Yellowstone trip.....
Left central Louisiana on July 4th headed for Yellowstone. Took an over night in Childress, TX then drove to Cheyenne, WY where we stopped at the KOA. Wife wasn't pleased with over nighting at Wal-Mart. Made it to the south entrance sunday around noon. I will preface this by stating that I made no reservations for this trip. It was on the fly. Wife was not happy with this. When going in the south gate, the campground board stated all campgrounds were full. This really upset the wife. I was not deterred though. We made our way to West Yellowstone and got a site at the KOA. It came a good rain while we were setting up.
While there I used the Wifi and found a site at Madison for the next night and a site at Canyon for the night after that. That set the wife's mind at ease. The next day we were lucky enough to see both Morning Geyser and Fountain Geyser erupt at the same time. Morning Geyser was spewing rocks. It was a sight to see. I saw this homemade truck camper at the parking lot for Old faithful.
We spent that night at Madison campground.
I had a good conversation with a gentleman from Colorado that was there in his Northern Lite.
From Madison we made our way over to Canyon.
This is where disaster struck. After getting the truck level, the dinette slide would not go out. So I took the access panel off below the slide motor and found the gear box was cracked. So I took a wrench and proceeded to manually put the slide out. When I did the electric motor fell out on the fender. Ouch. Here are what the two parts look like.
Here I will insert a wood of advice. When the motor, that contains a brake for the slide is gone, there is nothing to hold the slide in place while traveling. I was not aware of this. This lack of knowledge led up to a bit of excitement the next day. We left Canyon campground and headed north to Lamar valley. On the way up Washburn MT. I noticed the dinette slide had moved out a little. No biggy, when I stop I will crank it back in, which I did. Well after pulling out of a picnic area right after the bridge going into Lamar Valley, the slide went all the way out with cars coming at me. I puckered up then and realized I needed to find a way to lock the slide. Fortunately there was a hole in the end of the shaft that I was able to stick a screw driver in and lock the lock.
That night the only place I could find a site was back at Madison so that is where we went.
Left the next morning going out the East entrance and then going over to Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Monument.
All together it was a 4000 mile round trip. Now I have to find a replacement slide motor and install it. Anyone know anything about how to get the slide motor out of an Okanagan? I haven't been able to get farther than taking the bolts out that hold the gear box to the drive system.
While there I used the Wifi and found a site at Madison for the next night and a site at Canyon for the night after that. That set the wife's mind at ease. The next day we were lucky enough to see both Morning Geyser and Fountain Geyser erupt at the same time. Morning Geyser was spewing rocks. It was a sight to see. I saw this homemade truck camper at the parking lot for Old faithful.
We spent that night at Madison campground.
I had a good conversation with a gentleman from Colorado that was there in his Northern Lite.
From Madison we made our way over to Canyon.
This is where disaster struck. After getting the truck level, the dinette slide would not go out. So I took the access panel off below the slide motor and found the gear box was cracked. So I took a wrench and proceeded to manually put the slide out. When I did the electric motor fell out on the fender. Ouch. Here are what the two parts look like.
Here I will insert a wood of advice. When the motor, that contains a brake for the slide is gone, there is nothing to hold the slide in place while traveling. I was not aware of this. This lack of knowledge led up to a bit of excitement the next day. We left Canyon campground and headed north to Lamar valley. On the way up Washburn MT. I noticed the dinette slide had moved out a little. No biggy, when I stop I will crank it back in, which I did. Well after pulling out of a picnic area right after the bridge going into Lamar Valley, the slide went all the way out with cars coming at me. I puckered up then and realized I needed to find a way to lock the slide. Fortunately there was a hole in the end of the shaft that I was able to stick a screw driver in and lock the lock.
That night the only place I could find a site was back at Madison so that is where we went.
Left the next morning going out the East entrance and then going over to Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Monument.
All together it was a 4000 mile round trip. Now I have to find a replacement slide motor and install it. Anyone know anything about how to get the slide motor out of an Okanagan? I haven't been able to get farther than taking the bolts out that hold the gear box to the drive system.
