Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024

Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024
Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Two Batteries, Please - Sat., Feb. 22

Up at 7:00 a.m. to shower, have breakfast, and ready the 5th wheel to hit the road. Everything was stowed, outside chores done by Bob, inside chores done by me. Bob hooked up the truck to the trailer, we did our outside light checks, walk-around, and made sure all doors were closed/locked. I hopped in the truck, Bob turned the key and r-r-r, r-r-r, r-r-r. Uh-oh, sounds like a dead battery.

Bob walked to the RV park office to ask for a jump (there's a jump cart to help just in case anyone needs it). Bob E. and Ralph came to our aid. Even with the jumper cable attached, there was not much juice to start the truck. Ralph looked in on the passenger side of the engine and found a vacuum pump that wasn't resetting. His thinking was the pump wasn't resetting because it needed juice from the battery. We let the jumper cables charge for a while and, voila, the engine started.

While that was going on, I called Grande Ford in San Antonio where I take my Escape for service. I talked to the Parts Department and confirmed they had two batteries for our truck. Yay! It was 9:30 a.m. The Parts and Service Departments closed at noon, so we went directly to Grande Ford.

We purchased the two batteries. Bob was going to install them. He had the casing off one battery when it was quickly apparent that the bolts on the terminal connectors were locked tight. Off to the Service Department he went. Bob came with the service manager, who brought battery protectant spray and thoroughly wet the connectors. It took two guys from service with power tools to remove the old nuts and bolts. Putting the new batteries back in went much more smoothly. The new batteries are cold crank 850, the old batteries had a cold crank of 700. At 11:30 a.m., we hit the road. Destination today: Ft. Stockton, Texas.

Bob drove a little more than half way and I drove the rest of the way. We checked into our site at 5:15 p.m. The 5er will stay attached to the truck. We plan to go to bed early and get up really early to go through El Paso (horrible traffic!) around 8 a.m. on Sunday morning.

Tomorrow's destination is Deming, NM. Traveling weather today was perfect - sunny and warm. Tonight's sunset was gorgeous from Hilltop RV.



And here's The Beast and Rigamarole...


I'm off to get a few items out of the dryer.

We're having pancakes and eggs for dinner because that's the way we roll. LOL. (Let's see if we really get on the road by 4 a.m.!)

Have a good night all.


15 comments:

  1. Breakfast for dinner! Good choice. I like being on the road and see the sunrise! Doesn't happen often Drive carefully!

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  2. Glad you got to your RV park before the sun went down. We hate driving in the dark. Travel safely tomorrow.

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  3. Gorgeous sunset - hope you are up to see the sunrise tomorrow. At least you won't have to have breakfast since you had it for supper tonight haha!! Travel safe.

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    1. We made it on the road by 7:00 a.m. and saw the sunrise behind us. Bob said it was smart to eat breakfast for dinner. Had a bowl of cold cereal for breakfast.

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  4. Well darn.....I'm heading home and you are heading out. Hope you have a wonderful trip. Not good to have battery problems but better before you leave than out in the boonies somewhere.

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    1. Our sentiments exactly about where the problem occurred. I got to thinking about it as we drove down the road. It could have happened in a truck stop gas station (heaven forbid we slow down a trucker!).

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  5. At least you weren't in the middle of nowhere and got the battery situation quickly resolved. Your glitch for the trip is behind you; smooth sailing (so to speak) from now on.

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    1. Thank you. We now have your blessing that our one glitch is behind us. I like how you think and have adopted this as our credo for the whole journey. Thanks!

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  6. We went around El Paso on a early Sunday morning, traffic wasn't too bad. Sure hope your travel day in the area goes better than ours did. Wish I could convince Dave breakfast for dinner is okay, in 32 years I still haven't been able to, though when he worked late I would do it for myself sometimes. Glad you were able to get the batteries taken care of easily enough, safe travels.

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    1. We made it through El Paso at 10:00 a.m. Sunday. No problem with traffic at all.

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  7. I recommend Irma's cafe if you want some good Mexican food while in Deming. If you go south of town towards Columbus and see the John Deere Dealership - that was our family business for 40 years. Try to see both a sunrise and sunset- they are magical in NM.

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    1. Thanks for the recommendations. We'll check out Irma's cafe and look for the John Deere dealership. We're sitting in a beautiful Visitor Center rest area at the New Mexico border having a morning snack. Irma's is sounding real good for lunch!

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  8. Going through El Paso on a Sunday seems to work for us especially early. Glad it went smoothly. Enjoyed a lovely sunset here last night at Lake Pleasant. Safe travels :-)

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    1. Had a wonderful time at Lake Pleasant and with relatives in Carefree.

      How are you feeling? Hopefully your flu is behind you. We'll keep you posted on our schedule next week.

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  9. Gorgeous sky pictures. In my dreams could I get out at even 7am. Well done! Glad the battery business was pretty easily taken care of. Except for your wallet of course.

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