Archive for the 'RV Maintenance' Category

Thursday’s story

Published on March 4, 2010 in Pets, RV Maintenance and RV Trips. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , .

RV’s are cheaply constructed houses that roll down the road. Things shake lose as well as break like house things from normal wear and tear.

One of the things that “broke” this trip was the plastic lever that throws the dead bold on the “front” door. But you can’t buy only the plastic lever.

The entire front door lock assembly was awaiting our arrival here at Rose Valley RV Ranch. Steve decided to install today.

Karl has become accustomed to “Adventures with Steve” – they take off in the Jeep with a first stop at the local bakery for sustenance and then on to some wonderful venue for a run around and who knows what.

But this morning, things were delayed as the door assembly was tackled.

As many things RV do, this turned out to be less than an easy fix.

Patience is not going to be on any of our tombstones…

Even Bob kept an eye on the progress.

Oh, brother…might as well catch a nap.

Finally, the thing was finished. Karl and Steve went off in search of adventure and serious napping could be had.

And then it was evening. Another day done. Another desert sunset.

Thursday’s story.

All are home

Published on March 3, 2009 in RV Maintenance. 11 Comments Tags: , , .

I thought I would be posting this afternoon or evening from the parking lot camp ground of the rv dealer that has been working on my Winnebago. I am, however, posting from home. And the Winnebago is home – her name is Wild Thing…because she moves me…

When we left this story, just yesterday in the telling, although Saturday in actuality, Karl and I had made the trip to Missoula in the Jeep to pick up WT. Her steps had been replaced and body work done. But, the steps – they went in and out just fine. There is, though, a step off/on switch just inside the door. When in the off position, the steps stay out. When in the on position, the steps extend when the door is open and retract when the door is closed. There is another feature…no matter what position the switch is in, when the ignition is on, the steps retract – a safety/convenience/stupidity avoidance mechanism to prevent an operator from driving off with the steps extended. The problem on Saturday was that the on/off switch was operating in reverse – on kept the steps out and off extended/retracted with the door open/close.

Saturday…there was a tech available, but not the one who did the installation. But surely, this was a simple “wire cross”. Mais, non! And I should have known as I was present, holding the flashlight, when the damaged steps were removed. 4 bolts and a wiring harness – in reverse for install, i.e. no wiring need be done by the installer. Heads were scratched and it was decided that input from the manufacturer was needed so Karl and I came home as documented in the previous post.

And…I told the dealer to take their time considering the condition of my road and drive.

I received a call fairly early on Monday that things were fixed. A number of calls back and forth because I was dumbfounded that it was so “easy” and in the back and forth a feeling that I was getting the run around. And there is that loss of confidence that happens when you don’t feel like you are getting accurate information. Enter my insurance agent who seriously went to bat for me with the dealer and suddenly, they cannot do enough for me – things like a wash, wax, something from their rv shop…

I decide that it would be best to get to Missoula ASAP, make sure all is truly well and bring WT home, while the entire fiasco is fresh in all minds. So I shuffle meetings and committments in order to drive down this afternoon, stay the night, and back Wednesday afternoon before the weather changes to winter again as forecast. The dealer phones this morning – a Kalispell customer has a locked up motorhome, a tech is driving up to deal with that…he could drive my motorhome, towing a car, i.e. they want to know if I’m open to them delivering the motorhome to me in Kalispell. YES, I say! All goes well, I meet the tech not far from my house. He unhooks his tow, I hook up my Jeep and off we go. The step was operating correctly.

I turn on to my road in the nick of time…

It looked like snow, threatening clouds over the mountains, but all held off..

Karl rode shotgun. My road was clear, my driveway was icy. A decision had to be made whether to drop the Jeep and come in motorhome only with no tow. I was tired, I wanted it over, I left the Jeep on and drove like I meant it. 21000 pounds of motorhome pulling 3800 pounds of Jeep did not hesitate.

In, turned around, backed up, parked and plugged in. All are home.

the rest of my Saturday story

Published on March 2, 2009 in Photos, RV Maintenance and RV Trips. 12 Comments Tags: , , , .

The rest of my Saturday – fetching the Winnebago (see 2/27 post “the start of my Saturday”):

I loaded the Jeep with camera, computer, WINE, dogfood/treats and a few other odds and ends that would allow Karl and I to spend a night in the motorhome if I didn’t feel like making the drive back home from Missoula, 110 miles south. Bob was situated with plenty of food and water, a freshly cleaned litter box and the assurance that we would return…sometime. I pulled out of the driveway at 11:20. The relatively late start was planned to allow temperatures to rise to the point where ice on the road would be water. That part of the plan was successful. Except for the 1/4 mile of road nearest my home, it was clear sailing.

