking it may be a starter or a solenoid or a charge issue with the inverter or??

Really not sure but we wanted to check it out instead of just crossing our fingers.

The set up here for staying overnight is fine.  Completely adequate but nothing fancy.  It got us to think about where and when we have parked overnight and stayed in the repair shop parking lot.  We have done that a few times.

For the fun of it (and for curiosity sake) I decide to look back over the years and note when we had actually done that:

October 2009 - Freightliner, Dallas TX 
This was our first experience getting towed outside of Waco, Texas.  Replaced a fuel pump and stayed in the coach overnight at their new facility.  It had 50 amp service and was a brand new facility.

March 2012 - Fleet Maintenance, Fort Walton Beach FL

We stayed at the Ft Benning Army Recreation Center RV Park in Destin when we saw a leak.  We were able to drive it over to Fort Walton Beach.  They had to replace gaskets and other stuff and let us stay in the coach.  We were able to plug into a 50 amp circuit and left later the next evening.

October 2012 - Freightliner Factory Service Center, Gaffney SC
We attended the Camp Freightliner course and were able to stay free at one of the campground sites at the facility.  Had full hookups and internet.

July 2013 - HWH Factory, Moscow Iowa
Broke a foot on the rear jack and had it replaced.  Also replaced the electronic keypad on the driver's console. Parked in one of their free sites (W/E, no sewer).

April 2015 - Freightliner Service Center, Gaffney SC
Had some routine yearly maintenance done.  Stayed overnight in one of the full hookup sites

August 2015 - Bay Diesel, Red Bay AL
Roadrunner was 'chugging' going up hill.  It was a tough one to diagnose.  The mechanics worked on it all day and we stayed overnight parked in front of one of their bays.  They hooked us up with 50 amp.  Finally, after they changed a fuel pump and it was still doing it, Chris Thompson got us an appointment with the Cummins folks at MHC in Tupelo.

September 2015 - MHC Kenworth, Tupelo MS
Changed out two more fuel pumps before they figured out it was the fuel line to the gas tank that was causing the issues. Was able to stay a few nights parked outside the rear bay but hooked up with 50 amp electric.

May 2016 - Custom RV, Vina AL
Stayed out front of Brannon Hutcheson's shop.  Had a sheared bolt on the front DS which he replaced plus a number of things on our list.

August 2016 - Cummins Northwest, Portland OR
Time for yearly service on our fuel filters.  Stayed overnight in one of their eight full hook up sites at their Coach Care facility.

August 2016 - HWH Factory, Moscow IA
Had a broken chain on our PS slideout which we got repair there.  Stayed overnight in one their small but adequate campsites with 50 amp/water.

December 2016, Cummins South, Ocala FL
Made an appointment to have them check out why the Roadrunner seemed to start so slow.  They determined we needed to replace a couple chassis batteries.  Stayed one night with 50 amp/water.

February 2017 Atlantic Cummins, Richmond VA
Wanted to check out if there was an issue with the starter or solenoid.  They troubleshot as best they could but determined there was no issue.  We were OK with that and liked their customer service.  We stayed overnight parked outside one of their rear service bays with 50 amp service.

Surprisingly, that is about 12 times that we have parked overnight (or for a few nights) outside of a repair facility.  Seven times the business had a parking spot/camp site with hook ups, the other five times, they had a 50 amp electrical outlet we were able to plug into.

Though it is not my favorite way to spend the night, it always has turned out OK and been part of the intrigue of this adventure!

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!



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Roadrunner Financials - July 2013

July was a great month to see some of Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah and Idaho.

Roadrunner Recap
Our travels took us from La Valle, WI where Tom and Cathy have a family cottage -- to Boise, ID for a total of 2130 miles and 12 locations.  It was a busy month and we saw a lot of people and a lot of places.

