Good day in Yuma

Yesterday we went to the Arizona Market Place with Bettie and James, friends we met last year. It's always a good day when we are all together. We did go our separate ways for a bit since we each had our own agendas.

Mark and I like to look around at nothing in particular and things that we wish we had room for. Like the beautiful brass, finely tuned windchimes. We never miss a chance to hear them and wish there was a way. My favorite is to stop at Java Gypsy's for a white chocolate, caramel frappe topped with whipped cream. OMG, she makes the best frappe ever. Mark is quite adventurous and has a black coffee which always has a top that leaks. He says the coffee is good in spite of the leaky top.

There is a fresh produce vendor that we always stop at to get some fruit or veggie that is fresh out of the field/grove. This time we got 6 nice grapefruit for $2. Their cauliflower was the size of a soccer ball.

Around 1:30 we headed to The Eatery for a late lunch or early supper. The food there is always very good and the service is always great. The waitress we had today was really full of the dickens and we all laughed and shared in the jocularity.

After arriving home, we let Miss Lola out and loaded up our one empty propane tank to be filled. We filled the gas tank on the truck as well and then went for a ride on the other side of the foothills. We had never been in that area before and it was a whole other world. A lot more RV resorts and year round RV homes. Not much for towns though. And the towns that were there were nothing to invite you to the area. It was a fun drive and I'm sure Lola enjoyed a different view. She is a great traveler but most days it would get too warm in the truck to leave her is we should decide to stop somewhere. So sadly she usually has to stay at home.

Tonight is NYE and we have no plans of going anywhere. I will be making a special supper of some kind for us and maybe a few cocktails. The older we got the closer to home we have stayed other than having a nice supper out with friends now and then. Tonight is no exception. But either way the new year will come, with or without any celebration.

Wishing you a happy and healthy 2019!!!!!!!

I don't mean to rub it in but.....

And the rush is on, 4 days after Christmas and it has turned into full court press as the Campers and Motorhomes take over the all roads headed south. Yuma I am told goes from a population of 100,000 to somewhere between 200,000  and 250,000 after the first of the year because of the influx of Snowbirds from Canada and the US.

And again, today taught me why I have chosen to follow a dream. I got up this morning to a temp in the 50s which by afternoon was well into the 70s.

The reason I bring this up is not to rub it in. Where I come from it was well below 0 most of the day with a high of 3 deg.. And they're predicting wind chills in the -30 to -40 for the weekend.

Now I don't mind missing that, nope not at all!

It's Always an Adventure!

Christmas Day

This year I decided I was going to have MY turkey gravy and MY stuffing so that is what I did. The turkey breast and stuffing are in the oven and smelling good. My stomach is growling already and it is still a long wait.

This is the first time I'll have made anything like this in our small RV oven.  I had to order a larger roaster than the one I had. It doesn't work so well when the roaster leaks. Good ole Amazon.com came through for me once again.  The new roaster just fit with minor clearance at the top and bottom of the oven.

Christmas day is looking to be a nice warm day too. Sunny and 45 this morning heading for 74 by afternoon. Back home our families and friends are suffering with -20 some degree weather. Sure am glad we don't have that. We will have windows open and shorts on sometime today.

Our Christmas cookies will be all gone today. That means I'll be baking sometime this coming week. Now that I have a stand mixer here, the job is much easier. If you can use the term easy when trying to do that kind of thing a small limited area. hehehe Sure tastes better than all the store bought cookies we had to endure.

Usually we keep our holiday decorations up until New Years Day, but this year it will all come down tomorrow. There isn't much up to begin so it won't take long to take down and put away. We do have outside lights on the RV that will stay up and lit until New Years Day. Such a difference from previous years where it would take me hours to decorate and hours to take down and put away. Yes, I do miss that, but now it's a lot easier. :)

Dinner turned out very good. A 5 course meal in my little tiny kitchen.

Merry Christmas

Here it is Christmas week. The birthday of our King. Everyone celebrates the the birth of Christ in their own way. Some do lots of baking, cleaning and decorating in preparation of numerous family and friends that will come to celebrate with them. That is what I did for years. It’s a lot quieter now, not as much fun and less work. I’m not complaining about the work, I loved every minute of it and I have to admit I miss all of the hustle and bustle. Times change, families grow and move to other areas as their families grow move.  But the real reason for the holiday is inside our hearts, or at least it should be. Jesus should be the reason for the celebration. He is, always was and always will be our greatest gift. So as we ready our homes, remember to ready our hearts.

Whether you are spending Christmas with many friends and family or spending it with a small number, remember that Christ is with you and that is all that you need. The glitter and fuss only lasts for so long but the love of Christ is with you always. 

Merry Christmas, God bless and keep you all safe this holiday season and throughout the new year.

This and That day

Yesterday Miss Lola met her new groomer. Get this, the groomer comes to your home with her trailer. Wow, that was neat. Lisa did a wonderful job grooming Lola too. Yes, it cost more for door to door service but driving the one ton dually through the traffic and trying to find a place to park the beast is a pain in the butt. So this worked very well for us. And the main thing is she was good to Lola and did a great job. Lisa put a pretty poinsettia  on Lola’s collar for Christmas. 

While Lola was getting all pretty we made what is called a “sparkle ball”. It’s a lighted ball that many here use as a decoration for Christmas. But with clear lights it can hang all year round. It’s made with 9 ounce plastic cups, a string of LED lights and lots of staples. It was so nice to do a project like this together. We hung the ball in what we call the Arizona room. It’s our sun shade porch that is like a whole other room to the 5er. The ball lights the steps nicely too. Not sure where we will store it as we travel from place to place, but I’ll worry about that in March. 

