Having the thermometer is easing my fears. Of course feeling something that is hotter than our body temp is a vague measurement. Having the wheel bearing give out previously had me more tuned in to the possibility of it happening again and when someone online asked me “How hot is it?” my ignorant answer of “I’m not sure” led me to the purchase of the thermometer. For $20 I can now say that it “Isn’t very hot” the brake rotors are around 200f and the wheel bearing cap is around 100f, both well within normal operating temps. Phew, not going to blow another bearing, but the lights are still on the dash, so we’re keeping our appointment for Monday because I’ve called all the rest of our stops in New Mexico and can’t find another Sprinter Tech until we get well into Texas…..
The RV Park had laundry and shower facilities on site, so we took advantage of that opportunity and then headed to a park for a relax Sunday. Though the park was right next to a library, unfortunately the library was closed and there wasn’t a bathroom at the park, this wasn’t an issue until right before we left, but we managed. The park was fun and after the kids finished their school work with Jen, we got out the razor scooters and they rode around for awhile on the paths. There was a birthday party going on with a bounce house and one attendee rode his 4 wheeler to the party. He was doing wheelies up and down the street around the park, so that was some unexpected entertainment.
Remember the family we camped next to and hung out with at Petrified Forest NP? They were from Albuquerque so Jen sent them a text to see if they could recommend another park for us to visit. They sent her their favorite and said they’d meet us there around 3. So we loaded into the van and set off across town to see a much larger, much more expensive, and much more crowded park. It is very large with everything you could want at a park, playground, grassy fields, skatepark, dog park, and bathrooms. Being a Sunday afternoon, it also had a lot of people, but that was great too. Sure enough we met up with the other family and talked for hours while the kids ran around and played. I did take a stroll with Molly to this dog park which she proved to be a little too protective of me when other dogs would get too close. No real issues, she just want’s me to be a one dog kind of guy 🙂
As we were leaving the park saying goodbye to our new family friends we mentioned that we considered going to the Tram but that the cost was more than we were willing to pay. They thought they might get a discount from their credit union and said they’d look into in the next day and let us know if anything was available.
We had our appointment scheduled for early the next morning so instead of heading back to the RV Park, we hunkered down in another Walmart parking lot near the Dodge dealership, had a great dinner, set our alarms, and went to sleep.