?

?

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Final Update .... Lunerlander "Sally da house" approaching touchdown....

Some days ya feel just fine. Yesterday was one of them. Had a very nice journey "down the road a piece". Right bout 200 miles.

Now we are talk'n another day. Not so good. In fact, if'n I could, I would go back to bed, sleep a few hours an' give it another try.

There weren't nuttin special bout yesterdays road time other than I wasn't in pain. If ya missed yesterdays updates, I'm look'n for gas stations I can fit in. The first one I found (Google maps), the pumps run parallel. That's good news....But, the turn out of the station is gonna take some maneuvering to get back on I-20. I surely don't want to disconnect the "billy jeep" so I can back "Sally da house" up....then have to reconnect. But then again...I surely don't wanna run out of gas.
"Have confidence Billy Bob, you can do it". Will update ya when I get there. Just a few miles....10 maybe.

It's been a while, but last night I was rather....how do we say it, conscious of my surroundings. There's people walk'n all over the place. Look'n in winders of parked cars an' stuff like that. A set of three vehicles pulled in. Got out of their cars an' went to visit a lady parked over there. She weren't hav'n no picnic....as far as I could see. This went on for hours....people walk'n past "da house"....look'n in my door. I took all the spice and other occurrences out of this, otherwise it would be a long subject. I slept with gun in hand.....or very close.

Black smoke again this morn'n. Onan generators don't do that. Well, this one do. Before I take it to a authorized repair shop, Billy Bob R/V Services will diagnose the issue....with the help of my wonderful son Robert. Hee hee, some times ya gotta butter the boy up a bit.

I'm sure todays jaunt across country will in no way be different from yesterday....after I find a freak'n gas station. Back hurts, but shoot, it hurts all the time. Interstate travel offers nuttin for the adventure minded traveler. Nuttin but blacktop, concrete an' trees. This sucks.

Also on my mind, and most the night....will "Sally da house" crank up again this morn'n. Yesterday I had me some doubts.....6 trys to get that engine roar'n. An' there ain't a damn thing I can do bout it. Gas mileage is still down a bit. 355 miles an' I'm think'n 45 gallons of gas. Brand spank'n new motorhomes don't get 7.8 miles a gallon. "Service time Billy Bob".

Ok, how far do I want to travel today. After yesterdays "nice" trip, I'm think'n I could do 300 today. Oh wait....."git that out your mind Billy Bob". It's 10am. Six hours on the road would put me at my next camp site right bout 90 degs temp for the next four or five hours....sit'n in a rest area before the sun goes down. Did that yesterday. Didn't cool down till midnight.

Dang. I need me a shower. Oh oh, the dad gum water heater don't come on. What the hell??? See, I told you "something" was gonna happen. "Houston, we have a problem".
*Piddle piddle....screwdrivers, wrenches an' a hammer*....water heater come on. Dang I hate work'n on stuff what ain't supposed to be broke. I have no idea what I did.

"Oh yes, before ya forget Billy Bob, ya got to empty the black water tank". In Mississippi, the rest areas have dump stations. There is one (1) rest area go'n east on I-20. The state of Georgia shut all of their dump stations down. The trip from "Yo Mama's RV Park", in Georgia, to the closest dump station is 60 miles round trip...back in Mississippi go'n west on I-20. Dang....motorhome'n ain't all that easy.
***********************************************************************

Update......1:30pm.
Ok, the fuel situation worked out pretty good...after the forth exit off'n I-20. Only put in 35 gallons due to the price. Dang holiday prices!!! I'll have to fill up one more time so I didn't need to top off at $3.69 a gallon. Ha ha....that means look'n for gas stations again. Some stations ya cain't see well from the highway, so ya gotta get off an' take a closer look. And hope there's a place to turn around to get back on the highway.

Sit'n here at mile 740 of this trip at the mid point Mississippi rest area  Good 'un too. Am I mak'n good time? You can bet yer bippie I am. Right on schedule. This is the last Mississippi rest area an' right there in front of me is the dump station. "You know some stuff Billy Bob". Will continue my journey for another 140 miles of so from here. Been absolutely beautiful weather up to this point. No "hot" sunshine bear'n down on me....I can live with this. Although it is a mite warm out there.

Leaving the engine running. When I tried to crank up earlier, it took tooo many tries. I ain't tak'n that chance again until tomorrow morn'n. Even left it run'n while I was pump'n gas. I mean, like....what can it hurt?

Oh wait....I screwed up this morn'n. It's Alabama where I usually empty black water tanks....not freak'n Mississippi. What was I think'n? But I'll empty here anyhows.
************************************************************************

Final update of the day......

Well, here I am...up the road a piece. From my calculations and a little help of my Walmart special Rand McNally GPS, I have traveled a total of two hunnert miles today. I ain't tired an' I ain't got no pains to speak of.....thank ya Mr. Bayer.

Ok, ya wanna head what happen when I leave the engine idle'n back there at that other rest area. The damn engine got hot. Something like bout 220 degs. Do I have a electric fan? Hell if'n I know. Suppose I could go look. Let ya know tomorrow.

And then....almost disaster. Well wait a minute, almost two disasters. Traffic in front of me was slowed to a crawl, something happened up ahead. I'm cruis'n long bout 10 mile a hour in the right lane....an' here come a 18 wheeler in the left lane go'n a hunnert mile a hour. Cars in left lane have no where to go. Truck driver slams on the brakes, smoke com'n out every tire on that truck. He swerves into the median....saving the lives of who ever was in them cars. It could have been bad I'm tell'n ya. In the median, the truck come *this* close to turn slap over an' he come to a stop not 50 feet from a great big ol' overpass concrete doohicky what holds the bridge up. A couple of us stop in the traffic to see if he is Ok. He waved us on. I suppose he pooped his pants an' didn't want nobody to know.

