A month of challenges mixed with some camping fun

Following my latest eye doctor appointment, I packed up Minnie and headed up the mountain to camp for a few weeks in cooler country. As I was nearing Payson, it dawned on me to question why I was towing my Fit up there, when Dale has a car and we probably wouldn't be doing that much running around.Too late, but if I'd been smarter, I could have saved a lot in gas on that drive up the hill. Next time, I'll think things through better.

But let me back up and catch up on Minnie repairs. The last time I had my generator serviced was about 6-7 years ago at Cummins Onan. I decided it should be done again, and contacted my mobile service guy, Juan. He sent his son Brandon to do the service. Brandon found a small leak, which he fixed by tightening a bolt, and then changed the oil. After checking other things, he told me the carburetor was aged out and should be replaced, and I said okay. When he told me a new one would be $550 plus labor, I changed my mind and said I'd keep this one for the time being as long as it was running okay. He put everything back together and all seemed to be working fine.

My onboard Onan 4000 generator

However, when I was getting ready for my trip, I kept having trouble with the breaker switch, which kept flipping off. Whenever I flipped it back on, the gennie would start but would not run my AC without stalling. I sent Juan a message, but he was out of town. Dale said he thought he could trouble shoot it, so I headed north on a Tuesday morning.

The drive up Hwy 87 was pleasant and some of the lightest traffic I have seen on my drives up to the Rim. I pulled into FR 171 Campground and got set up. Within 30 minutes, Dale had diagnosed and fixed the problem with the breaker switch, but getting Minnie to run long and strong enough to handle the AC was not happening. I could run my microwave, so thought if it didn't get too warm, I could survive a few weeks without the AC. I have a good 12V Fantastic Fan, and an awning, so between those two heat interventions, I did survive. Only one very warm afternoon did Hanna and I have to retreat to Dale's Minnie while we watched Happy Gilmore 2 on his big TV.

Taken just as I got set up, but before I settled in. (No awning or rug out.)

Gnarled tree branches

Pretty sunset through the trees

One day, Daryl, Gisele and Dianna drove up to visit us and have a hot dog cookout. Daryl had just gotten a new Tesla Model Y and Dale convinced him to bring it up to show us. (He had an ulterior motive in wanting Daryl to bring up an Amazon package he had been waiting for.) It was a nice outing for them, and a nice visit for us all, and I got to test drive the Y. The last time I did that, I went home and ordered my own Tesla Model 3. I resisted that urge this time, as I'm still happy with my car. But Daryl's Y is very nice and it's a beautiful color. I really like it!

We spent about 10 days in 171, then moved south to another dispersed camp road (unnamed). We had scoped out a nice site earlier in the week, but when we went over the night before our move to park Dale's Jeep to reserve it, someone had swooped in and grabbed it a few hours ahead of us. We found another decent site just beyond it and settled in the next morning.

 A couple mornings later, I was walking Hanna up the camp road and 3 big barking dogs came running out at us. A shouting match ensued between the owner and myself regarding the legality of unleashed dogs in a campground and defending oneself with a stick. No one was injured, but from then on, Hanna and I only walked down the camp road away from that site so we would not encounter them again.

I want to mention this woman and her dogs were in a group site labeled "Camp Stewards". These are not official Camp Hosts, but apparently they have some sort of deal with the forest service that they can stay in the campground area indefinitely in exchange for "keeping an eye on things". All other campers are limited to 14 days. Dale and I never saw them keep an eye on anything. They didn't do any patrolling nor cleaning up sites, which were sometimes littered with trash. (Fortunately, no one left a charcoal grill!) But their semi-official status should have meant following the rules and setting a good example of being responsible and courteous campers. 

"Camp Stewards"

Dale and I did less running around this time, only going into Payson twice and Heber once. On our Heber trip, we did a little exploring by taking the back road past Black Canyon Lake (which was shrunk to a puddle) and Black Canyon Campground back to our campsite. Dale took his kayak over to Willow Springs Lake one morning, but after toodling around a little while, he discovered a leak, so needed to fix that before any more water adventures. Other than that, we stuck pretty close to camp, just walking down the road a couple times a day, sitting out under the awning, and making S'mores over our propane firepit some of the evenings. 

