Going camping… with the rest of the populated world!

July 19th, 2011

Well, it seemed that way at least.

We have been lucky in the sense that I can pretty much take time off of work for traveling whenever we would like.  Roxie's work was the same way since she worked 'per diem'.  That meant that we did NOT have to go camping during the high times of travel.  We didn't have to go during a major holiday weekend.  Well that has changed.  Roxie's new job no longer gives her that level of flexibility.  So that means we have to be like the rest of the general public and take advantage of the holidays given.

Roxie found out that she had a 4 day weekend for the 4th of July.  She wanted/needed to get away for a bit so I tried to find a spot on the coast.  We thought it would be good to get away to somewhere that is cooler.  I was able to get reservations at the Pismo Dunes Ranch RV Resort.  We have stayed here before and it is a simple RV park.  Not as crowded as Pismo Coast Village nor as noisy as the one between highway 1 and the railroad tracks.  I reserved that spot starting on Saturday as it would have been too tough to get everything going on Friday and we would be getting in there when it was dark.

(Our view)

We left around 10am, naturally, on Saturday.  We stopped in Hanford to get a replacement tire on the trailer.  I always find it easier to get a tire on the road since the trailer is already hooked up.  We got some groceries, had a bite of lunch and headed off.  It is only about 150 miles from us and a very familiar drive.  What could go wrong?  Don't ever say that.

The temperature was about 100-106 during the drive in the valley.  We left Kettleman City and there is a small hill to negotiate.  Near the top I noticed puffs of diesel exhaust coming out of the truck.  Each time there was a drop in power and eventually a puffing sound was emanating from under the hood at the same time.  We crested the hill and descended.  Now the mind games start.  What is wrong with the truck, is it damaging it more by driving, how can I fix it, can AAA tow us home if needed, etc.  I know we had two more grades to cover on the trip. 

Hill number 2.  This time I opted to try it without the A/C on.  It might have been hot for a bit but it will help the diagnosis.  Luckily I got behind a slow truck.  This kept our speed down but it still was doing it puffing pattern for a bit but not the whole hill.  Hill number 3.  Left the A/C on and it puffed a bit near the top but we were over the last hill.  Yes, we did have the Cuesta grade by San Luis Obispo but we were going downhill on it this time.

We got to the campground around 3 and setup.  Boy, my mind was churning.  We went out to eat at F. McLintock's in Arroyo Grande.  We have gone to the one in Pismo before but this one was more local and a much different ambiance.  It was good.  However, we got back to the trailer and my mind was going again.  I got on the internet to research the truck problem.  I found a lot of doom and gloom, stories of replacing turbos, EGR valves, repairs over $3000, ouch!!  I tried to analyze what was going one.

Over the last many months I had noticed the truck getting a bit more sluggish.  I used to be able to take off very quickly getting on to a freeway, etc.  That was not happening anymore.  I attributed it to the truck getting old.  But 104K miles should be a drop in the bucket for a diesel.  Drawing an analogy to the human body, it seemed like there might be a blockage somewhere.  I heard someone mention on the 'net that their solution was a fuel filter.  It made logical sense to me.  It could have been starving for fuel when it really needed it.  Around town it did not need high volumes of fuel but under hard acceleration or heavy load (towing on a hill) it could not get what it needed.  Also, I could not remember the last time I changed both filters (yes, there are two).  So I thought $100 would be a good investment to see if it helped.

I found a JiffyLube in Oceano that was open on Sunday on a holiday weekend.  They replaced the filters.  Immediately I could feel the difference in acceleration.  I was cautiously optimistic about the solution.  It also helped put my mind at rest.  We made a picnic lunch and tried to go downtown Pismo. Our son Aaron and granddaughter Paige were there in his truck.  No way!  Too much traffic.  We would have a hard time finding one spot let alone two.  We thought we might try Avila Beach but it seemed even worse.  Everyone, including us, wanted to go to the beach.  Aaron suggested going to Oceano beach, where you can actually drive on the beach.  He has a lifted F250 with large wide tires.  I have the stock narrow tires.  We had been on the beach before with our friends the Chen's earlier in the year, so I didn't think too much about it.  Although I did bring my tow strap.

