Category Archives: Elks

Rolling the Dice

We’ve been without wheels since the Spyder came up with a dead cylinder Sunday afternoon. I detailed my diagnostic process in the last post. The new ignition coil module was supposed to come in on Wednesday, but when I checked with Valley Motorsports in Eugene, they told me the part wouldn’t be there until Thursday between 11am and 1pm.

Donna talked to our neighbor, Mickey, and found out that he and his wife were going to Roseburg Thursday morning. They said they could drop me off at Enterprise Rental Car in Roseburg. I called and reserved a car for pick-up Thursday morning.

I picked up the car around 9:30am and headed north – it was about an hour drive to Eugene. I had checked a map of the city and had a plan. First I stopped at Costco where I bought a few items including a new camp chair. It’s a folding director’s chair with a folding side table – not something I could easily carry on the Spyder, so I took advantage of having a car.

Next I went to the west side of town and checked out the Walmart. I wanted to see what the overnight parking situation looked like and I also needed to pick up aluminum drip pan liners for the Weber Q. From there I went to the Elks’ Lodge to see what it looked like for an overnight spot. The west side Elks’ Lodge is a no go for RV parking. The lot is tight and shared with several other businesses. I was hoping to find a place to dry camp Monday night so we could be close to Source Engineering in Veneta, Oregon where we have an appointment Tuesday morning.

After a quick stop for lunch at Taco Time, I found Valley Motorsports at 12:30pm. They said they would call when the part came in and I hadn’t heard from them yet. I checked at the parts counter and was told the day’s parts shipment had just arrived and was being checked in. I was going to sit in the waiting area and read a book while they did that, but a guy came out with my part after about three minutes!

I was 99% sure the ignition coil was the culprit for the lack of spark in the rear cylinder, but there was a small chance that it could be a fault in the Engine Control Module (ECM) which sends a signal to the coil pack. I couldn’t test for this signal without the proprietary B.U.D.S. computer program that’s only found at Can-Am dealers. Ignition components are not returnable once they’ve been installed. I rolled the dice and paid for the $170 coil pack.

An hour later, I was back at Timber Valley SKP Park and got to work. Mickey stopped by and offered to follow me to Roseburg when I returned the rental car. I told him that with any luck we’ll use the Spyder to get back from the rental car agency.

Well, my luck ran out on me and my roll of the dice was a loser. The coil pack didn’t fix the problem. I have no choice now but to take it to a dealer where they can interrogate the ECM and run through the diagnostic protocol to see why the rear ignition coil isn’t receving a signal. I know the primary voltage and grounds are good and the coil is new, so it must be a loss of signal to fire the coil that is the root of the problem. I took Mickey up on the offer to pick me up at the rental agency in Roseburg.

I have a coil pack for sale!

We’ve extended our stay here until Monday. Tomorrow morning I’ll drive the coach to Les Schwab in Sutherlin and have the tires replaced. Monday we’ll move to Richardson Park Campground on Fern Ridge Lake, just north of Veneta. After we have the work performed at Source Engineering on Tuesday, we’ll head north. Our original plan was to go to the coast, but now that’s changed.

We plan to get to my oldest daughter, Alana’s house in Arlington, Washington by the end of the week. From there, I can have the Spyder transported to the dealer in Mount Vernon and we’ll hang out in Alana’s driveway until it’s fixed. Sometimes the best laid plans go awry.

The days here have been warm – in the mid-80s until yesterday. Yesterday, the high was in the low 70s and a few rain drops fell in the afternoon. It rained overnight and showers continue today off and on. I need to bicycle into town at some point to pick up a general delivery package at the post office. We’ll be mostly homebound until we get the Spyder repaired. We’d hoped to check out some of the wineries and other sights around here, but that’ll have to wait until next time.

No post is complete without a dinner plate photo. On Tuesday, Donna prepared tortilla-crusted tilapia. This time she served it over a smear of avocado puree on the plate before she added the fish and salsa. She served corn with cilantro on the side.

Tortilla-crusted tilapia

Cat’s Eye Surprise

I haven’t posted for a full week and the days seem a little blurry. We’ve been on the move since we left Maine in July with only a few week-long breaks. We left Indio, California Friday morning and made a short run to Hemet. It was an easy drive west on I-10 to Beaumont where we hit CA79 south to Hemet and the Golden Palms Village RV Resort there. We’ve stayed at this place a couple of times and I always forget how tight the sites are. We had a back-in site where we dropped the trailer and parked our coach next to it.

Tight sites notwithstanding, this park has some amenities we like. First off is pickleball – they have four courts and are in the process of building six more. This early in the season, the courts aren’t crowded, but once the snowbirds arrive they’ll be full. Donna and I played on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings  and had a lot of fun. They also have three swimming pools – Donna enjoyed time relaxing and swimming. The weather was hot – 100-degree highs so pickleball was an early morning activity.

Friday night Donna made shrimp with fennel and feta for dinner – this is always a favorite. She served it over spaghetti squash – a major player in her Bright Line Eating Plan.

Shrimp with fennel and feta

On Saturday she went to Stater Brothers grocery store and bought pork chops. This is something we rarely have. She pan fried them and served them with cauliflower fried rice. Cauliflower rice is an interesting dish – it’s cauliflower that she shreds in her food processor and it then substitutes it for rice. It’s a pretty convincing act as the cauliflower fried rice tasted authentic. Again, this dish fits her eating plan.

Pork chop with cauliflower fried rice and broccoli

We had some difficulty maneuvering the trailer out of our site when we left Hemet on Monday morning. While I was looking things over and formulating a plan, I noticed the right rear tires had low air pressure. Our rear dual wheels are linked with a system called Cat’s Eye. This system uses an air hose attached to the valve stem in each of the dual tires. It has a valve that will isolate the tires from each other in the event of a sudden pressure drop, so if a tire blows, they both won’t go flat. It also has a yellow ball in the valve mechanism that’s split in half. When the tire is inflated to a pressure higher than the set point, the two halves of the ball close on each other and the ball looks solid. If the pressure is below the set point, the halves separate and look like a cat’s eye. This set-up allows me to inflate both rear duals at the same time and ensures they are at equal pressure.

