Donna started her day yesterday with a bike ride here in the park. She rode around the park and through the streets, trying to get some mileage in. She kept passing a guy on a golf cart. He would raise his hand as she went by and she thought he was waving at her. Finally, as Donna made another pass by the guy, she could see he was motioning for her to slow down. She called out, “I’m only doing 16 miles per hour!” The speed limit on the roads is 20 mph. Maybe 16mph looks faster on a road bike.

After Donna’s bike ride, we took the scooter to town. I turned off US93 at Vulture Mine Road. This was a shortcut with little traffic. We stopped at El Ranchero Mexican Restaurant. Our soon to be full-timing RV friend, Brett Miller, recommended the place and it had good reviews.

When I try a new Mexican place, I usually order the chili verde. This is one of my favorite dishes and I can compare the food to other favorite Mexican restaurants. I didn’t do that this time. I allowed the waiter to talk me into the daily special, which was chicken enchilada casserole. This was basically chicken enchilada filling between layers of corn tortilla and cheese. It was constructed somewhat like a lasagna.

Donna ordered the tricolor enchiladas which consisted of three enchiladas – a chicken enchilada with green sauce, a cheese enchilada and a beef enchilada with red sauce.

Tricolor enchilada plate

The chips were good and they served them with two great salsas and an excellent bean dip. However, I don’t think they were on their “A” game on this day. The chicken enchilada casserole was bland and made with too much cheese. Donna’s tricolor enchilada plate was good, but they had the sauces mixed up. The chicken enchilada had red sauce and the beef enchilada had the green tomatillo sauce. I would go there again, but next time I’ll try the chili verde.

We rode the scooter downtown and parked next to the City Hall. We wandered around and looked at clothing and boots in the western wear shops. Wickenburg is a quirky old west town, but it’s not too touristy. The western wear and saddle shops cater to the real cowboys working on the ranches in the area.

Double H hat shop – Wickenburg

Wickenburg is the oldest Arizona town north of Tucson.  Henry Wickenburg discovered gold here in 1863. The Vulture Mine became the richest Arizona gold producer ever. Many of the historic buildings in the town date back to that era. We were told at the Chamber of Commerce information center that tours of the mine can be taken on Saturdays.

On the way back from Wickenburg, I stopped at the NAPA Auto Parts store to buy a solenoid to replace the sticking accessory solenoid I wrote about a couple of days ago. I didn’t see any part number on the old solenoid when I looked at it. I showed a picture of the solenoid and described its function to the guy at the parts counter. He said he knew what we needed.

He came back with a ST89 solenoid rated for 36 volts. I thought that seemed odd, but he was very sure of himself. I figured since this was a continuous-duty application, the higher voltage rating may be correct.

When we returned to the park, we saw Mark and Emily Fagan’s rig in the dry camp area (Roadslesstraveled.us). Their fifth wheel trailer was set up but their Dodge Ram 3500 truck was not there.

We came back to our rig. I turned the chassis battery switch off and disconnected the accessory solenoid. Once I had the old solenoid out, I saw it was stamped 88-24V on the bottom. I looked up specifications and found the correct replacement would be an ST88 24-volt solenoid. The ST89 36-volt solenoid wouldn’t work. Usually you need to apply nearly half of the rated working voltage to trigger the solenoid. I didn’t have enough voltage available to trigger the 36-volt solenoid. I put the old one back in temporarily and decided to wait until morning to take the ST89 back and exchange it for an ST88.

We had the air conditioner running. It was the hottest day since we’ve been here with a high temperature of 92 degrees. We’re on a 30-amp service so we can only run one air conditioner. I closed the bedroom doors and we had the front air on. We relaxed and read books for awhile.

Donna saw our neighbor, Lynda, outside and went out to talk to her about campgrounds at Lake Mead Boulder Beach. While she was out, Emily came over. The three of them chatted outside until after dark. Emily came inside with Donna and we caught up on their travels. Mark was napping back in the trailer. He had a tough day dealing with a punctured tire on the trailer. He was concerned about the trailer being overweight, so they came here to get the axle weights. There are three Escapees parks where you can always get your rig weighed. They weigh each wheel individually. That way you can determine if you should re-balance your load and also know what the correct tire pressures should be.

This morning, Donna went out hiking in the desert. While she was doing that, I made the 13.5 mile ride back to the NAPA store. On the way out, I saw Mark and Emily with their trailer at the weigh station. Their trailer weight is fine. Mark will move a few things around for better balance, but he doesn’t have to worry about overloading the tires or axles. They’re heading out this morning to Camp Verde and on to Sedona.

On the way back, I stopped and took a photo of one of the memorial signs for the 19 firefighters killed last year in the Yarnell wildfire.

I installed the new ST88 solenoid when I got back a little while ago. I’m still scratching my head though. The new solenoid is acting like the old one. It sticks and I have to tap on the case to make it engage. I’ve checked voltages and grounds and can’t find a problem. That will keep me going for awhile today.

EDIT: I worked the solenoid by turning the key to the accessory position and tapping on the solenoid. I repeated this several times. Now it’s functioning fine. When I turn the key to accessory, the solenoid engages without me touching anything other than the key. My theory is that internal friction was causing it to hang  up. Working the solenoid burnished whatever was causing the friction and now it operates without any issue.