Historic Silver City, New Mexico…

Yesterday I departed Silver City, New Mexico after a nice 13 day visit. Okay…I could have done nicely without having to rebuild my 1986 Ford Bronco II transmission. But…if you have to breakdown…Silver City is a good place to do it. Thank you again Moose Lodge #1718 for your hospitality.

Historic downtown Silver City. New Mexico is very clean and has lots of nice old buildings including the Silver City Museum detailing the Big Ditch.

I was so busy while there…I didn’t have a chance to show you some photos of the historic downtown area. So here they are…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view...

To see the other 32 photos that I took, click this link…
https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/SilverCityNewMexico

To read all about Silver City, click this link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_City,_New_Mexico

I arrived at Lake Caballa State Park…about 75 miles east of Silver City. I’ll show you those photos tomorrow.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

La Capilla Overlooks Silver City, New Mexico…

Note…I’m currently hanging out in the motorhome at the Moose Lodge in Silver City, New Mexico waiting on the completion of a transmission rebuild for my 1986 Ford Bronco II.

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Last Friday I explored the historic downtown of Silver City, New Mexico. Atop Chihuahua Hill at the south end of the city sits La Capilla…which in Spanish Means “small chapel” It was during the climb of this rather short, but steep, climb that the Bronco transmission revealed it was having problems. Because of these problems, my visit to La Capilla was distracted. While waiting a few minutes for the transmission to cool down a little, I did manage to take these three photos of the nice view of Silver City…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view...

La Capilla is a small chapel. It was securely locked…I presume to protect it from vandalism…

A 180 degree panorama of the Silver City area…

A closer view of downtown Silver City…

To read the complete history of La Capilla, click this link…
http://www.silvercity.org/dest_la_capilla.php

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

It’s Something We Seldom Give A Thought About…

Note…I’m currently hanging out in the motorhome at the Moose Lodge in Silver City, New Mexico waiting on the completion of a transmission rebuild for my 1986 Ford Bronco II

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Much like a light switch on a wall…we flick the switch and presto…there’s electricity! Most folks do not have a concept of the complexities behind that switch that brings the electricity to our homes. And it is indeed a complex system.

Much the same with the automatic transmissions in our vehicles. We simply start the vehicle…put it in drive or reverse and be on our way. Most folks do not have a concept of the complexities of this device that takes the energy produced by an engine and converts it to vehicle motion.

As you saw in the above note I’m awaiting completion of a transmission rebuild for my 1986 Ford Bronco II. Yesterday I spent three hours at the garage where they began the dis-assembly of the transmission. With Nacho’s help I was shown the reasons for my transmission failure as a thrust washer that had broken in to two pieces and went where they were not supposed to be.

Here are some photos…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view...

First the transmission before the start of the dis-assembly process…

Nacho, the mechanic, mounted the transmission casing to a work bench to begin the dis-assembly process…

And then two photos of the major components of the transmission…

The work bench is covered with internal parts from the transmission which is only about one-half dis-assembled at this point…

I’m not sure how many individual parts there are in my transmission…but I guessing somewhere well in excess of 100. And unless they all go together in a very precise manner…the transmission will fail to do its job. That’s one of the reasons that a transmission rebuild is so expensive.

However…I hold no hard feeling against my transmission for needing to be rebuilt. Automobiles are nothing more than mechanical. electrical and electronic components in a single vessel. They work hard to deliver us where we desire to go. After 150,000 miles…I have no complaints. With a little time and a few $’s I’ll once again soon be on my way. We only give it a thought when it doesn’t work.

Nacho is hoping to have it ready for me by Friday afternoon.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

I’ve Been Kind Of Expecting This To Happen…

And yesterday…while exploring the historic downtown of Silver City, New Mexico…it finally happened. My 1986 Ford Bronco II transmission finally quit.

I bought the vehicle back in July, 2009…almost three years ago.

It runs as good as it looks. Last August while summering in Washington State, the transmission overheated while climbing Mt. Constitution on San Juan Island in Puget Sound…leaking a steady stream of transmission fluid. Shortly thereafter I had my good friend and trusted mechanic Mike pull the transmission to install new seals and install a rear main engine seal while he was at it. He did not open the transmission case itself during that function.

Last January the shifting started acting up and I had the modulator valve replaced while in Apache Junction, Arizona. Once again the thought popped into my mind…one of these days the transmission is going to quit.

No problems since then…until yesterday.

While climbing a rather short yet rather steep hill…I barely made it to the top. It felt like a slipping clutch. Once at the top…then it did not want to go forward or backward at all. I let it cool down for a few minutes then checked the transmission fluid level…which was fine.

Since it decided to move once again…I curtailed my exploration activities and managed to get it back to the Moose Lodge where the motorhome is parked about three miles distant. Once there…it once again refused to go forward or backwards. What to do now?

I placed a call to Mike in Washington to get his diagnosis of my problem. It did not come as a surprise. He concluded that the time had come to have the transmission rebuilt. The next question became by whom and where…it’s a Friday afternoon.

I went into the Moose Lodge where the head guy provided me with a local referral. There’s only three places that do transmission rebuilds in this small town of about 10,000 population. The other potential solution was to hook the Bronco II to the motorhome and tow it to the nearest national franchise transmission rebuilders in Las Cruces, New Mexico…125 miles distant. In another call to Mike…I asked him about his opinion on this option and he said…”I wouldn’t let them work on my lawnmower!”

So the decision was made. I managed to drive it to the local transmission rebuild shop about two miles away. I’m hoping to get the Bronco II back by next Friday at a cost not to exceed $2,000. Transmission rebuilds are expensive!

Now for the good news. I could have broken down out in the middle of the toolies where I frequently go. Then I would have had to deal with a tow truck to get me back to civilization. The motorhome is parked at a very friendly Moose Lodge where the head guy says…”No problem…stay as long as you need to!” The Ford Bronco II’s of the 1980′s have a bad reputation for transmission problems. I guess I can’t complain about a transmission rebuild with 150,000 miles on the odometer. A little time and a few $’s and hopefully all will be well once again with my 1986 Ford Bronco II.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

15 Minute Photography Assignment #3

Three days ago I didn’t know I would be doing this. It all began while Mary was away babysitting her two grandsons…my chores were essentially done…and I had a lot of time on my hands. So I ventured out into Mary’s yard with my self-assignment of…take 15 photos in 15 minutes within a circle radius of 100 feet.

Today is my third day with the same assignment. This time all the photo were taken of/on my 1986 Ford Bronco II. I think these photos do a good job of illustrating how a photographer sees things that people who are not into photography miss as they walk through the world.

Reflections have always been a favorite subject of photographers…and I found a bunch. I urge you to click upon these 15 photos that I took in 15 minutes so that you may see them in their larger view…

It’s kind of unusual for me to have a lot of free time on my hands. I know I’m retired, but generally I’m on the go, places to see, people to meet, cleaning, preventative maintenance on both of our vehicles, a good book to read, etc… So, in the future, when I find myself in this mode…when finding something to write about for a daily Blog entry…that problem has been solved. I’ll just assign myself another 15 minute photography assignment and viola!…another blog entry.

I just love being a photographer and a full-time RVer. What a lucky guy I am!

13 days until my departure to the sunny and warm south land. Towards that departure date yesterday I drained, flushed and re-filled the hot water heater on the motorhome. We also started loading basic supplies aboard.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust