FMCA at Gillette Wyoming

On Sunday July 15 we left Colorado and headed north into Wyoming.  Diesel is about 20 cents cheaper in Colorado than Wyoming, so we topped off with 73 gallons in Fort Collins CO before crossing the state line.  This day was rainy and cool with temps topping out in the mid 50s.  It was a refreshing change.  We stopped at the Southeast Wyoming Welcome Center on I-25, which is perhaps the nicest state welcome center we have ever visited.  There are some very nice exhibits, and they had free coffee and fast wi-fi.

Bootleg photo from the internet

Dorcas with an original American RV

Giving my knee a break

Big Buffalo on I-25

At Douglas WY we saw a sign that said "Caution Cattle Drive on Access Road". What???  Well, shortly we came up on the cattle drive.



Click HERE to see a video of the cattle drive.  Leaving Douglas WY we saw this sign on WY 59 north towards Gillette.

I'm glad we have a 135 gallon tank

We stopped for lunch at Penny's Diner in Bill WY.  This is pretty much all there is on the 75 mile stretch between Douglas WY and Wright WY.

Penny's Diner

Today was National Ice Cream Day.  Dorcas had a sundae. 

Downtown Bill Wyoming

In the afternoon we arrived at the Cam-Plex Multi-Event Facilities in Gillette for a gathering of FMCA's (Family Motor Coach Association) 98th International Convention and RV Expo.  The Cam-Plex is a huge event and entertainment facility.  Among other things they host the national High School rodeo championship.

We have attended ~10 FMCA national conventions since we began RVing in 2004.  In the past we have always chosen not to purchase an electric site and have relied on our generator and solar to get by.  When we registered for this event we signed up for no amenities.  However, as we followed the weather forecasts, we were concerned that it might be too hot to leave Matilda in the coach for long periods during the day, so we upgraded to 50A electrical service.

Camp Gillette

There are approximately 1800 RVs attending this convention.  There are hundreds of very informative seminars, commercial vendors and live entertainment.

Dorcas and I signed up to volunteer with the security crew. We each performed about 10 hours manning security posts and helping lost and confused campers.

Attending the security volunteers meeting

Dorcas and I attended the following seminars:

• Early Morning Workout (daily)
• Aqua-Hot Troubleshooting and Maintenance Tips
• Clean out that Closet and Have More to Wear
• Better Diesel Driving Through Silverleaf
• Suspensions Roundtable - Ride and Handling
• RV Rooftop Air Conditioner Maintenance
• Understanding and Testing RV Air Brakes
• Top 10 Maintenance Tips Every RVer Should Know
• Cummins Engine Maintenance
• Cummins Onan Generator Operation and Maintenance
• Insider Cleaning Tips for your Home on Wheels
• Understanding Absorption Refrigeration
• Pet Safety Technology for RVs
• Orthopedic Principles and Applications
• Purge, Purge, Purge (this seminar refers to things in the coach, not an eating disorder)
• Improving RV Refrigerator Performance in Hot Weather
• Campbell County Sheriff's Office K9 Demonstration
• Canada’s Eastern Atlantic Provinces

We also attended these other special events:

• Coffee and Doughnuts each morning
• FMCA Ladies' Luncheon
• Diesel RV Club Chapter Meeting and Chuckwagon Pizza
• Ice Cream Social
• Volunteers Dinner

There were four nightly concerts, and we attended them all.   Thomas Michael Riley from Austin TX performed country, western and Americana tunes.

New Odyssey, aka "3 Men and 30 Instruments" performed a number of pop tunes primarily from the sixties.  All three members play horns, keyboards, percussion and strings, often playing several instruments simultaneously.

Towards the end of the show the lead drummer donned a Sgt Pepper uniform, and the band performed the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.  The uniform was outfitted with percussion devices such that every time he slapped his knee, stomped his feet, smacked his chest, etc. it played a different percussion effect. Really cool!  I enjoyed it to so much that we actually spent $$$ for their DVD.  Click HERE to see a short clip of the percussion suit.

The Flashback Boyz performed 50s and 60s pop hits.









"Ricky Nelson Remembered" featured Gunnar and Matthew Nelson, the identical twin sons of the late teen idol Ricky Nelson.  They played all Ricky's hits and told stories about growing up with Ricky Nelson and Ozzie and Harriet.  They dropped a lot of names.  They talked about their next door neighbor Uncle George (George Harrison) and the long-haired singer that hung out at the house (Bob Dylan). Their baby sitter was Mama Cass Elliot. Their mother is the sister of Mark Harmon, Leroy Jethro Gibbs of NCIS fame.  They put on a really great show.