Cat’s Eye system

I saw the cat’s eye and knew we had to be below 90psi. I assumed we had run over a nail or screw exiting our site. I checked the pressure and it was only 73psi – we run 95psi in the rear tires. I got our Porter-Cable air compressor out of the basement compartment and filled the tires to 97psi. I wasn’t feeling too good about it as I didn’t know how fast it was losing air. The tire was fine the day before.

As we pulled out of Golden Palms Village RV Resort, I remembered the Les Schwab tire store half a block down across Florida Avenue. I pulled in there. I asked a guy there if they work on RV tires – he said they did. I told him what the issue was and he had me park the coach on the side of their shop where they had a roll-up door and air fittings. They were on it right away. A guy jacked up the coach and removed the wheels. This isn’t easy – the lugs nuts are torqued down to 450 foot-pounds and it takes a large. heavy-duty pneumatic impact wrench. Then you have to manhandle the wheel and tire which weigh over 120 pounds each.

He dunked the wheels in a large water tank and couldn’t find a leak. He thought the Cat’s Eye was leaking, but he couldn’t test it.

Leak didn’t show in the water tank

I put my air pressure gauge on each tire to see if one had a lower pressure than the other. When I put it on the inner wheel, I saw bubbles blowing around the valve stem. I showed it to the guy. The valve stem had worked loose. I don’t know why it was loose and why the bubbles didn’t show when he dunked it, but it was definitely leaking. He fixed the valve stem and put everything back together. I asked him how much I owed and he said, “Nothing – just remember Les Schwab next time you need tires.”  I tried to give him a tip for the hour he spent wrestling with our wheels but he wouldn’t accept it.

By the way, our Toyo 295/74 x 22.5 tires have over 37,000 miles on them and they still look new. These tires routinely run 200,000-plus miles on commercial trucks. I’ll have to replace them in a couple of years due to age – motorhomes typically don’t wear tires out.

37,000 miles and the tread still looks new

We rolled down I-15 and made our way to the Elks Lodge in Chula Vista. We had one more night before we could check in at Mission Bay RV Resort. Tuesday morning we drove to Mission Bay but arrived too early for check-in. So we waited in the parking lot at De Anza Cove. Donna took the opportunity to ride the Spyder up Clairemont Drive to Sprouts and stock up on groceries. I’d reserved our favorite spot – site 112 and we pulled in right at 1pm.

Site 112

We say we don’t have a home base – we don’t own a house or have stuff in storage anywhere. But, this is our sixth year at Mission Bay and we stay here typically for three months. We also spend the rest of winter in Mesa, Arizona – another three-month stay. So, if we have a home base I guess it’s here or in Mesa.

Yesterday we had a few clouds and the high temperature was 73 degrees. Overnight the low was 63 degrees. Today we expect cloudy skies and a high of 72. The next few days should be a little warmer with clear skies. This is why we come here!

 

*Just so you know, if you follow one of my links to Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and  I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

 

The Heat is On

Last Friday, Donna and I rode the Spyder down from our camp site to Williams. Historic Route 66 runs right through town. It’s split into two one-way streets a block apart with most of the businesses on the eastbound street. The old downtown area is a mixture of old west and Route 66 memorabilia tourist traps. We walked the length of the district from 5th Street to Slagel Street – a distance of about six blocks and back before stopping for lunch at El Corral. I should have heeded the sign which proclaimed “Fine Mexican – American Food.” I have a rule to never eat at a restaurant that boasts Chinese – American cuisine – I guess that rule should extend to Mexican – American. My meal was average at best. Donna enjoyed her taco salad though.

The main drag through Williams

We packed up Saturday morning. We loved our boondocking site in the national forest here but we had a couple of reasons for moving on. First of all, we wanted to find full hook-ups so Donna could catch up on laundry. We had been without a sewer hook up since we left Cañon City. We don’t run the Splendide washer/dryer when we aren’t on a sewer hook up because it uses too much water and would fill the gray water tank. We also planned to meet up with friends and family before we hit San Diego, so we needed to allow a few days for that.

Our boondocking site was about 7,000 feet above sea level. This meant we had cool nights with the temperature dropping to about 50 degrees. We like cool nights with a window open and a down comforter on the bed. Our route west on I-40 was mostly a downhill run. When we reached Kingman, 100 miles later, we were at 3,000 feet. We stopped there to get the coach washed at a Blue Beacon truck wash. It turned out to be long wait – they only had one wash bay and we were seventh or eighth in line. It gave Donna a chance to fix a salad for lunch and an hour later we were on our way.

We left I-40 at exit 9 and took AZ95 south to Lake Havasu City. Lake Havasu sits at an elevation of about 500 feet above sea level. We drove to the Elks Lodge east of town which is higher ground – about 1,100 feet above sea level. The Elks Lodge had full hook-ups and plenty of space to accommodate us without dropping the trailer.

The lake below the Elks Lodge – photo from Donna’s early morning run

We traded high elevation for high temperatures. The weather in Lake Havasu was clear, sunny and hot. The daytime highs were about 105 degrees and it only dropped to about 80 degrees at night. We had both roof top air conditioners running full-time.

Donna cooked up a nice meal for dinner. She made chicken thighs sauteed in white wine with onions and herbs and served over roasted cauliflower slices with garlicky spinach on the side. Delicious.

Chicken thigh with onion and herbs over roasted cauliflower

Donna found pickleball in Lake Havasu City, so Monday morning we rode the Spyder to the community center and played several games. It was great – the players were all friendly, the games were competitive and we had a lot of fun. I’m really liking my new Paddletek Paddle.

We left Havasu Tuesday morning around 10 am and headed south to Parker, Arizona where we crossed the Colorado River and hit CA62 west. We took this quiet route through the desert – the road surface dipped and rose like a roller coaster through some areas. We were familiar with this route as Donna and I traveled it many times while touring on our motorcycles. There’s a stretch that runs parallel to a railroad track for miles and people have created graffiti out of light and dark colored stones and wood rail ties along the sides of the rail bed. It’s amazing how many people have taken the time to spell out their names or put up symbols in the middle of an otherwise empty desert.