The 4 kinds of Christmas cookies are all baked. As is the cereal crunch, peanut brittle, cream cheese mints and popcorn balls. Even with that done, it doesn’t feel like Christmas for me. I miss all my Christmas decorations that I used to work my butt off to set up and all my special decorations on the tree. But I guess there is always something to be missed at sometime in our lives. Now we start new traditions. Change is a part of life.

The weather has been just about perfect with the days in the mid 70’s and the nights in the mid 50’s. Can’t ask for a better winter than that, in my opinion. Even with no snow around here the Arizona folk decorate for Christmas just like a snow covered Minnesotan. We enjoy walking around the 4 parks around us and look at the lights in the evening. It’s obvious that most RVer’s are not full time. You can tell by the kind and amount of decorations they use. No full timer would have room for all of that.  The drives around town to see the lights is just as much fun here as in Minnesota. I do have to say that is is so funny to see inflatable snowman on the sand covered desert yards The Christmas spirit is alive, even without the snow. But Christ had no snow on his day of birth either.

Wow, almost Christmas already

My goodness where has the time gone. Here it is just a couple weeks until Christmas.  We have been enjoying the warm weather of Yuma. A week or two was too warm for us to enjoy too much. But the evenings got cooler so we could open the windows and sleep relatively comfortable at night. The upper 80’s is NOT our cup of tea. 

We  frequent the Arizona Market Place quite a bit. There is always something to see. They have great country music, if you are into that. I’m not. But still fun to snoop around. We have purchased a couple side pieces of sun shade and what a difference it makes in the wind flow and the heat of the Arizona sun on the west side of the 5er. It really feels like a screened in porch out there now too. Mark loves to sit outside and now he really enjoys the time outside.

Our friends Bettie and James got here on the 27th of November and we were very happy to see them. We have sat outside and chatted many times, and were invited to have Navajo taco’s with them one night as well. They were quite delicious. :) As always, we have a fun time with them.

I’m happy to say I have found a nice orthopedic doctor in Yuma. He gave me a shot in my left elbow and checked other aspects before doing so.  Nice to see that he was thorough and I know I’ll have to see him again in the next couple months. The shot did help my elbow and shoulder but I do have to be more aware of repetitive  actions with the arm. Guess I won’t be going full bore on my projects anymore. But I’ll need to take more breaks. Such is life. Next is to find a primary doctor. I’m not real anxious to go to the primary care here in the foothills. I just didn’t get a good feel there.

Today I made my Christmas roll out cookies. Most of them I just sugared with colored sugar since it’s our favorite way.  Which means I need to get more colored sugar to proceed to the frosted ones. I’ve made the spritz, teacakes, and pecan roll ups. Tomorrow morning I plan on making two batches of peanut brittle. I do plan on sharing some of my Christmas goodies with our friends here in Yuma. I know that they will appreciate the gift. The little gas oven made the job quite time consuming. I can only use a small cookie sheet which only holds about one dozen cookies and the oven can only hold one cookie sheet at at time. Plus they have to be watched carefully so I don’t have burnt offerings. The challenge was met with success and the cookie  baking is completed. Because of a stand mixer that Mark got me, the cookies were much easier to make this year too.

Mark put up ice cycle Christmas lights in the front of the 5er and there are two revolving lights on the side of the 5er as well. It really looks Christmasy out there.

 We have a small fiber optic tree and some garland strung around on the inside. Nothing like we have had in the years past. But it is still nice. We just don’t have the room to store all the decorations we used to put up.

Until next time…

as always, it’s an adventure

First week back in Yuma. 2017-2018

It wouldn’t be us if we didn’t hit our favorite eating places upon returning to Yuma. Which means I’ve had to do little cooking the first week back. Nothing had changed except the  frozen yogurt place had very few choices. We were informed that things are just now opening up for all of us snowbirds and those that leave the area in the summer.

Saturday we went back to the Market Place to pick up our wooden plaque. Mark hung it on the inbox on the front of the Montana. It sure turned out nice. We didn’t add Lola’s name to the main plaque incase something would happen to her. It would be too hard to see her name each time. So we are having smaller plaque made which will connect to the bottom of the main plaque.

Yesterday we took a trip to Algodones Mexico. We went with our friend Norm who we met last year in Yuma and fast became a dear friend. After just walking around we did find an optical place that was open so I got a much needed new pair of glasses at a price that was affordable. We also stopped at one of the many liquor stores and we got two bottles of Kahlua for the third of the price of   one in the US. I love a Smith and Kearns after supper, which fast became my favorite dessert.  :)

The trip to Mexico was short so when we got home Mark took me to the laundry room to tackle three loads of laundry. I was not too happy to find that the wash is only 20 minutes and that includes the fill time, and there are no laundry carts to move the wet clothes to the dryer or dry clothes to the folding table. Needless to say I will not use the laundry room in the park again unless I have to. They have a ludicrous rule that you can not hang anything out to dry. That also angered me, to say the least. But I still hung my few items on the awning braces, since they won’t allow a drying rack. They only take about 20 minutes to dry in the Yuma sun.  I take them down as soon as they are dry. They can kiss my butt if they think I’m hanging wet clothes inside to dry. Nope not staying in this park next year. Too many negatives. 

While I was doing the laundry Mark hung the sun shade from the awning. It will save us from the heat of the west sun. Even in the sun, with sun isn’t hot through the sun shade. Very nice investment that will be used time and time again in other parks.

