Friday - I forgot to mention an update on the electric cooling fan. When leaving Benson heading west, it is a long, steep grade. It was 88°F and it was uphill starting at the on-ramp. Full throttle in 3rd for a couple of miles then 4th until the top of the grade. The engine temperature peaked at 204°F near the crest. While cruising in 6th up and down the rolling hills afterward, it would climb up to 208°F unless I manually down-shifted to 5th on the uphill sections. So far, the fan seems like a success and worthwhile addition. I may pick up the dual-speed thermostat or install a toggle switch and relay to enable the high-speed mode. On flat ground, with high speed, the engine temperature would hover around 183°F. Probably not really needed.
Since we will be here for a while, I put out the problematic kitchen slide. The mechanical slide lock stops retracting about halfway. If I stop and let it sit for a minute, it'll finish retracting. In addition to the slide, I put out the folding table, tire covers, awning sunshade, etc. Many of these things I wouldn’t bother with if we are only staying somewhere for a week or so.
After the morning test session, I walked in the other direction to Fry's, part of the Kroger (Fred Meyer) chain. And I got almost $30 in grocery discounts. Plus, we get points for gas discounts. It was around 1½ miles round trip in 95°F temperatures.
Saturday - Yesterday morning, I ordered a Mopar locking gas cap for the Jeep from Amazon. It was delivered yesterday evening while I was at the pool! Same-day delivery in around 10 hours. I guess there is a benefit from being 5 miles from an Amazon warehouse…
Anyway, I now had a small project. To build the lock cylinder to match the physical Jeep key. After watching a 25-minute video on YouTube, I sorted out all the little pieces and springs and found the right ones by, basically, trial and error. It took only about ten minutes but after adding a bit of white grease to the moving parts, I installed the lock cylinder into the cap. Success, it works and I don’t have to have another key.
Now, time to wait for the second attempt to launch Artemis-1. It’s 7:30 am and already 79°F. Almost too warm to just sit outside. No ham radio tests until Tuesday since it’s a holiday weekend.
Later - Artemis-1 scrubbed again. Disappointing. Incredibly over budget and years of delay. Sad. The next launch window is in a couple of days.
I finished another project that I have been putting off for quite a while. When we changed the slide toppers, I kept one of the old toppers since it was good, sturdy material. I sewed a cover for the tow bar. Since the RV has stopped spewing oil on anything in the back of the RV, it seemed like a good project.
Sunday - Another hot day. I drove to the grocery store and PetSmart since I didn’t want to carry all of the heavier groceries. And, since I was running around, I had lunch/dinner at Black Bear Diner. One of our favorites. Bridget is flying in tonight around 9 or so and Google says that the airport is 28 minutes away.
Just got an email that a very good friend of ours had passed away following an accident. Very sad. Praying for the family.
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