Sunday ; This morning we left the parking lot of the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino and drove just a mile or two to SKP Park of the Sierras. We were very disappointed to discover, upon our arrival, that there were no vacancies in the park for the next two days. WOW ... didn't see that coming ! We decided to stay two nights in their boondocking area ... without services. That wouldn't normally be a big deal, but we've already spent five cold nights boondocking without a furnace. All of us, especially Sully, are tired of being cold at night. And despite five days of driving south, there's been no change in the weather. The day time and night time temperatures are the same here as they were back home, 2000 km. north !
We got parked in the boondock area and I went to work looking for the cause of no lights / no 12 volt power in the dinette / living room slide. It took me all of about 30 seconds to discover the problem once we got the slides extended. Underneath the living room / dinette slide are two coiled electrical cables. One brings 120 volt AC power to the slide and one brings 12 volt DC power to the slide. They're both coiled because they have to move in and out with the slide. The 12 volt cable was ... rotten ! Thirteen years of being exposed to the elements including road grime just rotted the cable and wires within. I wonder if the 120 volt cable is also rotten ? Or soon will be ? Obviously I don't have any 12 volt coiled cable, so I did a good but temporary repair. I cut the coiled cable at both ends, and spliced in two lengths ( + and - ) of regular automotive wiring. I attached the spliced in wiring to the cut coiled cable with wire ties so that the new wiring will not just droop and drag on the ground when the slide is retracted and we are travelling. Being able to solve at least one of the trailer's current ( pun intended ) problems gave me some satisfaction.
We had a late lunch and I napped briefly with Sully before Joanne and I went to the clubhouse for this park's regular Sunday afternoon ice cream social. We ate some ice cream and socialized for awhile, then I stayed in the clubhouse to get some ( much ! ) online work done. I reactivated our U.S. cell phone ( easier said than done ! ) and I posted my weekly journal to my blog. And dealt with a lot of incoming e-mail, most of it spam !
While Joanne prepared supper I drove to a nearby service station to buy some fuel for the generator. We can persuade the furnace to function occasionally and briefly, but the failing fan blower motor seems to suck an extreme amount of power and runs down the trailer's "house battery" fairly quickly. So we're going to have to run the generator for an hour or so at least a couple of times each day until we're in a serviced site.
After supper we went to the clubhouse and watched Amazing Race on the TV there.
Monday ; We damn near froze overnight ! We're boondocked, without services ... no electricity. Up in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Our furnace only works intermittently, and even then only when we manually switch it on and off. In this park's boondocking area we can't run our generator between 10 PM and 8 AM, so ... BRRRRR ! ! ! When we arrived yesterday morning we were told that we could expect to have a serviced site on Tuesday. Today things changed, and now the earliest we can expect a serviced site is Wednesday. **** that ! We're outta here tomorrow morning ! After we damn near freeze for another night ! ! !
This morning we drove into Coarsegold to run some errands. I dropped Joanne off at Vons to buy some groceries. I went to O'Reilly Auto Parts to buy some automotive wiring, then True Value Home Center to buy some hardware. On the way back to Vons I saw a tire shop so went in and bought another screw in metal valve stem, this one for the trailer's spare tire, the last of seven truck and five trailer tires that I am converting to screw in metal valve stems.
Back at SKP Park of the Sierras, after lunch, I took the truck to the park's large maintenance barn and did an oil and filter change. Changing the truck's oil and filter ( and lubricating the tie rod ends ) myself has become an annual chore that I do here, saving myself some money. An oil and filter change, and lube, on a one ton diesel dually is a pricey service. The maintenance barn here has all the necessary tools and equipment for do it yourself oil changes, including used oil disposal.
After buying some hardware this morning I was able to finish the trailer wiring repair job I did yesterday, making it "weatherproof" and consequently roadworthy. Afterwards I joined Joanne and Bo who were at the dog park for the daily dog party, the highlight of this park from Bo's perspective. While we were there a small dog injured one of her front dew claws. I noticed her foot bleeding as she was playing. She didn't seem concerned. However, most of the old ladies who were in the dog park ( the daily dog parties seem to be a social activity for dogs and their women ) seemed to think that Bianca's bleeding dew claw was a "sky is falling" crisis. Initially I was unable to convince Bianca's owner
( because she had half a dozen old biddies telling her otherwise ) that the injury was not a crisis and did not warrant an emergency trip to the veterinarian. After she phoned the vet and was told there was no need to rush right down, but he would be happy to see her tomorrow morning ( KA-CHING ) she reconsidered my offer to first aid Bianca's torn dew claw. She came over to our trailer with Bianca, and I disinfected, applied salve, and bandaged with gauze. Exactly the same thing the vet would do, but I didn't charge a hundred bucks ! And ... the vet wouldn't have used all natural piñon sap salve made by an Apache medicine man ! I told Sylvia to remove the bandage and repeat the process in three days. Just like the vet would do in another three days, another hundred bucks please !