Today I am heading to Primary Care to see if they can give me information on how to and where to set up for a primary care, cardiologist, and orthopedic doctors. Since we are here more than anywhere else we need a main doctor, and not solely rely on Dr Smith in Hutch, has been a great doctor for us in MN and on the road. God Bless Dr Jalayna Smith.

Well tata for now.

As always, it’s an adventure.

Full Circle back in Yuma

Monday we left Nevada Treasure after neighbors and friends stopped by with their good byes. It’s always sad leaving after you have formed a friendship with some of the other residents. Plans are to come back but you never know what is really in the cards.

Monday night we drove by a BLM area in Earp, AZ, with some boondockers scattered around. So we turned around and set up a temporary camp for the night.  It was very quiet and a pretty place to spend the night. The sunset was breathtaking.

The next morning, Tuesday, after a couple cups of coffee and a nice hearty breakfast, we broke camp and continued our way to Yuma. We had forgotten what a long boring road it was to get there. Lots of dips in the road and it went on and on  for what seemed like forever. Once we turned onto 95 Mark and I perked up.

We found our new winter home, Adobe RV park, easily and were greeted very warmly by the office staff and a few of the residents. We were not greeted like that at the place we stayed last year. Mark was sad to see that the pool was not finished yet, but he will get some swim time in before we leave here in March.

The guide escorted us to our site and we saw that our friend Norm was already here. After a few greetings we started our set up. The 87º heat really took it’s toll on us. Some things just had to wait to get done until the next day. We weren’t used to that heat anymore. hehe But we are thankful that it’s not humid too. 

After setting up we collapsed on a lawn chair and everyone that walked by stopped to chat and welcome us. There is always something to share with new people.  We are finding this park to be very very friendly. The dog walk is just across the street and over from our site, which makes it nice to let Lola have some run time. The dumpster is just half a block from us so we don't have to go all the way across the park for that either. We are on a corner lot towards  one end of the park so there isn't much traffic going by. The street outside the wall is busy so we do still hear traffic driving by most all the time. But we will get used to that quickly enough.

 There was a potluck Tuesday night but we decided to go to one of our favorite places in Yuma for supper. The Eatery was busy but always room for more. hehe We enjoyed a steak and shrimp dinner that was only $10. It included the two  meats, potato, salad,  veggie, soup, buns and dessert. You always get more than enough to eat there at a great price. We opted for an ice cream cone for dessert, which is what they offered that night. Our tummies were full and we called it an early night.

Wednesday morning the water had to be softened, so that was first on the list. I hate hard water and in AZ the water is hard enough to walk on. hehe Then it was a trip to town for a few things. The Fry’s grocery store is still a nightmare to shop in. It’s so huge and laid out so differently that it takes too long to shop for what you want. I was glad to get out of there. But they have almost anything you could want, you just have to find it. hehe  

Oh I almost forgot, before we went shopping we joined in on the grilled burgers offered here at the park. The cost was only $4 for a double cheeseburger, and the toppings were free. We bring our own plates. There was pop and chips at a cost but we brought our own, not knowing that there was drink and chips. We met and were greeted by others warmly again. The couple that we sat with were fun. He, Pat, was quite a character and Cathy and I share the same interest of card making. So we all had lots to talk about.

The heat wasn’t as bad on Wednesday so we didn’t need the a/c on. There were more than enough clouds to keep it comfortable. Most of the rest of the day we spent outside. A couple that we met last year found us at Adobe park and came to join us for a couple days. It’s amazing how fast friendships are formed when you are all in the same boat so to speak. It’s so nice that we haven’t lost touch with some of the dear friends from last year.

There is no internet here other than in the rec room so we have to limit our internet usage so we don’t run out of the wifi on our phones. If anyone wants to chat we much prefer text message because that doesn’t take away the wifi on our phones. We love hearing from all of you.

It's always an adventure.

Our new address is as follows:

Mark and Cindy Benton

Lot 87

Adobe Village RV Park

11350 S. Payson Drive

Yuma, AZ 85365

Time to leave Pahrump

Tomorrow a New Adventure Begins: As we turtle down to Yuma for our winter lodging. (that sounds pretty cool)

It has really been great staying at Nevada Treasures again. The Park is beautiful and the people here are absolutely amazing. You really do feel welcome. We got a chance to catch up with some of the friends we made on our last stay, and made some new friends as well.

Eddy came over yesterday and gave Cindy two sun catchers as a birthday present he is such a great guy. He is the Vet I have talked about, he and Julie. Ok so today I was outside working on the CB and Eddy comes over. He and I started talking about what one needs while camping on the road. He mentioned several and even brought a 30/50 power adaptor over.

Now I know were this is headed, he wants to give me a gift too. Well I tell him I have most every thing that we listed. So after Ed took the adaptor back to his 5er, he brought over the neatest closet light, runs on battery and has a swivel. I told him that was cool and how much did he want for it. His face lit up and he grinned saying “nothing, you can have it”. Like I said “Julie and Eddy” are supper people and friends of ours too.

So I spent almost of my afternoon in and out of the hot tub. And because it was only 70 deg outside the pool was mine again. I am still surprised at what constitutes cold weather here but then in the wind it was a little cool as it was overcast. It is starting to cool down here as winter approaches. It even freezes a few day a winter and you could get up to 2" of snow. Now that is winter…….

I got a chance to read most of the afternoon with my cell propped against the leg of a small wicker table next to the hot tube. I rested my chin on the deck of the tub and sank back into the soothingly warm water till it was up around my neck. And laid back read stories, one after the another while the water swirling around me. It felt so wonderful.

Now that is how you do reading right!

