Alaska Day 6-7

We pulled out of Shallow Creek RV park, elevation 380 feet, onto I-20 West for Denton and Camping World to pick up a brake system for our dinghy (towed car). We left with much good advice and a quick review of Jack and Della's most recent video of their trip to Alaska.. The best wishes of our Discovery Texan family and about 5 extra pounds from the good eatin' are coming along with us.

While at Camping World, we found a couple of covers to fit the trikes. So far they are working fine and keep some of the weather off them.

We spent Monday evening at Draper's RV in Clarendon Texas about 60 miles from Amarillo. We had a problem with the engine running hot while climbing long grades. So I cleaned the radiator as best as I could. While under the coach, I found that the exhaust pipe was disconnected from the muffler. This allowed the pipe to rest against the compartment housing my electrical hookups. I had been noticing some damage to the electrical cords from something hot in the compartment. This has been going on since the coach was new. I inserted the pipe into the muffler as much as I could, and it stayed in for about 100 miles before blowing out again. We will need to find a service facility to repair this and check the cooling system if the radiator cleaning does not fix it. We will find out today on our way to Creede. If we have a problem yet, we may detour to Denver for repairs. Please note the picture Wilma took of me coming out from under the coach.

We continued to have the overheating problem coming over Raton Pass 7800 feet. We found a high pressure wash and did a more thorough job of cleaning the radiator.

We ended our day at Lathrop State Park, elevation 6485, just West of Walsenburg Colorado. The park is nestled among cedars with views of snow capped mountains. We had a nice trike ride, as the park has several miles of paved roads. It is the oldest state park in Colorado, but was rebuilt with new campsites and roads last year. We had just completed our ride when the storms came. The 50-70 mph straight line winds with the storm cells that passed over us did not turn the motorhome over or do any apparent damage. It sure seemed like we would have some damage, though. Jake was fine, but he sure jumped when it sounded like a tree fell on our roof.

Now its off to Creede for a few days. Creede is just 137 miles up the road, so we will have a short travel day.

Pictures are here.

Walldog, Willie and Jake