Damage Update

As mentioned in my last post we had damage to a motor that powers the rear jacks on our trailer.  I was waiting for a price quote from Jayco, but in the meantime had done some web research and it looked like this motor could cost close to $400.  Way to pricey in my opinion.  I continued my research and  found it very interesting.

The jack system is made by a company called Lippert and the entire jack system (2 jacks and a motor) has a replacement cost of $575.  Research showed that the motor is not made by Lippert, but rather by a company called Klauber located in Missouri. Lippert, on their website, will sell a replacement motor for $375.  I sent an inquiry to Klauber and they got back to me the next morning with a price quote of $126 plus shipping.  A few hours later the local Jayco dealer called me back and said Jayco does not stock the part so they would have it dropped shipped from Lippert for $375.  I told the Jayco guy what I found out and he could not believe I could get it for $126, but agreed going to the manufacturer would make a difference.  I ordered the motor and it should be here next week.

Unbelievable the mark up Lippert is putting on this motor.

South Charleston, OH

On Thursday we moved from the Knoxville area to Ohio to visit with our middle daughter.  We had a little drama while enroute and are currently waiting to see what the cost will be.  As I was driving in the right lane on the interstate outside of Lexington, Kentucky the semi in front of me suddenly swerved to the next lane and I was immediately faced with a large piece of a shredded tire in the middle of the lane.  I decided I could not swerve in time so I chose to drive over it by straddling it, hoping it would pass under the truck and trailer. I was fairly successful in this plan as it passed under the truck but then hit the cord connecting the trailer to the truck and disconnected it, which immediately gave me a warning indicator in the truck.  I did not hear or see any other damage. 

I pulled over as quickly as I could find a safe place on the shoulder so I could see about the cord as with it disconnected the brake lights and signals on the trailer were not working.  There was no damage, it had just become dislodged.  I connected it back up and took a quick walk around the trailer and did not see any other issues so I got back to driving.

A few miles down the road a semi pulls up next to me and gets my attention and is waving his arms indicating I have some issue.  I look in my rear view mirror and see something dangling by a cable from the rear of the trailer.  I again find a safe place to get over and stop.  The dangling item was the electric motor for the rear stabilizing jacks.  The motor had come off and was bouncing on the roadway attached to the cable that powers it.  I cut the motor from the cable and quickly checked around and under the trailer to see if there were any other issues.  I did not see any and this was confirmed at a rest stop a few miles down the road.

At the RV park I was able to use the jacks via the hand crank and was able to remove the rest of the motor that was attached.  I called the local Jayco dealer to see about a replacement motor and they are checking to see if they can order in time and how much it will be.  It is a small, very solid motor so I am thinking it may cost $50 to $100,, but some online research last night revealed it may be closer to $300!  We will see.

Smoky Mountains

We successfully made our caravan trip from the Chicago area to Knoxville to move our daughter Kim.  The nice thing about this move is I did not have to move anything, she hired Two Guys and a Truck to pack and unpack the rental truck.  Very reasonable price and a great way to get a moving job done.  I wish I would have known about this when we had moving jobs in the past.  My back would have appreciated it!

She is moved in and complaining about Comcast so everything is back to normal.  By the way, I have never had Comcast and I hate their customer service just from the stories I have been told by those that use their service.

We are staying up the road from her apartment in Walland, TN which is very near the entrance to the Smoky Mountain National Park.  It is a nice park and a very easy drive to the Knoxville area. 

The past couple of days we have had RV’ers arriving with motorcycles in tow.  I did not think about it as many RV’ers do bring motorcycles with them, but the numbers began to grow and then I saw a banner at a local hotel that said they were motorcycle friendly.  That information along with a Facebook posting from a buddy mentioning the Sturgis motorcycle rally led me to do some investigating.  The Sturgis rally is August 6-12 in Sturgis, South Dakota, so our RV park is a stop over for those coming from the east and south. 

Since being here the weather has just been brutal.  Everyday it has been in the 90’s with extremely high humidity.  Just walking outside for a few minutes produces immediate sweating and drenched clothes.  Air conditioning is the only way to go!

We are here for a few more days then moving onto Ohio to visit our daughter Kelly.

Canadian Invasion

Wednesday was moving day for us.  We left Two Rivers, Wisconsin and drove back to the Chicago area.  This time we are staying closer in to the metro area at an RV park that is part of the Hollywood Casino in Joliet, Illinois.  The park is very nice and reasonable but only has sites with water and electric, so staying for an extended period of time means taking the trailer to the dump station to empty your waste tanks.  The sites are very nice and they give you  a lot of space.   The nice thing is that we are 40 miles closer to our daughter and friends.

