Friday, May 28, 2010

Getting Ready for More Travel in the GMC Motorhome

We are fortunate to have some of our grandchildren close by. We have been able to see these three a good bit this summer. They like coming over.
We are planning to head out again next week in the GMC. There is some possibility that this one may go with us. Marci Claire loves riding on the scooter. She spent the night with us earlier this week. We took a couple of "bug runs" and a long scooter ride. The scooter has not been ridden much in the last 2 years. I dragged it out earlier this spring and started working on some of its "issues". Seems like everything is working as it should now so Marci Claire and I spent 50 miles on it one morning this week.
We have been working on getting some of our other grandchildren here for some time with us. So far, things have not really worked out. Just seems to be too many other things going on for them to visit.
Thursday Teri and I plan to jump in the GMC, bug in tow, and head out for a couple of days geocaching. We are heading north and east up the backroads of Illinois. Final destination is Effingham where we are going to attend a big gathering of Volkswagen enthusiasts. We hope to stay right on the grounds in the GMC for 3 nights. Monday the Hotrod Power Tour is coming through and will stop in Effingham for lunch. I hope to get lots of pictures. They then head south to Du Quoin for an overnighter. Teri and I will fall in behind them. We wont be able to hang around Du Quoin this time though as we need to be home Monday evening for Vacation Bible School.
That is pretty much it from Dexter this week. We hope you have a great Memorial Day weekend. Jump in with us next Thursday morning as we take off across the Mighty Muddy once again.
Dan

posted by Dan & Teri Gregg @ 3:25 AM 2 Comments

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Colsyn and Grandpa

Today was our day. Colsyn came over last night and we were up and gone early this morning. Heading to the car show in the GMC, with scooter and Vdub in tow. We are parked and ready to display our vehicles.

This was a tractor show and bbq cook off. Lots of these tractors sure reminded me of when I was a kid.

830 diesel. First one I can remember seeing. Had to be the last 2 banger for John Deere.

Colsyn was a lot more interested in the cars. He is a Mustang Man so we had to keep our eye out.

Colsyn is shelling corn. He thought that was pretty cool.

Owner of this trike stuck Colsyn on it. Oh boy.

Had to take a break for a few peanuts. We brought them and a bunch more snacks in the GMC. Had the refer running so had some good cold drinks.



Had to get this pink Farmall in here.

Oh, here is a Stang. We actually left one car show at 11 am and drove 25 miles to another one. It was in a shady city park and much nicer. We had lots of lookers here when we pulled up.




Yep, a 65.


Here is a shot of the GMC engine, through our glass engine cover. When folks came inside Colsyn took them straight to this so they could see the new engine. Colsyn was proud of that motor.
Was a fun day. Rather warm but we did not suffer. Always fun when you have one grandchild here and that one gets all of your time. 2 or more sometimes creates problems.
Gasoline is 2.49 here in town. We filled the coach back up. I think Teri and I are planning a trip to Effingham in 2 weeks. There is a big VW festival and we can dry camp on the premises free.
Thanks for checking on the two of us today. Was some day.
Dan

posted by Dan & Teri Gregg @ 6:37 PM 1 Comments

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Wally is Safely Home in Omaha

Took the can off and can see what happened. The top part of the gov is swaged on the shaft and it is loose. When it is in place and the weights are out the bottom port has a .038 opening. when it is up where the oil pressure would push it the port opening is .006. That explains why the trans thought it was going slower than reality and it wanted to stay in second or shift back. I have pics but need Sue to let me use her computer to get them out of the camera. I'm pretty sure it can be fixed. If a guy know what to look for you could probably see it with the can on.


Wally

I just have to pass this on. The above is a note I got from Wally tonight. He could not wait to tear into that governor. I knew he would find the problem. His words sure relieved me. Now I don't have to worry, we got the culprit.
Thanks Wally, you are a true friend.
Dan

posted by Dan & Teri Gregg @ 7:09 PM 1 Comments

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Always Smiling

We got up and got with it again this morning. I had a broken emergency cable that I needed to replace. After breakfast Wally and I jumped on that chore. Little jobs like this are so much easier with two people. 25 minutes and we were finished.

A quick look at wally's engine. He built his glass engine cover before I did. Look at those rails. This is a Mega Squirt fuel injection setup that Wally built. He even built the air intake bonnet. You can not buy one that looks that nice.

Wally is almost always smiling. It is kinda wierd the way he and I often think alike at the same time. Wally is a much more detailed guy than myself. He keeps everything in order with nothing ever out of place. Inside his coach looks great.

Well, all good things come to an end. About 1 pm Wally cut a trail. He was heading over to Springfield and up around the west side of Kansas City to 29 and home to Omaha. I am sure he stopped just north of Springfield somewhere for the night.

Off he goes, the wrong direction. I kept my ears open and could hear him as he slowed and made every turn. When I had counted his "take offs" I knew he had figured everything out and was on the right path. I jumped in the vdub just to make sure. I watched him head west on 60 until he was out of sight. Thanks Wally. See you soon.

Well, after Wally left I took Teri out for a few caches. She grabbed 6 within an hour.




