South Dakota--Day 1--Friday the Thirteenth

I swear that, never again, will we start out on a trip on a Friday the Thirteenth. We had planned to begin this trip up north on Friday, July 6, but due to the mess with the new pool liner (see previous blog) we had to set the trip back a week.

As it has been doing in Oklahoma since early spring it was raining when we got up that morning. Not heavy but just enough to get you good and wet if you had to be out in it for very long. It had rained the previous day but had cleared off by noon and we had been able to get the coach loaded and ready to go. So, this Friday the Thirteenth morning we only had to get the coach out of the drive and on the road. This included unplugging it from the 30 amp hookup on the house, rolling up the cord and the extra 30 foot extension cord and putting them away, in the rain. Once we got the coach in the street we had to hook up the car to the tow bar, in the rain. Finally, around 9:00 am we were ready to roll, although I was now soaking wet.

As we drove away from the house and headed out of the neighborhood I turned on the windshield wipers. We then made it almost the two blocks to the main cross street when the driver's side windshield wiper fell off. (This has happened before and I've had it repaired twice, once at the Monaco America rally in Louisiana and last month at a local Monaco dealer.) Well, out I went into the rain again. Had to get my tools out because the wiper holder was now bent and had to be strightened. Took a good five to ten minutes to get this fixed, all the time we are parked at the stop sign at the end of our street blocking traffic from getting out of the neighborhood. Wiper was back on and we were on our way after a quick stop to fill the fuel tank at the Flying J station in Northeast Oklahoma City.

As we headed north, away from the Oklahoma City area, the rain lessened up and eventually stopped. The sun came out and we decided our bad luck was behind us. Wrong. Just after we crossed over the Kansas state line I noticed that the fuel gauge was showing less than 1/4 tank and the low fuel light was on. Since we had just driven a little over 100 miles this indicated a problem. With a 75 gallon fuel tank there was no way we had burned that much diesel. A few miles down the road was the first fuel station on the Kansas Turnpike so we pulled in there. After checking all around the coach we determined there was no fuel leak so the fuel gauge must not be working. To be on the safe side we pulled to the pumps and topped off. It only took enough diesel to replace what we normally should of burned in that 129 miles to the fuel station. Now, knowing we had a full tank we headed north again. I flipped the odometer over to the trip meter and used that to know when I need fuel since I'm aware of my fuel range. We can go at least 600 miles on a tank of fuel and still have a margin for error.

The fuel gauge kept us entertained all day. It would go all the way down to Empty and set there for awhile then move back up to 1/2 or all the way to Full. Each time it got below 1/4 the low fuel light came on. (Fortunately this coach is not equipped with a low fuel bell alarm.) Finally, around noon, the guage went all the way to full and stuck there, where it stayed for the rest of the day.

We stopped around 3:30 pm in Russel, Kansas, to spend the night. Jo fixed us a good dinner and the RV park had cable TV so things were okay. I'm not normally a superstitious person but never again will we start an adventure on a Friday the Thirteenth.