BessyBus Travels

Finally in Phoenix

2011-01-07T10:32:00.000-08:00

We left you sitting on a mountain rest stop. Now it is Friday morning. The Fiesta Bowl parade we are trying to get to is at 11:00 in Tempe, AZ, which is another suburb of Phoenix. We got up early 4:45am which is a record for us. The road was clear, no more storms and BessyBus was ready to roll. We had a problem finding an RV park with space mostly due to the Fiesta Bowl, New Year's eve parties, and generally the number of "winter Arizonans" camping out in this part of the country. We finally found a place in Mesa, which is about an hours drive from the stadium and has full hook ups. The problem was road construction going on in front of the park. I don't know how I managed to avoid all of the traffic cones that were there, but I don't think I dragged any into the park with us. The one space that was available was a pretty tight fit, but we managed to get BessyBus wiggled in here. Then we unhooked the car and headed out for the parade. We were given bad directions on how to get there, so we missed a little bit of the front end of the parade and that unfortunately was were the OU band was marching. It was a great parade however, with many helium balloons and floats. Lots of horses, wagons, and Shriners. At least we made it through the storms and now the pressure was off and we could enjoy ourselves. The next item on the agenda was a new years eve party in Tempe, AZ, so we are getting ready for that. Seems they rope off a large area of town and invite the world in to ring in the new year. Woo Hoo!!

Oh Oh UFO's

2011-01-07T10:08:00.000-08:00

We left Plains, TX with a full fuel tank and headed into New Mexico. We arrived in Roswell, and found a vacant lot right off main street to park the rig. This was just a block from the UFO museum, so we checked it out. Looks like the UFO's seen in 1947, were sure something more than theory. Whatever happened back then was something, but what exactly, who knows. Anyway we left and headed for Alamogordo. We arrived there and pulled into the Walmart parking lot for the night. The spot was nice, quiet and right across from a McDonald's where we picked up a free WIFI signal. We picked up a few supplies from the Superstore the next morning and headed out. We wound up in White Sands national park around noon and pulled in there to check it out. Awesome! is all I can say. Sand drifts all over the place and just in a 200 square mile area. Pure white sand and very fine and sticky. Tracked a lot of it into the bus. There were people with plastic saucers (sleds) sliding down the drifts. What a riot. We stayed there a while and took a bunch of pictures then pressed on West. Just after topping the pass and descending down the hill into Las Crusas, we started to hit the high winds. There was a winter storm coming our way and we were about to get in the middle of it. The wind started gusting, blowing tumbleweeds all over the place, and then clouds of dust. We fought it for a while then decided to stop in Deming, NM at a SKP RV park for the night. We had been tracking another RV in our club, and they were in Deming too, so we looked them up. Kay and Dan were a mile from us and we made arrangements to meet them for breakfast in the morning. We had never met this couple before, except for our "on line" conversations, so it was great to finally meet them and put faces to the emails. While we were eating, the dust and wind started up a snowstorm. I thought we left Meeker, OK to get out of winter, but I guess it was going to follow us. We talked with Kay and Dan for a while, then decided to go back to our bus and see if maybe we could continue on our journey. We had tickets to the Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix and we didn't want to loose them. Turns out another couple of RV friends were parked right beside us. We invited "Two hams in a can" in for coffee, and just when we were starting coffee, the sun came out. We knew we had to get to Mesa, AZ as quick as we could as the Fiesta Bowl parade was Friday morning at 11:00 and this was Thursday afternoon. We jumped up, stopped everything and readied the bus for travel. I think we set a record getting ready and were on the road in about 20 minutes. We had to throw poor Jeff & Suzanne out before they had time to finish their coffee, but we had to grab the opportunity of a break in the weather. We did hit the storm again in about an hour, but managed to get through it without too much "white knuckle" driving time. We wound up at a rest stop just East of Benson AZ for the night. The wind had stopped and although it was cold (26 degrees), the storm had passed and we were finally in the clear. More later Steve

