I don't know... this image just kinda grabbed me. I guess you don't have to be a big dog to run with the big dogs. We know a few folks with smaller rigs, and this made me think of them
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Photo of the Week
I don't know... this image just kinda grabbed me. I guess you don't have to be a big dog to run with the big dogs. We know a few folks with smaller rigs, and this made me think of them
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Paddle: Kettle River - Matilda's First Boat Ride
This afternoon we put 
in on the Kettle River. The Kettle crosses MN 48 only 3 miles from our camp. Since it was Matilda's first ride in the canoe and we wanted to keep it short, we decided to paddle upstream for a while, then turn around and come back to the bridge. A contributing factor to this plan was that we had no easy way to set a shuttle for a more conventional downstream run. The current was slow in both directions as far as we could see from the bridge. The river was very scenic, in fact the river is designated as a "Wild and Scenic River". The water was clear, but stained, much like the blackwater rivers in eastern NC. When we started out the river was deep and still, but as we went upstream, it became shallow and slightly more swift, revealing a sandy bottom.
I expected that Matilda would jump out of the boat at least once. Both PD and Izaak jumped out on their first canoe ride. I was not
disappointed. We had just cleared the bridge when in she went. She came up swimming, but since we had been paddling upstream against some current, she could not swim fast enough to catch up. I had her on a long leash, and we slowed down and led her back to the boat. I lifted her back into the boat, and of course she was soaking wet and looked pitiful. She may have swallowed a little water, because she was coughing, but otherwise seemed to be fine. I think she learned that it was better to be in the boat than in the river, because she didn't jump out again. I knew she was a smart dog! We stopped on several sand bars along the way and she never showed any reluctance to get back into the boat. We paddled about 1 1/2 hours and about three miles before turning around. On the way back, we got a pretty good look at a bald eagle. The first time we saw him he flew from a tree beside our boat directly at us. When he was about 20 feet away he turned and flew downstream. From that point he hopscotched downstream with us before eventually turning and disappearing upstream.
This evening we attended the
circus in Hinckley. It was a relatively small affair, apparently operated by a family of performers from Argentina. The performers all sold tickets, programs and snacks before and after their acts. The majority of the performers were children; one was only 5 years old. It was a little campy and amateurish. Kinda like what you might see in an old movie. But "Tiny" the elephant was good, as well as some performing stallions. There was also a young boy, perhaps about 13 years old, who performed as a clown. He was very talented.
in on the Kettle River. The Kettle crosses MN 48 only 3 miles from our camp. Since it was Matilda's first ride in the canoe and we wanted to keep it short, we decided to paddle upstream for a while, then turn around and come back to the bridge. A contributing factor to this plan was that we had no easy way to set a shuttle for a more conventional downstream run. The current was slow in both directions as far as we could see from the bridge. The river was very scenic, in fact the river is designated as a "Wild and Scenic River". The water was clear, but stained, much like the blackwater rivers in eastern NC. When we started out the river was deep and still, but as we went upstream, it became shallow and slightly more swift, revealing a sandy bottom.I expected that Matilda would jump out of the boat at least once. Both PD and Izaak jumped out on their first canoe ride. I was not
disappointed. We had just cleared the bridge when in she went. She came up swimming, but since we had been paddling upstream against some current, she could not swim fast enough to catch up. I had her on a long leash, and we slowed down and led her back to the boat. I lifted her back into the boat, and of course she was soaking wet and looked pitiful. She may have swallowed a little water, because she was coughing, but otherwise seemed to be fine. I think she learned that it was better to be in the boat than in the river, because she didn't jump out again. I knew she was a smart dog! We stopped on several sand bars along the way and she never showed any reluctance to get back into the boat. We paddled about 1 1/2 hours and about three miles before turning around. On the way back, we got a pretty good look at a bald eagle. The first time we saw him he flew from a tree beside our boat directly at us. When he was about 20 feet away he turned and flew downstream. From that point he hopscotched downstream with us before eventually turning and disappearing upstream.This evening we attended the
circus in Hinckley. It was a relatively small affair, apparently operated by a family of performers from Argentina. The performers all sold tickets, programs and snacks before and after their acts. The majority of the performers were children; one was only 5 years old. It was a little campy and amateurish. Kinda like what you might see in an old movie. But "Tiny" the elephant was good, as well as some performing stallions. There was also a young boy, perhaps about 13 years old, who performed as a clown. He was very talented.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Taking No Gamble in Hinckley, MN
Our original plan from before we ever left home was to spend some time camping in St. Croix State Park, which is 
along the St. Croix National Scenic River. Because the state park was full last weekend, we ended up instead at the Grand Casino in Hinckley, about 14 miles away, which we found to be a very nice place. Today we visited the St. Croix SP and now are not too excited about relocating there. Casino: paved sites, 50A electric, water, sewer, cable TV, wi-fi, few bugs, close to town and restaurants, $16.00/night. State Park: 30A electric, uneven gravel sites, many bugs, closed hiking and biking trails, $24.00/night. Where would you want to stay? In the morning I will re-up here at the casino until Monday, after which we will have been here 10 nights. We may stay even longer, particularly if we haven't figured out where we are going next. Why take a gamble when we already have a sure thing?
The one thing the state park did offer was access to the St. Croix River, but there are other good access points in the area. At one access we ran into an outfitter waiting for some paddlers. He gave us some good information on the river and said his company could provide shuttle service. We may try to catch a day trip or two on this section of the St. Croix before we leave.
We went into Hinckley to visit the Post Office and buy some supplies. Hinckley is known for the great fire of September 1 1894, and the Hinckley Fire Museum. On that day a forest fire swept through the area killing 418 people. After lunch we were sitting in the town park, and a very unusual specimen of Minnesota wildlife came lumbering by. At first I thought we may have spotted a great woolly mammoth, previously thought to have been long extinct. Perhaps this specimen has been hiding in the north woods, and was driven
out by the effects of global warming. Upon further examination I realized we were looking at an African elephant, still fairly rare in wilds of east central Minnesota. We then learned that the circus was in town for two shows tomorrow night, and this guy was out walking his elephant. I hope he was carrying his poop bag. That also explains the huge circus tent that was going up in the park. Perhaps we will go to the circus. I haven't been to a small town circus in a real live circus tent in a long time.
Later we discovered the Kettle River. The Kettle apparently
has some very good whitewater and crosses Highway 48 only a few miles from our camp. At that point it is fairly wide and gentle. Tomorrow we plan to go back and paddle upstream as far as we can and float back down. This will be Matilda's first introduction to real canoing. Wish us luck.
along the St. Croix National Scenic River. Because the state park was full last weekend, we ended up instead at the Grand Casino in Hinckley, about 14 miles away, which we found to be a very nice place. Today we visited the St. Croix SP and now are not too excited about relocating there. Casino: paved sites, 50A electric, water, sewer, cable TV, wi-fi, few bugs, close to town and restaurants, $16.00/night. State Park: 30A electric, uneven gravel sites, many bugs, closed hiking and biking trails, $24.00/night. Where would you want to stay? In the morning I will re-up here at the casino until Monday, after which we will have been here 10 nights. We may stay even longer, particularly if we haven't figured out where we are going next. Why take a gamble when we already have a sure thing?The one thing the state park did offer was access to the St. Croix River, but there are other good access points in the area. At one access we ran into an outfitter waiting for some paddlers. He gave us some good information on the river and said his company could provide shuttle service. We may try to catch a day trip or two on this section of the St. Croix before we leave.