When we arrived on Wednesday there were only a dozen or so rigs in the park and the entire center section of pull-thrus was empty.  That all changed at 2pm on Thursday!  We had a Canadian invasion.  At the same time, approximately 20 high end class A diesel pushers arrived.  All from Quebec. It was fascinating watching them come in.  One after another they came down the road and pulled in the next available pull thru spot, then you all heard was the hissing of air as they emptied their air shocks.  After they all set up I took a walk around and all their rigs are very high end, nothing under $500,000 and they are huge, all over 40 feet long.

Here is a picture looking up the road from our rig.

Everything on the left are the motorhomes from Canada.

Sunday is moving day for our daughter.  We will be doing a caravan down to Knoxville. 

Some Bike Riding

We have ventured out to see what is around us here in Two Rivers, Wisconsin.  In my last posting I mentioned we are across from Lake Michigan and next to the lake is a very nice bike trail that connects the towns of Manitowoc and Two Rivers.  The trail is called the mariners trail and it is very nicely maintained.  In Two Rivers the trail connects up to another trail called the Rawley Point trail which takes you into the state forest.  Here is a map of the trail.

I believe the total length of the Mariners Trail is 6.5 miles.  I am not sure the length of the Rawley Point trail.  On Thursday we rode from our RV park into Two Rivers (about 2 miles) then rode around town and connected up with the Rawley Point trail which we rode for about two miles.  We did not finish the Rawley Point trail as we were not sure how much further we had to the end and we still had to ride back to the RV park. 

It was a beautiful ride and the weather was just perfect.  On our way back we stopped for lunch at a restaurant in the Lakeview Inn.  The dining room is near the lake and offers great views and great food.  Here was our view from our table.

On Friday we rode the other way on the trail, into Manitowoc.  We rode around the town and then ended up at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum.  A nice place to visit. 

Their coolest exhibit is a World War II U.S. submarine, the USS Cobia.  You get a very nice tour of the inside of the submarine from the back to the front and it gives you an appreciation for our servicemen serving in such cramped conditions.

Deck gun

Torpedo tubes

Control room

We still want to finish the Rawley Point trail and maybe take a drive into Green Bay before we leave on Wednesday of next week.

Two Rivers, Wisconsin

I cannot find out why it is called Two Rivers when it is on the shore of Lake Michigan, go figure.  Before I write about our current stopping point, let me catch you up.

Since my last post I, and our daughter Kim, made a quick trip to Knoxville, Tennessee over the weekend so she could find an apartment.  Kim accepted a new job in Knoxville and will be starting on the 30th.  She was successful in signing a lease on an apartment and will be moving the week of the 23rd.  With this development our travel plans have changed so we can assist her in the move.  We decided to keep our reservation for a week in Two Rivers, but after that we will head back to the Chicago area to then follow Kim, in her moving van, to Knoxville, where we will stay for a couple of weeks before heading to Ohio to visit our other daughter.

Two Rivers is located just south of Green Bay and is on Lake Michigan.  The RV park is part of a hotel that is across the highway from the lake.  You do get a fairly nice view of the lake from the RV park but the downside is traffic noise from the highway and the spaces being close together.  Fortunately they accepted our Passport America discount card so 4 of the nights were half price, making the total cost very reasonable for a park so near the lake. 

Here are some pictures.

View from our trailer.  After the bushes is the highway then the lake.

We are on motorhome row.  Our rig is the one you do not see in the middle.

Now you can see our rig.

The weather is just perfect and there is a nice bike trail along the lake that we are going to try out as well as a state forest that is nearby with trails.

Damn, it is HOT here!

We are in Utica, Illinois, which is just outside the Chicago metro area.  Since we have arrived the temperatures, during the day, have been in the high 90’s every day with the humidity unbearable.  The two air conditioners in our RV do not shut off until well into the night. 

We have been catching up with friends and getting some errands out of the way.  It did cool down a little on the evening of the 4th so we ventured out to a local town to watch fireworks.

We are scheduled to leave here on the 11th but our plans may change as our daughter, Kim, who lives in the area has taken a job in Knoxville, TN and will be moving there later this month and she may need our help to accomplish the move. 

Before I close I wanted to close a story line that I wrote about while we were in Lake of the Ozarks.  I mentioned that my niece’s husband suffered a freak accident resulting in emergency surgery.  Out of respect to their privacy I did not write about what happened, but my niece has written about it in her blog.  If you would like to read the details please click on the link to her blog http://simpsonpartyof5.blogspot.com/.

This was a freak accident that could have been much worse.  Fortunately he was able to get proper care, eventually, and is on the road to recovery.

I would like to end this event on a light hearted note.  At the first hospital he was taken to after the accident the nurse’s in the ER all wanted to be on the case as they do not get many gun shot wounds in that ER.  While waiting for him to be discharged I noticed the ER patient monitor at the nurse’s station and there were 5 patients with the following injuries, sprain, fall, GSW (gun shot wound).   We all had a great laugh over that.