Monday, February 21, 2011

WE ARRIVED ON THE 11:10 TO YUMA

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Woke up in full travel mode this morning so skitter scatter let’s get at er:))  Had me a rare good night’s sleep for a change & that’s always a big plus to the beginning of any day.  Yahooey Louie:))

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FREIGHT TRAINS ARE ENDLESS IN THESE PARTS

Our slide retracted perfectly of course almost lulling us into a false sense of security & making us think we might not have to stop in Yuma to have the problem looked at.  How easy to pretend everything would be fine now...until the next time it wouldn’t work again & possibly out in the middle of nowhere.  We have had many thoughtful suggestions both from blog commenters & RV Net Forum folks.  We think Palms RV comes close with the problem maybe having something to do with the wiring & switch in the emergency brake area.  No point in me trying to wedge myself under the steering wheel between the seat & brake pedal.  I did not need the embarrassment of having the local Gila Bend fire department coming out & extricating me kicking & screaming from the rig.

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Rolled out of the Elk’s Lodge at 8:40 with a quick stop at McDonalds for our usual Brussel Sprouts, Asparagus, Spinach & Lettuce breakfast.  Nice sunny morning drive down to Yuma in very light traffic.  So nice to see green stuff growing again!!  I was reminded once again how great it is to have a Motor Home as Kelly brought up an ice tea for me.  Big huge view of the southwest right out the large Bayview like window, washroom & kitchen facilities on board plus room to get up & walk around. Roomy for Kelly to work away on-line at the computer desk as well.  Love the height we have over traffic around us & Motor Homes are a comfy breeze to drive.  And the doggy guys love all the spacious room too:))

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KELLY AT WORK WHILE WE ARE ROLLING DOWN THE ROAD

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ASCENDING THE EAST SIDE OF THE MOHAWK MOUNTAINS

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DESCENDING THE WEST SIDE OF THE MOHAWK MOUNTAINS INTO YUMA STRAIGHT AHEAD ON THE VALLEY FLOOR

We rolled down the west side of the Mohawk Mountains into the east side of Yuma at 11:10 a.m. heading for the mall at South Frontage Rd & Fortuna Ave.  Been here before & Kelly wanted to get some groceries at Frys.  A fair few RV’s in the parking lot because AL’s RV Center is located here as well. 

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Both store & service areas were crowded as we slipped in to talk about the slide.  Earliest they could look at it was Thursday & even that time slot was questionable.  Saw a sign saying shop labor…$102.00 an hour.  Yeouch!! 

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In the meantime Kelly had called another place recommended by RV’ers on the RV NET FORUM called CJ’s Repairs & we have an appointment for 11 a.m. Tuesday morning.  I am far more comfortable having someone repair this problem than me trying to put a piece of duct tape & clothespin on something.  A troublesome RV slide is nothing to be lightly messed with because if it stays stuck in the open position somewhere when we are out in the middle of nowhere then it is out in the middle of nowhere where we will remain stuck……….10-4!!

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The area north of Yuma along highway 95 is another area we are familiar with & knew there was a boon docking place along the way.  Lot of other RV’ers at the V?? BLM spot but it was OK for the night & not too far from our morning appointment.  This place appears to have been a large gravel pit on the west side of highway 95 at one time.  There is an army tank sitting right outside the V?? building & all the RV parking is just in behind.  Probably about a hundred rigs scattered about in this small area….Yikes!!

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WE WERE LUCKY TO GET THIS SPOT WITH A BIT OF SPACE…MOST OF THE RV’S WERE ALL HUDDLED TOGETHER AT PICTURE’S TOP RIGHT

Found us a semi acceptable spot with one rig from BC about 30 feet in front of us with no one on either side or behind.  Sometimes ya just gotta  bite the bullet & accept things for the way they are.  Hope the guy in the rig ahead of us isn’t like me & is now inside grumbling away about having a rig too close to him.  We may end up in a 40 foot face off throwing our big blustery cowboy hats at each other……D’ya think!!

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Red, over there in that California place made a good point in his comment on my blog a few days ago referring to me saying something about maybe not going up to Death Valley because of the California gas prices.  He pointed out that only days before we were seriously working on buying a small 40 acre ranch in Arizona so why was I complaining about the price of gas in California.  Well, that’s a great piece of logic on Red’s part & he is absolutely right.  I sometimes just get myself waaaay out of perspective.  Key word there was….’sometimes:))’  We did actually meet Red & his lovely wife Jeanie last winter in Arizona.

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Our afternoon was leisurely spent in the rig bonking around on the computers & just keeping a low profile in our temporary RV neighborhood.  I have a partial view down rig row & it looks like everyone else is inside having a leisurely day as well.  Guess that is what a lot of us older folks seem to do rather well at times.

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GROANER’S CORNER:((  A frustrated wife told me the other day her definition of retirement:  "Twice as much husband on half as much pay."

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21 comments:

  1. neighbours from BC?..maybe we know them??..lol..looks kind of crowded there for the Bayfield Bunch!!!..hope there isn't a standoff for being so close!!