We went into Hinckley to visit the Post Office and buy some supplies. Hinckley is known for the great fire of September 1 1894, and the Hinckley Fire Museum. On that day a forest fire swept through the area killing 418 people. After lunch we were sitting in the town park, and a very unusual specimen of Minnesota wildlife came lumbering by. At first I thought we may have spotted a great woolly mammoth, previously thought to have been long extinct. Perhaps this specimen has been hiding in the north woods, and was driven
out by the effects of global warming. Upon further examination I realized we were looking at an African elephant, still fairly rare in wilds of east central Minnesota. We then learned that the circus was in town for two shows tomorrow night, and this guy was out walking his elephant. I hope he was carrying his poop bag. That also explains the huge circus tent that was going up in the park. Perhaps we will go to the circus. I haven't been to a small town circus in a real live circus tent in a long time.Later we discovered the Kettle River. The Kettle apparently
has some very good whitewater and crosses Highway 48 only a few miles from our camp. At that point it is fairly wide and gentle. Tomorrow we plan to go back and paddle upstream as far as we can and float back down. This will be Matilda's first introduction to real canoing. Wish us luck.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
We Have a Winner!!!
We have a winner in the guess-the-quote contest. The correct Benjamin Franklin quote is "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." Congratulations Katie!
Katie is a good friend and also Matilda's
veterinarian. Of course she asked how Matilda is doing. Matilda is doing great. She is growing by leaps and bounds. We just weighed her using a fish scale and a tote bag, and she weighed 18.7 pounds. I guess this is the last time we can weigh her that way, because my fish scale only goes up to 18.8 pounds. I think she's a keeper. Her chewing on Dorcas has slowed somewhat, and we are starting to teach her some commands and to correct some negative behaviors. She has not yet been in a canoe, at least not a canoe in the water. Hopefully we will get her out this week.
We went over to the casino today and played some slots. We each signed up for a players club rewards card, each with $10 in complimentary credits. We played for several hours and I turned my free $10 into $14. No small feat! Dorcas was not so lucky. She came out with just $2. I'm sure we will both blow the remainder of our free money before we leave. Hopefully we won't blow too much of our own money.
Katie is a good friend and also Matilda's
veterinarian. Of course she asked how Matilda is doing. Matilda is doing great. She is growing by leaps and bounds. We just weighed her using a fish scale and a tote bag, and she weighed 18.7 pounds. I guess this is the last time we can weigh her that way, because my fish scale only goes up to 18.8 pounds. I think she's a keeper. Her chewing on Dorcas has slowed somewhat, and we are starting to teach her some commands and to correct some negative behaviors. She has not yet been in a canoe, at least not a canoe in the water. Hopefully we will get her out this week.We went over to the casino today and played some slots. We each signed up for a players club rewards card, each with $10 in complimentary credits. We played for several hours and I turned my free $10 into $14. No small feat! Dorcas was not so lucky. She came out with just $2. I'm sure we will both blow the remainder of our free money before we leave. Hopefully we won't blow too much of our own money.
Friday, July 18, 2008
On The Road Again
As I write this message, we are listening to Willie Nelson. Not the music, but the dried-up old hippie himself, live and in person. For free. Believe it or not, as I type these words, right this very second, Willie is singing "On the Road Again". No shit.
As my faithful readers have realized, I have been grossly negligent by not updating this journal for several weeks. I have no excuse, except that we have been just so busy and worn out. I know, you say: "Hey you guys are retired! You're just tooling around the country in your motorhome, not a care in the world, no schedule, no worries. How can you be too busy and tired to take a few minutes and let your friends know where you are and what you're doing?" Well, the truth is, motorhome rallies are just plain hard work. Between the meals, socials, happy hours, seminars, service calls, more happy hours, concerts and so on, there is not time to do anything else. We have been getting up early, moving all day and then crashing late. We have just finished our third back-to-back rally. We've been rallying straight since July 1. Too much fun! Finally the rallies are over, and now we can spend some time relaxing, recharging and catching up on business. I will give a brief update tonight, and then post some back-dated reports over the next few days.
We are currently camped at the Grand Casino in Hinckley, MN, operated by the Mille Lacs Band of the Ojibwe Indians. We had actually hoped to be at St. Croix State Park about 10 miles to the east, but they were full for the weekend. Dang. So we started looking for other places in that same area, planning to get to St. Croix State Park after the weekend. That's when we discovered the Grand Casino, which it turns out has a pretty nice RV park. When we called, they were full for Friday night (tonight). It turns out Willie Nelson was playing here tonight and the place was sold out. But they did say we could stay in their overflow area for $5.00. Cool. So here we sit on a hill overlooking the amphitheatre, listening to Willie and surfing on the net over the WiFi. Sweet. It's actually been a good week for concerts. Last night we saw Gary Puckett (formerly of the Union Gap) and the night before that we saw the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Last week we saw Janie Frickie. Dorcas scored autographs from all of the members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band . One of the band members liked my T-shirt, which had a cool quote from Benjamin Franklin.
Mini-contest: correctly guess the Ben Franklin quote on the T-shirt and win public recognition in this space. Hint: it involves an alcoholic beverage and a religious figure.
Trivia note: Gary Puckett, Bob Dylan and Roger Maris were all born in Hibbing MN, population 17,071.
That's all for now. I'm going to kick back and enjoy the music.
As my faithful readers have realized, I have been grossly negligent by not updating this journal for several weeks. I have no excuse, except that we have been just so busy and worn out. I know, you say: "Hey you guys are retired! You're just tooling around the country in your motorhome, not a care in the world, no schedule, no worries. How can you be too busy and tired to take a few minutes and let your friends know where you are and what you're doing?" Well, the truth is, motorhome rallies are just plain hard work. Between the meals, socials, happy hours, seminars, service calls, more happy hours, concerts and so on, there is not time to do anything else. We have been getting up early, moving all day and then crashing late. We have just finished our third back-to-back rally. We've been rallying straight since July 1. Too much fun! Finally the rallies are over, and now we can spend some time relaxing, recharging and catching up on business. I will give a brief update tonight, and then post some back-dated reports over the next few days.
We are currently camped at the Grand Casino in Hinckley, MN, operated by the Mille Lacs Band of the Ojibwe Indians. We had actually hoped to be at St. Croix State Park about 10 miles to the east, but they were full for the weekend. Dang. So we started looking for other places in that same area, planning to get to St. Croix State Park after the weekend. That's when we discovered the Grand Casino, which it turns out has a pretty nice RV park. When we called, they were full for Friday night (tonight). It turns out Willie Nelson was playing here tonight and the place was sold out. But they did say we could stay in their overflow area for $5.00. Cool. So here we sit on a hill overlooking the amphitheatre, listening to Willie and surfing on the net over the WiFi. Sweet. It's actually been a good week for concerts. Last night we saw Gary Puckett (formerly of the Union Gap) and the night before that we saw the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Last week we saw Janie Frickie. Dorcas scored autographs from all of the members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band . One of the band members liked my T-shirt, which had a cool quote from Benjamin Franklin.
Mini-contest: correctly guess the Ben Franklin quote on the T-shirt and win public recognition in this space. Hint: it involves an alcoholic beverage and a religious figure.
Trivia note: Gary Puckett, Bob Dylan and Roger Maris were all born in Hibbing MN, population 17,071.
That's all for now. I'm going to kick back and enjoy the music.
Summer RallyFest Triathlon 2008 - FMCA Finale
Two times a year the Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) holds an "International Convention", somewhere in the US. FMCA's 80th International Convention was held July 14-17 at the 
Minnesota State Fairgrounds in St. Paul, MN. And we were there. Actually we arrived on Sunday, two days prior to the start of the rally. They set us up in the dry camping area in Lot 56, just south of the Warner Coliseum. Dry camping means that we have no hook-ups. It was pretty hot, and so we had to run the generator to power the air conditioners to keep Matilda cool. We were also parked near the caravan area where many of the folks from Safari International were parked. Safari International sends a truck full of adult beverages to FMCA conventions. The tailgate becomes an open bar for SI members each afternoon. Sweet. Country Coach International could learn something from Safari International.
There was an extremely full calendar of events, with seminars and presentations going on in 14 seminar rooms, non-stop for three days. We attended seminars on Cummins engines, Allison transmissions, refrigerators, hydronic heating systems, pet training, "cooking on the go", braking systems, various computer topics, crafts and many, many more. There really was not enough time and energy to do and see everything we wanted to do and see. There was also daytime entertainment and evening entertainment, including the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Gary Puckett. Additionally there were hundreds of display coaches and hundreds of vendors selling parts and accessories. I dropped several hundred dollars on fuel filters and oil filters and hard-to-find synthetic transmission oil. We also bought a few nifty accessories and scored some free parts from the companies that built some of the systems in our coach.