Our overnight stops included the following:

• La Valle, WI (Tom and Cathy's Cottage)
• Milwaukee (State Fairgrounds)
• La Valle, WI (Tom and Cathy's Cottage)
• Moscow, IA (HWH Factory)
• Des Moines, IA (East Des Moines KOA)
• Sioux Falls, SD (WH Lyons Fairgrounds)
• Omaha, NE (Offutt AFB Base FamCamp)
• Lincoln, NE (Camp-A-Way)
• North Platte, NE (Holiday RV Park)
• Cheyenne, WY (FE Warren AFB FamCamp)
• Fort Bridger RV Park (Fort Bridger RV Campground)
• Ogden, UT (Hill AFB FamCamp)
• Boise, ID (Gowen Field NGB Campground)

Good News Areas We Are Under Budget
Our second month on our new budget showed us under budget in very few categories.  I think the one I am happiest about it Eating Out.  Others:

• Gas for the car
• Medical
• Household items

Biggest Expenses
Diesel fuel was the high cost item for us again.  With all those miles and diesel at over $3.75/gallon, we filled up a lot.  We spent a lot of groceries too.

Large One Time Cost Item
No real big ones this month although we did pay for two items on our RV:

• New foot for our PS rear jack
• HWH control panel inside near driver's dash

Both items were as a result of our sinking in the driveway.  We had to jack up the back end, put wood under the tires, then fill in the holes under the jacks and raise the Roadrunner some more.  The PS rear jack foot broke.  Fortunately, it was a quick repair at the HWH facility in Moscow, IA.

Monthly Average
After two months, we are still over budget, primarily due to the cost of diesel.  We will be traveling a lot of miles in August, but once we get past the central part of Oregon, we are going to take our time seeing the coast.

I am thinking in another couple of months we should be back on track and near our budget.  At least that's the plan.  

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time... 

Roadrunner Review - Travel in July

July has been a busy travel month for us.  It takes a different mind set to pack up and move every 2-3 days.  And that is what we did.  13 times we packed up and moved.  That is not to say we didn't like it.  We did.  We enjoyed it and saw more people and places and things than we have in a while.

But, we need a vacation or some R and R time...

Currently we are in Boise, Idaho for a few days.  I will be catching up on my online work, we'll see the State Capitol here, and we are going to catch our breath.

Here's a recap of our travels:

Our itinerary:

• A - La Valle, WI            (Tom and Cathy's)
• B - Milwaukee, WI        (State Fairgrounds)
• C - La Valle, WI            (Tom and Cathy's)
• D - Moscow, IA             (HWH factory)
• E - Des Moines, IA        (KOA overnight stop)
• F - Sioux Falls, SD         (W.H. Lyon's Fairgrounds)
• G - Omaha, NE              (Offutt AFB Base Lake Campground)
• H - Lincoln, NE             (Camp-A-Way)
• I - North Platte, NE       (Holiday RV Park)
• J - Cheyenne, WY          (F.E. Warren AFB FamCamp)
• K - Fort Bridger, WY     (Fort Bridger RV Park)
• L - Salt Lake City, UT    (Hill AFB FamCamp)
• M - Boise, ID                  (Gowen Field Campground)

Whew!

Along the way we have had those memorable, fantastic moments.  And those sights and scenes that one hope's to remember for a long time.  In fact, seeing so much sometimes is hard to adequately process.  And way to much too blog about each day.  So I have plenty of pictures and material for later…

At the top of our highlight list is seeing friends:

- Tom and Cathy

- Steve and Therressa

- Rebecca and Gary

- Gary and Susan

and meeting many many new ones.

