Archive for Uncategorized
June 3, 2006 at 10:09 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
We’ve had a great day here at the dealership. Early this morning a group from the local WBCCI unit (Sierra Nevada) showed up to help out with Mountain Family RV’s sales event this weekend, and they brought all kinds of stuff: photo albums of old rallies, cookies shaped like Airstreams, and even a diorama featuring little Airstream models.
They were set up on tables in the center of a circle of Airstreams for sale, right next to where we and Rich C have parked for the weekend.
The Sierra Nevada Airstreamers proved to be an interesting group, and ready to talk. Most of them eventually migrated over to our trailer to see our floorplan and the upgrades we’ve done on the trailer. Nobody had seen the Safari 30 “bunkhouse” model before, and several people were surprised to see a two-bedroom Airstream. They also liked the new window we installed a few weeks ago, especially on this 86-degree day.
Rich holding court with the other Airstreamers. Click for larger
Rich C was kept busy all day. Once people found out he had written a book about mobile technology for RVs, they peppered him with questions. I think he sold half a dozen copies of his book, too. He mentioned that talking all day was exhausting him, and I warned him this was just a warm-up for the International Rally we’ll be at in a few weeks.
Emma and Eleanor were gone most of the day, unfortunately. Eleanor needed to go pick up her new glasses at the mall, and with a few fitting problems, it ended up taking hours. Rich and I scooted off to the local Apple store to buy me a new “backup hard drive” (A.K.A. a new iPod), but for the most part we were here to chat up the Airstreamers. We’ll be doing more of the same tomorrow.
By the way, since I know some people will ask: I bought the iPod 60 gb model. I immediately loaded it up with a full backup of all my laptop’s documents, email, over 500 contacts, my calendar, over 1,000 songs, and about 3,700 photos from our Tour of America. It’s a very useful device, providing both backup and easy access to a lot of data that I use daily.
Our trip planning for the next three weeks is roughed out now. On Monday or Tuesday we’ll be heading to Nevada City CA, then Lake Shasta, then Eureka (Humboldt County, by the redwoods), and then north along the coastline to Oregon. We also want to go to Lassen Volcanic National Park and Crater Lake National Park, but both of those destinations are still largely snow-bound and both roads and campgrounds aren’t yet open. We’ll have to take it day by day — if the snow melts earlier than expected, one or both of those parks may be added to the schedule.
June 2, 2006 at 11:09 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Camping at a dealership is always an interesting experience. Today everyone was setting up for a big sale they are having this weekend, so I went out this morning and lent a hand with chairs and giant balloons. I also “tested” the enormous inflatable slide they have set up for the kids.
Rich Charpentier arrived this afternoon and we parked him right next to us. We’re sharing a 15-amp power circuit. Neither of us have a water hookup because the water here is not potable. Fortunately, we always arrive with a full fresh water tank.
Dr. Leary and his new license plate
I met this happy new Airstream owner today: Dr Leary. I bet you can’t tell what model Airstream he just bought…
Rich was busy drooling over the new Safari Special 25FB that the guys parked right in front of our trailers. He even went to the point of asking Jon Whipple, the owner, about it, but less than an hour later it was sold to someone else. Sorry Rich, gotta move faster next time!
The wind here is fierce. The people at the dealership say it is typical. South of us is the Washoe Valley, and the winds are funnelled up the valley regularly. When we came in yesterday, there was a sign saying “Strong crosswinds: Campers and Trailers Not Advised”. We had no trouble, but since then we’ve been told that often the road is closed to high-profile vehicles due to wind. In any case, we’ve had to keep our awning in the short “rally” position, and close it at night.
Eleanor and Emma went out shopping for a while. Eleanor needs new glasses and Emma needs new shoes. I hung back to do some work. We’ve got wi-fi here courtesy of the dealership, and I want to make the most of it. I’m using the wireless repeater that I bought in Myrtle Beach, to extend the signal from the main building, and it is working well.
Tonight’s movie: Chicken Little. I made the popcorn. We also spent some time planning the next few weeks of our trip, and I hope to have that nailed down tomorrow. I’m emailing people along our route tonight to get suggestions and courtesy parking. With all that, the great Uno re-match that Emma and Rich C have been waiting for has been postponed to Saturday.
June 2, 2006 at 6:22 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
I’ll do a more comprehensive blog of our day later, but for now I just want to mention that I have had a chance to update our photo album with dozens of new photos. We’ve got images from Zion National Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Sedona, and other western spots. See http://www.flickr.com/photos/airstreamlife/sets/.
June 1, 2006 at 9:19 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Our stop in Mammoth Lakes, CA was short but marvelous. The National Forest campground is right off the main road, and it was peaceful last night among the giant ponderosa pine trees. The sites are a little small for a truck and 30-foot trailer, but in the group camping area the camp host pointed us to a spot that was just fine.
