Category Archives: Maintenance and Repair

First Work Day

Tuesday was a laid-back day. After I posted to the blog, I walked with fellow Alpine Coach Association (ACA) members, Marcy and Greg Vaughan, to the Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) Orientation for First-Time Attendees while Donna stayed back to get some work done. We learned a little history of FMCA, which was founded in 1963, and they walked us through the high points of the 126-page event catalog.

Around noon, I called Paul Maddox, an HWH hydraulics specialist. He was here at the convention. We had corresponded through the IRV2 forum previously. He came over to our coach and confirmed my diagnosis of a leaking solenoid on the right rear jack. He had replacement solenoids. I opted for a re-manufactured unit – it carries the same warranty as a new one from HWH and costs much less. He installed it and we were up and running again in no time. With the leaking solenoid, my right rear jack would slowly retract itself after I deployed it. This has been going on for a few months. I’ve been using blocks under the tires to raise the rear when necessary. Now I can level the coach properly with the HWH system and the coach is much more stable.

On Tuesday evening, Donna and I attended the FMCA volunteers’ dinner. We were served buffet style and had plates of rigatoni with a bolognese made with chicken instead of the traditional beef. We also had a green salad on the side and chocolate cake for dessert. Donna passed on the cake, but I couldn’t resist.

FMCA volunteers’ dinner

There are roughly 500 volunteers helping to run this event. FMCA has been planning it for two years and it seems like they have all of the bases covered.

Motorhomes continued to arrive all day Tuesday. One difference here from RV parks in general is the lack of fifth-wheel and travel trailers. FMCA is a motor coach association and that’s what we have here. Thunderstorms rolled in before dinner. Once again, we hunkered inside and watched TV.

I was up at 6am yesterday. It was my first work day in over a year. At 6:30am, I took the wheel of a six-passenger golf cart and began making my rounds. My duty was to offer rides to people needing help to get to various points of the fairgrounds. Priority is given to those in the handicapped area, but anyone can get a free ride.

My shift started out cold and slow. The temperature was in the 50s. Other than a few FMCA officials going to a meeting, the only people out were walking their dogs. Around 8am, business started to pick up. By 9am, I was ferrying people around nonstop. My shift was scheduled to end at 9:30am, but it was 9:45am before I could make my way back to the golf cart staging area. Every time I tried to return, someone would flag me down for a ride in the other direction!

When I came home, I was cold and tired. Donna made a hot breakfast for me. I took a nap until noon. This getting up early and going to work stuff is hard! We went to a seminar at 1:30pm. The seminar was about how to escape a fire in a motorhome. Fire is one of the biggest dangers in an RV. We learned a few tricks and tips. Donna practiced evacuation through the emergency fire escape.

Donna preparing to make her escape

Donna climbing out feet first, belly down

Fire fighters spotting her as she lowers herself

The coach they used for the demo has a larger fire escape than our coach. But it also had a north-south bed with a small gap and a cabinet under the emergency escape window. These obstacles had to be dealt with to get out the window. This brought home the fact that emergency escape needs to be planned and practiced.

The emergency escape window in our coach is at the head of the bed, which is oriented east-west, making it easier to get out the window. One of the things we learned was to open the emergency escape and periodically treat the rubber seal with a non-petroleum based lubricant such as 303 Aerospace Protectant. We heard a horror story of a fire in a motorhome at Lake Havasu where the occupants perished because the escape window was stuck closed. I checked our window this morning and it opened easily. I’ll treat the seal on it today.

Last evening, I joined Tom and Nancy Polk at Vic and Willi Egg’s site for happy hour. Donna made a caprese plate that I brought for a snack. Donna was back in our coach talking to her sister on the phone. A thunderstorm arrived before Donna could join us and I beat feet back home.

I turned in early last night after drinking two cocktails. The early start to the day did me in. This morning, Donna is at the microwave-convection oven cooking seminar. Today, the show begins in earnest. I plan to go to the vendor area and poke around.

Reliable Video Reviews

Yesterday was a lovely day. The weather was typical for Portland in early August as the thermometer topped out at 82 degrees. The morning dawned overcast, but it quickly burned off and we had blue skies all day.