Strange rock in the campground

On Friday, August 1, my Minnie sprang a leak in the bathroom. Dale took a look and discovered there was a cracked pipe under the shower. It was spraying pretty good, so I shut off the water pump, and decided it was time to head home and have my list of repairs attended to. It's pretty hard to camp without water, and the temps were climbing into the high 80s, so home was looking better and better. I quickly packed up and headed out of the campground at 4:00. I made one quick stop for a few gallons of gas in Star Valley, but otherwise made a beeline down the Beeline. I pulled into my back yard just before 7:00. Unloading waited until 5:00 am the next morning.

I've been in touch with Juan with my list of issues he needs to fix, but told him they can wait until fall. I'm not going anywhere before the holidays. 

Thanks for all your help with my Minnie, Dale. I appreciate you always being willing to work on things for me. I sometimes feel guilty that I depend on you guys so much, but then what are brothers for? I think that's why Mom and Dad gave me four of them!

 

More repairs

Last summer when I got my new awning, I had the mobile service guy check out my step, which was making an awful rattle when it pulled in. He replaced a bracket and tightened things up and it was fine for several months. This summer, it started rattling again. Additionally, my coach water pump had been making a grinding noise when I first turned it on, so I decided it was time to replace it, before it went out while I was somewhere out in the woods.

I've been using 4 Points RV Service for the past few years. It is a mobile service that comes to my house, which is so much nicer than getting my Minnie out of the backyard and taking it into a shop. His prices are competitive as he doesn't have any overhead and only one staff member other than family. He's just the nicest guy, and I'm really happy I found him.

He replaced my water pump (which had a small leak and some calcium buildup) and checked out my step. He said there is a circular gear that turns 180° as the step comes out. The gears were stripped on one side. Instead of replacing the whole gear, he simply took it out and turned it around. So now it is working on the fresh side with the good teeth and moves as smooth as silk. He warned it may only last a couple more years, but since there was no need to replace it right now, it saved me about $200!

So now, I'm ready to do some more camping.

It's all good

 

In my last post, I described the problems I had with Minnie when I got home from the Mogollon Rim. The flat tire, the empty gas tank, and the electrical systems down were very concerning. I ignored the problems for a few weeks, but the next time Dale was in town, he went out and did a little problem solving.

He got underneath Minnie and inspected the gas tank as much as he could, and didn't find any holes or even what looked like a leak. Then he tackled the electrical issues, starting with the solar charge controller. He thought that was a logical place to start, so he pulled it out of the bin where it is mounted and checked it over. He found what looked like some shorted wires and followed them to a burned out fuse on the coach. We could not find a replacement in town, so I ordered one from Amazon. After it arrived and he put it in, the electrical system came right back up, and the gas gauge read half full! Hallelujah! 

He also discovered there was a big slash in my tire, so we were pretty sure I had had a blow out. Since it was one of my dual tires, I slowly and carefully drove to Discount Tire, and they replaced the blown tire, which was still under warranty.

He's a little concerned about what caused the fuse to blow, so he hasn't re-hooked up the charge controller yet until he checks it out to make sure it's in good working order. (He had knee replacement surgery the day after putting in the fuse, so hasn't had the time to get back to my little problems. 😉) Once we verify that's okay, I should be good to go. If I have to replace that, it's only a few hundred dollars. A tow to an RV service bay to repair (or replace) a leaking gas tank and check out the electrical system could have ended up costing thousands. I love having brothers who are not only good mechanics, but also willing to help out their little sister. I'm blessed!

I have a big Mediterranean cruise coming up this spring so I probably won't be taking any camping trips before then, so Minnie is sitting in the side yard for now. She doesn't mind though. 😏

Minnie Updates

My Minnie took an adventure without me in June!

A few months ago, Heather announced their family was planning to rent an RV and take a summer vacation to a couple national parks. I immediately asked if they would be interested in taking my Minnie and Fit, if the calendar worked out. It just sits in my side yard for many months each year, and there was no reason they couldn’t take it. In the next few weeks, we worked out the timing for a short overnight trial run, for both training purposes and also for them to make sure it would suit their needs (size-wise mainly since they would be camping with 4 people.) We drove up to Usery Pass campground just north of Mesa, and I took them through setup, hookup, and dumping processes, and then I drove the Fit back home, leaving them for the overnight experience. They agreed it was a valuable trial and training run, and they eagerly began planning their trip. 

They left home on June 10, and visited the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, then Bryce National Park and Zion National Park, all locations I have been to and love. They returned home on the 16th and declared they think they want to get an RV in their empty nest or retirement years. So I think that means they enjoyed it!

