Vintage View Vednesday - Yellowstone National Park 2005

In the next few Vintage View posts I will try to tell you about an accidental vacation we had back in the fall of 2005.

In 2005 we had a western trip all planned. We had two revivals in Idaho scheduled and then we would move into California to several churches. We were pulling our Kountry Star Fifth Wheel with our Chevy Truck. We were finishing our first revival in Idaho on Friday for Bro. Matt Hunt when word came that Bro Leon Buzzard had passed away in Oklahoma.

Bro. Leon had been a dear friend to us and we hated to hear the sad news. We were not the only ones in Idaho affected by the news though. Our next revival was for Pastor Jeremy Buzzard, Bro. Leon's son. Friday night after church Bro. Jeremy, his brother and their families loaded up and headed for Oklahoma as you would expect.

For us, that meant we now had two weeks before our next revival in California. We figured it was time to see some things we had not seen and meet some new people. We backtracked to Yellowstone National Park and Grand Tetons National Park and spent a few days wandering around with our mouths agape.

I ran across pictures from that trip and I have them for you today. Next week I will tell you about our first trip into Montana and show you pictures from Glacier National Park.

Today is Yellowstone National Park. 

The upper loop of Yellowstone.

The lower loop of Yellowstone.

Wow! What a memorable two days for our family! Our accidental vacation was off to a good start. Thank you for joining us for Vintage View Vednesday.

Davy

Our Weekend In The Rearview Mirror

This is a review of the weekend. In Monday's post I was caught up in bringing you up to date on the bus breaking down and being towed. I will give you the latest on that at the end of this post.

Our Weekend In The Rearview Mirror

The weekend was not all bus stuff. No, Sir! The weekend was mostly revival. We began revival at Full Gospel Lighthouse in Sweeny, Texas as planned Friday night and stayed in the evangelist quarters. Staying anywhere besides the bus is a lot of work for Kelly Jo and is inconvenient for Odie, but we are very thankful that Bro. Lamb and his folks have a place for us to stay.

If not for the evangelist quarters we would be driving 20-30 minutes to stay in a hotel or driving back to the bus. It is 80 miles to the bus. That takes one hour and 25 minutes after church. Looking at Google maps and the mess of Houston traffic, it could very easily take two hours +++ to make the same trip at the wrong time of day. Yes, thank God for a place to stay.

The services Friday night, Saturday night and both times Sunday have been very good. I am writing this Monday at the bus, while I am waiting on the mechanic. I am believing that service Monday night is going to be the best yet.

God was very good to us this weekend in revival. He helped me put aside any outside concerns and sing and preach like He has called me to do. No one wants to hear me bellyache, moan and complain about how bad things are going in my life. No! I am here to preach, uplift and encourage.

I want to encourage Pastor Lamb. I want to encourage the saints in Sweeny. I want to preach the Gospel to visitors that join our services. How can I do that while I am wallowing in self-pity and despair? I can not do both. It is either preach or pout, minister or moan.😁 I choose to preach and minister and the Lord helped me to do that. The Lord helped all three of us.

I know I will continue to need His help, but He is faithful.

We enjoyed visiting with all of the people too. Some of the smaller kids are getting older and we are having a blast. There is a new baby too and we got to meet him Sunday morning. You will see some pictures of him below.

Davy and Pastor Larry Lamb

That pretty much wraps things up for the weekend. Thank you again for praying for us. 

Bus As of Monday Afternoon

A mechanic from Mid Coast Diesel arrived Monday morning and went right to work. I had driven up to the bus Sunday night after church so I was waiting on him. 

The codes from the engine matched the alert on the Detroit Diesel and he began to suspect the wiring harness between the computer and the fuel injectors. He cleaned a bunch of connections, wiggled the wiring harness and the big Detroit 60 series fired up.

It ran rough for a minute while getting fuel in all the right places and then it smoothed right out. He was watching the fuel injectors on the computer while it was running and all was well. We let it idle long enough to get the temperature to near normal operating temps. Everything on the computer looked perfect and there were no problems at all.

Then he wiggled the wiring harness and the engine nearly died.

Yep, the wiring harness is bad. There is supposed to be an access panel in the floor near the back of the bus so you can get to the valve covers from above. That access was covered completely by the people that converted this bus to a motorhome and it sure looks like the whole bed contraption has to be removed.

They are looking at sliding the motor out instead and I am waiting to hear back on the final decision. As of Monday afternoon they are trying to locate the correct wiring harness too.

The excitement level has kicked up another notch or two and so has the potential for despair, but we are very thankful that we have a diagnosis of the problem. God has us all in His hands. That is the safest place in the world I know to be.

I could hardly wait to get back to the church Monday afternoon. I arrived about 4:20 and Kelly Jo and I went straight to the sanctuary and laid across the altar. The Spirit of the Lord immediately saturated us and touched us so sweetly. I do not talk much about my private time with God, but I tell you this because it was an incredible encouragement to us. Hallelujah!

I am praising God for His help Monday night in revival service too. He is great and greatly to be praised!

Thank you for reading today.

Davy

Was That The BoggsMobile Being Towed?

Yep, I am afraid you saw that picture correctly.


Towing a 1995 Prevost XL in Houston, Texas Where, oh, where do I begin? I suppose the best place to start would be the beginning. We know that in the beginning God created the Heaven and the earth, but I will fast forward about 6000 years skipping everything until after church this past Wednesday night. That is a good place to start the story.