Here she is off into the woods, farther than I wanted to walk. She took 10 minutes to locate this one but she got it.
We then checked on my aunt and uncle. My aunt had knee surgery a few days ago and I wanted to see how she was doing. She is a very special lady so she is healing up fast.
Life is good. The GMC is ready for another trip. Saturday it and the Vdub are in a car show, if I can get them all shined up in time. May go through the interieor tomorrow to make it presentable. That will give me 5 days to get it washed and polished up. A 3-4 hour job but I am retired. I'll work on it a little every day. No sense in wearing myself out.
Teri and I hope everyone is having a great weekend. We also pray that you friends like we do. What would life be if we could not help one another.
Catch you later,
Dan

posted by Dan & Teri Gregg @ 6:09 PM 0 Comments

Friday, May 14, 2010

Doctor Wally

The neighbors may have thought Teri and I purchased another GMC. Nope, it belongs to

Doctor Wally. Teri and I are the most blessed couple in the USA when it comes to friends, I mean real friends. Wally called and wanted to come help us with our transmission problem. I told him to drive his Yaris and sleep in our house. He lives in Omaha, 535 miles away. He said, I'd rather bring my GMC. Sure, so we have two in our driveway. Now, that is a real friend. We would never have figured this out without Wally.

Wally brought some gauges so we could see what was going on with our transmission as we rode down the hiway. Remember both Wally and I have glass engine covers so we have an advantage. We can see what is happening while we drive. We checked everything and it all checked out.

So, Wally brought this part. It is the governor. We pulled the left header off and then grabbed my governor. We compared it to his and everything looked the same except the spring colors were different. Well, we had nothing to lose. We had done everything that we could without pulling the pan so we put Wally's spare governor in my transmission and buttoned everything back up. Off we went for another 25 mile ride. Transmission worked and shifted perfectly.

We felt that we had found the culprit but wanted to make sure. So, we set up a 125 mile geocache run for Teri, to be done in the GMC. Here is our first one.

See it stuck way back inside that tree?

Notice the smile on my face. It was not because we had found the cache.

Teri and her second find. It is raining now.

Over the new bridge at Cape Girardeau as we took Wally to Illinois. This is a very nice crossing over the big mighty muddy.

Wondering why I am buying gas here?This should tell the story. Gas was 2.49 all over Cape. I knew this as we had bought gas here Monday on our way home from our daughter's in Indiana.

The coach watching over us while we search for another find.

Wally found this one for us.
Guess what? 125 mile trip, even through some rain storms, and the transmission shifted just like a brand new one. I smiled all the way home. We even took a sight seeing tour through the country on our way back. We put the transmission through all the normal things that we could and it never failed. I could not wait to get home and call our builder, Manny, who was coaching us along the way. He was as happy as Wally and I were. I don't think anyone believed the governor was our problem, including Manny. Just goes to show you that sometimes it is the least expected thing. I am sure glad that Wally had the foresight to bring that thing with him. I learned a lot from this adventure, especially by working with Wally. He is some guy, not only in mechanics, but as a friend. Who would drive their coach so far just to help out a friend? There is absolutely no way I can ever repay Wally, but that is what a friend is for. Real friends don't care what it might cost them when it comes to another friend in need. There are lots of Wallys in the GMC motorcoach family. Many even put their name on a nationwide "Black List" to help other traveling GMCers who might have a need as they pass through their area.
Thanks Wally, you are the best.
Dan

posted by Dan & Teri Gregg @ 9:09 PM 0 Comments

Monday, May 10, 2010

The Back Roads, Woods, of Indiana and Illinois

Here is our first grab, early this morning. 400 miles and 12 hours. We grabbed a bunch of caches.

Look what we found.

Three cemetaries early this morning. Some interesting markers in these old cemetaries.


There she goes.

Teri always finds her cache.

How cool is this bridge. Indiana has more covered bridges than any state I know of.


Yep, there she is again, in the woods. It was cold up there in Indiana this morning. Check the tracker for wd0afq-1 and you can see where we were.

Our second grave yard this morning. We were on 63 Hiway.

In the woods again. Was too cold for the ticks and chiggers to be out of bed yet.

Another covered bridge. This one is not driven on like the one above.

Just can't keep the girl out of the woods.


Grabbed these shots in Parris, Il.

We were really tearing this town up when we lost the internet. Seems it was the netbook. After we left town I rebooted it and we were back in buisness.

This is one large building at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds. Check out the mirror.

Oh yea, she is in there.

Jonesboro, Il. Pretty famous debate here.

Check out that post.

Now, look again. This was a real cool hide.

Our last one of the day.

See where it was hidden, under the picnic table. A mag mount stuck to the concrete rebarb. Just before we crossed the river at Cape Girardeau.
Wow, what a day. Teri and I really enjoyed this ride. What a way to see places off the beaten path. It really is not as much about finding the caches but seeing the places. We are pushing 300 finds now. Teri is ready to hide several around Dexter.
Got in about 7 pm. We left Logansport at 7 am, Mo. time. Normally a 7 hour drive. I have already looked at some other roads we can take the next time we visit our daughter.
Thanks for riding along. Now back to figuring out what in the world is wrong with our motorhome transmission. I am thinking it should last longer than 3300 miles.
Dan

posted by Dan & Teri Gregg @ 7:22 PM 0 Comments