If we continued west on CA62, we would eventually hit Twentynine Palms and Joshua Tree National Park, but we turned off onto CA177 and veered south to Desert Center and I-10. This took us up to the divide at Chiriaco Summit which separates the Chuckawalla Valley from the Salton Sea basin at an elevation of 1,706 feet above sea level. From there it was mostly a downhill grade to Indio.

We stopped at the Indio Elks Lodge and have 30 amp electric service and fresh water. We are the only rig in their RV park. Our purpose for stopping here is to visit friends – Kris and Tom Downey. They spent about three years on the road and now live here. Kris picked us up and we went to see their new house, then went to dinner. It was taco Tuesday night. Kris and Tom picked up the tab – thanks again for the tacos and beer!

It’s a little cooler here at night than Havasu was, but we’re still in the desert. Today Donna is going with Kris up to Idyllwild in the San Jacinto Mountains above Palm Springs. They plan to poke around town and maybe do a little hiking – the elevation there is 5,400 feet above sea level so it should be cooler. I plan to make a Walmart run, then stay indoors and read – the temperature here will be around 100 degrees this afternoon. Tomorrow we’ll move on to Hemet, California.

 

Standing on the Corner

We were packed up and ready to roll out of the La Plata County Fairgrounds in Durango, Colorado before 10am Wednesday. Our first stop was only a few miles south of town as we made a short detour on US160 west to the Giant Travel Center. They have a free dump station there, so I dumped and flushed our holding tanks. I’d filled the freshwater tank before we left the fairgrounds. Full fresh water and empty holding tanks – that’s how we like to roll. While I was at it, I stopped at the pumps and topped up our fuel tank – they had a good price on fuel – $3.15/gallon.

Our route took us south on US550 to Aztec, New Mexico. This route follows the Animas River. At Aztec, we hit NM516 to Farmington. I attempted to make a stop at the Walmart in Farmington for provisions but the lot was fairly full and trees made it a challenge to maneuver through. We rolled on south on NM371. In hindsight, I wish we would have taken US64 west to Shiprock. The route south on NM371 entailed a shortcut through Navajo land on BIA5. You know what the deal is with shortcuts – they’re never easy. If it was easy it wouldn’t be a shortcut – it would be “the way.”

BIA5 had little traffic but the surface had some serious frost heaves. It was so severe that launching over a frost heave flung all of the clothes in our closet off the hanger rod! Eventually we hit US491, which is a good road, and made our way to Gallup. There were elevation changes along the way, mostly rising and falling between elevations of 5,000 and 6,000 feet above sea level. The wind picked up out of the west-southwest. We made our Walmart stop in Gallup – it had a much easier lot for us to park in.

From Gallup, we headed due west on I-40. This is high desert country – mostly scrub land with distant mountains and rock formations. Like most desert areas, it isn’t as flat as it appears. You travel through a series of basins – gently climbing out of a basin only to start dropping into the next one.

We gained an hour as we crossed the Arizona border. At this time of year, Arizona time is the same as Pacific Daylight Time. When the clocks change back to standard time, Arizona will be the same as Mountain Standard Time – Arizona doesn’t change their clocks.

We stopped for the day at the Elks Lodge in Holbrook. Holbrook isn’t the most scenic stop – it’s more high desert scrub. For some reason I was picturing Holbrook as more mountainous with pine trees – I guess I was thinking of Heber-Overgaard. We were the only rig there and had a quiet night. This Elks Lodge wasn’t very active.

We pulled the slides in around 9:30am Thursday morning. Ozark the cat had already assumed her new favorite traveling space under Donna’s seat. Ozark takes note of us making the coach ready for travel and hides under the passenger chair. We left her there for last several weeks as we travel and it seems to be less stressful for her to ride where she’s comfortable.

We made a stop 30 miles west at Winslow. Again I topped up the fuel tank at the Pilot/Flying J there, then we parked on the street by the historic La Posada Hotel. We took a walk through the historic district and I bought a breakfast burrito at Las Marias cafe – it was disappointing as it was mostly filled with potato. It had very little chorizo and I couldn’t find any egg in it.

Historic downtown Winslow

Second Street, pictured above, is the old Route 66. When I came through here in 1976 – hitchhiking my way from San Diego to Longmont, Colorado – this was the highway across Arizona and into New Mexico. I-40 didn’t exist here at that time. I remember the town as a small settlement maybe three or four blocks wide with a truck stop, a few shops and lots of Native American people.

Now Winslow relies on tourism and has gone somewhat upscale. I think it’s a little sad that the town’s claim to fame comes from the 1972 Eagles hit song “Take It Easy” written by Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey. Here’s a short excerpt from a Wikipedia post:

According to Frey, the second verse of “Take It Easy” refers to a time when Jackson Browne’s automobile malfunctioned in Winslow, Arizona, during one of his trips to Sedona, requiring him to spend a long day in Winslow. In 1999, in responding to the lyrics that made it famous, the city of Winslow erected a life-size bronze statue and mural commemorating the song at the Standin’ on the Corner Park.

Of course photo ops abound around the park.

Donna taking it easy

Me, standing on the corner

We continued west on I-40 and as we neared Flagstaff, we were finally in pine forests. Off to the northwest, we could see Humphrey’s Peak – at 12,633 above sea level, it’s the highest point in Arizona. People think Arizona is all desert with saguaro cactus, but the north part of the state along the Mogollon Rim is high country with forests.

We crossed the Arizona Divide at 7,335 feet above sea level and pulled off I-40 at Williams. The main road through Williams is again part of the old Route 66. Williams is surrounded by the Kaibab National Forest. Our intention was to find dispersed camping on public land here. Donna found a reference to a camping area at the Benham Trailhead. We found it, but there were several rigs in close proximity there. We locked up the coach and walked across Perkinsville Road to another forest service road called Dogtown Road. We found a few likely sites there.

Dispersed camping in this area is free and you can stay up to 14 days. You are supposed to camp within 30 feet of established roads and can’t bushwack your way into the forest. As we walked back to our coach, a guy camping near the trailhead offered some advice. He said the trailhead area was noisy – we figured as much with so many rigs there. He said to go down Dogtown Road and look for a site on the south side of the road. He told us that cars and ATVs travel the dirt road during daylight hours and kick up dust – which the wind carries across the north side of the road. We followed his advice and found a good spot. There was a small trailer already parked in this particular spot, but the woman traveler it belonged to invited us to pull in as she would be leaving in the morning. She and Donna had a nice chat yesterday afternoon and said their goodbyes this morning. We plan to stay for a couple of nights. We’re at an elevation of 7,200 feet above sea level.

