bobanddenisewanderlust

Saturday-  Bob started up his computer and the screen stayed black! The computer is exactly seven days old. He kept trying and called HP to see if they had any suggestions. He spoke with them for about an hour. They finally decided that either the mother board has a problem or the the attachment to the screen is broken. So they are sending a box/postage to our Sioux Falls address for him to send back the computer. With us leaving for Alaska on Monday, this is a real problem!

Bob ran to King Soopers to pick up a carpet cleaner. While he was gone, I vacuumed the motor home. We set about cleaning the carpet and the ceiling around the fan. When Bob put the hand attachment on, the cleaner flooded the floor. Wonderful! So we had to clean that up. What a mess. We still have a stain where the flood occurred on the carpet.  We returned the carpet cleaner, ate lunch, and continued to do various tasks.

At 4, we went to happy hour, then at 5:45 we picked up Marian and Tom to go to Golden Europe, the Arvada German Restaurant that we like. I had wine during happy hour and Bob had beer at the restaurant. So he drove over there and I drove back. We had great meals and every better company!

We returned and settled in for the evening. The temperature was dropping and we are expecting rain.

Sunday- our last full day here in Westminster.  It never made sense to me for us to keep the new computer and have it fixed, with Bob having to use my  computer for at least two months. Plus the new computer chasing us around the Canada and Alaska. So we discussed what to do. Bob check the computer again, the screen continued not to work, but he could tell that it connected to the hot spot. He decided it was not the mother board.

So we decided to return it to Walmart and get a refund, which we could do within 15 days. The problem was, that Bob had transferred his info to the new computer and scrubbed the old one clean. He would lose everything as he hadn’t had a chance to back it up yet. Finally, we decided to take it to the Geeks at Best Buy. We decided to buy a new computer there, then have them transfer the data to the newly purchased computer and scrub the Walmart computer.

We arrived to find that we had to have made an appointment. We explained our problem to the nice gal at the Geek desk. She went to the back to check with the tech’s and they could do it for us. So we bought a new Inspiron Dell, for less money, and had them move the data. They did most everything, and gave us back the Walmart computer. Keeping the new Dell to work on downloading other stuff. We purchased a Geek transfer and repair policy from them, which is also good for my computer.

It was lunch time by now, so we stopped at Honey Baked Ham for another ham salad fix, then went to Walmart to return the computer. We stood in a long line at Customer Service, where they had to call one of the electronic guys to come to check the computer out. They wanted to make sure that we had not ‘cracked’ the screen. If we had, they would not have accepted it back. All was well, and they returned the money to Bob’s credit card.

We shopped and went to King Soopers for some other items. While there, Wayne and Margie called. They are still in Salt Lake City, with repairs to their 5th wheel and having their truck maintained. So they should be ready to leave SLC in the middle of the week.

When we returned home, I made our reservations for Montana, where we are going to meet up with them. Best Buy is open until 7 PM, but they did not get the computer finished until 6:50, so Bob will pick it up tomorrow.

The temp had dropped into the 60’s, with a wind, so we did not think anyone would be out for happy hour. About 4:20, we notice people, so we went out to join the fun. We spent about an hour and a half talking with Marian and Tom. We returned home around 6 pm, cooked dinner and watched TV.

Monday-  my last Chiropractic appt. was at 8 AM, so I was out the door by 7:30. It was pouring rain when I left, but the sun came out by the time I arrived back home. This was just a break in the clouds, so Bob quickly transferred the bikes from the back of the motor home to the back of the car.

Just before 10, he left to go pick up the computer.  We ate lunch and left around 1:30 to go to Transwest on I-25, about 25 miles north of Westminster, near the town of Longmont.

We arrived at Transwest at 2:30. They got us settled in with 50 amp service. They said that they might get started on the coach today, so we did not completely set up. We just opened the slides and laid down for a nap.

At 3:30, two of the mechanics showed up. We quickly closed up the coach, put the dogs in the car, and took off for Longmont. We went to the Oskar Blues Brewery. We stopped in the tasting room, which was more like a bar and a store. They had tours, but we have been on a lot of brewery tours. Bob had a mixed beer, which was a stout and a raspberry porter. He liked it!

