Wells Nevada, On My Way to West Yellowstone/Gillette

Hi there!
I started out heading East from Sacramento about 3 hours later than I planned (as usual). I can be thankful that the cat co-operated somewhat and let me pick her up and put her in her travel cage. Last weekend I just had to leave her home after she hid in corners or under/behind furniture. Efforts to get her out then included using a broom to prod her out, and she put up a good catfight.
I got over the Sierras OK, and still had more than a 1/2 tank of fuel going through Reno. I decided to have a pitstop in Fernley, about 30 miles east of Reno, and looking down at my guages I saw that I was on empty and the low fuel light was on. I didn't see a trail of fuel behind me, and the guage came back up driving in town. Great - a flaky fuel guage while I drive 350 more miles through the barren great basin. I used the MPG readout and my percieved "good" fuel readings to project my driving range, giving myself a lot of extra margin. I might have to live with this throughout the trip.
I finally got into Wells at about 7pm, and finally got into an RV space. I needed to dump so I could make a quick getaway in the morning. I noticed the fresh water supply pressure seemed a little high, but connected up the black tank flusher as usual. I went over by the door and heard a gushing sound inside. The flusher had come apart inside the wall. I turned it off and cleaned up the water in the kitchen. I looked at my 12 volt guage and saw the convertor didn't seem to be working - The convertor had been sprayed by the water. I had to crawl into the basement rats nest and get the convertor out. It has a blown internal fuse, but bypassing that with a jumper just caused a lot of smoke. No one was open here by then who might have had a battery charger. I hope to get a new convertor ($219) (and backup battery charger) in Idaho today on my way to West Yellowstone.

Wow not exactly what you planned for a nice leisurely stroll to Gillete. Hope you get it all fixed soon.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

So sorry to hear this, Bill! What came apart with the black tank flush? We all might want to check for it!

E

It gets Worse:
Today I got an early start from Wells, Nevada destination West Yellowstone, via Pocotello and an RV parts supply that has a new convertor. Just east of Twin Falls on I-84, my TPMS starts alarming. I pull over and find my left rear tire leaking and shredded some from rubbing on the shock absorber. I call Good Sam ERS to swap out the tire, and when the guy pulls the tire off, I find that the collar on the drum supporting the tire has fractured,and it looks like the bearing is gone. I am now waiting for mobile RV road service, and might end up with the rig on a flatbed tow.
I don't think I will be staying in the rig in Yellowstone tonight.

Awwwww. So sorry. Well, good news is TPMS saved you from even more damage, and Good Sams does offer trip interruption coverage if you need a hotel stay, right?

I know this is no consolation, but you'll have a great story to tell when you do get to Gillette.

Take care,

E

Oh my gosh! I hope everything gets worked out very soon and you are on the road with no more issues! You have a lot of friends on the road ahead waiting for you...

Bill:
I am SO sorry to hear of all the issues you have been having. Hope you get to enjoy Yellowstone without any further issues.

We'll see you in Gillette. We are only 4-5 sites apart. Out of curiosity, How many hours did it take you (driving time), to get from Sacramento to Wells? That is going to be our first (and longest) day of driving. Galt to Wells I figure will be a 10-hr day @ 62 MPH. We're staying at the RPI CG there.

I truly hope that all is back to good running order with your truck and rig so you can relax and enjoy the rest of your trip.

See you soon.

Rod

Gang:
This is about my 4th try to give a progress report. I think there are problems with the Heartland website and also with the RV park I was staying at's wifi.
I got a mobile truck service sent out by Good Sam that found me the 1 correct drum in the area, and after 5 hours at the side of the road (and $500) I was moving again. I found the nearest RV park in Burley, Id. and settled in. Got a battery charger at Walmart there, and am now at Les Schwab in Idaho Falls getting a new tire. I hope to be on the road within the hour.
I will try 1 more time to send some photos of the drum failure. It broke in the extended tube that mates with the outer bearing.

Photos don't seem to work now.

Got in to West Yellowstone at about 3 PM. Temp 32 degrees, snowing moderately. I think weather is supposed to get better through the weekend.

Ignore previous post. I have now heard it is supposed to snow off and on through Monday.
Here's a picture of my campsite.



Sorry, website still won't successfully upload pictures. My e-mail just did.