Meeker in my rear view mirror

2011-01-04T07:28:00.000-08:00

We finally finished packing up, winterized the house and hit the road. It felt good to get going again, and continuing the adventure. We managed to get tickets to the Fiesta Bowl, which Oklahoma was playing in, so that was our current destination. We had 4 days to drive to Phoenix, home of the Fiesta Bowl, so we felt we were fine timewize. We decided to try a different route West and avoid I-40, which turned out to be a really good decision. We went southwest through Lawton, Oklahoma and spent our first night at the Walmart in Vernon Texas. Walmarts are great as they usually allow overnight parking (unless there is a local ordinance against it), and usually have security and, of course you can shop too. We spent an uneventful night there and headed out to Pudacuh, Tex the next morning. In Pudacuh, we met Freddy and Delcie, fellow RV'ers and part of our escapee group. We had breakfast with them and toured their 5th wheel (these kind of tours don't take too long), and met there little dog Heidi. This couple will also be meeting us in Yuma, AZ where about 15 rigs will be boon-docking together in the desert. We departed Pudacuh and headed west. One thing you have to keep in mind while driving one of these big rigs is the price of fuel. We were getting a little low, so we decided to fuel up in Texas, instead of waiting until we got into New Mexico. Turned out to be a good choice, as the price of diesel was .10 a gallon higher in NM and we needed about 100 gallons. While we were fueling up it was getting late, and since we don't like to travel after dark we started looking for a place to camp for the night. Looking across the street we saw what appeared to be an abandoned motel. It also appeared to have a couple of RV spaces, but no one was around there. There were lights on the RV pads, so we drove over there and took a closer look. They were RV pads and active! The owner showed up and said he had put these in for temporary workers and seeing the harvest was over we could stay there with no problem. Full hookups and 50A power, so that "abandoned site proved to be a gem. Sometimes you never know what you're going to find. More later. Steve

Resume the blog

2011-01-03T21:35:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a long time since I posted and it was mostly because we weren't doing anything except trying to sell our house again. That is a bit like watching grass grow, so I didn't want to totally bore you with the process. It still hasn't sold, so that situation is still the way it was. We finally decided to leave it with the Realtor and head out for more adventures.

Well, that is not quite as easy as we thought. We had scattered things, from the bus, all over the place. First we had to remember what we had on the bus and then where we had stored it. I finally stuffed the basement compartments full and trimmed off everything that hung out and we were ready to go. Not so fast! The tires on the bus need to be changed every 6 years (by the Dot date on the tire), and 4 of ours fit in that category. These are large 275 80R 22.5 14 ply tires and not cheap, but we were getting ready to head out on a long journey so it was time to bite the bullet. The batteries needed to be replaced too as they were the original and had done their duty pretty well. We were going to be boon-docking (living off the grid) for a while, so we needed to make sure the batteries were up to snuff. I priced tires all over the OKC area and found out that I could get the best deal right in Shawnee, OK 15 miles from where we were parked. Now we had the tires, the batteries, and with a full tank of diesel pulled out headed South! It is winter you know! See ya!

End of maintenance finally!

2010-03-20T21:24:00.000-07:00

You're probably sick of me talking about maintenance, but it goes on and on. I do see the light at the end of the tunnel, and have learned a lot in the process. I moved on to the generator, and a few challenges awaited me there. Our generator is a Onan 7500 quiet diesel and it really does a great job of providing us with electrical power. It is a 3 cylinder kabota diesel engine with a 7500watt generator attached to it. This is all enclosed in a sound proof (well quiet) housing and is mounted on a rail so it slides out the front of the bus for service. It has two fuel filters (primary, .08 micron, removes big dirt), and a secondary filter, .02 micron, that really takes care of anything smaller that gets through. It has three quarts of oil with filter and an air filter. Air filter change was easy, easy to access and to change. Then the challenge arose. I went to drain the oil, and the drain plug had been rounded off and to make matters worse, during the rounding off process it had been tightened too tight. Aaarrgghhh! It was recessed, so I couldn't get at it with vice grips, and nothing else I had would work. Finally, I went to the auto parts place and got a special socket that has grippers in it to seize onto the drain plug and force it loose. The harder you turn this socket, the harder it bites into the metal and "viola" it finally loosened up drain plug and it came out. I also ran into a problem with the secondary fuel filter where someone had rounded off a brass fitting on it, and I couldn't get that one out. The hose that comes into the fitting on the filter needs to be changed, but in order to do that you need to remove the generator from the bus and take the quiet housing off to access it. Looks like I will have to rely on primary fuel filters until I can come up with a plan to do that.