Our spot in the Kaibab National Forest

Meadow view from our window

I’ve mentioned the Bright Line Eating plan that Donna’s following. The night before we left Durango, Donna grilled turkey burgers. I had mine on a toasted onion ciabatta roll with avocado slices. This is what a Bright Line Eating plan turkey burger looks like.

Donna’s turkey burger salad

Last night, Donna made blackened tilapia and served it with sauteed veggies. She added a serving of spaghetti alfredo to my plate. Even when we’re roughing it dry camped in the forest, we still eat well.

Blackened tilapia, sauteed veggies and spaghetti alfredo

After dinner, we sat outside. I puffed a cigar and we stargazed. There isn’t much of what astronomers like to call light pollution, so the sky was filled with many more stars than you’ll ever see in a city. The temperature dropped fairly quickly – the overnight low was in the upper 40s.

Today’s forecast calls for a high of 81 degrees. The wind will pick up throughout the day with gusts over 20mph this afternoon. Tomorrow should be more of the same after an overnight low around 50 degrees. I think we’ll move on to Lake Havasu City tomorrow where it’ll be warmer, but we’ll be on full hook-ups and can run the air conditioners.

 

Million Dollar Highway

After our excursion to Black Canyon National Park, we were kicking back when I heard the sound of drums. Then I heard a bass picking up the beat, soon a few other instruments joined in. I walked across the Elks Lodge parking lot and saw a stage had been set up at the golf course across the street and a band was doing sound checks. Donna checked online and found a concert series sponsored by the city of Montrose with their last performance of the season scheduled for that evening – right across the street from the Elks Lodge! Two bands were scheduled to play and admittance was free.

First act onstage

We brought a blanket and sat on the grass. They had beer from a local brewery – Horsefly Brewing where we had lunch earlier – and a few food trucks. The first band was loud and played some original music and spacy covers of material that was almost unrecognizable. They were good – the lead guitarist seemed to be from the Frank Zappa school with chromatic scale solos hitting about a thousand beats per second. The second band also had original takes on covers that featured a reggae or ska beat. They had a horn section with a trombone, saxophone and trumpet. Good times.

Saturday morning we went into town for the farmers’ market. Donna wanted to stock up on veggies. I expected to find hot breakfast there, but there wasn’t any food service at 9am. I ended up walking to City Market for a plate of biscuits and gravy.

It was time to light the fires and kick the tires and we headed out shortly before 11am. Our route took us down US550 south. We wouldn’t leave this highway until we reached Durango. About 40 miles south of Montrose, we made a stop at Ouray. This small town is tucked in a narrow valley with towering mountains and canyon walls surrounding it. It sits at an elevation of about 7,800 feet above sea level. I found parking on the side of the road on the north end of town.

Parked in Ouray

It looks like we’re parked uphill – we were! Nothing is level in Ouray. We walked through town – uphill and checked out the shops. Crossing Main Street was also an uphill walk – the road crown is incredible. We popped into a shop along the way. Donna found a purse she couldn’t leave without and I bought a T-shirt.

Purple Peacock building in Ouray

US550 south of Ouray is known as the Million Dollar Highway. It’s a fairly challenging drive with steep grades, narrow lanes without shoulders and sharp curves and switchbacks. Speed advisories of 15mph on the switchbacks were the norm and we even saw one curve with a 10mph advisory. The speed limit is only 30mph for much of the way – it made me wonder why a slow vehicle turnout was necessary. We started with a steep climb out of Ouray and immediately passed through a tunnel – it was marked 13’10” clearance so we were okay.

13’10” clearance

Donna shot a few photos of her windshield view. I was concentrating on the road and didn’t get to see much of the views which she said were spectacular.

Fall colors

This high up in the mountains the aspen trees were already displaying fall colors.

Red Mountain – above the tree line

The first summit was the highest – Red Mountain Pass at 11,018 feet above sea level. From there we dropped into Silverton only to climb again to Molas Pass at 10,910 feet above sea level. After dropping down from Molas Pass we climbed again to Coal Bank Pass at 10,640 feet above sea level.

Keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel

From there it was a downhill run into the Animas River Valley. We saw a runaway truck ramp and I commented on how it must be a heart-pounding moment when a driver decides to leave the highway and plow into a gravel trap.

A little while later, I thought I caught of whiff of something I didn’t like. I casually asked Donna to crack her window open. I smelled it again – hot brakes. I was perplexed. I hadn’t used the brake pedal all that much – I relied on the Jacobs Engineering Engine Compression brake most of the way. The Jake brake works well at controlling our downhill speed – I only used the service brakes for some of the sharper turns.

I slowly applied the brake pedal and my heart was in my throat as the pedal sunk to the floor, barely slowing us down. The brake fluid must have been boiling. There wasn’t any traffic to speak of, so I wasn’t too worried about having to make a sudden stop. But we were only about 10 miles from Durango and traffic would surely build and we would have to stop in town.

I still hadn’t said anything to Donna. I saw a slight uphill grade ahead with a wide shoulder. I slowed down with the Jake brake on high. I pulled off and pumped the brake pedal to build some pressure and got us stopped. Donna didn’t know what was up. I went outside and found the right front brake was overheating – the caliper must have stuck and been dragging. I told Donna what the issue was. I didn’t want to alarm her by telling her of the trouble before I got us stopped.

I let the brakes cool for a bit, then reversed and tried stopping. The brakes were fine. I had reversed to look for any sign of fluid leaking, but our spot was dry. We got back on the road. The brakes were back to normal and the caliper didn’t seem to be dragging. I’ll have to look into it further.

We’re at the La Plata County fairgrounds in Durango. The office is closed on the weekend but Donna made prior arrangements to reserve site 2. We maneuvered through the crowded parking lot without too much trouble and went past the rodeo arena, dropped the trailer and set up. We’ll pay up on Monday. The weather forecast calls for sunny days with highs in the low 80s and overnight lows in the high 40s. A passing shower is always possible around here, but no significant rain is in the forecast.

