Day 1, Monday, March 3, 2014
We were going to leave on Saturday but the weather in southern IL and TN looked bad. Snow, sleet, ice and even rain. So as is not uncommon for us we waited until Monday for things to clear up just a bit before the next big storm shows up.
It was -19° this morning. A few last minute things to load up. Some house chores (turn off the water and so on) and we should have been ready to go.
When it was up and running I noticed that the two air pressure gauges read zero and both had warning lights on. a quick check of all of the systems that use compressed air showed that all were working. Good thing, these include ride control, ride height, brakes, emergency brakes and so on. Actually, if there is not enough compresses air you cannot move the coach. The emergency bakes will not release, the transmission will not engage, the ride control system will disallow movement, dead in the water (or snow).
A quick check at the Foretravel owner’s website and I got quick answers. The gauges are electric and are fed from pressure transducers in the “blue module” which has been problematic for many owners. This is a custom electronics device that was only used for 4 model years, ours included. The solution is to use actual pressure gauges fed from the lines leading to the “blue module”. A project for some other day. I may have to spend some time trying to shut off the dinging alarm that goes off because the gauges are not getting a signal.
Everyone said that if all else was working go for it. So we took a five mile test drive to confirm everything was working, it was, so we hooked up the Jeep, checked all of the lights and hit the road about an hour later than we were anticipating.
We had the coach heat on, the dash heat on, our long undies on and our jackets on and it was cool but OK.
So on day one we drove to Bloomington, IL. About 440 miles in 8 hrs including several rest stops for driver changes and well, bathroom breaks. Roads were good, no weather issues other than it was cold and we just made it to Camp Walmart as sunset was nearing. I got to try out my new HID European headlight bulbs. I don’t know what that means but they are two or three times as bright.
I swore I would never drive in the dark again after going through Kansas City after dark last winter. I am going to try to keep that promise.
And so another day comes to a close. still smiling. We got in three store laps at Walmart and got some fruit for breakfast. we had pretty much our choice of the parking lot. We were warm and snug in our jim-jams. We watched the first episode of Foyle’s War, had a couple of fig Newtons and called it a day by 9:30. More tomorrow, I hope. This blogging thing is not as simple as it should be.
Roger
Home2 with Roger and Susan 