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  2. Glad you finally got a good night's sleep. Sometimes when we put a problem on a back burner we free our mind so it can relax again.

    Hope you get the slide fixed and get on your way quickly. One of the repair shops here in Apache Junction offers an hourly rate of $115. Just crazy.

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  3. Sometimes I think you protestith too much! 30 feet is a lot better than 2 feet! :)

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  4. Looks like you put the slide back out there in the BLM ground in Yuma. Perhaps it will play nice and get you back to the service shop.

    But then if it gets to playing too nice, how do you duplicate the problem?

    I don't mean to jinx you, but that is how things go over here.

    Rod

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  5. Were you having a Dr. Suess moment there at the beginning of your blog? Wonder if you could do an entire blog in rhyme...HMMMMM! Hope you get your slide fixed okay. Oh, cute picture of the fur faced kids!

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  6. I see you are getting your greens for breakfast:)
    I am looking at a B+ motorhome with a slide, and I have thought about the possibility of getting stranded with it stuck open. I don't think I'll be out in the middle of nowhere by myself, and if I do I thought I would just leave it closed.
    Are the slides pretty reliable, or do they often have problems?

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  7. I'm with you on getting a pro to look at your slide problem. All I could do myself is more damage!

    It's looking a little crowded out there in the desert - almost like a big RV resort but without a nice swimming pool!

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  8. I always worried about a slide getting stuck. I think I had a crank that would work it manually, but I never even found out where how to affix the crank. I figured I wouldn't have the strength to do it anyhow, and that's what I have Good Sam Emergency Road Service for. I was so relieved I didn't ever need the crank, I swore I wouldn't ever get anything with slides again. I hope your problem can be fixed right quick, at the labor rates you are finding in Yuma.

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  9. Ok, so how did you take a pic of Kelly at the computer desk while you were driving???

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  10. Hope your computers are all right...(I'm laughing)...you know what "bonking" means in England don't you? ;-)

    Good luck with the slide problem, hopefully something minor.

    - Mary Ann

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  11. Glad you had a good trip. Looks like we will be coming to Yuma soon. Call late last night that my good ole friend has taken seriously ill and will not last long. Hang on Dave ole Pal,,,plus we have the Gypsy Journal to work that starts on the 7TH at the Fairgrounds for a week.. good luck on your repair!!

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  12. Yeah, just think --- if you are going to travel 210 miles today, and you are getting 7 miles to the gallon, and the price of fuel goes up 20 cents (which isn't at all unuusal this season) -- that will cost you $6 more for the day's drive. Now I realize you have a long way to go home when you go home, and by then the price will have jumped 50 cents. If home is 2100 miles away, that's going to cost you an extra $150. Spread over 10 days, that's $15 a day. TO keep your RV lifestyle going comfortably, all you have to do is start home a few days earlier, stay longer at your stopping points. Cut back on McDonald's breakfasts and you'll save part of that $150 in no time!

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  13. Al does your rig have a manual overide , mine is a socket shaped thing, you have to unlock a locknut, then you can take a 18volt cordless with a 3/4 in socket on it and it will run the slide in although slower than normal, the hand crank for my rear jacks is also the same size. Just thinking in case of an emergency. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.

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  14. Glad to see you have your travel "mojo" back on and are "easin' on down the road"..And in my way of thinking, 30 ft is OK ...Like Judy said..it's LOTS better than 2..which is why we like Army Corps campgrounds...Usually you have some wide open spaces between rigs...Stay safe and keep smilin'!

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  15. Good news that you made it to Yuma on the 11:10.

    Judy is right being 30 ft from your neighbor is certainly better than being 2-5 ft from them. We have been in a few spaces that our slides almost touched.

    Good Luck with your repair on the slide.

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  16. Glad you found some one to fix your slide, hopefully it's a minor
    problem, Turned on the heat for you.

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  17. I notice a lot of things on the walls. How do you have them secured? I have to take all my stuff down for fear of them falling and breaking. We also wondered how you took that picture while you were driving? Great blog by the way.

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  18. Those intermittent problems with the slides are a bear. We finally had ours correctly diagnosed as a sometimes short in a circuit board in the master control box (HWH). A mere $600 later we were good to go :(

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  19. Your pictures are always so vibrant and colorful. Do you do any editing on them before you publish to the blog? Just wondering, since I love your photos so much, it makes me curious. Hope the slide problems go away for good!

    Donna and I will be picking up our new Lazy Daze on the 24th. Looking forward to meeting you at some point. Your're always welcome to come to Oregon and visit us.

    We have plenty of room, plenty of everything! (That's a line from Donna's favorite movie "Christmas Vacation" with Chevy Chase.

    Safe travels to you all.

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  20. I am always worried about our slides every time we move, especially the two large front ones. They grown and strain so much I always hold my breath when retracting them. The DC gear motors that slides utilize draw a huge amount of current in a very short period of time. This causes them to heat up very quickly, so I stop and let the heat dissipate while retracting. I also carry a spare gear motor($400). 'hope I never need it! Terry

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