The heat of Death Valley finally left our trailer and possessions by about 4 a.m., and the furnace, which I had set at 65, kicked in. This morning we awoke to glorious Sierra Nevada views, and since we weren’t in any hurry to get up to Reno, we took the time to have pancakes for breakfast. I got a little work done and Emma did some homeschool work too.
The National Forest campground in Mammoth Lakes, CA. Click for larger.
I met some local folks at the dump station — of all places — and they told me the snow usually melts by August. Skiing is possible right up to the fourth of July. Even now many roads west are closed because they haven’t been plowed yet. This winter the Sierra Nevadas saw a record snowfall that may make the closures longer than usual: 52 feet of snow! No wonder it takes a while to melt.
Route 395 north continues to be amazing, in terms of scenic splendor, isolation, and gas prices. We successfully bypassed a few stations charging up to $4.00 per gallon for regular unleaded, until we found a casino near Topaz Lake selling gas at $3.09.
Mono Lake, in California. Click for larger.
Along this route you’ll pass in and out of the Toiyabe National Forest. There are many campgrounds to try if you have time, several of which are along the river. We stopped to dip our hands in the water and it was frigid from the snowmelt.
Click for larger
And now, here we are at our stop for the weekend, Mountain Family RV. Jon Whipple owns this Airstream dealership, and extended the invitation for us to courtesy park, several weeks ago. I finally met him and his wife for the first time last week in Las Vegas at the dealer meeting. Apparently we are the first people ever to courtesy park at the dealership, which thrilled some of the staff. So they’ve rolled out the red carpet and we have a spot right up front with electric and wi-fi next to six of the Airstreams for sale.
Our spot at Mountain Family RV. Click for larger
Tonight we are just settling in, with a couple of steaks on the barbecue and a nice sunset view. We’ll be here through Sunday. Rich Charpentier is going to meet us here on Friday or Saturday, and then we’ll be caravanning together into California and Oregon for a few weeks. If you live in the area, be sure to come by and meet us before we head out on Monday. Our doors will be open all weekend, and we are looking forward to meeting some local Airstreamers.
May 30, 2006 at 9:29 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
It has been a fantastic day in Death Valley, despite a slow start. I had hoped to get some hikes in the valley early in the morning, but Emma slept until 8:30 and by then it was already 85 degrees. I found out that the optimistic forecasts I was seeing from Las Vegas were actually for Las Vegas rather than Death Valley. Today’s forecast temperature was for 101 degrees and it eventually exceeded even that, hitting 103 by mid-afternoon.
So we changed plans, and did just one valley hike, in Golden Canyon. The canyon is actually an alluvial fan (basically a lot of debris washed down from the mountains over millions of years), which was later cut by floodwater to create a canyon that is about 50-100 feet deep. It’s a 2.5 mile hike, roundtrip, all uphill for the first 1.25 miles.
It was a challenge indeed to keep Emma entertained and motivated on this tough hot hike, but eventually she got into it, and with plenty of water breaks in the few spots of shade, we all made it up alive.
Let me tell you about water intake in the desert. Don’t take chances. Even standing still in the desert at 80 degrees, you will need a lot more water than you usually consume, just from the dry air. Imagine hiking uphill in 90-95 degrees in full sun. We took over a gallon of water with us on this short hike, and drank it all before we reached the end. For a day, the Park Service recommends at least one gallon per person, but frankly I consider that minimal. We started drinking water in large quantities from the moment we woke up and didn’t stop until bedtime. We kept several gallons (in individual 16-oz bottles) in the fridge at all times, and were constantly replenishing the supply.
Back at the trailer at 2:30, it was 101 degrees inside with both vents running on high, and the awning out. Relatively speaking, this was OK, since it was 103 outside. But our refrigerator couldn’t keep up. It got to 56 degrees inside, and our milk started to spoil. I have known that most RVs don’t have adequate refrigerator ventilation, and have intended to install a small fan to help with that issue, but never got around to it. I may be talking to one of the next dealers we visit (Mountain Family RV in Reno NV, or George M Sutton in Eugene OR) about it soon.
I can’t be too hard on the refrigerator, though. Everything in the trailer was hot to the touch. We ate lunch (with lots of drinks), stripped down to underwear, and then took a short siesta on the hot beds.
I woke up at 3:30 absolutely roasting alive, and thirsty again, and decided that it was time to throw everyone in the shower. We didn’t need the water heater. We found that running the coldest water we had, the bathroom filled with steam. It was the heat of our bodies that did it ““ the water was actually steaming off our hot skins!
We let ourselves drip dry instead of toweling off, and stood under the fans for maximum chilling effect. Wet towels on the floor helped cool the lower part of the trailer by evaporation, and we used the melted ice water from our drink cooler to chill our feet. We also soaked hand towels in the ice water and draped them around our necks.
It sounds funny, but all these tricks worked great. We were completely comfortable when we were done playing with the water. But we knew it wouldn’t last, so we piled in the car and headed for Dante’s View, 5000 feet above the valley floor.