Surprise

The other day I was bored, which happens a lot, so I took off in the truck to one of the few stores that are in Pahrump, the Dollar General. I took my time and browsed around and of course found some goodies that we just had to have. hehe

When I returned to the park and saw our patio, I freaked. Our furniture was outside on the patio. Either we were being robbed or Mark was having a garage sale without a garage. I placed my bags full of goodies on the table outside and was met at our door by Mark with a carpet shampooer by his side. What in the world and where in the world?

It seems that a neighbor across the street had shampooed his carpet and Mark asked to borrow it from him. It was a professional shampooer and he even gave Mark the soap to use. Our carpets had been in dire need of cleaning but I am unable to pull those units to get the job done. I was going to hire someone. Mark bless his heart got all the carpet in the RV done.

What a nice difference the clean carpet has made in our home. Me being in bare feet often, noticed the feel of it right away. Our home smells and looks so much nicer because of the kindness of a neighbor and all Marks hard work. I am blessed.

The next day Mark finished the job by cleaning the edges while Lola and I supervised. :)

A job well done

Finished up my suspension project today with the help of a very good friend. He and I then went over to the resort bar and polished off a few beers to calibrate. He is leaving tomorrow to hook up with some more friends on his way to Yuma. I ran across this pic tonight and reminded me of the afternoon I just had.

 Now, not to scare anyone but we came to the realization, other than the fact that he is an Alien, we are a lot alike. hehehe

Things are back to normal now, suspension is done. Tools all cleaned and put away, shackles greased and  roller jack returned to neighbors. What a project!

Replacing worn out shackles.

So here is the disclaimer for what I am typing. One must keep in mind that not all traveled roads are made equal. In fact pulling a 5er or any other type trailer down the road is like taking it through a class 4 or 5 (depending on road surface condition) earthquake. So some parts take quite a beating and must be replaced as a regular item of repair.

The Story

After spending five gruelling hours yesterday working at replacing the suspension on the curb side of the 5er.. Today I am taking a much needed break.

The Process:

Keep in mind most of this is done while on my back crawling under the 5er:

First removed the slide out stabilizers and raise the rear stabilizers. Then raise the 5er using the front landing legs, set a 7 ton jack stand under the frame on the front road side and lowered the 5er on to the jack stand to take the load  both vertically  and horizontally off the landing leg.

Then raise the entire curb side of the 5er. using a 20 ton bottle jack, block it into position using the other 7 ton jack stand and some massive blocks of wood.Then remove the tires and block both axles using a 2 ton roller jack the neighbor browned us and we are finally ready to start removing the bolts, shackles, spring  bushings and trunnion assembly.

Now to say this was quite a task would be an understatement. Keeping in mind that they are original equipment and the 5er is an 02. So to say they took even a lot of persuasion would be an almost extreme understatement.

To give some idea of what it took. I tried a 1/2" electric impact wrench and it wouldn't even nudge the nuts loose on the shouldered bolts. So with liquid wrench in hand and a 3/8 drive 17mm deep socket and breaker bar it was manual labor on each bolt to somehow loosen and turn all 5 nuts off a 1/6 of a turn at a time. Then drive each bolt out of its location. Lastly remove the mounting bolt and drive the old trunnion out of it's mounting bracket. 

Next, after removing the old worn out plastic bushing  clean each spring bore and spring mounts using a rag, more liquid wrench and a wire brush. Then install the new bass bushings with a driver that was crafted out of some of the old parts that had been removed earlier.

After lubing each bore the bushings were installed and deburred checking all with one of the new greaseable bolts that would be used during reassembly. 

After lubing each bushing it was time to install the new trunnion using a upgraded MOYride rubber cushioned assembly. This unit will transfer more evenly the spring action while also dampening the bounce the 5er recieves going down the road. (so it says in the add).

Now it is time to install the new shackles which are now greaseable as well, not to mention twice as thick. Replacing the ones that were the reason for this task to start with.

So finally we are at the point of lining up and attaching the springs assemblies to the 5er's frame. Not a large task as it now has almost all new parts. But as it had been quite a while since I had done this type of work I of course installed the flexible (easy peasy lemon squeezy) end first making it impossible to line up the stationary connections at the frame with the tools I had.

No problem just take it "all apart again" to do it right. Did I mention I have been laying on my back on a concrete pad by now for almost 4 hours!!!!!

Ok less I regress, reassembled and lined up, axles jacked into position, bolts secured and torqued, wheels reinstalled and torqued it was time to lower the 5er back to the ground reversing the raising procedure explained earlier.

Tada! One side done one More to go!!!!!

But then it is Always an Adventure!

Just another day

New Lately:

Had a real surprise yesterday morning. Cindy was getting ready to take Lola for her morning run and when she goes to the door she starts hopping round as she come back saying Norm is outside!

I got up and sure enough Norm our British Columbia (BC) buddy from last winter was at our door. We had no idea he was coming this way. It is sure great to see him.

Now Norm is this great guy from BC that just had a birthday, and his two daughters flew in to help him celebrate. It was great to see the spark in him as he spoke of it.

Unfortunately Norm’s Lady Donna slipped and fell this summer braking her ankle and so is still in rehab and will be joining us 30 to 60 days.

We all have reservations at the same site as well this year. In fact Norm and Donna, Batman and Betty and I and Cindy have sites next to each other so it going to be Another Adventure!

Today the main road into Pahrump Hwy 160 was down to one lane while they re-top it. So not wanting to wait the 30 plus minutes for the pilot truck to lead us thru the road work I decided to head out cross the desert back roads into town. Not a big surprise but you can see a lot of places while driving in the desert you just can’t get there. Ok so I got lost while seeing where I had to go. Now I know another Keurig moment for Mark.

