Into the Mountains .... and Calamity

We departed Pueblo (EL 4900) mid-morning headed for higher ground.  A number of times we have escaped to higher ground during our canoe camping days on a rapidly rising river.  In this case it was to beat rapidly rising temperatures.  We headed north and west on US 50.  In Cañon City we topped off and pumped a measly 10.3 gallons of fuel.  But his was the last relatively cheap fuel we would see for a while, so why not?.  Shortly past Cañon City we turned north on CO 9.  At that point we began a steady climb that lasted the rest of the day.

Lunch break on CO 9

114 miles after leaving Pueblo, we arrived at Fairplay CO (EL 9954) about mid-afternoon.  While the temperature was not exactly frigid, it was pleasantly cool. We had a two-night reservation at Middlefork RV Park, so-named because it is located on the Middle Fork of the South Platte River.  This is not the first time we have stayed at this park.  We were here for one night in 2018 during our last trip to Colorado. 

Our camp at Middlefork RV Resort

The population of Fairplay is 724 and is the most populous town and the county seat of Park County. Fairplay is located in South Park at an elevation of 9,953 feet.  The town is the fifth-highest incorporated town in Colorado.  It is the highest elevation where we have slept on our Westward Ho! adventure.

From Wikipedia:

• "South Park is a grassland flat within the basin formed by the Rocky Mountains' Mosquito and Park Mountain Ranges within central Colorado. This high valley ranges in elevation from approximately 9,000 to 10,000 ft in elevation. It encompasses approximately 1,000 square miles around the headwaters of the South Platte River."
• "Since the late 1990s, South Park has been best known as the eponymous setting of the animated series South Park. Trey Parker, one of the creators of the South Park series, grew up in Conifer, about 40 miles east of Fairplay."

On our layover day we did a little tour of historic downtown Fairplay.   It didn't take long.

At the Snitching Lady Distillery Dorcas and I enjoyed a "Fire on the Mountain" Spicy Margarita.  Scrumptious!

On Monday August 5 we departed Fairplay.  We were headed to Kremmling CO, only 75 miles north, to meet our friends Dave and Lynn, who were already parked at Red Mountain RV Park in Kremmling. We continued north on CO 9, soon crossed Hoosier Pass (EL 11,539) and descended towards Breckinridge. Unbeknownst to us then, this day was to be the beginning of a very fateful turn of events for our Westward Ho! adventure. 

A sharp switchback coming off Hoosier Pass

There were a lot of sharp switchbacks

Since we had such a short driving day ahead we decided to spend half a day in Breckinridge, a popular ski town.  We parked at the so-called airport parking lot (I never could find an airport there) which was 2-3 miles north of the downtown district and offers free parking for RVs.  There we caught a free shuttle bus back to town, where we took the free gondola up the mountain to the ski area.  Free, free, free!  Life is good!

 

Dorcas catching her breath

After a few hours up on the hill, we rode the gondola back down to town and caught the shuttle bus back to the coach.  There we were met by an anxious Ginger, had a quick lunch and continued along our way.  

It's a good thing fire trucks carry ladders

We resumed our route north on CO 9. After summiting Hoosier Pass we would steadily descend, following the valley of the Blue River, which would eventually converge with the Colorado River at Kremmling.  We crossed I-70 at Silverthorne CO, where we made a half-hearted attempt to find easy fuel, failed, then continued on CO 9, still descending through the Blue River valley.

Then, about 15 miles from our destination at Kremmling: SETBACK!!!  The coach threw a "Check Engine" light.  I pulled over as soon as I could and scrolled through the diagnostic screens on the dashboard display and found this fault code.  What the heck does that mean?  We happened to be in a dead zone where we had no cellular service, so we could not research the meaning of the code, and could not call for help.

A yellow "Check Engine" light by itself is not always particularly serious.  Sometimes there is a glitch from a sensor or some other transient condition that throws a fault code.  Sometimes cycling the ignition switch and going through a few starts cycle, the condition clears and all is well,  Let's hope this is the case.  I did do that, starting the engine a few times, and driving a short distance and shutting down the engine again, but the code persisted.  We had no choice but to continue on and hope we didn't get the dreaded "Stop Engine" light.  That would be bad.  A "Stop Engine" light means to stop immediately, that something is seriously wrong and the engine could shut down or derate, meaning it would go into limp mode and restrict speed to about 10 MPH.  Wouldn't you know it? About 10 miles out from Kremmling we did get a "Stop Engine" light.  CRAP!!!  We elected to continue on into town where we could properly address the issue.  We drove the remainder of the way at a sensible 45 mph.  Thankfully we were still going down a gentle grade along the course of the Blue River, as we had been since cresting Hoosier Pass earlier that morning, so there was little stress on the engine. 

