Back to Colorado, and I broke one of the cardinal rules:-(

After we left Yellowstone, we stopped back in for one night at Yellowstone Edge to dump our tanks and fill up with water for our planned 2 nights back at Moose Creek, the little boon dock campground right on the Gallatin River.

We had a wonderful couple days, we fished, relaxed, and found we have gotten quite comfortable with boon docking.  And at Moose Creek where there are no quiet hours for the generator, it really makes it a no brainer, even with the heat running.  Yes, we had the heat on, we woke to 35 degrees one morning and 38 the next.  Fall is coming to Montana.

We then made our way south to Victor, ID, a town on the back side of the Tetons.  Our route took us right by Yellowstone again, and as we were getting ready to go and as we drove south the smoke was intense.  We were even hacking and coughing it was so bad.  As we reentered the park on US 191, we could see part of the cause.  Active fires all around.  This the Bacon Rind fire that was started by lightning and they are just letting it burn.

One of the many active fire areas

Aftermath of the fire

Once we passed the park we were expecting clearing but there are so many fires all around we just couldn't shake the smoke although it did improve somewhat.  

This was just south of Yellowstone,
a bit improved

We spent a short night in Victor as the next day we had a long 385 mile drive to Hayden, CO all on 2 lane roads.  We left Victor pretty early for our first challenge.  We had to drive over Teton Pass to save an extra 40 miles.  We did it last year, so we were ready.  It's not real high as western mountain passes go, 8431', but it is very steep and windy, a lot of 10% grades.  We took our time and had no problem, that is until we came down right into a 6 mile back up caused by a bad accident in Jackson.  We lost more than 45 minutes right off the bat.

Looking down off the pass, still smoky

And sure enough as we continued south it did get clearer and clearer.

Getting better

We happened to stop at a historical marker along the way where our road crossed a part of the Oregon Trail.  It was absolutely fascinating to see the wagon ruts still visible as far as you could see.  300 wagons a day came through here in the largest voluntary migration in world history.

Pretty much in the middle of nowhere

Pretty amazing

We finally pulled into Yampa River State Park about 5pm.  It is a very nice park right on the Yampa River with electric only sites.  We spent 2 nights here, and wandered into Steamboat Springs for lunch and a little sightseeing.  It was much clearer here in Colorado and we couldn't tell if it was less smoky or whether the gale force winds just blew it away, nonetheless we could see a huge smoke plume to the east of town.

Part of the ski area

The huge plume of smoke
this fire grew by 1600 acres overnight in the winds!

So on to my screwing up.  First, the rule I was referencing in the title is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."  Well I should have honored it.  Several days ago, I made a "repair" of something that as it turned out wasn't broken.  The dashboard on our coach includes 2 air gauges that measure our air pressure on the front and rear system, very important gauges.  Our suspension and more importantly our brakes are operated by air.  Just like semi trucks, air pressure actually keeps the brakes off, and allows you to meter the brakes similar to what you do in a car, the caveat is, should you lose your air, you are going to come to a somewhat abrupt stop, therefore you get a loud alarm when the air pressure drops below 55-75 pounds.  Now to feed the air pressure gauge there are 2 air lines going into an electronic module right behind the dash.

The air pressure gauges are right under the tach

Now when we were in Alaska back in 2014, I had a fitting go bad and had an explosive discharge of air behind the panel, a low air alarm sounded and I was able to pull off in a hospital parking lot in Anchorage.  I then went on a quest to find a replacement air fitting so we could continue our trip.  

The brown and the green tubes are the air lines
going into the module behind the dash

Now, I wasn't able to find the exact fittings so we jury rigged up a reducer and a smaller line and got it all fixed up.  Yes, that was 4 years ago with no problem.  Jan' sister Karen was traveling with us, and had to wait and wait while I went all over town, so I asked her to search the internet for the correct fittings and order them, which she did.  We picked up those fittings a week or so later, and when we got them, I decided, correctly this time, to not fix it if it was working and put those fittings away.

We've been thinking over the last few weeks that it was taking us a little longer to build up air in the morning, and also after we turned off the engine we were losing air a bit quicker than normal, not enough to alarm us, just notice.  So I was poking around for something and came across the long lost air fittings and thought, hmmm, maybe if I change them out and remove our jury rig it might fix our air leaking??  So I did. 

All was fine until I started up to leave Yampa and man o man I hear a loud air leak!  Shut it down, and sure enough we are losing air behind the dash.  I pull it apart and we find the leak and it appears the plastic module itself is leaking, yup we can see a crack in it.  What to do?  We can't just leave the air line unhooked, we can't build air, and a tube with 150 psi of air coming out isn't so hot either.  So I rig up a way to plug the air line, well that works, but that loud air alarm I told you about is screaming, it is really loud, because the gauge doesn't see air on one side.  So with trial and error I manage to find the wire that sounds the alarm, I disconnect it and we pull out.  The problem is we have no way to monitor our air pressure and no alarm to tell us if we lose it, not very good.  So we pull off the road, start more research, make some calls, get no info, and we brainstorm a bit.  We remember that even with the air leak we could hear, we had full air pressure and full gauges, so which would be better, no readings at all or just listen to the air hiss while we go down the road?  I guess you can figure what we did.  So other than the hissing of air, we made an uneventful trip to Silt, CO, to one of the very nicest campgrounds we have ever been to, the Glenwood Springs West/Colorado River KOA right on the Colorado River!  We are in a riverfront site with a patio, gazebo, grill, and fire pit.  

Our site!

Back to our leak.  I know I have to remove the module to find out who made it, hopefully find a part number, etc.  And another problem is this same module feeds our message center for different annunciations, such as turn signals, cruise control, turn signals, parking brake, check engine, stop engine, well you get the idea.  So this morning I tear it out and then take it apart.

Removed from the dash

There is way more to it than I thought, all I can see are dollar signs, so I hope maybe it all comes apart and I can maybe just replace the broken plastic part.

Those are tiny LED's that light each annunciation

This is what I find in the module

And the other side, looks simple, huh?

Well I finally get the plastic part loose, and hope on Monday I can find the parts.  each item has a part number on it so I'm hopeful and praying the company still makes it.

So good enough, now I need to get it all back together so we can drive, hissingly down the road.  But the more I study the assembly, I can't figure even with the small crack how it could leak??  The manufacturer installed a fairly robust brass fitting that holds the air, not the plastic.........  There are tiny O-rings that should seal against the brass, and internally the brass fits against a soft foamy membrane inside the module.  Huh. 

Kind of hard to see, but the brass sleeve comes up through
the top hole.  The rubber O-ring on the fitting rests against the brass.
Even though that top hole has a small crack, how can it leak?

So I decide to put it back together, use one of the old fittings and one of the new fittings, carefully coat the O-rings in silicone grease and see what's what.  I get it all back together, start the engine and the hissing begins again.  But what, it's leaking from the new fitting, the old is holding tight?  Damn.  I know, I'll reinstall the jury rigged line from 4 years ago and try again, and guess what, no leaks!  Turns out the new fittings that we bought from way back then are no good, who would have thought.  

SO, IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT DUMMY, yeah I added the dummy.

Now one more thing I want to mention.  We travel with Bert, our cat, who is getting older and more cantankerous every day, and sometimes we wonder.

Bert, resting up

Well Bert is on total reprieve.  I woke up a couple nights ago wondering why in the world he was jumping around on the bed, and as I came to, I thought Oh WOW, he might have a mouse, yes on our bed, and yes he did.  He found, caught, and dispatched it and wanted to show off for us.  So thanks Bert!

Bye, bye