Daily Trip Journal

Start Point:     In Needles,Ca.                   

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Weather Conditions:   Sunny,clear and hottt !

Temperature Range:   80 AM ......101 PM

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Things of Special Note:   The engine expert looked at the engine and discovered the cam shaft was flat spotted and I needed a new one the crank was ok ant the engine was repairable and did not need to be replaced.That was the good news and the cost was under 5000.00 now the bad news...the cam shaft is a non-stock item and has to be made at the factory....they estimate a week to get and install....so here we are stuck in Needles....we decided to take the car and drive to Flagstaff and spend the holiday there and do some sight-seeing we were going to do after we left here.We plan to go to the South Rim at the Grand Canyon,Mesa Verda,The Cliff Dwellers and what ever else we can find to occupy our time for the next week and then it is on to Phoenix and continue our trip.I will keep you update to our travels to Flagstaff.

Overnight at:   Motel 6......whoopieeeeeeeeeee !

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Start Point:   In Needles,Ca.                     

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Weather Conditions:   Sunny no clouds.....HOTT !

Temperature Range:   79 AM .......103 PM

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Things of Special Note:  Went to AVI Casino for Moe and I walked the dogs on real grass.Waited for a call from repair shop but ended up stopping by to see what the verdict was.I was told the crank shaft looked good but they wanted an engine expert to look at the cams and then do another cylinder pressure check to make sure the head was not warped.He said the crank shaft looked really good and he had expected some noticeable damage but was pleasently surprised at how good it looked.We aslo did some model home looking to see what type of housing was available and what pricing was.We learned that there are two types of property...the indian population owns the land and leases the land back to the home buyers then there is a fee simple that you own outright and can resell.Taxes are based on selling price.... 1% of the selling price is your property tax...a 300,000.00 home will be 3000.00 a year in taxes and they are not re-evaluatede unless the home owner requests one.

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Start Point:     In Needles,Ca.                   

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Stop Point:    Repair shop in Needles                    

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Weather Conditions:   Clear and HOT

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Miles Logged:   76 AM..... 103 PM

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Things of Special Note:   Called Good Sams Road Service at 7:30 to get towed to a repair facility....by 10:30 the motor home was off the truck and waiting for a truck bay to start the inspection.After the initial inspection thye believe there is internal engine problems and requested to pull the valve covers and inspect the valves.

Overnight at:   Motel 6

Rate:   39.62 /night includes inroom wifi that works fairly well.

Amentities:  TV ,WIFI

Start Point:   In Needles,Ca.                     

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Weather Conditions:   Clear and HOT

Temperature Range:   75 am .....103 pm

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Points of Interest:   Colorado River....we drove completly arourd Needles in one hour.They have a police dept. and a school here.There is no shopping mall,movie house,tourist things to do.Gas is 3.79 a gal and down the road 2 miles in Arizona it is 2.65 a gal. no it is not a typo.....it is 1.14 a gal cheaper 2 miles down the road.Which shows how expensive it is in California.

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Things of Special Note: Well it Sunday and we are just waiting for Monday to get towed to a repair shop to find out what went wrong.

Overnight at:    Needles Marina Park

Rate:   37.40/night

Amentities:   all gravel sites,50 amp full hookups,on the Colorado River with sand beaches.When we arrived Saturday afternoon there were about 15 rvs in the park with over 100 sites.Nice rv store/office with laundry,pool and spa.There is a full size golf course across the street.

Start Point:   San Dimas,Ca.                       

Time:   8:30 am

Stop Point:    Needles,Ca.                    

Time:   4 pm

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Weather Conditions:   Haze and smoke early morning turning full sun and HOT

Temperature Range:   70 AM .....106 PM

Miles Logged:   235 miles

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Things of Special Note:   BROKEDOWN 8 miles north of Needles heading for Laughlin,Nv.Engine shut off and the stop light on the dash came on.Checked water(full) running 220 temp guage....oil pressure good and full....nothing leaking and engine restarted but sounded like it was gasping or sucking for air and made a lot of noise ....running rough.At first I thought the air damper dropped so I pulled the bedroom floor and inspected the damper ...it was working properly.Engine will restart and runs noisy and ruff.Next guess was broken valve or piston head.Called Good Sams road service and in 3 hours I was in an RV park connected to electric and cooling down.It was Saturday at 4 pm and no service was avaliable till Monday morning.Monday they came and towed me a couple of miles to a Cummings shop and they hooked a computer and could find nothing definate.Pulled the oil filter and cut it apart to see if there was metal shavings(none found) Now they want to pull the heads and inspect the valves.....so here we sit waiting for a verdict.Living in a Motel 6 is not as good as a motor home.As a side note when we were broke down I started the desiel generator and it ran for 30 minutes and quit....it would try to start but could not run.I thought it could have been some really bad fuel that was making the engine run rough and the generator stop but the repair shop ignored that idea.

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