Damage from last trip of the year

[Tim5055]

Well, I already posted about our last trip, but didn't mention the things that went wrong.

We left in the snow.  Funny that we got snow this early in the year, but there it was falling from the sky.  Not too much, but I still hate driving in the snow.

In North Carolina we noticed that the "Check Engine" light kept comming on every so often.  I wonder what that is?  All the guages are good:

• Engine Temperature
• Oil Pressure
• Transmissin Temperature
• Ammeter

 :confused:

At the next rest area I checked things out and found that the coolant level was low, but we never ran hot.  Could that be it??  I always carry oil and coolant, so I topped off the coolant.

After we arrived at Fort Wilderness and were hooked up for a couple of days a funny thing happened.

I was sitting inside the pop up and heard a noise; hmmm, what's that?  I walked around the outside and discovered water gushing out of the hot water heater compartment.  Opening it up, I discovered it was flowing from the Temperature & Pressure relief valve (T&P valve).  Well, no hot water for the rest of the trip.  Glad I have the great comfort stations at FW.

I talked with friends the day before we were scheduled to come home; weather report is in - snow for the drive home.  We kept up with the weather on the drive and thought we would make it back without hitting th snow; yea, right.  Just north of Richmond we began driving into it.  The further north we drove, the harder it snowed.  All I could think was, where are the plows?  At times we were down to 30 MPH in a line of cars in the center of I-95.  As we crossed the Patomic River into Maryland it slowed down and as we traveled east on MD50 it stopped.  It was nice to wheel it into the driveway without it snowing on me.

While driving in the snow the DW noticed that the left side amber marker lights (both front and side) on the pop up were missing the covers.  Apparently the ice and salt thrown up by the TV knocked them off.  A litttle further on she noticed that the lights were flckering, then went out.  OK, something else to repair.

Again on the drive home the "Check Engine" light kept commin on, but we discovered it was only when both gas tanks were low.  Hopefully it is just a bad gas cap that is triggering an emissions alarm.

Well, now I have the pop up in the driveway and remember that snow is bearing down on us and I have not winterized yet   As it was 4 in the mornig I decided not to worry about it.  I had drained the HWH and as many of the water lines as I could before I left FW so hopefully it will hold out.

10AM the day after.  We have a break in the weather and the snow/rain stops.  I run outside and pop up just enough to get to the water pump to bypass the HWH and begin to pump antifreeze through the system.  Just before I'm done it starts raining again.  Now the tenting and bunks are wet :eek:   I  guess now on a warm day I have to open it up to dry it out.


Well, even with all of this it was a great trip and I still love camping!  I look forward to next year! :W

[Miss-Teri]

Maybe it's a last-trip-of-the-season thing?  On the way home from what we thought was going to be our last trip of the season, the PU blew a tire.  It was no big deal as far as the Windstar handled it perfectly, but it made the wheel look like a stop sign, and mangled the aluminum over the tire/under the cabinet.  DH got it all fixed up, though, and we did squeeze in one more trip to Arkansas for Thanksgiving.

[jawilson]

Geez, that sounded like a lot of fun. I bet you can't wait to go again, can you?

[tlhdoc]

I am glad your trip wasn't all bad.  Having to dry the PU out when it is cold is a pain to do.  Have fun. :p

[topcat7736]

Tim, here's a song just for you....(might sound familiar & others may add some verses too)
 
hummmmmmmmmmmmm
 
After the ball was over
Katy took out her glass eye
Put her cork leg in the corner
Hung her wig out to dry......
 
LOL

[Gone-Camping]

Here, I'll throw in the violin music....