We needed the strap right off the bat.  We were looking for a place to park where Paige could play in the water and on the beach.  Aaron turned one way and I followed and instantly got stuck in the soft sand.  We attached the tow strap and Aaron pulled me out.  We went the other way on the beach and drove down to find a spot.  We pulled in and settled in.  Aaron was a bit concerned with the tide as it looked like it was getting higher.  I check the tide schedule and we were already 30 minutes past high tide so we were OK.

We let Paige play and get completely soaked for about 1 1/2 hours.  We all got burned which was surprising since we never saw direct sunlight due to the fog bank that was there.  I forgot to mention that the temperature was 65 for most of the time we were here.  A far cry from 100+ degrees.  Aaron had to head back home after the beach but he had to pull us out of the sand two more times for good measure.

Roxie and I thought we would go down to Pismo for the night to get something to eat.  The parking was abysmal.  This is where I thought the rest of the populated world was since it was so crowded.  Since we were eating a bit early we were able to walk right in to the Pierside restaurant.  Roxie wanted to do Splash Cafe but it had a line around its' corner (not surprising).  Dinner was OK, nothing special.

Monday.  4th of July!  Roxie has started a walking regimen at home and we brought our bikes here.  I thought we could take a ride out to the ocean and back for a bit of exercise.  I had looked it all over on Google Maps and I know Roxie had ridden horses (with Hannah) from the campground.  We started off.  It was a good dirt road.  Some parts said no vehicles but that would mean cars, etc.  The wide road turned into a narrow path.  The dirt turned into sand.  We were riding but had to start walking.  The plants were over growing the route.  Mosquitos were flying around everywhere.  We were pushing on.  We got to the sand dunes and stopped for a bit.  I saw about 20 mosquitos on Roxie's back biting the heck out of her!

I checked Google Maps and we were off in the weeds somewhere.  Well duh!  I went up a dune to survey the situation.  I noticed the creek we were near turned in front of us and headed south (we were heading west).  The only options were to turn around back through the mosquito nest or cross the creek.  We chose the latter and found a shallow place.  Took our shoes and socks off and crossed.  It was only about 8 inches deep.  Put our shoes back on and walked the bikes to the beach.  On the way we had to go under a 'fence' and noticed there was a sign on it to stay out since it is a bird preserve.  Great.  We were also violating the law.  We headed north on the beach, riding, to the entrance.  We were then able to get on city streets and make a loop  About 4 miles total.  Roxie now calls this the bike ride from Hell!  I thought parts of it were fun.

We thought we would head downtown for lunch and see how things were.  Mistake!  The traffic was really bad so we bugged out of there.  I wanted Roxie to get her Splash cafe fix and we know there is one in SLO so we went 15 miles up the road.  The plan was we go by Mo's BBQ and I would get what I want and take it to Splash Cafe so Roxie can eat there.  Interestingly she found something at Mo's and she really enjoyed it.  Now what?  We still went to Splash and got some frozen clam chowder and two bread bowls for her to bring home.  We went back to the trailer and took a short nap since we knew we might be up a bit later than normal.

We know that Pismo Beach sets off fireworks from their pier and we figured that it would be VERY crowded.  It was.  We didn't even try to park within 5 blocks of the downtown area.  We parked about 8 blocks away, grabbed our aluminum chairs and headed out.  We needed to eat dinner and were looking for somewhere.  We found it about 3 blocks into the walk.  We found Giuseppe's Italian Restaurant.  We know there is a Rosa's in Pismo, like in Visalia but that was a bit down the road.  We went in a side entrance so we did not do a "Beverly Hillbillies" on them with our casual attire and chairs.  The food was good, but Roxie really liked the dipping sauce they put with the bread.  It was balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic and grated parmesan cheese.  I admit it was very good also.

