2 June - The Great Salt Lake and Hill Air Force Base

2 June
Woke up this morning to no network.  There is a small power supply that converts the 12 volt DC vehicle power to 24 volts DC for the WiFiRanger.  My Fluke digital volt meter verified that it was kaput.  Called the company in Idaho when they opened at 9:00 am and apparently they received a "bad batch" about the time I bought my WiFi Ranger box.  Lucky me.  Under warranty, though, so having one shipped to Doreen's cousin in Park City UT.  We had planned to try to get together with her before we left and it looks like USPS Priority mail will make that happen.  Wouldn't life be boring if nothing ever failed...

So then more phone calls on the leaf spring wet bolt failure discovered and my temporarily repaired yesterday.  I was pleased with my temporary repairs but that is just what it was - temporary.  The leaf spring shackle bracket was obviously bent and my 4 lb sledge was not going to straighten it.  The icing on the cake, though, was the bushing.  I knew that a 7000 lb axle needed more than a nylon bushing in the leaf spring shackle, but that is all they had.  I called Dexter Axle again this morning and yep as I suspected, a bronze bushing was needed.  They provided the part number and the dealers in the Ogden UT area, so I started calling.  I ended up talking to TJ Trailers, the same company I bought the wet bolts from yesterday.  I got a hold of the service manager and he verify what I knew - the bracket was bent and they would need to heat it to straighten it.  When they heat it that will weaken it so it will need to be reinforced (welded).  Beyond my capabilities here in the campground, unfortunately.  But I realized that before I called them.  My "Bandaid" fix might have lasted a while, but we have thousands of miles to go and I cannot afford to break down out on the road somewhere. My fix will allow us to get to the shop for permanent repairs.   So, lets get this thing into the shop and fix it right, and oh by they way, lets go ahead and change out the other leaf spring bolts and bushings while we are doing it.  The bolts are about $2 each and the bushings are about $1 each.  No brainer.  Their distributor can have the parts here from Fresno CA by Tuesday and we have an appointment for 0800 hrs Wednesday morning in the shop.  They SHOULD be able to finish the repairs in one day and we can stay on schedule for our next stop.  We talked it over and since we will have to break camp Wednesday morning and travel south to the trailer shop, neither of us saw any value in coming all the way back up to Willard bay for just one night, so when they are done with the repairs we are going to head west to out next destination and will be there two nights rather than one.  May be a long day but that's the way it goes when you own an RV LOL!!

Time for the ceremonial placement of the state sticker on the "Greg and Debey Schwab" map.  Doreen had the honors today.

Ok, phone calls made, parts ordered, all is well so lets bug outta here are see the area.  We packed the bags for Antelope Island and the Great Salt Lake!

Entrance to the Island

The Great Salt Lake is  largest natural body of water west of the Mississippi River.  It is the remnant of the prehistoric Lake Bonneville that covered more than 20,000 square miles during the Ice Ages.  The lake today averages 75 miles long X 28 miles wide covering 1700 square miles.  The size varies seasonally with evaporation and precipitation.  The water is too salty to support fish, but brine shrimp, flys and algae thrive in the lake as a primary food source for migrating birds.

The road to Antelope Island crosses a long stretch of marshland.  It had obviously been wet at one time but now is dry salt flats

There are apparently many herds of buffalo on the island but we never saw any.

One of the main beaches on Antelope Island.  It is a very long walk from the parking lot to the water, and then it is a very long walk to water that is more than ankle high.

Doreen enjoying the very soft water!  We both did the "float" but did not take a camera all the way out there.

Miles and miles and miles of beach.  Was a very long walk to get to water deep enough to do the traditional "float" in the salt water.

 

Pinkish rock in the salt water

Beautiful day at the beach!

Snow-capped mountains reflecting in the Great Salt Lake

Scenic shot with the reflecting of the distant mountains

After experiencing the Great Salt Lake we headed a short distance to Hill Air Force Base and visited the commissary and the BX.  I also washed the truck before heading back to the campground.

This evening we walked around the campground and checked out all the RV's that had migrated in for the weekend.  You see it all, that's for sure.  Here is my favorite!!  An obviously over-motivated volunteer firefighter/EMT!

Mounted a light bar on his RV!!  Waiting for the sun to go down to see if he fires that baby up!!

No firm plans for tomorrow.  There is an Amish store not far from here we plan to visit.  We will clean up the RV a bit, especially the floors including vacuuming to remove the sand/gravel.  Weather is forecast in the mid-90's.  We will surely barbecue and enjoy the great weather, and maybe hot the beach nearby.