My last post was on New Year’s Day. Here it is, January 6th already. The reason for the break from the blog was Internet connectivity. This can be one of the challenges a full-time RVer faces. We have good Internet through our Verizon Jetpack over 90% of the time. At Hidden Shores, we were down next to the river with steep hills behind and to the right of us. Unfortunately, those hills were between us and the cell towers. I could get a sporadic connection, but nothing stable enough to write a blog post and risk losing it in cyberspace.

January 1st was another cold day at Hidden Shores. The thermometer was stuck in the 50s, but the sky was clear and the wind wasn’t as fierce as New Year’s Eve. Donna braved the elements and went out for a hike on the off-road vehicle trails. She climbed the hill to the northeast of us.

It was an ambitious route. She went all the way to the top of the hill, dodging ATVs along the way.

There was an un-named body of water to the north – one of many that flow into the sloughs along this part of the Colorado River. Donna hiked all the way to the water side. She found a canoe hidden by the shore. It had camouflage netting over it. I think it’s a boat used by duck hunters. They hide under the netting and call in ducks. When they are done for the day, they utilize the camo to hide the canoe. That’s my theory.

I took a short walk to get some fresh air. I snapped a photo at the boat launch area down the street from our site.

Wild burros have been coming into this area at night. We saw one trot past our coach on New Year’s Day. At night they would wake me up at times with their loud braying. We also heard coyotes on the prowl most nights.

The temperature slowly improved over the weekend. Debbie, Bruce and Kim left on Saturday to return home. I spent all of Saturday afternoon and evening glued to the TV, watching the NFL wild card games.

Sunday was more of the same, with the wild card games starting in the morning and the afternoon game at 2:30pm. I also finished reading a Russell Blake novel on my Kindle app over the weekend. After the Cowboys came back to win against the Lions, I took a walk and snapped another shot of the sunset at the boat launch.

I also loaded the trailer and dumped the tanks between games and at the half-time breaks. I wanted to make an early getaway on Monday morning.

Donna prepared a crock pot pork tenderloin that was simmering all afternoon on Sunday. It came out tender and oh so tasty.

Donna set her alarm for 7am so we could make our final preparations and leave by 9am. I slept poorly, dozing off and waking up again all night long. I was slumbering when the alarm went off. We didn’t realize it would still be dark down by the river. The sunrise comes over the mountain behind us. I delayed getting up, but knew I had to get to it if I wanted to hit the road early.

The reason I wanted an early start was to get to Casa Grande, about 180 miles away, by 1pm. I wanted to have our coach serviced there before we checked in to the Casa Grande RV Resort.

We had the slides in, jacks up and trailer hitched just after 9am. Hitching the trailer required precise teamwork. The castering front wheel on the trailer was sunk in the gravel. I couldn’t move it much. I also had a hard time seeing with the rear view camera due to dust on the lens and glare from the sunrise. Donna used her handheld Cobra CB to direct me back and we got the ball on the rear of the coach within 1/2″ of the trailer tongue!

We retraced our steps east through the government proving grounds to US95. I turned south on US95 while Donna programmed our destination into Nally (our GPS). I thought we would have to go back to Fortuna Road, then head south to pick up I-8 east. Nally had us take a stair-step route through county roads instead. We would travel south for a couple of miles, then turn 90 degrees and head east, followed by another 90 degree turn south and so on.

It was a nice route with reasonably smooth, deserted roads through farmland. We skirted around the Gila Mountains, which I-8 crosses, and found ourselves on old US80. This used to be the main thoroughfare from Tucson to California. The road was nice – it ran parallel to I-8 and had no traffic. We had to slow for a couple of small towns, but I enjoyed the drive. I wouldn’t be traveling faster than 62mph on I-8 anyway.

Eventually US80 merged with I-8 around milepost 58. We droned east on the interstate with very little traffic all the way to Casa Grande. We found the Speedco shop where I wanted to have the service work performed. I dropped the trailer in their lot and was directed to enter the shop from the exit side. This put our rear-engined coach in proper position over their pit, which is normally situated to accommodate front-engine class 8 tractor-trailer rigs.

They drained the engine oil, took a sample and replaced the oil filter with a Cummins Fleetguard filter. I had a choice of motor oils – Shell Rotella, Mobil Delvac or Chevron Delo. This is like choosing between a Ford, Chevy or Dodge truck. They all work well, but we all have our preferences. I chose the Chevron Delo 400 15w-40 motor oil. It took 28 quarts (seven gallons)! I thought we held six gallons, but I guess that figure doesn’t include the four-quart filter. They also checked the differential fluid level, lubed and inspected the chassis and tested the coolant. I also had them install the fuel filter I had for the generator, which they did at no charge.

The oil sample was analyzed and I reviewed the results. Used oil analysis can provide tell-tale signs of impending engine trouble or internal damage. It’s best when you have several samples over time to see if any trends are developing. Our sample appeared to be normal with respect to wear metals, contaminates or soot. But the viscosity was below the range for the oil specification. I had a suspicion of this as the hot oil pressure was slowly dropping over time. At idle, I had about 15 psi where I used to see about 20 psi. The minimum specified oil pressure at idle with the engine fully up to temperature is 10 psi, so I was still okay.

The last time the oil was changed, the guy talked me into using his brand of choice – Lucas Magnum. When I noticed the oil pressure drop, I did some research. I found the Petroleum Quality Institute of America had issued an advisory for Lucas Magnum 15w-40 motor due to it testing below the specified viscosity. My results showed a similar viscosity when cold and the hot results were worse. This seems to indicate that the oil suffered viscosity breakdown after only 6,000 miles, probably due to shearing since there weren’t any signs of dilution or excessive contaminates. I won’t be using this oil again! By the way, the recommended oil change interval on our Cummins ISL is 18,000 miles or one year.

We pulled into the Casa Grande RV Resort around 2:30pm. While I was setting up, a guy named Jim introduced himself. He wanted to see if he knew us when he saw our Alpine Coach. Jim and his wife, Debbie, have owned two Alpines – a 2000 model year and a 2003 like ours. Now they have a Tiffin Allegro Bus.

The weather looks great today – around 70 degrees with blue skies and sunshine. We’ll get out and explore a bit.