Category Archives: Western RV/Alpine Coach

Friends from Ohio

Last week, Donna heard from her friend, Kris Downey. She and her husband, Tom, came up from Ohio and bought a lot of our books (for resale) and Donna’s huge book shelf when we were selling everything back in Michigan. Donna and Kris met through SendOut Cards.

Since then, after becoming empty-nesters, they sold their house and almost everything in it and hit the road this past November. They are also here in Mesa, so yesterday, we scootered east on University Drive to their site at Viewpoint Golf and RV Resort.

Of course, after our initial greetings, we got the grand tour of their new Winnebago Journey motorhome. When they originally planned to sell their home and go nomadic, they bought a 2004 Itasca motorhome. But every time they took it out for a shakedown, something would fail. After several trips to the repair shop, they decided to trade it in for the new 2014 Winnebago before they left Ohio.

2014 Winnebago Journey

Brand new coaches often have a few teething problems at first. They had an issue with the heat pumps that kept them in Chattanooga and altered their travel plans. They made it to California after a cross-country dash and were in Menifee at Thanksgiving – the same time we were there!

We went out for lunch at the golf course clubhouse restaurant, Fat Willy’s. We lingered and talked for a couple of hours there, then returned to their coach. Tom and I talked RV stuff while Donna and Kris caught up with each other and enjoyed some girl talk. Talking sports or gearhead stuff with me doesn’t do much for her.

Tom, Kris, Donna and me with their dog, Rigby

It was an enjoyable afternoon. Later, while Donna tried to catch up on some work, I scootered over to Lucky Lou’s where I found all the usual suspects. John Huff and Leendert Hartoog were there along with Mike and Jodi Hall and Stan. I enjoyed a cold oatmeal stout from Odell Brewing in Fort Collins, Colorado. Very tasty. We planned to meet up again today for an early Friday afternoon happy hour.

Donna prepared a new dish the other day. She made chicken breast stuffed with sun-dried tomato pesto. It’s a mouthful to say, but it sure adds a nice flavor to a chicken breast. Donna says it was easy to make and the recipe is a keeper.

Chicken breast stuffed with sun-dried tomato pesto

It was so good, I thought I should post a picture since I forgot to add it to my last post.

We’re in for another sunny day with clear skies. The temperature should reach the low- to mid-70s. Might be a good day for a bike ride.

Squeaky Clean

It rained as predicted on Tuesday. The clouds pushed off to the east and it cleared up around 3pm. This was good since we were invited to an outdoor potluck dinner at 5pm.

Donna prepared chicken quinoa salad for the potluck. I dug into pasta, enchiladas and pizza while we met our neighbors. Most of them are snowbirds who return to Orangewood Shadows every winter. There are about 475 sites here and it seems like everyone knows each other. We were recognized as newcomers. It was interesting and a fun social evening.

Of course the rain undid the wash job I had done on the coach in Casa Grande. Yesterday I broke out the Werner telescoping multi-ladder and went to work cleaning the coach. I used the waterless washing liquid that our friends, Dave and Lynda Campbell, recommended. It’s called The Solution. I used it once before when we were in San Diego. It really works well. The first time I washed the coach with it, I used more than a quart to clean the coach. Lynda told me it shouldn’t take that much and over time I would use less. She was right.

I brushed the dust and dirt off the coach with a California Car Duster. Then I sprayed a fine mist of The Solution on sections of the coach and buffed it with a microfiber cloth. I did the entire coach, from the roof crown moldings to the bottom of the basement, including windows and wheels with about 1/2 quart of The Solution.

By the time I dressed the tires with 303 Aerospace Protectant, four hours had gone by and I was whipped. The coach looks great and there’s no rain expected any time soon. I’ll wait for a day or two before I wash the trailer.

Our home looking good

After cleaning up, I rode the scooter over to the Red, White and Brew on Power Road. This is one of my old favorite haunts. I stopped in on Monday after we set up and found my friends Leendert, Jodi and her sister Jackie there. Jodi’s husband, Mike, was under the weather and didn’t come out. Yesterday, none of the old crowd was there. I’ll need to get into the loop and figure out where they are on different days of the week. I know they go to Lucky Lou’s and maybe another place or two. Red, White and Brew is still my favorite though – good food, great beer selection and friendly service.

I unloaded Donna’s bike from the trailer yesterday and she went out for a short ride – her first ride in three weeks. We have good access to quiet roads with bike lanes. I think I’ll set up my mountain bike today and ride the canal trail. Maybe I’ll ride down on Main Street where all of the RV lots are and kick a few tires. I don’t have any intention of moving out of our Alpine Coach, but it’s fun to see what’s on the market.

