Cummins Shop–Phoenix and Hiking South Mountain–sort of. . .

The Leaf Verde Verde RV Resort manager, Steve,
was very understanding about our need to cancel
a few days early, and issued us a full refund for days not used. . .


haf’ta show you this funny sign in the park. . .
is that hilarious or what?


our part is in, so we get set up at the Cummins Repair
on Tuesday, in preparation for a 6A Wednesday appt. . .
that means a 5A ALARM. . .what?  UNBELIEVABLE. . .


Wednesday morning’s sunrise
as viewed from the Cracker Barrel parking lot. . .
(not something we’ve seen too many times in our retirement)

I knew from reading Marsha’s post on Where’s Weaver
that we could see beautiful views of Valley of the Sun and Phoenix
from the lookout on South Mountain. . .

let’s go check it out after breakfast. . .
yup. . .well worth it. ..

while we’re out here, may as well get a hike in. . .
or at least a good walk. . .and lovely things to see

Horseback Riders

Petroglyphs

mountain vistas 50 miles away. . .

and just beyond thrilled to get a photo of this
Gambel’s Quail for my Birding Life List. . .

made my day!


okay. . .back to reality. . .time to check in on progress. . .

the tech has decided that ALL six of the fuel lines
have been damaged and bent,
and need to be replaced. . .

total relief knowing that. . .
and well worth two, three more hours wait. . .
NO PROBLEM. . .

in addition, they will replace the air filter. . .
a $300 value. . .FABULOUS. . .

all things considered. . .despite another break down,
and the angst of being towed. . .again. . .

we truly know this entire situation was a
“Gift from God” and given the fact
that with the anti vibration dampers missing,
it was inevitable that it was going to happen
at some point in this trip. . .

further down the road could have resulted
in a fuel line breaking, rather than just
a loose connection spraying fuel. . .

being able to have all the corrections made
at the Cummins Repair - Coach Care Facility
in Phoenix was an incredible blessing. . .

no further out of pocket expense,
and the peace of mind makes it
well worth the inconvenience and delay. . .

and in the midst of my thankfulness. . .
I would like to say another
”Thanks be to the Lord”
for His hand of protection on our friends,
Rick and Janice Binns, who had piece of lumber
fly off a truck ahead of them,
crack their windshield from top to bottom,
and damage the top of their cab. . .

my heart skips a beat when I think of
how much worse it could have been,
had the board come through the windshield. . .

as if that wasn't enough. . .
as Ed and Debi were moving their coach
from one park to another,
a hydraulic hose failed under their big slide,
which cause it to start easing out. . .
good grief. . .

thank the Lord they were almost to their destination. . .

NO doubt. . .God is good all the time,
and His mercies are everlasting. . .

and like I told Janice and Rick. . .

all our guardian angels are TIRED. . .LOL!

see you next time at Lake Havasu. . .

’til then,Janice and Dave

LiveJournal Tags: Full Time RV Travel,Motorhome Travel,Phoenix AZ,South Mountain Park,Arizona 2015,Cummins Repair Shop

Phoenix–Arizona State Capitol–State House and Museum

another State Capitol today. . .
although visiting this one was a little different

the beautiful building you see was originally the State House. . .
but is now the State Capitol Museum. . .
and no longer houses any of the government offices. . .



Government functions are now housed separately. . .
Senate in the left front. . .
Congress in the right front. . .
and the Governor’s Offices in the building you see to the back of the Capitol Dome. . .

somewhat interesting. . .

I sort of admire the fact that they moved out
into utilitarian style buildings
rather than building another
Taj Mahal style State House. . .



while I could appreciate what the State Museum
represented, and the effort to tell the story of Arizona,
and how it came to be. . .



what we really, really enjoyed was the park like setting
of the Capitol Complex. . .and all the many ways they’ve chosen
to show honor to our heroes. . .



the tribute to those who lost their lives on the
USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, was just magnificently done. . .
perhaps the best I’ve ever seen. . .

Each hanging plate has a hero’s name on it. . .

USS Arizona Tribute VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We truly, truly encourage you to go and see it for yourself. . .