It is always and Adventure

P/S today I am planning on lifting my 5er and start on replacing the shackles and center trunnion “On my Day Off” hehehehe.

From Furnace to Axels

It’s the end of October and the weather in Pahrump is finally cooling down. From what the locals say, this week has been unseasonably hot. The upper 80's and low 90's are not for me!!!  But we are now coming into more of the normal temps of the mid to low 70’s during the day and the upper 30’s to low 40’s at night.

With the cooler days Mark will be busy working on the 5er. Upon some inspection he found that the axels need some parts replaced. Thankfully he can do the work himself, and Amazon had the parts that we need. We have 13 days left here so Mark has no need to rush getting the job done. I hope he remembers that and doesn’t try to do it all in a few days. It’s a major undertaking but he feels that he can accomplish what needs to be done. God will guide him all the way too.

We had a nice surprise this week. A friend that we met in Yuma last year, came to Pahrump on his way down to Yuma and looked for us. He is now parked next to us for a few days. His beautiful partner is recouping from a broken ankle but will be joining him in Yuma sometime after the new year.  Today he and Mark took his Motor home into town to solve a problem. The part is ordered and Mark will put it in for him when it gets here. Mark needs to open a  traveling repair shop. hehe He often helps others in need.

Even though Nevada’s Treasure RV Resort is beautiful, we are looking forward to heading to Yuma and meet up with our winter snowbird friends. Lots to look forward to as we all reconnect and have some fun while leaving the snow behind. :)

Furnace and a/c weather

The new furnace we ordered from amazon.com came on the day we were told it would and it was in great shape. Mark was amazed that all the connections and such were included, we had nothing else we needed to purchase. And it’s hard to believe but it was a relatively easy install; insert and connect. Of course  there is always some wrestling involved when trying to put a rectangular piece into a diagonal area.

Once the furnace was connected we turned off the a/c and turned on the furnace to see how it ran. Wow, what a difference a new furnace made compared to one that was 15 years old and falling apart. We should find that we use less propane since it runs correctly and now pushes more air than the old leaky one did.

After a few days of the install, Mark rebuilt the cabinet with the same pieces and he did a great job too. At first he thought he would have to replace pieces with new. But he got it all done with no new parts and it looks very nice. I think he even amazes himself sometimes.

Since the install, the furnace has had to run all but one night. Yes the nights get cool, like in the low to mid fifties. And living in a trailer that means it gets chilly inside. It's crazy here, a/c during the day and furnace at night. But that is fall in Nevada for ya. Ha, Minnesota has days like that  from time to time too.

This week has been a hot one with Mark spending the afternoons in the pool. He is a fish and loves the water, Me, I prefer dry land with a good book and my recliner. Even though it gets hot these days, the lack of humidity make a walk with Lola tolerable. And she loves to go for the walks and I need all the walking I can get.

Two more weeks here and then off to Yuma, AZ where we will spend 4 months before traveling to other states we have not been to.

Until next time,

As always, it’s an adventure.

Furnace went down

A quick entry as to what has been happening in our travels. As you may already know we are staying at one of our favorite RV Resorts (that sounds cool, Resort) Nevada’s Treasure. And I have been enjoying a dip in the pool and hot tub to cool down most every day as it’s been in the mid 80’s. Don’t feel too bad it’s a desert so the nights cool down into the upper 50’s and lower 60’s. 

Well Yesterday I woke up to a rather cool RV. We have been hearing a noise coming from the furnace for many months and even though I had told Cindy it was nothing I had planned on looking into it when we got to our Yuma layover. Well noise is one thing but no furnace at all was not something I intended on running into. So after checking the 12 volt panel, pulling the fuse and testing continuity and voltage I found that electrically every thing was fine at the panel. Bummer, replacing a fuse was going to be a lot easier than what was coming next. 

So I get down on the floor and pull the fresh air intake panel off. Then using my stern face look, I stared down at the furnace. Well that didn’t get it to run either but it was worth a try. So now as I look at the cabinet the furnace is in and am forced to face the hard cold fact that it will need to come apart before I can even get at the furnace for more testing. Yep the furnace was installed and then the cabinet built, which happens a lot in the RV world.

Now not to get off subject but I just talked to a guy with a motorhome that paid $2500 to have his refrigerator replaced. It was to big to move out thru the door so they had to pull out the windshield and take it out thru the front of the motorhome. Talk about a Keurig moment. 

Well after stripping down the front and one side of the cabinet I could now (oh yea after pulling the outside vent off) move the furnace and start pulling the wiring loose. Bamm, first electrical connection I pull I find it’s burnt. I know you're thinking, great it is just a bad wire. Well yes and no as using a mirror revealed the connection at the furnace was also burnt requiring me to completely remove the unit to replace the board.

Once out and on the table I set up outside I gave both the board and the blower motor a closer inspection. Finding that one of the blower fans, yes it has three, had been rubbing the housing. That was the tick I was hearing but not all of it. After stripping the furnace down further I got the blower motor all the way out and discovered, as suspected, it to needed replacing. 

Ok so now I needed a logic board for the furnace the blower motor, a gasket set and the plastic fan cage that had been rubbing and had two vanes broken. %$##@ I said to myself as I looked up parts on the internet this was turning into an expensive fix. Especially when you consider the furnaces age. 

So I went back outside and sat down taking a brake started staring at the furnace almost zombi like contemplating my next move. Suddenly I realized there was something else that I had not noticed yet.

With all the tipping and turning I had done on the furnace while taking it apart I had not spent any time inspecting the burner box. Now not so intently focused on the teardown I could see the other half of the furnace standing on end and noticed the grayish dust that had build up between the two burner boxes. Now I had to replace a furnace in our house for this same gray dusty reason. And after further inspection proved to be that this burner box had been compromised as well.

