The shakedown trip, Part 1
Hey readers,
Have you ever had one of those trips that seemed to just go wrong?
This run to our favorite town and new residence started out just fine. We pulled out of the park in Olympia with visions of our 3 weeks in the desert southwest dancing in our minds. We pulled through Oregon and wound up boondocking at a wonderful little casino called Rain Rock in Yreka, California. This casino is on the hill overlooking Yreka and is RV friendly. Their RV parking is under construction but they offered up a great spot in the front parking lot overlooking the town. Security roved the lot all night and we felt safe and secure. The only drawback is that we parked near the entrance road so there was some road noise as the local patrons came and went.
From Yreka it was about a six hour run to the Dumbarton Bridge Quarry campground in the bay area. We met up with Mommy Max and Teacher Tom here, hung out and went to some great eats in town. Two nights here to get some family time and recoup from the two days of driving. Dumbarton is right over the hill from the salt flats in the bay so you get some funky odors from very salty sea water. Don’t let this deter you though as this is a great area to enjoy some history and easy access into the entire bay area. The hiking trails here are nice and varied and some are ADA accessible. Dumbarton is an East Bay Parks facility and has some interesting rules but it is less expensive than any private park in the entire area.
Off to our next stop with a deadline…
We were scheduled into the SKP Park of the Sierras for a couple of nights but since we arrive on Sunday we have to be there no later than noon or we have to boondock the first night. Well, Up and at them with fresh brewed coffee in hand and out of the bay area by 0730. Off across the valley and into the Sierra foothills into the town of Coarsegold by 1100 and registered. Whew, we made it on time and got tucked into the site and took all of our drop off items up to Geezerguys house.
This is where I discovered my big mistake. I had loaded some heavy pointy items on the slide out storage tray and somewhere in our earthquake inducing trip they shifted, toppled and broke the plywood in the tray. Due t o a tight time frame I would not have time to fix it correctly right away and without the heavy items (we jettisoned them at Geezerguys) I could make do for the time being. Mental note, lay stuff down completely and tie it in place if it has a tendency to move or be unstable. Also, see if I can add tie down points to the slider tray.
Where did I lose my TPMS receiver? Checked pressures before we left the bay (sensitive to tire heat, parameters not set properly yet) unit working fine. It showed a little pressure loss through the valley so we stopped and aired up, receiver confirmed pressures and temps and that was the last I saw of the receiver. We took everything out of the truck and it is just gone and you can’t just order the receiver.
Pulled into the Las Vegas RV Resort right at check-in time and got a really nice spot. Temps in the 100’s and bedroom A/C not working, argh! This is the same unit that I tried getting replaced at my dealer but they couldn’t find the time prior to us leaving Washington, called Jeff’s Mobile RV tech and they came out and after 3 days of trying everything, they replaced the unit and we got cold air, YAY. I cannot recommend their service enough. We also found that sun sails draped on the hot side of the rig worked like a charm. They are relatively inexpensive from the local home store and after figuring how to hang them right, it cooled our sun side by 10 degrees.
We can’t seem to get an appointment with a service center until after the new year so after many talks with the Vanleigh service rep we are okayed for warranty service at the service center in Arizona and Mississippi when we can get there.
There are many more challenges that came up over the next few weeks; truck problems, being solo for a month, house challenges and many more.
Next time, dear reader.
BFD
