More Fun On The Road

Ely, NV  High 85  Low 48

While parked at our beautiful spot at Stampede Campground, there were a couple of issues. The first one was the jet maneuvers from Nellis Air Force Base. There are signs warning about low flying aircraft and they aren't kidding. We had one jet go over us that felt and sounded like he was about ten feet above us. Even scared Skittlez and she is deaf. However, the maneuvers only went on for a few hours one day.

That bare spot up on the hill is where we were camped.

The other issue is our inverter decided to quit working. We watch TV, run our fan, and most important, run Jim's CPAP machine using the inverter. Without the inverter we can't boondock; we need electric in order to run the CPAP. Jim made several phone calls to Twin Falls, ID trying to find an inverter but nobody had them in stock. He found one at Amazon but it would not be delivered until next Wednesday. No next day delivery out here in the middle of nowhere. We called Valley View RV Park in Ely and made arrangements to spend a week with them until the new inverter could be delivered.

So here we sit in Ely. We have spent time in Ely previously when we rode the Ghost Train (Nevada Northern Railway Museum)   and explored the Ward Charcoal Ovens.  So staying isolated is not a problem.

We have had some more issues while waiting. I want to keep all of this information so I am blogging about it where I know I can find it again.

First, Jim didn't feel well. In this coronavirus world of ours, this is really scary. However, whatever bug hit him, it didn't last more than two days. And I think a lot of it was brought on by stress.

That's right - stress. Sunday morning Jim was going to go get drinking water and the truck would not start. Deader than a doornail. He checked both batteries (diesel trucks have two batteries) and they were definitely not cranking anything. He hooked up the battery charger to one battery and the generator to the other one. We had purchased these batteries in Mesa in February of 2018 at Batteries Plus. Well, the closest store is in Twin Falls, ID. Jim spent some time with them on the phone and they do have the battery and were able to contact the Mesa store to determine that they were under warranty.

Battery Update: Batteries Plus in Twin Falls called us back when they determined they don't have the battery we need. So we will have to have it ordered when we get to Canyon Ferry.

They also discussed the fact that it might possibly be our alternator. It took several hours for the batteries to charge but finally the truck started and Jim headed for NAPA here in Ely to have them check the batteries and alternator. All of them seemed to be doing their job except one battery was not putting out the cold cranking amps it should be.

And the fun continues - the grey tank valve is broken and needs to be replaced. Our sewer hose has a hole in it which Jim will be fixing before we need to dump again.

The weather has been really nice. In the 80's every day with a breeze and down into the 50s at night. This RV park has lots of permanent people living here but they have kept the front rows for overnighters (or in our case seven dayers).

Valley View RV Park

We are in the middle of the picture on the left side in the Salem travel trailer. We would definitely stay here again.