While they were gone, they had to deal with the inconvenience of a couple broken items that I hadn’t gotten around to fixing this year. When they got home, I figured it was time to get them done. The Balches had given me some money to put toward a new awning, so I got that ordered first thing. It was installed on July 5, the day before I was planning to leave for the White Mountains, so perfect timing! 

My pantry latch had broken last fall on my last trip to the Mogollon Rim, and it would fly open and slide out when driving if it was not tied closed.  I came up with the idea of a cupboard latch, and Daryl installed it for me.  It works great to keep the door closed and hold the pantry sliding shelf in place. The last thing was the water hookup valve, which sprang a leak while H&M were on their trip. I ordered a new valve that happened to come while Dale was in town for an appt, and he installed it for me. 

June/July is always when my licenses and insurance come due, and now those are also taken care of for another year. So that’s the current maintenance and repairs that were on my list. As Richard loves to frequently remind me, it’s always something, and owning an RV is not free.

Now it is time to head off on my next adventure. I really wanted to take an RV trip across the country to see Barb Heimel this year, but medical appointments and the high price of gas complicated those plans. So I decided to stick closer to home, and camp in the high country of Arizona this year and hope a longer trip will be more affordable next year. 

See you down the road. 

New Power Source

 I just realized I never wrote about my new power generating system. I'm not sure how I missed writing about that, because it is a very big improvement that my brother Dale installed for me.

I've complained countless times about my coach batteries; how often I have to replace them, how they don't hold charge, having to monitor the level throughout the day and night, and running the generator to re-charge whenever I'm camped without hookups. I've been wanting to get a Lithium Ion battery for a while, and decided it was time to bite that bullet. Also, as I mentioned in my October 2021 post, I had tried out one of Dale's single solar panels while camping with him and saw how well it delivered enough charge for my daily needs, so I put a solar panel on my Christmas list.

Dale was in town in February for a couple weeks, and I took advantage of that visit to get some help installing my system. I had the new battery and solar panel, and Dale had an old charge controller he was willing to pass on to me since he had recently upgraded his system to the "Tim Taylor Tool Time More Power Argh Argh Argh" set up. So with all the parts I needed, we (HE) got to work. 

It was a little more involved than we had expected since the new battery would not fit in the space under the step where the two lead acid batteries were. We ended up having to put it inside behind the chair, but that necessitated drilling holes through the floor and the wall of the old battery space to run the cables to the coach hookups. In the end, it all went together okay, and it's not really in the way behind the chair. Plus it's easy to reach the disconnect switch there. I disconnect the battery when it's stored for several months to avoid discharging the battery.

The basket of Hanna's toys sits nicely on top

After he got all the connections made to the coach, Trimetric gauge, and the charge controller, we set up the solar panel and checked it out. It worked perfectly! The panel was facing the early afternoon sun and charged the battery full by the end of the day. In fact, I had to run a little fan for several hours the next day to take some of the charge back off the battery before disconnecting it for storage. 

I think the next thing that is going to take more money out of my wallet is a replacement awning, as mine is peeling pretty badly. I did buy a repair kit, but I don't have high hopes it will do a very good job. And I need a tall ladder to work on it, so I'm not sure when I will get to that. But it's not terribly urgent.

I'm anxious to get back out camping. We've had another hot summer, so the cool mountain forests sound lovely. I've had such a busy year with one thing or another on my schedule that I haven't had a spare two weeks to string together a trip up north, but I hope I can rectify that soon.

Let me not forget to say "Thanks a lot, Dale"!!!

New AC

I mentioned in my last post that when Dale and I were camping near Rye, AZ, it was warm enough one afternoon for me to turn on my AC, only to discover it was putting out warm air. Since RV air conditioner units notoriously do not allow adding Freon, I figured I was in for a replacement. The fact my unit is 17 years old, although has many fewer hours on it than that age implies, I wasn't too unhappy over the fact it had worn out.

I hate taking Minnie out of my back yard to drive it to a service center, leave it for an unknown length of time, get a ride home and back, then bring Minnie back home and put it back in the yard. When a Google search turned up a mobile RV service company with excellent Google score and reviews, I decided to call him.

Juan from 4 Points RV Service came out later that week, checked out the AC, confirmed it was the compressor and that the whole unit would need to be replaced. I had been checking on Amazon for ACs and asked him if he would install one that I bought myself. He said he would, but I would only get the Amazon 1 year warranty, and if I got one from him, he would give me a 2 year warranty. He quoted me a price on the new unit and it was very much in line with Amazon's pricing, and he had one in town. Winner! 

