March 11, 2008
Peoria, AZ
We’re back in Peoria and, wow, reality sets in quickly!
We wrapped up our trip to wine country with another tasting session and a dinner at Los Olivos Café on Friday. We tasted at Foley (Chardonnay and Pinot Noir) and found that they had hired away the winemaker from Sea Smoke, so it’ll be interesting to see how each changes over the next few years. We also hit a new tasting room in Solvang, run by the same winemaker and her significant other; we’d met them last year and had a nice chat. Dinner was OK but a little disappointing, since we’d remembered better food and service from past visits. We did have a warm root vegetable salad with gorgonzola that we’ll try to recreate at home.
We originally thought that we’d stop overnight in Indio with Wayne and Eva on the way home, as that would break up the trip nicely. The more we thought about it, though, it made more sense to leave Buellton a little earlier and push to get home early, so that’s what we did. Even though it was disappointing to not see our friends, but we were able to use the extra time to get the coach unloaded, cleaned, and back in storage on Sunday. It would have been a rush to get everything done on Sunday afternoon if we’d taken our time on the return trip.
This week will be pretty busy, and it’s already started. Geri was pushing through the laundry pile, and spent yesterday afternoon with hair and nails. I cleaned up the spare room (since it was my mess of cables and parts from when I was installing the DirecTV system) and powered through the remaining loads of laundry while she was out.
This morning, we’re up early as Geri gets her first dental implants (lower right); we’re at the periodontist’s office as I compose. She’ll be “out of it” for the rest of the day, I’m sure. Tomorrow, she’s back to the prostodontist for work on the upper left crown. It’ll be like that for the next four weeks, as both dentists work to get all the work completed before we head out for the summer. All in, she’s got eight appointments between today and April 3rd!
Later this week, Rick and Annette will be arriving for a short visit, which will be fun. We’ve got a couple of things planned (baseball game, Sedona day trip). I’ll make a to-do list of things we need to do before they arrive today.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Is there such a things as too much wine tasting?
March 6, 2008
Buellton, CA
Yesterday was wine tasting day. We didn’t get the earliest of starts but, hey, how much wine do you want to drink before noon anyway? Geri made some sandwiches and we packed the cooler for an afternoon trip up toward Santa Maria. We stopped for some pictures along the way through the little town of Santa Ynez before heading to Los Olivos. We stopped at the local gourmet grocery to pick up potatoes, and ended up with a few specialty items and a couple of bottles of wine. It’s always interesting to find local wines that are difficult to get at retail elsewhere.
There are quite a few tasting rooms along Grand Avenue in Los Olivos; it seems like there are more of them every time we visit. We stopped at Epiphany Cellars first, where we added to our collection of traveling souvenir wine glasses and picked up a couple of interesting bottles, including Grenache Blanc and Grenache Rose (dry, not sweet). We found out that the winemaker is Fess Parker’s son, and were given a pass for a free tasting at Fess Parker Winery, so that was added to the itinerary.
Walking down Grand Avenue, we then visited Richard Longoria (no relation) Wines, where we’d had some wonderful wines last year. We were able to pick up more glasses and a mixed case, with interesting varietals like Albariño and Tempranillo in addition to the usual Pinot Noir and Syrah found in this area.
Our next stop was at Fess Parker Winery, about 5 miles outside Los Olivos on the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail. We’ve driven this road many times in the 30 years or so that we’ve been visiting this area, but we’d never stopped at this particular winery. We tasted and purchased, then sat on their patio to have our lunch. One could argue that we should have had lunch before tasting, as it was already around 3:00 PM when we got there and we were beginning to feel the effects of the tasting, so to speak.
Given the lateness of the hour, we decided that we’d gone far enough, so we headed back toward Buellton. We decided to make our last stop of the day at Curtis Winery, another place that we’d visited last year. We had some interesting tastes, including a Grenache, a Mourvedre, and a Cabernet Franc (all were added to the collection)
In general, we found an increase in what you might call “non-traditional” or maybe “non-mainstream” varietals compared to prior trips. Winemakers are highlighting several Rhône varieties like Grenache, Mourvedre, and Roussanne. This suggests a level of experimentation, and that we’ll see some of these grape types flourish and others become novelties (or disappear) over the next few years.