Rocky Mountain High

Wednesday night was our second and last night at Mountain View RV Resort outside of Cañon City. Donna prepared a Moroccan chicken kabob dinner she served over grilled veggies and rice (brown for me, cauliflower rice for Donna). We really like Mountain View – the park is well-maintained, clean and quiet and set in a beautiful location. And the owners are super nice.

Chicken kabob

Thursday morning as we prepared to leave I looked at the low clouds obscuring the nearby mountain top with some trepidation.

Low clouds

Our route across the Colorado Rockies would take us west on US50 over Monarch Summit at an elevation of 11,312 feet above sea level. I was concerned that we might encounter low visibility and there’s always the chance of sudden thunderstorms with heavy rainfall and high winds. We left a little after 10am to get over the pass by noon – the thunderstorms usually form in the afternoon. We started out at an elevation of a little over 6,000 feet above sea level, but quickly dropped into the Arkansas River gorge about 1,000 feet lower.

The scenery was breathtaking as we climbed. The last four miles to the summit are a relentless 7% grade. Driving big rigs at altitude can be difficult. Steep climbs at high elevation hit you with a double whammy. The air is thin, reducing power output at a time when you need all the power you can get. This is especially troublesome with naturally aspirated engines relying on atmospheric pressure to fill the combustion chamber with air. I’m not aware of any gasoline powered coaches that have forced induction (i.e. supercharging or turbocharging). Our Cummins ISL diesel has a turbocharger that can mitigate the effect of the thin atmosphere.

But, there are limitations. The Holset turbo on our engine is sized for performance, including excellent throttle response and good power output. However, at elevations above about 9,000 feet above sea level, it can’t completely overcome the lack of oxygen. At lower elevations under normal atmospheric conditions, it produces a little over 25 psi of boost, packing air into the combustion chamber to allow peak power. The last four-mile grade to Monarch is above 9,000 feet and we only developed about 20psi of boost. Turbochargers with larger compressors are commonly used in piston-engine aircraft for power output at high altitude, but those engines typically run at a constant RPM and throttle setting. A large compressor wheel on a motor vehicle would result in a lag in throttle response, poor drivability and a very narrow powerband.

I dropped the transmission down to third gear and let our speed fall to just under 40mph with the engine spinning 1,900 rpm. This kept the big radiator cooling fan turning quickly and also had the water pump spinning, moving the coolant quickly through the engine and radiator. The coolant temperature held at a steady 195 degrees.

Once we reached the summit, we quickly dropped about 3,000 feet of elevation. I used the Jacobs Engineering compression brake (Jake brake) to hold our speed down on the rapid descent. We didn’t encounter any adverse weather conditions and had great visibility over the top.

Our route took us past the Blue Mesa Reservoir at an elevation of about 7,500 feet. We had another short, steep grade up to Cerro Summit at 8,042 feet above sea level where we had full power and held good speed.

Our destination was the Elks Lodge at Montrose, Colorado. We arrived by 2:30pm after fueling up in town. We set up a dry camp in their lot before a thundershower came in. We had a quiet evening with passing showers. I watched some of the US Open, then turned to the first NFL game of the season. It was a bit of a yawner from my point of view.

This morning, I unloaded the Spyder and we headed out –  backtracking on US 50 about seven miles, then turning north on CO347 to the entrance of the Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park. It was about 15 miles total to the park entrance. Black Canyon was designated as a National Monument in 1933  and redesignated as a National Park in 1999.

Black Canyon was formed through erosion from the Gunnison River. The river drops an average of 34 feet per mile through the entire canyon making it the fifth steepest descent in the country. At Chasm View, it drops 240 feet per mile. By comparison, the Colorado River drops an average of 7.5 feet per mile through the Grand Canyon.

Black Canyon has steep walls – nearly vertical in most areas. The average drop from the rim to the bottom is about 2,000 feet. We followed the south rim trail and made several stops to hike to viewpoints and take a few photos.

I tried to capture the fall-like colors on the mesa above the canyon. The scrub oak, balsam and berry plants had various shades of red, yellow and orange. The mid-day sun washed the color out of the photos.

On the way out, we turned off at East Portal Access Road. This steep road drops all the way down to the river. It has to be one of the steepest roads I’ve been on with tight turns and a rough surface. It was slow going. Donna likened it to an amusement park ride.

It’s no joke – I think it was steeper than 16% in places

At the bottom, there’s a pool where they divert water from the Gunnison River through a long tunnel to irrigate land around Montrose. The tunnel, built between 1905 and 1909, is 5.8 miles long and it’s been in use since then. In the winter when the water is low, the tunnel is closed off for inspection and maintenance.

Pool in the Gunnison River near the diversion tunnel

We came back to town famished around 1:30pm and stopped at the Horsefly Brewery for burgers. I paired my Southwest Burger with a red ale. Donna had her burger without the bun.

Tomorrow morning we’ll continue our two-night stop-over plan with a drive to Durango. We plan to make a short stop in Ouray – the locals here in Montrose pronounce it YOU-ray – to look around. Then we’ll continue south on the Million Dollar Highway over Red Mountain Pass at an elevation of 11,018 feet above sea level. We plan to stay at the fairgrounds in Durango for two or three nights.

 

 

 

 

Cañon City and Royal Gorge

I mentioned Donna’s Bright Line Eating Plan in an earlier post. It involves weighing food portions and also getting the required proportions of protein, grain, veggies and fat. That doesn’t mean we don’t eat well though – sometimes Donna tweaks things for my serving and it’s all good. Monday night Donna made a meal called pizza chicken. For this recipe, she fileted a chicken breast then pounded it flat – this takes the place of a pizza crust. She topped it with marinara sauce, pepperoni and shredded mozzarella cheese. She served my plate over spaghetti noodles while she used spaghetti squash for her serving.

Pizza chicken

Tuesday morning we said our goodbyes to Dave and Stilla and hit the dump station before leaving the Colorado Springs Elks Lodge. We were out of there before 11am and made a stop at the Walmart on the south side of town. Later, Dave sent me a photo Stilla took of us in the lodge Saturday night.

