The van with a name needed service I discovered as I rolled
into Kearney Nebraska. No problem this
is a big enough town that getting a oil change should be easy, and it was,
except the place couldn’t do the transmission service the same day so I would
have to come back tomorrow.
Well, no worries, just a short drive out of Kearney is the
little town of Minden Nebraska home of Harold Warp Pioneer Village , that when, I
had visited last year, I noticed they have a RV park.
If you have never heard of Pioneer Village, or visited, next time you are in Nebraska put it on your list as it has to be the most eclectic, largest collections of almost everything from by gone days.
The RV park was open! And was reasonable priced for a two
day stay and came with a admission ticket to the Pioneer Village, that I happily
explored again.
Back into Kearney for the second day of service, the van with a name was all serviced up and ready to roll by mid-day. It was back to Minden for some more Pioneer village exploration.
The most joyful part of RV life is emptying your wastewater
tanks, and when I emptied before heading west to meet up with some pals, it
didn’t seem that the “Gray Water” tank drained, and the notorious inaccurate gauge
confirmed it was still 50% full. I suspected a broken valve.
Since I was going west, I contacted a mobile RV repair in
Colorado Springs, and he would be able to look at my tank when I arrived. That
turned out not to be the case, but he did contact me bright and early the next day
and proceeded to check out my issue.
We were not able to remove the valve at the KOA I was at, so
we moved to a derelict street next to
the Loves, where there was a large storm drain.
He proceeded to remove the valve, and we were both expecting a flash flood of gray water, but nothing happened.
He then suspected that the tank was plugged and proceeded to
poke and prod with poking and prodding tools he had. Still nothing came out of
the tank. I suggested we go to a car wash and back flush the tank with the high-pressure
nozzle. We did this and at least some car wash water came up in the shower, but
nothing came out of the tank. The diagnosis was the tank was empty and try not
to believe the notorious inaccurate sensors.
Several hundred dollars lighter I got out of Colorado Springs
late in the afternoon and opted for a drive down Interstate 25. I really
dislike the interstates as they have way too much traffic, and truck traffic
moving to fast for the likes of me, but this was really the only way to go. My
interstate experience was short only 92 miles or so, and that was more than
enough for me.
I stopped in Walsenburg Colorado at the junction of highway 160 and found an older RV park that had a level spot for me.
The plan was to meet up with friends the very next day in Kanab Utah. That meant that I would have a very long day of driving 553 miles.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go that far but decided to give
it a go.
Highway 160 passes through some spectacular scenery including 10,000-foot Wolf Creek Pass. The pass unlike when I rode it a year or so back the road was empty, the only traffic I encountered were two trucks on the down hill side after the passing lane ended. I got to follow them for a while enjoying the smell of burning brakes.
The little town of Pagosa Springs, where on last visit was
bumper to bumper traffic for miles was a relatively easy passage. Even the
construction on the west side of town was only a short delay.
The rest of the day was just motoring along with the
occasional fuel, and rest stop.
Calling ahead to the Kanab RV Corral I knew I had a spot and would get a glimpse of their 19,000-gallon swimming pool, and maybe jump into it.
The pool was of course closed for the season, but this
little park is top of the shop, with super clean showers, level sites, discount
for being a union member, and an excellent location right in town.
Hanging out with good friends is excellent and I now have a driver.
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