| Ruth and K-Rails [message #218396] |
Wed, 14 August 2013 23:34  |
George Beckman
Messages: 1085
Registered: October 2008
Location: Colfax, CA
Karma: 11
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Ruth and I have been married for 43 years. We still love each other. We have had a GMC for five years and still love GMCs and each other.
Ruth has an award from "Ladies Drive that Coach". She is a good driver. She backed up through a slalom or orange cones.
The trouble is, when Ruth decides she wants to give driving a try, inevitably three minutes into her time in the "seat" the road department of what ever state we are in sets up K-Rails that narrow the lanes to motorcycle width.
She gets nervous, even when I drive. One day she was saying, "You are really close on this side!" I said, "No problem. See that truck? He fits just fine," referring to a bobtail in front of us. About that time the bobtail's right rear tire sort of climbed the K-Rail and a great cloud of dust flew out from under the truck as it bounced back into the lane. This did not give Ruth confidence in K-Rail traffic control or my soothing remarks.
I have related the story, before, of the computer controlled distributor that goes with the Fuel Injection we have. On our first coach I could not find a pigtail to plug into the distributor module so I cleverly made my own.
Between Barstow and Needles Ruth decided to drive as K-Rails were unlikely in that lonely stretch of road. She had not been driving long when one of the wires on the module came off, causing a backfire so violent a hole the size of a small child's fist was blown in the back of a perfectly good muffler. The engine died and we coasted to the side of the road.
Ruth was not amused. She didn't drive the coach again for over a year. I found the correct pigtail in Rimrock, Arizona.
Of course, when she decided to try again, three miles from home, the road department set up K-Rails making her thread the needle. I didn't tell her that trucks were making it through fine. This is why we are still happily married.
'74 Eleganza, SE, Howell + EBL
Best Wishes,
George
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| Re: Ruth and K-Rails [message #218401 is a reply to message #218396] |
Thu, 15 August 2013 00:42  |
deanandcheriek
Messages: 67
Registered: March 2007
Location: portage IN
Karma: 0
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Thanks for making me feel better Ruth. I (Cherie) have driven SunnyBeaches since we acquired her in March of '07. To me she was just a bit bigger than the full size vans we've always owned. This past Monday while coming home from nordern' MN through a construction zone between RiceLake and EauClaire WI, Sunny and I got to get up front and personal with a bright orange construction barrel. I dreaded going into the zone behind a semi(hey, now my daddy was a trucker for 50 yrs) because I can't see what's coming and that makes me a bit peevish behind the wheel. It wasn't the trucker's fault that we both moved back to the right at the same time from straddling the rumble strip on the left to miss the potholes and his trailer bumped the barrel just enough to make it wobble into the lane just enough for Sunny's bumper to catch it and roll it down the side leaving a orange plastic smear all the way to the front awning support. When we finally stopped in EauClaire for gas we got to see the damage. Besides the smear the bumper looks bent back just a bit. My husband stated that he was glad it was me that scored one of those barrels first and not him and that we'll just get the rubbing compound out when we get home. He said the right thing at the right time! So glad now that we have spent all our money on keeping Sunny running great and not on paint to make her look pretty. Now that I look back on it tho he didn't let me drive anymore of the trip......hmmm. Safe Travels To All
Dean&CherieK PortageIN & OrrMN '73 23'PD "SunnyBeaches"
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| Re: Ruth and K-Rails [message #218419 is a reply to message #218396] |
Thu, 15 August 2013 07:49 |
kerry pinkerton
Messages: 2565
Registered: July 2012
Location: Harvest, Al
Karma: 15
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Senior Member |
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| George Beckman wrote on Wed, 14 August 2013 23:34 |
...I didn't tell her that trucks were making it through fine. This is why we are still happily married.
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LOL I can relate to that!
Back in '01, Some friends and I drove my then new 2001 GMC pickup to Dallas to get a 61 Imperial and put it on my car hauler trailer. The trailer is about the same width as our GMCs...100" or so.
Everything was fine until we got to some surface streets and pulled up to a stop light on a four lane road. A road crew was working in the right hand lane and had set up orange cones about 2' into the left lane. Because there was a turn lane coming on the other side, they also set up orange cones about a foot outside the turn lane to keep 'us' from trespassing in that lane. The only problem was that the resulting 'cone lane' was about 12" narrower than my trailer.
The light changed and there was a car in the oncoming turn lane and the work crew was really close to the cones. Lots of traffic and no where else to go so I EASED through the 'cone lane' at about 2 mph and wiped every single one of them out (not on purpose...just the only way through. Cones were bouncing everywhere and in my mirror, I could see the work crew, waving their hands, making what I can only assume were peace signs and yelling prayers to Heaven....no doubt.
Three hours later, we had loaded the car and were headed back through the same intersection. Yep, they had moved to the other side and done the exact same thing. One of the road crew must have recognized my truck because they were standing, waving hi, and no doubt praising God as we eased through the lane bouncing orange cones in all directions.
What a great road trip that was...
Kerry Pinkerton - North Alabama
Had 5 over the years. Currently have a '06 Fleetwood Discovery 39L
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