Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Marking Time. . .

Last Friday we had visitors at our camp at Piney Grove. Cousin Gary and wife Jo came by to visit. They had originally planned to park their Prevost right beside us and had the site reserved, but they ended up cancelling their reservation. Gary's Mom died just a month ago and they decided to spend the weekend with his sister Shirley. We had visited Shirley earlier in the day thinking we might catch Gary and Jo, but they were out shopping. So it was a surprise when they knocked on the door. We got to visit and find out what all was happening with our families. We normally stop at their home in Louisiana on the way out of Texas, but because of spring storms, we went north instead of east when we left.

The reunion was Saturday and we had a small but faithful crowd. We do hope more of the relatives hear what fun we have every year and plan to make the effort the next year. We have lost many family members this year and two within the last month, so we are hopeful the younger family members will encourage others to come next year.

We stayed at Piney Grove an extra day because we needed to take the motorhome over to Bay Diesel in Red Bay on Monday. They were going to check the error codes to try and see why we got a check engine light upon pulling in to Piney Grove. As it was, they were not able to determine anything. There did not appear to be any old codes or anything that would explain the message. Chris did say that if it happens again, we need to find a CAT dealer who would have the comprehensive computer diagnostic software in order to pinpoint the problem and fix it. He had suggested to Terry earlier in the week that he check the overflow reservoir and put some distilled water in it. When Terry checked it, he was able to put about two liters in it. A low fluid amount there will trigger the sensor to give the "check engine" message, so it is possible that was the problem. While we had it there, I started asking Chris about an oily smell I was getting whenever I would apply the service brakes. He immediately suspected an seal in the oil-filled hubs. Sure enough, the seal was broken and fluid was spilling over the brake shoes. That was fixed, new brake shoes fitted and the other side got new brakes. He also cleared up some questions I had about some clunking and pulling I was experiencing when applying the service brakes. He was able to help that a bit as well. So even though nothing was found wrong with the engine, we did get some other issues taken care of and that was fine in my book.

We have not been able to get into Tiffin Service early, but we have our name on the list. We are hoping to get in even a day early which will make it easier for us to get back to Warsaw with time to spare for Mom and Dad's 65th wedding anniversary party. All the kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids will be there, so it will be a festive occasion.

When we left Red Bay, we drove over to Tupelo. We wanted to put some miles on the coach and make sure if we experienced any problem, we would be able to address it. We camped at the Natchez Trace RV Park. We have been there before and it is a Passport America park. It is adequate and we stayed two nights and did some sightseeing around Tupelo. We probably would have done more, but it has been 95-97 degrees and we just prefer to stay in the motorhome where it is cool.

This morning we drove over to Fulton, Mississippi, and we are camped at the Whitton Park Campground which is another COE park. It is heavily wooded, but wouldn't you know. . . our site has about two feet of clear sky in front and it was all Terry needed to get the TV satellite antenna locked on. He is happy about that. I could take it or leave it. The Datastorm is under too many trees to even get a GPS reading, but our aircard is working well, so life is good.

We went out after lunch to explore, but there isn't too much here in this town. We did go to the waterfront. There is a bike/walking trail that runs for a couple miles along the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, so we took a couple pictures.

On the way back to camp, we stopped at the historic center which is a very nice building with a history display of the building of the waterway and about how it has changed commerce in the northeast part of Mississippi.

We will be here for a couple nights before moving on to Red Bay. We want to be in there over the weekend so that we get a full hookup spot and can get ready for our service appointment.

Till next time. . .

Dale

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