Back home last night, Geri made a great dinner of sautéed chicken with Spanish rice and peas. Unfortunately, the tasting experience took its toll on her and she turned in early. We decided to stay here an extra couple of days, so we were able to “take the day off” today and focus on doing some house cleaning (we’ve been tracking in a lot of dirt and leaves this week) and reading. Tomorrow, we’ll do a little more tasting (but not as much as yesterday!) and then have dinner at Los Olivos Café, one of our favorite restaurants in the area. We’ll get things ready for a Saturday morning departure, as well.
Here is a link to some of the pictures from yesterday:
http://picasaweb.google.com/GeorgeandGeri/WineTastingInLosOlivos
Buellton, CA
Yesterday was wine tasting day. We didn’t get the earliest of starts but, hey, how much wine do you want to drink before noon anyway? Geri made some sandwiches and we packed the cooler for an afternoon trip up toward Santa Maria. We stopped for some pictures along the way through the little town of Santa Ynez before heading to Los Olivos. We stopped at the local gourmet grocery to pick up potatoes, and ended up with a few specialty items and a couple of bottles of wine. It’s always interesting to find local wines that are difficult to get at retail elsewhere.
There are quite a few tasting rooms along Grand Avenue in Los Olivos; it seems like there are more of them every time we visit. We stopped at Epiphany Cellars first, where we added to our collection of traveling souvenir wine glasses and picked up a couple of interesting bottles, including Grenache Blanc and Grenache Rose (dry, not sweet). We found out that the winemaker is Fess Parker’s son, and were given a pass for a free tasting at Fess Parker Winery, so that was added to the itinerary.
Walking down Grand Avenue, we then visited Richard Longoria (no relation) Wines, where we’d had some wonderful wines last year. We were able to pick up more glasses and a mixed case, with interesting varietals like Albariño and Tempranillo in addition to the usual Pinot Noir and Syrah found in this area.
Our next stop was at Fess Parker Winery, about 5 miles outside Los Olivos on the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail. We’ve driven this road many times in the 30 years or so that we’ve been visiting this area, but we’d never stopped at this particular winery. We tasted and purchased, then sat on their patio to have our lunch. One could argue that we should have had lunch before tasting, as it was already around 3:00 PM when we got there and we were beginning to feel the effects of the tasting, so to speak.
Given the lateness of the hour, we decided that we’d gone far enough, so we headed back toward Buellton. We decided to make our last stop of the day at Curtis Winery, another place that we’d visited last year. We had some interesting tastes, including a Grenache, a Mourvedre, and a Cabernet Franc (all were added to the collection)
In general, we found an increase in what you might call “non-traditional” or maybe “non-mainstream” varietals compared to prior trips. Winemakers are highlighting several Rhône varieties like Grenache, Mourvedre, and Roussanne. This suggests a level of experimentation, and that we’ll see some of these grape types flourish and others become novelties (or disappear) over the next few years.
Back home last night, Geri made a great dinner of sautéed chicken with Spanish rice and peas. Unfortunately, the tasting experience took its toll on her and she turned in early. We decided to stay here an extra couple of days, so we were able to “take the day off” today and focus on doing some house cleaning (we’ve been tracking in a lot of dirt and leaves this week) and reading. Tomorrow, we’ll do a little more tasting (but not as much as yesterday!) and then have dinner at Los Olivos Café, one of our favorite restaurants in the area. We’ll get things ready for a Saturday morning departure, as well.
Here is a link to some of the pictures from yesterday:
http://picasaweb.google.com/GeorgeandGeri/WineTastingInLosOlivos
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Enjoying fabulous California weather
March 4, 2008
Buellton, CA
We’re having a great time this week, enjoying weather that’s absolutely wonderful, and visiting with family members. Here's something different: an area map with notations. Let me know if it adds context.
