Emergency Engine Derate – 5 MPH Max

At Roadrunner Campground, Lake Pleasant, Phoenix AZ

No, not us…it was the semi-truck right around Laguna Pueblo New Mexico.  We started our day at 6 am, leaving the Enchanted Trails RV Park by 6:30, full of gas and coffee from the nearby Love’s and on the road again by 6:45.  About 35 miles down the highway, I suddenly come upon a Semi-Trailer going 5 mph, lights flashing, in the right lane.  Now in this particular area, due to the hills being illuminated by the morning sun, it was a bit hard to notice the truck going so slow, and hard to see its flashing lights.  With a few cars and semis coming up behind me in the left lane, I had to put on my brakes, I hit my emergency blinkers, and when safe, made it around the 5 mph truck.  A “Dangerous Situation” Marcia and I said as we went by…he had at least another mile and a half to the nearest exit, and there is NOTHING at that exit.  I had my eyes set on a rest area near the Sky City Casino about 15 miles from where this truck was going so slow, it was time feed the dogs.  That rest area was closed, but the casino had parking.

We were there for perhaps 15-20 minutes, and got back on the Interstate.  Within 5 minutes we see a police car headed east, lights and sirens going.  Hmm, wonder what that is?  Another few minutes and we see another headed east with lights and sirens….gee, I wonder?  I look on Google Maps, traffic mode, and sure enough there is a red line in that area where we passed the truck.  About 5 minutes later two more police, lights and sirens…one a unmarked car, go by east bound.  An hour later we do a google search on “New Mexico” “I-40” “crash” limiting the search to the past hour…and news station KRQE has a small alert about I-40 being shut down with the following map…

Follow up articles don’t include much, there is no mention of a semi going slow or even being involved in the wreck.  But my theory is that the semi had a DEF failure, which puts the engine into Derate Mode, giving the driver just enough energy to get the big-rig off to the side of the road or to the nearest exit.  Since the truck surprised me, I am sure it surprised other, less cautious drivers.  Someone either hit it, or lost control trying not to hit it, causing a wreck which shut I-40 down westbound for about 6 hours.  I wish I could say that was the only crazy thing about Friday’s drive…but nope.  As we came to a construction zone, they shut the left lane down.  I look in my mirror and see a car way back there, coming on fast.  NO WAY, he is not trying to pass me before this merger is he…but he does not slow down.  The left lane is already collapsing to the right lane, and he is still coming.  I don’t change speed and goes shooting by at 75 mph in what is now a 55 mph zone with just inches to spare…just to slam on his breaks since the truck in front of me is less than a tenth of a mile in front of me.  Of course, he did get to hear the sound of my horn.  Funny thing, after the freeway went back to two westbound lanes, he did not go above the speed limit.  I think his wife was a bit irritated with him for putting them, and us, in danger.  I think I heard her yelling all the way back from my safe driving distance…

We made it to Lake Pleasant by 2:30 (gained an hour due to Arizona not, in campsite by 3.  This is our second time here, and being a weekend, it is FULL.  Three nights with reservation cost $104.00, but that is much less than an RV park in Phoenix, and those RV parks don’t get these views.

  

Lake Pleasant reservoir is part of the CAP (Central Arizona Project) to provide water to Phoenix.  Most the water in Lake Pleasant comes from the Colorado River, being diverted near Lake Havasu into an aqueduct that runs towards Phoenix, and the Waddell Canal diverts some of that water to Lake Pleasant where it is stored until it is needed, usually in the summer months.  This year, the lake is very full.

  

The views from the campground include numerous desert views too…

Along with a sunset view from my easy chair just outside the window.  

Enchanted Trails RV Park

At Enchanted Trails RV Park, Albuquerque New Mexico

We first came to Enchanted Trails RV Park in Albuquerque New Mexico back in 2016.  Our fuel pump had gone out in the motorhome, and we had to be in a hotel for a night while it was in the shop awaiting a new fuel pump to arrive.  It came in the next day, put in, and we decided to stay at the Enchanted Trails RV Park for three more nights because our tow service said that “if we broke down in the next four days, towing would not be covered.”  We felt the Passport America price for two nights, and the Good Sams price for the other night was worth it considering a tow for 100 or 200 miles could cost us hundreds and hundreds of dollars.

Back in 2016 I wrote a fairly extensive blog about this RV park, the owner Vickie, and the classic cars and trailers that she has here.  You can (should) read that blog by clicking here (it will open in a new tab or windows).

  

  

Above are the two Hudson’s and two of the vintage trailers.

Wednesday evening we had just started to eat our dinner and we hear this POP and sound of running water.  I hurry towards the bathroom and Immediately realize the water intake line had busted.  THANK GOODNESS we have a turn off valve (you can barely see it in the upper left of the above picture), so the amount of water that hit the floor was very minimal...one towel cleaned it up very quickly.  The Blue Arrow above shows what busted…the white intake line going into the connector had popped out of the connector.  After I clean up what water, I took off the white connector the arrow points to, and find this….

…the Compression Bushing between the pipe and the toilet intake, which was located in that white cap the arrow points to, had worn out so much that the pipe was able to pop right out of the cap.  Essentially, it lost its compression, and the water pressure popped the intake pipe right out of the cap.  Now had this happened while we were at Ryan’s graduation, or when we visited Cassie, or any number of times that we had left the motorhome for awhile, we ‘would’ have had a huge mess to clean up…water would have be everywhere.  Not only were we here to put an end to it very quickly…right next door to this RV park is a fairly new Camping World.  And they had a new bushing…only one left…for just over $2.  So Wednesday night and Thursday morning we used the shower to add water to the toilet as needed, and after breakfast I went and got the part…and it took longer for them to find the ONLY remaining bushing they had in stock (the computer said they had over 30 in stock, but they really only had one), than it took for me to install it.  WHY did it wear out?  Well, we had a shop replaced the toilet with a tall toilet, which required the new plumbing since the intake is on the back right instead of the back left of the toilet.  We did not like the height of that toilet, and I put in a short toilet later that year.  Then about 18 months later that toilet broke, and I replaced it again.  Just before we left on this trip I told Marcia I wanted to replace the toilet again.  During all of this, I NEVER replaced this bushing.  Frankly, I did not know a bushing was there.  MY BAD!   But thankfully, it broke now, at the right place at the right time.  

Spent the rest of the morning doing laundry, and had a relaxing day after that.  Tomorrow, we head to Phoenix, then to Yuma, then to the Sacramento area, arrive before Mother's Day if all goes well.