Donna, Corliss, Marvin, me and Dave (Stilla Hobden photo)

Our route took us down CO115 to US50. We lost elevation as we made our way to Cañon (say “canyon”) City. Cañon City sits at 5,343 feet above sea level. Our destination was about 7 miles northwest of town where we’re at an elevation of 6,300 feet above sea level. It’s a steady grade after you head out of town.

We stopped at Royal View Campground – they have the highest Good Sam rating you can get – 10/10/10. We weren’t impressed. The entry was narrow and the sites weren’t level. We left and backtracked a few miles to Mountain View RV Resort and we’re glad we did. This is a very nice park with level sites – we’re in a long pull through. The campground is covered with pea gravel and the sites have concrete pads with picnic tables and fire rings. It’s super clean and quiet and the views are great.

Donna manned the Weber Q  and grilled pork tenderloin she seasoned with cumin, allspice, and cinnamon and she served it with roasted Brussel sprouts and acorn squash. We didn’t go anywhere as the clouds were threatening and it was windy – thundershowers came through into the night.

Pork tenderloin

This morning we headed out on the Spyder and rode to the Royal Gorge Park just a few miles away. The Royal Gorge is a narrow canyon – about 300 feet across at the top – with a maximum depth of 1,250 feet. At the park, there’s a suspension bridge crossing the gorge and also a gondola and zip lines. We passed on the $27/person fee to get to the bridge and gondola and hiked the rim area instead.

The Royal Gorge was cut by the Arkansas River which  originates here in Colorado and flows southeast through Kansas, Oklahoma and – you guessed it – Arkansas where it drains into the Mississippi River. The end of the gorge is outside of Cañon City – about two miles west from the center of town. It’s about six miles long in a northwesterly direction and ends near US50.

Royal Gorge suspension bridge on the right, red gondola crossing in the center

Arkansas River in the Royal Gorge from the Rim Trail overlook area

Donna at the Rim Trail overlook area

An old locomotive – engine 499 built in 1902 – is displayed outside the Royal Gorge visitor center. The train never ran up at the top of the gorge – the narrow gauge track runs along the bottom alongside the Arkansas River. They have a two-hour tourist train ride through the gorge from Cañon CIty.

We left the Royal Gorge and rode the Spyder back down US50 toward Cañon City and cut off at Skyline Drive. This is a one-way route built in the 1930s with the use of prison labor from the Colorado Penitentiary. It heads southeast up a hogback ridge of sandstone and ends in Cañon City. It’s a little under three miles long and has several pullouts on the narrow one-way road. The road doesn’t have guardrails and the ridge drops steeply from either side.

Narrow road, no guardrails

Pullout on Skyline Drive

The road ahead from the seat of the Spyder

View of Cañon City from Skyline Drive – historic downtown in upper center

We stopped on Main Street in old downtown Cañon City and walked around.

Historic downtown Cańon City

Before we came back home, we stopped at Walmart for a couple of things we forgot to buy in Colorado Springs.

The high temperature today was about 72 degrees with a few afternoon showers and brief periods of sunshine. Tomorrow we plan to head west. The forecast looks favorable although sudden thunderstorms can happen at any time in the high mountains. We will certainly be in the high mountains as our route west will take us over Monarch Summit with an elevation over 11,000 feet above sea level.

 

Labor Day at the Lodge

It’s hard to believe it’s Labor Day 2018. The year has flown by – paradoxically, when I think back to when we left Arizona in the spring and all we’ve seen and done since then, it seems like a long time has passed. I’ve mentioned this warped sense of time on the road before.

On Friday morning, Zee the camp host stopped by to talk to a few of us. She was anticipating a lot of visitors and traffic at the lodge over the weekend – there were a couple of events planned. She wanted to shuffle all of the big rigs to the south end of the lot. A Monaco Windsor belonging to Ken was behind us. He was waiting for a rig to pull out of one of the hook-up sites so he could move there. Once he did that, I would back our rig into the space he previously occupied. Our neighbor Marvin would move his Country Coach and trailer bedside us. We had a plan, we just needed to wait for the site to open up so all of the dominoes could fall in place.

Donna went for a walk and when she returned she told me there was a fly in the ointment. Someone had dropped their trailer right behind us. I saw them pull in, but didn’t pay much attention. I knew they left only a few minutes before Donna returned. I went outside to look and saw they parked so close I couldn’t even load the Spyder if I needed to.

Blocked in

They had dropped their travel trailer, locked it up, then put cones in the parking spots around it so no one would block them in and left. One of the cones had a phone number on it. I phoned and a woman answered. I told her what the problem was and we needed them to move their trailer. She was short  in her answer – it was around 1pm and she said they would be back at 5pm.

Later I saw Zee and told her why I wasn’t moving yet. She said she had told the woman to park alongside the Windsor, not between us.  When the trailer owner returned at 5:30pm, she was nasty and yelled at Donna telling her I was the “biggest a$$hole around.” Donna calmly asked her if she was trying for second place. Anyway, they moved and we all got situated.

Earlier, my friend Dave Hobden offered his Indian Chieftain for a test ride. I took him up on it. I took a short ride up to Palmer Park and back. What a nice motorcycle. I’ve only had one cruiser style bike – a Victory Vegas – but I’ve ridden several. This Indian is by far the best of the bunch I’ve ridden.

I put on a helmet before I hit the road (Dave Hobden photo)

On Friday night, our neighbors Corliss and Marvin Delameter told me they had a problem. They planned to leave Saturday but an intermittent electrical problem wouldn’t allow them to start the engine. It started once, but when Marvin turned on the dash ventilation, it killed the motor and then he had no electrical power. He cleaned his battery posts and connectors, but it was dark by the time I talked to him. The camp host told him that mobile RV technicians were in short supply and he would probably have to wait a couple of weeks for service. I told him I would stop by and have a look in the morning.