The convention was not as well attended as expected, probably due to fuel prices and other economic woes. The final coach count was 3078, which includes display and vendor coaches. This is the lowest attendance at an FMCA international convention since 1990. Still, there were a lot of folks there. The Country Coach Veranda seemed to be a hit. Folks had a wide range of opinions about it, but everyone wanted to see it.
We enjoyed the convention, but didn't
get to do everything we wanted to do. My biggest regret is that we had no time to explore the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, which has many interesting sights. Our only off-site excursion was to the Mall of America, "the nation's largest retail and entertainment complex". A brochure claimed that the Mall of America had more visitors than Walt Disney World and the Grand Canyon combined. I find that hard to believe, but can understand how Minnesotans, afflicted with severe cabin fever in February, would flock to this huge complex, complete with indoor parking, an amusement park and aquarium. We spent about three hours there and didn't nearly see it all.
When we left St. Paul today, we had hoped to get into the campground at St. Croix State Park, about 75 miles north of the Twin Cites. They were full up for the weekend however, so we looked at the Grand Casino Hinckley, which is said to have a nice RV park. They too were booked solid, because Willie Nelson is playing there tonight, but let us stay in their overflow lot tonight and will put us on a regular site on Saturday.
Whew! This rally marathon has been hard work! We have been attending rallies since July 1, with practically no break. But now we are done with the rallies. We are looking forward to doing nothing for several days. Then we will spend some time digesting and transcribing our rally notes and literature.
Minnesota State Fairgrounds in St. Paul, MN. And we were there. Actually we arrived on Sunday, two days prior to the start of the rally. They set us up in the dry camping area in Lot 56, just south of the Warner Coliseum. Dry camping means that we have no hook-ups. It was pretty hot, and so we had to run the generator to power the air conditioners to keep Matilda cool. We were also parked near the caravan area where many of the folks from Safari International were parked. Safari International sends a truck full of adult beverages to FMCA conventions. The tailgate becomes an open bar for SI members each afternoon. Sweet. Country Coach International could learn something from Safari International.There was an extremely full calendar of events, with seminars and presentations going on in 14 seminar rooms, non-stop for three days. We attended seminars on Cummins engines, Allison transmissions, refrigerators, hydronic heating systems, pet training, "cooking on the go", braking systems, various computer topics, crafts and many, many more. There really was not enough time and energy to do and see everything we wanted to do and see. There was also daytime entertainment and evening entertainment, including the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Gary Puckett. Additionally there were hundreds of display coaches and hundreds of vendors selling parts and accessories. I dropped several hundred dollars on fuel filters and oil filters and hard-to-find synthetic transmission oil. We also bought a few nifty accessories and scored some free parts from the companies that built some of the systems in our coach.
The convention was not as well attended as expected, probably due to fuel prices and other economic woes. The final coach count was 3078, which includes display and vendor coaches. This is the lowest attendance at an FMCA international convention since 1990. Still, there were a lot of folks there. The Country Coach Veranda seemed to be a hit. Folks had a wide range of opinions about it, but everyone wanted to see it.
We enjoyed the convention, but didn't
get to do everything we wanted to do. My biggest regret is that we had no time to explore the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, which has many interesting sights. Our only off-site excursion was to the Mall of America, "the nation's largest retail and entertainment complex". A brochure claimed that the Mall of America had more visitors than Walt Disney World and the Grand Canyon combined. I find that hard to believe, but can understand how Minnesotans, afflicted with severe cabin fever in February, would flock to this huge complex, complete with indoor parking, an amusement park and aquarium. We spent about three hours there and didn't nearly see it all.When we left St. Paul today, we had hoped to get into the campground at St. Croix State Park, about 75 miles north of the Twin Cites. They were full up for the weekend however, so we looked at the Grand Casino Hinckley, which is said to have a nice RV park. They too were booked solid, because Willie Nelson is playing there tonight, but let us stay in their overflow lot tonight and will put us on a regular site on Saturday.
Whew! This rally marathon has been hard work! We have been attending rallies since July 1, with practically no break. But now we are done with the rallies. We are looking forward to doing nothing for several days. Then we will spend some time digesting and transcribing our rally notes and literature.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Photo of the Week
This guy was parked next to us in Amana at the Country Coach rally. As you can see, some folks invest a lot into the appearance of their rigs. We also own a Honda Element, so I talked to the guy. With as straight a face as I could manage I asked him how much it cost to paint his Country Coach to match his Honda. Unfortunately, he didn't get the joke.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Rally Fest Part 2 - Country Coach Reunion
We have now completed the second of our three back-to-back RV rallies. This rally was sponsored by Country Coach, Inc., the maker of our motor home. This rally was also at Amana Colonies RV Park, the same venue as our Safari rally, which ended two days prior to the Country Coach rally. All the top Country Coach brass were present, and you could talk to them one-on-one. They brought about a dozen coaches too, including about six models with the new Veranda feature. There were about 200 attending coaches. Country Coach subsidizes this rally heavily, to the tune of over $800 per attending coach. They hoped to sell some new coaches during the rally and did sell at least eight new coaches. When you buy a new coach at the rally, you can spin a wheel to earn an additional discount, up to an additional $10,000 off. One lucky buyer did hit the $10,000 jackpot. There was a breakfast buffet each morning, a 
happy hour social each afternoon, dinner and evening entertainment. Entertainment included Janie Fricke, Coup deVille and the High Society Big Band. There were a number of interesting seminars by equipment vendors and Country Coach's top service and technical folks. We saw many friends that we have made at other Country Coach rallies and parks as we have traveled around the country.
At rallies Country Coach also provides complimentary service for attending coaches, up to three items and one hour of service. I had two items on my list and, unfortunately, they were not able to accomplish either one. The first item was my entry step cover, which extends nicely, but gets finicky when it's time to retract. When that happens, we must jump out of the coach about three feet to the ground. Kinda like parachuting: jump, tumble, roll. Not fun. Consequently, we have not been using the step cover, and Dorcas' feet dangle when we drive. The suspected cause is one or both of two limit switches in the actuator mechanism may be bad. The tricky part involves access. The actuator runs across the top of the generator, and it will take someone who is seven feet tall and weighs less than 84 pounds to get to it. We could probably drop the generator (again), but it would involve several hours of labor. Country Coach was unwilling and unable to accomplish the repair at the rally. With RV service rates over $100/hr, we'll likely live with it a while. Perhaps I can fabricate a manual step cover. The second service item involved the radiator fan controller. Country Coach employs a variable speed hydraulically driven radiator fan. My fan sounded like it was running on high speed all the time. The fan controller reads coolant temperature, air intake temperature and dash air function and actuates a valve to control hydraulic fluid flow to the fan engine, and consequently, controls fan speed. The technician did crawl under the coach and did verify that the fan controller was stuck in the high speed position. The fan controller would have to be replaced, but Country Coach did not have the part on-site. Besides that, the controller would have to be programmed for my coach before it could be shipped out. Dang. In talking to other owners I learned the part costs about $600. Dang, dang. But I probably do need to get it fixed as soon as I can. It doesn't hurt the engine to run the fan in high speed, although my engine is running a little cool (~180 degrees). The real penalty is fuel mileage. I have been told by different people that the fan consumes 20 HP or 80 HP, and that my fuel mileage is down 0.5-2 MPG. This means 5% to 20% mileage penalty, depending on who I believe. I will be talking to Country Coach about ordering the new controller. I should be able to install it myself. Messy, but doable. A happier service story involves the folks from Carefree Awnings. They adjusted and serviced my awnings and arranged for some free replacement parts. Attaboy!!!
