Wandering Around: January 2015

November 15-Dec. 10, 2014

We left Chaco Canyon to drive right across Arizona and northwest to Las Vegas. About a 150 miles shy of Flagstaff, my dash information system shouts at me, "Service Exhaust System NOW" (caps not mine), and the Check Engine light comes on. I figure I can make it to a Flagstaff GM dealer and get it fixed under warranty. This had already happened once in Grand Junction, Colorado a couple weeks earlier. Turned out to be a faulty exhaust heat sensor. I figured the same thing would happen now. No problem.

Wrong. Problem!

About 100 miles from Flagstaff (and the closest GM dealer equipped to fix my problem), the dash shouts at me, "Reducing Power". Sure enough, the vehicle slows to 45 mph, and won't go any faster. Great! So I get off the freeway and phone the dealer in Flagstaff, who is very helpful, despite it being Saturday afternoon and closing time for the Service Dept. After lots of back and forth, he advises that I should continue driving in hopes that the system would burn out the diesel particulates he thinks are clogging the exhaust system. So I do. The result is below:

Truck on flatbed, trailer towed behind for 100 miles to Flagstaff

By the time we are towed to Flagstaff, it's dark. We know a campground that's open (many are closed for the season since, at 7000 ft, Flagstaff gets Ontario-like winter weather), and direct our driver to drop us there. Easier said than done. Black Bart's Rv campground is dark and the sites indistinct without lighting, so I walk in front of the driver with my flashlight as we negotiate sharp turns, low branches and boulders that mark campsites. Finally we manoeuvre this juggernaut into a spot, and disconnect the trailer. Next he has to unload the truck. We thank him, tip him generously, and consider our situation. It's 8 PM, freezing, and we're tired and hungry, but we notice as we look up at the large sign advertising the campground that it says, "Black Bart's Steakhouse", not "Black Bart's RV campground". Confused, we walk over the to office to register, thinking we'd ask there where we might eat. Surprise! This place is both a campground and a steakhouse. What's more, they're still serving! Even more bizarre, the waiters sing and perform: it's a musical revue!

Thanks to Google images for this photo of Black Bart's Steakhouse and Musical Revue.

And the food was very good, too. However, the overnight low is forecast for 15 degrees fahrenheit. Not good for an RV with water in the lines. I briefly consider winterizing the rig, then de-winterizing when we get to Las Vegas and warmer weather. I'm too tired, though, so I set the thermostat to 60 degrees, put those folding foil shields (the ones you put in the windshield of your car to keep it cool in the summer) in the windows and hope for the best. Well, the temperature dropped to 12 F overnight, but the lines didn't freeze. I guess the Cruiser is well insulated. While we waited for the truck, we rented a car and did some serious thrift-storing. Also found some good restaurants, like Pita Jungle for lunch and MartAnne's Cafe for breakfast.

Finally, after 2 days, we pick up the truck (no charge; fixed under warranty) and we're again on our way to Las Vegas. We figure that we'll find a campsite at Lake Mead National Recreation Area and explore from there. We're about 10 miles from Las Vegas Lakes campground just crossing the new bridge over the Colorado River when the resident demon intrudes himself via the dash information display, "Service Exhaust System NOW". $#%^#@#!!! Sigh.

No Lake Mead campgrounds, now--not until we've had the truck seen to by a GM dealer in Las Vegas. With that in mind, we call a Passport America private campground in Las Vegas proper--to be near to the dealer, whichever one can take us. Yes, they have a site, in fact, a double site. Should cost $40/night, but we get it for $13.50/night. We are immediately impressed with their hospitality, as well as how clean and neat the place appears. Finally get ourselves situated, sandwiched between two other RVs no more than 10 feet either side of us. Very quiet, though.

Next day, I search for recommended GM dealers. From the reviews I read, I gather the term "recommended GM dealer" is an oxymoron. But I do notice one dealership that has a decent number of good reviews for the service dept.--and I notice that each bad review is answered by someone from the dealership. Every single one! So I call and make an appointment for the same day.