And then, we top the little incline, an' down the road is what appears to be a accident. Lights flash'n, amblambaces, tow trucks...that kind of stuff. Did I take pics? You can bet yer bippie I did. Will repost this tomorrow along with the pics. Hope they come out.    

Tomorrows final 200 mile run down the road will put me in the driveway of "Yo Mama's RV Resort".
"Don't forget to stop in Birmingham for gas Billy Bob".

      

18 comments:

  1. Hmmmmm, have I just been spammed??? Sure do look like it to me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'd sure like to hear the full story about people looking in your door. I never did like to park in rest areas unless I could squeeze into the middle of a whole bunch of semis. The truckers didn't seem to mind once they saw me out of my truck - I probably reminded them of "Mama"! I like to drive about 175-250 miles a day, but if I only had 300 miles to go I'd just get it over with. Hope you find a gas station you can maneuver in and out of.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. At 5 to 10 miles per gallon, I would be carrying 3 or 4 10 gallon gas jugs with me! You never know when a several hour auto accident is going to happen! Especially on a holiday weekend!

      Delete
    2. Anony....I cain't even lift a 10 gallon jug of gasoline. I never let it get that low where I would need to carry extra fuel. Hit a 1/4 tank, I'm sweat'n.

      Delete
  3. You are making progress, soon you be there and Robert get your genny all fixed up for ya.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yup....only 280 miles to go.

      Ha George, I'm think'n Robert don't know nuttin bout Onan generators. But, under my supervision and strict orders, he will fix it.

      Delete
  4. If I could find gas in Sacramento for $3.69 a gallon, I'd fill my tank to the very last drop.

    You are doing great on this trip!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So far, this has been the most I have had to pay. Figger on bout $3.39 to 3.49.
      Is Sacramento in California? One trip to the "slabs" in southern Ca. gas was $4.39....ouch. But it was $3.89 across the border in Arizona.

      Ha....if you was talk'n to me in person, you wouldn't think I'm hav'n a great trip. Sadie Mae won't even talk to me.

      Delete
    2. They say a dog has excellent intuition about people Too bad she can't talk or write her own blog and tell us how you're really behavin'.

      Delete
  5. "... under my supervision and strict orders"

    lol. Tell it like it is Daddy! Father Knows Best; right?

    Good to hear the trip is going well ....'cept for itty bitty worries. As I said before, you have more "intestinal fortitude" than I could ever conjure up.

    I too hope you will tell us more about the 'lookers-in your door'. Mention a gun (whether actual or not) and I begin to fear trouble is brewing. So many headlines these days of murder and mayhem, one just never knows what may happen, do we?

    Sitting here wishing MY son would come and put an alternator in my truck. New battery isn't charging. Darn, if' it isn't one problem for me it's another ....and sometimes an armload. I'm worn slap out with worrying how to keep my head above water. Life alone is no picnic! And Old Age just stinks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sissy....I look for your comments every day. I like the way you say stuff.

      I wish my worries WAS itty bitty stuff. My god, I could be stranded out here. Have no fresh brewed coffee an' the damn engine won't start. That's not itty bitty.

      A gun in my hand is only "just in case". The way things was look'n last night, I may have had to use it. Remind me to tell ya bout the guy sell'n a solid gold 2 caret ring for gas money.

      Well shoot, call your son....butter him up a bit. Alternator be installed lickity split.

      Delete
  6. hi billy, even if your motor don't work you still have a home a comfortable bed and no lot rent . if you generator don't work for coffee ,you can live with out coffee you know ,i have never drank coffee in my life and i still am alive .and gas is $125 a liter in winnipeg and $155 a liter in northern ontario canada , there are 4 litres to one gallon . so don't fell so bad paying $3.80 a gallon . $1.55 X 4 = approx. $6.20 a gallon .anyway it's about time you contribute a little to the economy. most importantly are you having the most fun you have ever had with your boots on ?

    ReplyDelete
  7. hey billy i just checked the mexico the gas price is the same in every corner of mexico because there is no competition the gas the diesel and stations are all owned by the government ,pemex is the only gas station you'll ever see in mexico and the usa dollar price for one usa gallon or prime pemex gas is $3.28 right at this time, or 12.41 pesos per litre so maybe you should get your rig all fixed up and get your back fixed up ,get your passport so i can take you to beautiful mexico for your next winter ,we can go to wonderful places like acapulco , cancun , tulum ,ect... you see you can relax while i drive and i can be your translator ect... so what do you think ? lol

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hoping your small problems don't become big. It's nice to see Billy Bob's "TRAVELS" is rolling. We have a vacuum advance problem on our 454 Chevy (1984) , It's sticking and causing some surging and minor backfiring. Ordered a new one but it's the wrong one! Can't seem to find one at any auto parts stores or on the internet. There's gotta be a million of these engines out there. HMMMM... We replaced our Onan with a slightly used one at an RV Salvage, only cost us $400 and got it installed for free ! YAHOO!! Hope your travels remain safe. Didn't Tioga George wake up to a stranger in his rig one night years ago?? ...your follower, Rolling Earthquake.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I paid $3.39 for gas just north of Birmingham on Saturday. The ac in my car does not work, so the heat is draining me. I cannot imagine being in your position with the home staying so hot, so late at night. At least you are almost there!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Are we there yet?

    ReplyDelete
  11. yeehaw, almost there. from the looks of it you'll be in tonight. i'll see you tomorrow around noon. up in the mountains of Ga. I can work on anything with the right helper, lol.. ok love you be safe.

    ReplyDelete