The weather for this rally was not as pleasant as it was for the Safari rally. It was much warmer and more humid this week. Afternoon storms were common. One afternoon a black wall of rain approached from the west. We saw it coming for some time and had plenty of time to batten down the hatches. Thinking I was being overly cautious, I turned the canoe upside down and tied the bow to a maple sapling at our site. When the storm hit, it was fierce. When it was all over, the boat had been blown right-side up and landed on top of the maple tree, bending the tree to the ground. No harm done; the canoe was undamaged and the maple rebounded the next day. I am sure the folks from Country Coach were also disappointed in the weather. Their coach display area became a quagmire, even though they had outdoor carpet over the grass, and crews vacuuming and sweeping away the water. More than one coach had to be towed out of its site.
Onward to our next rally .....
happy hour social each afternoon, dinner and evening entertainment. Entertainment included Janie Fricke, Coup deVille and the High Society Big Band. There were a number of interesting seminars by equipment vendors and Country Coach's top service and technical folks. We saw many friends that we have made at other Country Coach rallies and parks as we have traveled around the country.At rallies Country Coach also provides complimentary service for attending coaches, up to three items and one hour of service. I had two items on my list and, unfortunately, they were not able to accomplish either one. The first item was my entry step cover, which extends nicely, but gets finicky when it's time to retract. When that happens, we must jump out of the coach about three feet to the ground. Kinda like parachuting: jump, tumble, roll. Not fun. Consequently, we have not been using the step cover, and Dorcas' feet dangle when we drive. The suspected cause is one or both of two limit switches in the actuator mechanism may be bad. The tricky part involves access. The actuator runs across the top of the generator, and it will take someone who is seven feet tall and weighs less than 84 pounds to get to it. We could probably drop the generator (again), but it would involve several hours of labor. Country Coach was unwilling and unable to accomplish the repair at the rally. With RV service rates over $100/hr, we'll likely live with it a while. Perhaps I can fabricate a manual step cover. The second service item involved the radiator fan controller. Country Coach employs a variable speed hydraulically driven radiator fan. My fan sounded like it was running on high speed all the time. The fan controller reads coolant temperature, air intake temperature and dash air function and actuates a valve to control hydraulic fluid flow to the fan engine, and consequently, controls fan speed. The technician did crawl under the coach and did verify that the fan controller was stuck in the high speed position. The fan controller would have to be replaced, but Country Coach did not have the part on-site. Besides that, the controller would have to be programmed for my coach before it could be shipped out. Dang. In talking to other owners I learned the part costs about $600. Dang, dang. But I probably do need to get it fixed as soon as I can. It doesn't hurt the engine to run the fan in high speed, although my engine is running a little cool (~180 degrees). The real penalty is fuel mileage. I have been told by different people that the fan consumes 20 HP or 80 HP, and that my fuel mileage is down 0.5-2 MPG. This means 5% to 20% mileage penalty, depending on who I believe. I will be talking to Country Coach about ordering the new controller. I should be able to install it myself. Messy, but doable. A happier service story involves the folks from Carefree Awnings. They adjusted and serviced my awnings and arranged for some free replacement parts. Attaboy!!!
The weather for this rally was not as pleasant as it was for the Safari rally. It was much warmer and more humid this week. Afternoon storms were common. One afternoon a black wall of rain approached from the west. We saw it coming for some time and had plenty of time to batten down the hatches. Thinking I was being overly cautious, I turned the canoe upside down and tied the bow to a maple sapling at our site. When the storm hit, it was fierce. When it was all over, the boat had been blown right-side up and landed on top of the maple tree, bending the tree to the ground. No harm done; the canoe was undamaged and the maple rebounded the next day. I am sure the folks from Country Coach were also disappointed in the weather. Their coach display area became a quagmire, even though they had outdoor carpet over the grass, and crews vacuuming and sweeping away the water. More than one coach had to be towed out of its site.
Onward to our next rally .....
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Photo of the Week
OK, you are not seeing double. Matilda found a friend who is very similar in color and size. Actually "Bear" is a fully grown "miniature" Australian Shepherd. He is a bit on the porky side and had piercing blue eyes, but otherwise looked amazingly similar to Matilda. He was a little grumpy, however, and had little use for Matilda.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Amana Colonies, Iowa
In 1843 a group of Germans, motivated by religious persecution and economic 
depression in their homeland, departed for America. They intially purchased 5000 acres near Buffalo NY. They called their community the Ebenezer Society and adopted a constitution that formalized a communal way of life. Needing more farmland, in 1855 they relocated to the valley of the Iowa River and called it Amana. They initially established six colonies and self-sustaining agricultural activities. T
he Amana Colonies became one of America's longest-lived and largest religious communal society. In 1932, during the Great Depression and a changing rural economy, they made the decision to end their communal society with an action known as "The Great Change". They established the 
Amana Society, Inc., a profit-sharing corporation, to manage the farmland, the mills and the larger enterprises. Each communal member received shares in the Amana Society, Inc. The original farmland land, over 26,000 acres, and some of the businesses are still owned and managed by the society. Amana Refrigeration Products was once part of the Amana Society, but it was later sold to private investors. Remember the Amana Radarange? It became a subsidiary of Raytheon Corporation in 1965. It is now owned by Whirlpool, who still 
operates a manufacturing plant here. Dorcas and I attended a hike led by a Society forester. The Society manages over 7000 acres of hardwood forests. It harvests sustainable timber for the Amana furniture makers as well as for outside customers. During the hike, we let Matilda off-leash for a few hours in the woods. She did great. She stayed with us, although she did get a little bored when we stopped to talk about forestry stuff.
depression in their homeland, departed for America. They intially purchased 5000 acres near Buffalo NY. They called their community the Ebenezer Society and adopted a constitution that formalized a communal way of life. Needing more farmland, in 1855 they relocated to the valley of the Iowa River and called it Amana. They initially established six colonies and self-sustaining agricultural activities. T
he Amana Colonies became one of America's longest-lived and largest religious communal society. In 1932, during the Great Depression and a changing rural economy, they made the decision to end their communal society with an action known as "The Great Change". They established the 
Amana Society, Inc., a profit-sharing corporation, to manage the farmland, the mills and the larger enterprises. Each communal member received shares in the Amana Society, Inc. The original farmland land, over 26,000 acres, and some of the businesses are still owned and managed by the society. Amana Refrigeration Products was once part of the Amana Society, but it was later sold to private investors. Remember the Amana Radarange? It became a subsidiary of Raytheon Corporation in 1965. It is now owned by Whirlpool, who still 
operates a manufacturing plant here. Dorcas and I attended a hike led by a Society forester. The Society manages over 7000 acres of hardwood forests. It harvests sustainable timber for the Amana furniture makers as well as for outside customers. During the hike, we let Matilda off-leash for a few hours in the woods. She did great. She stayed with us, although she did get a little bored when we stopped to talk about forestry stuff.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
A Midwest Safari Adventure
We are still parked at Amana Colonies RV Park, Amana, IA. We have just completed the first leg of our Summer Rally-Fest Triathlon July 2008. Today ended Safari International's 20th Anniversary 
Reunion Rally. Most readers will know that we previously owned a Safari TREK, a relatively high-quality gas-powered motorhome with the unique MajicBed feature. We no longer own the TREK, but this rally, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Safari International, the official Safari owners club, specifically invited all former Safari owners. We met many old friends and made many new friends. Perhaps half of the 200 some coaches in attendance were TREKs. Most of the remainder were other models of Safari coaches, primarily diesel pushers such as the Panther, Cheetah, Continental, Ivory, Sahara and Zanzibar. There were also a number of SOB's (some other brand) in attendance, which included us.
The rally featured a continental breakfast each morning, a happy hour and catered dinner each evening, technical seminars, crafts classes and evening
entertainment. There were "potty races" featuring a vintage 1998 RV potty vs a 2008 RV potty, representing the 20 years of Safari International's existence. While the motorhome industry is experiencing severe financial hardships, I don't think the event planners were suggesting that the industry was going down the crapper. On July 4th there was a very moving and inspirational presentation by Major Harold E. Johnson, USAF (retired). Harry Johnson, a Safari owner and Iowa native, was shot down over North Vietnam on April 30, 1967, while flying missions for the secret Wild Weasel surface-to-air missile killer group. He was subsequently captured and remained a POW in North Vietnam for the next six years. He told the amazing story of his ordeal, from the time he was deployed to Vietnam until his release and reunion with his family. His tale of torture, heroism, endurance and faith was the most moving 4th of July experience I have ever had.
The weather was very pleasant during the event, although we experienced high winds and occasional storms. One day a tornado warning was issued and a twister did touch down 7 miles from the
park. We were all looking outside to see if we could see a funnel cloud. It's a good thing one didn't come to us, because there was really no place to go. All the buildings in the park are sheet metal construction. Think shrapnel. Most agreed we would be best off in our coaches if a twister did hit. We might get thrown around, but at least we would be in a sturdy box. During that event two awning pull hooks, steel hooks screwed to the side wall of our coach, broke off. One day we toured Cedar Rapids about 12 miles away. Cedar Rapids, bisected by the Cedar River, was devastated by flooding several weeks ago. The flood waters have receded, but 
there was still evidence of the recent flooding. The first floors of all buildings in the central building district, as well as many adjacent commercial areas and neighborhoods, were being gutted. Much of the downtown area was still without power; portable generators and recovery company trucks lined the streets. During the rally Safari International and its members raised $8000 to aid flood victims.
We will be attending a Country Coach rally 2 days after the Safari rally. During the Safari rally, display Country Coaches were arriving, including the revolutionary new Veranda model. The Veranda is said to be the biggest innovation in the RV industry since the slide room. It is a vertical side wall that drops down and pivots out to form a patio accessible from inside the coach. I had heard of the Veranda before leaving home and was very skeptical. After actually seeing it, standing on it and operating its controls, I am much more impressed. It's certainly not for everyone. It adds over $40,000 to the cost of the coach and decreases inside storage space, but I think it will be a success. Country Coach owns the patents to the technology and expects it will help them weather the current industry downturn. Their investors are excited and have infused cash to help keep the company viable. I wish them luck. It is ironic that the Safari folks got to play with the Veranda before the Country Coach rally attendees arrived. Someone suggested we find out how many Safari owners we could pack onto the Veranda before it tipped over. After unsuccessfully tipping the Veranda, we went to the pasture next to the RV park and tipped some cows.
Reunion Rally. Most readers will know that we previously owned a Safari TREK, a relatively high-quality gas-powered motorhome with the unique MajicBed feature. We no longer own the TREK, but this rally, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Safari International, the official Safari owners club, specifically invited all former Safari owners. We met many old friends and made many new friends. Perhaps half of the 200 some coaches in attendance were TREKs. Most of the remainder were other models of Safari coaches, primarily diesel pushers such as the Panther, Cheetah, Continental, Ivory, Sahara and Zanzibar. There were also a number of SOB's (some other brand) in attendance, which included us.The rally featured a continental breakfast each morning, a happy hour and catered dinner each evening, technical seminars, crafts classes and evening
entertainment. There were "potty races" featuring a vintage 1998 RV potty vs a 2008 RV potty, representing the 20 years of Safari International's existence. While the motorhome industry is experiencing severe financial hardships, I don't think the event planners were suggesting that the industry was going down the crapper. On July 4th there was a very moving and inspirational presentation by Major Harold E. Johnson, USAF (retired). Harry Johnson, a Safari owner and Iowa native, was shot down over North Vietnam on April 30, 1967, while flying missions for the secret Wild Weasel surface-to-air missile killer group. He was subsequently captured and remained a POW in North Vietnam for the next six years. He told the amazing story of his ordeal, from the time he was deployed to Vietnam until his release and reunion with his family. His tale of torture, heroism, endurance and faith was the most moving 4th of July experience I have ever had.The weather was very pleasant during the event, although we experienced high winds and occasional storms. One day a tornado warning was issued and a twister did touch down 7 miles from the
park. We were all looking outside to see if we could see a funnel cloud. It's a good thing one didn't come to us, because there was really no place to go. All the buildings in the park are sheet metal construction. Think shrapnel. Most agreed we would be best off in our coaches if a twister did hit. We might get thrown around, but at least we would be in a sturdy box. During that event two awning pull hooks, steel hooks screwed to the side wall of our coach, broke off. One day we toured Cedar Rapids about 12 miles away. Cedar Rapids, bisected by the Cedar River, was devastated by flooding several weeks ago. The flood waters have receded, but 
there was still evidence of the recent flooding. The first floors of all buildings in the central building district, as well as many adjacent commercial areas and neighborhoods, were being gutted. Much of the downtown area was still without power; portable generators and recovery company trucks lined the streets. During the rally Safari International and its members raised $8000 to aid flood victims.We will be attending a Country Coach rally 2 days after the Safari rally. During the Safari rally, display Country Coaches were arriving, including the revolutionary new Veranda model. The Veranda is said to be the biggest innovation in the RV industry since the slide room. It is a vertical side wall that drops down and pivots out to form a patio accessible from inside the coach. I had heard of the Veranda before leaving home and was very skeptical. After actually seeing it, standing on it and operating its controls, I am much more impressed. It's certainly not for everyone. It adds over $40,000 to the cost of the coach and decreases inside storage space, but I think it will be a success. Country Coach owns the patents to the technology and expects it will help them weather the current industry downturn. Their investors are excited and have infused cash to help keep the company viable. I wish them luck. It is ironic that the Safari folks got to play with the Veranda before the Country Coach rally attendees arrived. Someone suggested we find out how many Safari owners we could pack onto the Veranda before it tipped over. After unsuccessfully tipping the Veranda, we went to the pasture next to the RV park and tipped some cows.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
The "I"s Have It
Yesterday afternoon we reluctantly departed Thousand Trails Horseshoe Lakes and within 5 minutes had left Indiana and were in Illinois "The Land of Lincoln". We spent the day cruising across northern 
Illinois. About dusk we crossed the Mississippi River near Moline and then the Cedar River and the Iowa River near Davenport, IA. We passed through only "I" states on this day. The Cedar and the Iowa Rivers were in high flood a few weeks ago, but seem to be largely back within their banks now. We spent the night at "Camp Wal-Mart" just outside Iowa City. Wal-Marts are great places to stop for a quick layover. They are often convenient to the interstate, relatively safe and secure (most have parking lot cameras and security patrols) and the price is right. We usually drop much more $$$ in groceries than we would have spent at a campground. When we park overnight at a Wal-Mart (or any other similar establishment) we try to be inconspicuous. We make it a point to arrive after dark and do not put out slide rooms, chairs, or anything else that might make it look like we are "camping". We park on the fringe of the parking lot, usually with a small group of other RVs.
We are now parked at Amana Colonies RV Park, in the heart of the Amana Colonies. We are attending a 20th aniversary reunion rally of Safari International, the social
organization for Safari motor homes. We no longer own our Safari TREK, but have many good friends who own TREKs and still attend TREK rallies. One of the trademark features of Safari products was a wildlife mural on the rear by one of the members of the Dame family. Our TREK had a family of snow leopards created by Dennis Dame. Dennis is here doing custom murals for $1900 a pop. In this photo he is painting over an older mural and creating a new custom mural because the owners wanted something different. For $1900, I'd go for a whoop-ass solar array instead. There are about 200 coaches registered for this rally. We are looking forward to exploring the Amana villages, but it will be difficult to find time between all the rally activities.
Matilda is doing fine. She will be twelve weeks
old on Thursday. She is still chewing, but now is chewing less on us and more on inanimate objects (carpet, chairs, shoes, etc.) . She is very frisky and is the star of the rally. Everyone thinks she is precious. Fortunately Matilda is on her best behavior when greeting her "fans".