Tuesday ; SHEESH ... plan A to plan B to plan A !
This morning we prepared for departure, paid our small bill for two nights of boondocking, were about to leave ... when the park manager rushed over to tell us that a site was going to become available after lunch. We decided to stay.
While we waited for our site to become available I installed the new thermostat we got at Camping World in Burlington, Washington. First of all, it proved that the furnace problem is not / was not a thermostat problem. Secondly, this new thermostat was slightly defective, on the air conditioning function side < sigh >. I will return it to Camping World in Bakersfield. I reinstalled the old thermostat. There's nothing wrong with it.
After lunch we moved to our assigned serviced site. I spent much of the afternoon fiddling with the furnace and thermostats. At 4 PM Joanne took Bo to the daily dog party.
I finished up my work, cleaned up, and went over to join them. We met a woman ( and her dog ) who are going to be our neighbours at Kofa Ko-op in Yuma.
This evening we went to Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino for their Tuesday evening barbecue buffet dinner. MMMMM ! Before supper we swiped our player's club cards at the CHUK-CHING promotion. I won a $5 food voucher. How fortuitous !
Wednesday ; The weather has improved. The nights are still cold, but the days are sunny and mild.
I spent much of today working on preparing for the installation of the two new catalytic radiant heaters. Lots of measuring and figuring out routing of propane lines. I'm hoping that Pro Flame in Oakhurst can custom fabricate three propane hoses for me, and that I might even be able to get the heaters installed before we leave here Sunday. That's a pretty ambitious objective, but ... if things go well ... ! I had initially expected that I would require the services of a professional propane installer to have the heaters installed, but now I think I might be able to accomplish it myself, with a bit of luck.
I watched the late news on TV tonight, a local ( Fresno ) station. There was a story about a dispute between a travel center masseuse and a customer. Did they mean ... a truck stop hooker and a John ? ! ?
Thursday ; Today was mostly overcast but very mild, temperature in the mid to high 60's. We spent half the day in Oakhurst running errands, being sent hither and yon in my elusive quest to have propane hoses custom fabricated, and to find some other hardware. None of the three propane companies in Oakhurst were able to make the hoses I need, because each of them was missing one fitting or another. < sigh > I guess it will have to wait until Quartzsite, or maybe even Yuma. In the meantime, I can get all the holes drilled. The Pole Barn's tool cage has the large drill and hole saw bits I need, so I will do that before we leave here Sunday. And I will try to get the larger of the two heaters mounted on the living room wall before we leave here.
Friday ; Remembrance Day ( Canada ) / Veteran's Day ( U.S. )
Lest We Forget
Since we began travelling in June 2004, this is the eighth Remembrance Day / Veteran's Day we have been in the United States. Veteran's Day in the United States seems much less "important" than does Remembrance Day in Canada. Five times Joanne and I have observed a minute of silence at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month by ourselves. Once we attended a Veteran's day service at an RV park in Texas. The first year on the road I prepared and led a service in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri. Today we attended a Veteran's Day service at Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino. It seemed a bit odd to be observing this solemn moment in a casino. And the service itself was ... weak. Since this was the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the eleventh year a special 11-11-11 Veteran's Day pin was created. And the Chukchansi Casino gave one free to each patron who requested one. For that I express my appreciation to Chukchansi Casino. Thank you. During the service, while a bugler played Taps, an old bottle blonde bimbo nearby would not stop playing her slot machine, which made a lot of inappropriate musical noises. I stomped over and told her ( very nicely, of course ) to STOP ! What part of "a minute of silence" did you not understand, you stupid bimbo ? ! ? It's difficult for me to understand the stupidity of some people !
I spent the afternoon drilling large holes in the trailer to prepare for the installation of propane hoses to the two new catalytic radiant heaters. I borrowed a hole saw from the Pole Barn. I had to drill nine holes, all in very difficult to access locations in compartments and behind drawers and inside cupboards, etc. But it's done, and that was likely the most difficult component of this installation job. Mounting the larger of the two heaters on the entry wall is also going to be difficult. Hopefully I will accomplish that tomorrow.
We spent the evening at the SKP Park of the Sierra's Veteran's Day potluck dinner and dance. Great food, good company, nice music.
Saturday ; I spent the morning installing the larger of the two catalytic infrared radiant heaters on the wall just inside the entry door of the trailer. The job went well. While working on this job, I crawled up into the bed of the truck to get some tools from the tool chest in the truck when I saw ... HUH ? ... WHAT ? ... why the hell is Sully wandering down the road ? ! ? SULLY ... why are you running away from home ? I guess I can't work on the trailer with the door open, and walk away for a few minutes !
This afternoon I installed a 12 foot section of stair nosing as cosmetic moulding on the edge of the living room / dinette slide. And then, off we all went to the final daily dog party of our visit. Bo has such a great time playing in the dog park every day with all his California buddies. Just before supper I phoned my sister and we had a long chat. Joanne and I send our best wishes to my brother-in-law who is battling prostate cancer.
DSK
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