We checked in at Red Mountain RV, where our friends Dave and Lynn were already parked, and told them of our woes.  After an appropriate period of receiving sympathy and moral support, and partaking of a stiff, cold adult beverage, I began to conduct research into our mechanical issue.  Thankfully we now had a fast, strong, cellular signal, and our T-Mobile 5G Home device connected us to the Internet once more.

Warning: much of the remainder of this post gets a little technical.  Those readers who may not be gear-heads should feel free to skip down to the last paragraph or just go on to the next post.

The first thing I learned is the meaning of the fault code: SPN 3251/FMI 0

SPN 3251/FMI 0 - EPA07

This diagnostic is typically Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) Pressure Out of Range Very High.

This fault code sets when the DPF outlet pressure is greater than 35 kPa (5 psi) for more than 10 seconds.

 OK, our Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) is fouled.  Or maybe a sensor is bad?  The DPF is part of the after-treatment system that cleans the exhaust on modern diesel engines.  The DPF collects "soot" (particulate matter, a product of diesel combustion) from the exhaust gas prior to further treatment for the gaseous emissions.  Normally the DPF would undergo a passive regeneration ("regen") cycle while driving, whereby the filter would be heated to around 1000 degrees, and incinerate the soot from the DPF.  This happens automatically as the pressure differential across the DPF reaches a certain set point.  Usually the driver is never even aware when this passive regen occurs.  If the passive or automatic regen fails to occur or fails to adequately clean the DPF, a check or stop engine code appears, and a forced or parked regen is required.  There is a procedure to perform the forced regen, however the forced regen cannot be started if there is an active "Stop Engine" light, which is now the case.   The "Stop Engine" light can only be cleared by a qualified mechanic and by connecting a computer with proprietary software to the ECM.  CRAP!!!  If I had known to do so, and if I had known how to start the procedure, I could have initiated a forced regen during that short period of time between the Check and Stop engine lights.  (Spoiler alert: it wouldn't have done any good if I did).

Now I am on the phone with Cummins, our engine manufacturer, and Freightliner, our chassis manufacturer.  Nobody has any good news.  All advised I not drive the coach until the fault codes are cleared, or risk more damage and/or a total shutdown.  I couldn't clear the codes myself, and it was unwise to drive the coach to a shop.  My choices boiled down to basically two: call a qualified mobile repair service to come to our site or call for a tow.  By now it is late afternoon, I'm tired and frustrated, repair shops are closing, and the tequila is kicking in.  We decide to call it a day and sleep on it.  Or at least try to sleep on it.  The calamity continues .....

Ginger can sleep anywhere, any time. I'm jealous.

2024 NKK International Rally Pueblo CO

On Friday July 26 we moved a whopping 37 miles south to Pueblo CO to attend the Newmar Kountry Klub (NKK) 2024 International Rally.  About 5 miles before arriving at the event venue we topped off the tank, pumping about 45 gallons of diesel.  It always feels good to have a full tank!  This event was originally scheduled for a venue in Berrien County Michigan, but had to be moved due to the inability of that venue to adequately handle a rally with this number of coaches. It turned out this venue really couldn't handle it either. More on that later.  

We caravanned with about 45 member coaches of the NKK Fulltimers Chapter from our previous rally site in Colorado Springs.  In truth we did not actually all drive together in a long line down the interstate, but instead we were all scheduled to arrive during the same time window, so we would be parked in the same area.  The venue was the Colorado State Fairgrounds.  Parking went very smoothly.  We had not towed the car, instead Dorcas drove it separately since it was such a short drive.  Since we didn't have to unhitch the car from the coach, we were parked almost immediately at our assigned site along the south wall in the Carnival lot.  We paid for a "full hookup" site, meaning electric, water and sewer.  In fact, we could not reach the sewer dump at our site, so we could have saved some $$$ and registered for a water and electric site.  That was not a problem though, we are pretty conservative with our tank usage and were able to wait to dump our tanks until we pulled out 8 days later.