We left there and went to a local park and Bob walked the dogs. I would have gone along, but I only brought my raincoat, and at this point. it had cleared but the wind had picked up and it was cold. From there we went to dinner at a nice little mom and pop Italian Restaurant called  Ragazzi Italian Grill.  Bob had a trio of sausage/spaghetti, lasagna and fettuccini Alfredo. I had the lasagna. The meal was excellent and including the bread. The only issue was that there was bell pepper on the salad, and so Bob could not eat that. We took half of our meals home!

We returned to Transwest and went to the customer lounge upstairs. We settled into two very nice recliners and watched TV.

At a little before 10 PM, they told us that we could move back into the coach for the night. We moved into the coach and went to put the slides out and they did not work. Bob checked the fuse, but that seemed okay. Since by this time it was 10:30, we went to bed. A problem for Bob, since the small slide is on his side of the bed, right up against the bed. At 11:00, he realized the problem and got up and fixed it, opening the slide. It was the switch over the front door. We never use this switch because, DUH, it turns off the slides! It must be a safety item for the mechanics. We had a pretty good nights sleep, considering we are parked close to I-25.

Tuesday- We were up and ready by 7:30. Bob went to the service desk to check in. We sat watching TV, all the Oklahoma tornado scenes, until 10 AM, when the guys came to get the coach. We took the dogs and headed to a Laundromat to wash the blanket, quilt, and duvet. We have needed to get these done, and thought this might be a really good time to do them.

We found a nice Laundromat, called the Wash and Fold, just off Main Street in Longmont.  We washed and dried the items, then went to The Cheese Store for sandwiches. The Cheese Store was awesome! What a great place! It was a restaurant, deli, kitchen store and cheese store. We purchased two sandwiches and some Kirsch( a German Cherry soft cheese) which we like a lot. It is very hard to find, so we were thrilled to buy some!

We stopped at a nice little park to eat our sandwiches and walk the dogs. We proceeded to Walmart were I picked up some yarn and bananas. We returned to Transwest at 2:00. We could see the motor home in one of the bays, so Bob took our leftovers and the cheese into to the motor home and spoke with the mechanic. He said they were all done for right now. Freightliner had not sent all the hoses, so we have to wait for tomorrow. One of the axel seals is going bad, so that is going to be repaired by the evening crew. He moved the motor home out to the parking lot and we took a short nap.

We hung out until 5:30 when they moved the motor home into the bay. Just before the guys arrived, we had heated up our leftover German food for dinner. We covered the paper plates and took dinner with us to the customer lounge. We watched TV until 9 PM when they came to tell us that we could move back into the coach for the night.  This delay messes up our schedule, so we are going to have to drive 250 miles tomorrow, after the repairs to catch up.

Wednesday- Again, we were up early and had the coach ready to go by 7:30. We sat until about 9, when one of the guys came to ask us to move so that they could get into the bay wit another RV. We went in search of a place to park with electric. There were no open sites, so we parked in front of the building. At about 10, they asked us to move again and sent us to where they are building a small RV park with hook ups which are not yet in place.

AT 11:05 they tech came to get the coach and we moved into the customer lounge. I was ready for them and had sandwiches ready to go with us. We stayed in the lounge until 2 PM, then went to the local McDonalds for an ice cream cone. We returned and sat out at the nice picnic table waiting for the repair to be completed. When we had moved the coach the second time, Bob noticed that the ABS light came on and stayed on. The tech had found that when they did the axel repair they had accidently moved the speed sensor for the wheel, so they had to undo what they had done and fix this, then redo what they had done.

We were joined by a nice couple, Mike and Debbie, who had two small dogs. The dogs all politely introduced themselves( lots of butt sniffing) and enjoyed each others company. Their coach just needed new batteries. Their coach was completed at 5 PM, and was delivered right to them at the picnic table. At about 4:55, we saw the tech take off with our coach. At 5:15, they came to tell us it was done. We thought the tech was on a test drive. No, he had put the coach in a site in the back. HE KNEW WE WERE WAITING TO LEAVE! We had to go looking for the coach all over the acres and acres of their facility! When we found it, they had not cleaned up the greasy handprints on the door, picked up their floor mats, or put the items back under the bed.