Next was lubing the chassis. In order to lube the front end, I had to raise it up. This was easy using the hydraulic leveling system on the bus to do it. First raise the front and grease all the fittings on the front suspension and then lower the front and raise the back and lube the drive shaft and fittings in the rear. Check the rear differential oil and drain the air tanks of moisture from the air brake system. Then check the lube in the front axles. After all the lubing, checking and cussing, I finally finished. Now the bus is ready to roll for another year. Yippee

I finished this on Friday when it was 72 degrees, and now it's Saturday and it is snowing big time. All the daffodils were blooming and it was really feeling like spring, and NOT!! Oh well, they say it will be in the 60's on Monday, so maybe this will all be a bad dream. By for now, Steve

More maintenance of course

2010-03-13T20:39:00.000-08:00

I changed the fuel filters on BessyBus today. The first (primary filter) was a real pain to deal with. There is a electric plug on the bottom of the filter that transmits the data if any moisture gets in the fuel. The only way to get to it is from the top and the access door doesn't expose enough of it to get your hand on it. At least you can't and look at it at the same time. t I finally got it off and I think my fiberglass rash and multi cuts (everything in there is sharp) will heal with time. When I reinstalled the filters I first filled them with diesel to keep as much air as possible out of the system. It must have worked, because when I fired it up, it only hiccuped once then ran smooth. I remember running one of my farm tractors out of fuel one time and didn't ever think I would get it started again. I had to bleed the injectors one at a time to get all the air out of the system. Oh well, one more job done. Now tomorrow I will service the generator. Oil and filter, two fuel filters, and an air filter. After that all that's left is the chassis lube and oil in the front hubs. This whole process will be easier the next time. I probably saved about $200 bucks or so, depending on what the bandages cost, so it was worth it. Have fun guys and gals, I sure am Steve

OK time for maintenance

2010-03-07T18:18:00.000-08:00

I decided in a weak moment to try to do a M2 maintenance on BessyBus myself. Silly boy. Anyway, first I tackled the air filter for the main engine. This is a 400 Cummins with 1,200 ft-lbs of torque, so it is a pretty big engine. The air filter is located in the rear of the bus on the drivers side hanging vertically behind the engine. The air filter is rather large, has two 7" openings in it and also a rubber drain valve on the bottom to vent any accumulated water. It is held in there with two spring clamps and two large hose clamps, one on the top, and one on the side where the inlet hose to the engine exits the filter. I had to jack the bus up with the leveling system to get it far enough off the ground to get the filter out from under it. Then it was just a matter of loosening the two hose clamps, releasing the two spring clamps and twisting on it a bit to get it loose from the hoses and drop it out. I did have to move the large mud flap on the rear of the bus out of the way as it was right below the filter, but that was easy. The filter cost $104 on the Internet ($200 locally), so that process worked out OK. Next was the oil change. Easier said than done. First I had to move the bus forward about 10 feet to get the nose down hill a little making the rear come up higher so I could get under it. Of course to do this you have to unhook the water, sewer, electric and then put the antennas down and bring the slides in. Got that done and crawled under the bus with my oil filter wrench and tried to get the filter off. NOT! My wrench was waay too puny to move that filter at all. I tried for a while, but no dice. It was too late to get help anywhere, so I moved the bus back into place, hooked everything back up and gave it up for the day.

Next day, at least growing older gives you a little break and I couldn't remember how mad I was at the wrench the previous day. Anyway I went to a friends house and borrowed a stout filter wrench. He is a diesel mechanic, so I figured that would do the job. Back at the house I managed to get the bus up in the air far enough without moving it by overriding the auto jack system and forcing them to their max height. I got the new wrench on the filter and gave it everything I had and it wasn't enough. Sigh! I did it twice more and at the end of the third try it finally gave a little and then the wrench broke. aaarrrggghhh! Went back to my friends house and told him his wrench broke and he said "well go into the shop and fix it". I went in there and welded the darn thing and took it back and tried again. This time the filter came loose. I don't want to meet the guy that put that thing on in a dark alley, that's for sure!! Drained the oil, 28 quarts, luckily i had two old 5 gallon jerry cans to put the old oil in. If you're going to put 28 quarts in, you have to take 28 quarts out and you'd better have a place to put it. Putting the oil back in, I first filled the new filter with oil before I installed it. This way when you first start the engine it doesn't take as long to get oil through the system and prevents any damage from lack of oil. I use Mobile Delvac 15w40 diesel oil and it seems to do a good job of keeping BessyBus's engine lubricated.

