Awake: 6:34am Temp 44 sleep 6+39 drizzle overnight @ Falcon, Texas.
Before breakfast, we drive to the recreation hall & check with Fran, the bird woman, to see if the drizzling rain cancels bird watching plans for this morning; it does.
Back in our motorhome, we exercise with “Gilad” again on “Fit TV;” Kathy in the bedroom with that TV & me in the living room with the other TV. We use unopened wine bottles for our weights. It takes (2) hrs for us to get (1) hr of exercise because of the commercial breaks. That’s ok though, as we need the resting time.
In this campground, our cell phone coverage is poor, so if we need to communicate, we have to either walk or drive ¾ of a mile to Park Headquarters where the cell signals are a little better. Once there, signal strength depends on, not only the direction you face, but also how you hold your mouth.
On one of my short trips to headquarters, I notice the Suzuki heater was emitting hot air, then cold air. Hmmm, that’s not right. When checking under the hood, it was obvious that our Suzuki radiator was leaking antifreeze, as there was a line of thrown liquid on the inside of the hood above the radiator fan. Ouch! The 1st time, I refilled the radiator with a 50/50 mixture, water & antifreeze. Because it was leaking so much, thereafter I used regular water & left the radiator cap loose so no pressure would build up. Down here along this Rio Grande River, a freeze temp is highly unlikely.
At this campground we are miles from any decent radiator repair facility but we have learned that a Suzuki dealer & repair facility does exist in the city of Mission, TX, 60—70 miles east of here. That will be our next destination.
When we arrived yesterday & parked in our 2nd campsite, I pushed the leveling button twice & the leveling system shut down. That’s not right either? Our parking site is slanted but without the leveling system working, it’s a little uncomfortable. So, out come the tech books. Using my high tech Fluke, I make a thorough check on all the fuses & circuit breakers listed that might have anything to do with the leveling system. I find nothing out of order.
Ok, its time for a ride to headquarters to make a call to the Newell techs & maybe HWH Corporation, the developer & manufacturer of the leveling system & hydraulic slideouts. 1st though, I add more water to the Suzuki radiator & then make the ¾ mile drive. The talk with Mike @ Newell was quick; he assured me that HWH was my best bet for troubleshooting.
@ HWH, Steve was the “over the phone troubleshooter” guy for the company, or at least I knew no one else. Steve gives me a list of voltage numbers, wires with numbers & power plugs to check out on the motherboard computer module using my Fluke. Of course, this is outside in 43 degree temps with light rain & lots of wind. After going back & forth to headquarters, taking pointers from Steve’s troubleshooting ideas, keeping that radiator topped off & trying to stay dry with an umbrella that keeps turning inside out, I had had enough fun for today. My progress was zip, zero & nada. The wiring code & colors I found did not match the schematic that Steve was using & therefore, he suspected a problem with the motherboard module & concentrated heavily on that unit. Most likely I’ll be talking with Steve again tomorrow.
6:15 dinner: Tilapia Fish with brown rice, acorn squash + a Waldorf salad & toasted bread.
We both watch the President’s State of the Union Address on TV.
Late Satellite movie: “The Player” with Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward, Whoopi Goldberg, Peter Gallagher & a whole bunch of star cameos. A sharp black comedy about a paranoid young movie executive (Robbins), who is threatened by a disgruntled screenwriter until he begins taking the law into his own hands; a biting examination of Hollywood greed & power. 1992. We were fascinated with all the powerful actors who starred in this flick; too many to list. An interesting story, you’ll just have to see it for yourself.
Today’s high=45 Lights out: 12:26am
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