Service please!

6:49 am - Wednesday - February 13th - Wittmann, AZ - 42º F (!!!), 50% humidity (!!!), wind 5 mph out of the east by northeast......cloudy today with a forecast high of 68º F (!!!).  I don't recall the last time I woke up to a temperature in the 40's!

Tuesday began with a beautiful sunrise, and ended with another sunset fire, and everything in between went as well as one could hope.  I mentioned in yesterday's missive that Tuesday was the day we had scheduled for the service on our Newell in preparation for our Alaska trip this summer........

......we had disconnected from the utilities, and were rolling our wheels toward Mesa, AZ and All Aboard America (charter bus company) where Leo Witt, our mechanic, would perform our service.  It's been two years since we last had the coach serviced.  We've covered around 12,000 miles in that interim and it was time to change the oil, replace the coolant and all our filters (fuel, transmission and oil), as well as have the running gear inspected and lubed.  We departed Wittmann around 7:50 am, and arrived at All Aboard America two hours later just before 10 am.....love that Phoenix area traffic.....

.....why travel 140 miles round trip to get our coach serviced?  Well, there are not many experienced Detroit Diesel 2 stroke mechanics left in this country and you go where they are.....it's that simple.  Once we had finished discussing with Leo what we wanted done to our baby TLE and I hopped in the VW and made tracks across town to have breakfast at a place we recently saw reviewed on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (Triple 'D') by Guy Fieri......Perk Eatery located in Scottsdale, AZ (Yelp gives them 4 stars on 453 reviews).  You all know I am a 'Huevos Ranchero' guy, and they had one on the menu so I had to try it.  TLE had their 'Chicken on the Coup' (2 eggs any style, crispy sausage, biscuits, and sausage gravy) which was one of the dishes Guy Fieri featured on his show.  For me the Huevos Ranchero was top 5 ever, and TLE loved her dish.....

 Huevos Ranchero

 TLE's 'Chicken on the Coup'

.....we dined alfresco for the first time in literally months, and enjoyed just sipping coffee whilst soaking up the sun.....it was wonderful.  While we were eating we got a call advising the Newell service would be done around 12:30 pm, and it was now 11:30 am.....we had one more chore.....a stop at the Phoenix Trader Joe's which stocks spirits in addition to wine and beer.  I haven't had any of my favorite Finlaggan Islay Single Malt Scotch ($19.99/bottle) in months, which is a Trader Joe's brand, and since we were so close we had to stop in and pick up a couple of bottles.

We were back at All Aboard America by 12:30 pm at which time Leo went over a couple of things which need attention before we leave the area.....the rear brakes are down to 25%....I think they are the original brakes, so they've got almost 170,000 miles on them.  The fronts are at 80%, so I doubt if I will have to have them relined in my lifetime.  In addition, there is a torque rod located directly above the rear axle which needs new bushings.......

Torsion Bar in need of new bushings on each end

......so we will schedule a return trip in early March just before we depart Wittmann to have the rear brakes relined, and new bushings installed on the torque rod.  Otherwise our 37 year old Newell is in great condition. 

One thing discovered two years ago was that the gear oil in our giant differential was about a quart low as the seal had been leaking.  Leo replaced the missing quart of gear oil, and then tightened up the bolts hoping that would stop the leak.  The good news is it worked.  The oil level was the same as it was two years ago.  I had been checking the temperature of the axle each time I checked the tired temperatures over the intervening months and it was always running cool.  Had it been real hot that would have been a sign we were losing gear oil again.

We were out the door heading home by 1:15 pm, and back in Wittmann about 2:30 pm....a much faster drive home with no rush hour traffic!

About 5 pm we headed out side again to have another sunset fire, and did not go back inside until after 7 pm.......

.....we sat talking quietly, and sipping adult beverages....one of my favorite things to do with The Lovely Elaine....thanks for stopping by!

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