Well it made the decision easier, we were going to be ordering a whole new furnace instead of spending money on the repair parts. I thank God the wire connection had failed forcing me to remove the furnace or my lovely bride and I might not be here to fill this portion of the blog in. Carbon monoxide poisoning or a fire might have been our fate. 

So now till the new furnace gets here and I get it installed we are using one of our supplemental heating solutions. Our Big Buddy portable propane heater with what I have turned into refillable bottled gas. 

As always, It’s an Adventure.

Not too hot in the dessert

A hectic morning. I woke up to Mark hurriedly getting dressed, and myself being quite chilly. My first thought was that we ran out of propane sooner than we should’ve. But when I crawled out of my warm cocoon I found Mark checking fuses and the furnace. Yep, you guessed it, the furnace gave up the ghost. It had been rather noisy at startup for some time already.

So after taking the furnace out from under a cabinet, of which it was put under before the cabinet went in, Mark proceeded to price his options on line.

The next thing I know the furnace is outside on the work table and Mark is heading into town. Upon returning from town he proceeded to tear the furnace apart. When I asked him what he was planning on doing, he really didn’t know yet. hehe But decided fixing it may be cheaper than a new one. Time will tell whether or not it will get fixed or replaced. In the meantime we are praying it doesn’t get so cold over night until the furnace is in and running again.

After much discussion and hard thinking we decided to order a new one. It made more sense replacing the whole furnace rather than replacing parts of a 15 year old furnace only to have it go down again. Amazon will have the new one here by Thursday. 

As always, it’s an adventure.

***UPDATE: Upon further inspection we found that the heat exchange was cracked and rusted. So we are doubly glad that we ordered a new furnace and not just parts. And thank God the furnace quit running before we were endangered by the CO2. 

RVers Prayer

Fall 2017 and Back on the Road! by Mark

Fall 2017 and Back on the Road!

So we are back on the road and it is time for me to catch the blog back up on our happenings.

So what happened today during my adventure. Well to start with I made myself a great cup of coffee using our Keurig. I know Mark, it's a Keurig, you push a button and the machine automatically makes and pours you a cup off coffee. Well lets just say I am a little kitchen challenged so while automatically making a second cup again using the Keurig things all fell apart. The cup is only half full, did I punch the wrong size button? Who knows. But after tasting the coffee it was very obvious the automatic part of the Keurig was no longer working, in fact I thought I had already tasted the worst coffee in the world but I was wrong this truly was the worst cup off coffee I had ever tasted. So no second cup of coffee. You know only I could screw up a cup of coffee using a Keurig! 

This meant I got an even earlier start on getting in trouble. Took My Bride over to the laundry room and then after giving my neighbor Julie some grieve about her New Motorhome got caught up on how her summer went. Julie is from Philadelphia and is the oldest sibling of how many I don’t know. But she did say one of her Sisters is 73. 

Well a few years ago she decided to take off so she bought a New Motorhome and left Philly  to find a new place to live, which lead her to Nevada Treasure RV Resort. She tells me while standing on a ladder putting covers over the wipers and mirrors on her New Motorhome that her friends got her a taser, mace and a baton for safety when she left. She’s a little rough round the edge but what a Great Story she is.

Ed her neighbor and very good friend followed her out from Philly with his Dodge diesel and a 35’ 5er. Now Ed is a bit older than Julie but just as independent so their combined efforts at getting things done are often oddly interest. They have there own way of doing things.

Last year parked on the lot behind us was a independent contracted Programmer. He was working on a project for the military at a base not to far away. Have you heard of Area 51? He often stayed on base for days at a time but when he was around we got to talking. His wife and two children are living in Seattle while he lives is a small RV in Nevada Treasures while working on this project. The RV is much more cost effective for him than using a Motel even with Commercial Rates. He arranges work so he gets home for two to three days every few weeks and is planning to use the RV when his family comes down to see him as well as for camping when he is done with the project. 

So why did I bring this up? Simple this year the guy behind me is a independent Hazmat and ammunitions Cleanup Contractor as well as a pretty good Guitar Player. He works out at the same military base doing bomb site testing and clean up at some of the 70 _ 50 sq. mile bomb sites that are on the base. They work with multiple mini blasts as well as full bombings with multiple building designed to specific demention. Often these sites are also chosen with mountain location approaches and design to simulate a specific train solution. 

Very interesting story here as well as he and his wife live in their 5er traveling from one site to the next. He thinks he will be working in Virginia next. 

Electrical:

We have been running the solar to charge our 4 battery bank for months now and it has worked out well. Since we have been doing more and more boondocking requiring us to use the 3000 watt inverter more often although sparingly this has worked out very well.

We haven’t run the generator since the 9 days in late May and early June when we got back to Mn and it was overcast for over a week. But then most of our stay was in Hutch or @ Harlan’s and at both we had access to shore power for our electrical needs.

Now that we are back on the road parked here at Nevada Treasure in Pahrump, to keep our expenses down our strategy is to run solar all day on both 12 and 120 volt then switch over to short power if we need to when we go to bed to run the extra refrigerator, clock and cell chargers overnight.

As a test ran on solar for most of day and evening then shut every thing off allowing the batteries to stabilize and they pulled 12.73 volts. Fully Charged after running all day even using the vacuum, ice maker, computers, spare refrigerator and phone chargers. Nice!

Propane vs Electricity thoughts:

7 gal propane = 161 kilowatt-hours of electricity or 23 kilowatt-hours per gal. 