On the Roof Again

After posting to the blog yesterday, my first priority was finding EternaBond tape to seal the crack in the roof I wrote about. I rode the scooter down Pinal Avenue to The RV Store. It wasn’t much of an RV store despite the name. The guy behind the counter had never heard of EternaBond.

I rode north to an RV lot, but they didn’t have it either. When I came back to the Casa Grande RV Resort, I saw a truck advertising RV roof repairs and a man and a woman setting up a ladder and equipment next to a motorhome. I stopped and asked them if they had any EternaBond they could sell me. The guy said he didn’t have any with him, but they had some back at the shop if I wanted to stop in next week. I told him we would be in the Phoenix area next week and that maybe I should just wait and get it there.

He asked me why I needed it. I described the ridges over the roof bows and told him there was a hairline crack in one of the ridges. He asked me where my coach was. When I told him it was just around the corner, he said, “Wait a minute.” He dug around in the back of his truck and then set up a tube of sealant in a caulk gun. He told me the acrylic sealant was an industrial-grade product – not something I would find in an RV store or Home Depot. He said I should lay a thin bead of it over the crack and smooth it down. He claimed it would adhere and stay pliable for years. He gave me the caulk gun and said to use it, then put tape over the tip and bring it back to him.

When I got back to the coach, got the ladder out and climbed up on the roof, I was in for another surprise. Yesterday, when I was up there, it was late in the day. The sun was low. The guys were power washing and the roof was mostly wet. When David, the wash guy, told me there was a crack, I wasn’t able to get a really close look – I could just make out what he was pointing at from where I was standing.

Today, the sky was overcast. I was on the roof at noon and the surface was clean and dry. With the flat lighting, the ridges weren’t very noticeable. I think the low sun yesterday made the small ridges cast shadows, exaggerating their form. With the roof clean and dry, I got down on my hands and knees and examined the crack. It turned out be surface checking in the gel coat – a cosmetic crack. Yesterday, when David pointed to the surface crack and said my fiberglass was cracked, I took his word for it and thought we might be in for big trouble. Today, I feel much better knowing it isn’t a structural problem. I still believe the deformation of the fiberglass is the result of the stress I described yesterday – it’s just not as severe as I feared.

For peace of mind, I put down a bead of sealant over the gel coat crack. While I was at it, I sealed up a couple of other fittings on the roof. Then I returned the sealant and caulk gun to the roof guy. They were doing a complete roof reseal on a 40′ National Islander motorhome. That was one of the coaches on my short list when we bought our Alpine Coach.

By the time I was done, Donna was heading out for a tour of Caywood Cotton Farm. A group from the RV park had booked the tour. Donna rode there with a couple from Saskatchewan, Keith and Dorann, and Keith’s mother, Marian. The tour took the whole afternoon, so I stayed home to watch the NFL playoff games.

Donna took pictures of the tour and learned a lot about the cotton industry. I’ll post her pictures after we settle in Mesa. Tomorrow is a move day, so I probably won’t post again until Tuesday.

Up on the Roof

Have you ever been stopped in your vehicle on a bridge or overpass while a large truck or bus passes by? If so, you probably felt some movement beneath you. That’s because the composite structure of steel, concrete and asphalt that the bridge or overpass was constructed from was flexing! It’s hard to imagine tons of concrete and steel flexing, but nothing is 100% rigid.

When engineers discuss the relative rigidity of a solid material, they call it the modulus of elasticity or Young’s modulus. Different materials have different properties, including their modulus of elasticity. When a force is applied to the material, it will deform. If the resultant stress is within the elastic range of the material, it will elongate or compress, then return to its original state. If the range of elasticity is exceeded, the yield point will be reached and the result is plastic deformation, meaning the material will not return to its original form. If the stress is high enough, ultimate tensile strength can be exceeded and will result in a sudden breakage and release of stored elastic energy.

I told you all this so I can describe an unexpected finding yesterday. I had our coach washed by a local service, David’s RV Wash, that uses deionized water. I wanted the roof thoroughly cleaned. When David climbed onto the roof, he called me over and said I should see something. I climbed up the ladder and was shocked by what he showed me. Our one-piece fiberglass roof was deformed. It had raised ridges in the fiberglass over several of the supporting roof bows. One of the ridges had a fine crack along the top.

Fiberglass roof deformation over roof bow

It looked like the roof support bows had risen up into the fiberglass or the roof itself had sunk into the bows. I’ve been up on the roof of our coach many times and never saw this before. The last time I was on the roof was in July, about five months ago.

I tried to imagine what could have caused this damage since July. After giving the matter much thought, I have a theory. When we were at the Row River over Labor Day weekend, I had a mishap when I was trying to level the coach. This mishap was the result of our leveling jacks working erratically – something I’ve fixed since then.