Well, I didn't figure on the trouble I was going to have with the oil filter, but next time it will be much easier. I will have the right tool, and I didn't put it on near as tight. Now I have to change the fuel filters, it has two, and then service the generator. Oh well, keeps me out of the bars. Steve

Battery chores

2010-01-02T20:37:00.000-08:00

Well today I serviced the batteries. I was waiting patiently for warm weather to do this , but looks like that's not in the near future. Those lead acid batteries, 6 volt golf cart type do take a little maintenance to keep them working well. Mine are original so I'm really keeping track of them to make them last as long as possible. They are five years old now. You add distilled water to them about once a month, more often if you notice they are taking a lot), of water. The main thing is that they are taking about the same amount across the board. If you get one cell that is using more water than the rest, you can be sure the end is near. Hard part of it is if you replace one battery you need to replace them all. One bad one can drag the rest of the bank down, or one new one can have it's life shortened by ganging it with three old ones. Here on BessyBus we have two chassis batteries, (12 v for the engine which are sealed), and four 6 v deep cycle batteries for the "house". These are lead acid, so as they go through charging cycles they evaporate water in the process. My four batteries took about a quart a piece of water and were all even, so that looks like everything is going well. All I got out of the deal was wet knees, kneeling in the snow to add the water and the satisfaction that, at least, one thing is done for a while. Got to take care of Bessy, she keeps me warm at night. Steve

Where's my 12V?

2009-12-10T18:44:00.000-08:00

Ok, this was supposed to be a great learning day....NOT! Anyway we started out this morning with full tanks. I needed to take a shower (not enough room), so we decided to have Carol get the bus ready and drive it over to the dump station, dump, and then repark it herself. She can do it, but because I hog all the driving chores (I like to drive it), she doesn't get much practice. We decided that I would let her drive to the dump, then I would take a shower (while we were hooked up) and then she would repark it. That way I would get a shower and the tanks would still be empty. Well, I forgot it was 15 degrees out and didn't tell her anything special about starting the bus. She didn't let the glow plugs warm up before trying to start it and it didn't start. Ran the battery down and when we tried to use the axillary starting system, which ties the house batteries to the coach batteries, it didn't work. No start, no dump, no shower, whine! Well, I haven't figured out why the aux system would not work yet, but we did manage to buy a battery charger today and charged the batteries enough to get bessybus going. Now, 9 o'clock at night am finally parked, dumped and ready to take the shower.. sigh! Anyway, we needed to have a portable battery charger anyway, didn't we? One day at a time, just some are longer than others. Steve

Day two templates???

2009-12-09T10:04:00.001-08:00

Well after fighting my way through 20 templates, (almost like trying to figure out which tools to pack in the bus), I think this or something similar is going to work. I couldn't get the words to exactly were I wanted them, but hey, this is a "template". aarrgghhh!
We are sitting here at Firelake Grand Casino this morning and it's COLD! Supposed to be in the low teens tonight so I guess we'll have to throw another log on the "virtual fire". The hydro-hot system keeps us warm, but not when we're outside. There are 20 electric and water hookups here and right now only 3 rv's, including us. I guess everyone else figured out that SOUTH was where you were supposed to go in the winter. Well, we have just gotten our old house back and have to resell it again, so we are trapped here for the winter or at least until it sells. Have to go over there today and clean some more before we can turn it over to a realtor. At least we will be well versed in cold weather camping before this is all over. Also recovering from knee surgury this week. Had to repair a cartelage tear and had that done Monday. Feels pretty good and glad to get it behind me. Well have to limp! Steve

Blogging at last

2009-12-08T18:48:00.000-08:00

Well this is just a test, but at least it's something. Have to learn a lot about this blogging, but oh well, It will probably keep me out of dark bars. The first things written about here is going to be a bunch of tests, but maybe I'll learn something. Steve