We shot a video review of the Reliable Enviromate Pronto P7 Handheld Steam Cleaner and Fabric Steamer for Camping World. Shooting the video outdoors had its challenges. We tried to time our takes between airplanes flying by. Then the garbage truck arrived and emptied dumpsters at the end of our lane. Then a big diesel motorhome pulled into an open site across from ours. We kept plugging away until we had a usable video.

Donna’s friend, Susan Lannis, drove into our site at noon, right on schedule. After a short visit and tour of the coach, she and Donna drove east on old Highway 30. They planned to sightsee and enjoy a picnic lunch that Susan had packed.

Donna at an overlook of the Columbia Gorge – photo by Susan Lannis

They stopped at Latourell Falls and walked up the path to view the lower falls. They dined at a picnic table there.

Lower Latourell Falls – photo by Susan Lannis

The lower Latourell Falls plunges 249 feet to a pool below. The falls are named after Joseph “Frenchy” Latourell, a settler that came to the gorge in the 1850s.

While they were out, I rode the scooter to the Fastenal store. I talked to the guy at the counter and we discussed options for re-fastening the compartment cover on the right side of our coach. He thought I should drill out the holes and use a Heli-Coil® type thread insert. I agreed that this would be the strongest way to repair the damaged threads. However, there really isn’t any tension on the screws – it only keeps the panel from opening. The screws insert through a horizontal plate on the bottom of the panel and thread into a blind hole. The only force on the screw is a light shear, not tension. It only needs enough tension to hold it in place.

Instead of spending $35 for a thread insert tool and kit that I would probably use one time, I opted for trying a self-tapping screw. The original threads held a 1/4″ or 6mm screw. I’m not sure which one it was as the threads were damaged. I thought a 5/16″ self-tapping sheet metal screw would work. I paid $2 for a packet of five screws. If it didn’t work, I still had the option of doing the thread insert.

5/16 – 18 x 1/2″ hex washer head self-tapping screw

I removed the safety wire I had used to temporarily hold the panel closed. Then I cranked the self-tapping screw in place. It tightened up fine. I did the same on the second hole with the same result. Job done! I doubt if the screws will back out. If they do, I’ll install thread inserts.

Later, Donna and I shot another video review inside the coach. This one was for the Reliable Enviromate Brio steam cleaner. We’ve been wanting to do this review for a while. We finally had a nice afternoon without background noise in the coach from the air conditioners.

Yesterday afternoon, there were seven Alpine Coaches in the park. The Alpine Coach Association rally begins tomorrow. We expect to have at least 38 Alpine Coaches. Last evening, Donna and I took a walk through the RV park. We met Tom and Nancy Polk along with Vic and Willy Egg. Their Alpine coaches are parked next to each other. The four of them are the hosts for the rally.

This is our first organized RV rally. We’re looking forward to meeting like-minded people and I can learn more about Alpine Coach from experienced owners.

This morning, I plan to wash our rig and have it spiffy when we move to site 28 tomorrow. Donna’s going out for a bike ride.

Willapa Bay Oysters

I awoke yesterday morning to the sound of a raucous flock of crows around our motorhome. At 7am, one or more of them started hopping around on the roof of our coach. Very noisy.

About 15 minutes later, I heard the sound of chains. It sounded like someone was unclipping the safety chain on our trailer. I got up and put on my shorts and t-shirt to investigate. A flat bed trailer with a porta-potty on it had been left in the lot overnight. Some county employees were hooking the trailer up to their truck.

By now, I was fully awake with no chance of falling back asleep. I posted to the blog, then headed outside. The weather was glorious – not a cloud in the sky – warm, but not hot.

I walked back up the highway, retracing the the way we drove in. I was looking for the Ace Hardware store Donna saw when we arrived. It was about 3/4 of a mile up the road. I was in search of 5/16″ self-tapping sheet metal screws to secure the loose compartment cover on the coach. They didn’t have any though. I’ll have to make do with safety wire until I can find a suitable fastener.

On the walk back, I shot a couple of photos. The first one is looking across the river, upriver from downtown. On the hillside across the river, you can see the aftermath of a large slide. It reminded me of the devastating mudslide near Darrington, Washington.

