My GMC at Home
Langley, British Columbia, Canada

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FMCA International - Redmond, Oregon - August 2004

Just a few RV's.
3908 plus 1100-some-odd vendor coaches and I don't think that included the ones on display, as in For Sale.

There were 18 GMC's in Lot #11, 10th Street and another six in the center area, I.e. GMC national directors and alternates.
At least one more was in the general area. I think a good time was had by all.

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Cascade Mountain Magic
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The Getting There

Getting to Redmond was not without the usual heart-stopper. We departed as planned, stayed behind the Casino near Smokey Point on I-5 and got up early to get through Seattle before rush hour. Stopped at the rest area south of Olympia to finish the nights' rest.

Smoked through Portland and latched on to 26 and enjoyed the ride. Had lunch on top by the ski hill and carried on in what was getting to be a scorcher of a day. By the time we reached Warm Springs it was 106 outside but the buggy was behaving beautifully. Water temp ran up to 210/215 on the longer up-hills but the tranny temp never went above 210. Should've got suspicious about now. 

As we did the long climb south of Warm Springs, with temperature still 106, the engine quit just short of a wide spot and almost out of cell coverage. Thank goodness we were in a double lane and there was a wide spot a little ways downhill. We dead-sticked it back with Louise doing the wave-off to alert traffic as I inched may way down the hill and off the road.

Time to take stock of the situation. We had time now as a we were in a safe spot with a big rock keeping us from going further back than intended. My first thought was that I was still having fuel selector problems and was suffering from fuel starvation, I.e. fuel in tank but valve wasn't switching, even though the fuel gauge did. Tried to call Emergency Road Service to get more fuel but cell coverage or rather lack of coverage made that impossible. The generator was getting fuel so at least we had the AC running.

We contemplated our predicament with a few nasty, but friendly thoughts. I decided to give it another try, figuring the engine had cooled a bit or perhaps fuel had transferred some due to previous cranks or perhaps the different attitude of the coach might make a difference. Lo and behold, we had fire... in all the right eight places. Still thinking we were fighting a fuel starvation problem we pointed the coach down the hill and off we went, back to Warm Springs for gas. We topped up at what might be the only self-serve in Oregon, at least the only one that I've ever come across. I assume the folks at Warm Springs enjoy some special privileges.

Fuel of gas we make for Redmond. No problem at all getting up the hill this time. Must be that darn fuel selector valve, I thought. Thought wrong. We thought we'd try the KOA north of Redmond and then go in early for the FMCA. No room. During this time we left the GenSet and coach AC on as it was still a toasty 106. Back on the hi-way and a few miles down the road, AC quits, or rather the GenSet quit. I figured it was shutting down due to heat as my enclosure wasn't designed for 106, at least not without leaving the door ajar. No problem, we were comfy. That only lasted a few more miles when the engine quit again, this time on the flat. Grrrrr. Now what, can't be fuel. At least we had a weigh scale onramp to park on, out of the way of all traffic.

After a little tweaking on the EFI we were back on the road thinking the Wal-Mart parking lot would be home for the night but as we approached Redmond we saw FMCA signs pointing to the holding area so we thought 'what the heck, lets try it'. We were the third GMC in there and now know more about going to an FMCA Rally.

Back to the engine. What I now think is that the EFI was never 'tuned' to the higher coolant temperature and it basically shut off the fuel. I may never know for sure unless I encounter same temps in the future, but that's what I'm going with for now. To eliminate fuel starvation via the selector valve I'm going to do some re-plumbing before heading out to Albuquerque.

Trip back was great. Nice and cool. Came back via 126, 22 and I-5. Had to make the obligatory stop at Fry's. Only hitch was that we had planned to dump at the Portland rest area after finding the Redmond one closed, but found it closed too. No problem, we'll dump at the Vancouver, WA one. Wouldn't you know it... the whole rest area was blocked off by Troopers. Several News Vans were on the access road with booms extended. We later heard that there was a caustic spill. The coach was finally able to relieve itself at Fife. Had a few freeway stops due to 'incidents' but other than that it was a real nice drive back. We went through Seattle around 8-ish and it was the best through Seattle trips we've had for a long time.

Collected a to-do list to be done before heading out, but other than for the dropping of one fuel tank to make sure it's clean, etc. it's more or less minor stuff. I might even get a tank made that includes some baffling for the EFI pick-up.

The Convention/Rally

When I signed up for the Redmond Rally I was expecting a rally similar to that at Moses Lake a few years back. Boy was I wrong. I expected food... wrong again. It finally dawned that Moses Lake was a regional rally while Redmond was of the international variety. What's the difference? More coaches... many more coaches. More vendors, more, more, more.... it was GREAT.

Included in our convention credentials we had received our arrival time, Saturday 8AM-Noon. As I had planned to KOA it with the associated emptying and filling up I was a little concerned about going into the grounds with partials. On inquiry we were told we'd see a dump station on the way from the holding are to the grounds and lo and behold we did. Made for a more comfortable feeling to be empty and full in all the right places. Paid our dollar for dumping and followed Larry (Wagonmaster Calhoun) in. Aside from the snafu about parking all GMC's together it was a smooth and quick entry into the grounds. Larry sorted them out re the parking and we were assured a couple of rows, for a time. I.e. any unused by Monday they wanted back... fair enough.

We spent the rest of Saturday getting organized, parking coaches, visiting and watching all the other coaches come in an endless stream. I did the occasional exploratory ride out the gate to see if any GMC's were in the line-up so that I could tell them what section to get directed to. Most found their way without my help. At the height of the rush the lineup/wait was 3 1/2 hours. Lesson to be learned for next time... plan on early again. We continued to putz around Sunday and Monday visiting and relaxing. By Sunday morning-ish we had power so aside from the AC noises we were cool and comfortable. It cooled off enough to sit out in the deck chairs to watch the RV's go by.

We were parked close enough to the grounds so as not to have to rely on the shuttles but it was nice to have the option to be lazy and ride. It also gave one to chat with strangers. For the next three days it was non-stop seminars, entertainment and exhibit browsing topped off by a show at 5:30 and by 6:30 the carpet was rolled up. Gave folks a chance to go to town or just continue to visit and veg'.

The exit on Friday morning was as smooth as silk. No panics, just a steady flow. Redmond police did a little traffic directing through town but it was just a nice ride out. Will we go again? Not immediately, but yes I think we will go again some day, preferably again with a group of GMC'ers.

Balloon Fiesta, here we come.....