It was that 1/4 mile of turning, steep, narrow, snow and ice covered road and my ever narrowing driveway and turnaround that caused a bit of concern. I nearly turned back. I had walked the drive and looked at the turnaround and planned how I would drop the Jeep in Bigfork and come in on my road with just the motorhome, but it just looked like it could be NOT fun. I went with a bit of a Scarlett O’Hara attitude: “I’ll worry about it tomorrow”.

Although the day had started clear as a bell, the valley was hazy and as I got south of Bigfork and the lake came into view, signs of an inversion were visible in the low cloud cover moving in. I stopped south of Woods Bay, parking in The Raven Bar’s lot…

As noted, The Raven is home to the Polar Bear Plunge, the January 1 swim in the lake. And, no, I have NOT participated. I’ve partaken of a brew in the bar on occasion, mainly for the view. Today, I skipped the bar, but used the parking lot to catch the start of the inversion.

We continued south. Montana Highway 35 hugs the lake most of the way between Bigfork and Polson, although above the lake and in some places quite a distance above with cherry orchards on the slope between the highway and the water. At about the 9 mile mark, the road heads inland as it approaches Polson. As I rounded the south shore of the lake, the mountains to the north stood out. While hazy, the fresh snow on the high peaks of the Swan Range made a majestic background to the lake.

I headed into a subdivision that I thought might have a spot where I could see and take some photos. I found a spot between 2 homes at a gated entrance to a wildlife preserve area adjacent to the subdivision.

While I was fiddling with lenses…

…I could NOT resist. I believe it was she. I am partial to the Northern Breeds as is Karl. Normally, he would be barking and sounding as if he would tear the Jeep apart to get at another dog – a behaviour confined to when he is in the car and he spots another dog, but this lady caught his eye and they exchanged greetings in a language of their own. I was hoping the people at home would come out and we might make an introduction, but they did not. We said good bye and continued south.

Polson is the southern end of the Flathead Valley and then begins the Mission Valley. The Mission Mountains to the east have several gorgeous jagged peaks. I stopped at a turnout near NinePipes to take a longer look and some photos. Even in the haze of the increasing inversion, they were beautiful.

The rest of the story… As I proceeded south, I decided that I would stay overnight in Missoula, just for the rv fun and change of pace and maybe in the back of my mind I thought to put off that last 1/4 mile and my driveway part of the trip. The overnight part of the plan went awry. A glitch in the repair of my motorhome steps meant that it needed to stay for further work. Although it meant returning in the Jeep, it did not upset me at all. I told the shop to take their time, like 2-3-4 weeks… Hopefully we’ll have had a bit of melt down by then. And also, I’ll take Bob next time and we’ll add a bit of vacation to the pick up – a REAL road trip!

So, somewhat anti-climatically, Karl and I returned with exactly what we left with and that is the rest of my Saturday story.

Road Trip

Published on January 27, 2009 in Front Porch Musings, Montana, Pets, Photos and RV Maintenance. 10 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Five years ago…if you had told me that I would someday own an RV and LOVE rving, I would have said you were nuts.

I own an RV and I LOVE rving!

I even love a 200 mile round trip just to take the beast to a dealer for repair. I don’t love needing the repair, but it was operator error ( Damaging steps ) so I can’t blame the rv. I also didn’t “LOVE” the Jeep hookup yesterday as it was 6 below zero while I was doing it. Don’t let that sunshine fool you – it was cold! And things that normally swivel and extend didn’t want to do that. A hammer and a few choice words convinced them otherwise. The good news was that I wasn’t all hot and sweaty after the hookup…

I packed a lunch, my camera, my laptop – loaded Karl…no steps…I’m glad I’ve kept up with my strength training – and off we went. Destination, Missoula – 100 miles south.

The stop light in Bigfork…too bad about that view, huh?

Although cold, it was clear and sunny and a gorgeous day for the drive which skirts Flathead Lake for 35 miles before going through Polson, Montana and then a beautiful valley with the Mission Mountains to the east and the Bitteroots to the West.

Between Bigfork and Polson, I stopped at a pullout along the lake to allow 2 following cars to pass and to do a safety check.

We continued on. I had planned on a lunch stop south of Ronan, but the pullout there was not plowed. I ended up going all the way to the dealer in Missoula and having lunch in their parking lot. I unhooked the Jeep, checked in with service, transferred computer and camera to the Jeep, took a walk with Karl and then we started back towards home.

The Missions were beautiful – loaded with snow. A thin cloud layer lay about a third of the way between their jutting peaks and the valley floor. I didn’t stop – there are times when I just like to look.

**Added 7:30 a.m. 1/27 – I just visited fellow Montana blogger Montucky – he headed to the city yesterday also, albeit from a different direction. His post in the link is a gorgeous capture of the Missions – worth the click!

I did stop at a scenic lookout just before Polson. It is not somewhere I’ve ever stopped before, although it has the first view of the lake and the entrance to the Flathead Valley.

Home is 39 miles north of Polson. We arrived there in time for a walk before sunset.

Looking backward

Published on January 18, 2009 in Front Porch Musings, Pets, RV Maintenance and RV Trips. 13 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Reader Melissa in El Cajon, in an email to me, commented that her vet said that “orange cats make the best pets”. I remember thinking that was funny-odd in that most of the vet clinic cats … in my experience, have been calicos. And then I had to laugh as I was thinking that I have been, with Bob (my orange cat), in a LOT of vet clinics… And this led further to the remembrance of our – Bob and my – “many clinic” experiences between Iowa and Montana in the summer of 2006 and how that changed Bob, Karl’s and my life.

Martha Beck, in a her book “Steering by Starlight (How to live your best destiny, no matter what)” has a chapter with an exercise on “telling your life story backwards”. Simplified, it entails looking at an event or outcome that you consider wonderful and working backwards over the events that led you to this wonderfulness which often begins with a “Supposedly bad event that eventually supported my favorite thing”.

It is an interesting exercise.

One of my stories involves my orange cat, Bob.

One of my favorite things: my little house on its 8 plus acres of woods on a foothill of the Continental Divide

The supposedly “bad” event that eventually supported my favorite thing: Bob became very ill in Iowa

2006…Iowa, in the motorhome, wending my way back to Montana after a 6 month cruise cross country and back. It was mid-July. I had stayed in the mid-west to attend the wedding of my best friend’s son. Right after the wedding, I pointed the beast west. I stopped in Iowa to attend to some motorhome problems – Iowa is home to Winnebago as well as to many things RV related. I landed at a wonderful rural RV park: Colony Country Campground , in Iowa City, Iowa. I based here for 7 days – getting the RV maintenance done and then just as I was set to leave, Bob became ill.

As a side note, the extra time spent in Iowa was instrumental in the beginning of a wonderful friendship with the daughter of the campground owners – she manages the campground. I stayed at Colony Country again in Spring of 2008 as I returned to Montana from Florida. A wonderful spot and I’m grateful to have found the spot and started the friendship.

Bob was lethargic, not using the litter box, and had a temperature…the fact that he allowed me take his temperature was very telling. He spent the night at the clinic, which is a teaching clinic and staffed 24/7. The owner/vet phoned me at 11:30 p.m. to tell me that he was very worried about Bob as he was not eating. I had a mostly sleepless night. But when I got up at 5 a.m. I did a bit of a doubletake – he was not eating???? Well, he wouldn’t – not his dish, not his food. I was at the clinic at 6 a.m. with Bob’s dish and some tuna fish. He ate, he had used the litter box. I returned after 8 and picked him up over the objections of the clinic…but with antibiotics. We stayed in Iowa a few more days – all was normal with Bob and he was tolerating the antibiotics. We proceeded west.

Backing up a bit…while in the mid-West, awaiting the wedding date, we were in northern Michigan – Traverse City – near where my family vacationed when I was growing up. I have a great-Aunt who lived there at the time. I enjoyed visiting, was working, and also was extremely homesick for Montana. I perused the internet for Montana property. I found the listing for the place I now call home. It was listed at a price above my range. I asked my friend Kris to look at it for me and let me know what she thought. She looked. She phoned me after and said: “Ann, this place is you!”. I was on the internet, making air reservations to fly back, but it all felt wrong – leaving the pets, disrupting my work schedule, the cost… I called her and said that I couldn’t do it. I said that if it was right, it would be there when I returned.

Fast forward to Spearfish, SD. Spearfish was a place that I had liked on a previous car trip east. I wanted to take some time to look around. I also wanted to look at the Red Lodge, MT area.

