We spent the night in the WalMart parking lot at the new Surprise store. We went to sleep at about 10:00 and I was awakened at about 11:30 with loud engine noises from an 18-wheeler that decided he had to park next to us instead of anywhere else in this huge new parking lot. He was settling into his sleeper for the night and was running his engine to keep his A/C running – it was not a reefer truck, just a flatbed with a load. I got up and moved away from him but I could still hear it all night – and it was too hot besides. Not a good night.

We went to Mesa to see Carol’s Mom for Mother’s Day where we were joined by her youngest brother and his girlfriend. We had a nice meal, visited for a couple of hours and headed home.

All seemed well but we smelled something going up the last hill toward home and the transmission was acting a little odd – not shifting, and slipping. When I went to unhook the tow car I discovered that everything had a thin film of oil on it. When I got back home where we had parked to unload there was lots of transmission oil (it is red) all over the place – a bad leak. *(&)%$!!!!

A little note on something I noticed on the way home. Our Rostra electronic cruise control had been acting badly the whole trip. It was cutting out a lot sometimes and then not others. It was turning itself on, accelerating occasionally, just acting wierd. From the moment I changed the ignition module yesterday it has worked perfectly. I am guessing that electrical noise produced by the failing module was what was causing the cruise control problems.

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Surprise is where we are. The brand new WalMart at the intersection of the 303 loop (yes, it is functional) and West Waddell in Surprise. Surprise seems to be the only town in the valley that allows you to stay at a WalMart. The last time we came through we stayed at the one on highway 60 at Sun City. They are in Surprise too but much smaller and noisier – this one is surrounded by fields.

Last night I took the small filter out of the carburetor at the suggestion of Steve Ferguson. I decided that Steve was probably figuring anything the big filter in the back didn’t get was too small to worry about and I agree.

When we left this morning we got some gas and headed out for US-93 to Phoenix. We got to Henderson before trouble hit. It was the same failure except now it was getting much more pronounced. I decided that I would skip worrying about fuel and switch to looking at ignition components so I installed the spare coil I carried.

We didn’t get very far – Boulder City is just a little farther down the road – where it acted up again. Now it is either the big fuel filter in the back or the ignition module – 50/50. I gambled (this is Las Vegas after all) that it was the fuel filter. This was not a good decision for a variety of reasons – like I had a module and didn’t have a filter for one.

I found an Autozone and bought a filter and some dielectric grease (not all in the same trip though) so I could reuse an ignition module that now is my spare. Once the new module was installed we were on our way.

To sum that up… it was the ignition module.

The ride was scenic – you have to like desert terrain and plants – and uneventful. They are working on the road but they mostly don’t get in the way – especially on the weekend.

That brings you up to date with us at WalMart.

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We were looking for a little something to do besides The Strip and we read about Red Rock Canyon which is managed by the BLM. It is a one-way road through an area with great hiking (we didn’t) and rock climbing (not us) and scenery you can see from your car (our choice).The burros in the last 3 photos are wild. There are signs saying that feeding them or the wild horses would be rewarded with a $500 fine but we saw someone doing it anyway.

We went back to the Strip afterward and rode the elevator to the top of the Eiffel Tower at Paris Casino and watched the fountains at the Bellagio three times, including one from the top of the tower.

I forgot my camera for our last venture on the Strip so only photos of Red Rock Canyon.

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This visit was mostly about seeing “Jersey Boys”, the show about Franky Valli. The story is about his life and music – mostly about the music. It is amazing how many hits he had as part of and in front of The Four Seasons.

We finally got to see the show last night – Carol has been wanting to see it for years. The music was great, especially the guy who played Franky. He sounded just like him. The others were good too so the music was fantastic.

We did have an issue with our seats. The theater said the show was sold out and the only tickets available were the very back of the theater. When show time came, however, only about half the seats were filled. I think that the thing to do next time – we might do this again – would be to buy the seats at the theater instead of online. We would probably get better seats.

Not since our visit to the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum in Ft. Wayne, Indiana have we been to another auto museum. Today we visited “The Auto Collections” at the Imperial Palace Casino. Some of the cars are for sale and others are just on loan from various collectors around the country. It was only $9 for both of us but the ticket taker told us that there are coupons online for free admission – we had looked but didn’t see them. Here are my photos:

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We finally got here at about 2:30 after a short day – it seemed long but was only about 3.5 hours. The weather got a little hot – 93 degrees coming into the city – but with the new vents we didn’t even turn the A/C on.

We are staying at the Oasis RV Resort where we had a GMCWS rally last year I think. The place is really nice. We went to the pool but the water was a little suspect and it was populated by a lot of cigarette smoking French Canadians – seems like they all smoke constantly – so we didn’t stay long.

The coach ran well but still a lot of noise and some faint sputtering when under heavy load like on a long hill. I plan to change or remove that carburetor filter before we leave but will leave the exhaust manifold gasket until we get home – the noise is not that bad.

Tomorrow we have tickets to “Jersey Boys” in the evening and we plan to take a walk and go to the car exhibit at “The Auto Collections” at the Imperial Palace Casino. Supposed to have over 300 collector cars on display. I’ll try to get some photos.

