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. 

Sorry I have not posted for a while. We landed back in Mn in early June and had a great time catching up with all our friends. If we didn’t get a chance to see you we hope to next year when we get back. 

Since being back several times friends have asked were we are headed next and it seems hard for some to understand our lack of direction in our travels. From my point of view I am living a dream. For my whole life I have had some place I had to be or had something to do. Now I get up when I want and I go where the day takes me. I plan to enjoying this life style for as long as I can. Why not, for me it’s like living a dream. Oh yeah sooner or later I will have to wake up but for now I am going to enjoy the dream!

P/S although it drives my wife a little nuts she really seems to enjoy it too. But does look forward to our longer stays (Yuma, Pahrump, etc) which work for me as well. The too many times in a row of one night stays on parking lots are what really bothers. The mess from not setting up or having a table to sit at is tough to take.

Now that being said lets talk about Full Time RVing. We now have almost a year of living in our 5er and the learning curve has been and Adventure.

For starters the longest we have Boondocked (dry camped) in a row has been 9 days (we are currently on a 3 dayer) and let me tell you that puts a real strain on your life and your wife. Everything you take for granted becomes an “option”, not a standard way of life. From water, electricity both 12v and 120v, to heat, AC and yes Poo Removal. All life’s little simplicities have to be conserved and reevaluated on a daily basis. 

I had to install a new water pump that is still a work in progress. (A quick note: stick with standard. replacement components to keep it simple. Unfortunately I did not and hence the pump is still a work in progress.) 

I am starting a winter project list to be done while we winter back in Yuma. I will add to this list as things come to me.

Install 2nd Power Vent.

Repair Furnace Blower (noisy)

Finish Water Pump Install

Look into Stabilizer Jacks (for extended stay)

Electrical Equalization

Replace Kitchen Table

Install Drawer and Cabinet locks

Permanently Install Cell Booster

Look into Options from Cell Carriers

New Mount for Satellite System

Replace Vinyl Trim

Replace Power Cord End

I  picked up a new hydraulic jack and  jacked up the 5er and repacked the wheel bearings before we left. From the looks of it I will be replacing the brake assemblies on the 5er next summer. Also had the front and rear brakes replaced in the Dually as well as front bearings packed. It runs great and has now just rolled over 100,000 miles. We bought it with 82000 on it. 

One of the things I had not realized was how much of a beating the 5er has to endure going down the road. It’s as if the unit is going thru an earth quake as it rolls. And I have installed an air ride w/shock ping box and air suspension on the truck. I can't imagine what it would be like without these aids. 

You may wonder why I mention this. Well as you know I built and installed a solar system so we could be have 120v elect. when we boondock and have had mixed results with it. Well my number one problem with the system had been connections. I have made many revisions to the systems connections and seem to have finally gotten past this issue. Wow when I say you need to bullet proof it I mean you need to bring bullet proof to a whole new level. 

As long as we are talking electrical I have finally organized all the shore power 120v electric components into a tote. Not a big deal until you start looking for a $35.00 adapter and cannot find it without pulling everything out of the basement of the 5er.

(over and hour and a half job) Well now it is all in one place 30’x50amp cable, 30’x 30amp cable, adaptor 30amp to 50 amp, adaptor 50amp to 30amp, adaptor 15amp to 30amp, 50amp surge protector. All in one tote.

We now have all the water hoses in one tote as well. Ok almost the piece of $#!& Blue Potable water hose is so darn stiff (third hose) it will not roll up into the tote without cutting it to fit. But other wise 2 30’ and 1 50’ are all in the same place when I need them. As well as all the adaptors, tees and y’s. We also purchased 2 tie downs for the awning which really make it much more useful as it can stay up now in higher winds.

We have about 2500 miles on since we left this fall (2017) and have traveled thru 8 states on our way to winter in Yuma. To see old and making new friends.

Take Care

It’s Always an Adventure.

Fith wheel or fiver?

So I was reasontley asked by a truck driver friend why I call our RV a 5er and not a 5th Wheel? 