Illinois. About dusk we crossed the Mississippi River near Moline and then the Cedar River and the Iowa River near Davenport, IA. We passed through only "I" states on this day. The Cedar and the Iowa Rivers were in high flood a few weeks ago, but seem to be largely back within their banks now. We spent the night at "Camp Wal-Mart" just outside Iowa City. Wal-Marts are great places to stop for a quick layover. They are often convenient to the interstate, relatively safe and secure (most have parking lot cameras and security patrols) and the price is right. We usually drop much more $$$ in groceries than we would have spent at a campground. When we park overnight at a Wal-Mart (or any other similar establishment) we try to be inconspicuous. We make it a point to arrive after dark and do not put out slide rooms, chairs, or anything else that might make it look like we are "camping". We park on the fringe of the parking lot, usually with a small group of other RVs.We are now parked at Amana Colonies RV Park, in the heart of the Amana Colonies. We are attending a 20th aniversary reunion rally of Safari International, the social
organization for Safari motor homes. We no longer own our Safari TREK, but have many good friends who own TREKs and still attend TREK rallies. One of the trademark features of Safari products was a wildlife mural on the rear by one of the members of the Dame family. Our TREK had a family of snow leopards created by Dennis Dame. Dennis is here doing custom murals for $1900 a pop. In this photo he is painting over an older mural and creating a new custom mural because the owners wanted something different. For $1900, I'd go for a whoop-ass solar array instead. There are about 200 coaches registered for this rally. We are looking forward to exploring the Amana villages, but it will be difficult to find time between all the rally activities.Matilda is doing fine. She will be twelve weeks
old on Thursday. She is still chewing, but now is chewing less on us and more on inanimate objects (carpet, chairs, shoes, etc.) . She is very frisky and is the star of the rally. Everyone thinks she is precious. Fortunately Matilda is on her best behavior when greeting her "fans".
Saturday, June 28, 2008
The Land of the Hoosiers
We are camped at Thousand Trails Horseshoe Lakes about 15 miles north of Terra Haute , IN, in the heart of the Wabash River valley. We had a choice of several Thousand Trails preserves as a layover spot on our way to Amana Colonies, IA. We had also seriously considered Thousand Trails Indian Lakes, just west of Cincinnati, which was actually
closer to our intended route. We ruled that preserve out primarily because it was so close to Cincinnati, and we felt like it would be busy with weekend campers from the city. We were also intrigued by the description of Horseshoe Lakes, which boasts about a dozen spring-fed lakes on-site. It turns out we made a great choice. I think Horseshoe Lakes is the most pleasant TT preserve we have been in yet. It has a relatively small number of campsites, but is a large park and very spread-out. Most sites are on a lake, or just across the road from a lake. I can launch the canoe and fish from our campsite. It is a very quiet and scenic place. This morning the place was only about 25% full, but a lot of people did come in this afternoon, and it may be close to full tonight. I think most are weekenders and will be gone tomorrow afternoon.
Matilda is growing about an inch a day (we have nick-named her "Kudzu") and is acquiring great stamina. Today we took her for several long walks and let her play with a few of the neighbor dogs. She had a great time, and it is doing her good letting her wear
herself out chasing and playing with canine companions. We let her get in the canoe a few times, but the boat was on the grass, not in the water. We let her get into the water once, but she didn't want to go in a second time. Perhaps we will take her out in the canoe tomorrow. We have also started teaching her some commands. She is as smart as a whip. It won't be long until she is outsmarting us.
We ran into some Safari TREK friends, Al and Cathy here. They have been here three weeks, but are leaving tomorrow. We will see them again at the Safari rally next week and again at the FMCA convention in St. Paul MN the week after that. It seems everywhere we go, we run into old friends.
We will stay here until Monday, then head north and west towards Amana Colonies for the first of our three scheduled rallies. If all goes well, we will arrive in Amana, IA on Tuesday.
closer to our intended route. We ruled that preserve out primarily because it was so close to Cincinnati, and we felt like it would be busy with weekend campers from the city. We were also intrigued by the description of Horseshoe Lakes, which boasts about a dozen spring-fed lakes on-site. It turns out we made a great choice. I think Horseshoe Lakes is the most pleasant TT preserve we have been in yet. It has a relatively small number of campsites, but is a large park and very spread-out. Most sites are on a lake, or just across the road from a lake. I can launch the canoe and fish from our campsite. It is a very quiet and scenic place. This morning the place was only about 25% full, but a lot of people did come in this afternoon, and it may be close to full tonight. I think most are weekenders and will be gone tomorrow afternoon.Matilda is growing about an inch a day (we have nick-named her "Kudzu") and is acquiring great stamina. Today we took her for several long walks and let her play with a few of the neighbor dogs. She had a great time, and it is doing her good letting her wear
herself out chasing and playing with canine companions. We let her get in the canoe a few times, but the boat was on the grass, not in the water. We let her get into the water once, but she didn't want to go in a second time. Perhaps we will take her out in the canoe tomorrow. We have also started teaching her some commands. She is as smart as a whip. It won't be long until she is outsmarting us.We ran into some Safari TREK friends, Al and Cathy here. They have been here three weeks, but are leaving tomorrow. We will see them again at the Safari rally next week and again at the FMCA convention in St. Paul MN the week after that. It seems everywhere we go, we run into old friends.
We will stay here until Monday, then head north and west towards Amana Colonies for the first of our three scheduled rallies. If all goes well, we will arrive in Amana, IA on Tuesday.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Off Again
Dorcas and I are leaving this morning on our next great adventure, "Upper Midwest Summer 2008". We will spend tonight on the road then three nights at Thousand Trails near Clinton Indiana. From there we will head to Amana Colonies, Iowa, for back-to-back Safari and Country Coach Rallies. Amana is in the heart of the flooding in Iowa, only about 10 miles from Cedar Rapids and from Iowa City, but the RV park is largely unaffected and is "business as usual." Then on to St. Paul, Minnesota, for an FMCA convention. After that, our plans are less well defined. We will spend a great deal of time paddling and biking in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Near the end of August we will meet our friends in Ely, MN, for our annual Boundary Waters trip. After that we will turn towards home, probably via Michigan's UP, returning home sometime near the end of September.
Today we are doing final packing and chores. Matilda is eleven weeks old today and has an appointment with her vet for her 12 week vaccinations. I really can do the math, but our vet said it was OK to bring her in a week early, since we will be traveling. The vet will give us her 16 week vaccinations and we will administer them when it is time.
Today we are doing final packing and chores. Matilda is eleven weeks old today and has an appointment with her vet for her 12 week vaccinations. I really can do the math, but our vet said it was OK to bring her in a week early, since we will be traveling. The vet will give us her 16 week vaccinations and we will administer them when it is time.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Flashback Friday: A Tandem Unicycle Ride
It's a slow news week here on the home front. Dorcas and I are trying to beat the heat and keep Matilda from eating us out of house and home; or rather keeping her from eating our house and home. I'm hard at work making repairs and modifications to the coach and preparing it for our next trip.
Flashback Friday is a new feature here at "The Adventures of Myron and Dorcas". I know it's not Friday yet, but I just couldn't wait. In this feature I will post some experiences and/or photos from the past. Faithful readers will remember a few weeks ago when we saw a person unicycling on a mountain trail in the Jefferson National Forest. That experience reminded me of one a few years ago when Dorcas was treated to a rare tandem ride on a unicycle. The occasion was the Dixie Classic Fair in WS. Steve Mills is a world class unicyclist and juggler, and Dorcas had no idea what to expect when she was called onto the stage. I'm glad, and I'm sure Mr. Mills is glad, that he didn't call on ME!
Monday, June 9, 2008
Home Again
Dorcas and I, and little Matilda arrived home last night late. After six nights at Mt. Pisgah CG on the Blue Ridge Parkway, we reluctantly left the relative cool there at EL 4980' and headed down the hill to the sweltering Piedmont. Had we not had appointments today in WS, we would still be on the mountain. We spent Sunday afternoon with my mother in Morganton, and helped her with some chores. Specifically, we hung some pictures, re-hung some pictures we had previously hung and moved some furniture. Mom is about to get all of her stuff settled and nailed down. Unfortunately, she is still missing a few things. They will show up sooner or later though, because we left nothing in Mississippi and we left nothing on the trucks.