But Bob became ill again in Spearfish. The Spearfish vet did extensive blood testing and came up with some disturbing results which pointed to a condition that would require long term treatment. I made the decision to head immediately for “home” and for my home vet.

We saw our home vet upon arrival in the Flathead Valley. Bob seemed fine. The home vet blood work showed no abnormalities. They ran it twice to be sure. Bob continued to seem fine and normal. $1000 in vet bills later and I had a well cat with no explanation.

Back in the Flathead Valley, I felt at home and started looking for a place -not on wheels – to call home.

The first thing I did was to look at the place that I saw on the internet from Michigan. The price had been reduced. I decided not to buy it. I could see the work that would be involved. I had been a bit overwhelmed at my last house which had 2 ½ acres of yard to be mowed and trimmed. My handyman from there walked this house and property and we talked about the driveway (good news privacy, bad news maintenance and snow removal), the flat roof, the woods…

I looked at a lot of “subdivision” places – more $$, less work … kept coming back to this place in my head. It was my birthday, I was looking at yet another house and suddenly said to the realtor – “I’m going to take Karl to La Brant and just spend some time”..it had been empty for months. I walked around the woods with Karl, sat in the back of the open Jeep and just took in the stillness and made up my mind that I wanted this. I made an offer in my price range…

So, the supposedly “bad” event that lead me to getting the “good” thing, was Bob becoming ill. After getting settled in the house, I found 2 mostly healed wounds on Bob – large wounds on either side as if an owl had tried to pick him up. This probably happened in Ohio, when I was parked at my friend’s, as this was the only place he was out early or late. Bob’s illness sent me straight back to Montana in perfect time to get this place, which is perfect for me.

Looking backward. The more experience I have at the way supposedly “bad” events turn “good”, the better equiped I am to deal with and in fact be grateful for the “bad” events, even while enduring them. In the midst of a challenging or difficult time, there is that knowledge that somehow, somewhen, something wonderful is likely to happen or be learned.

Catching up

Published on January 5, 2009 in Home Projects, Montana, Pets and RV Maintenance. Closed Tags: , , , , , , .

A few loose ends to catch up in the various sagas of life “from the front porch“…

Last we left the motorhome, I had just finished tearing off the steps by navigating too close to a stump with steps that would not totally retract. I had been on my way for propane in my desire to keep the motorhome stocked and ready to roll. After the step incident, I emptied all freezable items for that night. The next day, the roads were still in no shape to go out. I looked at the weather for the next week and finally sighed, squared my shoulders and realized that for the sake of my budget and sanity, I needed to abandon the idea of keeping things ready to go. The last thing to do was empty the fresh water tank – 75 gallons of water to go somewhere on frozen ground…my own private ice rink I thought. So, I opened up a bit more of the turnaround with the snowblower – which was still working then! -backed the motorhome into that area away from anywhere anyone had to drive or walk and drained the tank. Not as bad as I thought – the water was warm enough to sieve into the ground and there was no ice rink after all.

As for the steps, my insurance company will pay for the steps, the body work and any other damage underneath (less my deductible). I just have to get the motorhome to Missoula, 110 miles away. Thankfully, the agent is in Missoula and fully understands the difficulty so it will happen when it happens.

The snowblower is still in the garage waiting pickup if we get a break between storms. Adam is plowing my driveway and the up side is he shows up and it takes about 15 minutes and I’m watching from inside. The downside is my driveway is getting narrower each time. So is the road. The nature of plowing when you can’t plow a “shoulder”.

My roof…

Friday, I shoveled the porch and up to the bath vent. I looked up there several times during the day at the amount of snow…and looked again at the weather forecast. 3 storms due back to back and the 2nd and 3rd due to be a rain/snow mix. You can see that the original cabin was the back half and had a normal roof. When the front half was added, the roof was extended instead of redone …too flat.

Even the snow bird’s house had a lot of snow, but they have a proper pitched roof for snow country!

I had picked up a flyer at the grocery with a number for a guy who shovelled roofs. I called. He and a helper showed up on Saturday.

Roof shoveled and the snow cave got bigger.

The other situation that was getting a bit grim was the state of my firewood supply. Most of “this year’s” 3 cords of wood was waiting to be split…tarped, but lying under nearly 3 feet of snow. The various work and other committments of mine and my friends’ who are helping got away from us. I had about 2 weeks of firewood left on Saturday. I am not dependent on firewood for heat. My little house has electric baseboard heaters which are efficient, clean and quiet. I like the wood heat, though and I like having backup heating and cooking ability should we lose power. I was facing not burning wood and keeping the 2 weeks firewood as my backup.

