Getting ready to hit the road!

 



Thursday July 11, 2024

It’s been a while since I posted to the Dispatch, but yes, we are still on the road. Well, not really on the road, we have been camping in Dave and RaeAnne’s driveway for 21 days.

Kamp Kolman



That’s a little longer than we had planned, but as you may remember we diverted to Los Alamos several days ahead of schedule because of the bearing failure in one of the front hubs. As a preemptive repair, I had both the left and right hubs replaced, it would have been nice if that was the end of it. Unfortunately, the front hub bearing noise was masking a similar noise from the rear differential. Long story short, the truck went back to the shop to have the rear differential pinion bearings replaced.

RPM Automotive in Los Alamos



Enough truck talk, it’s all good now. We enjoyed our time with the family, Millie and Rae Anne got to do some mother/daughter shopping trips to Santa Fe. We helped with the kids when we could, this was mostly car service picking them up or dropping them off. Millie did some sewing, mostly cat involved repairs, she and I fixed the cat climbing tree. Oh, did I mention cats? Part of the original trip plan was for Millie and I to cat sit while the family flew to New Jersey for the annual Kolman family gathering. 
The cat sit wasn’t bad, cats are very independent creatures and don’t want a lot of attention. They’re curious and would come around and check out whatever I was working on but didn’t appear to want any human contact. Millie had more trouble with them as her sewing notions and fabric were irresistible toys to them.
Helping with a plumbing repair



What else did we do? Nothing special really, we participated in all the normal shared family activities, we shared a few meals, we all enjoyed a meal at Weck’s, the family favorite restaurant in Santa Fe, many visits between the big house and the RV for conversations about everything and nothing.  Millie permed Marus’s hair, that was pretty cool, I got to take several hikes in the nearby mountains, I enjoyed that a lot.
Hiking in the mountains at Los Alamos



Finally, the day came, the Silver Bullet was road ready again and I had an appointment for an eye procedure looming on the horizon. We had everything prepped the night before, so it was a quick hookup in the morning. A little after seven am and we were ready to roll, Dave and RaeAnne came out to see us off, it was much too early for the two teenagers to be up!

The Kolmans



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