Funny things happen sometimes when you’re boondocking in the desert. As I was doing my walkaround outside the coach in preparation of the day’s travel, a small, single-engine airplane buzzed by directly overhead. What are the odds? Here we were in a remote spot surrounded by miles of desert with no airport nearby and this plane comes right over us at low altitude. I’m not sure what make of plane it was, but it sounded different. As it passed overhead, I realized it was a single-engine turbo-prop airplane. You don’t see that everyday.
Single engine turbo-prop airplane overhead
It was cold in the coach when we woke up – about 52 degrees. We prefer not to have the furnace run overnight. Donna was up first. She started the generator and turned on the heat pumps and the coach warmed up quickly. We pulled out of our little slice of desert around 11am.
Our destination for the day was the Hidden Shores RV Resort on the Arizona side of the Colorado River at the Imperial Dam. When we drove there last year, Nally, our Rand-McNally RVND 7720 GPS, routed us through Winterhaven, then north along the California side of the river. We meandered through several turns along agricultural areas on narrow roads before we finally crossed the river at the dam. This was the shortest route, which I had set in the GPS preferences.
This time, I had a couple of stops planned in Yuma. First we stopped at Walmart for some groceries. We also ate lunch at Subway. From there, I continued east on I-8 to Fortuna Road. I stopped at the Flying J truck stop. Diesel fuel was $2.85/gallon. This is the cheapest fuel we’ve bought since we hit the road nearly a year and a half ago. I topped up our tank and added Biobor JF biocide treatment. This treatment eliminates and prevents hydrocarbon utilizing micro-organisms (Biobor refers to them as Hum-bugs). These micro-organisms are commonly referred to as algae in diesel fuel. They flourish when water is present in the fuel tank and they feed on the diesel fuel. This can cause plugged filters or even engine damage. I’m often skeptical about additives and their claims, but after much research, I’m sold on Biobor. The aviation and marine industries use it as well as the military.
The other thing I wanted to do at the Flying J was weigh our coach. They had a certified Cat Scale that would give us our individual axle weights. I wanted to weigh the coach while I had a full fuel tank and more than 100 gallons of water on board. This would give me our axle weights in the heaviest condition.
I was happy to find we were under the rated axle weights in our worst case scenario. Our front axle is rated at 12,000 lbs – we weighed in at 11,140 lbs. The rear axle is rated at 19,000 lbs – we had a rear axle weight of 18,840. The trailer tongue weight contributed to the rear axle weight – this was troublesome on our last coach. The Dexter axle on our cargo trailer is rated at 3,500 lbs – our trailer axle weight was 3,080 lbs. So, our Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW), which is the sum of the front and rear axle weights, is rated at 31,000 lbs. Our actual GVW is 29,980 lbs. Our Gross Combination Weight (GCW) is rated at 41,000 lbs. Our actual GCW is 33,060. I’m happy to see our weights are within acceptable limits.
The rule of thumb often used for RV horsepower requirement is one horsepower per one hundred pounds. This rule of thumb would put our horsepower requirement at 331hp. I don’t know how this rule of thumb came about or the validity of it, but we are well over this horsepower requirement with our Cummins ISL 400 hp diesel engine.
After getting our weights, we proceeded north on US95, then west on Imperial Dam Road through the military proving ground. This route was fast and easy with no narrow roads or tight turns.
We dropped the trailer in our site (C20), which was bit tricky. Then we jockeyed the coach back and forth as we changed our mind a few times over how we would orient our steps relative to the concrete pad. The pad is raised a couple of inches above the grade of the gravel lot. At first, I had the step behind the pad. Donna was concerned about the pad creating a trip hazard when entering or exiting the coach. I repositioned the coach with the step over the pad. I usually dump the air from the suspension to lower the coach before leveling. But doing this wouldn’t allow enough clearance over the pad to extend the steps.
After a couple of attempts to raise the coach on the jacks for step clearance, I fired up the engine again and pressurized the air suspension. With the airbags at full ride height, I extended the jacks and put some pressure on them to stabilize the coach. Now the steps have clearance and hopefully no one trips on the edge of the concrete pad. Job done!
Step clearance and pad trip hazard
This morning Donna fixed scrambled eggs with diced green chile peppers and cilantro and served them with sliced kumatoes (brown tomatoes) and ham. So I had green eggs and ham for breakfast!
The Internet connectivity is spotty at best here. I hope to have a good enough connection to continue posting. If not, let me wish everyone a happy new year a day early!