We plan to stay here until Saturday when we’ll drive to the Phoenix area to see Carol’s Mom and Pop on Sunday. Right now, our plans are to spend the night at the WalMart in Surprise – not much else available.

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We are in an “RV Park” in Tonopah, Nevada and we have no internet – at least no usable internet. Everything was working fine when we got here but within a few minutes both our Verizon Air Card and the RV park’s wifi could no long communicate long or reliably. Seems like who ever is providing the data connection to the internet from this town is out of order. I will use a local editor until we have internet again – maybe tomorrow.

The first thing we did this morning was gas up – $3.93/gallon – just outside the RV park. It looks like the long, steep climb over Donner Pass reduced our average some but we are still up over previous trips.

We left Reno – actually Sparks it turns out – at about 9 or 9:30 and headed out to Tonopah which is about half-way to Las Vegas on US-95. The weather was really nice in the low 70’s and the road was smooth and in great shape – nowhere near as boring as some people have said. The only thing wrong was all of the noise from the driver’s side exhaust manifold and the periodic poor performance which I am beginning to think may be the fuel filter in the carburetor. Steve F. suggested strongly that I take it out but I have yet to do it. I am still thinking that the exhaust manifold can wait unless I have time and it gets too irritating. We’ll see about the performance problem.

We arrived in Tonopah at about 2:30 at the only camping in town – in back of the Tonopah Station Casino, Hotel, and RV Park. There are 20 spaces which are $20 per night with full hookups and they have discounts. It seems as though there should be more camping since this is right in the middle of nowhere and only half way to anywhere – Reno/Sparks and Las Vegas.

Tonopah is a small mining town in a small mountain range in western Nevada. The mountain range is small but I think we are at about 4000 feet of altitude so not that small. I am curious about what goes on here. It looks like the mine is still somewhat active and we could hear a periodic roar from some kind of equipment. I thought it was maybe some kind on mining method but then I saw that we are at the corner of Air Force Road so it may be some sort of engine testing. We also saw a Naval Underseas Battle Facility or some such name north of here. Lots of sparse landscape to do testing of funny equipment in Nevada.

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View of mountains and Truckee River from  the ‘Rivers Edge’ campground in Reno, Nevada

We are now heading to Las Vegas to see “Jersey Boys” at the Paris Casino.

Our first order of business was to get over the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We took I-80 East from Sacramento and went over the infamous Donner Pass to Reno. It is hard to imagine those Conestoga wagons crossing these mountains way back then – not hard to see why they had so much trouble.

The GMC did pretty well but the climb was about 7000 feet overall and most of that was over a 40-mile stretch – pretty tough. Everything ran well – I think the driver’s side exhaust manifold needs to be replaced but it can wait until we get home. The engine periodically had some strange kind of performance issue – seemed like a misfire or something – but it was only during the heaviest climbs, at high altitude (5000+ feet), and it stopped if I let my foot off the gas and then resumed. We’ll see what that turns into as we proceed.

We took 3 1/2 hours to get to Reno and probably used a lot of gas but we won’t find out until we fill up tomorrow morning. We are camped at the “Rivers Edge RV Park” on the Truckee River in Reno, Nevada. It is a pretty nice place even if it is in the approach path of the Reno Airport. The jets come in pretty low but not very often. We are hoping that they quit early tonight.

We took a walk along the river and rested after two pretty intense weeks of work and visits. Carol got some tickets for “Jersey Boys” for Thursday evening and we should get there on Wednesday. Tomorrow we expect to drive down highway 95 to Tonopah, Nevada, spend the night at a casino or whatever and then arrive at Las Vegas on Wednesday.

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Sunday was birthday party day – the day before Katelyn’s 9th birthday and only 4 days before Alex’s. We had 3 sets of grandparents, uncles, cousins and friends all bringing gifts and both local grandmothers brought cupcakes – pretty and delicious – some with a butterfly theme, some with a Lego theme, and some with a chocolate theme – see the photos below.

Katelyn had a choice for her birthday gift from here parents – either a Kindle Fire or she could get her own puppy to raise and prepare to be a guide dog for the blind. We can proudly say she chose the dog and the gift was symbolized by a new dog bed (the guide dog to be will come in a week or two). That choice was put to the test when brother Alex did get a Kindle Fire but Katelyn has saved enough to buy one for herself and, with Dad’s help, did that after the party.

Turns out that Kindle Fires are Android-based tablets and can be used to read books, surf the net, and play games. Mark and Kristin have their work cut out for them regarding rules for the Kindles.

I have to tell those who don’t already know, Mark and Kristin and proud owners of “The Local Bark”, a Sacramento-area (Rancho Cordova) dog boarding and training business. They recently started a new program training “Diabetic Alert” dogs. These are service dogs, like guidedogs for the blind, that accompany their owners everywhere and can detect and alert their owners’ to the need for insulin. Visit their site at www.localbark.com to read about it and all of the other services they provide. Can you tell I am a proud Dad?

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After San Lorenzo County Park in King City on Sunday night we stopped in Salinas to visit our former business on Monday morning to see how things were running – just passed 20 years in business and still there. Pretty good for a discretionary spending type of business (custom picture framing) in this economy.