2.99 propane per gal. x 7 gal or 30lb tank = $20.93

$ .15 per kilowatt-hour x 161 kilowatt-hours = $24.15 

Propane @ 2.99 per gal is $3.22 cheaper to run 

As always an adventure

First week

Our first week in Pahrump, Nevada went well. The first two days of our stay were quite warm so the a/c got a work out. The rest of the week, it was too nice outside to turn the a/c on although when inside the a/c would’ve felt great. By around 5 the sun is setting so the temps drop fast. Around here the sun really is the boss. At night the furnace runs since it gets down to the mid 40’s to low 50’s. Mornings are crisp and cool and great for Lola’s morning walk to the dog run or around the resort.

On a trip into town to get some things at Home Depot, Mark dropped me off at WM so I could get a much needed hair cut. The stylist did a great job so I was double happy. After shopping for a few groceries Mark and I went to look at some new and used motorhomes and 5th wheels. It’s fun to look even though we have no intentions of buying. We are happy with the home we have. It’s paid for and that is an even bigger reason not to buy. hehe

Today our little Miss Lola went to the groomer. Mommy is always apprehensive when taking her someplace new. But the lady has been grooming for 25 years and the reviews were all wonderful. 

After we dropped off Lola, we headed to Mom’s Diner for breakfast, oh dear they are huge, delicious breakfasts there at a more than fair price. I just couldn’t finish the whole thing. Mark had no trouble, but was more than full when we left the diner. Smiths grocery and a stop to fuel up the truck and we headed back home. 

The groomer called us around 3 to come and get Lola. She was rather curt when we got there. It seems she wasn’t real happy with the fact that Lola is a wiggle worm. Dana is used to it and Lola is used to Dana. But Lola got a very nice cut and even has little ribbons on her ears. I have no idea how to get them off without tearing her hair and hurting her, other than cutting them out before I can’t get the ribbons out at all.  She has never had ribbons in her hair before.

My gland is still not back to normal and now the tendonitis in my elbow is causing problems with my left arm. When we get to Yuma, if I can last that long, I’ll find an orthopedic doctor and get a shot in the elbow. It’s about every two years that I need one. Then I should be good until something else on me falls apart. “sigh”

Yesterday Mark put in a new faucet in the kitchen sink. The old one, for a reason we don’t know, would always get so tight you couldn’t move the nozzle and sometimes turn off the water. As long as he had the sink out, he replaced the stainers too. The sink looks new. And it is so nice not working so hard just to turn on the water. Oh and yes, as always when working with plumbing, Mark did get a wet. hehe

Last night Mark went looking for scorpions and came across a man that catches them for pets. Yikes. The gentleman was well informed about those little buggers. Mark learned that scorpions have 8 eyes but can not see. The don’t like light which is why they are out at night, the smaller ones are more aggressive and venomous than the big ones too. Scorpions are not native to the area. The palm trees you see all over are not native either. They were brought in from Mexico and along with them came the scorpions, hidden in the bark. 

 With the information Mark got last night and finding a scorpion by the 5er where Lola goes, we are going to Home Depot today to get some spray to kill and ward off the scorpions. He will also, unknown by him as of yet,  be spraying the area and RV for any other bugs.  I guess there are black widow spiders here too. Darn I have bugs.  Why stay here you ask? We love the resort is our answer.

Our Address for the month of Oct.

Mark and Cindy Benton
301 Leslie St.
#17
Pahrump, NV 89060

Nevada's Treasure once again.

Landed in Pahrump today to settle in for a month. Doing a full set up, haven't had that since we left so it is going to feel good to be home.

We took the same site as last year and were greeted by two of the same neibors as we had before. So great to see them again and plan on getting a chance to catch up with them real soon.

The dually did another amazing job of pulling us and the 5er thru flat land, valley and mountain passes. She has already gotten 5,000 miles on her since we left so she due for a service.

Got a chance to see Batman and his lovely bride Bettie in Salt Lake City before we left Utah and talked to Norm and Donna on the way out of town so we have our site reservations all set up for our winter stay in Yuma.

Big Thank You goes out to Batman for loaning us his power cooler. We were able to pick up extra supplies in town before we left Utah and keep them nice and cold.

BTW the thermal cooler is a Coleman 120v/12v and works fantastically. It's set up in the RV running off the 120 volt inverter, powered by our solar as we drive down the road. I love it when a plan works. It Rocks.

Cell reception was poor at best last year, but with my new phone I hope it works so I don't have walk to the south wall for signal. It is 86 deg. right now so it feels warm in the sun but it is really nice in the shade even without a breeze. Mark.

The trip to Pahrump was uneventful unless you count going through Las  Vegas. Luckily the town really does sleep during the day so the traffic wasn't as bad as it could've been later in the day. But more than I could've handled; Mark drove through like it was second nature to him. He amazes me with the type of driving that has he had to go through. God gave him quite a skill.

Tonight we went to supper at the restaurant here at the resort. We were happy to see that Angel was still waitressing. We really got nice welcoming hugs. The social butterfly of the resort welcomed us back as did the ladies at the front desk. As Mark said, it was like coming home.

Leaving Utah we found that no Walmarts allowed overnight parking and some other places as well. So we drove further, to Nevada and stayed in a WM lot there. In the morning I walked across the lot to the store and picked up supplies so we don't have to leave here for a few days. And I got a much wanted bottle of wine for a glass or two tonight.  I found the WM store to be very clean, and the people very friendly. It was quite warm when we got there but by the next morning I had to turn the furnace on to get the chill out. It got down to 53º

It has cooled off here in Pahrump after a hot 87º. Without the humidity it is more tolerable than the northern states where it is humid. By later tonight the a/c will go off and we will be bundled up under the covers as the temp drops to 55.