The great folks at the House of Prayer helped us load up the sound equipment after church and soon we were on the road, headed south through Dallas. We love the Dallas/Ft. Worth area but it is best driven through at night if at all possible when driving the bus. We slid through with no problems or delays at all.

We drove about 250 miles to a Walmart in Huntsville, Texas. It was the third stopping option for us. Two rest areas before the Walmart were slammed full with trucks. We were barely even able to drive through one of them. Walmart had a nice open spot.

We spent part of the day Thursday on bookwork for the ministry. We are not near done, but we are started. I kept an eye on Houston traffic and once it cleared from rush hour, we pulled out of Walmart and pointed south. If we hit traffic right, we were only 3 hours from Sweeny so we were fully expecting an easy night.

About 42 miles into the trip I realized suddenly the bus had no power. It had probably died but we were going down the road at 60 MPH and I did not know the engine had shut down. We really can not hear the engine 45 feet behind us with the road noise and traffic. I lifted my foot from the accelerator and pushed again and no power.

I scanned my gauges and warning lights and nothing was out of normal until this alert popped up on the Detroit Diesel monitor.

I interpret that to be Injector Response Time Long.

We were in the third lane of five so I started working my way over to the right shoulder. And there we were from 9:00 PM until after 1:00 AM.

Kelly Jo and Odie began to text some family and friends to pray and I text Jeff Rowe. He guided me through what to do over the coming hours. Jeff's steady hand and bus knowledge is always a plus for me and the girls. I am so thankful he still takes my calls. 

My first call was to Prevost Action Service, which is a 24-hour helpline for Prevost owners and drivers. After lots of connections and back and forth conversations, they found there was no one in the Houston area that could send a roadside mechanic until morning and the best option was to tow the bus.

1995 Prevost XL on I-45 North of Houston

I sincerely wanted to avoid a tow hook. I have dreaded seeing the BoggsMobile on a hook and have prayed fervently for every bus and owner I have ever seen broke down or being towed. The only other option was spending the night alongside the busy interstate and that was not an option we considered for one moment.

Prevost recommended Priority Towing and they arrived at 12:06.

This was not the driver's first big job and I was so glad to see that. Brandon was professional, courteous and more than up to the task.

Priority Towing Houston, Texas

You can not tow something this big without removing the drive shaft or an axle. Once Brandon had it set on the hook, he took out the axle on the passenger side and we were ready to go.

Removing the drive axle on a 1995 Prevost XL The bus needs a good supply of air to keep the brakes from activating and so the tag axle keeps the bus as high as possible. He ran an air hose to the rear of the bus, plugged it in and away we went. We were on the road by 1:10.

The BoggsMobile being towed

  

We were parked at Prevost Houston, disconnected from the tow truck, settled up with the tow company and going inside the bus by 2:20. Our night was a much longer night than we anticipated and we did not make it all the way to Sweeny, but we were praising God for His protection and guidance. Things could have been much worse. We are still praising Him!

I think that overall the tow went well. I could briefly hear some air escaping underneath the bus after Brandon disconnected his air, but hopefully, we are OK. I will have to remember to remind Prevost to add some gear oil to the reservoir underneath. I would estimate it lost at least 1/2 gallon in the process of removing and reinstalling the axle

I was up at 7:00 when Prevost opened Friday and they were expecting me. They told me upfront that they would probably have to bring in a third party Detroit engine guy to work on the bus. Prevost has put Volvo engines in their buses for seven or eight years so they no longer offer support of Detroit engines or train their mechanics on them. I could have been towed to a Detroit specialist, but we could not reach any Thursday night to see if they could get me in any time soon. I am thankful Prevost Houston was willing to receive the bus Thursday night.

Prevost did try to read the codes on the engine Friday morning, but had no luck. The alert I showed you above, Injector Response Time Long, often indicates a problem with the wiring harness from the computer to the injectors. Kelly and I tried to look at the harness closely but could not do much without getting under the bus. Hopefully, the Detroit guy will be here today, read the codes and find/fix the problem quickly and reasonably.

I know that many folks are already praying for us and we feel it. Surprisingly, I have been able to take this with almost complete calm. The Lord has helped me and certainly continues to help me even now. Please keep praying.

Pastor Scott Morris and Bro. Brad Nicholson were ready to jump in the truck and drive from Mississippi to help me. I appreciate that very much. It was a great comfort to me in addition to the information Bro. Brad was able to give me. Thank you, brothers.

Late Friday morning the guys from Prevost pushed the bus forward and then back into the next spot over so it could be locked up securely over the weekend.

We have owned this bus nearly 11 years and driven about 170,000 miles across this country many times and this was the first time we had it towed. It now has 350,266 miles plus about 20 miles behind a tow truck. That is not bad at all! If this bus makes it 350,000 more miles before the next tow, I should be in Heaven a long time before that! At the current rate, the next tow will be 22 years away. 

I am on the bus at Prevost Houston now hoping and praying that the mechanic comes today and brings a bucket full of knowledge, talent, skill, ingenuity and a helpful attitude. Hey, it does not hurt to ask big, right?

We began revival Friday night, but I will give you the rest of the weekend report tomorrow. Thank you for tuning in today.

Davy