Here’s what happened. Our site wasn’t level – the coach was in a nose down attitude. And we were on soft ground. I stacked two blocks under each of the front jacks and one block under each of the rear jacks to keep the jacks from sinking into the soft ground. I thought stacking blocks in front would help, allowing the coach to be leveled without extending the front jacks excessively.

Due to ground issue on the HWH hydraulic system control box (that I was unaware of at the time), the auto-level function wasn’t operating properly. When I initiated the auto level, the jacks over-extended abruptly, completely lifting the coach. With the wheels off the ground, we had no parking brake. The coach slid forward, off the blocks.

When the jacks slipped off of the blocks, the coach lurched forward and down into the ground. The jacks dug into the dirt, suddenly stopping the forward and downward motion of the coach. This violent force must have created enough stress for the frame rails to flex. The upward flex of the rails was transferred to the superstructure of the coach, raising the roof bows. At the same time, the sudden stop also flexed the fiberglass roof downward due to inertia.

The contact between the fiberglass roof panel and the roof bows exceeded the elastic range of the fiberglass and it yielded. The resultant plastic deformation created the ridges in the fiberglass roof panel. Meanwhile, the high-strength steel frame and superstructure were within their modulus of elasticity and returned to their original form.

When this mishap occurred, I inspected the jacks and frame under the coach for damage and found minor damage on one jack – which I posted about here. It never occurred to me that the force would result in stress and deformation on the roof. It’s the only explanation I can come up with.

Today, I’ll go to the RV shop and buy EternaBond to repair the crack. I’ll keep an eye on the rest of the roof and hopefully no further damage will be forthcoming.

Windy Night

We had pleasant weather yesterday. The temperature reached the mid 70s with a light breeze. I started the day with a free waffle, coffee and orange juice breakfast at the clubhouse.

I shared a table with a group of people from Nebraska. They’re all retired and spend their winters here. They talked about the cold nights and the amount of propane they’ve been going through in the last month. We have a 42-gallon propane tank that I’ve only filled once. We’ve used a little over a quarter of a tank in a year. I asked one of the guys how big his tank was. He said it was 22 gallons and he needed to fill it again less than a month after the last filling! I guess they must have their thermostats set high with the furnace running all night.

We prefer to turn the heat off when we go to bed and get under our down comforter and quilt. It’s cold in the morning – the temperature in the coach these last few weeks has ranged from 47 to 60 degrees, but we’re warm and snug in bed. We turn on the heat pumps when we get up to bring the temperature back up again. We used the furnace a couple of times at Hidden Shores when the outside air temperature was too cold for the heat pumps to run efficiently.

I also have to wonder about the level of insulation in their rigs. Our Alpine Coach has good insulation and dual-pane windows. The roof is five and a quarter inches thick, the floor two and quarter inches and the walls are two inches thick.

After lunch, I went back to the clubhouse for a meeting. I haven’t had a meeting on my calendar in several months! It’s probably more accurate to call it a discussion rather than a meeting. It was roundtable discussion with a facilitator. The subject was full-time RVing. The attendees were full-timers and those interested in becoming full-timers. There were approximately 40 people there, less than half were full-timers. I attended to see what I could learn.

I spoke on a couple of topics – more than I thought I would. There were some misconceptions regarding domicile. I spoke up and explained why and how to establish a domicile state and the pitfalls that can arise if you leave connections to your last state of residence. It was interesting to me that all of the full-timers there, except for one, chose South Dakota as a domicile state. I expected to see Texas and maybe Florida represented. The one person that wasn’t domiciled in South Dakota was from Nevada and still calls it home. I also spoke a little on the subject of banking on the road and why I keep accounts in two different financial institutions.

There was plenty of discussion around various state laws. I showed the State Lines app from the folks at Technomadia. This app takes a lot of the guesswork out when you cross state lines. The discussion lasted for about an hour and a half.

I spent the rest of the afternoon kicking around the park and meeting neighbors. It was so nice out, I sat out side and read for an hour. Then I caramelized red onions on the grill before I grilled a salmon filet. Donna served the salmon on a bed of arugula with the red onion on top. It was different and quite tasty!

Grilled salmon with carmelized red onion over arugula

Grilled salmon with caramelized red onion over arugula

I should have paid more attention to the weather forecast before we went to bed. I woke up at 11:30pm to the sound of our window awnings banging about. Wind gusts up to 30mph from the east were flapping the awnings hard. I got up, went outside and retracted the window awnings. We have open sites on our east side and no protection from the wind. I could feel the coach rock from the gusts.

It’s still windy this morning, but the wind speed should be down to 10mph or less by noon. We’re thinking about taking the scooter out for some sightseeing this afternoon.

Truck Conversions

It gets cold overnight here. The temperature drops to the high 30s, but the day quickly warms once the sun rises. Yesterday was beautiful with clear blue skies and a high of 73 degrees.

We rode the scooter to Fry’s Supermarket, about a mile and a half north of Casa Grande RV Resort on Pinal Avenue. This is a large supermarket, actually a superstore, with an impressive selection of food at great prices. Donna found things that have been on her list for months like coconut milk without guar gum and sesame-chili oil. Groceries are less expensive in Arizona than they were in California. We had the scooter fully loaded plus Donna had a full backpack of groceries on the way home.

Later, I rode north on the scooter again to check out the Casa Grande Municipal Airport. It’s a small general aviation airport surrounded by the usual light industrial parks. Pretty sleepy – I only saw one plane in the air. I picked up a case of water on the way back. We didn’t have room for it while we were shopping earlier.

While I was taking the trash out to the dumpster, I spied a class 8 Heavy Duty Truck (HDT) that was converted to an RV hauler. I’ve seen one or two of these before. There’s a sub-culture of HDT RVers with their own forums and some great websites. What they generally do is buy a used HDT, usually a Volvo, with 400 to 500 thousand miles on it and have it converted.

The converters usually remove one of the original drive axles – an RV hauler will never haul as heavy a load as the original truck was designed for, so tandem rear-drive axles are unnecessary. They can customize the length of the wheelbase. A new bed with compartments is built on the back of the chassis.

Volvo HDT converted to an RV hauler

Most conversions have a box built behind the sleeper section of the cab, which serves as a tool shed. A smaller fifth wheel plate with air bag suspension is fitted over the drive axle. This particular truck had ramps secured next to rails that a Smart car could fit on. When the ramps are in place, they extend down the side of the truck. The Smart car is driven onto the rails and secured behind the tool shed. The width of the truck is just right to fit a Smart car.

Car ramps stowed and rails for securing the Smart car

This truck has a sleeper cabin behind the driver and passenger compartment. This set-up makes a lot of sense for snowbirds who intend to park their fifth wheel RV somewhere for an extended period of time. The trailer gets dropped at an RV site with hook-ups. The Smart car provides local transportation and the HDT sleeper can be used to make overnight trips throughout the area. The sleeper cab can also be used when traveling and stopping overnight without leveling or setting up the trailer.

Cool HDT conversion

Later, as I walked through the RV park, I saw another truck converted to an RV. This one was a Freightliner Medium Duty Truck (MDT) chassis converted to a super size class C RV by Haulmark. Haulmark buys the new MDT chassis and builds the coach on it. This one had a large living room slide.

Haulmark super class C

Haulmark with living room slide out

The advantage with a super class C is ease of servicing. Other than that, I’m not sure what makes it a great choice. The disadvantage is that the cab and engine compartments take away liveable space. I’ve never driven one, so I can’t say if it’s easier to drive or how it handles.

I enjoy looking at different rigs. Although we’re all RVers, there’s more than one way to go about it. People can be very passionate about their choice of rig and some people prefer to have a bus or HDT conversion that stands out from the crowd.

I lounged outside in the late afternoon and started reading a western novel written by Larry McMurtry. We capped off an enjoyable day with a dinner plate of beef ragu over spaghetti squash.

Beef ragu over spaghetti squash

I plan to do some reading and relaxing today.

What’s in Your Crankcase?

My last post was on New Year’s Day. Here it is, January 6th already. The reason for the break from the blog was Internet connectivity. This can be one of the challenges a full-time RVer faces. We have good Internet through our Verizon Jetpack over 90% of the time. At Hidden Shores, we were down next to the river with steep hills behind and to the right of us. Unfortunately, those hills were between us and the cell towers. I could get a sporadic connection, but nothing stable enough to write a blog post and risk losing it in cyberspace.

January 1st was another cold day at Hidden Shores. The thermometer was stuck in the 50s, but the sky was clear and the wind wasn’t as fierce as New Year’s Eve. Donna braved the elements and went out for a hike on the off-road vehicle trails. She climbed the hill to the northeast of us.

Donna’s hiking terrain

It was an ambitious route. She went all the way to the top of the hill, dodging ATVs along the way.

View to the north from the top

There was an un-named body of water to the north – one of many that flow into the sloughs along this part of the Colorado River. Donna hiked all the way to the water side. She found a canoe hidden by the shore. It had camouflage netting over it. I think it’s a boat used by duck hunters. They hide under the netting and call in ducks. When they are done for the day, they utilize the camo to hide the canoe. That’s my theory.

Canoe stashed near Hidden Shores

I took a short walk to get some fresh air. I snapped a photo at the boat launch area down the street from our site.

Primitive boat launch

Wild burros have been coming into this area at night. We saw one trot past our coach on New Year’s Day. At night they would wake me up at times with their loud braying. We also heard coyotes on the prowl most nights.

The temperature slowly improved over the weekend. Debbie, Bruce and Kim left on Saturday to return home. I spent all of Saturday afternoon and evening glued to the TV, watching the NFL wild card games.

Sunday was more of the same, with the wild card games starting in the morning and the afternoon game at 2:30pm. I also finished reading a Russell Blake novel on my Kindle app over the weekend. After the Cowboys came back to win against the Lions, I took a walk and snapped another shot of the sunset at the boat launch.

Primitive launch at sunset

I also loaded the trailer and dumped the tanks between games and at the half-time breaks. I wanted to make an early getaway on Monday morning.

Donna prepared a crock pot pork tenderloin that was simmering all afternoon on Sunday. It came out tender and oh so tasty.

Crock pot pork tenderloin with brown rice and green beans

Donna set her alarm for 7am so we could make our final preparations and leave by 9am. I slept poorly, dozing off and waking up again all night long. I was slumbering when the alarm went off. We didn’t realize it would still be dark down by the river. The sunrise comes over the mountain behind us. I delayed getting up, but knew I had to get to it if I wanted to hit the road early.

The reason I wanted an early start was to get to Casa Grande, about 180 miles away, by 1pm. I wanted to have our coach serviced there before we checked in to the Casa Grande RV Resort.

We had the slides in, jacks up and trailer hitched just after 9am. Hitching the trailer required precise teamwork. The castering front wheel on the trailer was sunk in the gravel. I couldn’t move it much. I also had a hard time seeing with the rear view camera due to dust on the lens and glare from the sunrise. Donna used her handheld Cobra CB to direct me back and we got the ball on the rear of the coach within 1/2″ of the trailer tongue!

We retraced our steps east through the government proving grounds to US95. I turned south on US95 while Donna programmed our destination into Nally (our GPS). I thought we would have to go back to Fortuna Road, then head south to pick up I-8 east. Nally had us take a stair-step route through county roads instead. We would travel south for a couple of miles, then turn 90 degrees and head east, followed by another 90 degree turn south and so on.

It was a nice route with reasonably smooth, deserted roads through farmland. We skirted around the Gila Mountains, which I-8 crosses, and found ourselves on old US80. This used to be the main thoroughfare from Tucson to California. The road was nice – it ran parallel to I-8 and had no traffic. We had to slow for a couple of small towns, but I enjoyed the drive. I wouldn’t be traveling faster than 62mph on I-8 anyway.

Eventually US80 merged with I-8 around milepost 58. We droned east on the interstate with very little traffic all the way to Casa Grande. We found the Speedco shop where I wanted to have the service work performed. I dropped the trailer in their lot and was directed to enter the shop from the exit side. This put our rear-engined coach in proper position over their pit, which is normally situated to accommodate front-engine class 8 tractor-trailer rigs.

They drained the engine oil, took a sample and replaced the oil filter with a Cummins Fleetguard filter. I had a choice of motor oils – Shell Rotella, Mobil Delvac or Chevron Delo. This is like choosing between a Ford, Chevy or Dodge truck. They all work well, but we all have our preferences. I chose the Chevron Delo 400 15w-40 motor oil. It took 28 quarts (seven gallons)! I thought we held six gallons, but I guess that figure doesn’t include the four-quart filter. They also checked the differential fluid level, lubed and inspected the chassis and tested the coolant. I also had them install the fuel filter I had for the generator, which they did at no charge.

The oil sample was analyzed and I reviewed the results. Used oil analysis can provide tell-tale signs of impending engine trouble or internal damage. It’s best when you have several samples over time to see if any trends are developing. Our sample appeared to be normal with respect to wear metals, contaminates or soot. But the viscosity was below the range for the oil specification. I had a suspicion of this as the hot oil pressure was slowly dropping over time. At idle, I had about 15 psi where I used to see about 20 psi. The minimum specified oil pressure at idle with the engine fully up to temperature is 10 psi, so I was still okay.

The last time the oil was changed, the guy talked me into using his brand of choice – Lucas Magnum. When I noticed the oil pressure drop, I did some research. I found the Petroleum Quality Institute of America had issued an advisory for Lucas Magnum 15w-40 motor due to it testing below the specified viscosity. My results showed a similar viscosity when cold and the hot results were worse. This seems to indicate that the oil suffered viscosity breakdown after only 6,000 miles, probably due to shearing since there weren’t any signs of dilution or excessive contaminates. I won’t be using this oil again! By the way, the recommended oil change interval on our Cummins ISL is 18,000 miles or one year.

We pulled into the Casa Grande RV Resort around 2:30pm. While I was setting up, a guy named Jim introduced himself. He wanted to see if he knew us when he saw our Alpine Coach. Jim and his wife, Debbie, have owned two Alpines – a 2000 model year and a 2003 like ours. Now they have a Tiffin Allegro Bus.

The weather looks great today – around 70 degrees with blue skies and sunshine. We’ll get out and explore a bit.

Looking Back at 2014

The last day of 2014! How can that be? I’m growing accustomed to the time warp that accompanies our nomadic way of life. When I think about today being December 31st, it seems like the year flew by. But when I reflect on all the places we’ve been, the things we’ve seen and the people we met in 2014, I wonder how it all happened in just 365 days.

We’ve come full circle – last year we spent New Year’s Eve right here at Hidden Shores with Bruce and Debbie Bednarski and Pat and Kim Chapman. We left Hidden Shores Village on January 2nd last year and drove up US95 to Quartzsite. We parked the coach in a big, empty parking lot, unloaded the scooter and took off to explore a few RV sales lots. We were on a mission to find a new (to us) coach.

The time we spent on the road in 2013 had taught us a lot about full-time RVing. We had a better idea of our wants and needs in a coach. Donna had certain requirements for the floor plan and interior while I had my powertrain preferences. Donna knew I really wanted Cummins ISL power with a side radiator and two-stage Jacobs Engineering compression brake. So we didn’t waste time looking at anything without it.

We rolled on to Mesa, Arizona and visited RV sales lots there. I had my eye on a few coaches for sale that I’d been watching on the Internet. We finally ended up with our Alpine Coach and have been very happy with our choice.

After we bought our coach and completed the transaction in Blythe, California (for tax purposes) we went back to Quartzsite for the big RV show. It was our first time at the show and we learned a lot there. We also spent a lot of money! That’s where we bought our induction cooktop and the new pots and pans to go with it.

We returned to Mesa, Arizona for a long stint. We stayed until mid-April, enjoying time with friends in the area and doing a lot of cycling. When we left, we didn’t go far. We spent some time at Lake Pleasant, boondocked up on a hill with a spectacular view of the lake. Then we moved on to Congress, Arizona where we became members of the Escapees. We made new friends there and had a blast hiking and exploring the desert. We met fellow Alpine Coach owners, Dave and Lynda Campbell there.

When we left Congress, we found another cool boondocking spot near Sedona before we moved on to Flagstaff where we spent a week. Donna had to fly to New York City for a satellite media tour. But she was only gone for one day. We had a rental car for the entire week and visited the Grand Canyon National Park and also found the Beaver Street Brewery in Flagstaff. Donna did a lot of hiking on the trails near the RV park.

Our next stop was at Lake Powell, north of Page, Arizona. We boondocked on the sand next to the lake at Lone Rock for a couple of days. From there we headed east through the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona and up to Bluff, Utah before we continued on to Moab.

Our timing was poor – Moab had a big off-road event scheduled and the RV parks were sold out. We managed to find a site for one night only before we headed off to Fruita, Colorado (near Grand Junction). We enjoyed our time there. Donna did lots of bicycling and we explored the Colorado National Monument. And Big Al got a transmission service.

Our travels took us west, back into Utah. We stayed at the fairgrounds in Heber, which was a really cool little town, before moving on to Salt Lake City. In Salt Lake City, we stayed at the KOA near downtown with easy airport access via light rail. This worked out great as Donna needed to fly to Phoenix for a conference. We also took the light rail to go out to dinner to celebrate our 8th anniversary.

After Salt Lake City, we spent one night in Idaho Falls before we settled in at West Yellowstone, a few hundred yards from the park entrance. We had a blast there. Donna had bicycling adventures and wild animal encounters in the national park.

In Montana, we spent a few nights off the grid on a friend’s property near White Sulphur Springs. Our next stop was Great Falls where Donna competed in the Montana State Senior Olympics bike race. The race turned out to be a disaster when she did not finish due to tire failure.

We continued westward and found a great free campsite off I-90 near the Idaho border. After a night there, we continued west to Coeur d’Alene where we spent two weeks and were able to cheer on our friend, Allen Hutchinson, who was there to compete in the Ironman Triathlon.

We moved on to the North Cascades and enjoyed time at the Pine Near RV Park in Winthrop, Washington – one of our favorite RV parks. From there we moved on to the west side of the mountains and stayed at Lake Goodwin RV Resort where we spent two weeks and enjoyed many visits with my daughter, Alana, and our grandchildren, Lainey and Gabi.

We worked our way south and found more cool places, like South Bend, Washington – another of our new favorites. Eventually we wound up in Portland, Oregon for an Alpine Coach Association rally. This rally was a precursor to the FMCA rally in Bend, Oregon. We made many new friends at the rallies and caravaned with Dave and Stilla Hobden.

We went back to Portland before we headed south. Our new friends, Scott and Marcia Hicks, invited us to stay at their property on the Row River. It was a beautiful site with full RV hook-ups! Thanks again, Scott and Marcia.

When we entered California, we had a chance encounter with Clarke and Elaine Hockwald. They are fellow full-timers and bloggers. Clarke’s blog was one I’d followed since we first thought about RVing.

Our travels took us to central California where Donna rode in a challenging bike race in Tehachapi before we moved south to another Escapees park near Temecula. This is another favorite place.

We settled in at Mission Bay RV Resort in September and spent three months in San Diego. Whew! That was our year in a nutshell. We covered about 6,200 miles.

Yesterday, I rode my mountain bike through the Hidden Shores RV Resort. I saw trails on a hillside to the north and found a trail head.

Trails on the hill

The trail led into a sandy wash – I thought it would take me to the hillside.

Trailhead into a sandy wash

Before I rode down into the wash, I heard a motorized vehicle. A side-by-side four wheeler came around the corner.

Side-by-side ATV

Good thing I wasn’t blasting down the trail on my bike! The driver stopped and told me there were more vehicles coming. He suggested riding my mountain bike on the narrow trail to the east, where I’d be less likely to encounter vehicles.

Nice, old school sand rail

As I was leaving, I saw a throwback sand rail. This type of dune buggy was popular back in the day – it was powered by a Volkswagen air-cooled flat four-cylinder engine and had VW torsion bar front suspension. The driver went down through the wash. This thing looked like it would be a lot of fun.

Bruce and Debbie arrived last evening. Debbie came down to visit and take a tour of our coach. We’ll be joining them for dinner and New Year’s Eve celebrations tonight.

Green Eggs and Ham

Funny things happen sometimes when you’re boondocking in the desert. As I was doing my walkaround outside the coach in preparation of the day’s travel, a small, single-engine airplane buzzed by directly overhead. What are the odds? Here we were in a remote spot surrounded by miles of desert with no airport nearby and this plane comes right over us at low altitude. I’m not sure what make of plane it was, but it sounded different. As it passed overhead, I realized it was a single-engine turbo-prop airplane. You don’t see that everyday.

Single engine turbo-prop airplane overhead

It was cold in the coach when we woke up – about 52 degrees. We prefer not to have the furnace run overnight. Donna was up first. She started the generator and turned on the heat pumps and the coach warmed up quickly. We pulled out of our little slice of desert around 11am.

Our destination for the day was the Hidden Shores RV Resort on the Arizona side of the Colorado River at the Imperial Dam. When we drove there last year, Nally, our Rand-McNally RVND 7720 GPS, routed us through Winterhaven, then north along the California side of the river. We meandered through several turns along agricultural areas on narrow roads before we finally crossed the river at the dam. This was the shortest route, which I had set in the GPS preferences.

This time, I had a couple of stops planned in Yuma. First we stopped at Walmart for some groceries. We also ate lunch at Subway. From there, I continued east on I-8 to Fortuna Road. I stopped at the Flying J truck stop. Diesel fuel was $2.85/gallon. This is the cheapest fuel we’ve bought since we hit the road nearly a year and a half ago. I topped up our tank and added Biobor JF biocide treatment. This treatment eliminates and prevents hydrocarbon utilizing micro-organisms (Biobor refers to them as Hum-bugs). These micro-organisms are commonly referred to as algae in diesel fuel. They flourish when water is present in the fuel tank and they feed on the diesel fuel. This can cause plugged filters or even engine damage. I’m often skeptical about additives and their claims, but after much research, I’m sold on Biobor. The aviation and marine industries use it as well as the military.

The other thing I wanted to do at the Flying J was weigh our coach. They had a certified Cat Scale that would give us our individual axle weights. I wanted to weigh the coach while I had a full fuel tank and more than 100 gallons of water on board. This would give me our axle weights in the heaviest condition.

I was happy to find we were under the rated axle weights in our worst case scenario. Our front axle is rated at 12,000 lbs – we weighed in at 11,140 lbs. The rear axle is rated at 19,000 lbs – we had a rear axle weight of 18,840. The trailer tongue weight contributed to the rear axle weight – this was troublesome on our last coach. The Dexter axle on our cargo trailer is rated at 3,500 lbs – our trailer axle weight was 3,080 lbs. So, our Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW), which is the sum of the front and rear axle weights, is rated at 31,000 lbs. Our actual GVW is 29,980 lbs. Our Gross Combination Weight (GCW) is rated at 41,000 lbs. Our actual GCW is 33,060. I’m happy to see our weights are within acceptable limits.

The rule of thumb often used for RV horsepower requirement is one horsepower per one hundred pounds. This rule of thumb would put our horsepower requirement at 331hp. I don’t know how this rule of thumb came about or the validity of it, but we are well over this horsepower requirement with our Cummins ISL 400 hp diesel engine.

After getting our weights, we proceeded north on US95, then west on Imperial Dam Road through the military proving ground. This route was fast and easy with no narrow roads or tight turns.

We dropped the trailer in our site (C20), which was bit tricky. Then we jockeyed the coach back and forth as we changed our mind a few times over how we would orient our steps relative to the concrete pad. The pad is raised a couple of inches above the grade of the gravel lot. At first, I had the step behind the pad. Donna was concerned about the pad creating a trip hazard when entering or exiting the coach. I repositioned the coach with the step over the pad. I usually dump the air from the suspension to lower the coach before leveling. But doing this wouldn’t allow enough clearance over the pad to extend the steps.

After a couple of attempts to raise the coach on the jacks for step clearance, I fired up the engine again and pressurized the air suspension. With the airbags at full ride height, I extended the jacks and put some pressure on them to stabilize the coach. Now the steps have clearance and hopefully no one trips on the edge of the concrete pad. Job done!

Step clearance and pad trip hazard

This morning Donna fixed scrambled eggs with diced green chile peppers and cilantro and served them with sliced kumatoes (brown tomatoes) and ham. So I had green eggs and ham for breakfast!

The Internet connectivity is spotty at best here. I hope to have a good enough connection to continue posting. If not, let me wish everyone a happy new year a day early!

BLM Rock Garden

I woke up in the middle of the night. I was stunned at the silence. I didn’t hear anything – no cars, no planes or helicopters, no sirens. Absolute silence. It was just as quiet when I got out of bed at 7:30am yesterday morning.

The desert cooled considerably overnight. The outside temperature had dropped to the high 30s and it was 52 degrees in the coach when we got up. We broke the silence by running our generator to operate the heat pumps, coffeemaker and microwave.

I went out and walked toward our nearest neighbor, at least 200 yards away. I could barely hear our Onan Quiet Diesel generator as I approached his site. I don’t think the generator is bothersome.

Dispersed camping

Donna went for a hike while I watched a disappointing end to the Chargers season. When she returned, she told me she found a site with “improvements.” I didn’t understand what she meant, so I put on my hiking shoes and she led me to the site. There were a couple of motorhomes set up above a dry wash. I could see the ground around the coaches was different. This area of the desert is generally flat and mostly covered with small rocks and decomposed granite. These sites were mostly free of rocks and the ground had a much lighter color.

The occupant of one of the coaches greeted us and invited us to tour his site. It had been built several years ago by his friend, who has since passed away. His friend, Sonny, spent the last four years of his life here hauling in large rocks, raking and leveling the area and then hauling in sand from the wash. After Sonny passed, his ashes were scattered in the rock garden.

He made rock gardens, planted cactus and created rock steps down into the wash. The guy who comes here now with his wife (we never learned his name) has been coming to this site for the past eight years. He told us that a few years ago, a group of visitors tore up the rock garden and piled the heavy rocks in the center of the site. They strung beads and other things in the trees. It was senseless. He rebuilt Sonny’s garden as it was.

Walkway around the rock garden

Barrel cactus, water pan and bird feeders

Cacti and sandy surface

The garden also features bird feeders and hummingbird feeders. A hummingbird landed on a feeder just a few feet away from Donna as we were talking.

This area is public land, managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The BLM frowns on these types of “improvements.” They want the desert to remain in its natural state. I can understand this, but I have to admit the site was nice. With so much area of BLM land, I doubt if they would find or ever do anything about the rock garden.

Later in the afternoon, I heard a loud engine revving nearby. I went outside and saw an ultralight aircraft fly past our rig, no more than 100 feet above the ground. He flew over the hills to the east of us. Later, I heard him returning. He didn’t fly by as close to us this time, but I snapped a picture as he went by.

Ultralight aircraft flying by

He flew off to the southwest, heading for the sand dune area. Presumably, he’s camping there and takes his aircraft out to explore the desert.

We had a fiery sunset, then the desert quickly cooled again. This morning, I heard a train off in the distance, other than that I heard nothing but total silence. We’ll head out later this morning. I plan to make a couple of stops in Yuma for groceries and fuel. Then we’ll drive to Hidden Shores where we’ve booked a site for the next week.

Desert sunset

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Western RV/Alpine Coach

Friends from Ohio

Squeaky Clean

On the Roof Again

Up on the Roof

Windy Night

Truck Conversions

What’s in Your Crankcase?

Looking Back at 2014

Green Eggs and Ham

BLM Rock Garden

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