As always, Miss Lola was a great traveler, but very happy to be out of the truck and in her own bed. She likes the dog walk where she can be loose to run and sniff as she pleases. We will no longer walk along the outskirts of the park as we did last year. That rattlesnake may be gone, but it is not the only one in the Nevada desert. 

Time now to hit the shower and then pour myself a glass of wine while I sit in the recliner with my feet up. We had a long hard day. Cindy

As always, it's an adventure.

Visiting Friends

Yesterday we met up with some friends that we met in Yuma last winter. They live here in Utah, so we went to lunch together and had a wonderful time visiting. The drive to and from Heber was so beautiful. But to me it’s always beautiful in Utah. I love fall and all that it entails and God painted all the mountains and hills the most beautiful colors. I don’t know how Mark managed to stay on the roads while observing all the wonders around us.

After getting home, we had to tear down so we could dump the tanks. Then move back to our site and set up all over again. That is ONE of the down falls of not having full hook ups and having to move to dump. But it got done in spite of all my fussing. hehe We both took long much needed showers after that. Mark went to the shower room here at the resort and I opted to stay home and shower where the water is soft. :) Yep, I do like the comforts of home and knowing that the shower is clean. Seeing as how we only have antenna to rely on here, there is very little tv to watch. But I do like to read so that helped pass the time after my shower.

Today we will be heading back to the clinic for hopefully some relief from my plugged up salivary gland. I ate a bagel this morning to make sure it was still acting up. Yep, it blew up like a balloon. Praying for relief today. I don’t care if they have to drain it to get it unplugged, I just want to be without pain.

If I have no pain from a procedure we will be going to visit some other friends here in Utah. Lola will get to come along as well. She is always welcomed there with open arms and treats. hehe So we are looking forward to another enjoyable day with great friends.

Calling all doctors.

Things aren't going as planned. Since I still have the swollen painful gland issue, I will need to go to urgent care again. A message has also been sent to my primary doctor in Hutch. It's not a good idea to head out to who knows where until the gland problem has been solved. So we will be staying in Provo a bit longer than planned. It's still too hot in Pahrump, Nevada yet anyway.

We will have to move to the dump station so we can dump. The tanks are full. As long as we have to move to dump we hope to move to a site with has sewer, the one we are in now does not. When we checked in here we had no options, now many have moved out so I hope we can get a full hook up site. We will also need to get our propane tanks filled today as well. The temps are quite low in the night so the furnace has been running often. During the day we use the electric heater so save on propane.

God has his reason for  this happening. So I just have to accept this and pray for healing. He will take care of us, he always has.

As always, it's an adventure

Some very very long days from Wyoming to Utah

Upon leaving Fergus Falls and MN for the second time, we did have sunshine most of the way. We put in a very long day but made it to Aberdeen, SD where we stayed in their fairgrounds. They have a huge huge area set up for camping. Some sites have full hook up, which is what we took, and some have just water and electric. There are also areas with no hookups for tenters. It was a very quiet place. The first day we had nice warm weather and then the rain and clouds caught up with us and stayed the 6 days we were there.

Next 4 stops were in WM parking lots in Nebraska and Wyoming. Both states are about as boring to drive through as can be. hehe Or maybe it was because I was sick of the WM parking lot stays and the gloomy weather. There actually were some pretty areas, but for the most part it was as flat as a pancake, with nothing but cockle burrs, crappy roads and cows here and there.

Mark was on a mission to get me to Nebraska so we could add another state to our travel map. The last stop we understood to be about an hour or so from Nebraska. We were so tired from driving all day in no mans land that we stopped at a truck stop in Valentine SD. With the help of ear plugs, that are getting used a lot, we slept well.

The next morning after a much needed cup of coffee, lunches packed and everything checked for travel, we headed out to Nebraska. To our surprise, about 1000 feet from where we parked, we saw a sign that read Welcome to Valentine Nebraska. We did not know that Valentine was literally a border town. We sure got a good laugh from that. We stayed at several WM parking lots to rest for the night after more long days of boring roads. Our next destination was Utah.

On Friday afternoon I was finally home in my favorite state of Utah. What a beautiful state it is too. This time we came in from a different side of the state and the sights we saw made us speechless. Ok, so that’s not quite true, no one has ever seen Mark speechless. Since he didn’t care for that comment I am forced to add that from time to time I’ve been a bit gabby too. (so not true though) Anyway, I was happy to see that we were welcomed with some beautiful fall colors on the gorgeous red rocks. Oh my, God sure does beautiful fall colors.

After several calls for a place to stay, we finally found one campgrounds with room. It was the same one that we stayed in last spring. Only this time we didn’t get a wet smelly site. We have water and electric but no sewer dump at our site. So we dumped at the gate and then went to our spot. We will dump again when we leave on Tuesday.

Setting up was even harder this time since I seem to have a cold that is trying to knock me down and the two of us were drained. Miss Lola was so happy to have her bed in it’s rightful spot as well. It’s great to have our home set up for the living and functionality. One day stays we do not set up the inside since it will just get torn down in less than 12 hours anyway.

Supper out was a real treat. We were getting tired of sandwiches and burgers. A good sit down meal was due.

As I’m typing this, on our first morning here in Utah, it is raining. That seems to be our mantra. Where we go, Rain follows. Nevada Treasure is our next destination. We loved staying there last spring and will stay once again before our winter destination of Yuma, Arizona.

After many days of WM parking lots, it’s more than time for me to hit the shower. Until next time, keep us in your prayers.