We slept in and had a leisurely morning yesterday before we pulled out of the 50,000 Silver $ RV Park. We drove west on I-90 and climbed up over Lookout Pass. The climb wasn’t bad. I took it easy and climbed in fourth gear at 45-50 mph.

The challenge on I-90 is the road construction. The day before, west of Missoula, they were painting stripes on the new surface. Only one lane was open. They had plastic stanchions on my right along the center stripe to keep vehicles from driving on the fresh paint. There was a concrete barrier on the left. It was tight. Our coach is eight and a half feet wide (102″). I didn’t have much room for error. We made it through without hitting anything, but it wasn’t a pleasant drive.

Coming over Lookout Pass yesterday, as soon as we hit the Idaho border, the road surface deteriorated. The steep descent down the west side of the pass was rough and uneven. I had the Jake brake on the high setting and kept our speed at 50mph.

West of Wallace, Idaho, a light rain began. Of course, I just spent hours cleaning the coach and wheels. The coach was already dusty from going through construction zones during Monday’s drive on MT200. The drizzling rain made a mess of the exterior.

We had another pass to cross before we reached Coeur d’Alene – 4th of July Pass. Again, I took it easy and climbed in fourth gear and used the Jake brake to control the descent. The engine temperature stayed cool and pulled us past semi tractor-trailer rigs as we climbed.

We programmed Tamarack RV Park as our destination in Nally (our GPS). Nally has been super-reliable and I rarely question her directions. This was a rare case where I knew something wasn’t right. She took us into a private road with narrow residential streets. I could see on the screen that the road we were on was a dead end.

I quit listening to her directions and looked at the map on the screen. I made a turn at the next intersection, which looked like it would connect to a major road. Donna phoned the RV park for directions. We weren’t far off. For some reason, the GPS was taking us to the back of the park where there isn’t a way to enter.

Once I got out of the private residential development, I was on Kathleen Avenue. I could see the road we should have been on, a quarter mile to the west. We turned south on Government Way and found the park entrance.

The Tamarack RV Park has nice, paved roads. But there are many trees and tight quarters. We’re in one of the largest pull-through sites here. It took a lot of jockeying back and forth to get the trailer lined up and position the coach where I wanted it.

As I began to set up, I plugged our Progressive Industries Electrical Management System (PT50C) into the pedestal. It registered an error and showed 255 volts! I saw a park maintenance man and called him over. He had me plug into a couple of other pedestals. It registered the same fault every time. He told me the last pedestal I tried was wired to a different circuit.

This made me think the PT50C might be the problem. I checked the power pedestal with a multi-meter and found 122 volts on each leg of the 50 amp circuit. My PT50C was the problem. I think it was damaged by the over-voltage occurrence at the 50,000 Silver $ Park.

I plugged us straight into the power pedestal without the PT50C and continued setting up. Donna made our site comfortable with the mat, chairs and flower pots on the table cloth-covered picnic table. She also added decorative lights along the edge of our site.

Donna relaxing at Tamarack RV Park

Last night, I grilled chicken breasts with strawberries. Donna drizzled the chicken and strawberries with a balsamic reduction and served it with a side of mixed grains – red and gold quinoa, brown rice, amaranth and wild rice.

Grilled chicken and strawberries

There are lots of trees in Tamarack RV Park – pines, firs and spruce. I don’t see any tamaracks though. The trees are blocking the Dish Network satellite signal. I’ll have to rely on the park’s cable TV. I hope I can tune in the Moto GP race this weekend.

Lots of trees here

This morning, I placed a call to Progressive Industries and told them about the problem with my PT50C. They told me that an internal component fried, causing the 255-volt reading. They said to ship the unit to them with a note describing the issue. They will replace the circuit board and reseal the unit and ship it back to me. No charge. Now that’s good customer service.

Donna is out riding on the Northern Idaho Centennial Trail. When she returns, I think I’ll get my bike out.