The Carnival lot at the Colorado State Fairgrounds

There are a couple of reasons why we would have preferred the rally at the Michigan site.  First, we would have been able to combine that trip with our annual Boundary Waters trip. Second, it is HOT is southeast Colorado!  The temperatures were consistently in the upper 90s, soaring to over 100 degrees a few days.  There were 384 member coaches in attendance (not counting vender coaches) and the electrical facilities could not handle the load of all those coaches, each running 2 or 3 air conditioners nonstop.  Power outages were a problem throughout the rally.  Thankfully we were only out for a few hours on the first day.  This is why it is good to keep your fuel tank full.  You never know when you will need to run your generator to keep from roasting.  But it's a dry heat, right?  Yeah, right.

But it's a dry heat, right?  Yeah, right.

Our parking spot on the south wall

The majority of the coaches were parked in the Carnival lot, but many others, particularly Klub officers, were parked in more central sections along roadways throughout the fairgrounds. 

People who had attended a prior NKK International Rally at Pueblo several years ago warned us that there was no grass in the parking area for the pups to go.  They suggested we buy an artificial pee pee pad or go to Home Depot and buy a few squares of sod.  We were very pleased to see that rally management had provided 3-4 "Piddle Pads" around our parking area.  Ginger was ecstatic!

Piddle Pad

We also found that the fairgrounds had erected a really nice temporary fenced dog run in a shady grassy area.  There were two sections, one for large dogs and one for small dogs. At about 35 pounds, Ginger can swing both ways. She made many new puppy friends. The only down side was it was located on the very far side of the fairgrounds, about as far from our parking site as it could be.

Ginger and friend at the dog run

On Sunday we took an excursion to the Flying W Ranch in Colorado Springs for dinner and a show. 

A "Flying W Wrangler" greeted us on the bus

Scenes at the Flying W Ranch:

See the Indian riding a buffalo? Sure ya do!

They had axe throwing and archery.  It's a wonder no one was killed!

I will never make a living throwing axes

In the chow line.  MOO-ving along.

Dorcas! You can't eat all that!

The Flying W Wranglers entertained the crowd after dinner.  

Check out the toilet seat banjo

Click HERE for a video montage featuring the Flying W Wranglers.

One great thing about going to the annual NKK International rally is that Newmar Corporation sends factory technicians to service coaches. The first 1/2 hour is free, and additional labor is offered at a discounted rate.  They also send a semi-trailer load of parts. It's kinda like going to the candy store.  We had Newmar repair a gasket in one of our storage bay doors.  There are also systems supplier representatives present.  Girard made some adjustments to our patio awning and replaced a broken motion sensor.  Last year we bought a number of lithium batteries from Solar Energy Systems.  This time they made some modifications, better integrating our Auto Generator System (AGS).  

The other great thing about the NKK International Rally is the number of great seminars. We attended technical seminars on a number of topics related to the systems and operations of our coach. There were also seminars on other topics including: the RV lifestyle, hobbies and crafts, travel destinations, etc.  We were not able to attend all the classes we wanted to attend.  So many seminars, so little time. 

Many attendees volunteer for various duties to keep the rally running smoothly.  Dorcas and I volunteered to supervise and manage the transport cart drivers, providing instruction and checking them in and out at the beginning and end of their shifts and refueling the carts.  There was a shortage of volunteer drivers, so we both drove cart routes for most of a day, transporting members to different points about the venue.  It was actually a lot of fun. We quickly learned where all the activities were located and made a lot of new friends.  100 degree heat, offering free rides and a breeze?  They loved us!

My Sweetie, the chauffeur

We had several catered breakfasts and dinners.  In addition to complaints about the electrical service, there were also a number of complaints about the food.  Frankly, it just wasn't very good.  And I'm not a picky eater.  Also, at several meals they ran out of entrees and desserts.  That's never a good thing.  

The grub line

There were more than a dozen display coaches in the arena were we had meals and entertainment.  There were perhaps another dozen display coaches outdoors, and 4-5 coaches available for test drives.

Casey Tubman, President Newmar Corporation

A number of other Newmar honchos were also present

And then there was the entertainment. Kenny Ray Horton performed one night. 

Kenny Ray Horton

 Three Men and a Tenor performed on another night.

Three Men and a Tenor

RVers tend to be a feeble lot and like to go to bed early. At both shows the audience was pretty thin at the end. 

 

Sunrise along the south wall

Eventually, all adventures end and another begins.  On Saturday Aug 3, after two back-to-back rallies, we broke camp and departed Pueblo, headed north and west and upward in elevation, seeking cooler temperatures...  It was time to get off on our own for a while and on to the better parts of Colorado.