Dante’s View. Click for larger
Higher altitudes are where you want to spend your time in Death Valley this season. Dante’s View was clear, gorgeous, and beautifully cool at about 78 degrees. On our short hike up there, we spotted a horned lizard and zebra-striped lizard, which were useful for Emma’s Junior Ranger workbook.
In the picture above, you can see the dried salt creeks snaking across the valley floor. Death Valley has no natural outlet, so minerals washed down from the mountains collect permanently, leaving a “chemical valley” of borax, salts, and various other chemicals that can pickle any creature that is unfortunate enough to die there.
After Dante’s View, we dropped in on Zabriskie Point, and 20 Mule Team Canyon. The latter is a 4WD road which passes some of the many abandoned mines in the park. It’s worth the short loop if you have a high-clearance vehicle. We didn’t need to engage 4WD to do the drive.
4WD road: 20 Mule Team Canyon
Then it was off to Artist’s Drive, another one-way loop road, accessible to all vehicles under 25 feet long. This is a fun rollercoaster ride past some pretty colored layers in the valley walls.
Solar note: Our system of parking for afternoon shade seems to be working. Even with one panel blocked in the late afternoon, we are generating more power through the solar panels than we can use, even with the two Fantastic Vents running 24 hours a day. We will have no shortage of power on this trip. Yesterday Rita (blog reader) asked if there was a way that solar could power an air conditioner. Unfortunately not. We knew going in that we would be reliant on fans.
We’ve noticed that the park seems dominated by Europeans this time of year: German, French, British, and eastern European (Czech? Poland?) I’m not sure why they want to come to this hard part of the world in the hot season, but they are undeniably here in significant numbers, renting Class C RVs and even pitching tents in the scorching heat.
Eleanor and I have tent camped in Death Valley before, but not in this heat. It would be a tough slog. The campground offers no showers, only a low water spigot. I have seen the young foreign students on holiday soaking themselves at this spigot. At 8 pm last night it was still in the upper 90s and I was grateful we had the distractions of a movie ( “Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe”), a good grilled dinner, and cool showers before bedtime. It made the fierce conditions more bearable.
May 29, 2006 at 2:05 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Last night was busy enough for me to miss posting … something I hope will be an increasingly rare event. Brett and I went out in the morning to find him a new cell phone since his never recovered from jetskiing. But we spent most of the day working. Yes, it was a beautiful holiday weekend but we spent Sunday at our laptops. That’s how it goes in the self-employed/traveling mode. We had to pay for playing golf on Friday and jetskiing on Saturday.
But no trip to Las Vegas is complete without losing some money, so while we had lunch at Sam’s Town, we bought a Keno ticket for $10 (2 games). Guess what happened?
We lost
I dropped Brett off at the airport and picked up Eleanor and Emma two hours later. Then it was back to work while Eleanor unpacked and settled back in. This morning we are prepping for continued travel –laundry, more work, cleaning, culling out stuff we don’t need, packing in a few new things picked up recently.
The plan is to head to Death Valley for a couple of nights. It should not be horribly hot according to the weather forecast — in fact, today the high is projected only in the 80s, which is less than we had in Zion and here in Las Vegas last week.
We may not be able to get online while we are there. If so, I’ll put up some further entries ASAP. Hope you had a good long weekend!
May 26, 2006 at 9:53 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
I don’t golf. So it was with great trepidation that I accepted Airstream’s invitation to play in a golf scramble this morning. Brett insisted that I play, so we got up early to do some work before catching the 7:30 bus to our 8:30 start at the Angel Fire golf course.
Now, cruising around on an electric cart, through a beautiful golf course in the desert on a gorgeous May day is not such a bad thing. Our early game kept us out of the highest temperatures (it was about 100 again today). But otherwise, my golf game was 18 holes of humiliation. I redeemed myself slightly with one lucky chip shot and a few halfway decent putts, but otherwise the other members of my team carried the weight. Fortunately, we were playing “best ball”.
By the end, I was a lot more appreciative of how 18 holes can wear a person out, and our team was 6 under par. We came in third of about ten teams. I think before I attempt to play again, I’m going to need some lessons in how to swing the club and actually hit the ball in a useful direction.
Back at Caesar’s, we dropped by the pool to talk to Airstream people a bit in the afternoon (lots of interesting people-watching poolside). Then we picked up our bags and departed via taxi to pick up the Nissan. I’m pleased to report that after the transmission fluid re-fill, it drives like normal again. No charge since it was under warranty.
Next job was to catch up on work for a few hours. We headed back to the Airstream, and started our working day at about 4 pm. This has been a successful week but it has also left us with a lot of work to do. Both Brett and I are beat. We only got five hours sleep last night and it has been a complicated few days. We plan to decompress tomorrow by jetskiing on Lake Mead. I’ll have photos of that by Saturday night.
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