Buellton, CA
We’re having a great time this week, enjoying weather that’s absolutely wonderful, and visiting with family members. Here's something different: an area map with notations. Let me know if it adds context.
We stayed at El Capitan Beach for three nights, and explored an area that we’ve driven through for years without stopping: US-101 between Santa Barbara and Lompoc/Buellton. When we first started coming out here to visit Geri’s sister, Kathy, and her family, we’d fly into LAX and drive up to Lompoc. We’d add a short stay in LA on either end of the trip, but the drive was basically up the I-405 to US-101 to CA-1 and a straight shot to Lompoc and back. Over the years, we learned to enjoy Santa Barbara as well, and this trip we added a few other stops.
On Sunday, we took the inland route (CA-154) from Santa Barbara to Los Olivos, up the switchbacks through San Marcos Pass, past Lake Cachuma and Santa Ynez. I’d always thought that this might be a shortcut to Lompoc, but it’s probably a bit of a climb and doesn’t really cut out that many miles.
On the way back, we also had a chance to explore the coastline between Santa Barbara and Gaviota, where US-101 turns inland. There are a couple of state beaches along this stretch, but California economics dictates $8 entrance fees just to poke around. Fortunately, there are many roadside turn-offs on the 101 that allow for beach access. It’s not always easy, since you have to cross the railroad tracks and scramble down unimproved trails, but there are always a few hardy souls (and their dogs) who make the trek. Even with the relatively low surf (swells were only running a few feet), you can usually find “surfer dudes” out there as well.
Pictures from the beach are here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/GeorgeandGeri/SantaBarbaraAreaCoast
Another part of the attraction to this area is family visits. Geri’s sister has lived in Lompoc for over 40 years. Her daughter, Cindy, lives in Santa Barbara with her husband, Mike, and daughter, Jennifer. Kathy’s other daughter, Debbie, has recently moved back to Lompoc from Oregon, and she has a place right around the corner from her Mom. This is very helpful, as she’s around to help Kathy get to doctor’s appointments, etc.
Since we stayed closer to Santa Barbara initially, we had two opportunities to catch up with Cindy, Mike, and Jennifer. After we got settled last Friday, we quickly showered and changed, and met them for dinner at a little trattoria in downtown SB. It was crowed and noisy, in a good sort of way, the food was excellent, and it reminded us of places we’ve frequented in New York.
Saturday morning, they stopped by at the coach to visit for a short while with their dog, Barkley. Barkley was heading for his first stay at a kennel, since they were on their way to Los Angeles where Mike was running in the LA Marathon. He’s just started long distance running over the last few years, and has rapidly worked up to the 26.2 mile marathon distance. The LA event was his first, and he finished in 4:10, an excellent time.
Yesterday (Monday) was a travel day, one of the shortest in recent memory since we only had to travel 25 miles up US-101 to Buellton. We arrived at Flying Flags RV Park around 11:30 AM, and had “do our penance” for early arrival by waiting in the “holding area” since check-in time is a strict 2:00 PM. No issue for us, since we’re pretty well self-contained so we had lunch and checked email.
After we parked in our designated spot, Kathy came over from Lompoc, with her friend, Kathy. Fortunately, it wasn’t too confusing. We hung out at the coach for a while and then went to dinner at one of our favorite spots, The Hitching Post. It’s been an institution in the area, with the chef/owner being a winemaker known for Pinot Noir and Syrah. The restaurant also played a “bit part” in the movie “Sideways”, a cult classic “relationship flick” about the meaning of life and the quest for Pinot Noir. Since this corner of Santa Barbara County is producing some great Pinots, it was a great setting for the movie. We had steaks, wood-fired as always, and a couple of the house wines. Their “Generations Red” (a Cabernet blend) was the starter, but the 2001 Cabernet Franc was the star. We may have to stop by and see if we can pick some up for the “wine box”.
