on the road again

Click the pic.... If you've never seen a Walmart parking lot before.

I always like to get to Walmart's early if possible, so I can get a Primo spot like this. I'm out of the way of traffic, it's level, and my living room slide is on the curbside so I can put it out over the grass.

Since I stay at this Walmart all the time I never ask if it's okay. But with the Bat flu thing still going on, I asked the Greeter at the door, as I walked in and grabbed my cart if overnight parking was okay? And he assured me it was. Personally I have found the Greeter knows that kind of stuff as well as anyone, and I think the store manager has a lot better things to do with his time than answer that question 10 times a day.

The mechanics fixed my truck late yesterday. They worked longer than usual because they're closed on the weekend, and they knew I was living in the parking lot and probably felt sorry for me... I will accept any pity offered.

Fortunately, my problem was something simple, but no less debilitating. The fuel filter housing was losing its prime because of a bad "O" ring. When that happens, the fuel rails can't get enough fuel to supply the injectors, so the engine goes into limp mode to prevent being damaged. And when I turned the truck off at the rest area, it wouldn't start again because the air leak was severe enough that no matter how many times I primed the fuel filter, the engine still wouldn't start.

The fix was pretty easy, a new "O" ring, and a new fuel filter, and I'm seemingly back to normal. They told me a good stress test of the fuel system would be going up a steep hill pulling the Arctic Fox. So on the way to my stop for the night, which is the Walmart parking lot in Trinidad Colorado, the truck had to make it over Raton pass, the top of which is the state line between New Mexico and Colorado.  Its not the worst pass in Colorado. However, it's still pretty long and steep in places, but the truck pulled that mountain pass just fine.

I'm not sure why but I-25 both North and Southbound lanes had a lot of RVs going somewhere. And the most common RVs I saw were medium-sized single and double axle travel trailers. And virtually every one of them looked brand-new. The problem with that for me is it doesn't take many trailers to completely block up a gas station. I was glad this morning that I could get diesel fuel where the big trucks fill up. This allowed me to avoid the chaotic mess caused by a bunch of brand-new trailer owners trying to figure out how to get into a gas pump line.

With any luck I should be back in Denver tomorrow boondocked in my daughter's driveway, and I guess that will officially end my winter travel season. But unofficially I feel like my winter travel season ended when I started self isolating around the middle of March in Quartzsite. Because from that point on I wasn't really traveling the way I enjoy, I was just trying to get somewhere I would be safe.

I still want to take some mini-vacations in my little Bronco pop-up camper this summer. And I need to get myself motivated to sell some more guns from my collection, rumor has it guns are selling like crazy for top dollar now days. But most of my time will  be spent with my family and hopefully none of us will get sick. And even though my weight is now officially down to 188 lbs from the 206 it was before I started self isolating, I've got a feeling some home cooking will quickly change that.                                                                                                                                            theboondork