Anyway, we moved the bikes from the back of the motor home and hooked up the car. We drove out of Transwest, and turned north onto the frontage road. Bob could not get the motor home, with the pedal to the metal, past 35 mph. We had to do a U-turn and return. As soon as we turned around I noticed black smoke in the rear view camera. So Bob pulled over and I ran to the back of the motor home. No fire, no smell, and the exhaust had dissipated, leaving the CRV covered with soot!

We continued on to Transwest. They sent out one of the techs. He crawled under the coach and discovered that they had not secured the tubing from the engine to the turbocharger! It had blown off. So he had to fix that. They offered to wash the CRV, but we declined, wanting to get out of there and as far north as we could get! We left at around 6PM. We stopped at the Wendy’s at the entrance to I-25.

We started our drive north. At mile marker 292 the tire  monitor alarmed. We had a low left, inside dual, tire. There was an exit at mile marker 293 and Bob pulled onto the exit ramp. He got out and manually checked the tire. It was low, so he added air. We continued north, about 14 more miles to the Flying J in Cheyenne WY.

Of course, by this time the tire monitor was alarming again. There was a 24 hour repair place behind the Flying J, so we pulled right in. The night shift was not comprised of the brightest bulbs in that package. They could not get off the large center lug nut. So they added air to the tire and told us to go over to the place behind a Shamrock on the other side of the interstate.

It was about 9:15 at this point. There was a dead end frontage road outside the Flying J, which we had used to get to the repair place, so we pulled over and went to bed. Tis worked well, since we only need to open the bedroom slide, which was over the grass on the side of the road.

Thursday- Neither of us slept well last night because the wind howled and the motor home rocked. We woke up to cold and foggy weather, with high winds. We turned on the generator and the furnace to warm up the motor home. After breakfast, we drove over to the repair place behind the Shamrock. They were open and had guys who could actually fix the tire. It was the stem. Hmmm, that means three things that Transwest messed up.

We were there at 7:25 and left at 8:15 driving north on I-25. The winds were less but the fog continued. Bob drove at 40 mph until the fog lifted and the wind calmed down. Once the fog lifted, we could see the scenery. Of course the scenery included road repairs!

We crossed into Montana and continued on to Billings. Our original plan was to stop in Sheridan WY, but it was only 2:30 so we continued on…

We arrived at the Elks Lodge in Billings at 5:15, set up and ate leftover Italian. We went to Albertsons for milk. We returned and both fell asleep on the couch/recliner. At about 7, Joanne, the Elks Lodge manager knocked on the door to welcome us. She had seen Marian and Tom yesterday, so she knew we might be arriving.

We went to bed early, having traveled  465 miles, we were tired. We do not usually travel that far in a day, but we needed to catch up some time, after staying at Transwest longer than scheduled.

Friday- We went to the lodge to say good-bye and to give them a check for $10. We boon-docked, but in a safe area.

We left about 9:30. Joanne told us an easier way to get out of town, which we followed. We went to the Pilot for diesel. They would not accept our $50 gift card, because they are only a Pilot in name.

We continued west on I-90, through beautiful scenery.

At exit 360, we turned onto SR 89. We had to slow down, as there were cattle crossing the road!

We arrived at our destination, Conestoga RV Park in White Sulphur Springs at around 2PM. We set up quickly, as the wind was howling! It felt pretty cold! The town is much smaller than expected, but there are still some things to see in the area. We are staying 5 nights, waiting for Bob’s meds to arrive on Tuesday.

We ran over to the Post Office to pick up our mail. Good thing, as they are not open on Saturday. When we opened the car doors, the wind took the town map and blew it out the north side. We think it might have stopped flying when it reached Glacier National Park! Bob tried to case it but it was a lost cause!

Our mail was there, as was the dogs Sea Kelp for their dog food. We told the Postmaster we would be back on Tuesday to pick up Bob’s meds.

We returned to the coach and hung out. The winds finally calmed down to just strong. Bob went to put the screens on the front of the motor home and discovered that they had not changed wiper blades when they repaired the windshield wiper. So now we have to find a truck stop to purchase new wiper blades. ERROR #4 for Transwest. Not sure what else they did not do, but they had not charged us for this repair. We had also asked for an extra part for the windshield wiper which they also never gave us!

We watched TV and went to bed.

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