To answer this question lets talk a little about the various ways one can connect a trailer to a truck.

1: There are trailers that connect thru a Receiver Hitch often times in slang called a (bumper pull trailer). This type of trailer is connected by mounting a hitch underneath the vehicle that has a protruding end called a receiver that a ball is added to connect the trailers tongue to the tow vehicle. These Receivers Hitches are available in multiple sizes depending on the weight of you trailer. The size of this type of hitch is dictated by both the weight of the trailer and the vehicle pulling it. C

Usually this type of hitch are recognized as Class 1 thru Class 4 with weight ratings of 2000lb up to 10,000lb. respectively. 

Fifth wheel hitch

A Class 5 trailer hitch is mounted in the bed of pickup truck which uses a plate in the bed of the truck (similar to a semi-tractor) and a pin on the trailer.

Gooseneck

A Class 5 hitch also mounts in the bed of the truck but uses a ball in the bed of a pickup truck(either 2-5/16" or 3" in diameter) to engage a coupler on a trailer. Not to be confused with a fifth wheel.

The difference is a gooseneck trailer slides over a ball hitch in the bed of a pickup truck, while a fifth wheel trailer attaches to a pickup truck using a hinged plate hitch; the same type of hitch is used by semi trucks. The biggest advantage of a gooseneck trailer over a bumper pull is its stability. 

Both the Fifth wheel and the Gooseneck hitches are made to pull up to 30,000lb loads. 

Hence I call my 5th wheel RV trailer a 5er. No to be correct I switch the pin box on the trailer to a air ride, shocked Goose Neck as the Dually we bought already had a Goose ball on it.  

Not far

Sept. 22, 2017

We finally made it out of MN, but it took awhile. After the funeral of a dear relative of Marks we took an extra day in Hutch to get some things done before hitting the road. Our first day out led us to a WM parking lot in Fergus falls just for the night. There must have been at least a dozen trucks in the back lot taking a much needed rest. But we slept relatively well and hit the road before noon.  Anything earlier than that is quite uncommon for us. hehe

Going west, the next day, we landed in Aberdeen SD. We are currently staying in the surrounding ground of their county fair grounds. Which they have turned into many many camping sites. Some with full hook ups and some with just water and electricity. We took full hook ups for only $23 a night. Not bad. It’s so quiet out here that in the evening all I could hear was an occasional train whistle and crickets.

Much to Lola’s dismay there is an ample supply of flies that want to come inside for a visit. Not sure when her fear of flies came about, but none the less it is here. She doesn’t go quite as frantic as our last dog did. 

Happy happy happy

Yesterday we went into Owatonna for some milk and rolls. Just a couple blocks onto main street I spotted a Godfathers Pizza place. Pointing it out to Mark had him make a fast sharp turn into the parking lot. Nothing makes him move faster than finding a Godfathers pizza. hehehe Yes, we love their pizza and consider it the best pizza in the world. Our traditional pizza at Godfathers is just a plain ole hamburger, original crust, with light on the sauce. That was the first pizza we ever had at GF and still remains our fave. The pizza we had yesterday was wonderfully delicious. In fact Mark plans on going there for lunch today. We don't know when we will see another one since they are few and far between.

We went into a HyVee store and were amazed at all the product they had, the full shelves and friendly staff. It was fun walking around that store. The prices were a bit high on some items but we managed to find some things we needed that were on sale. If we had a bigger freezer I would have gotten more than one pound of bacon. It was $3 a pound. Which is about half the price of bacon now days.

After our shopping Mark drove around town to see what it all had to offer. Nice place. We also drove around the country side. It was nice to be able to drive around and not pull our home.

The heat is still too much so we are very happy that we have full hook ups at this campground. It's really pretty quiet considering Hwy 35W is just a few blocks away. And it's close enough to town to get supplies without driving miles to get there, but far enough away to not be bothered with city traffic and such. The staff  here is wonderful too.

Well that's it for now. I may add more later. Mark can hear Godfathers calling his name. :)

Back tracking

We had a bumpy ride covering a lot of ground on Monday. From Iowa we headed to Wisconsin to see lake Michigan. Yes, it was, wet, big and sandy. hehe With a lot of people all around. As long as we were so close we decided we could put another state on our home and visit Illinois. It was a short uneventful trip to the state and then back to Iowa..We have not had good luck with having any good roads and it took it’s toll on all three of us.

After driving for 5 hours we stopped at a Lowes in Dubuque and asked if we could stay over night in their parking lot. The people on the floor didn’t know if we could stay or not but were kind enough to find a manage that had the answer for us. Yes, we could stay.  It was a noisy stay with many cars and trucks driving by but we slept well anyway.

Upon waking up on Tuesday morning Mark received a text that a relative had passed away that morning. So we turned around and are heading back to Hutch. We drove quite aways before we found a campground. Normally we would have camped out in a WM or someplace similar, but the temp as in the upper 80’s and we needed the comforts of air conditioning. It’s looking like a very warm week so I hope we can find electrical hook ups until it cools down again.

The campground we found was in Owatona deep into a huge grove of tall trees.  We scored on their fall discount, 50 amp service and full hook ups for under $30. Since we aren’t staying long, we just dropped the rear stabilizer, opened the slide, and hooked up the water, sewer and electricity. It is a nice place to camp too. Not sure when the funeral is so that will depend on if we stay another night or not. I’m not too anxious to go back to Hutch any sooner than we have to.

When we head back down the road, I’m hoping to go to Dowes Iowa like last year. They have a BP stop that has GodFathers pizza. We really would like one more before we go further south. The roads are better in Iowa than Wisconsin too. This time we will head more south than east. 

There are a lot of trees changing color already and the soy bean fields down here are really drying. I hope we can get out of the 5 state area before the beans are picked so no Asian beetles stow rides again this year. Yuck. Last year there were still a few in the camper when we got to AZ in November. 

This trip is no different than any other…….

Always an Adventure.

Great First week of our second year

Wednesday September 6th we started out on our second year of full timing. As usual for us we got a later start than we had planned. Some mornings we just move faster than others and some mornings   we tend to linger over our coffee long enough to want a second cup. Well this was one of those mornings. We didn’t hit the road until around 1:30 pm and had no idea what our destination was. We couldn’t go west, as planned, because of all the fires and smoke so we headed south and east.

After some discussion we decided to go to Harmony, MN for an Amish tour. I am an avid reader of the Amish and was very excited to see first hand how they lived.  We got to Harmony an hour before the tour so decided a cup of coffee was in order. And the little cafe where we stopped had the best coffee.

The tour started at 1:30 with three couples aboard the small tour bus. Our tour guide, Mary, was well informed of the Amish that lived in the area. We stopped at 5 Amish homesteads and were greeted with smiles. Each farm had a little store that sold things that they made, such as woven baskets, canned goods, leather goods, quilts that were beyond beautiful, and many other hand made items. We stopped at one place that had a bakery set up with the most delicious treats. All of us enjoyed some very tasty goods from there. We brought home a pan of pecan caramel rolls that was out of this world and some pizza bread that we will try before we hit the road again.

Along the roads we saw many horse and buggy’s and everyone waved at the tour bus. We saw the one room schools and were greeted by all the students with big smiles and waves. And all of the children that we saw were always barefoot, on grass and rocks. My feet ached just looking at them. The tour guide also stopped at a very old and still used Methodist church in Lansboro. Wow, it was a real step back in time and so nice for it’s age. You could tell it was still very much loved.

The tour was 3 hours so we hit the road again, hoping to land somewhere before it got dark. A Walmart parking lot in Austin, MN, was our camping choice. We like free whenever we can get it. We were tired after a long and fun filled day.  Of course when we stay at a WM we buy something in the store, to show our thanks.

After a  leisurely coffee in the morning we tore down and headed down the road once more. We headed for Prairie du Sheen in hopes of finding a buddy that Mark had not seen in years and had been to his home only one other time.  The drive was long and we saw much pretty country side. 

