My tale of woe

[John From Detroit]

Well,,,,, Left Las Vegas and headed to Salt Lake City to get the rooftop MotoSat T-2 Automotion checked out... Found out why it's been marginal.... Two reasons

1: Installer installed the WRONG motosat T-2... I told him up front I was using DISH, and he gave me a generic (They make one that looks just like a Dish-Pro 300 to the receiver)

2: Damon put in a handy cable, which the installer used, for roof-top sat to Receiver.. RG-59
(Specs say use RG-6, it is not that much more expensive folks)

Works great now... However we drove into Salt Lake in the middle of the worst blizzard they have had all year (Ok, so the year is only 45 days old)  Had to pull off and take a 3 hour nap while the storm blew over,

Froze the solonoid for the ice maker, busted it, flooded the MH before I noticed the "Niagra Falls" effect and turned off water to it (Will fix tomorrow, now that I'm below the frost line)

Then, leaving Salt Lake we spend a couple of days in KOA's in Utah (The Provo one is nice) but Microsoft Streets and Trips routed us via a road called Kodacrome, which changes, eventually to Cottonwood Canyon Drive (Cottonwood on the map screen) A Dirt road through the mountains which at some points is but one lane wide

Wife was seriously scared we'd go over the edge (not a chance) passanger likewise (She just rolled her SUV back in December) had just two problems

One point the MH did not have the power to drag the towed over the hill, had to uncople and drive them over seperately.. I'm not sure but the axes lock may have "locked" (It's supposed to be unlocked when towing) I'm fairly sure it was unlocked since the last time I'd had it unhooked was vegas and something would have broken well before Salt Lake (Transmission, or tire)

Got over that one OK

Then just a bit over a mile from the end of the dirt road (All down hill, fairly good road at this point) we hit a small dip, an alarm went off, turned out to be the towed brakes alarm.. Seems the Blue Ox tow bar had given up, dropped the towed which then ran into the rear of the motor home (Hitch Hauler there, no damage to the MH but the hitch hauler is no where to be found, then when it bounced back the brakes came on, and the tow cables pulled tight... The falling hitch hauler took out the front bumper and headlights and sidelights (But NOT the turn signals surprizingly enoug) and the air compressor and portable generator stored on the HH are history, the MH was still dragging them (i used a good security cable) but they are toast.  THe security cable damaged the ladder (I will need to replace 2 mounts, that is minor) and the safety cables between the Lumina and MH held

About an hour to change a tire and find out a tie rod had also broken on the Lumina (Toad) 2 more to wait for tow truck and here we sit, Page, AZ, a nice little town with a lovely church where we gave thanks for safely arriving therein this morning.

Tomorrow I find out just how bad the damage to the Lumina is... Hope the Hitch Hauler did not tear up anything below... (Seemed to work ok, other than the broken tie rod, when loading and unloading on the tow truck)

ANd of course... Need to get tow bar (or at least part of it) replaced

 

[Jim Dick]

Hi John,

What a tale!!! Sorry to hear about all your problems. I guess one thing to remember is be careful of roads with names like Kodachrome! Bet there was some great scenery.

 

[Ron]

Sorry to hear of all the difficulties but glad you are safe.  We enjoyed the Page area.  many things to see there.
Hope all goes well from now on.

 

[John From Detroit]

Thanks to both of you... Well, I'm starting a "Don't go there" file.  It will list roads I don't ever wish to see again.

That said,  I actually did enjoy the drive, there was some fantastic scenery and I was never overly concerned about the safety of the Motor Home (Though there were a few places where I did tend to drive with the speedometer registering but a single digit, and not because I was going uphill)  I would recommend it in a proper truck or other vehicle, just not a Class anything Motor Home!!!!! or vehicle pulling a trailer,  Saw several cars and pickups while I was out there.  Of course no cell phone service, no ham repeaters in range and nobody on CB-9 so I had to rely on the kindness of a passing stranger who happened to have a friend in the tow truck business. He was true to his word and the tow truck arrived almost exactly when he said it would (actually a few minutes early)

 

[Tom]

Oh my, what a tale John. I'm really sorry to hear that. Hope you're able to get everything fixed without too much of a dent in your wallet.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

but Microsoft Streets and Trips routed us via a road called Kodacrome, which changes, eventually to Cottonwood Canyon Drive (Cottonwood on the map screen) A Dirt road through the mountains which at some points is but one lane wide

One of the lessons of using trip routing software is to never, ever, blindly trust the route they plot.  Altogether too often they will pick an unsuitable road for some obscure reason, maybe to save a mile or two or possibly save a minute of driving time (at least theoretically).  I always inspect the route or, at least, familiarize myself with the major roads between points so that I have a clue if it tells me to turn down some suspicious looking byway. 

This lack of trustworthiness is, to me, a major shortcoming of such software.  It may not be a terrible problem when driving a car, but can generate some serious headaches with a big RV.

 

[Ron]

We usually check the truckers atlas when ever we are planning a route that includes two lane roads that we are not familiar with.  If the road is not identified as a truck route then more research into possible low clearances etc is required.

 

[Lowell]

We took the Kodachrome drive into Cottonwood Canyon over Thanksgiving last year.  We did it in a 4x4 pickup but lots of folks were doing it in cars.  The scenery was fantastic and i will do that trip again.  For those that haven't been down that drive, there are some nice rock pillars in the Kodachrome park but the road through Cottonwood Canyon is dirt and very scenic.  Jake

 

[Jim Dick]

Jake,

Sure looks like a great drive. Sure wish I could see how those formations were accomplished.

 

[John From Detroit]

Oh my, what a tale John. I'm really sorry to hear that. Hope you're able to get everything fixed without too much of a dent in your wallet.

Actually looks like it won't be too bad, Blue-OX is Fed-exing out a new tow bar and an RMA for the old one
The car will be back on the road with just a new tie-rod end (Headlight modules I'll pick up at a junk yard in Flagstaff and to replace them you need only one tool... .Fingers)

The rest of the word needed on the car can wait for Detroit where I have a discount body  shop familure with my ride

I will be spending a bit longer in Page than I planned however... Things to see, tours to take, that kind of delay
Car shoudl be ready today.... I'm not

 

[Ron]

John,

Be sure to visit Antelope Canyon while in the Page area.  Take your camera.

 

[Bob Maxwell]

John,

I love Page. Our family used to go ther a lot in our Class C and our men's group from St. George's in Holbrook always had several fishing trips from Wahweep and one with all the young men in the EYC.

In years past I 've dreamed of retiring to Page or Parker as the part time vicar and fish during the week. :

 

[John From Detroit]

John,

Be sure to visit Antelope Canyon while in the Page area.  Take your camera.

Too late Ron, went there, Did that (Took camera) Very nice guide, Lost my cell phone (Oh well time for an upgrade anyway)

And I do agree, it was lovely.    We could have left page today but after looking at some flyers and a few other things decided to stay the extra day.

Got my car back... what's left of it,  Tie rod fixed, re-alinged, new tires on front  Some plastic and tape holding a few things together (Thank heavens for 100 mph tape aka DUCT tape)

Got the replacement tow bar from Blue OX  Will ship the old one back tomorrow

Got picturs of the car, still in camera's memory have not  yet downloaded, will tomorrow

And yes that was a lovely tour of Antelope Slot canyon

 

[Ron]

Glad you got to see it even though it did cost your cell phone.  Quite a bit to see in that area.

 

[John From Detroit]

Yup, well we delayed a day leaving just so we could take in some sights

I'm in flagstaff now, at the KOA and I have a problem I'll PM you about... Who knows. it may passon it's own