Gunnar Nelson

Matthew Nelson

Gunnar and Matthew

We could have had our photo taken with the brothers, but it seemed kinda cheesy. 

In addition to seminars and entertainment we had some service performed.  Roadmaster cleaned, lubed and rejuvenated our tow bar.  It was a mess and had seen little maintenance since before we went to Alaska last summer.  Hendersons' Line-Up Brake and RV Inc, a highly regarded RV suspension company from Oregon, performed a chassis inspection.  All was well underneath, but they did make some suggestions about suspension upgrades and modifications that would improve handling and safety.

Finally I had my alternator replaced.

Brandon trying to remove the alternator pulley.  No go. 

Faithful readers will remember that my alternator has not been functioning properly since we left home, and probably for some long while before that.  It was producing only about 12.1-12.3 volts, enough to limp along and run the chassis systems, but not enough to charge the staring battery.  I had ordered a new alternator, and it was delivered at the convention on Thursday.  I had considered replacing it myself but, in hindsight, it was a good thing I didn't.  There were several companies here that were performing service, and I scheduled work with Spartan Chassis to replace the alternator on Saturday.  The new alternator is supplied without a pulley, so the pulley on the original alternator needed to be removed and installed on the new alternator.  Brandon from Spartan Chassis spent about 45 minutes trying to remove the pulley without success.  No amount of pulling, pounding, lubing or cursing worked.  He finally gave up and suggested that the Cummins folks were doing repairs, and maybe they would have better luck.  Afraid that time was running out, I quickly biked over to the Cummins truck.  It turns out they were able to get to me pretty quickly.  Stanley came over and quickly removed the old alternator, but then he too was unable to remove the pulley.  Finally he decided to carry it back to their trailer and get some "more heads" to solve the problem.  When I went over there Stanley the mechanic, Bob the service manager and Pete the engineer were all working on our alternator.  Finally with the help of a propane torch and a heavy-duty gear puller, they were successful, but not without some damage to the pulley.  They buffed out the nicked pulley and assured me it would not damage the serpentine belt. As Stanley was putting it all back together he noticed that the seal on the belt tensioner was cracked and suggested that it be replaced as well.  I made a quick dash to NAPA for the part, and Stanley replaced that part as well.  When done I fired up the coach, the alternator voltage registered 14.1 volts.   YEAH.  I'm very glad this worry is behind me.  Spartan Chassis did not charge for their failed attempt and the labor charge for Cummins was only for 2 hours.  Considering that, and the fact that I was able to get it fixed on-site, I guess things worked out pretty well.

Stanley of Cummins Inc trying to remove the alternator pulley.  He had a bigger hammer.  No go. 

New alternator with pulley removed.  Finally. 

Ironically the damage to the pulley was caused by the gear puller, not the sledge hammer.

New alternator with damaged pulley

See my shiny new alternator and serpentine belt tensioner

Success!

Pretty graphics on the local Supercenter

Freightliner also produces chassis for the motor home manufacturers.  This model is designed for minimal wind resistance.  Wear goggles. House is extra. 

Fancy Americana paint job on the Freightliner chassis.

This is a Spartan chassis

Would you call this a recumbent bike?

I enjoyed watching the Outlaw LED folks load their Jeep

Today, Sunday July 22, we leave Gillette and double back south to Colorado.  The forecast today predicts highs in the mid 70s and a 22 MPH wind from the north.  Wow a rare good tail wind!  We expect to spend Sunday night somewhere on the road and arrive at our next and final rally on Monday in Colorado Springs.  Dorcas and I and the coach are all healthy.  Life is good again. Stay tuned.

Madison WI

We departed Shipshewana shortly after noon on Sunday.  Our destination was Blackhawk Valley Campground near Rockford IL, about 250 miles away.  We discovered this park when we stayed there in September 2014.  It is very nice, and it is also a Passport America member park, meaning half price camping for the Whitleys.  Several other attendees of the rally were headed to the same park, and a few were caravaning.  We would rather not caravan with others if we can help it.  We prefer to travel at our own pace and stop when we wish, without feeling beholding to others.  We worked hard to avoid the central Chicago area and the inevitable toll roads, and we were largely successful.  We bought 76 gallons of diesel near Joliet IL for $3.39/gallon (YEAH!).  GasBuddy rocks!