I drive in to a covered bay, and am greeted by someone who takes my information and directs me to a service writer. I explain to the woman that I've had the same exhaust system light come on 3 times in 3 weeks, and that the last one resulted in a 100 mile tow, then was fixed only 200 miles and one day ago, in Flagstaff. She says, "Oh, my God!" Her fingers fly over the keyboard, and before long she's looking at a printout that shows every GM dealership service appointment in the life of the truck. About 6 of them involve the exhaust system. She gives me a copy, and sets up an app't to have their "world class" diesel mechanic check it out. I ask if she knows where I can rent a car. She says, "We have one for you". "How much is it?", I ask, my rip-off antennae up and prickling. "Free, if the problem is under warranty, and it almost certainly is." "OK". Great. Within 5 minutes, someone parks a new rental pickup right next to my truck so I can unload all the stuff I'll need. I sign a paper, transfer GPS, computer, etc., and off I go.

The day after I left the truck at the GM dealer in Las Vegas, I got a call to pick it up; all was fixed. That was good news, since we were waiting to move the trailer to a "primitive" campsite out on Lake Mead. When I arrived at the dealer, I discovered that the repair was covered under warranty. That would make 3 repairs of the same system in a week. I dropped off the rental, drove back to the city campground, hooked up the trailer, and off we went to Lake Mead. On the way, though, the demon struck again, "Service Exhaust System NOW". Next day, I drove to the dealership, where the same service writer, who was apologetic and puzzled, gave me another rental car for the day. She phoned mid-day the following day to say that the truck was ready, and that, once again, it was covered under warranty. She explained that the head diesel technician had found the problem, and that it was probably missed by the previous guy. Just to be sure, the head technician had driven it that morning for 57 miles; there had been no recurrence.

Jan. 22 update: The truck has been fine for about 1000 miles and 2 months. Fingers crossed that it stays that way! (As Leah's father, Hy, would have said, "Let's hope.")

Feeling a bit better about a bad situation, I pick up Leah and we head to one of the two best-reviewed
buffets in Las Vegas, the Bellagio. The food was very good--fresh and delicious. A few days later, we visited the 2nd of the two most highly rated buffets, The Bacchanal, at Caesar's Palace. Most of the food was not as good as the Bellagio's, but the desserts were better!

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Desserts at The Bacchanal, Caesar's Palace

After the feast, Leah strolled up and down the Strip looking in the shops, while I searched around for photos:

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Views of Caesar's Palace

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Looked interesting...

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Dancing fountains at The Bellagio

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Evening strollers on bridge at The Bellagio

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Some sort of Orson Welles-esque invasion craft? Actually, it's the High Roller, a 550 ft tall ferris wheel with 28 spheres each 22 ft in diameter where folks can stand inside and watch the city go by.

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Paris, Paris

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Wall of glasses at The Bacchanal

Once we got the truck back from the dealer, we moved to Las Vegas Lakes campground near Lake Mead. Here are some photos from walks and drives nearby:

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Sunset from our site at Las Vegas Lakes campground, on Lake Mead

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One frame of a time-lapse series taken from Las Vegas Lakes campground

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Our front yard at Boulder Beach campground, on Lake Mead

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Our front yard at Boulder Beach campground, on Lake Mead

On the way to Las Vegas from the east, we'd crossed the new Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. Opened in 2010, the bridge reroutes traffic so that it bypasses the Hoover Dam (the Dam used to be a part of Highway 93), soaring 840 feet above the Colorado River. Of course, in anything but an 18-wheeler or class A motorhome, you can't see Hoover Dam or anything else over the concrete walls which form the sides of the bridge. And I'd always wanted to explore the Dam. So one day I left Leah at the campground (she preferred to read outside in front of Lake Mead), and headed over the to the Dam for tour. Took about 2 hours, altogether.

Outside the Dam:

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Statue of High Scaler. These were the guys who hung out like this and drilled or chipped or blasted. Several fell to their deaths.

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Closer look at a high scaler

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Love the architecture and use of brass or copper.

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One of two 30-foot high bronze sculptures meant to symbolize the character of the men and the community who built the Dam. Note the shiny toes. Legend has it that rubbing them brings good luck.