Bearings, Brakes and Balloons

It was quite an interesting day today.  We got up early, hooked the camper to the truck and headed to an RV repair shop to get the wheel bearings repacked with grease.  On our way to the shop, we realized that the Balloon Festival was in full swing and there were hot air balloons starting to fill the sky.  It was an amazing site.  There were 100's of balloons in the air.  We went out to breakfast while they were working on the camper and I got some bad news.  The company that manufatures the axle assemblies (Lippert), made a bad batch of axles in which the grease was able to leak out of the seals and contaminate the brakes.  Well, I guess that I was one of the unlucky ones that had these bad assemblies.  Three out of 4 of my wheels had grease leaking into the wheel drum and contaminating the brakes.  The repair shop was able to install new seals and grease, then clean the brakes with a solvent to rid the oil.  Bad thing was that it cost me over $600; however, since it was a manufacturer defect, I should be able to get reimbursed. After the repairs, we headed east on I-40 and are presently camping in Tucumcari, NM.  We are adjacent to the historic Route 66.

Below are some of the pictures I took of the balloons: