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I was a bit worried these past couple of days. On our way into Las Vegas on Monday, I noticed the transmission acting strangely. What had been a silky-smooth tranny was now occasionally slipping and shuddering in first gear. Did we toast the transmission from too much towing?
I didn't want to say anything about it on the blog until I knew what was happening. This morning I took it in to the local Nissan dealer here in Las Vegas. United Nissan provided me with superb customer service and I felt the truck was in good hands, but I was pretty spooked by the possibility of major transmission repair.
Fortunately, it was not a serious problem. United Nissan called back today to say the problem was merely a leaking line to the transmission cooler. Apparently the fluid level got low enough to cause the symptoms. The Armada does not have a dipstick on the transmission that is user-accessible. Like some other manufacturers, they are moving toward a sealed transmission that is never opened until the recommended service interval. So I haven't been checking the fluid level regularly, nor does the Owner's Manual advise us to do so.
United Nissan believes that the problem was caught in time and no transmission damage occurred. The replacement line was in stock and now we're back in business. I'll pick the truck up Friday after my meetings.
This episode reminded me of how dearly we rely on our truck. Naturally, we're a one-car family, and if our truck is not 100% reliable we could be stranded with a big trailer somewhere that we'd rather not be. So if you've noticed that we seem to stop in for service a lot, you're right. Preventative maintenance and dealing with issues before they become problems are very important. Plus, since 90% of our miles are towing, we maintain to the "severe service" intervals, which means more frequent service than normal. It's worth the small extra cost to be sure we keep cruising the roads trouble-free.
Next major maintenance item will be probably tires. I think we'll be buying a new set around 30-35k miles, based on the current rate of wear. Our tires are loaded to near the Armada's maximum axle weight ratings most of the time, and that means they wear more quickly. At our current rate, we'll need them this fall.
It has been a long day at Roger Williams Airstream but a rewarding one. I am more impressed than ever with these guys. David and Denver work hard and do great stuff.
Yesterday afternoon they weren't able to install a solar panel, but the hard work on the Vista View window was done and it was a real pleasure to wake up to all the cheery morning light coming in through it. Because we need to get going on Saturday, I asked them to get on the solar panel install rather than doing the second Vista View.
In case you are wondering how it works, having guys tear up our home while we are living in it, I'll explain the process. Eleanor and I have been getting up around 7 a.m. this week, and getting ourselves ready for the day. When we've finished with showers and dressing, we open the door and let Denver know we are ready to go. They hitch the trailer to their forklift and slowly tow it into the shop. Emma sleeps right through this process and wakes up later to the sound of air tools.
Today the guys got right on the solar panel job, but it took a long time. David likes to fabricate a mounting for each panel that will survive the hurricane-force winds it will encounter during towing. The aluminum mounting frames he made are riveted and screwed, as well as thoroughly caulked. These mountings get the solar panels off the roof for better cooling, which improves their efficiency.
One of the reasons it took all day was that there was a snafu involving the solar pre-wiring installed by Airstream. The wires weren't where we expected them to be (in the refrigerator cabinet). David, Denver, and Bob were tearing out their hair trying to deduce where those wires were, when Eleanor suddenly volunteered that she'd seen them buried in a lower cabinet during one of her periodic searches for more storage space. That saved the day, because we were about to concede defeat and start running new wires, which would have made it impossible to complete the job today.
In the midst of installation
So the solar system is now operational. It was 7:30 by the time we wheeled the trailer back out into the parking lot, too late for good testing, but the system seems to be working. Even with the sun nearly set, it generated 0.4 amps.
For the record, we installed two Evergreen Solar 115 watt panels, each measuring about 63" long. The rear one had to be installed sideways, which looks a bit odd, but it will work just the same. With the Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) Blue Sky controller we installed previously, we are hoping for up to 20 amps of power in ideal conditions. This ties into the four Optima batteries and the Tri-Metric. The next step is to take it out west and test it in a National Park!
Rich C got a bit of service today too. His rear window was leaking, and in between tasks on our solar panels David got over there to replace the seal. Rich also got a power hitch jack and some accessories. He's a happy camper now. We just have to throw a gadget his way every once in a while.
If you're wondering what Emma does while all this is going on, here's an example.
So we've completed almost everything we came for. The second Vista View will have to wait until we come back again, but otherwise we have completed quite a list: disc brakes, two windows, two solar panels. David will come back to the shop tomorrow to tie up a few loose ends and then we plan to head off to west Texas. We're going to meet Rich C at Caprock Canyon State Park. There won't be any Internet service there -- probably no phone either -- so I may have to catch up on the blog from the highway later.
We broke for lunch and a break for everyone, after the new window was installed. Emma, Eleanor, David, and I all piled into Rich C's trailer and had a lively discussion about pretty much everything. Then Eleanor, Emma, and Rich played Uno while I caught up on some email.
If yesterday's window installation wasn't enough to curdle my blood, you should have seen me watching the process of installing the Vista View windows. Denver and David believe in "measure twice, cut once" but still it was disconcerting to see Denver finally take an air-powered tool to the pristine skin of our Airstream and slice it open.
In fact, you can see some of my reaction on Rich C's video blog. Click on the "VIDEO MOV" link on Rich's post if you have broadband. Denver pulled away a piece of the aluminum and found he'd sliced right through the TV antenna cable. Rich caught the whole thing on video. Oh well, the antenna cable is fixable.
Right now they are just about done cutting. The first Vista View should be going in shortly. Meanwhile, David is working on the mounts for the solar panels. Hopefully one of them will go up on the roof before the end of the working day.
Blog reader Mark W asked for a photo of our flagpole holder. It's made of 4" PVC Schedule 40 pipe with female screw-threaded couplings and screw-in caps on each end. It is big enough to hold all three of the 1.5" diameter collapsable flagpoles we carry.
We used plastic "plumbers tape" (vinyl strapping) double-riveted to the frame, to mount it. Since it could wiggle a bit even with the strapping tight, I also bonded it to the belly pan with Sikaflex caulk. Now it does not move at all. If you do this, be sure to clean the belly pan beforehand.
In the photo you can see a hole drilled in the cap. The threads on these plastic caps tend to stick in place, so the hole is there to allow me to insert a tool (the same one I use for the Rotochoks) and get leverage to remove the caps.
This is an easy do-it-yourself project if you have the rivet tools, drill, jack, and materials. My total cost was about $35 for materials (pipe, pipe cement & primer, rivets, misc).
Literally. The guys spent all day yesterday working out the details of how to install the new "International-style" window over our dinette table. As you may know, late-model Airstream Safaris come with Hehr windows that are, shall we say, lacking when it comes to ventilation. We have long planned to replace one or more of them with the far-superior windows that come on Airstream International and Classic models.
To do this particular window, we had to remove the double overhead locker above the dinette, which necessitated disconnecting my Internet In Motion box, so I've been borrowing Rich C's Internet connection ever since.
Then we ran into a snag. Even though the new window is almost exactly the same size as the one it replaced, the corner radiuses are different. This required some careful work to put extra aluminum in behind the existing exterior sheet, in such a way that it would be hidden by the caulk when finished. David and Denver figured it out and their solution is guaranteed watertight.
The new window is frankly AWESOME. It is huge, opens completely, and looks great. Compare it to the weeny vent window to the left that it replaced.
I didn't post to the blog last night because I left my computer in Rich's trailer, and then we went out to have dinner with Paul and Annie Mayeux at their house. Emma adores their two daughters, having met them at the HOTC campout in Cleburne State Park last February. So while Eleanor and I toured their fascinating self-built home, Emma wore herself out keeping up with a 9 and 12-year-old. By the time we got back to the Airstream, it was 10:30 and Rich had gone to bed.
This morning David and Denver have finalized the window installation and put our overhead bin back together. I was underneath the trailer half the morning mounting up a flagpole carrier made from some PVC pipe -- this will hold the three flagpoles Fred Ettline gave me back in Charleston, instead of having them ride on the bed.
Denver is already working on our first Vista View and I expect to post again tonight with pictures of that. We are going to stay through Saturday morning so there's time to get the solar panels on, too, and hopefully Rich can get some work done on his rig as well before the weekend. Then, we'll head west and try out all the new goodies.
HOT hot hot .... over 100 degrees today as Denver valiantly completed the disc brake installation. Eleanor and Emma went off to do laundry and ended up in a non-air conditioned laundromat, which was certainly a mistake. But we had no idea it was going to get this hot.
Even though the trailer was plugged in and the air was running, the best we could do was keep the interior in the low 80s because people were coming in and out all day. I was rushing in to check email and then rushing out to discuss Airstream stuff with Rich C, David Tidmore, Denver, and Paul Mayeux, so it was a sweaty day.
The Kodiak disc brakes were on both sides of the trailer at the end of the day yesterday, so today's task was to install the Actibrake hydraulic actuator, the hydraulic lines, and the electrical connections. We decided to put the Actibrake in my bedroom closet. It was mounted up on the wall in a dead space. This keeps it clean and out of the weather, although the device is totally weatherproof so it doesn't matter much.
The Actibrake is the thing that actually puts pressure in the hydraulic lines to activate the disc brakes. It connects to the brake wire from the tow vehicle just like the old drum brakes did. So we can keep the Prodigy brake controller we have always used. Even though the Prodigy instructions say it is not designed for hydraulic disc systems, the Actibrake people have designed it to work with the Prodigy and a number of other brake controllers.
Just when Denver was wrapping up the installation, Tootie showed up from Centramatic. Centramatic makes a very cool product. They are aluminum discs that balance the wheel/tire/brake assembly of your trailer. See, you can balance the wheels but it doesn't do much good if the brake hub is out of balance. The Centramatic fixes that. You just drop it behind the wheel, and it automatically balances the assembly constantly as it is in motion. So, you never need to balance your wheels again!
You can see the Centramatic on the left wheel above. It's the big aluminum disc that is blocking the view of our new brakes. A bunch of fine beads in a special lubricant spin around from centrifugal force and automatically compensate for unbalanced wheels. It's so simple. What a great idea.
So now our disc brake installation is done and we're looking forward to tomorrow's upgrades. We'll adjust and test the disc brakes on Thursday or Friday. I can't wait to see how they perform.
Tomorrow, the plan is to start on the solar panels and windows. Tonight, I'll be firing up the grill again for another dinner in the back lot of Roger Williams Airstream. (What strange places we find ourselves living!)
Finally, we're at Roger Williams Airstream in Weatherford, TX, getting our long-awaited upgrades. We pulled in around 11 this morning and it wasn't long before work began.
Pulling off the old drum brakes and replacing them went pretty quickly. We found the cause of some issues we've been having lately, too. Twice in the past week our brake controller intermittently indicated a short in the wiring. It also has been pushing the Armada to the one side when we brake hard, which is an unsafe condition. If we hadn't already been heading to the nearest Airstream dealer for a brake job, I would have immediately begun doing so.
Sure enough, the front left brake wiring had come loose inside the drum and got pinched. A spot of bare wire was visible, which caused the intermittent short. It also may have caused that brake to work intermittently.
With the new Kodiak disc brakes, wiring failures will be a thing of the past. It's a hydraulic system, like your car. Our friend Paul Mayeux came by today to visit and told us that since he upgraded to discs on his Caravel, he can't imagine having anything else.
I'll have more pics of the installation tomorrow.
Rich Charpentier also caught up with us today. If you follow his blog, you know he's been driving down from Massachusetts to meet us here in Texas. He's in an Airstream Safari 25. We'll be caravanning together, off and on, for the next couple of months. We're all looking forward to heading into the desert as a caravan in a week or so.
Tonight we are both parked behind the dealership. Eleanor bought a disposable barbecue grill and we cooked up some steaks, and now she, Emma, and Rich are playing Uno in Rich's trailer. I have a feeling everyone is going to get along just fine....
Courtesy parking is great, and we love to do it. It saves money, it's usually fun, and we often get a local tour guide in the package. But if you plan to courtesy park your RV, keep in mind a few things we've learned over the past couple of years.
First off, unless your host has a similar RV to yours (particularly in terms of length), they will probably underestimate the amount of space you need to park. Several times when planning to courtesy park at homes of people who don't own an RV themselves, we've heard "Oh, no problem, we have plenty of space for you." Then we get there and find (a) low overhanging trees that would rip off the roof air conditioner; (b) an impossible turn in the driveway flanked by brick pillars; (c) no turn-around, so we'd have to back in for a long distance; (d) a wildly unlevel spot -- or, (e) all of the above!
It's hard for non-RV'ers to appreciate that a 30-foot trailer and tow vehicle amounts to a train nearly fifty feet long, and turning such a beast requires a LOT of space. You can't expect them to be able to visualize what you need, so the burden is on you to ask specific questions -- and be ready to go to Plan B if you get there and find an unsurmountable obstacle.
We've had people break out the pruning shears to trim back a bush so we could get in. In California we had to have three people to keep the Airstream from falling into a ditch while simultaneously passing under a massive branch with about 1 inch to spare. In Massachusetts we had to dodge old stone walls. In Connecticut, we had to borrow boards and blocks to lift the tongue four feet just to get close to level. In Michigan we had to back up 200 feet of S-turning driveway, in the dark!
My rule now is simple: if it doesn't look good, don't try to get in. After all, nobody's guaranteeing you'll be able to get back out again without damage.
Another thing your hosts may not understand is the need for hookups, if you are staying more than one night. We often courtesy park for several nights, which means we prefer to plug in to electricity and connect to the water, too. Murphy's Law says that most of the time, the garden hose bibb will be on the other side of the house. Your host may not mention that until you arrive. Since it's not a good idea to get your drinking water through their standard green garden hose, you've either got to have a lot of spare white hose with you, or do without a water connection. Best to arrive with a full fresh water tank, just in case.
Electric is easier, since everyone has a garage outlet or an exterior power outlet. Then you just need 50-100 feet of ordinary electric cord. We don't bother with a 30-amp extension cord, since hardly anyone has a 30-amp outlet available.
You're really lucky if your courtesy parking host has a place for you to dispose of graywater. More often, your gray capacity will be the limiting factor to your visit. If our host offers a way to get rid of it, that's great, but we don't like to put them on the spot by asking. The last thing we want to do is have a neighbor complain after we're gone, and ruin the courtesy parking opportunity for everyone.
Speaking of neighbors, one of the first things we ask people who don't own an RV is whether they have zoning or neighborhood deed restrictions that prohibit or restrict RV storage. This is for our protection as well as theirs. Nobody wants to get a call from an authority saying, "You've got to move that thing or be fined."
Good courtesy parking etiquette means that the host is not obligated to provide anything other than a parking space. We don't expect hookups, but we appreciate them when available. Most people will offer right away. Some will even offer dinner, and want to have us visit for a while. This is what we like, but we always stress that our hosts are under no obligation at all. They shouldn't feel like they have houseguests to entertain, feed, or keep company. We don't ask to use the shower, borrow the telephone, or get a ride into town.
On the other hand, when a host offers a nice bonus, like high speed Internet access, we usually accept. If they have wireless Internet in their house, you can often pick up the signal outside without coming in to bother them. I now carry a Linksys WRE54G "wireless extender" that I can plug in outside to repeat the wifi signal -- which means I can pick it up easily from inside the aluminum skin of the trailer.
The last tip is to bring little gifts with you. We travel with tiny boxes of chocolates, "nips" of maple syrup, special Vermont cookies, Airstream Life magazines, Macadamia nuts, coffee, and other things to give our hosts. Hosts don't usually expect anything except your company, so they are always pleased to get a little symbol of appreciation. If we stay for a long time, we usually take our host out to dinner, too. The money saved by not getting a campground at $20-30 per night can make for a very nice meal at a local restaurant.
Finally, when you are looking for courtesy parking, the easiest thing to do is just ask people you meet. Many people will say they don't have space, but once in a while you'll score a nice spot to stay and end up seeing things you would never have seen otherwise.
One of our alert blog readers, Rob Baker, noticed that our route from Charleston to Myrtle Beach would take us up Rt 17 in Mt Pleasant. So he put a comment on yesterday's post to tip us off to the Jack's Cosmic Hot Dogs and we made a point of stopping there for lunch. There's plenty of parking in the back for an Airstream.
Rob was right, the Cosmic Hot Dog (blue cheese cole slaw and sweet potato brown mustard) was awesome. Emma opted for the Earth Dog (plain, with mustard). Jack's fries are pretty darned good too, thin and extra salty, and just right with a frosted mug of root beer.
Suitably refreshed, we charged up Rt 17 a couple of hours to Myrtle Beach and pulled into the second-largest campground we have ever encountered. (The largest was Fort Wilderness, at Disney World.) It's a giant complex, with hundreds of sites for RVs, permanent residences, rental cabanas, etc.
Site I-46, oceanside
Our site is right smack-dab on the front row closest to the ocean. The boardwalk between the sand dunes is about 30 feet from our front door and the sound of the crashing surf emanates from perhaps 200 feet away. You couldn't be any closer to the beach than this. It's terrific.
The view from our front door
Yesterday Fred gave us a microfiber towel to use when washing the Airstream. The weather was spectacular when we got here (breezy, sunny, 80 degrees) and we were in settling-in mode, so I decided to try out the towel instead of hunting up a truck wash at $40 a pop.
It worked great. We used a small bowl of water with a big sponge and two drops of soap, to get the dirt loose. Then we followed up quickly with the microfiber towel. We changed the water eight or nine times and rinsed the towel two or three times.
The result was a pretty clean trailer with very little mess using just a few bowls of water. This means we can "stealth wash" the trailer at campgrounds that normally frown on it. Good tip, Fred!
Even though the rally doesn't start until Wednesday, there are already 30-40 Airstreams here. People who have met us at other rallies are stopping by to say Hi, and those who don't know us are cruising slowly by in their rented golf carts and wondering about all the stickers on our trailer. Eleanor and Emma have gone out for a few groceries (which is why Brett now calls our trip the "Tour of America's Grocery Stores") and we'll have pizza tonight while planning some fun for the rest of the week.
We're at it again -- modifying the Airstream for more convenience. Brett and I started off the day with a ride on the Upper Tampa Bay Trail, which is another converted rail trail not far from here. Tampa has some excellent bicycling! Even though this one is short, we got in a good ride, about 11 miles round trip.
This put us in the mood to drill holes in the Airstream. (Don't ask me why.) We met up with Eleanor and Emma at the local Steak'n'Shake and then proceeded to buy some hardware for the jobs we had in mind.
The first job was to install a level on the front of the trailer. For the past six months I've been levelling the trailer by eyeballing it, and it has worked well. But it seemed time to have the real thing. This is an easy item to install, so I didn't bother taking photos of the process. Basically, just level the trailer, drill holes, and screw the level on.
The second job was to put in a secret hiding place. Brett and I spotted the perfect place in the trailer last week, and today I rigged it up. I wish I could show it to you, but then it wouldn't be a secret would it? I'll just say that it is very hard to find, opens in a non-intuitive way, and big enough to hold our Passports and some cash. I feel good about having this available, just in case we ever have a break-in.
The third job was to install a bed lift. I got the idea from David Tidmore at Roger Williams Airstream, who has installed them for his customers. The Airstream bed sits on a plywood platform, which is screwed to a storage base. To access storage below the bed, you normally reach in through openings in the side of the storage base. But it would be much nicer to be able to just lift the bed up and access everything from the top.
To install the bed lift, we removed the screws attaching the plywood, added a long piano hinge, and then attached two automotive-type gas struts beneath. Now the bed can be lifted up off its base by anyone, with just one hand, and it stays up as long as you are accessing the storage area. Even Emma can do it!
For six months we have been taking photos of our travels, and posting many of them online in our photo album. (You can see them using the link in the left column that says "Pictures".) But until this week, we've never printed a single picture.
This week we selected 29 favorite photos and burned them to a CD. We dropped by Walgreens and printed six of them as a test, then framed them in some fun frames Eleanor picked up at various local stores. All of the prints are either 4x6 or 5x7, which are good sizes for mounting on the walls of an Airstream travel trailer.
The outside walls of our Airstream are lined with a white fuzzy material that velcro sticks to. Hanging pictures on those walls is easy: just use adhesive velcro strips on the pack of the frame. The interior walls are a woodgrain laminate. We use double-sided tape to stick frames to those walls.
The photos make a huge difference to the interior of the trailer. Now it's much more personalized. It feels homier. Emma walked in the door today -- back from Vermont -- and noticed all the photos immediately. These are the best souvenirs that we can have. Every day we'll be reminded of the great travels we've enjoyed. I expect we'll be printing more of the 29 photos I selected, in the next few weeks. There's plenty of wall space left!
Now, before I launch into this diatribe about what tools I carry, I will tell you what I know you all want to hear: Eleanor arrived this afternoon, feeling fine. So 2/3 of our Tour family is back together. Emma will follow on Friday.
What I really want to talk about is tools. People often ask us what we carry with us to deal with those little household repairs and roadside situations that can crop up. I composed a list of what I carry in the trailer for your general info. While I can't promise that this tool kit will deal with every emergency that could happen, it does suffice for 90% of what we encounter -- and the rest I leave to professionals.
In a small blue fabric bag from Sears, I have the following items:
-- small hammer
-- screwdriver set
-- drill bits and screwdriver bits for cordless drill
-- tape: electrical, duct, & masking
-- Gorilla glue
-- (2) medium sized adjustable wrenches
-- Reese hitch lube
-- 3M silicone lube and graphite lube
-- set of allen wrenches
-- retractable safety knife ("carpet knife")
-- pliers
-- small wire cutter/stripper tool
-- plenty of misc screws, washers, and grommets
-- one small bungee cord
-- rivet tool
-- small tube of Parbond, aluminum color
-- small tube of GE Silicone II sealant, white, for kitchen and bath area
-- assortment of "bullet hole" stickers
AND
-- a small plastic "tackle box" or similar with internal compartments, with:
spare 1156 bulbs, glass fuses of varying amperage, several large cotter pins, single-sided razor blades, misc screws, several hose washers, 3/16" POP rivets, Olympic rivets, mini 10w Halogen bulbs for the reading lamps, extra 303 Protectant samples for the Fantastic Vents (keeps 'em from sticking), automotive blade-style fuses (various sizes, open your Magnatek to see which ones you need).
I have used almost everything on the above list in the past year. No kidding! Things loosen, jiggle free, crack, and pop in thousands of miles of travel. With this kit you can fix almost any small problem without assistance. Without a kit like this, you could spend a lot of time visiting repair shops for little things, when you'd rather be having fun. And even if nothing goes wrong, the kit is useful for those little upgrades and personalizations you'll want to do.
Also strongly recommended:
-- cheap 12v air compressor with a looooong cord
-- lug wrench (and be sure you have a spare tire and know how to change it, or you'll end up waiting hours for roadside assistance someday!)
-- cordless drill -- very handy for setting stabilizers with appropriate socket and adapter
There are many other pieces of equipment you'll want to have, but I'm only including the tools and parts here. Obviously you need extension cords, chocks, etc., but I'm assuming if you own an RV already you've figured that stuff out.
Tonight we are concentrating on lighting. Some of it's just fun stuff, some of it is practical.
Last year we installed some cool blue neon tell-tales in our 1977 Argosy project. They lit up when the outside step light or patio light was on, so we wouldn't forget to shut them off at night. I loved those blue lights. So Brett found some nice little amber LEDs and wired those into the switches of this 2005 Airstream. Cool!
We also changed one of the lights over the bed. Airstream installs a omni-directional light in the ceilings of the new Safaris. When I come to bed late at night and Eleanor is already sleeping, I often use a flashlight to read so I don't disturb her. But for some reason, Airstream installed a very fine directional halogen lamp in Emma's bedroom area. In fact, because Emma's bedroom area has two bunks, she has three. So we swapped one of her unused halogen lamps for my omnidirectional incandescent. Now I can read at night and the light will only hit my book.
In fact it worked so well that Eleanor want us to do the same thing with her bedside lamp. We'll hit that job a bit later. Brett has been so enthused by the success of these little upgrades that he is bubbling over with ideas. We'll have to pick through them to decide what we can do over the next few days.
I've been too busy working the past few days to get out and explore Tampa. But a list is developing, and once Eleanor is back on Monday I hope we have some fun. Not far from here are Ybor City (a historic Cuban district), Big Cat Rescue, all the Clearwater beaches, and lots more. I am hankering for some Cuban food, too.
Sign of the week: Are these the guys you use to sue discount stores?
We've arrived at Mystic Springs Airstream park, about 30 miles north of Pensacola FL. Finally! The long driving spree is over for a while. We'll hang here amongst the moss-draped pine trees through Sunday or so. We need the break.
Our camping budget has been greatly helped by all the courtesy parking we've been doing lately. Our stay at NTAC was free (because we were the guest of one of the lot owners), as were our four nights in Weathersford. Then we hit Wal-Marts along the way up to Indiana, spent a few days at Airstream of Indiana, and stopped at a Cracker Barrel on the way down to Florida.
The upshot is that in the past 15 nights we have only had to pay for parking twice (at Kickapoo State Park in IL and Mammoth Cave NP). So for two weeks our total camping expenditure has been $32.
Now it's sort of a quest: how long can we go without paying? Eleanor says I've gotten cheap, but I prefer to consider it Yankee frugality, or perhaps just an expansion of the way we travel. Anyway, we just put hundreds of dollars into batteries so we can get along longer without power connections -- let's make use of them! Didn't we buy an Airstream for "real travel independence" as they say in the brochures? But she still says I'm cheap.
We need to make a few more tweaks to be comfortable living "off the grid". I'd like to be able to power our laptops and cell phones off the trailer's 12v system without using an inverter, so I am considering a IGo everywhere universal power adapter. This thing has little power tips to fit all sorts of equipment, so one IGo will power both the laptops and the phones (assuming I buy the right tips to go with it).
On Saturday night I went out to Radio Shack and bought their universal 12v adapter for $5.99. This allows us to run the factory-installed Sharp flat panel TV on the 12v system, bypassing the inverter that came with it. (Formerly it went from 12v to 110v AC power, then plugged into the wall.) So that's one less appliance that needs AC power. Now we can watch DVD movies even while boondocking.
Once we have the 12v adapter for the laptops and phones, everything in the trailer except the laser printer and vacuum cleaner will run off the house batteries. I can recharge the cordless drill, camera batteries, and other misc battery-powered devices using a basic Radio Shack cigarette-lighter inverter, if I really need to.
So, I've dumped the Honda eu1000 generator that we were hauling around. With an SUV, toting a generator means gas fumes in the car, less storage space, and more weight. We're going to see how it goes with just batteries and -- eventually -- a pair of solar panels.
Mystic Springs is a nice spot, but it's in the boonies. Sprint doesn't cover the area, and there's no Internet access to be had anywhere nearby, so I have to drive 30 miles into Pensacola to snarf wifi from Panera Bread or one of the hotels. I already got booted from the Luxury Suites motel by a grumpy matron earlier this evening, so I think from now I'll stick with Panera. At least there you can get a nice cuppa and muffin while you work. While I'm doing that, Eleanor and Emma are going to run errands and find something fun to barbecue -- the park is planning a barbecue night on Thursday. I'm voting for salmon... would a cheapskate do that?
Saturday was a work day for us. We got towed by the forklift into the service bay on Saturday morning. General Manager David Tidmore and Service Tech "Denver" (I don't know his last name yet), got busy working on things in and out of the trailer, while Eleanor and I took care of few minor things as well.
At first, Eleanor and I took turns keeping Emma occupied, but as the day warmed up Emma adopted a few people who happened by. First it was Gunny and his black labrador puppy, later it was the Service Manager and his wife from the car dealership next door, and later still it was anyone who walked into the dealership to look at the Airstreams.
I removed and replaced the caulk around the kitchen countertop and stove, which had loosened up. We also removed the opening portion of the bathroom window, applied frosted window film to it, and raised the bathroom blinds. This allows us to more easily operate the window knob without having to reach through the blinds, while still retaining privacy. If you have a later-model Safari you'll know what I mean.
I finally got a chance to repair the damage we picked up in California to the rear skid plates (under the rear storage compartment). That was a matter of grinding off the old paint and rust that had formed since the plates were bent, and re-painting them.
We are also replacing and extending our battery bank, from two Interstate group 24 "wet" batteries to four Optima blue-top AGM (absorbed glass matt) batteries. Two will go in the existing battery box, and two will go into the front storage compartment. Since they don't vent hydrogen and can't spill, they are safe to have inside the trailer. This is preparatory to installing a full solar system, which we will do later. In the meantime, we'll have double the battery capacity we had before -- very useful when boondocking.
David also has a theory about our water heater that doesn't stay on reliably. We've had that serviced in Jackson Center, and again at an Airstream dealer in Iowa. But both times the problem has recurred. David, being an electrical engineer by training, has zeroed in on the problem and I think he might have it nailed. Amazingly, the problem may come down to a dirty contact!
And there's more ... we added a Fantastic Vent to the rear bedroom (Emma's area). This trailer has three roof vents, but only one had a powered fan. Now two of the three vents are powered, which will be a huge improvement in air circulation when the hot weather comes in.
Finally, we are making a big upgrade to a Hensley Arrow hitch. While we have been happy with the Reese hitch to date, David and the Hensley people have convinced us to try the Arrow. Having a relatively short wheelbase SUV towing a long trailer, they believe the new hitch will improve our handling and overall safety. I am really looking forward to trying it out next week. We'll have some long days driving to Indiana.
On Monday, we still have a few more things to do. We want to replace the two-handle faucet in the bath with a single-handle one. We've already found one at the local Lowe's. The toilet seal is leaking, so that will get replaced. We'll finish adjusting the new hitch and Eleanor & I will get a "Hensley 101" course from David.
We are also going to modify our flat-panel LCD screen to run on 12v so we can watch movies when boondocking. That's an easy job since the TV already runs natively on 12v. Right now it goes to a power converter which plugs into the 110v power. By removing the converter box and connecting it to 12v, we can run the TV off the new Optima battery bank.
Our long term goal is to get everything except the laser printer, vacuum cleaner, and coffee pot running on the 12v system. This will save us a pile of money because we won't need to buy an inverter. I'm going to search for 12v adapters for the laptops and cell phones.
One problem we still haven't solved in the bicycle rack. We're going to struggle on with our wobbly roof system and keep researching options. It has lasted 13,000 miles so far -- I guess it can go a bit further.
Today we are off to Ft Worth to see some interesting water gardens and the downtown district. We've been told it's worth the trip. I'll take pictures for you.
Frequently in online RV travel forums, someone writes to ask, “What tools should I bring with me on trips for emergency repairs?” This inevitably results in a firestorm of lists from every anal-compulsive male member of the forum, each list being bigger and better than all its predecessors, trumping and trumping again until the final toolkit is so large that it would require a trailer all its own.
I tend to take a more minimalist approach. I'll fix the basic stuff, and leave the big problems to trained professionals. (For this reason, the more important tool in my kit is the gold credit card in my wallet.) You know the basic tools we carry (duct tape, screwdrivers, rivet gun, etc), but there are a few specialized items that you'd never think of until the day you need them.
For example, we encountered our first road-borne rock in Oregon. The darned thing hit the front of the trailer like it was fired from a sniper rifle, and left a nice round half-inch ding in the driver’s side curved section of the trailer – right above the stoneguards, of course.
For this sort of metal repair, you have two choices: (1) have it repaired at enormous expense; (2) cover it up. I chose option 2, using my favorite Airstream beauty secret: the fake bullet hole.
Available from " Hardley Dangerous Illusions", the fake bullet hole comes in a variety of sizes to accommodate just about any annoying ding in seconds. Best of all, with a slight indent on the trailer, the bullet hole looks remarkably realistic and provides a great conversation starter at rallies and campgrounds. I prefer the .38 calibre for general repairs.
Quick and easy aluminum "repair" for $1!
The longer we stay in Borrego Springs, the more we discover. The history and geography of Anza-Borrego is so extensive that it has spawned several thick books. And the "hidden" parts of the park are just enormous.
We took a hike yesterday morning to spot some bighorn sheep. Four trips to Anza-Borrego and I've never seen one, although they are very common in the hills here. After a mile of hiking we saw a ram and a ewe leaping from rock to rock at an unbelievable speed. It was all I could do to get my camera pointed and firing before they disappeared. Even at three shots per second, I only managed to get a few images.
You can see how well camouflaged these animals are. If it weren't for their rapid movement, we probably wouldn't have spotted them at all. Although we stayed out for another hour on the trail, we didn't spot any others. This pair managed to double back and sneak past us (by climbing high into the hills) later. I am amazed the mountain lions ever manage to catch one.
Saturday I also dropped in on an ranger talk about the Carrizo Gorge Railroad, which passes through this park to the south. Eleanor and I had hiked about six miles of the inactive railroad bed back in the mid-90s (where we had a surprising encounter with a group of nudists, but that's another story). I wanted to find out why the railroad was ever built, since it was an impossibly twisty route with over fifteen tunnels and enormous bridges made of 8x10 redwood posts.
Turns out the railroad was an unprofitable disaster since it opened in 1919. Floods, derailments, tunnel collapses, Mexican bandits, and many other problems occurred over the decades. It was finally abandoned in 1983, but in 2003 the County of San Diego announced plans to bring it back. Now it is being policed and we can't hike it anymore, which is a shame since it is an amazingly scenic trail.
Last night we went to a campfire talk with another ranger. The subject was the Fish Creek parcel of the park, where we went offroading on Friday. The talk really rounded out our experience. Whenever we are in national parks, we aim for the ranger talks because they give you an appreciation and understanding of the place that you can't get by just wandering around with a trail map.
Our Saturday morning hike. Trailhead sign says, "Trail is HOT - DRY. Bring one gallon of water per person."
I went to bed last night knowing I was getting a cold -- again -- and today when I woke up, there it was, in my head, telling me I wasn't going to the museums or the Old Town or the state Historic Park today.
But that's OK. We all needed a quiet day. E & E parked themselves at the dinette and worked on their various projects (drawing for Emma, and writing a Christmas letter for Eleanor), while I cleaned up old email correspondence using my laptop in bed.
At 1:30 pm we had to move the Airstream to another site. When we arrived at Sweetwater Summit, our site couldn't be booked for the whole week. We knew that on Monday we'd have to hitch up and go 100 feet to a different one. Not a problem either, since it was time to dump the tanks. By 2:30 we were done and set up in the new site, and the sun was shining, my head was feeling better, and it was time to launch Operation Kill Paper.
We headed out to Circuit City and bought a Canoscan LiDE 60, which is a $80 scanner. It's slim and lightweight, perfect for RV life. With it, I plan to eliminate all the folders of paper which currently occupy two large file boxes in the back of the truck.
If you only use your Airstream for recreation, you don't have this problem. But I have to travel with an entire office all the time. It's amazing that I can operate a magazine with only two boxes of paper (everything else is digital), but I'm not satisfied yet. Those last two boxes have been a persistent thorn in our sides. They don't fit in the trailer well. They take up too much space in the truck. And 99% of the time, we don't need them. It's just stuff we are carting around "just in case", like receipts, paid invoices, tax records, documentation, etc.
Well, my photos are digital. My writing is digital. My music is digital. And it all fits on a backup hard drive only about 6 inches long by 3.5 inches wide. So why am I carting around two big boxes just for a some paper documents I hardly ever need?
Let Operation "Kill Paper" begin! I just put the paper into the scanner, press one button, and it turns into electrons in about 10 seconds. Then the paper goes in the shredder. Ahh, the joy of eliminating unneeded stuff!
This week, while I am sick with a cold and have not a lot of other work to do, I am going to scan as much old paper into PDF format as I can. Not only will it save a ton of valuable space (and full-timing with a family, every cubic inch counts), but the resulting files are searchable, so I can find documents much more quickly than I could before. I'll let you know how it goes.
Tonight Eleanor is making the pork roast. I can smell it even with a stuffy nose and it smells wonderful. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be feeling better and we'll go out. But if not, I'm going to send E & E out and I'll stay here and scan to my heart's content.
Here's a picture taken this morning ... fog today, but the weather report says it will clear up soon. Still, you can see how little space there is between the RVs and the Pacific Coast Highway.
For the past week I have been noticing that we need to get a wash. (Not us, the truck and trailer!) After a couple of weeks of traveling by highway, and near the coast, the entire rig gets coated with a brownish oily film. It doesn't look dirty, but the sticky mixture comes off on our clothes, hands, and makes the Airstream looks less shiny. Can't have that! ;-)
We can wash the truck by unhitching and removing the bikes from the roof -- then it fits in most car washes -- but the trailer is a another story. We had a few "interesting" experiences trying to fit it into manual car washes. They don't usually have enough entry/departure area for a 30-foot trailer.
Washing by hand would be an option except that all campgrounds prohibit this. I was hoping we'd end up at someone's house (courtesy parking) and they'd let me wash it, but this hasn't happened since we visited Lou & Larry in Ohio.
So a truck wash is the most practical option. Blue Beacon runs a chain of them across the country, co-located with truck stops such as Petro and Flying J. There are usually local truck washes in major cities as well. It's expensive (about $40) but worth it. They do a nice job and everything gets clean, including the bikes. A whole crew of guys comes out with high-pressure wands, spray everything about six times, and voila! shiny again.
Our last wash was in Nevada, a couple hundred miles after we boondocked in central Nevada (see November archives for details). We're due. I did a little research online last night and found a truck wash that is approximately along our route out today, so we'll try to stop there this morning.
Our Wal-Mart experience was a bust last night. At 10:30, we were surprised to hear a knock on our door. The manager of the store was there, apologetically explaining that although he had no problem with us parking, the Torrance police were known for placing "very expensive" tickets on RVs parked in the lot. The security guard who had told us it was OK was not aware of this. So, off we went -- driving in pajamas -- in search of a new spot to park. (The Bolsa Chica State Beach campground in Huntington Beach, our original destination, was not an option. The gates are locked at 9 pm.)
The good news is that the L.A. area is loaded with neighborhoods and industrial areas where one can park overnight, if you are subtle. The bad news is that our trailer, 30 feet of gleaming aluminum festooned with giant colorful graphics, is not subtle. So Eleanor punched "Camping World" into the GPS and it turned out there was one just a few miles away on I-5. By 11, we were tucked away behind a few big motorhomes in the Camping World parking lot, and back in bed.
We've stayed at Wal-Marts and other such places many times, but never have we been "moved on" by The Man. Still, we always knew it was a risk. We have enough experience finding places to park that there was never any doubt we'd find a good spot. There are no commercial campgrounds to be had in most of the L.A. area, but we have a long list of free places to try:
Wal-Mart
Super K-Mart
Cracker Barrel
Camping World
truck stops
certain fast food restaurants
municipal and county parks & parking lots
neighborhoods where RVs are visible on the street
harbor and industrial areas
unnamed pullouts
The first thing to do when checking out a spot is to look for a sign that says "Overnight parking prohibited" or words to that effect. The second thing to do is to ask anyone in authority (parking lot owner, local police, security guard) if they mind if you park there "for a few hours". The third thing to do is to make sure you feel comfortable with the spot, and finally the fourth thing to do is to park subtly (no satellite dish, no awning, no slideouts, etc) and leave early. With this strategy we have successfully parked for free many times in at least a dozen different US states.
We are going to have a bunch of articles on this subject in the next Airstream Life magazine (coming out in January). We've got a piece on boondocking, another on how Wally Byam selected free parking spots in the 1950s, and a third piece on selecting a generator to use when you are parked far away from town.
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