Day 945: NM Mineral Museum, Salinas Pueblos NM, Emergency Welding

Posted on March 9, 2016 by Ben

Today we drove over to New Mexico Tech to visit the New Mexico Mineral Museum:

The sample in the center is Trinitite, which is fused sand formed by the Trinity nuclear bomb test:

Big chunks of gold and silver:

These mineral samples have not been altered. They are as they were found:

The radioactive display:

We drove north and east to Abo Pueblo, one of three sites managed by Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument:

Spanish Franciscan monks came here from Mexico in the 1580s to convert the Puebloan Indians who lived here. In the 1620s the mission at Abo was built:

To persuade the local Indians to help in the construction of the mission, The monks told the local Indians that the new mission would include a Kiva for Indian rituals. Once the mission was completed, the “Kiva” was used as a garbage pit:

Droughts and Apache Raids (in retribution for Spanish slave-capturing raids against the Apache) caused the Salinas Pueblos to be abandoned around 1670:

The kids completed the Junior Ranger workbook sections dealing not only with Abo Pueblo, but also Quarai Pueblo and Grand Quivira Pueblo, and the section for the main visitor center in Mountainair, so they received all four location ribbons for their badges:

We drove on to visit the main visitor center in Mountainair. The rear wheel was sitting a little funny, and after a bit of investigation I found that the rear leaf spring hanger had broken. The part indicated by the arrow had broken off the frame of the RV:

The rear leaf spring more or less stayed put because it’s attached to the equalizer in front, and the axle is attached on the other side to the other leaf spring with the intact equalizer and rear hanger. Nonetheless, we needed to get the broken off hanger pieces welded back on without too much driving.

I asked the ranger in the visitor center about local welders, and she asked the other ranger for direction. The other ranger is a coach at the local high school, and he called the shop teacher, Mr. E. Mr. E. happens to be a certified welder, and he asked us to drive over to the high school. We crawled our way from the visitor center to the high school, hoping everything held together. We arrived successfully:

I disconnected the ground wire from the battery to protect the electronics in the RV from damage from the electrical current imposed on the frame by the welding:

Mr. E. used an angle grinder to prep the frame and the broken parts for welding:

I jacked up the frame to unload the equalizer so the rear leaf spring could slide into place. Mr. E simultaneously pulled a chain tightly around the rear axle to encourage it into place:

Welding ensued:

Mr. E did an amazing job and we were ready to get back on the road! Thanks so much for your help, and it was a pleasure to meet your students!

We drove on from Mountainair to arrive at Michelle’s flying field and wing shop, where my wing will be repaired. See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Day 825: National Cryptologic Museum

Posted on November 10, 2015 by Ben

Today we said goodbye to our friends in Baltimore (thanks for hosting us!), did some last minute shopping, and hit the road. We drove south to visit the National Cryptologic Museum adjacent to the NSA campus:

German code machines and the Colossus machine used to break the code:

Various Enigma machines:

In the modern cryptology gallery, this StorageTek Powderhorn robotic data cartridge library was on display. The robot arm spins between the inner hub and outer rim of cartridges, grabbing the needed data cartridge:

FROSTBURG, a Thinking Machines CM-5 used by the NSA:

Cell phones with NSA software layers to allow for encrypted communications:

Russians gave this wood carving to the US Ambassador as a gift. It was discovered that a microphone had been built into the carving:

The kids used an Enigma machine to decode a message:

We attempted to visit the visitor center at Goddard Space Flight Center, but unfortunately the visitor center closes at 3pm, so we missed that.

We continued south towards the Walmart where we would stop for the night. Turning a corner, we either hit the curb or an object in the road. The rear passenger tire exploded. We pulled over and changed the tire:

The tire change took eight minutes, not bad!

