Laramie, WY

Natl Big Horn Sheep Museum

Wind River Canyon

Well, we're not at Kearney, NE as planned.  A lot has happened (or maybe not happened depending on your point of view) since last week.  Let's talk about what we've done, anyway.

First visit while in Dubois, WY was the Natl Bighorn Sheep Museum in Dubois.  We had no idea there were so many variations of bighorn sheep through the world.  Top Picture is of the main four variations found in the US.

Wyoming Dinosaur Center - Something Interesting dig site

Next was our trip over to Thermopolis, WY to visit to drive through the Wind River Canyon.  Yep, drove two hours one-way just to drive through 4+/- miles of a canyon.  Worth a visit if you're near the Thermopolis area.

Next visit - while in Thermopolis - was the Wyoming Dinosaur Center.  Pictures here are of the active dig site called SI (Something Interesting).  This

Something Interesting dig site

dig is believed to be an ancient lake bed that dinosaurs walked through to cool off and, as you might expect, some died.  As they are researching the lake bed, they've identified different types of dinosaurs and a possible kill site by predators.

We left Dubois, WY on Labor Day and traveled down to Rawlins, WY for the night.  When we leveled the trailer

Snowy Mtn Range, Medicine Bow Natl Forest

we started getting errors with the Lippert hydraulic system.  Figures.  We're on I-80 now, and I-80 has never been kind to our 5th wheel trailers.  We've lost more pieces off of and broken more things traveling I-80 than any other highway we've traveled in the US.  Well, we could level and get the slides out, and we've already got a service appointment at Lippert later in the month.  We'll be OK.

Lewis Lake, Snowy Mtn Range

Then the surge guard starts vibrating for some unknown reason.  Adjust where it sits and that stops.  Everything seems fine.  Until the following morning.  Slides don't want to come in.  Acts like the batteries are drained.  Check the batteries and they read fully charged.  Put a charger to them, and it says they're fully charged.  Trailer controller says the batteries are fine and, oh wait a minute, it says it's

Yep, that's our lunch view today

putting 14.4 volts on the batteries.  14.4 volts???  Batteries are cooking!  We may have a converter problem.

Called an RV tech 100 miles away in Laramie who says he can be there by 4:30 that afternoon.  OK, fine.  While we wait, let's see if I can get the batteries to take a charge.  Low and behold, we do!  Takes a couple of hours, but we get enough charge in there to get the slides all in, trailer hooked to the truck and leveling legs all up so we can travel.  Call the RV tech back, tell him we're on our way to Laramie to meet him.

Luckily, there's a spot available at the local KOA.  We get there, but the batteries are totally shot.  So we're looking at 4 new batteries and probably a new converter.  And we can't get the trailer off the truck.  Fine.  There's a Best Western across the street we can walk to.

Tech arrives and the trouble shooting starts.  He's having to learn the trailer's wiring on the fly and as he checks stuff, it's all confusing to him.  Eventually, he determines the controller is fine, so he starts trying to identify which battery is dead.  As he's doing that, our trailer reverts to its "I've got a ground fault" and the surge-guard shuts the trailer electrical down - hard.  No amount of "try this, try that" will let the power pass to the converter.  For the 12th time in the last 8 years, I've determined I've had enough of this crappy equipment the RV Industry builds and sells to the public.  I need a few gallons of gasoline.  I'm gonna put this trailer out of everyone's misery!  Maybe I'll get lucky just like that guy with his Lincoln Continental back in late 70s and I'll make the news, spend some time in jail, pay a huge fine, but just maybe the RV Industry will see the error of its ways and improved its products.  Nah, never happen!

Anyway, the RV tech, with his decades of experience looks at one battery and says, "I think this one is the problem."  So he isolates that bank of batteries and, bless his heart, the surge guard thinks everything is great and power can now flow to the converter.  Too bad though, all batteries are dead.  But there's just enough recovery ability left in the remaining two batteries to get the front legs to extend and get the trailer off the truck.  The RV tech tells us where to go to get new batteries and goes to his next challenge.  We go get 4 new batteries and a room at the Best Western.  8 AM Wednesday morning we meet the RV tech at the trailer, install the batteries - it takes two people to lift them and get them on the trailer - and once hooked up, we can level and extend the slides.

We're now back up and can travel, but it's cut into an already aggressive travel schedule for us to get to the F-O-S Gulf Shores Rally in Streetsboro, OH.  We decide to stick around, let the batteries charge, and based on the RV tech's recommendation, check out the Medicine Bow Natl Forest/Snowy Mountain Range.  We're just gonna miss this year's F-O-S rally.

And what a gem the RV tech suggested to us!  We've visited the Medicine bow Natl Forest area Wednesday and today & have decided to stay here until Monday.  The 3 bottom photos give you an idea of what we're seeing.  We go back tomorrow, and we've decided to stay in Laramie through Sunday.

So that's our plan - leave here Monday.  Maybe.  Maybe I-80 will give us a break.  Maybe.  Check back later and see! Thanks for dropping in and checking on us! David