They’re moving trees here at Sandpipers. Big trees. There is a giant digging contraption on the back of a truck. It splits open to go around the trunk of the tree, then closes. Four giant spades, alternating, methodically dig into the ground around the tree until a giant root ball can be lifted out. The contraption continues to hold onto the trunk as the entire tree is lifted, then tilted down for carrying. Here is what it looks like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuTshWxp6gs
We’ve moved on
Now we’re back at Sandpipers, 300 miles south of Bandera. Palm trees. Crested Caracaras. Green Jays and Great Kiskadees. Way south. We’ve got an appointment at Holt Caterpillar in Edinburg to get the motorhome motor looked at on Thursday.
The summer that didn’t happen
Well, summer itself actually happened, but it sure didn’t happen like we planned. We spent our summer abandoning plans and pretending we really wanted to do something else instead. When confronted with certain defeat, change the rules and declare victory. I added the last few stops to our summer travel map. It doesn’t make any sense at all. It’s just a jumble. And I think it ran out of pins. The last several places on the list, through Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma, don’t even get pins on the map, but if you click on them, they get a description pointing to where they are: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=205131835882428706345.0004a0e19bb8bf61d6456&msa=0&ll=34.488448,-99.492187&spn=22.953946,56.118164
FW: Along the way.
We visited the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha.
I know what’s wrong – the answer!
Yesterday I had it all figured out. A wobble in the driveshaft. It hits a resonant frequency and is terrible, but accelerate and it’s gone.
Today I realized that I had it all figured out wrong. I had it as the driveshaft; a bad U-joint perhaps. But today I realize that the driveshaft is related to vehicle speed and my problem is related to engine speed. When I downshift, the problem gets better. It’s engine speed related. The driveshaft is still going the same speed when I downshift, so it’s not the driveshaft. I apologize. I misled you all. Come to think of it, I even misled myself. I don’t have the answer.
It feels like I’m on the right track with something rotational out of balance, but to be engine speed related, the problem has to be in front of the transmission. I don’t like that prospect much. The stuff that rotates in the engine is all connected to the crankshaft which is the guts of the entire engine.
I thought all we had to do was take it to Holt Cat in Edinburg, tell them to check the driveshaft, and it would all get better. We’ll still take it to Holt Cat in a few days, but we don’t get to tell them what’s wrong. We have to hope they can tell us what’s wrong. It could still be a hiccup in the timing. We’ll see.
In the meantime, we’re settled in at Jeff and Carol’s 3 miles outside Bandera in the Texas Hill Country northwest of San Antonio. They bought some acres and carved out a spot in the oak and cedar(juniper) for their 5th wheel. They put in full hookups: water, sewer, and 50 amp electric.
Then they carved out a spot for us too!
Thank you Jeff and Carol. It’s good to be here.