To: n0abe@qwest.net

X-Type: Email; Outmail

Subject: 5th Wheel Repair

X-Via: KA6IQA

X-Status: Sent

Ole, Here is a message for the list.

Wedneday, July 11th is the day we have been waiting for since Saturday to get the 5th wheel in for warranty work. It

started out shakey as the service supervisor said he was sure they did not have a spring but hopefully they could find one

in Anchorage and that they very likely did not have a thermosat for the bedroom fantastic fan. He also would only do the

critical things as they did not have time for anything else. We left the 5th and went to Del KL7HF and I did our banking

via the INTERNET which is great! I found out my state and federal retirement checks had been deposited but that they did

not withhold for my health insurance so I called Pierre and they had sent me a letter saying I needed to send money which

I would eventually get word from our son Jack in RC. I sent them the money so we should be OK as this month they should

withhold from the check. I gave her my radio e-mail and she said she would use it if there were any problem. I also get

my ISP e-mail via telephone. Not bad for a month only about 100 messages! We then headed back for the Jayco dealer and I

have been around these places enough to know rather than checking in with the service manager I would just snoop around and

see if I could find the 5th. I did and crawled under and good news the spring had been replaced with a heavy duty on and

they had put in a whole new brake drum. The tech Gregg showed up and said he needed me to hook the pickup to the trailer

so he could check the brakes. We found out there was still wiring problems so I helped him with the ohm meter and found

the brake wire that crosses over inside the tube axle had one side open. It was getting late so I told him we had a place

to stay for the night and he could finish it up in the morning and check all the brakes.

We got up about 5:30 a.m. and had some tea and headed to Walmart to get all our point and shoot pictures we left to be

developed the first day we got to Anchorage. They were done and only cost $2.12 for each roll so for 7 rolls it was less

than $15.00. It is not hard at all to get used to no sales tax. Anchorage in my opinion in the main part is very hard

to drive in. First there is lots of construction, second there are a lot of one way streets and third on the west side of

town a street has one name and on the east side another. Lastly people drive like crazy so it is tough! One more thing,

if you are not in the correct lane you can not get turned so you try to be clear over and things are going good and all

the sudden your lane becomes a turn lane and you are forced to turn before you want. It is not a simple matter typcially

to correct this situation because of all the one way streets and streets that don't go thru. I am not going to miss

driving in Anchorage. It is laid out pretty decent it is just that the streets are to narrow to handle the traffic so

they had to go to all these one way streets. We also got two 12 ton stand jacks to assist if we have to change another

tire, forbid! We also got our fishing licenses and King Salmon tags. We then headed for the Jayco dealer and spotted a

place that had diesel for $1.52 WOW! The best of the trip and cheaper than at home when we left! We made a mental note

to fill up there on the way back. Again when I got to the Jayco dealer I went back where the 5th was and crawled under

neath to check things out and was very, very pleased to see a very neat job, rubber grommets where the wire came out of

the axle tubes, all connections capped with insulated caps and all the wiring neatly lashed with adequate slack. I found

Greg and told him I was pleased and also picked up the old leaf spring and the U bolds and nute(they are pretty tough

looking) but the spring would work if one had to use it. The new spring is as good as the other three and still has

some bow up.

I then went to the front office and they had to do a bunch of paper work and I had to sign about 5 sheets but it was all

No Charge, under warrenty! We hooked up and were on our way after I thanked Gregg again! We then found the station and

filled up the F-350 and also our two empty 5 gallon containers as we were down to our last 5 gallon container having ran

short before getting to a station a couple of times. Propane runs $2.40-$2.50 which is outrageous. I got along good with

the guy filling me and he told me if we would go to Suburban Propane we could get it for $1.32 a gallon. Supposedly the

fuel stations really have to pay thru the noise for insurance for having propane in a residential area Anyway the secret

is to try and find a coop out in the country or a propane dealer. We got the trailer back to Mikes and then toured the

ZOO. It was very good and had a lot of northern animals. We then came back and got set up, did our book work and had

dinner. Hopefully we will hike up Flattop Mt. Yet today if Mike can get this schedule to work out OK! IT IS NICE TO

HAVE OUR HOME BACK AGAIN BUT SURE DID WORK OUT NICE STAYING WITH DEL and JAN. We thanked them profusely as we really

appreciated it. We plan to leave the 5th here and do day trips out of here for awhile.

Today, Friday we went north on the Parks HWY and took the Hatcher Pass road east and then down to Palmer. It was a

very pretty, mountain top road. Definitely just a pickup road but we are used to bad roads and in comparison to the

Macarthy it was great. We got some great pictures.

Record rains so far in July in Anchorage.

Ed and Edith

[MID: 1061_W0SD Sent Via: KA6IQA Date: 2001/07/14 02:35:50]