CALLING HOME FOR A FEW DAYS

Checked in at Happy Trails after our Freightliner visit where Cody enjoyed hugs and kisses from the Western Start staff. The Compound staff were welcoming and were able to extend our stay a few more nights to accommodate Western Start's time line. When searching the web for reviews, I found a post from a retired US military service person where they said they were travelling to Alaska and their rig threw the same code and they had to stay here at Happy Trails for a few days to get serviced. I wonder if the road from Bezanson to GP had something to do with this fault?!?!?

Happy Trails Campground & Cabins

https://htcampground.com

• Campsite #117
• Review: $50.00 a night with full hookups. Nice walking paths and green grass for Cody. There appears to be a very large event space with green grass for days and a walking loop that is awesome for exercising Cody (and us). We are just on the outskirts of GP and we are close to Peggy and shopping. There is a general store on site with ice cream!

Tags: AB

WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?!?!?

On our way to Grande Prairie (GP) from Whtiecourt, this popped up on the dash. The fault is yellow (not red) so we stop at the next roadside turnout (it was only 1 km away) and we called Freightliner to give them the code of SPN 3058 FMI 18 SA0. They advised that this has something to do with the exhaust emissions therefore it would eventually result in the engine being derated (loose power, either 25% or more). The directed us to call the nearest dealership (in GP) for service. We drove to GP and went right to the Western Star Freightliner service centre where they did a quick diagnostic and advised they need to clean a sensor but have no shop time available until Monday. So, plans are changing and very fluid. Before starting this journey, I asked in a Facebook group, what was the 1 thing I should pack or be aware of, and many people said to pack your patiences and expect the unexpected (thank you Big Brother Canada). We have extended our stay in GP until Monday when we take the rig to Western Star at 8:00 AM. Let's hope they can get us back on the road and visiting our Friends Tyson and Han (The Boys) as soon possible as this fault has impacted their Vacation along with ours. Stay posted for more updates!

Northern Alberta Here We Come

This will be the first big trip away from home and we are so excited to be going up north to see Peggy (Darrel's Mom) and the Boys (Not Amazon's The Boys) Tyson and Han. The drive up to Whitecourt was easy going and we had no issues with traffic. There was no road construction, just the reduce speed sings and no people working (typical, right?). We checked https://511.alberta.ca for live road conditions and traffic camera updates. All was clear so we decided to follow the big rigs and we made it safe and sound to Whitecourt and avoided Edmonton all together. Our first stop was at the Flying J/Pilot commercial card lock to fuel up and make our way to the campground.
Cody sniffing around - I think he found something

The cheeky gnome hiding up the tree - "Catch me if you can, Cody"

We woke up an Emergence - Time to leave. At first we did not know what happened, just thick black smoke, then massive flames. We started to worry what was going on as this area has a fuel station and some industry near it, so we packed up quickly as others just came out and watched the smoke and flames. It was only us that felt a sense of urgency to get out. Quickly we left and as we made our way out of the campground, the highway was closed in both directions (in and out of town). Thank goodness that our campground was on the outskirts of town and we were able to get on the highway leaving town without delay. Later in the day, we stopped and I checked the web and found out a train collided with a vehicle. The intensity of the heat, smoke and flames (they were as tall as the tree) was not good. I hope everyone got out okay. UPDATE: No casualties - check out the new story here: https://globalnews.ca/video/9891468/train-involved-in-fiery-crash-in-whitecourt-alta

Sagitawah RV Park

https://www.sagitawahrv.com/rates

• Campsite #46
• Review: $45 a night with full 50 amp hookups. Green space at each campsite and an area to walk Cody. This campground is no frills, but has all the amenities we needed for one night as we passed though. I would stay here again when passing though.

Tags: AB

Monthly Battery Check

As we get ready to start a few weeks vacation in the motorhome, we took this opportunity to check the batteries.These are deep cycle flooded batteries, so we need check and top up with distilled water from time to time. There is lots of preventative maintenance tasks for weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly. I've downloaded some suggested check lists from the RV 101 education I took - If you have an RV, check out their training material and videos. https://rveducation101.com