RV-Dreams Rally 2009

Once again we got outta Dodge just in time. Well, it wasn't Dodge, it was Hutchinson, KS, but it turned real cold right after we departed. The folks that stayed about froze to death.  Dale Bruss told us it was 32 there yesterday morning about noon.   Although, we had quite strong head winds and some light misty drizzle we logged in 500 miles last Wednesday after leaving the HDT rally. We pulled into the Stephenville, TX. Walmart just about dark. That gave us an easy trip the next day of 225 miles on to our destination in Kerrville, TX just North of San Antonio.

We were on the road shortly after 7:00 am and things were going good and the wind hadn't even come up yet. Then about 100 miles into the trip I stopped for a usual "relief" break when I noticed 2 quite serious situations. First of all, there seemed to be some type of OIL splattered on the right front side of the Honda CRV.  Further investigation disclosed pink OIL dripping out from under the 5TH wheel,,,,,Ugh, Not good!!  I quickly put on my old coveralls and under the trailer I went and dropped a section of the underbelly cover for inspection. It was an oily dripping mess. I had oil dripping down my arm and in my face, but I couldn't tell where it was coming from.

From underneath the Rig in an oil puddle, I told Pat that we needed to find a repair shop as close as possible....one that could get us in and out ASAP. Pat put her ingenious mind to work. This gal never ceases to amaze me!! First place she looked was in the Trailer Life campground directory.  Nothing there.  So she immediately found a local campground not far from us and called them. "Do you know of a place we could get some RV work done?", she asked.  The campground owner replied, "Well ,yes, there just happens to be a great place less than 20 miles down the road from you in Burnet,TX"   He told her he knew them well and they go good work at a fair price......Wonderful!!! just what we need.  Her next call was to the Lee Hoffpauir RV and Truck Repair.   She explained our situation and was told "Sure, bring it on in"!

So I finished sopping up as much of the oil as I could and placed some rags in the area to keep it from dripping and put the belly panels back on. I couldn't find a shut off or exactly where it was coming from, but it was obviously hydraulic fluid from a slide out hose that had broken. Unless we used the slides, it shouldn't pump out anymore. As soon as I cleaned myself up as good as possible, we headed on south.

The shop took us right in (just drove the entire rig right into the shop) and soon found that one of the slide rails had cut a 25 ft hydraulic hose causing the leak.  The hose went from the hydraulic pump up to the center of the rig.  I thought we were "Dead in the Water", would miss the RV-Dreams Rally again and our Seminar was for the next day at 2:00 pm. Here we sit....125 miles from our destination, sitting in a service bay.  The foreman told us, "We make our own hydraulic hoses and all I need is an OK from you and we can have you on the road in 2 hours!!! WOW!!!  We definitely have an "ANGEL" up above looking out for us!!  Praise the Lord!!!  It's all an adventure!!!

Two hours later we were "Trucking it" on south all fixed up in good shape and the total bill was $350.00.   Not bad.  We pulled into the Buckhorn Lake RV Resort about 3:30pm. There were RV-Dreamers all over the place,,,,,and we were GLAD to be here!!
(Click on pictures to enlarge)

Buckhorn Lake RV Resort is a "top notch" Resort.  We have been here several times and love it. I have even put pictures of it on the Blog before. Can you see what is right in the center of the road when you enter the park?

Yep,,,,A WINDMILL. Now you know how I LOVE Windmills! This one is a beauty. That big Red Barn on the right is the meeting rooms and dining area.  It is huge and works out great. We have given Seminars here before and it's always a joy to return. What a super place to have a Rally.

This is the back side of the Barn and the outdoor cooking area..

The spaces are all concrete and over 100 ft long. My entire rig fits on fine...

Last night was the final big dinner party. The catered dinner was extremly delicious, you should have seen the size of the Pork Chop!!! It was over an inch thick!!

We were extremly busy all day yesterday installing PressurePro Systems for several new customers and we may have one or two more this morning. First thing is a Big Cowboy Breakfast,,,,then Farewell hugs and Handshakes...

Several readers have ask us "What is RV-DREAMS?"  Howard and Linda Payne have built a great reputation of helping folks that want to get into full-time RV'ing. They have been doing it for several years and are an extremely young couple that dropped out of the corporate business world and began full-time Rv'ing. They have helped hundreds of people answer questions and learn how to do it.  Their Rally was full of good information.  Some of the Seminars were:  "Full-timing Preparation", Emotional Aspects of the Full-timing Decision", What Does it Cost to Full-Time? and on and on.  There are also a lot of part-timers that follow their Blog and Forum. Take a look at their web site..RV-DREAMS.com   This is their second Rally and there are over 40 rigs in attendance this year.

We will probably be heading on to our place at Retama Village in Mission TX, today.  It's only 325 miles but we don't want to get in late so we may stop somewhere tonight. As usual, we have no schedule, just play it by ear......one day at a time..

Thanks for following along with us and God Bless you all.

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!

Mike

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