2023 Estelline Trip

[markiver54]

Great to see you and Maureen (and Zena!) today, Jim! It's been too long (pre-Covid) since we'd touched base.

Glad you got your tire issues sorted out and sorry I couldn't have been of more immediate help (as in: YESTERDAY), but sounds like you'll be back on the road soon!

Safe travels and Hello to all my HRF buddies!

Glad as well that you got things sorted out Jim...and a big HELLO to Evan!

[JEBar]

the news reports about the excessive heat in the area around Kansas City are dead on .... as this is being typed at 10:30PM the temp is 86 with a RealFeel of 105 degrees .... years ago when I was working in the RV industry it was said that a camper's air conditioning, insulation, general build was pretty good if it could lower the inside temp below the outside temp .... that is by no means true in every case but our experience reflects it as being a reasonable estimate ...... we've camped in ours from 8 to 114 degrees .... neither of those extremes have proven to really comfortable, rather more in the tolerable range ..... for a couple of hours today when the outside temp on our thermometer showed 103 it was 79 inside .... no doubt that some of today's more modern units could do better .... tomorrow they are projecting a high of 98 with a RealFeel of 114 and to make it worse : "The air has reached a high level of pollution and is unhealthy for sensitive groups. Reduce time spent outside if you are feeling symptoms such as difficulty breathing or throat irritation."

[JEBar]

the thermometer shows its already 82 (RealFeel 102) where we are camped in Grain Valley, MO .... they say the high this afternoon will be 98 (RealFeel 113) .... we received a notice this morning that folks who are coming to replace 2 tires on our camper should be here between noon and 2PM .... with that being the case we plan to head for St Louis tomorrow morning where we will overnight .... Maureen has adjusted our campground reservations at St Louis, MO --- Clarksville, TN --- and Asheville, N:C .... if all goes well we should be home on Friday which is one day longer than originally planned

[The Wiz]

If you get here on Friday supposed to be 105 F. Welcome home my friend.

[JEBar]

the pictures below show the bad Goodyear G614 mentioned above that we spotted while taking on fuel .... I don't believe it would have lasted much longer at interstate speed ....as this is being typed it is being replaced by a mobile tire change company .... will start another thread about that company as info for anyone who may be in this area and need the service

[The Wiz]

How many miles?

[JEBar]

How many miles?

not so much miles as years .... they had at least 5 years on them, possibly a couple more .... during most of that time we were traveling over 7,000 miles a year .... last year and so far this year that number dropped to 3,500 or more miles

[JEBar]

tires replaced .... we can now go shopping for a few groceries and bag of ice .... hopefully, we will be able to get back on the road east in the morning

[JEBar]

today's drive was a fairly short one but it was also a very hot one .... the sweat stains on the cap shown below were all formed between the time I got out of the truck and then into the camper after unhooking and getting setup .... must admit I kept a close eye on our tire pressure monitoring screen .... thankfully, no issues detected .... tomorrow's drive from west St Louis to Clarksville, TN will be a bit longer and equally hot .... the say the temp should be 99 (RealFeel 109) when we get to Clarksville tomorrow afternoon .... if the predictions hold, it will really be nice to get to Asheville, NC on Thursday and find a temp of 89

[markiver54]

Jim, even that 89 that we've had here in the mountains the last couple days has been uncomfortable to say the least. I guess it will be a bit of a relief for Ya'll though.
Safe travels...