We left the next day around 8:45 am and had an uneventful drive until we were about 170 miles out traveling along I-70. The coach was sluggish as we approached several 11,000+ ft summits. Then the Check engine light/ coolant level low light came on.
We were able to move onto the shoulder along one of Colorado's many chain up areas. After Ron made several phone calls and tried a couple of things, we continued our drive another 67 miles into a Freightliner Service Center in Commerce City, just north of Denver.
The issue was a cracked surge tank that was leaking not all, but enough coolant to cause the check engine light to come on. The people at this Freightliner Service Center couldn't have been more accommodating and pleasant to do business with. We called them while we driving there to let them know we were coming in. Most of their service centers are first come first serve, but they pulled the coach into a bay within 20 minutes after our arrival. And luckily they had the parts they needed to make the repair. It is a 3 1/2 hour repair and we got there too late in the day for them to begin, so we spent the night in their lot. We were back in the bay by 7:30 am the next morning and on our way again by noon.
We spent the night in a campground in Seibert Colorado only 135 miles from the repair shop.
Saturday morning we began our 300 mile trip at 8:00 am, again heading east on I-70 trying to get to St. Louis for our annual visit.
Shortly after we crossed the Kansas border a suicidal bird decided to make this his last flight. Unfortunately our passenger side mirror was in his way. Ron was in the passenger seat looking down reading and heard a loud thump. Then I cried out....oh no look at our mirror....
Ron asked, "what kind of bird was it"? I said, "a BIG bird". He asked again, "what kind of bird was it"?
Now I am not an expert on birds and it happened so fast that I just said "it was a duck". He stopped asking me.
We stopped as soon as we could so Ron could tape it up to prevent the pieces from coming loose and flying back and hitting our Jeep or worse someone else's car.
Another trip to a repair shop....this is getting old, fast !
I guess we owe some thanks for the "duck" giving up his life to give us some excitement as we travel through flat, boring, hot Kansas.
Do any of our RV buddies out there know if the mirrored part can be replaced or do you have to install a whole new mirror frame and all?
And other than driving through a small field fire we made it to our destination.
We are spending the weekend in Salina, KS for a one day rest and so we can attend Mass. Will be back on the road tomorrow and hopefully get into St. Louis by Tuesday.
Hope all is well!
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