We have really been busy the last several days with the new crew. Each new process undertaken at an oil well comes with it's own "schedule" of sorts and we have been trying to get into sync with this one. The crew arrives early, like way before dawn early! That is when I have a flurry of activity at the gate that lasts for about an hour. Once that rush is over the gate changes from employee traffic to semi traffic. They use a lot of materials at this stage and the trucks run in and out several times a day keeping us (and them) hopping.
Yesterday Rudee made our weekly trip into town for supplies. Cotulla is about a 40 minute drive and is the closest town with the stores we need. We go on Wednesdays to correspond with a gathering of other gate guards at a local restaurant. I was out of bed early and took control of the clipboard around noon and Rudee headed out. My afternoon was going smoothly until about 4:30 when a Border Patrol SUV came skidding to a stop in front of the motorhome. The officer told me they had chased a pick up truck onto our road, the pick up crashed and about a dozen suspected illegal aliens scattered into the scrub brush. They had a helicopter on the way and she told me to stay inside and lock the doors.
The helicopter arrived in about 5 minutes and begin circling an area about a 1/2 mile from our gate. I called Rudee to let her know what was happening and to be really careful on her way home. The helicopter searched back and forth for about an hour and then left. By the time Rudee got to the end of our road there was only a wrecker and one officer left. He told her they had 14 people in custody and "thought" they had them all. She said he wasn't too convincing though so we kept our eyes open and the door locked the rest of the night. :-)
We have had some questions of how we like the motor home compared to the 5th wheel so I will try and answer that.
There are pros and cons to both units. I like the motor home when we are traveling just for it's convenience. When we stop for a quick break we don't even have to get out if we don't want too, although I almost always do just so I can make sure all is Ok with the tires, toad, bike etc.
The motor home is easier to park and set up once we park for the night too.
One downside is you give up some living space for the dash and steering wheel that you don't have in a 5th wheel and we went from 4 slides in the 5er to just 2 slides in the Winnebago so we lost some square footage which also translates to losing inside storage. We gained a lot more outside storage so we just shifted some more things to the basement.
We both really like the hydraulic leveling jacks on the motor home. They really hold the rig steady even in the 50 mph winds we had the other day. :-o
All in all we are happy with the change. Towing the Dakota vs Rudee following me saved us around $300 in fuel so far and we really like being in the same vehicle again instead of having to "sight see" via radios. We plan on doing a few decorating changes and are exploring getting the couch reupholstered and redoing the valances over the windows. We'll see how that all goes. :-)
I'm doing my best to get used to being up all night and sleeping during the day. I used to do it all the time back in my Sheriff Dept. days but that was a few years ago. I'm not saying I'm getting old but ...... I'll keep you posted. :-)
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Sunday, February 24, 2013
switching things up a little
Our gate has transformed from a quiet spot in the middle of nowhere into a hotspot! We have really been burning through the lead in our pencil the last few days and don't see signs of a slow down for at least another couple of weeks.
I did try and use the slower times to get some things fixed up on the motor home. The last thing on my list was to try and figure out why our step cover didn't work. The door to our home is in the very front passenger side and has 3 steps right in front of the passenger seat. The step cover is made to "extend" the floor and cover the step well while we are traveling and operates by flipping a switch on the passenger arm rest mounted on the wall.
I did some research and found others have had problems as well and gave some tips on getting it to move again. The step cover actually works off the air from the coach that pushes (and pulls) an arm attached to the cover. There is also a switch on the dash to "dump" the air out of the system so it can be operated manually. My first attempt at a repair was to clean all the electrical contacts on the air/power relay mounted on the firewall. This seemed to be the most likely problem judging by the responses I read on the internet. Once everything was cleaned up and I made sure all the connections were good and tight I fired up the engine to build up the necessary air pressure. That is when I noticed the switch on the dash felt "funny". I took it apart and found that the air line coming to the switch had become disconnected so I put it back together and replaced it on the dash. I tried to get the cover to "go" using the switch but no luck. I then took the the switch housing apart so I could get a closer look at that wiring. I'm not sure what I did but as I was messing with it Rudee said "it's moving". The bad thing was I could only get it to extend and not retract. :-(
I reversed the wires and low and behold it retracted! I had a bad switch, or so I hoped. A call to Winnebago turned out to be hopeless. They had discontinued the switches and redesigned the step cover several years ago. My next stop was my old stand by ... Ebay! I searched through several pages of switches and found one that I thought was close to what I needed. Who knew there were that many different switches out there, Wow!
The switch I ordered was under $3.00 including shipping so I wasn't taking too big a gamble and it was being sold by someone in Iowa and not someplace overseas, another plus.
The switch arrived here last week after going to our "home" address in Indiana and then being forwarded to the post office here where I picked it up on my last run into town for supplies.
