Rock Island Line

Somewhere in the Heartland on a two lane road in between nowhere and someplace else. 

  

Early Heartland RoadTour

Though the original Heartland Tour was cut short just 3 weeks into it, each day I experienced the joy of discovery.

Tucked away in a swampy area of Arkansas is a secret, private railroad yard.

Here is an inside and outside view of one of the buildings where a couple steam locomotives were being restored.

Locomotives Locomotive Barn

Let the games begin. 

We struck the colors at Outpost Zulu Zebra (home) and shut everything down yesterday morning at 10:18 and departed on Heartland Tour 2015. 

We’re still in Georgia at the moment however. We’re visiting friends for a day or two. Then it’s westward ho. 

  

Gearing up for the HeartlandTour

Yeah, yeah, I know.  I said I was going to be out of here by now.  Well, taking off for a couple months at the beginning of the year kind of put me behind on some things.  I’ve had meetings to attend, tasks to work on from several committees I sit on, and in general, needed to catch up on things here at home.  And then there’s the T.O.A.D. !  I made a list of items I wanted to look into while we were on the road in Florida.  The good news is that almost all of them are done.

I replaced the serpentine belt along with the tensioner pulley.  Neither were calling out to be worked on.  I just couldn’t confirm when they had been serviced.  As it turns out, it’s good I did as the ball bearing in the tensioner pulley wasn’t in the best of condition.

I also repaired 2 water leaks that appeared when I hooked up to municipal water for the first time.  I have to say that as Duane (Dr. Rialta) said, “Winnebago didn’t use an inch more plumbing tubing than necessary”.  I have repaired both leaks and have had water hooked up for several days now with no signs of dampness anywhere.  Fortunately, the plumbing leaks, while difficult to get to, were not in places that caused any damage.

Next on the list is brakes.  Winnebago used rear brake calipers from two different sources.  Guess I’ll have to take it apart before I’ll be able to identify which ones are on the T.O.A.D.. Again, there are no signs of trouble but I’d rather head across country with new brakes than old ones of unknown condition.

So, it’s time I began to build my itinerary.  I hope to head west through the south then knock around in the national parks near the Rockies and then on to the north west, returning east along the Canadian border and finally picking a place to turn back south when I get there.
Yep, its my usual loose itinerary.  I haven’t a clue where to go or how to get there.  I hope you will help me out with some suggestions.

Cheers

Paul and the Dog

Wow, planking works.

It crossed my mind recently that once we are on the road I won’t have my bowflex handy so I’ll have to find some new ways to exercise. Of course I expect to hike often and keep active but that won’t be enough. I’ll probably refresh my Tai Chi routine but that also won’t be enough.
I tried planking this morning! WOW! I have never, ever exercised without moving and worked so many different muscles. I like it. I can plank in the T.O.A.D. regardless of the weather or where we’re parked.
I will incorporate planking in my mobile exercise routine.

Closer and closer

Each day we’re inching ever closer to departure: Heartland Road Tour.
Yesterday I ordered spark plugs and plug wires. The current plugs have around 80,000 miles and the wires have never been changed. Replacing them may just bump my fuel economy a bit. Although I’m not complaining about the 17 to 20 mpg I’m getting now.
This morning I washed and waxed the roof. I figure that the T.O.A.D. Should look good for the shakedown run to Florida in a few weeks. I’ll start on the sides tomorrow. Oh, while I was up there, I snugged down the rotating television antenna. It was pretty loose on its pivot. I’ll probably never use it as I have no TV in there but I figured it should still work properly.
I think that’s it for the day. I’m off to a friend’s place to cut and split some firewood.

Help me plan the Heartland Road Tour 2015

I need your help!
Late March or early April I’m heading west. And then north, east and south.
This is a photography trip and the dog and I are traveling in the RV. I am looking for input for places to visit, people to meet and places to stay.

I’d like to visit Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arizona and Utah on the first leg of the journey. then maybe up to the North West for a while.  After that, I think it would be fun to hop scotch across the Canadian border while heading east to check out New England.

We are looking for national and state parks where we can camp while exploring. However, the dog and I are perfectly comfortable with driveway camping along the way.  So, if you or someone you know has space for a small T.O.A.D. (22′ Winnebago Rialta) in the driveway, we’re happy to make new friends, meet people and pick up a bit of local intel along the way.  Maybe you can direct us to a great place to shoot some photographs.

[si-contact-form form=’3′]

Lets get down to planning the trip

Finally! I’ve spent a fair amount of time going through the T.O.A.D. getting it ready to ride.  I’m feeling pretty good about it’s mechanicals and am looking forward to getting on the road for the Heartland Road Tour.  I want to embark on the trip late March or early April.  YAY!!!

This gives me the whole winter to research locations, accommodations and people around North America to add to the itinerary.  Uh, that’s the itinerary that is currenty a clean slate.

Speaking of accommodations, Dog and I are perfectly comfortable with driveway camping along the way.  So, if you or someone you know has space for a small T.O.A.D. (22′ Winnebago Rialta) in the driveway, we’re happy to make new friends, meet people and pick up a bit of local intel along the way.  Maybe you can direct us to a great place to shoot some photographs.

I’d like to visit Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arizona and Utah on the first leg of the journey. then maybe up to the North West for a while.  After that, I think it would be fun to hop scotch across the Canadian border while heading east to check out New England.

Gosh! Can I squeeze all that into a single Road Tour?  Well, I have the winter to figure that out, huh?

[si-contact-form form=’3′]

 




T.O.A.D. progress

The Achilles heel of the Winnebago Rialta is its transmission. I’ve been especially nervous with this because it has 150,000 miles on it and none of the service receipts (I have a lot of them) indicated that the transmission fluid was changed. Yikes!
The reason it is the Achilles heel is this: VW (the chassis builder) bolted a tiny metal box about 9″x6″ directly to the transmission that allowed the fluid to flow in one bolt, through 4 small tubes and then out the other bolt. They connected the box to the engine coolant lines to control the temperature. All this accomplished was to insure that the transmission fluid was hotter than the engine. Much hotter at times.
I removed the “box” and installed a cooler kit purchased from Makco Transmission Parts. Now the fluid flows from the transmission to a separate air cooled unit mounted in front of the radiator.
Holy cow! The transmission fluid is now substantially cooler than the engine coolant and it fluctuates independently of the engine temperature. For example, when driving to my house after everything had warmed up I used to see a transmission fluid temperature of 250 degrees as I created the last hill before my driveway. Now I am seeing 168 degree transmission fluid at that spot while the engine temperature is around 200 degrees.
With this cooler installed, I am no longer nervous about stressing the transmission and am looking forward to getting in the road.
Ciao
Paul

Update on the motor home.

While my mind has been wandering across the country exploring places to visit on the Heartland Road Tour, I’ve been right here at home getting the Rialta (T.O.A.D. check out the name in another post here on the site) ready to roll.

I’ve changed the transmission fluid which is no small feat thanks to V.W. not including a dipstick or any reasonable way to add or check fluid.

I located a master calendar in Great Britian and now have it here to install.

I bought a transmission cooler and will install and the master cylinder it in January when I visit Florida. Oh, and spark plugs too.

There was a rust problem on the post between the passenger door and windshield. I guess that part faced the Gulf of Mexico at its former home. This has now been repaired and painted. I didn’t want it to deteriorate.

As you see, I’ve been busy making sure the TOAD will be road worthy when we depart for parts unknown.