We started off our leg to Taos in a not very good way. I started the coach as we always do to get it up on its air suspension, but it was very slow and you could hear air escaping behind the front wheels. This can't be good. We had been doing some troubleshooting with our leveling system while we were in Durango, so I thought, better yet, hoped if we moved it a bit to get propane, it would sort itself out. After we filled the propane tank I had difficulty getting enough air to get the parking brake off. See with air brakes, it takes a certain amount of air to release the spring brakes so you can move. I shut it down and went back outside worried that we wouldn't be able to move it and we were really in the way! Our new friend and workamper, Brian who had been involved with the trucking industry for years crawled under and said our front ride height valve was leaking badly. He poked it, and I restarted and was able to move the coach to a more out of the way spot. This valve like the other two in the rear of the coach let air in and out of the airbags to maintain a level ride. Brian thought that perhaps if we could spray some WD-40 or PB Blaster into the valve and whack it with a hammer it might fix us up for a bit. Well, Jan, the diesel mechanic crawled under and sprayed and whacked away but no joy. Oh man, and it's a Sunday of course. We inquired and the campground moved things around and said if we needed to stay another night or two we could go back into the same site. Well, after talking it out and trying to come up with a game plan, we decided we would pull back into our site and crawl under and remove the valve so we would be able to replace it first thing Monday. Well, Murphy cut us a break and the air didn't leak when I started it up, I guess the whacking and spraying worked, so we decided to take it for a short spin up the road and back and see what we would see. It worked fine, so off we went to Taos hoping it would be okay.
All was fine on our drive, so we stopped for lunch on the top of a mountain, over 11,000' to have lunch and were treated to an incredible rainstorm that came roaring in. We kept our fingers crossed that it wouldn't change to snow as it was already only 42 degrees, it didn't.
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| Here comes the rain |
We had no more trouble and arrived in Taos to be welcomed and treated by Karen and Tom with an Angel's Envy toast to April, and a delicious dinner! We visited for the next few days, got a great tour of their new land, and Jan and I were able to explore a bit. We also, I hesitate to say, were "welcomed" by one of my favorite creatures while out for a walk.
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| Welcome to Taos said the tarantula! |
Turns out it is mating season and the males are out courting. YUCK!
Jan and I took a very enjoyable drive around the Enchanted Circle, a very scenic 83 mile loop from Taos out by several of the ski areas. It was a beautiful day and we had a good time. As we approached the end of the loop we decided to detour and see a bit of another scenic road through the area known as Valle Vidal, or Valley of Life.
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| Along the way in Valle Vidal |
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| Through a rugged gorge |
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| Beautiful meadows and mountains |
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| Stunning views |
So we bid Karen adieu, Tom headed back to work, and we headed down to Santa Fe for a few weeks. We got a nice surprise to find out Kelly and our grandkids are coming for a visit!
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