Blog

Went out for a walk this morning and saw a deer.

Today is the first day I have been out for a walk since we got here. The IPhone sure takes good pictures. This deer was at least an eighth of a mile from me.

We are enjoying the quiet of the river.

We have a pretty cool sunset tonight. The orientation of site 17 has us pointing a little more to the East. The wind coming down the valley does not seem to be flapping the slide toppers as much as when we are in site 15. 15 has more open space away from other people however the not having to put the slides in because of the wind is also really nice.

The weather forecast for this weekend is winds in the 30 to 40 range with gusts to 60. We might just put the slides in and stow the Starlink for a day or two.

We got to Ruby Creek Campground this morning.

Had to add a few blocks to get the coach level. We started with a 6 inch drop back to front. With the blocks and the leveling jacks we are level right to left and the front is 0.25 inches lower the the back, we can live this.

Oh, we are in site 17.

Today we were able to leave Helana on the 12th day.

The shop was able to fix our problems, there is always more than one. The oil level float inside the oil pan was broken and the oil pump was not putting out enough pressure. The old pump went from below 5 psi to a high of 29-32. The new pump goes from 24 psi to a high of 54. We are good to go and we are headed south. This rest stop is half way between Helena and Ruby Creek Campground. We decided it was best not to try and do too much so we are spending the night at a rest stop. It would have been late when we got to Ruby Creek Campground and we don’t really have to push a time schedule.

Yes, we are still here. Hopefully tomorrow is the golden day.

Yes our coach is being pulled out of the shop. This afternoon when they were able to get to the coach and the oil pan off the engine they figured out the problem is not the oil pickup tube. That pretty much leaves the only other option is the oil pump.

Now the challenge is finding an oil pump. At this point it may be Tuesday September 8. Oh well, Rule #1 is it could always be worse. The additional challenge is if this shop will put up with us until next week. So, far so good. We are trying to be very good parking lot tenants. At 5:00 after the shop closed I set up the Starlink so we’d have good internet for the evening. We are in town so we do have good 5G on our cellphones.

PS, It is still a good looking coach.

This is our view out the front, it is good view to have right now.

This morning I got an email from ExpressVPN that they have completed the service ticket from the 25th and have reset my dedicated IP address and I should be able to set it up again.

And it worked.

Tomorrow we may learn what is causing the low oil pressure.

Want for a walk this morning, Walmart is only a third of a mile from here. We have everything we need for the weekend.

Here we are it is really a nice place for a broken coach. Marley has some grass to pee on and we have a nice place to wait.

Our coach went for a ride today.

I finally found a shop in Helena who will look at the coach’s oil pressure problem. Ty the shop owner said he could look at the coach’s oil pressure Monday at 10:00. My original plan was to over fill the oil pan by a quart of oil figuring this would keep oil up in the engine. I think the problem is the oil pickup tube on the oil pump has cracked or the “O” ring that is at the press fit where the tube attaches to the oil pump is leaking. When the coach is on a grade the oil moves to the back of the pan and the tube is drawing in air.

After thinking about the 111 mile trip to Helena with at least one 7% grade I called Ty back and asked it he would be interested in coming to Palisades Campground and towing to coach to Helena. He said he could be there at 3:00.

Prior Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance, in my planning we forgot to factor in the black tank was at 80% full. Matt the gentleman who came to get us said he would be more then glad to stop at a Pump Town gas station just a few blocks from there shop. This is the first time I had to climb up to dump. And by the way I didn’t leave a drop on the trailer’s bed. Matt (the driver) thanked me for that.

Here we are here for the weekend, close to the shop and they even let us have some electricity.