He scheduled the replacement for one week later, arrived with the new unit and carried it up the ladder to my roof. After doing the installation, we checked out the temperature of the air coming out of the vents and it registered a chilly 55°. I'm really happy to have things in working order again, and very happy to have found a qualified mobile service to do future repairs for me. It sure was nice not to have to get Minnie out of the back yard.

I'm planning to get out camping with Dale in a few weeks in northern Arizona. With the exorbitant cost of gas right now ($6.00/gal!!) I won't be going very far this summer. Hopefully next year, the prices will be more reasonable and I'll take a longer camping trip. I've really missed being able to RV travel around the country.

Repairs ... again!

It's a misconception to think if you own an RV, it's going to be a free, or even economical, means of travel. They cost money, a lot can go wrong, and repairs and maintenance can be expensive. I've sure had my share of those expenses. Part of the problem is the amount of time it sits in storage in the Arizona heat, part of it is my inexperience or ignorance, part is general wear and tear, and part is just plain bad luck. 

Take for instance when I took it into Walmart to have the oil changed. You might say it was my fault for not warning the pit crew that the end was long with a short wheel base, and to be careful when pulling it out of the bay so they didn't turn too sharp and bang up the back corner. Or you might say it was just bad luck. But yes, they did bang up the back corner, so then I had matching banged up back corners. We won't dwell on who banged up the opposite side earlier. Let's just move along. 

Fortunately, Walmart paid to repair the damage they had done, and it was probably cheaper to have both corners fixed at once, so I saved a little on my portion of the bill, too. I ordered the parts online and took it into Arizona RV Service to do the install and body work. 

I also had a "clunking" noise in the back end that I wanted diagnosed and repaired. The downside was it took eight weeks for them to diagnose a damaged bushing in the slide, order the parts for it and complete all the service! Luckily, I didn't have any big trips planned, other than wishing I could spend a few weeks in the New Mexico State Parks with Dale. 

I finally got it back in late August only to discover that my coach batteries were on their last legs. I decided it is probably time to buy a Lithium Ion battery and end all this battery trouble. At some point, I will add a solar panel to complete the worry free power delivery system.

After getting back from my September trip to Boise for Megan's wedding, I made a snap decision to load up my rig and drive up to the Mogollon Rim and join Dale for a week or so of cooler weather and getting re-acclimated to RVing. He was camped in a large spot on the rim near Woods Canyon, and I set up beside him. It commenced raining shortly after I got there, and continued for 2 1/2 more days until we finally packed up and drove down to a dispersed site near Rye. 

Mud puddles!

 It was much warmer there, possibly even a little too warm each afternoon. That lead to me turning on my A/C one day, only to discover it wasn't putting out any cool air. Richard says RV air conditioners are not built to add freon, and I likely need to replace it. Another big expense! ...sigh...

While we were in Rye, Dale set up his extra solar panel and small charge controller on my batteries, and it worked beautifully, delivering plenty of power to keep my dying batteries charged. It was enough to make me decide I'll be investing in a solar panel of my own the same time I replace the battery with a Li-Ion one. 

After another week in the Rye area making S'mores and chasing cows out of our campsite, I made my way back down the mountain and put Minnie back in the side yard. RVing is not free, but they say travel is the only thing you spend money on that makes you richer.

Ran out of chocolate bars, so tried peanut butter. Not bad!

Battery Woes

Before getting on the road Tuesday morning, I decided to check my generator. The weather had turned cool enough that I planned to dry camp in Meriwether Lewis Campground, so I wanted to make sure everything was good. Imagine my chagrin when the gennie would not start! After texting with my brothers we determined I likely had battery problems. As I was checking the connectors and water levels, one of the cables actually came loose, revealing a very corroded break. That definitely seemed to be the culprit.

I decided not to deal with it today, but to keep moving north.

I stopped at a small rustic RV Park just off the Trace near Hohenwald. The surrounding woods provided a nice place for Hanna and me to walk.

The next morning I drove straight to a mechanic shop where they fixed the broken battery cable. That seemed to resolve the issues with providing battery power to Minnie, but my generator still would not start. I didn’t want to waste more time and spend any more money on it while out of town, so just decided to camp with hookups the rest of the way home. Then I can take the RV in to a specialized shop in Mesa and have them deal with it and a few other issues at once over the winter.

I will complete the Parkway today and start making my way home.

Annual chores

After my New Mexico trip, I put my Minnie back in the side yard until my next camping trip. Or so I thought. Just a few weeks after I got home, I got the notification my license was due and I had to have an emissions test ... again! So, I had to take her out and down to the testing station. She passed, of course.

