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Friday

 

We spent the afternoon here at Walmart in Calallen while the repair guy worked to take the ECM back out and get it to the shop to get calibrated.

 

September 2020 Trip Map

 

We didn’t gain any ground today, but we didn’t lose any either.  The ECM calibration didn’t go as planned.  It’s almost, but not quite the right ECM.  It’s good enough to make the coach drive, but the gauges don’t work right.  No problem, we’ve got another plan.  We’ll keep our appointment in Bandera next week.  Who needs to drive with gauges anyway; and besides, it’s only a hundred miles from here to there.  When we’re done with that, we’ll head for Holt Cat in San Antonio.  That’s only sixty-five miles.  They can install the correct ECM there and do the calibration.  Then we’ll have all our functions back.  Brilliant!

 

And tonight’s stop?  Choke Canyon State Park?  No.  Same parking pullout on the freeway in the dark as last night.  It kind of feels like home here now.  The difference this time is that tomorrow we’re headed north!

 

 

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Morning update

 

This morning’s view.

 

The bus came back to life just after midnight last night.  It needed a new ECM alright.  The ECM is a nice clean computer part, but some of the connections for it were hidden underneath behind dirty parts.  The change-out required hours of working underneath the engine of the bus by flashlight and headlights in the rain.  Our guy stuck with it and the new computer was functioning well enough the bus would run again.  He followed us the four miles up the road to a parking pullout where we spent the night to make sure we got there, then he headed off for the one more emergency call he had to make that night.  Wow.

 

September 2020 Trip Map

 

We were in a place we could open a couple slides and spent a comfortable remainder of the night, being able to shower and sleep in our own bed.  We ran the generator and air conditioning all night and got a good night’s sleep.  Now we’re going back into Corpus Christi to meet George so he can get our new computer calibrated to our coach so not only will it run right, but all the gauges will work properly as well.

 

Tonight, maybe Choke Canyon?

 

 

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You make your plans

 

You take your chances.

 

Things don’t always end up like you expect.  We started out with 100 miles to go from Corpus this morning.  We ended up with 60 miles remaining.  So far, we’ve spent 10 hours on the side of the road, rocking and rolling with every truck that roars past.  As it gets late, not so many trucks, so that’s better.  Mobile repair mechanics working hard into the night, diagnosing and resolving some electrical issue.  Probably the Engine Control Module.  Sometimes those things just go kaput, and we’ve been driving this for fifteen years, so it could be that time.

 

September 2020 Trip Map

 

Judy’s doctor’s appointment was yesterday.  That was the reason, or at least the excuse, for our trip.  This trip was planned around us arriving in Corpus at the right time for her appointment. This was the six month follow-up with the knee surgeon.  The doctor summarized the results as:  “Damn I’m good!”  Full function.  Good range of motion.  There is still some swelling but that could take another year to resolve completely.  We walked for miles at Brazos Bend.  We climbed a 40 step observation tower and Judy did the whole thing like an adult, only one step per step, alternating feet.

 

And the puppies cleaned up nice at Judy’s Bathhouse, a hose and a sprayer on the patio, right after the great beach running adventure yesterday.

 

Choke Canyon State Park was the plan for tonight.  Don’t know where we’ll end up.  There is a rest area four miles up the road.  If we get restarted tonight we’ll spend the night there.  Or maybe the roadside mechanics will still be working on us tomorrow when it gets light.  Time will tell.  Maybe Choke Canyon tomorrow.

 

Life on the road.