Some of the sights we saw and things we did:

• Pontoon boat ride on Lake Redstone
• 4th of July parade
• Ringling Brother's Circus Museum
• Devils Lake
• Brewers MLB game
• Milwaukee Museum of Art
• Lake Michigan
• HWH RV Jack Factory
• Herbert Hoover Library, Museum and gravesite
• 5 yr Driver's Licence Renewal
• Nebraska State Capitol
• North Platte Canteen
• Bailey Railyard
• Cheyenne Frontier Days
• Rodeo Parade
• Wyoming State Capitol
• Fort Bridger Historic Site
• Utah State Capitol
• Mormon Tabernacle
• Golden Spike Promontory Point Historic Site

We'll be here at the Gowen Field Campground getting caught up on things.  We have ordered mail and expect it today or tomorrow.  I started my 3 day RV cleaning and waxing task which I look forward to. Good exercise and it's fun to get the Roadrunner shining again. And I will be doing a few days of online work.  We get great internet reception here on my Verizon mifi.

So that's a look at our July - Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Making Our Way to Wisconsin

We stayed at a couple of pretty good campgrounds on our way here to Wisconsin.  During our time in Independence, we stayed at Blue Springs County RV Campground (a Corps of Engineers) park run by the county in Independence, MO.

This had very nice campsites with plenty of space and it was well maintained.  We were only a few minutes off the freeway but it seemed as if we were way out in the country which we enjoyed.  

There were not a lot of trees near the campsite we reserved but there was one that was obscuring our satellite dish.  Sometimes we set up and check things out as if it might the first time we have ever done this.  Have you done that lately?  We normally turn on the satellite before we get in place just to make sure we can get a good signal.  Not this time.  We got all set up, then check out the TV.  Oops.  No TV.

The campground was mostly empty so we decided to see if we could get another site nearby.  We had to go back to the campground host and see how things looked.  It worked out well and we got the site right next to the one we had reserved.  We unhooked everything, stowed stuff, took in the slides were packed up in 15 minutes for our relocation 30 feet away.  Ugh… it was really hot and we wished we had checked out the TV before we got all set up.  Every done that?

And the new site was great.  So it was worth the effort and we were glad we move.  We were there Monday through Thursday and it was a quiet, peaceful, very enjoyable campground.

From Independence, we traveled 350 miles to Mason City, Iowa.  We picked out the MacNider Mason City Campground and it was another good choice.  

The campsites were closer together but it worked out fine.  

A couple of pluses for the campground is the laundry/toilet/shelter building

It can accommodate the whole campground in case of a tornado which is good to know.

And across the way about 150 yards, is the local community pool.

And a good looking pool at that with plenty of lanes for laps.

We enjoyed these two campgrounds and like the idea of staying at something that was a little different than the 'standard' commercial campgrounds along the way.  It was a nice change of pace for us and we recommend them both.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time...

Roadrunner Financials - August 2011

Roadrunner Recap
In August we made our way from Grand Forks ND to the Detroit MI border town of Port Huron.  We left Grand Forks after a few days and went to a Care-A-Vanner Habitat for Humanity build in Brookings SD for two weeks.
Then we saw friends in both Sioux Falls SD and Council Bluffs IA (near Omaha NE).

• Grand Forks AFB ND
• Larson Mfg Parking Lot, Brookings SD
• WH Lyons Empire Fairgrounds, Sioux Falls SD
• Horseshoe Casino, Council Bluffs IA
• Port Huron City Campground MI

Here's an interactive map that shows where we traveled.  You can click on the letters and it will tell you the location.  

We did a good job with things this month.  Although we put some miles on the Roadrunner, we were still under our budget which is always nice.

Good News Areas We Are Under Budget
 RV Maintenance, Campgrounds and One Time Costs were those places where we saved the most.

Biggest Expenses
 We replaced our grill for a Weber grill which cost $148.  We also both got work boots which cost $265 for both.  

Large One Time Cost Items
 Our iPad cost us $918.

Monthly Average

We were a little over this money but we went crazy and spent money on some big ticket items.  Not that we didn't want them or need them -- but those four things accounted for our biggest expenses.

That's what our spending looked like for the month.  Thanks for taking a peek.  Hopefully they provide help or entertainment of some sort...  If you'd like a free copy of the spreadsheet I use, drop me a note and I will be glad to send it along.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!