Sorry, most of this story has nothing to do with the X and pulling, so you can skip if you like.....
... Pulled into Pagosa Springs, tried to find a place to stop for the night, it is about midnight. We often stay at Walmart, usually can stay there overnight. Not this one, was making some tight turns to get through parking lots and turn around. Pulled out on to the main road to see if we could find another place to stop. Small dog, a black Border Collie named Krunchie Noodle, was jumping around, looked back and saw flashes of light through the back window reflecting on the trailer. That is odd I thought. Kept looking back, flashes were brighter. I think there is a fire. I pull over, get out, look at the area where the flashing was, my 7 way cord is on fire. Oh my. I put the fire out before I pulled the 7 way out of the X connector. I disconnect the battery on the trailer, wires and insulation are charred bad. Whew, disaster averted.
Very tired but a little excited about the fire, we pull into a parking lot at an abandoned hotel, think that maybe we could park here without any issues. Not the case, a police truck pulls in, spotlight in my face. Explained what was going on, they refused to let us stay there. But we have no lights on the trailer, there was a short, then a fire. Officer reply, "I know we saw it". "Great, is there a place where we can park overnight so I can fix my trailer wiring?" "Yes, at the end of town at the diner" he says. "I have no lights." I reply. "We will escort you down there." We get back in the X, I head to the end of town, find the parking lot, we settle in for a cold night.
Got up in the morning, disconnected the trailer, drove to Walmart, bought some electrical connectors, a crimp tool, electrical tape and some razor blades. Drove back to the trailer, tried to cut the vinyl insulation with a razor blade, almost would not cut.
It was about 20 degrees. It was a lot colder over Wolf Creek Pass though. The vinyl insulation had gotten so cold that when we made the tight turns, it had cracked and allowed the wires to short after our tight turns in the parking lot.
Finally had cord repaired and back on the road. Arrived at the Grand Canyon at about 8 P.M., we stopped to stretch at an overlook at the rim. Very dark, no light anywhere, we look down, nothing but black, even with the flashlight on. Very cool. Got a campsite, stayed comfortable overnight till the dog started to bark at dawn. Great exploring the South Rim of the Canyon, we hiked a ways in, stared to talk to a fellow hiker, he told us someone had fallen off the trail and down quite a ways, a helicopter had to get him out. Also told us people die all the time, most from people taking selfies and loosing their balance. Great.
Latter in the day at one of the overlooks, there were 30 or more people the the railing, almost all of them were taking selfies. So much for enjoying the great views.
Left that night, trailer pulling fine, stopped in California desert overnight. MPG was around 11.2. Pull into Orange County Tuesday afternoon, set up camp in Huntington Beach, small campground, but just across Pacific Coast Highway from the beach. Huntington by the Sea, would recommend it to anyone.
That night had a great time in Huntington Beach Main Street, they have entertainment every Tuesday night, great food. My son loves vinyl records and CDs, stopped at a cool store in Costa Mesa. Got back into the X, started it up and noticed a funny sound coming from the power steering. Slight panic, opened up hte hood, fluid was good, no leaks, got in drove around a bit, there was an odd hesitation when I just stared to turn the wheel. Went on for half a day, then went back to normal. Why that happened I don't know.
To be continued....