I headed into Bigfork on a quick errand. At the shopping center there are often 2 or 3 pickups with firewood waiting to be sold. I noticed this day that there was a particularly nice looking load – split in sizes that I wouldn’t have to split further.

Randy and his son Boaz followed me home. They have the absolutely nicest log rack I have ever seen! Also the best truck I’ve ever had deliver firewood. The first time I bought firewood, the delivery truck had no hood and no muffler. The second time, the guy had a pet bobcat with him. And so on…it has always been interesting. Randy and his son have a small building company. The wood came from a job site – more than they needed for their family.

My firewood situation is not quite so desparate now. This is 10-12 weeks supply and hopefully, I’ll be able to get to my stash if this runs low before spring.

Karl and Bob – they had some catching up to do also:

Bob catching up on the chow and Karl on his napping…

… on his increasingly closed in front porch.

Ouch!

Published on December 24, 2008 in RV Maintenance. 7 Comments Tags: , .

Those steps shouldn’t look like that…

My motorhome steps are automatic – they retract when the door closes and electronically whoooosshh out when the door opens. In this ultra-cold, they have been a bit slow. They have not been retracting or extending fully – I knew this…. I headed out yesteday afternoon for propane in anticipation of 2 storms due which are predicted to be snow “events”. I stayed a little too close to the right side of the driveway…

….the culprit or the victim – depending on your perspective…

…body work…but, hey!! – do you see the reflection of the woods in the bay door to the left of the steps?? – kinda cool!

As far as I got…

The mangled steps on top of the cheap, ugly gutters that I removed from the house and garage, on top of the remnants of the ugly front porch railings that I removed…all waiting for a person with a truck to take to the dump. Well, a girl can dream…

I have Good Sam RV Roadside service and a very competent person arrived only 4 hours after I called…a FedEx truck had to be extracted from a ditch before me and possibly a few other roadside disasters. It was dark and 7ish by the time he arrived. He donned coveralls, rolled under the Winnebago and proceeded to extract the demolished steps. Then he helped guide me in backing the beast into her spot adjacent to the garage.

Nice tow truck Good Sam person also fetched the removed steps while I fiddled around getting the beast exactly where I wanted her.

I proceeded to empty all of the stuff that would not take well to freezing. Electric supplemental heat is protecting the fresh water bay. The propane is low enough that I wasn’t sure whether the furnace would run through the night, hence the emptying.

Today is another day…. Weather permitting, I’ll try for propane. The steps: new ones must be ordered and that may have to wait a bit. Yes, I wanted to cry a few times, but really, in the whole scheme of things, it is a “minor” glitch. No blood was shed – and who knows??? – considering a FedEx vehicle landed in a ditch, perhaps losing my steps and staying in my own driveway prevented some worse disaster.

Onward!

The road home – from the motorhome

Published on December 17, 2008 in Photos, RV Maintenance and RV Trips. 10 Comments Tags: , , .

Another winter storm is forecast for this afternoon through Thursday evening. The motorhome had 2-3 days of propane left. Temps forecast to stay colder than normal through the next week. Several decisions yesterday – get propane, winterize…

Karl rode with me in the motorhome on a trip for propane and a few grocery items. It was a beautiful day and the temperature had risen to near 10 when we left yesterday in the early afternoon. Flathead River was frozen in a sea of snowy sparkles, but no place for a motorhome to pull over for a photo. The road home, however, was beautiful and irresistible…

The Road Home…from the motorhome.

RV winterizing (partial winterizing) notes: Pulled antifreeze through the water lines (all faucets, shower, toilet – missed outside shower), drained the water heater, left the fresh water tank full. Furnace at 50. Auxillary ceramic, electric heater in the fresh water bay. Water heater plug broke on removal, let warm water drain and used pliers to remove remains of plug. Need to replace plug before filling water heater. Water heater left on bypass currently.

Decided to do this partial winterize after spending $110 on propane in 2 weeks and more arctic cold forecast. Was keeping furnace at 68 and water heater running (on propane). With the lines full of anti-freeze and the water heater drained, the furnace is set at 50 and water heater is off. Propane use should be half as much. Electric heater will sustain fresh water bay at the lower furnace setting.