Upriver from downtown – evidence of a slide on the mountain in the background

I took another photo looking toward the downtown area. I’ve marked the city dock and the city boat launch. As always, clicking on the photos will enlarge them.

Looking downriver toward downtown

When I reached the downtown area, I walked up the hill to the Pacific County Courthouse. This stately building was completed in 1910. It’s a beautiful piece of architecture.

Pacific County Courthouse

The view from the hill is very nice. I shot a photo from the courthouse steps.

View from the courthouse steps

When I returned to the coach, Donna was out perusing some of the shops downtown. She found a nice set of exercise dumbbells in a thrift shop. It has three pairs – 2lb, 3lb and 5lb with special grips that allow them to be doubled up – all in a nice carrying case for $10! She’s been wanting something like this. She also picked up some clay pots for her herbs.

I was getting anxious to move our rig out to the boat ramp. I saw several RVs pull through town and two coaches stopped in the lot where we stayed overnight. I was worried about someone taking the spot we scouted out the day before. Around 2pm, we moved. No worries. The primo spot on the river was open. We’re the only ones here.

Our new dry camp site

The site is fairly level. I had the slides out in no time and walked down to the boat ramp to pay the $10 fee. We have a million dollar view for 10 bucks!

View from our living room

Donna fixed a salad for lunch, then did some work on her laptop. She walked back to town a little after 4pm to check out another little shop she that was closed the day before.

I put the chairs out for cocktail hour. We sat outside, enjoyed adult beverages and watched the oyster dredging boats come in with their day’s haul.

Oyster boat coming upriver from Willapa Bay

I mentioned the Willapa Bay oysters in yesterday’s post. Willapa Bay is said to be the cleanest bay in the USA. This is primarily due to the work of the oystermen who work closely with various conservation groups and government agencies to maintain the water quality. The tidelands with oyster farms are actually owned by the oystermen. This gives them a vested interest in maintaining the quality of the tidelands.

The Willapa Bay estuary, where the fresh water from the Willapa River meets the salt water from the Pacific Ocean, creates an excellent habitat for oysters. Oysters are filter feeders. They siphon water and feed on miniscule algae in the water. They can strain 20 to 30 quarts of water per hour. This makes them very sensitive to water quality. If the water isn’t clean, the oysters will die off.

Pacific oysters were brought into Willapa Bay from Japan in 1928. The oyster larvae are started in what are called seed beds. They search out a hard substrate to settle on. Oftentimes, this is a bed of old oyster shells. At some point, they are moved to what are called grow-out beds. As oyster production in the US declined (especially in the east), the Pacific oysters in Willapa Bay flourished. Today, one in six oysters consumed in the USA come from Willapa Bay.

Raw oysters are a polarizing food. You either relish them as a treat or find them disgusting. There’s no middle ground. While we were enjoying happy hour, Donna served oyster shooters. The first one I tried was made in the style suggested by Bill Frahm (Donna’s cycling buddy back in Michigan). The oyster was in a shot glass with vodka, tomato juice and Tobasco. I drank the elixir and the oyster slid right down. It wasn’t a favorite for me. The second one I tried was a larger oyster with Donna’s homemade salsa verde. I had to chew it. That settled it. I’m not a raw oyster fan. It seemed like I was drinking from a tide pool.

We’ve had a blast here in South Bend. I’m sure we will find ourselves here again. Today, we’ll travel south along the eastern shore of Willapa Bay, then east to Kelso and on to the Fairview RV Park in Portland, Oregon.

Day’s End at South Bend

The RV parking area at Cabela’s worked out fine for an overnight stop. Donna was bothered a bit by the road noise from I-5, which is just to the south of the parking lot. I didn’t notice it much and slept well.

Donna went out for a power walk before we headed out. We hit the road around 10:30am. We stopped at Uhlmann RV in Chehalis to see if they had the proper size bolts for the loose compartment door. Uhlmann was the highest sales volume dealer for Alpine Coach. They didn’t have any idea of what size bolts were needed.

I backtracked a few miles to Home Depot. I guessed the blind holes the bolts came out of were either 6mm (if metric) or 1/4 inch. I bought two of each size with lock washers and tried them in the parking lot. The 6mm bolts threaded in, but the threads felt loose. The 1/4 inch bolts didn’t fit. I think when the original bolts came loose, they vibrated and shook in the threads enough to partially strip them. I tightened them as much as I dared, but I wasn’t confident about them holding. I left the temporary safety wire fix in place.