We got to Casa de Fruta on Monday afternoon and started working on whatever needed doing to be ready for day 1 of the GMC Western States rally on Tuesday afternoon. Most of the information about what we kept busy doing all week is on the gmcws.org web site under ‘rally reports’ but I’ll try to give you some idea of what we did personally during the week.

The weather was really nice on Monday and was supposed to be nice for a couple of days before turning rainy later in the week. This is pretty late for rain in this area (we lived just 40 miles or so down the road for about 16 years before moving to Arizona) but it was not expected to be cold do it would be a nice change for us. We ate at the ‘Casa de Restaurant’, right next to the ‘Casa de Deli’ and ‘Casa de Wine’ since we were on our own due to our one-day early arrival. The food was good – especially the fruit pies – and we can safely recommend it if you are passing by.

I was busy from morning until evening every day. Since I am currently president of the club I feel that I have to stick my nose in everywhere to make sure that things are going well and that people feel appreciated. The club and the rallies are run entirely by volunteers and, with almost 90 coaches expected, there was plenty to stick my nose into.

The most noticeable personal thing about the week is that one of the sessions was called ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ and was about introducing women to driving the GMC. Carol signed up for it and, by Friday, drove our coach around the campground and even brought it to the vehicle weighing station – this required a tight turn, including backing the coach – while I was working there. This was her first time driving in the 5 years we have had the coach. She said it was fun.

On a technical note, when we were getting ready to leave after the rally on Sunday morning I noticed that the engine was suddenly much noisier than it was on our way here. Both exhaust manifolds were leaking and, by the time we arrived at our son’s house in San Jose on Sunday afternoon it was pretty loud.

We stayed in San Jose for 4 nights and during that time I bought a new set of Remflex exhaust manifold gaskets and installed one on the loudest (passenger) side. On the driver’s side I only tightened the bolts which were much looser than they were supposed to be. The bolts had been torqued to the specified value when they were installed. They were held in place by a piece of sheet metal that prevented them from turning and it had worked for at least 10K miles on the driver’s side until now.

I don’t know for sure yet, but I think that removing the old mufflers and installing new ones just before this trip somehow disturbed the gaskets – probably compressed them somewhat from the cutting and pulling. They may or may not still be leaking a little but I could not tell for sure during the 4-hour trip to the Sacramento area later in the week to visit our other son. We’ll be able to tell for sure when we leave here on Monday morning and head for Nevada over I-80.

Gas mileage, by the way, has been pretty bad. It is improving with every fill-up so I decided to check it by eliminating that first hot day. With that first day eliminated the mileage has improved by about 10 percent from previous trips – I would have to say that the improved exhaust system is the reason. The temperatures are supposed to be higher next week so we’ll see what happens.

The visits have been a lot of fun. It is always great to see both families and the 5 grandchildren. Check below for lots of photos.

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We left the casino parking lot at about 8am and filled up with gas at $4.39 per gallon, our highest yet. We took on 28 gallons of gas which brought our average mileage for yesterday to a whopping 5.7 mpg. This was awful. We have now done everything we can to improve mileage – the latest being replacing our cheap clogged up mufflers and pipes – and our mileage went down!

Today was a lot cooler. It was 82 degrees when we left the parking lot and it got to maybe 85 or so going down I-10 but it pretty quickly started dropping. The closer we got to the coast the cooler it got. The lowest we saw was 60 driving up along the ocean around Pismo Beach.

Of course “she” ran much better today and I couldn’t see the gas gauge moving like I could yesterday. Our only fill-up today was for 32 gallons at about $4.29 but the mileage was up to 7.6. I am not counting my chickens yet because the mileage for each tank can vary a lot because of tank venting issues (at least one pinched vent line) but the gas gauge was almost visibly moving yesterday – really.

I have a theory that now that we have fixed the exhaust system the next item to address is the air intake. The cooler air today made a huge difference in performance – no surprise to some – and I am thinking that hot fuel (actually boiling) combined with hot intake air was a bad combination yesterday. I will have to think about this.

We pulled into King City, Calif. at about 4:30 without a single hiccup today. We checked into San Lorenzo County Park – a favorite since being introduced to it by our GMCWS rally last Spring. The nicest spot we could find was close to a 1967 Dodge Travco motorhome that reminds people of a GMC. They are a very small group compared to the GMC. See it in the photos below.

The Travco is owned by a young couple Gary and Liz with a one-year old daughter Julie from Ventura, Calif. He is a mechanical engineer with a job but his hobby is being a mechanic.

The engine in the Travco is one that has not been made since the late 70s and was designed for farm equipment and trucks. Gary rebuilt the engine and has driven it many times over short distances. This trip was two days into a planned two week trip but, just as they got to King City his engine started making lots of noise so he limped into this county park. That was yesterday. He got a lot done since then but the local tow operator wants $1800 to tow him to Ventura. We have called our friend, former employee, and new owner of Artistic HangUps, Carla to see if she can find anyone with a tow truck in Salinas which is only 40 miles away. We are hoping we can help them. We’ll let you know tomorrow.

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