We arrived at our camp well before dark. At least 4 other parties from our CCI rally were already here.  After we got set up we joined George and Irene, and Jack and Mary Lou for happy hour.

About 10:00 Monday morning we departed for our next primary destination, Madison WI, to attend "FMCA's 92nd Family Reunion; Motorhome Showcase — "Escape to Wisconsin"".  After a short jaunt of only about 83 miles we were parked in Lot N at the Alliant Energy Center, only about 2 miles from the capitol in downtown Madison.  We would be dry camping at this event, meaning we would be camping without the benefit of electric, water and sewer hook-ups.  That's fine; we boon dock all the time, but this week it was HOT!  We could have paid $175 for 30 amp electric service, but they wouldn't turn on the juice until sometime on Tuesday.  Plus with 30 amp service we might only be able to run just on air conditioner.  Plus we would have had to park in the holding area Monday night, then move to our assigned site the next day.  We have an excellent working generator that craves use, and that will power our 2 air conditioners, and then some.  In the end we were comfortable, using our generator for a total of about 23 hours and using only about 12 gallons of diesel, for a cost significantly less than $175.  There were slightly less than 2000 coaches attending the convention, a smaller number than most past conventions.

The convention didn't officially start until Wednesday afternoon, so we had some time to explore Madison.  We visited Rutabaga Paddlesports, the premier canoe dealer in the upper Midwest.  We spent quite a bit of time talking with Darren, the owner of the company, and of course, we bought a new boat.  We last visited Rutabaga in September 2012, on our way home from the Boundary Waters, and guess what?  We bought a new boat.  Dorcas says we can't ever go back to Rutabaga again.

Ho. Ho. Ho. Christmas comes in July.  Our new Nova Craft Prospector 15

The convention featured hundreds of seminars with 12 seminar rooms running all day long for 3 1/2 days.  Seminars covered a myriad of topics:  Topics included RV technical, engines and transmission, generators, RV life style, health and fitness, games and so on.  Many seminars we had attended before, but some topics were worth attending again and some were new.  Dorcas and I mostly attended seminars separately, because there were conflicting topics we wanted to attend, or because we had different interests.  They also had Pickleball courts set up, so I played for about 2 hours each morning and a few afternoons, while Dorcas attended morning exercise classes.

There was also a big exhibition hall where hundreds of vendors were hawking their wares.  We dropped a few coins on a Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS), a refrigerator monitoring/control system that turns the fridge off when the unit is out of level and the boiler is overheating, to prevent fatal damage, and a towed vehicle braking monitor that will alert us when the towed vehicle auxiliary brakes are engaged.

We also attended a posh event at Monona Terrace which involved free food, beer, wine and entertainment, sponsored by a large RV dealer, RVOne Superstores.  Monona Terrace was designed in 1938 by Frank Lloyd Wright, a native of Madison, as gift to the city.  It acts as a visual and physical link between the state capitol building and Lake Monona.  It was finally constructed in the mid-nineties, decades after Wright's death.  Originally designed to contain municipal offices, it was ultimately built as a major convention center.

We also toured the Wisconsin State Capitol.  The capitol building is a very impressive structure built in the shape of a cross centered by a 265' granite dome covering the rotunda.  Each of the four wings house a major component of the government: both chambers of the Wisconsin legislature, the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the Office of the Governor.  We were able enter each chamber except for the Supreme Court, which was being renovated,  Much of its art and carvings are adorned with the Wisconsin state mascot, the badger, a ferocious little guy.

A view from above the rotunda

Crest showing the state mascot, the badger, and the state motto "Forward"

In the legislative chamber

Legislative chamber showing the public gallery

View towards Monona Terrace and Lake Monona

Badgers were everywhere!

Madison has a very active cycling community.  There are tons of bike trails and many streets are bike friendly.  In the downtown area there were public-use cycles.

Finally we visited the Henry Vilas Zoo.  It is a fairly small zoo and the animals were often hard to find, but it was free.

At the zoo

The Tundra Buggy, near the polar bear exhibit

All the animals on the carousel were zoo animals

Feeding the goats

Strangely, we found no badgers at the zoo.  Go figure.

We departed the Alliant Energy Center shortly before noon Sunday and continued our northward trek.