Down to the beach!  We made our way through the throng of people and ended up on the beach to the north of the pier.  There were more people than I have ever seen during the DAY on this beach.  We had to wait about 30 minutes for the show to begin.  This was the first time I have ever watched 4th of July fireworks wearing a coat!  Roxie was freezing since she was not as prepared.  The fireworks show was impressive because they had SO many in the display.

After it was over Roxie said we should go up a set of stairs and through a gate.  I saw it said No Trespassing but a lot of other people were doing so also.  We ended up in a gated condo community.  All the gates were locked.  We could not get out, as about 30 others could not either.  Luckily a resident was leaving in his car so that opened up the flood gates, so to speak.  We made it to our truck and then more fun was to be had.  The police department decided not to let us, or anyone else, go south.  We had to go north about 2 miles before we could get on 101 southbound.  From the time the fireworks were over until we got on the freeway, we had used about 1 hour.  We slept good that night.

Tuesday the 5th, time to go home.  We packed it up, hooked it up and cleaned it up.  The big test was ahead.  How would the truck work up the Cuesta.  I had trepidation coming up the grade.  I gained as much speed as I could in the run up and tried not to push it too much up the hill.  Normally I would do 65 up the hill with the trailer.  This time I kept it at 55.  The truck did just fine.  What a relief.

We pulled into Paso Robles and thought we would stop for lunch.  They have a very nice downtown with some interesting restaurants.  The drawback was the temperature was over 90 and climbing there.  We decided on Basil Thai.  It was good and odd at the same time.  The soup was the odd part.  This was the first time we had a soup based on coconut milk.  Not my cup of tea but the main course, a variation of drunken noodles was good.

The hill climbs on the way home were uneventful and I hoped they would be.  We always hate going home but it is a necessary evil.  It doesn't help a 40+ degree temperature increase.  All in all, it was nice to get away.

Casini Day 4

April 16th, 2011

Saturday at Casini Ranch, we awoke to high fog in the trees but no wind!  It was pretty nice all in all.  I needed to go to the hardware store again.  This time it was to get some epoxy type sealant for our shower.  We were developing a crack in the fiberglass pan and I didn't want it to crack all the way through and start leaking to the wood subfloor.  We also could use a bag of ice and George was looking for a microswitch to repair his tongue jack.  His jack was working in one direction only.  The technician at the jack company said one of the limiter switches was bad and it was.

We got back and worked on his jack.  We did not find a switch and decided to bypass the limiter switch until he could find the right microswitch.  Success!  That started my repair list.  The next was to fix the crack.  I mixed up the epoxy solution and had 4 minutes to get it in place.  It took a bit of twisting to get in the right angle but I filled the crack within the time limit.  It had a wonderful aroma also.  On to the clock install.  We have an Airstream clock and I could not figure out a way to hang up.  I got some of those 3m removable velcro hooks.  That worked great!  Keep going.  Remove the water saving spigot from the kitchen sink, Roxie never liked it anyway.  I also replace the right screw of the step just for good measure.  We had lunch somewhere in that mess of things also.

A bit of rest then getting ready for the potluck at 6pm.  Roxie made a pan of brownies and cooked two tri-tips for it.  I took down one of our portable tables and looked around.  There were 12 tables that seated 8 each setup.  That is 96 people!  It was all packed!!  We have not been to one of these rallies with this many people.  It was great!  The food was good also.  We visited others around the trailers afterward and got some good ideas.  We are now back in the trailer and Roxie is snoring away!

Here are some pics that I took to day of the 33 trailers here!
 

 

 

How about this one?  Glad we weren't here in 1986!

Casini Day 3

April 15th, 2011

We had a very good night's sleep as we normally do in our cocoon.  We got outside, Roxie and I went for a short walk around the campground.  We went down by the river and were very impressed with how pretty and lush this park is.  As we were walking I saw bird diving to the river.  We both saw it hit the water and take off with a fish in its' talons.  It went and landed in a tree and likely started to eat.  We found out later it was an Osprey.

