Ch.33
Road Warrior Goes Stealth.
I turned the Road Warrior on the exit ramp
of the interstate and started heading up the ramp and I asked Lee if he would
come up front and sit down and see if he could shut down the internet link and
the satellite on this thing as we traveled. Once you have interstate
directions it is pretty much three hundred miles to here and hundred miles to there. Thinking
if I shut the satellite reception off then we will have that part disabled so
no one could figure out our location. I explained this to Lee and encouraged Ann
to shut off her cell phone as well. Lee and I planned on doing the same thing and
this way if somebody is following us it will take a lot more travelling on
their part to catch up with us if they are following our satellite or phone
usage.
Lee looked through the owner’s manual of
the Road Warrior and found out how to disarm the security system on the Road Warrior
and successfully disarmed it with a switch and this showed up on the screen. Next
he attempted to shut off the satellite feed to the internet and tracking
capabilities and then as he flipped the switch I lost power in the Road Warrior
and I immediately yelled to lee
“ Turn it back on.” as the road warrior was
a tank without engine power to run the power
steering and I was still running down
the interstate. Then I was still losing power after he flipped it back on. I thought to myself I needed to get this thing
to the side of the interstate quick . I glanced
in the rear view mirror and the Road Warrior was slowing to a stop and I needed
over off the berm. Luckily I was in the right lane so I just eased the hulk of
the RV to the side of the road and hit my four way emergency lights, and hoped
we wouldn't get rear ended by another vehicle . I still had a foot of the Escape
on the rear of the Road Warrior still on the interstate when the road warrior
stopped rolling. Immediately I shoved the transmission into park as now my
hands were free and turned the ignition and it started back up. Traffic was
light and they were making room for me on the side of the road pulling over and
giving me room , so I killed the 4 ways
and pulled it into drive, turned on my left turn signal , gunned the engine and
was rolling again ,as I started the Road
Warrior again out onto the interstate, knowing we had flipped the wrong switch or
something.
Lee yelled at me, “ That isn't supposed
to happen. “
In the inside rear view I could see Ann’s face
as during this melee as she was looking out the rear of the Road Warrior
wondering when we were going to be hit and alternately exchanging scared glances
with me in the driver’s seat and bracing herself just in case. . Thankfully nothing happened
and all it did was just rattle our nerves.
Lee again said. “I am sure I have the right
button.” As he scoured the pages of the owner’s manual, and then Ann joined as they moved to the couch and they both
checked the schematics and the explanation of each item on the breaker box and
its intended purpose not knowing what was going on. We decided to wait until we were not
travelling down the road at sixty miles per hour before attempting something
like this again. I agreed and I just couldn’t figure out why the satellite is keeping
the Road Warrior running. What if we have a solar flare? Does that mean the Road
Warrior is dead in its tracks wherever we happen to be? None of this made any
sense that they would tie the vehicles performance to such a thing. I could
understand them sending warnings and alarms indicating low oil pressure or how
it was performing at certain times with fuel efficiency monitoring over the
internet to a repair center and this information would be used to repair the Road
Warrior if it needed it. But control of the engine while moving linked to a
satellite wasn’t good.
Any how we decided to wait till we reached a
road side rest or an exit ramp and be off the interstate and not driving before
attempting again. I figured while we still had internet that Ann and Lee could
get on and see if Road Warrior had an internet site or forum for owners seeking
answers and see what popped up in a situation similar to ours. .
They hurried and were on within seconds
and soon found a link and were explaining it to me as I drove along. It gave
step by step instructions as to how to shut down the Road Warriors internet and
satellite system so that it didn't affect the engine. And with this procedure
you could do it while driving.
I looked
to my right as we were talking and in my rear view mirror and I see a white Vulcan
motorcycle with a woman who closely resembled Leann passing me on my left , I looked again and it sure enough looked
like her but I didn't say anything to Lee and Ann because I wasn't quite sure .
I pressed on the fuel pedal to try and get a closer look , but the Road Warrior
with the Escape on the back was no match for her motorcycle and she was soon
gone out of sight. It couldn't be I thought to myself, it wasn't that long
since she had surgery. You mean she is out running already on her bike. No way could
it be her.
At the next road side rest I wheeled in
and we sat there in the parking lot and with the engine running I tried
different things and we finally were able to shut down the internet and
satellite link and have the Road Warrior in a stealth mode. I decided to stroll
on over to the visitors center and was checking the bikes out in the parking
lot to see if I saw Leann’s bike and I didn't . I thought to myself what are the
chances of two women riding the same bike and looking like each other? And I thought
it would have to be good since so many more women have taken to riding their
own bike and getting out from behind the idiots they are with. I tried riding motorcycles
myself but could never understand why they call it freedom of the road when you
are constantly worried about someone pulling out in front of you or a deer
jumping in front of you, or a kid or a dog for that matter. Laying a bike down
always hurts. I couldn't relax enough to enjoy it so finally just gave the idea
up and resolved myself to putting around in my boats as a form of relaxation. I
love it when Babe and I are cruising along the river and she just hangs her head
over the side of the boat and she breathes in the world of aromas coming to her
and looks like she is on some kind of high. High on life I guess. Anyhow I didn’t
see Leann’s bike and soon joined Lee and
Ann as they cooked up an impromptu dinner in the parking lot of the rest area. After
dinner I started the Road Warrior and soon we were moving down the exit ramp. Our
cell phones off and now we were in stealth mode, and time to put some distance
between us and this spot. Hopefully leaving whoever is behind us a cold trail
to follow.
That sighting of what I though was Leann
just seemed to haunt me as I crossed one state border then the next we went
north and passed through Wichita and then turned back on to I-70 and headed
west to Denver. It was dark now as we left the RV place in late afternoon and I
had been driving nonstop. . In Denver I refueled and we headed north out of Denver
on I-25 and soon we were pulling off to an RV campsite at Glendo State Park in Glendo,
Wyoming. It seems as if they have this big huge beautiful lake and are within close
distance of Mt. Rushmore. So we decided to make this our layover point. We had
put in around 875 miles according to the MapQuest directions and Ann was in the
back of the RV asleep as Lee and I took
turns driving to put in over twelve hours to make it this far. We were glad to see
the sign for the turn off into the Glendo RV Center and as we pulled into our
lot I felt a sense of relief. This was a long trip and we did put some miles
between us and our last stop. Surely anyone following would have a hard time
keeping up with us. Especially Leann if by some strange chance she was dogging
me. I doubted it was her though. Within minutes we had the RV set up. It was
morning but I needed sleep bad and so did Lee as we drove all night to get here.
Everything went flawlessly and tomorrow we will be at Mt. Rushmore. One more
item of my bucket list to see.
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