I have posted several photos of Matilda previously, but Dorcas insisted I post this one showing Matilda with several of her favorite chew toys. Her most favorite chew toy is not shown, however. That toy's name is Dorcas. Matilda really likes how that toy smells and tastes, and especially how it squeals and moves when she bites it. I hope she outgrows that chew toy very soon.
We will be home for a few weeks and then off to the upper midwest. We will leave sometime near the end of June and will attend the first of three RV rallies beginning July 1 in Amana Colonies in Iowa. From there we will go on to Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, coming back home sometime in September.
I have posted several photos of Matilda previously, but Dorcas insisted I post this one showing Matilda with several of her favorite chew toys. Her most favorite chew toy is not shown, however. That toy's name is Dorcas. Matilda really likes how that toy smells and tastes, and especially how it squeals and moves when she bites it. I hope she outgrows that chew toy very soon.We will be home for a few weeks and then off to the upper midwest. We will leave sometime near the end of June and will attend the first of three RV rallies beginning July 1 in Amana Colonies in Iowa. From there we will go on to Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, coming back home sometime in September.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Plan B: Mt. Pisgah Campground, Blue Ridge Parkway
OK, I lied. Big time. We had intended to go to the Cataloochee Valley, but it didn't work out. We knew it would be difficult to get the coach into the valley. There are only two roads in. One is bad, the other is worse. The problem is, I didn't know which one was which. Both roads are narrow, winding, steep and unpaved. We had decided to approach from the west and the Big Creek area. The unimproved 
portion of that road is a little longer, but it was more direct for us, and it looked straighter on the map. Bad plan. We managed to get about 5 miles up the road. It was hairy, but we were making it. Think 8' wide RV on 10' mountain road and hairpin turns. Dorcas was holding on with both hands and all ten toes, and I was laying on the air horns at every bend. Luckily we didn't meet anyone going up. Funny how you forget to take pictures in those moments. Our luck ran out about 2 miles before Mt. Sterling gap. We entered the national park and there was a sign that said bridge ahead 5 ton limit. Uh-oh, we weigh over 15 tons. Do we go for it? Surely the bridge is designed with a significant safety factor. I was considering it, but Dorcas said "Hell no". Luckily, we found a forest service side road, and were able to turn around and head back down. We unhitched the Honda so she could warn on-coming traffic. Luckily, we only met one other vehicle; unluckily, it was a UPS delivery truck. Another hairy moment, but we made it.
When we made it safely down the mountain, we pulled over to discuss our options. Dorcas wouldn't hear of driving around and going into Cataloochee from the east. Not an option. We knew hot weather was coming,
so some altitude would be nice. We decided to go to Mt. Pisgah Campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This campground is near EL 5000' and is the coolest place in many miles. We finally arrived late Monday afternoon and set up in a nice pull-through in loop A, dedicated for motor homes, with a nice grassy area for the pup. We registered for three nights, but may stay longer, depending on ..... well, I don't know, just depending.
Tuesday we just hung out and recovered from our ordeal yesterday. We read and napped and played with Matilda. We also set up the Coleman GeoSport 15' screen room we bought in Pigeon Forge at the Coleman Factory Outlet. It's pretty cool and the price was right. We figured it would come in handy in Minnesota this summer. This morning, we
hiked about 6 miles round trip from the campground to the top of Mt. Pisgah. This afternoon, we drove into Brevard to do some errands. As I write, it is 89 degrees in downtown Brevard. I'm looking forward to getting back on top of the hill.
While in passing through the village of Pisgah Forest, we stopped in an outfitter store. They had a scale, so we weighed Matilda. She weighed 8.5 pounds. She only weighed 6 pounds when we left home 12 days ago. I'm not sure we've even fed her 2.5 pounds of food. She will be 8 weeks old tomorrow, and is chewing on everything in sight.
portion of that road is a little longer, but it was more direct for us, and it looked straighter on the map. Bad plan. We managed to get about 5 miles up the road. It was hairy, but we were making it. Think 8' wide RV on 10' mountain road and hairpin turns. Dorcas was holding on with both hands and all ten toes, and I was laying on the air horns at every bend. Luckily we didn't meet anyone going up. Funny how you forget to take pictures in those moments. Our luck ran out about 2 miles before Mt. Sterling gap. We entered the national park and there was a sign that said bridge ahead 5 ton limit. Uh-oh, we weigh over 15 tons. Do we go for it? Surely the bridge is designed with a significant safety factor. I was considering it, but Dorcas said "Hell no". Luckily, we found a forest service side road, and were able to turn around and head back down. We unhitched the Honda so she could warn on-coming traffic. Luckily, we only met one other vehicle; unluckily, it was a UPS delivery truck. Another hairy moment, but we made it.When we made it safely down the mountain, we pulled over to discuss our options. Dorcas wouldn't hear of driving around and going into Cataloochee from the east. Not an option. We knew hot weather was coming,
so some altitude would be nice. We decided to go to Mt. Pisgah Campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This campground is near EL 5000' and is the coolest place in many miles. We finally arrived late Monday afternoon and set up in a nice pull-through in loop A, dedicated for motor homes, with a nice grassy area for the pup. We registered for three nights, but may stay longer, depending on ..... well, I don't know, just depending.Tuesday we just hung out and recovered from our ordeal yesterday. We read and napped and played with Matilda. We also set up the Coleman GeoSport 15' screen room we bought in Pigeon Forge at the Coleman Factory Outlet. It's pretty cool and the price was right. We figured it would come in handy in Minnesota this summer. This morning, we
hiked about 6 miles round trip from the campground to the top of Mt. Pisgah. This afternoon, we drove into Brevard to do some errands. As I write, it is 89 degrees in downtown Brevard. I'm looking forward to getting back on top of the hill.While in passing through the village of Pisgah Forest, we stopped in an outfitter store. They had a scale, so we weighed Matilda. She weighed 8.5 pounds. She only weighed 6 pounds when we left home 12 days ago. I'm not sure we've even fed her 2.5 pounds of food. She will be 8 weeks old tomorrow, and is chewing on everything in sight.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Onward to the Great Smoky Mountains
They don't have the part I need at Buddy Gregg Motor Homes to perform the recall, so Dorcas and I have decided to head into the Cataloochee Valley on the eastern edge of the GSMNP. I have not camped there in about 20 years and Dorcas has never camped there. We did do a backpacking trip originating there many years ago, but weren't able to see the resident elk or see much of the historic features in the valley. The Cataloochee area has some nice hiking trails. There is good biking along the roads, and has many historic structures. It also has some nice fishing streams, but I haven't packed any tackle. (Note to self: pack fishing tackle.) The road into Cataloochee is largely unpaved and there are some steep and curvy sections, but we should have no serious problems. We will enter from the west via Big Creek area. That route is the shortest from our current location, but it involves more miles of secondary roads, although, those secondary roads are probably less rugged than the approach from the east.
We will have no phone service and no internet, and therefor will be incommunicado with the outside world while in the valley. We also will have no hook-ups, although that is no problem for us. We will stay until about Saturday or Sunday .... unless we decide to pack up and go somewhere else. If the temperature gets to hot there, we might move up onto the Blue Ridge Parkway. Mt. Pisgah maybe?
We will have no phone service and no internet, and therefor will be incommunicado with the outside world while in the valley. We also will have no hook-ups, although that is no problem for us. We will stay until about Saturday or Sunday .... unless we decide to pack up and go somewhere else. If the temperature gets to hot there, we might move up onto the Blue Ridge Parkway. Mt. Pisgah maybe?
