Day 228 – Up at 6 a.m. again to get ready. They are supposed to complete the front end suspension work today, and we’ve asked them to look at the RV to see if there is some way they could do the back end also at another time. Depending on what time they finish today, we will either spend another night, complete with friendly greeting dog, or begin our journey back to NY.
They started at 7:10 today; the kitties grudgingly took their places in the bedroom; we planted ourselves back in the waiting room of the offices. At a little after noon, we were told that they were finished with the work & Rob went with the technician to see the finished product & how the gauge would work. They said all went well, they were pleased with their test run & they felt we’d probably find that we wouldn’t need to come back to have the rear done also. If we did want to come back for rear end suspension work, they could do it, but some modifications to one of the storage compartments would be required before the work could be done.
We got ready to leave, excited to try our new ride, but there was no electrical power to the front electrical connectors that we plug the tow car brake & GPS into. Rob went back inside to get the technician. Never a dull moment. They came out to the RV and while all three guys, including Rob, were looking at wires and connections, they discovered a circuit breaker had tripped. They reset it and we went off on our way.
259 miles (4:40)
We noticed a smoother ride almost immediately. Like sleeping on an air mattress or water bed rather than a board or stiff mattress. We drove to the bumpy roads where we’d taken our “before” test for Rob’s App and did several new runs, checking the ride in both the front and rear of the RV. We were disappointed that it didn’t show a big difference between the before and after testing, but definitely happy that we were feeling a better ride. We’re sure this will make a difference in the overall health and performance of the vehicle and its parts over the long haul, and make for a more enjoyable ride for us & the cats.
We left Oskaloosa at 1:20 p.m., heading east again on I-80, stopping for lunch and gas, and crossing the Mississippi again when leaving Iowa and entering Illinois. It was 68 degrees and sunny when we left. A very long day, we arrived at 6 p.m. at Illini State Park, our third visit this trip to this campground.
We knew it was going to be a tedious day & no one, cats included, had gotten much sleep for a couple of nights. Some good road music helped us to get through the drive, and we’d promised each other we’d be patient because we knew what kind of day it would be. That worked out well, to be aware in advance, but the girls had not gotten the message. Very grouchy kitties came charging out of the bedroom when we were setting up the campsite, even though they’d had several breaks during the day.
We chose site #17 on the Illinois River, unpacked, had dinner and went to bed early (all of us).
We’d made great progress already on our journey home, and we were glad to be back into our routines, particularly NO MORE GETTING UP TO AN ALARM, LOL.
Site 17, Illini State Park, Marseilles, IL