Like I said Mark had only been to Ricks place once so it took two times past it when we saw someone outside a home that we thought looked like Rick. After me asking if this  man was him, I was met with some hesitation but a yes, that is me was answered. Mark reintroduced himself and the chatter began. What a coincidence that the meeting happened the way it did. A lot of catching up and a meal at the neighborhood English pub made for a very enjoyable day. It was great to meet again. Pictured with Mark and Rick is one of the many beautiful clocks that Rick made. He is quite the woodworker.

There weren’t any places to camp but we managed to find a spot at a Carriage Day celebration. I asked if anyone could camp there for the festivities and was told sure, park anywhere. So we parked  and set up camp for the night. We pointed the truck in the direction we wanted to head out in the morning. Later we learned that not just anyone could park there but we were leaving that morning anyway. The morning was met with issues with the inverter not wanting to allow us to use our Keurig in the morning. What? No coffee? Yikes, we better hit the road and find some. So we left earlier than we ever have. We were on the road by 9 am. Which for us is a huge surprise.

We continued our drive in Wisconsin and found that there are very very few campgrounds there. So we kept driving and driving on the most awful roads. Wisconsin needs to work on all of their roads as well as interstates. By the grace of God our home was not torn apart. But we were mighty tired of all the jostling. 

After a long drive we finally found a campgrounds at Lake Geneva. It is one of the most unkept places we have stayed and the most expensive place too. But with it being the only place around to camp, they get buy with stealing you blind and not maintaining their campgrounds. They do have internet but it doesn't work at all.  We were tired and needed a shower, empty the tanks and fill with fresh water again so it was worth at least half of the price to us. hehehe The lady at the desk was very nice at least. But I don’t recommend staying at the Coachman’s Terrace in Lake Geneva. That is unless you have no other choice. I would suggest staying at a WM parking lot before staying here unless you need water and to dump.

Today is Sunday and we have no idea where anything is in this area, and we are in need of a day of rest. So today we will do as little as possible and just enjoy the quiet. Ha ha, there is little quiet here, people don't know how to control their dogs to stop barking. Grrrrrr. Tomorrow we will hit the road with intentions of going to see Lake Michigan. I think that is as far east as we dare go, Time to head away from any travelers escaping all the hurricanes. And we are finding that many places, campgrounds and hotels are filling with travelers escaping the hurricanes and fires as far north  or south as Wisconsin. Some have been here for vacation and can not go back home.

Movin' on out!!

Bright sunshine and a brisk 45º this morning. We won't be sweltering in the heat, tearing down, this time. What a relief.

Due to the fires and smoke we won't be going west as once planned. Not exactly sure where we are heading, but God willing we will get there safely. Between here and Facebook our family and friends will know where we are when I can get on here and post. Adding to this blog isn't possible when on the road, facebook is much easier.

Yesterday we spent the day putting the bikes away and other tear down tasks. We made room in the storage unit for Marks bike and my Helix is at my cousin Sharon's. There were small things as well that we did to make todays tear down less time consuming.  But actually the majority of it does have to wait until the day we leave. Like empty the tanks, fill the fresh water tank with softened water, take stabilizers down, put way hoses and tie up the ladders, to name a few of the things that Mark does outside for tear down. I take care of the inside, some things have to come off of the walls, chairs moved back, table take down, tear computer down, tvs safely nestled , clear and secure counter items. All has to be clear of the slides as they move in place. Drinking water jugs are full, lunches were packed and our meds easily accessible. When all of this is done, it's hook up the camper to the truck, secure all, double and triple check everything, load Lola into the truck, and head out of Hutch. Of course I didn't list everything, or this would be too long. hehe

 Yesterday when getting fuel stabilizer for the bikes at the auto parts store, I was given a big of tiny tomatoes and some large tomatoes and onions. I canned the big tomatoes because I could never eat that many before they spoiled. When I was done I had 2 quarts of tomatoes. That made me quite happy. Add the tiny tomatoes to the ones that my friend Dawn gave me, means I have enough to nibble on no matter where we go. :)

Well I've written enough of a boring post so I'll go and get ready to start my part of the tear down.

On to another adventure. :)