It turned to be a real head scratcher.  Dave Hobden came over and offered his assistance as well. It’s always good to have another set of eyes and a different perspective on a tough problem. A couple of factors complicated the troubleshooting. First, it turned out to be more than one problem. Secondly, the schematic in the Country Coach manual was misleading. The wiring harness color codes on the schematic didn’t match the actual wiring, making it difficult to sort out. After chasing our tails for a while, we found the ignition switch was faulty. Testing it showed inconsistent resistance. It would vary from 0.5 ohms to 12 ohms. So we replaced the switch – it’s a standard GM style switch. The engine fired right up. Then we turned on the dash vent. It died and we were back at square one.

Assume the position (Dave Hobden photo)

Eventually I found a faulty solenoid that supplies power to the ignition fuse panel. The strange thing was, the solenoid would click every time the key was turned to the run position which seemed to indicate it was working. But, internally the contacts were compromised and would only pass current intermittently and once it was working, any additional electrical load would make it break contact. I replaced the solenoid and all was good. All together we spent about six hours troubleshooting and repairing. Marvin and Corliss invited Dave, Stilla, Donna and me to join them for beer and pizza in the lodge – their treat. They stayed an extra night and pulled out on Sunday.

I settled in front of the TV on Sunday. First up was the Formula One from Monza, Italy. Then it was the US Open tennis. Donna’s friend Ann Koerner came by and picked her up. They went hiking at the Garden of the Gods. They hiked about five miles and had spectacular views. Here are some of Donna’s photos.

Snow on Pikes Peak in the background

It’s steeper than it looks

We planned to visit our friends Brad and Jessica Rice at the Labor Day Lift Off balloon glow where they were displaying their balloon, Hearts A’Fire. We crewed for them here the last two years and three years at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. We didn’t know we would be here on Labor Day again, it just worked out that way. I hadn’t made any plans to crew this year. By the time Donna showered and we had dinner, it was getting late and we weren’t up for the event.

We’ve had scattered thundershowers daily – sometimes the showers were heavy for brief periods. There’s a 30% chance of a shower today and tomorrow with cooler highs of about 70 degrees. We plan to head out tomorrow – maybe we’ll stop in Cañon City. We have about 22 days to get to San Diego and we’re keeping things flexible until we get there.

 

Speedco Not So Speedy

We extended our stay at the Boulder County Fairgrounds in Longmont, Colorado by two days – giving us a full week there. It wasn’t that we had any great plans, it was more a case of we needed time to plan. We had a look at route options, things to see and do and also find some opportunities to boondock along the way.

That’s one of the nice aspects of life on the road – you can adjust your variable expenses along the way. Our spring trek from Arizona across the country to Maine and back again to San Diego by the end of September means we’ve had higher than average fuel expenses. One way to offset that is to find free or nearly free campsites. Conversely, when we’re in San Diego we pay high campsite fees to be in the location we want to be in, but we’re stationary for a few months and don’t have fuel costs.

I mentioned Donna following the Bright Line Eating plan, so we didn’t go out to eat at all. The plan is working for her and I encourage her to stick with it. But, that doesn’t mean I’ll forgo some snacks or happy hour! Last week we stopped at a nearby taproom that was unique. I went there again Wednesday afternoon. It’s called Brewmented and it’s not your usual small craft brewery. Their core business is homebrew supply. They have everything you need to brew your own. They also serve beer they’ve made in small batches – they use a one-barrel system so they can only brew about 30 gallons per batch. They constantly rotate their beers so you never know what you might find on tap. Typically they have six to eight brews available on tap.

Donna’s eating plan doesn’t mean she can’t put tasty meals on the table. Tuesday she had the slow cooker going all day and made a pot of beef and bean chili. It was delicious.

Beef and bean chili

I made a second trip to the laundromat on Wednesday. We’ve been without a sewer hook-up since we left Sioux Falls, so we don’t use the clothes washer on board – it would use too much water and fill the gray tank. I know I’ve said it before – Donna says there’s nothing sexier than a man doing dishes. I wonder how she feels about a man doing the laundry. (Donna here: It’s even sexier!)

We had a plan when we pulled out on Thursday. First I stopped at the fairgrounds dump station and dumped and flushed out holding tanks. I had already filled our fresh water at our site. We drove to the Elks Lodge in Northglenn – a Denver suburb. We planned to drop the trailer there, then proceed to Speedco in Commerce City about 10 miles away. The Northglenn Elks Lodge has eight sites with water and electricity. I looked at it online and the satellite view looked good.

When we pulled in, it turned out to be not so good. The parking lot was packed – every space had a car in it. As we drove through, I noticed the windshields of all of the cars had writing on them. It appeared that the Elks Lodge lot was being used as an impound yard.When I got to the end of the lot, I had a problem. There was a tall, large-diameter metal pole on my right and I needed to make a sharp right turn to exit. The exit lane was narrow and had a cement barrier. There was no way I could make the turn without either hitting the pole with the trailer or hitting the barrier with the coach.

I had to reverse across the entire length of the lot between the rows of impounded cars, then I backed the trailer around a corner and had a straight shot back onto the street. Then I had another issue – the driveway sloped to the gutter and the trailer jack dragged as we crossed into the street. Grrr!

We continued down the road to Speedco. I dropped the trailer in their lot and we had the coach in the lube bay by 12:15pm. I needed to have it serviced. I was concerned about the condition of our motor oil. On long climbs where the oil temperature rises, we’ve been experiencing lower than usual oil pressure. I was thinking that the overheating problem we had in New York might have oxidized the oil and resulted in breakdown of the oil.

I’ve used Speedco since we bought our Alpine Coach. A few years ago, I could get the oil and filter changed, plus fuel filter and chassis lube for under $200. Then last year they raised their prices and it cost me about $250. Then Love’s Travel Center bought Speedco. This may have been a good acquisition for Love’s, but it’s not so good for customers. There were only three or four guys working in the lube area. All three bays had vehicles in them and there were at least four heavy duty trucks waiting to get in. No one touched our coach for the first twenty minutes. Then a guy in the pit below removed the oil drain plug and also took an oil sample – I’d ordered a used oil analysis. The the guy disappeared and no one touched the coach for next 20 or 30 minutes.

