Day one problems

Day on of my Alaskan Adventure. 

I did not get an early start due to some paperwork that needed to be finished before I could actually depart but after many months of waiting and countless delays it is finally finished and at 5:30 pm I was on the road.  Yea, that is a really late start and most would just wait until the next morning and get a fresh start.  But I am not unaccustomed to driving long distances at night and I need to be on site in Anchorage by the 15^th so I needed to reduce that 4000 miles between me and Anchorage.

My shortest route and normal route North was changed in Durand, a detour.  So I took I-69 to 127 north.  This turned out to be another one of those accident or design events in life.  On the express way I was experiencing so sway so I stopped in at Becks RV in Saint Johns.  They were closed but they re-opened their doors and I purchased a sway bar to install.  They also gave me some advice on making an adjustment to the hitch setup.  They directed me to another parking lot where I could make the adjustments.  I also noticed that the front left wheel was very hot.  This concerned me as a major problem even though I had a spare wheel bearing with me it would still take me time to replace it.  But I wasn’t convinced that the bearing was the problem because I had inspected and re-packed all the bearings.  So I drove another 10-15 miles or so stopping at a rest area to check it again.  It was still hot, so hot that I could not hold for more than a couple seconds.  I poured a little water on the hub to help cool it down then jacked the trailer up to spin the tires and find out if the breaks were too tight.  They seamed to be fine so I put it all back together and drove another 20 miles or so into Clare convinced that I would have to get some repair work done in the morning but to my surprise the wheel was cool to the touch.  It must have been that the break was hanging up somehow.

I made several stops that night to check and re-check that wheel but when I stopped that night shortly after midnight just north and west of the Mackinaw Bridge I didn’t have any more problems.

This was a boondocking night, kinda stealth camping with a 26’ travel trailer.  Blend in and nobody will think you do not belong.