Time is flying by!

February 28, 2008
LA County Fairplex, Pomona, CA

So, I’ve started getting email reminders that I’m way behind with blog updates. Guilty as charged! It seems like time is running away from me, and every time I sit down to update the blog, I get sidetracked into something else. Life is tough, right?

Actually, life isn’t tough, it’s just fun right now. We finished up the Monaco Rally in Lancaster last Saturday. As always, we met new and interesting people, and had a chance to catch up with folks we’ve met in the past. The weather wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t great either, with temperatures in the 40s and 50s and strong winds most of the time. It didn’t get in the way of the fun, of course. It rained on Wednesday and Friday last week, and then cleared up on Saturday for our drive down to Pomona. It rained quite hard Saturday night and during the day on Sunday, but cleared on Monday and turned downright warm. It’s been sunny and in the upper 70s to low 80s this week, and we’re really enjoying that.

Evening “happy hours” were followed by catered buffet dinners and entertainment. The entertainment is geared to an older crowd (majority rules, and the majority of these folks are retirees in the Social Security sense) but, hey, it’s free so we enjoyed it.

We had our two free manufacturer repairs done, actually four if you count the two at Lancaster and the two here in Pomona. We had our entry door lock keypad replaced, the heat in the passenger’s seat fixed (for those of you who know about Geri’s back problems, this was a very important thing), and the slide mechanism lubricated. We also had a bad switch to the lights in the basement bays replaced, but found that there’s a short in the wiring somewhere. This caused the switch to malfunction in the first place, and they didn’t have the time to trace it all out (there are only so many techs trying to help all the coach owners, so they allocate about an hour per coach). I’ll have a project I can work on when we’re home, I guess.

Here at the big rally, there are a lot of vendors for individual components doing service. We had our electric blinds adjusted, and one of the motors replaced. I noticed one of the muffler hangers was broken, so the vendor that installed it over a year ago had techs come out and fix it. I also picked up a new temperature sensor for our See-Level system (this monitors water, waste and propane levels, and includes an external temperature reading) and got advice on how to better calibrate them. Total cost for all this: zip. You can’t beat that with a stick.

Of course, not everything goes as smoothly. When we were leaving Lancaster, I had a bit of a low power situation before we got on the highway. This is usually a sign that a fuel filter is getting clogged, so I found a vendor doing mobile filter changes. I figured that this would be a snap, since I had spares on board. Well, first he found that I had the wrong primary filter. I have no idea how that happened, as I’m pretty sure I had replaced it once before with the size I had with me. Of course, that was pretty irrelevant, since he was standing there with parts that obviously weren’t going to work. No amount of remembering it differently was going to fix it. Fortunately, Filter Guy had one in the right size on his truck, so problem solved. Not so fast, Junior. He had a deuce of a time getting the secondary filter off. I seem to remember that Al had the same problem when we did the annual service last June in Connecticut. Filter Guy crushed the old filter so badly that he had to pull the housing off and take it apart on the ground. My friend Wayne used a screwdriver pounded through the filter to help loosen it. OK, so now we’re good, right? Au contraire. When the housing came off, one of the “o” rings was split. It took a couple of days for Filter Guy to find time to get “o” rings and get back to us, but fortunately, he finished up the job this morning. I ran the engine for 15 minutes and there aren’t any leaks, but I put cardboard under the filter to catch anything just in case.

In thinking about that filter, I’m not sure that the “o” ring wasn’t leaking before. We’ve had a few instances where some fuel would drip until the fitting was tightened, so it’s highly possible that it’s been bad for some time. At least it’s fixed now – and I have a spare on board!

We haven’t spent a lot of money at the rallies this year, especially compared to last year (new Koni shocks, Aero-turbine muffler, all new blinds), but we did enjoy seeing all the stuff that’s being peddled. Geri bought new harnesses for the pups, and found a walking stick that folds out into a seat for when she needs to stop and rest. I picked up a new Interstate Exit Guide that lists everything at each exit nationwide; this is very helpful for trip planning and for deciding where to stop while on the road. I also picked up a kit that will allow me to monitor all the engine and transmission metrics in real time via the PC. It comes with a cable that connects to the diagnostic port under the dash and via USB to the PC. I’ll be interested in trying this out during the rest of the trip.

Before we left Arizona, I moved the new DirecTV HD DVR to the bedroom in the coach for testing. We don’t have a HD dish on the motorhome, but I wanted to test getting over-the-air channels. Our TVs are “HD Ready”, which is another way of saying “don’t have HD tuners built in”, but the DVR does. I wasn’t able to pick up anything in Lancaster, but did get several channels here in Pomona, closer to LA. I wasn’t able to get all the major networks, though, so I picked up an add-on antenna that attaches right to the one on the roof. I’ll get the tools out and climb up there over the weekend.

The one major purchase we made was the Alaska caravan. It’s 49 days (I think I said 50 in an earlier post) from mid-June through early-August of 2009. After thinking it over, we decided that, if we’re going to go, a) we need to commit to a timeframe and b) we’d prefer to have experienced guides. I’m sure we could do it ourselves, but this approach will be like “immersion therapy”. We’ll give up the flexibility to move at our own pace in exchange for seeing a lot of places we might not think of going, and I’m sure we’ll develop a list of places we’ll want to go back to in the future. The other good thing about this particular tour is that it’s limited to Monaco coaches. It’s not that we’re snobbish about coach brands, but it should be interesting to travel as a group.

In other news, these rallies are really big social events more than anything. There are always a few interesting seminars, and the free service work is great, but the real draw is getting together with people and meeting new folks. The Monaco Rally last week had just over 400 coaches in attendance, and the one we’re at now has something like 2,200. Although both numbers are down from prior years (economic concerns and fuel prices - $3.50-ish for diesel in CA are hurting everyone), that’s still al lot of people in one place. We noticed a lot of people attending on “day passes” as well this year.

We’ve had a great time hanging out with our friends Wayne and Eva. We stopped at their house in Indio, CA on the way out, and traveled together up to Lancaster and here to Pomona. They introduced us to a couple (Jerry and Liz) they met who have a similar coach and a home in Rancho Mirage, so we got to meet some new people. We had several nice dinners, including Rack of Lamb with Mushroom Risotto last night. Tonight, we’re planning to join some other folks for “burgers and beer”.

Tonight, we’ll dump the waste tanks and top off the water. We actually lucked out on that front, as we don’t have to move to the “dump station”. After we parked, we realized that there are two 12” access plates labeled “water” and “sewer” right under the back end of our coach. The first day we were here, Wayne went to Home Depot and picked up a 1”-to-3/4” reducer and a hose bib, and we were in business. We’re the only “full hookup” sites at the rally!

Tomorrow, we’ll pack up and hit the road. We’re scheduled to have the coach weighed at 11:30 in the morning, so we’ll be on the road shortly after that. We’ve moved a lot of stuff around in the coach and bays, and tried to eliminate some things we carried but didn’t use, so it’s time to get weighed again. They weigh each wheel position, so we can make sure we’re not overloaded front-to-back and side-to-side. Knowing the weights will allow me to reset the tire pressures based on Goodyear specs.

Our next stop will be for three nights just west of Santa Barbara, where we hope to see Geri’s niece, Cindy. From there, we’ll spend three more nights in Buellton, near Geri’s sister, Kathy, in Lompoc (lom-poke). Then, we’ll have four days to get home, so we may make another stop, to be determined later.

Well, that’s the catch-up summary. Next, I’ll tackle some pictures…