We've been workamping at Sandy Shores Campground at Silver Lake, Mi for almost 4 months. It has been a great summer overall as we worked alongside good people at a scenic location, and learned a lot about campground operations, and the vehicles used to ride the dunes. We averaged 34-38 hours per person per week with plenty of free time to enjoy our hobbies and run errands. Overall, the weather has been great, after May & June's very cool and rainy days. My job ended yesterday and Hank finished with his duties today. Since we've had no TV reception here, we quickly became accustomed to finding our entertainment on the internet and in the activities going on around us in the campground. With the exercise involved in our jobs, we've both lost weight and gained conditioning.
As always, there were a few RV problems to deal with. There were some lights that were operating on their own, but that turned out to be dirty contacts in the control board. There's been an ongoing low battery problem for over a year when we sit for a few days, but Hank finally found the loose connections in the battery bay that apparently was causing that, and all seems to be well now in that department.
The biggest problem came about two weeks ago when we tried to start the motor and run it for awhile as you should do when sitting still for long periods. The tranmission control panel didn't light up and the motor wouldn't start. That problem took a lot of research by Hank, with multiple phone calls to REV (RV manufacturer), Spartan (chassis) , and Allison (transmission). A damaged wiring issue was suspected like we had back in December. Since we're in a remote area, finding a mobile tech to come help us was a challenge and we thought we might have to be towed out of here. But finally, with the help of a local car/truck repair facility, we found a tech who came to us last week. After over 3 hours of work, discussions with Hank on his theories, more phone calls to Allison and Spartan, and much testing, it did turn out to be the same corrosion problem once again in the wiring over the rear passenger axle due to road water and oils being thrown up on multi-pin connectors and another wire had to be spliced and bypassed around the connector. What a relief to finally hear that diesel engine come to life and run like it should!
Now it's time to get Little House ready to roll after sitting in one place for so long. All of the tire pressures have been checked and adjusted, engine oil, transmission fluid and coolant levels checked, items are getting put away, and we'll soon say our good-byes to our campground family We hope to leave the area on Thursday for a leisurely drive through Michigan's Upper Peninsula to Superior, Wisconsin for an RV Radio Network Rally which starts on September 11. After that event, we'll begin our journey to the southern USA for the winter.
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