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Subject: Memorable Trips, or nightmares relived!

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East Central Minnesota

10/14/2007 12:03 PM
March, 2000. I have just retired on March 3, and it is March 5 and we are fleeing the cold Minnesota Winter to visit my wife's family in Florida. It's COLD. VERY COLD. Okay, my wife read this and corrected me. It was February of 2001 and we were on our way to the Marde Gras in New Orleans. The rest she accepted. It was still VERY VERY COLD! The Airstream has been plugged in all night and as I venture out in the 12 below weather I am encouraged that it starts right up. Good start to our trip. Our drive is one half mile long with snow plowed up to four feet along the sides. Can't load the car in the yard, so the wife will drive it to a nearby truck stop and I will load it on the tow dolly there. I will lead the way and she will follow the five miles to the truck stop. One half mile up the highway, lost power. Engine will run, just won't get over 2 or 3 mile per hour. Diesel fuel jelled. I have Winter blend, It shouldn't be jelling. Sit on shoulder for ten minutes and engine returns to normal. Wave wife on and we're back on road. Now, that wasn't so bad was it. One mile up the road. Jelled again. S--t! Nother ten minutes and it runs again. See, all this time I have no heat in the coach at all. I'm getting COLD!! Car heater is working though and the wife is warm. Three stops later a Sheriff's Deputy pulls alongside and with his window down asks where I live. I reply three miles away. He laughs and says, "Well, you don't have far to go then!" and drives away. Yeah I think, only about fifteen hundred miles is all. Finally get to a parking lot in an industrial park. Tell wife to go to auto store and buy a case of heat. (Okay, for you non-Minnesoooootans that Isopropyl Alcohol), and I pour in three bottles. Not supposed to use this on a diesel, but did I mention that I'M COLD! Hey, runs good now. Proceed to truck stop and load car on dolly. We're on the way by golly. Twenty miles down the road it jells again. Stand with my backsides to Interstate 35, and dump in more Heat. Hot dog. Here we go again. Wife is complaining she's cold. Looking back I see that the window behind her has jolted open. Didn't get around to fix that latch. She gets up and closes it. Two miles later it is open again. Rough road, and did I mention that the air ride system is frozen up. Its COLD! Sixty miles and two Heat stops later we are a Truck Stop in Iowa. Truck driver tells me about this magic potion that they sell here that will cure diesel fuel jelling. I'll try anything!! I buy a gallon and a blue tarp, see blue is all they had, which I drape over the front of our Airstream and tie in place. Looks awful, but did I mention that I'm COLD!! Hey, the magic potion WORKS! No more jelling. Also the tarp has warmed the engine up and the heater is actually putting out HEAT!!! Okay, so the window won't stay closed and the wife is now only a lump of blankets and sleeping bags sitting across from me. If she is talking to me her words are muffled by all the layers she is under. But you know, that is probably all well and good. Not sure I want to hear what she is saying right now anyway. I know, I know, I should have fixed the window latch. Stop for fuel. Air Compressor has drained the battery trying to inflate the air bags and engine won't turn over. Nice guy there gives me a jump start. Coach is warmer now and I use duct tape to fasten d-----d window closed. Gotta get that compressor off. Locate fuse and remove. On the road again. Okay, that fuse also powered the heater fan. D---n! No heat again. Starting to get dark and now no clearance lights either. See, that fuse got arced when I removed the other one, and ---- Oh never mind. Stop and replace both fuses and guess what, air ride unfrozen now. Yippee. On the road again!!! Wife is frugal. Wants to overnight in State Park in Illinois. I argue that they aren't open. Gets out her book and finds one that's open. We drive twenty miles off Interstate to State Park and find Boy Scouts in Winter camp out in the snow. No sites plowed for us. Drive twenty miles back to Interstate. It's getting late but at least she's warm now and friendly again. Find a year around camp ground in Springfield, Illinois and though no attendant is present, there is a slot to deposit our name and money. Hey, its warmer here and they even have water hook ups on. Nice rest rooms and just a few neighbors. Good spot. I'm weary and hungry. Wife is frying pork chops on stove while I savor martini, and sets off smoke alarm. All windows now open and its cold again. Now she is convinced, (since she saw that the smoke detector is also a carbon monoxide detector), that its really that deadly gas and it was the furnace that caused the alarm to go off. Insists on not running the furnace. ("We'll DIE IN OUR SLEEP!) she says! Can only run electric heat strips in AC unit. Can't really tell if they are working or not. Finally crawl under layers and layers of blankets and sleeping bags and try to sleep. Morning comes with the sun and a really nice day and we're on the road again. The rest if that six week trip was delightful. I guess we got it all out of the way the first day.

1985 Airstream 345 Turbo-Diesel VFW,Legion, NRA FAA Air Traffic Control Supervisor (Retired) http://www.cooperhawk.net mailto:jimcooper@cooperhawk.net "People are okay in ones and twos. After that number they tend to choose up sides and wear arm bands and berets."

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Forums > Rallies, Camping and Fun! > How do you use your Old RV? > Memorable Trips, or nightmares relived!

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