We limped into the parking lot of the Walmart of Stafford, Virginia. See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Day 806: Valley Forge NHP, Hopewell Furnace NHS

Posted on October 22, 2015 by Ben

This morning I replaced the valve in the water pump selector switch. The circular rubber gasket had failed, allowing the pump to draw air as well as water, so the pump didn’t work very well:

We drove a few miles from Walmart to Valley Forge National Historical Park, where Washington’s army spent a winter with inadequate supplies during the Revolutionary War:

Nice visitor center:

Yes, these are our children:

We drove the self-guided loop road:

At one stop, a group of reenactors manned a small cannon:

Our next stop was Washington’s headquarters for that winter:

Washington’s bodyguard detail lived in these huts:

The kids completed their Junior Ranger badges and received their badges:

We continued northwest to visit Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, where the history of early American rural iron making is preserved:

At the top of the furnace, charcoal, limestone, and iron ore were poured in to this hole to produce pig iron:

This waterwheel drives the bellows that feed oxygen to the blast furnace:

We were last here in May of 2005, so we tried to recreate a couple photos from that visit:

The blacksmith shop:

Here at the bottom of the blast furnace, a plug would be removed, allowing the molten pig iron to spill out:

The kids completed their Junior Ranger workbooks and received their badges:

On the way out we watched this herd of sheep:

We continued west to overnight at the Walmart of Morgantown, PA. See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Day 613: Catching Up on RV Improvements

Posted on April 12, 2015 by Ben

The last days of Passover were very pleasant. We especially enjoyed having lunch with friends both days. We moved from my Parents’ synagogue to my Parents’ house this morning.

Today I tried to complete a few repair and maintenance items. I first checked the brakes, since they are squeaking. Looks like there’s still a good bit of brake pad left:

I also added a couple coats of clear coat to the bathroom door I stained before Passover:

Tonight I tried to install heavier duty leaf springs on the RV, but it turns out the U-bolt kits that shipped with the springs are the wrong size, so I’ll have to give the vendor a call to get the right side. I’ll have to put back the original leaf spring tomorrow.

Day 474: The Walmart Battery Tug-of-War

Posted on November 24, 2014 by Ben

We woke up to another cold morning, this time in the parking lot of the Walmart of Susanville, CA:

Last night I attempted to exchange our RV batteries at Walmart. Since we live in an RV, I scan and throw away everything. Unfortunately, Walmart changed it’s policy a year or so ago and now requires the original receipt. This seems silly to me, as the Walmart register system knows from the barcode if the receipt is valid, to prevent people from returning the same item twice using one receipt, for example. If the barcode is scanable, and the receipt is valid, why does the kind of paper it’s printed on matter?

When I called the Susanville Walmart from the parking lot, for whatever reason they said that a copy of receipt would be fine, so I took one of my two batteries in for exchange, as this has gone wrong too many times to go to the trouble of removing both batteries from the RV. When I took in the battery, they said that since the battery didn’t say “2 year replacement” on it, the battery had no warranty at all. I knew this was wrong, and eventually persuaded them to attempt the exchange, which of course worked.

The folks at the service counter weren’t sure this was OK, so they wouldn’t do the second battery without talking to the store manager. This morning, I took the second battery in and the store manager was there. He had a battery tester, which they didn’t use last night. Thankfully the battery tested as bad, and he allowed me to exchange the battery. So we now have two new batteries, and these batteries now have original receipts which I will be putting in ziplock bags and taping to the batteries.

After installing the new batteries, we drove southeast to Reno. There, we topped off our diesel and refilled our propane at an incredible $1.86 per gallon! We then continued on to overnight at the Walmart of Fallon, Nevada. See the trip map for driving details and our current location.

Look Before You Live!

Category Archives: RV Repairs

Day 945: NM Mineral Museum, Salinas Pueblos NM, Emergency Welding

Day 825: National Cryptologic Museum

Day 806: Valley Forge NHP, Hopewell Furnace NHS

Day 613: Catching Up on RV Improvements

Day 474: The Walmart Battery Tug-of-War