Friday, June 11, 2021

East Coast Family Reunion - Day 5 - June 11, 2021

 Not a lot to report.  We planned a layover/R&R stop for today and it turned out to be a good idea.  We had 4 days of hard driving in a relatively difficult driving environment with unpredictable travel conditions.   A day off along the way on a long trip is a good idea and highly recommended for senior RV travelers.

After sleeping in to the unheard hour of 7:00 am while on the road and a leisurely breakfast, we noticed that some pretty impressive weather was just west of us and heading our way.   Sure enough, around 9:30 am a strong line of thunderstorms along a frontal passage hit.  If you have ever seen Midwest black sky weather you can appreciate the experience.  Thankfully, no tornados but we had high wind, driving rain, and thunder and lightning.  We brought in the sliders and hunkered down.  By noon everything was about back to normal and no damage in the RV park or to the travel trailers/RVs parked here.  As locals here are pretty well used to severe weather this one was probably a 4 on a scale of 10.  Nevertheless, despite having lived in Omaha for two, three years tours while in the Air Force, you forget how the weather here can be when you are not actually here to experience it.


Leading Edge of the Storm

We  had plans to maybe travel up to the area near the Air Force Base (Offutt AFB) where we used to live and work, visit the old haunts and maybe have lunch at a favorite greasy spoon hamburger joint (Stella’s) we always enjoyed.  Our son says it is still there.  We were not about to go out in the weather and decided stay put and just be lazy today.  Actually, sometimes the past is best remembered and not reexperienced.

After the weather cleared, I did fix a vexing problem with the tow vehicle brake controller.  We have been experiencing intermittent then total failure of the controller that applies the brakes to the towed vehicle.  This not a desirable situation.  After tracing the wiring, I found a frayed/broken wire supplying power from the battery to the controller.  After I fixed the connection, everything is now working fine.  I also have now added Mobile RV Repair Technician as a qualification on my resume. 

We are back on the road tomorrow, east on I-80 to Davenport, IA at the eastern border by the Mississippi River.  The journey continues.

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