The Other Road: The Journey is the Destination: Friday 15 August 2014 Kingman -- Melba in the shop

This is the first time we've really taken our camper van, which we call Melba, out on a long trip. This was really a shakedown run on our 1993 Roadtrek. So, driving a 21 year old vehicle which has sat for long periods of time is bound to be interesting. We are basically finding out everything that needs a little work as we go. We found a lot of the major stuff before we left for our trip. However, one thing we started noticing as we drove was that the air conditioning was making some sort of smell -- kind of sweet and burnt at the same time. I thought it might be mildew in the system from sitting for so long, but in Flagstaff, I turned the air off and a big puff of smoke came from the controls. We decided it might be prudent to have it checked out before we ran it again. Also, the control switch tended to get hot, which I didn't think was normal. For most of the trip, the weather was really nice. When we got into Kingman, however, we started suffering without the a/c. So we took it in to a shop in Kingman. They replaced the switch which fixed the problem and also the serpentine belt, which was cracked and dry rotted.

Friday 15 August 2014

Kingman -- Melba in the shop

Friday, August 15, 2014 13:14:55

We went to the park, where all the venders and performers were going to be. When we stepped into the park with Tima and Stella, one of the volunteers told us that dogs are not allowed in the park, but if we faked having assist dogs of some sort no one could question us. We left the park.

Western Arizona desert...

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It's hot in Kingman!

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The Canada Mart Gas station is a very friendly place.

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Tima and Stella hanging out in the shade. Canada Mart allows dogs.

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We walked into town for a bit until we could take Melba up for her appointment.

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The shop changed the bad switch and the belt and we had the oil changed for the return trip. The place was actually quite reasonable.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Midtown-Auto-Center/147588445285797
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Back to Kingman, we stopped and had cawfee at a downtown coffee house…

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We stopped to get some pictures while I got video of a train.

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El Trovatore Motel
http://eltrovatoremotel.com/

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Here we met up with Rich Dinkla and Kumar Patel. The motel owners graciously gave us a tour of one of the rooms…. the Elvis room...

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Sam Frishar/El Trovatore, Kumar Patel

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Sam Frishar, Suyen Silvestri and Kumar Patel

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Suyen Silvestri, Sam Frishar, Karen Frishar of El Trovatore and Kumar Patel of the Wigwam Motel in San Bernardino, California