As soon as I got back to the motor home I installed the switch and it fit perfectly in the hole the previous one was in. I started the engine and waited for the air to build up. I crossed my fingers and then flipped the switch. The cover extended! Now the big test. I flipped the switch the other way and it retracted! Oh Ya! That's the way it is supposed to work. :-) Another job crossed off my "honey do" list.
The weather has been really nice, mid 70's during the day and into the 40's at night. They are predicting some gusty winds starting tonight and into tomorrow so we are battening down the hatches. I'll keep you posted.
I did try and use the slower times to get some things fixed up on the motor home. The last thing on my list was to try and figure out why our step cover didn't work. The door to our home is in the very front passenger side and has 3 steps right in front of the passenger seat. The step cover is made to "extend" the floor and cover the step well while we are traveling and operates by flipping a switch on the passenger arm rest mounted on the wall.
I did some research and found others have had problems as well and gave some tips on getting it to move again. The step cover actually works off the air from the coach that pushes (and pulls) an arm attached to the cover. There is also a switch on the dash to "dump" the air out of the system so it can be operated manually. My first attempt at a repair was to clean all the electrical contacts on the air/power relay mounted on the firewall. This seemed to be the most likely problem judging by the responses I read on the internet. Once everything was cleaned up and I made sure all the connections were good and tight I fired up the engine to build up the necessary air pressure. That is when I noticed the switch on the dash felt "funny". I took it apart and found that the air line coming to the switch had become disconnected so I put it back together and replaced it on the dash. I tried to get the cover to "go" using the switch but no luck. I then took the the switch housing apart so I could get a closer look at that wiring. I'm not sure what I did but as I was messing with it Rudee said "it's moving". The bad thing was I could only get it to extend and not retract. :-(
I reversed the wires and low and behold it retracted! I had a bad switch, or so I hoped. A call to Winnebago turned out to be hopeless. They had discontinued the switches and redesigned the step cover several years ago. My next stop was my old stand by ... Ebay! I searched through several pages of switches and found one that I thought was close to what I needed. Who knew there were that many different switches out there, Wow!
The switch I ordered was under $3.00 including shipping so I wasn't taking too big a gamble and it was being sold by someone in Iowa and not someplace overseas, another plus.
The switch arrived here last week after going to our "home" address in Indiana and then being forwarded to the post office here where I picked it up on my last run into town for supplies.
As soon as I got back to the motor home I installed the switch and it fit perfectly in the hole the previous one was in. I started the engine and waited for the air to build up. I crossed my fingers and then flipped the switch. The cover extended! Now the big test. I flipped the switch the other way and it retracted! Oh Ya! That's the way it is supposed to work. :-) Another job crossed off my "honey do" list.
The weather has been really nice, mid 70's during the day and into the 40's at night. They are predicting some gusty winds starting tonight and into tomorrow so we are battening down the hatches. I'll keep you posted.
Friday, February 22, 2013
change in the air
Our little slice of heaven here in Texas has started getting busier. There has been a noticeable change in the traffic patterns and the amount of vehicles we have visiting us. We started our split shift schedule earlier this week. I work the night shift and Rudee takes the daylight hours. That first night shift is always a struggle with me having to stay up for 18-24 hours straight. I did get a short cat nap in the recliner but I was sure ready to hit the sack once Rudee vacated the bed. :-)
Last week we had a visitor. Fellow blogger, work camper and gate guard Susan stopped by and paid us back for visiting her in January. She is currently waiting on a gate assignment and, like us, is on her second season as a gate guard.
We do enjoy visitors so if you happen to be in the area drop us an email. We would love to have you stop by.
We had a another visitor of a different sort also.
This guy, or is it a girl, showed up in the scrub brush across the road from the motorhome the other day. I managed to get a photo but those things are quick! Meep Meep!
We are at the half way point of our gate guarding for this year. Another 5 weeks and we'll head back to Indiana for a visit with family and then on to South Dakota for our summer work camping gig. Spring is in the air! I'll keep you posted.
Last week we had a visitor. Fellow blogger, work camper and gate guard Susan stopped by and paid us back for visiting her in January. She is currently waiting on a gate assignment and, like us, is on her second season as a gate guard.
We do enjoy visitors so if you happen to be in the area drop us an email. We would love to have you stop by.
We had a another visitor of a different sort also.
This guy, or is it a girl, showed up in the scrub brush across the road from the motorhome the other day. I managed to get a photo but those things are quick! Meep Meep!
We are at the half way point of our gate guarding for this year. Another 5 weeks and we'll head back to Indiana for a visit with family and then on to South Dakota for our summer work camping gig. Spring is in the air! I'll keep you posted.
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