Instead of immediately putting Minnie back in storage, I decided it was a good time to get the new tires I was planning on this year. The old tires are from 2012, and that's about the limit for tires in the hot desert. They still had lots of tread, but the rubber gets old, and I didn't want to be driving down a freeway at 62MPH and have one suddenly fail. So I took it to Discount Tire and asked for the $1200 set of six. They promised to have them in the shop the next day and put on and ready for me to pick up by the end of the day.

However, after driving past the shop twice during the day, and still finding my Minnie sitting in the back lot where I had left her, I called to ask if they were going to have it ready. That's when they realized the tires never came in, and they had failed on their promise. The asked if they could put $1600 Bridgestones on instead, at no additional cost to me. Umm, YES!! So that's what she got.

I'm making my fall plans to head east about the middle of September to Alabama, where I will join Wendy and Denny's friends and family to help them celebrate their Golden Anniversary. It's hard to believe it was 50 years ago that they got married so Wendy would not have to move away from her beloved when her dad changed jobs.

After the celebration, I'm going to drive back to Mississippi and start the Natchez Trace Parkway again. But this time, I plan to drive the entire 444 miles all the way from Natchez to Nashville, while camping and sightseeing along the way.

Boondocking near Yuma and Generator Fix

Richard & Dianna and Dale are boondocking near Imperial Dam just north of Yuma, and I drove my Minnie out to camp with them last week. I've boondocked in the desert LTVA before, and I admit it is not my favorite. It's usually flat desert land with lots of wind and dust and not much to do. But the LTVA near Yuma was surprisingly pleasant. The landscape is much more hilly than Quartzsite, and much prettier than Thousand Trails near Cottonwood, and the spot where the brothers are camped was in a bit of a valley where it's more protected from the wind. So I have to state, I rather enjoyed it! 😊 Hanna and I walked every day, either up the road past some businesses and other rigs, or to a bridge over Mission Wash. We got plenty of exercise and it was a beautiful spring week with temps in the mid 70s to low 80s, and sunshine nearly every day.

A few sightseeing highlights included a day trip to Los Algodones, having lunch at the Yuma Proving Grounds, and four wheel driving around the area, stopping at the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge.

The crowd coming back into the U.S. from Mexico was huge!

The main reason I decided to go out there to camp (even though I had not expected to like the area) was to see if Richard and Dale could get my generator going. After having it serviced last spring, it quit running and I haven't been able to use it on my last few camping trips. If they couldn't trouble shoot it and fix it, I would have to take it to a repair shop. They first eliminated the fuel pump as being the culprit, and deduced it was the carburetor.

Pondering the situation

Richard found a great price on a new one on Amazon and we ordered it. Dale removed the old one and installed the new one, and with a few more tinkers from both the mechanics, it finally started running and stayed running. Richard has advised me to start it up and run it once a month whenever it is parked long term in my side yard, and I have put a reminder on my phone to do that along with checking the water level in my batteries.

I made my way home on Saturday in time to attend Nathan's Eagle Scout ceremony that evening.

Repairs

My first summer out with my Minnie, I had a fender bender after getting the propane tank filled, where I turned too sharply and hit a post. (Better than hitting the dealer's propane tank, I suppose!) I cringed when I heard the thunk and sound of ripping metal. I had only had Minnie a few months, and this was my first mishap. At least I learned a good lesson on how wide my rear end swings, and haven't hit anything else since then.

 

Since the damage was mostly cosmetic (with the exception of ripping off the door to the electrical bin), I just taped it up and got back on the road with intentions of getting it fixed at a future date. Besides, I wanted to have my collision insurance in place for longer than a few months before making my first claim!

This fall, I decided to have the work done while I was home for several months, and I also had a list of other items (not covered by insurance) that could be attended to at the same time. So I took her to APR RV Collision, and they got that back corner in ship shape, as well as installing a new step motor and replacing the canvas slide topper, which had a lot of wear and a tear. I got her back last Friday. The body work looks great and it's so nice to have my electric step working right again!

I have a few more things inside that I want to attend to, like new faucets in the kitchen and bath sinks, re-stringing the window shade over the bed, fixing the rear view camera, and servicing the generator. It's also time for a new inverter, new batteries, and possibly new tires and brakes this year. All of these things will set me back a bundle, but will feel great (and safer) to have everything back to tip top condition.

Next planned trip is sometime in January or February when I'll mozy over to Yuma to visit the Mexican dentist.