Roxie had a voicemail and a call to make so she did so.  The only problem was she had to stand in the middle of the road to get 2 bars of signal!  We got back to the trailer and started talking with our friends.  This is one of the most fun aspects of getting together, a way to reconnect with old and new friends.  During this time I went into the trailer and the step broke.  Man!  A screw either broke or came loose.  It appeared to be a 'normal' screw and the rest of the parts looked good.

We headed into 'town' to get the part.  We decided to have lunch there also in Guerneville.  We ate at the River Inn Grill.  It was very good food but the booths must have been new since it took a herculean effort to slide into.  We then headed to the hardware store.  This was the most interesting store.  It was SOOO unlike a box store like Lowes.  This store snaked around all over, things were everywhere, even on the ceiling.  Very fun and they had the screw!  The step was fixed in about 10 minutes.

In the afternoon we went down the Russian River and sat by the river.  We watched ducks swim by, an Osprey in a tall tree (maybe the same one) and vultures soaring overhead.  Very idyllic.  We came back to the trailer and promptly fell asleep (well Roxie a bit more promptly than I).  Roxie told me later that I was snoring up a storm and since the door was open the whole park must have heard me.  I don't know how this happens since I don't snore!

Here is a picture of the Chen's trailer, the Morelli's trailer and ours:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another shot of down the row with a few flags flying:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Around 6 the happy hour started.  I tried, unsuccessfully, to get Roxie to go with me but she was still tired so I went for a bit.  There were about 35 people there.  I talked to some people, some that I didn't know.  It was enjoyable but COLD!  I hung around the fire and watched some semblance of fog roll through the tall trees.  As I came back to the trailer I took a shot of our lights we hung up:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More to come tomorrow.

An LED obsession

September 26th, 2010

I LOVE LED lights.  I really LOVE LED lights.  The combination of bright light vs low power usage make them a no-brainer in an RV.  I have always wanted to have LED's throughout our trailer but their cost has made it prohibitive.  No longer.

OUTSIDE LED's

My first foray into transforming the trailer started in the summer of '06.  We were heading to the WBCCI International rally in Salem, OR.  I had seen some people put LED's in their taillight in a thread on Airforums.  I gave it a go.

I bought some of these:

 

Taking them apart gives you this:

 

So I take the lenses off of the trailer:

 

I wire them to the connectors and mount the LED platter to the housing.  The way I did this was use wire nuts.  I siliconed the wirenut to the housing and the platter to the wirenut.  (I don't have a photo of this but you will see something similar later on.  I then buttoned them up (this should be an animated GIF):

I

 

I did the 'high' brake light also (another animated GIF):

 

I also did the license plate light.  Here it is all done:

 

INSIDE LED's

Once again a couple of threads at Airforums served as reference and a way to pass on information.  This thread and this thread.  I knew about SuperBrightLeds but felt they were a little pricey.  I found another source, www.ledwholesalers.com.  I just purchased a single bulb to try it out.  These are 1141 replacements:

 

I first tried this test bulb in a fixture.  Here are the representative shots (I used warm white instead of bright white):

I was pleased enough with the results that I ordered bulbs for the entire trailer and replaced them.  However there were a few bulbs outside that I needed to retrofit also.

These were the outside step lights and the torch (I call it the neighbor light because all it lights up is the neighbor's RV).  I replaced those with 1141 equivalents but this time I got them in a more circular pattern, like a normal bulb.  I also got these in bright white since they are outside.  I got these bulbs, and some for my truck, from an eBay seller (ushd) at a very reasonable cost.  Here is their eBay store.

Here is the step light:

 

Here is the torch:

 

Here they are all on:

 

One other thing that I did with the flat 1141's was put them in the backup lights:

 

Here are the backups at night.  It is hard to tell in the photo but they are now bright enough to actually see something behind the trailer.  Previously they were only good to warn people about the trailer moving.

 

In conclusion, I put in LED's for many reasons.  Power savings, decreased heat, reliability, increased output and I think they are COOL!

We have yet to see about the power savings.  Our trip to Yosemite will help prove it.

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