Sunday, June 1, 2008
1) Which Way To Go????? 2) Awning All in a Flap
We have had a great time at this rally. Lots of good friends; lots of Country Coach technical talk. Tomorrow we will leave Sevierville, but are not sure now where we will go. We could go east (the Smokys); we could go north (Mt. Rogers area); or we could go west (Buddy Gregg Motor Homes, Knoxville). First thing Monday morning we will call Buddy Gregg Motor Homes. If they can fit us in for an easy recall project, we will go that way. Otherwise, we will head for the hills. We don't need to be home until Monday, a week from tomorrow.
The technical project for the week has been to replace the roller spring in our rear slide topper/window awning. A week ago while camped at Stony Fork the awning roller spring broke, during the middle of the night without apparent provocation. Consequently, the awning unfurled and no amount of rude language would convince the fabric to return to its coiled state in the housing. I couldn't drive the coach with the awning in this manner, so Terry and I removed the whole awning assembly from the slide. I called Carefree of Colorado, the manufacturer of the awning, and described the problem. Carefree would not agree to repair the awning under warranty. First, the 4-year warranty ended 5 months ago; second, I am not the original owner of the unit. Dang. They did
provide me with a part number and a list of Carefree dealers in the area. The first dealer I called said he had the part on his truck, but he was a mobile service guy and would charge $60 to bring me the part (his usually house call fee) plus labor to install, plus the cost of the part, plus the shipping charge to replace the part he already had in-hand. Thanks, but no thanks. The second guy I called said he had a complete assortment of Carefree awning springs, but when I described the specific application, he said he didn't have it: "Those springs never break". That's encouraging. Finally I called Buddy Gregg Motor Homes, a Country Coach dealer west of Knoxville. They had three in stock. Furthermore, they had a demo coach coming to our rally in Sevierville and could put the part in the storage bay. Sweet! It turns out that the demo coach had the campsite next to ours reserved for the rally. Free delivery to our back door. Extra sweet!
At this point it gets ugly. The spring must be installed in an aluminum tube, tensioned to a certain specification and then all the parts
re-installed on the coach slide. Easier said than done. I had instructions telling how to install the awning parts to the coach, but the roller assembly, as originally supplied from the manufacturer, has the spring already installed and is pre-tensioned. I had no instructions describing how to install and tension the spring in the roller tube. Ok, I used to be an engineer, and there were 25 other Country Coach owners parked within 100' of our coach, all offering advice. This is doable. OK, the last part about the other owners probably wasn't a good thing. But I took it apart, I should be able to put it back together. That's when one of the other owners observed that my old spring was coiled in one direction, but the new spring was coiled in the opposite direction. Only one broken spring came out of the roller and it was tensioned on the left side; the Carefree guy only gave a single part number and said it was a left-hand spring. The label on the new spring had the correct part number and indicated "left". But there was no way I could correctly tension the spring if I installed it on the left side. The only thing I could figure was that a mirror-image, right-hand spring, had been mis-labeled at the factory. Either that or an assembly line guy or a parts guy likes playing cruel jokes on motor coach owners. It was now Saturday afternoon and there was no way to get a replacement part before Monday, short of calling the mobile service guy. I wasn't that desperate. Not yet, anyway. After a great deal of pondering, it became apparent that I could install the spring on the opposite side, the right side and tension it in the opposite direction than the original spring. I went through all the mental gymnastics of determining how to install the spring, which direction to tension it, which direction to roll the fabric and the straps, how to hold it in tension while I reinstalled it to the slide, etc. Thankfully, all the other CC owners had left the park to go to dinner, and I could talk to myself and draw pictures with my fingers in the air without anyone I knew thinking I was insane or talking to me or distracting me. Finally, after I thought I had it all figured out, I called Dorcas out to go over my thinking, and so she could be a scapegoat, if things went all wrong. The final assembly was actually fairly anticlimactic. I worked from the ground on the ladder, and Dorcas was on her belly leaning out over the edge of the coach. We had it all back together and installed on the coach before everyone returned from dinner. It now works much better than it did before; much better, in fact, than the corresponding front slide topper awning. When I get home, I think I will try re-tensioning and lubricating the forward awning. If it breaks while tensioning, I can repair it in the sanctity of my own driveway, with all my own tools. I would rather have it break there, while I have time to get the part and don't have to get anywhere, than I would repairing it on the road .... again.
The technical project for the week has been to replace the roller spring in our rear slide topper/window awning. A week ago while camped at Stony Fork the awning roller spring broke, during the middle of the night without apparent provocation. Consequently, the awning unfurled and no amount of rude language would convince the fabric to return to its coiled state in the housing. I couldn't drive the coach with the awning in this manner, so Terry and I removed the whole awning assembly from the slide. I called Carefree of Colorado, the manufacturer of the awning, and described the problem. Carefree would not agree to repair the awning under warranty. First, the 4-year warranty ended 5 months ago; second, I am not the original owner of the unit. Dang. They did
provide me with a part number and a list of Carefree dealers in the area. The first dealer I called said he had the part on his truck, but he was a mobile service guy and would charge $60 to bring me the part (his usually house call fee) plus labor to install, plus the cost of the part, plus the shipping charge to replace the part he already had in-hand. Thanks, but no thanks. The second guy I called said he had a complete assortment of Carefree awning springs, but when I described the specific application, he said he didn't have it: "Those springs never break". That's encouraging. Finally I called Buddy Gregg Motor Homes, a Country Coach dealer west of Knoxville. They had three in stock. Furthermore, they had a demo coach coming to our rally in Sevierville and could put the part in the storage bay. Sweet! It turns out that the demo coach had the campsite next to ours reserved for the rally. Free delivery to our back door. Extra sweet!At this point it gets ugly. The spring must be installed in an aluminum tube, tensioned to a certain specification and then all the parts
re-installed on the coach slide. Easier said than done. I had instructions telling how to install the awning parts to the coach, but the roller assembly, as originally supplied from the manufacturer, has the spring already installed and is pre-tensioned. I had no instructions describing how to install and tension the spring in the roller tube. Ok, I used to be an engineer, and there were 25 other Country Coach owners parked within 100' of our coach, all offering advice. This is doable. OK, the last part about the other owners probably wasn't a good thing. But I took it apart, I should be able to put it back together. That's when one of the other owners observed that my old spring was coiled in one direction, but the new spring was coiled in the opposite direction. Only one broken spring came out of the roller and it was tensioned on the left side; the Carefree guy only gave a single part number and said it was a left-hand spring. The label on the new spring had the correct part number and indicated "left". But there was no way I could correctly tension the spring if I installed it on the left side. The only thing I could figure was that a mirror-image, right-hand spring, had been mis-labeled at the factory. Either that or an assembly line guy or a parts guy likes playing cruel jokes on motor coach owners. It was now Saturday afternoon and there was no way to get a replacement part before Monday, short of calling the mobile service guy. I wasn't that desperate. Not yet, anyway. After a great deal of pondering, it became apparent that I could install the spring on the opposite side, the right side and tension it in the opposite direction than the original spring. I went through all the mental gymnastics of determining how to install the spring, which direction to tension it, which direction to roll the fabric and the straps, how to hold it in tension while I reinstalled it to the slide, etc. Thankfully, all the other CC owners had left the park to go to dinner, and I could talk to myself and draw pictures with my fingers in the air without anyone I knew thinking I was insane or talking to me or distracting me. Finally, after I thought I had it all figured out, I called Dorcas out to go over my thinking, and so she could be a scapegoat, if things went all wrong. The final assembly was actually fairly anticlimactic. I worked from the ground on the ladder, and Dorcas was on her belly leaning out over the edge of the coach. We had it all back together and installed on the coach before everyone returned from dinner. It now works much better than it did before; much better, in fact, than the corresponding front slide topper awning. When I get home, I think I will try re-tensioning and lubricating the forward awning. If it breaks while tensioning, I can repair it in the sanctity of my own driveway, with all my own tools. I would rather have it break there, while I have time to get the part and don't have to get anywhere, than I would repairing it on the road .... again.
Photo of the Week
I don't know what this tournament is about. I do know that I am going to be nowhere near the pavilion on Saturday at 10:00.
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