I couldn’t understand it. I talked to a trucker who told me he’s been getting his truck serviced here for years. He said it used to be great – good service and in and out quick. He said they had experienced crews manning each bay. When Love’s took over, they reduced employee benefits, took away accrued vacation time and reduced pay. Everyone quit. Now they have an inexperienced crew, low morale and no one is motivated. It took over two hours for them to change my oil and lube the chassis – usually about a 30- to 45-minute job. The cashier was a rude and surly woman. And the cost was $340! I think I’ll need to find an alternative in the future.

My used oil analysis confirmed my fears. Oxidation was high but a few of the other findings have me perplexed as they seem contradictory. I’ll have to study it a bit more before I can draw any conclusions.

It was close to 3pm by the time we got out of there. The trucker gave me a tip on the best route south out of the Denver area. We went east to I-225 and followed it south past Cherry Creek Reservoir where we picked up I-25. This cut out a lot of the city traffic, but we still had periods of stop-and-go. I-25 was no picnic at that time of day with unexplained slow downs.

We crossed Monument Hill at an elevation of 7,300 feet above sea level and dropped into Colorado Springs. We pulled into the Elks Lodge here around 4:30pm. We’re dry camped in their lot along with three or four other rigs. Their water and electric sites are all taken.

We met up with our friends Dave and Stilla Hobden. They’ve been here for the summer in their Alpine Coach. We got together for happy hour in the lodge. It turned into dinner, then after dinner drinks with cigars for Dave and me. It great to catch up with them. They’ll be here for a another month or so. We plan to stay over the weekend, then head out.

The forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies, warm today with the temperature reaching the low 80s – mid 70s for the rest of the weekend. We’re at an elevation of a little over 6,100 feet on the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains. Weather here can change quickly and there’s always the chance of afternoon thunderstorms.

A Curious Thing

We left the Lusk Elks Lodge Tuesday morning around 11am. Before we pulled out, I walked to the Subway sandwich shop on the corner of Main Street. I took a sandwich with me for lunch on the road and we headed south on US85. This highway has light traffic and a smooth surface. It runs south through large cattle ranches. In much of Wyoming, you’re likely to see more antelope than people – as my buddy Jimbo would say, “That ain’t a bad thing.”

Our route took us through Torrington, one of the larger towns in the area with a population of 6,700. As we headed back into ranch land, a curious thing happened. We were in one those areas with little traffic and few people when two motorcycles approached in the oncoming lane. The lead motorcyclist raised his arm and gave a wave as they passed. I wasn’t sure what that was all about.

A few minutes later, my cell phone rang, but Donna couldn’t pick up the call – we had spotty cell service. About 20 minutes later, I stopped in a rest area so Donna could make a salad for her lunch. I checked my voicemail and had a message. It was from my friend and fellow Alpine Coach owner Dave Hobden. He was the motorcyclist waving at me on US85! I could hardly believe it – here we were in a remote area of eastern Wyoming and we pass each other like two ships in the night. He said he recognized our rig from a quarter mile away. He was on a road trip to Rapid City with a friend.

Eventually, US85 bends to the southwest. It was windy – the wind was coming from the southeast so we had a crosswind. It was a steady 20+ mph breeze so it wasn’t too hard to handle. Gusty winds can be a handful, but this was okay. We hit I-25 south and drove a few miles to I-90 east and found our way to Sierra Trading Post on Campstool Road. Sierra Trading Post has a large facility here – it houses their headquarters and fulfillment warehouse as well as a retail store. They have a marked RV and truck parking area with stalls about 90 feet long and they welcome RVers. This was our destination for the day.

We set up in their lot and Donna went shopping. She can spend hours in their store browsing through clothing and trying on clothes, especially when they’re having their annual summer clearance sale! She also checked us in at the fulfillment center – they like to know who’s in their lot and keep contact info. We were the only rig in the RV/truck area. A guy stopped by and talked to me. He was a former full-time RVer and is planning to get back on the road soon. He and his wife had to get off the road after five years to attend to her fathers health issues, but he said they weren’t ready to stop traveling yet. It turned out he was the fulfillment center manager and he told me we were welcome to stay as long as we wanted.

Later, a couple of other rigs pulled in to shop and spend the night. We had a quiet and uneventful night. On Wednesday, I shopped in the retail store and bought lunch at their counter – it’s mainly for employees but they serve the public as well. Most of the cars parked in the two lots are employee vehicles – I don’t know the number, but a lot of people work at the headquarters and warehouse.

We decided to hang out and spend another night. Thursday morning the weather forecast called for a cold front to move into the area and bring high winds – gusts up 50 mph possible by afternoon. I dumped and flushed our tanks at the Sierra Trading Post dump station and we headed out by 9:30am to beat the wind. I had talked to a trucker the night before and he strongly recommended staying on US85 and avoiding I-25. He said due to some construction and low speeds in a couple of towns, the trip might take 15 minutes longer, but he said I-25 was a crap shoot once you get past Loveland. Wrecks, distracted drivers making crazy maneuvers and whatnot were a constant on I-25. We followed his advice after topping up on diesel fuel at the Pilot/Flying J down the road from Sierra Trading Post.

We pulled into the Boulder County Fairgrounds in Longmont, Colorado before noon. We were happy to find open pullthrough sites. They don’t take reservations here – all sites are first-come-first-served and they only have eight pullthrough sites. I paid for five nights but we may extend. We have 50 amp electrical service and fresh water, but no sewer. They have a dump station that we’ll use when we’re ready to leave.

After setting up, I got our DISH satellite dialed in – there is a Moto GP race this weekend and also a Formula One race. I set up the Weber Q grill and Donna took over. She’s becoming quite the grill master. She cooked herbed bone-in chicken thighs and also grilled patty pan squash with onions and peppers. She served it with steamed spinach. Donna’s following a strict diet called Bright Line Eating – so we don’t always have the same meals together. Last night it worked out fine though and the dinner was delicious.

Grilled bone-in chicken thigh, grilled veggies with feta cheese and steamed spinach

High barometric pressure has moved into the area. We can expect mostly clear skies and temperatures reaching 90 degrees. The humidity is low – in the teens. There is some haze over the mountains to the west, but the reports of smoke from wildfires in the west seem to be exaggerated a bit. Typically at this time of year, a passing afternoon/evening shower comes from the mountains in this area, but nothing remarkable is in the forecast.