Joan on the Road

300 miles today from Buffalo, WY to Bozeman, MT and it was a nasty day. It started out well enough. We got on the road by 8:45 and pushed the pedal to the metal because rain was in the forecast for most of the afternoon. So we thought let's make hay while the sun shines. That worked and we averaged 55 mph for the first 3 hours.

Then we stopped for lunch and gas. The rain by now had started and was coming down heavily. But we still made good time even though we hit 3 long sections of road construction...2 lane driving.

About 80 miles from Bozeman as we were going down a long hill the alarm light for the transmission pump in the car went off. Yikes! It is an ear splitting scream! There was no place to stop and it wouldn't hurt the car to drive a few miles with the pump malfunctioning. So Jim chose to keep on going to a rest area, 20 miles down the road.

Of course, it was still raining. So he checked everything out and could see no problems so he pulled the fuse that turned off the alarm...also turning off the pump. OK. So we turned on the car engine and towed the car in neutral with the engine running. After thinking it all through we figured that would work for 60 more miles.

We arrived at Bear Canyon Campground about 3:15 making real good time. After we were parked and got the furnace going (because it is 49 degrees and rainy) Jim started trying to determine what the alarm issue was. Troubleshooting guides said given the continuous alarm sound it was probably a wiring issue. Jim pulled the electrical cord that connects to the motorhome and the car. Then he sprayed good old Caig's DeOxit on both ends of each connector. Plugged everything in and turned on all switches....VOILA! Caig's saves the day again!! Probably the connector was a little oxidized and then got wet in the heavy rain.

If you don't have Caig's DeOxit in your toolbag....better get it! Never know when it willl save your day too!