Today was a relatively quiet day. Kathy had a morning doctor’s appointment in Santa Barbara (quite a drive, about 75 miles each way), and Debbie took her. They stopped by the coach on the way back, and then we all went to Lompoc for lunch. A new sushi place opened since we last visited, so we had to try it out. It’s in a converted Jack-in-the-Box or something, with a few tables and a 10-person sushi bar, and the fish was very fresh. I was the only one partaking, as everyone else got rolls, tempura, soup, or teriyaki stuff. My feeling is, “when in Rome…” (Or is that “when in Tokyo”?), but hey, to each their own, right?
Family pictures are here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/GeorgeandGeri/FamilyPicturesFromSantaBarbaraAndLompoc
After lunch, we picked up a few things a Wally-World and headed back to the coach for a nap and a snack for dinner. We’ll do some planning for the remainder of our stay here, when we’ll do some wine tasting…
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Photoshop Tricks
March 1, 2008 - Yikes!
El Capitan State Beach, CA
I've been playing around with Photoshop and finally figured out how to use the "photomerge" function. Bill Crawford, who we met at Quartzsite in January, used Photoshop "Elements" (I think) software to blend several pictures together into a panoramic view. I have an older version of Elements at home, but it's not installed as I never really used it. I figured that Photoshop might have the same function, and I found it in the help files.
I've been playing around with it and managed to get at least one reasonably good result from the rally we went to in Lancaster, CA.
http://picasaweb.google.com/GeorgeandGeri/LancasterMIRally/photo#5172676390985038546
I tried another from the Pomona Rally, but got my exposures off so some parts of the panorama are darker than others. I'll try adjusting those in Photoshop, and I'll try to remember to lock the exposure settings next time!
El Capitan State Beach, CA
I've been playing around with Photoshop and finally figured out how to use the "photomerge" function. Bill Crawford, who we met at Quartzsite in January, used Photoshop "Elements" (I think) software to blend several pictures together into a panoramic view. I have an older version of Elements at home, but it's not installed as I never really used it. I figured that Photoshop might have the same function, and I found it in the help files.
I've been playing around with it and managed to get at least one reasonably good result from the rally we went to in Lancaster, CA.
http://picasaweb.google.com/GeorgeandGeri/LancasterMIRally/photo#5172676390985038546
I tried another from the Pomona Rally, but got my exposures off so some parts of the panorama are darker than others. I'll try adjusting those in Photoshop, and I'll try to remember to lock the exposure settings next time!
Friday, February 29, 2008
Moving on - off to Santa Barbara
February 29, 2008
El Capitan Beach, CA
We wrapped up the rally yesterday and had a nice dinner at a local Mexican restaurant with Wayne and Eva. The portions were huge, and we all took some home. Geri had hers for breakfast, but I'm saving my carnitas for lunch over the next few days.
This morning we had plenty of time to pack up all the gear and get ready to leave. We had scheduled ourselves to be weighed (OK, to have our coaches weighed with us in them) at 11:30 AM, but we were ready to go at 10:30. We hung around for a bit and then got in line for the weigh station.
The weighing is done by a company that specializes in going to RV rallies and events. They have portable scales that they slide under each wheel position. In our case, that's six positions, since we have three axles. We do the weighing thing about once a year to make sure we're not overloaded by axle or tire. Our results came out very good this time, although I may be able to move some things around to shift weight. It seems like that's a constant process.
We left Pomona around noon and were parked at our spot west of Santa Barbara by 3:00 PM. We're at a private RV park right near El Capitan State Park. This place is relatively new, with concrete pads for each site and paved roads all around. Here are a couple of pictures:
The park has quite a bit of slope, but each site is nicely terraced.
It's pretty cloudy right now, but the sun was getting ready to set over the Pacific as I was walking around...
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Pictures from Indio, Lancaster, and Pomona
Here is a link to some photos from this trip so far...
http://picasaweb.google.com/GeorgeandGeri/LancasterAndPomonaRalliesFebruary2008
http://picasaweb.google.com/GeorgeandGeri/LancasterAndPomonaRalliesFebruary2008
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…
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…
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