Tribute to all fallen heroes



Did you know this about the Field Cross? 
I get choked up every time I see one. . .



our beloved heroes who sacrificed so much
during and after the Vietnam War. . .



a really fabulous monument to the Bill of Rights. . .
(forgot to get a pic, so this is a copy of a postcard)



of which, of course, our fave is # II. . .
it’s that Texan Blood. . .



Fallen K9 Tribute

I’m sure you can tell. . .we had such a great day exploring. . .

It amazes me that a couple days ago,
we hiked three miles UP a mountain,
and I came home worn to a nub. . .

Today we hiked three miles at IKEA,
and the State Capitol, and all is well. . .

go figure. . .ha ha!
I’m gonna say it was the A/C that made the difference. . .right?

See you next time at the Cummins Shop. . .
taking the rig over there tomorrow,
and will spend the night at their facility. . .
hooked up to their 50A. . .yes!

’til then,
Janice and Dave

LiveJournal Tags: Full Time RV Travel,Motorhome Travel,Arizona 2015,Phoenix AZ,State Capitol,State House,USS Arizona

‘

Our Texas Boys Pulled it Out. . .

we enjoyed an afternoon at the ballpark with
Marsha and Paul. . .(Where's Weaver)
we were there to see our Texas boys. . .the Rangers. . .
and they were there to see their Cleveland Indians. . .
they know the names of all their players. . .true fans!

Now. . .we don't know the name of one single player
on the Texas Rangers team, because, actually. . .

we are Houston Astros Fans. . .

but hey. . .you gotta support the home state. . .right. . .


and our boys pulled it out. . .


there’s always gotta be that one rabid fan. ..right?
and then they get one too many in ‘em. . .
oh boy. . .hope he had a designated driver. . .


a wonderful day. . .



great game. . .great conversation. . .great company. . .
(oh Lordy. . .I just hate pics of myself. . .LOL!)
thanks for sharing this one Marsha

See you next time at the Arizona State Capitol Building. . .

’til then,Janice and Dave

Marsha's story and more pics of the stadium

Another Crazy Breakdown Day. . .enough of this already!

well. . .dear Lord in Heaven. . .thank you once again for your angels of protection on our travel day. . .

Left Palm Desert CA bright and early this morning. . .trust me, 8:30A is early. . .headed to Phoenix to meet up with RV friends Marsha and Paul for a Texas Rangers vs Cleveland Indians Spring Training game. . .

'bout 20 minutes out of Indio, as we're climbing the mountain, we begin smelling something weird. . .but just thought it was coming from outside. . .UNTIL. . .a waft of smoke went past my seat.

WHOA BABE. . .I think something's wrong. . . I jump up to look. . .the bedroom is FILLED WITH SMOKE. . .what on earth?

OK. . .OK. . .just get off the road. . .and while Dave is doing that I grab the cell phone . . .get the platform open that slides in front of the door. . .and we prepare to exit quickly. . .no further need to know what the problem is. . .right?

Jump out. . .no smoke on the outside of the vehicle. . .so we walk to the back, and the Jeep is coated in diesel. . .we can see diesel leaking from underneath the engine. . .good grief. . .here we go again.

Dave now feels safe to open the engine cover, and assess the situation while I start the process of contacting roadside assistance, as we will obviously need a tow.

Let me tell you. . .Progressive Roadside Assistance is FABULOUS. . .just FABULOUS. They ask all the right questions to make sure they send the right equipment. . .just can't say enough good things about their service.



They provided above and beyond what was needed. . .very pleased.

California Highway Patrol stopped by to check on us. . .very pleasant, and pleased that we had managed to get all the way off the road, and had our safety cones out behind the jeep.

Our issues were caused from our repair in El Paso. Evidently, when they replaced the fuel lines, they failed to secure them with the necessary harness to prevent them vibrating loose. . .so. . .all the bottom connections and one top connection were loose. I'm sure the added pressure on the system of climbing for 10 miles out of Indio was the last straw, and the loose connections started spraying diesel.

I've captioned each pic in the album. . .we are all put back together, and back on the road, but will not make it to Phoenix tonight. We've decided to stop in Blythe CA, and continue our journey in the morning. . .