While I was doing this, Donna fixed a green salad with leftover roasted chicken for lunch. Then she looked at the Escapees’ Day’s End Directory for a place to stay. She found a promising free boondocking spot about 60 miles west of us, near the coast.

We decided to detour west and check it out. The Day’s End Directory is updated by Escapees members and is only available to Escapees members. The directory is the only way we would have found this place. Because of that, I don’t want to give away too much detail of the location. But finding places like this in the Day’s End Directory makes the Escapees membership worthwhile.

We drove west on WA6 and followed the Willapa River to the town of South Bend. We found the gravel lot described in the directory and parked in a fairly level spot. There was a sign stating that overnight RV parking is allowed.

The Willapa River flows southwest from the nearby town of Raymond. It quickly picks up volume from tributaries and then it abruptly bends to the northwest before emptying into Willapa Bay. The small town of South Bend is located at the southernmost point of the river, right at the bend.

Donna and I took a walk across the street and found a small park and the city boat dock.

View upriver from the dock

View downriver toward Willapa Bay with Donna on the dock

We walked along the dock and saw an interesting looking boat tied up to the dock. When we came to the boat, we saw the owner sitting on the aft bench. He was waiting for family members to arrive for a boat ride down to the bay.

Steve Rogers and his Ranger Tug

His name was Steve Rogers and he’s lived her all his life. He’s a Pacific County councilman. South Bend is the county seat. Steve told us a few interesting facts about the town. South Bend, WA is undergoing a period of renaissance after being sleepy for a number of years. They are encouraging tourism and are also profiting from the legalization of marijuana in Washington.

New boost to the local economy

The population has remained steady at around 20,000 people, but the local economy is growing. One of the things that held growth back was the lack of wastewater treatment. This has been addressed through a cooperative effort with the town of Raymond. A new wastewater facility has been built, which has allowed the town to issue more new building permits.

Harvesting oysters from Willapa Bay is another driver for the local economy. Steve told us that the bay holds 10,000 acres of oyster beds. Oysters are processed at Hilton’s Coast Seafoods, a few hundred feet downriver from the dock. South Bend modestly calls itself “The Oyster Capital of the World.”

After we left Steve, Donna and I walked about a half mile down the road to the city boat launch. They allow RV dry camping in an area there, right on the river for $10/night. It looks like another good find. Last year we drove through this town but didn’t have a clue about how RV-friendly it is.

Steve’s Ranger Tug passes by as we walked to the city boat launch

We walked back into town from the boat launch. We were thirsty, so we stopped at the Chester Club and Oyster Bar. It’s a small tavern and oyster bar. I had a Dick’s Pale Ale from the tap while Donna had a Bud Light. We decided we should eat. Donna loves oysters, so she ordered half a dozen oyster shooters. I’m not so much of an oyster guy, so I had fried halibut and chips.

Oyster shooters

The oysters were fresh from Willapa Bay. Donna said they were the freshest oysters she ever had, big but delicate. The oysters in Willapa Bay are farmed. Local oystermen began seeding the bay with Pacific oysters from Japan in 1928 after the native oyster population crashed. I’ll have to try the oysters while were here.

Today, we want to explore the town. The weather at this time of year is near perfect. The forecast for today is a carbon copy of yesterday – sunny with a high of 72 degrees and an overnight low in the 50s.

We’ve decided to move to the city boat launch later this afternoon and stay for another night, right on the river!

$50 Flip Flops and Free Blackberries

Yesterday was a bittersweet departure day. Gabi was mostly quiet as she hung out in our coach playing Subway Surfer on her tablet. Lainey woke up with a badly swollen eye that needed medical attention. Alana had to get to work.

We had breakfast with Gabi and Alana before Alana left for work. Alana’s stepfather Jerry picked up Lainey and took her to the clinic in Darrington to have Dr. Schillhammer check out her eye. This was her second episode in recent weeks. It turned out to be an infection in her eyelid. A course of antibiotics should be the remedy. It’s a good thing that it happened today. Tomorrow, Gabi and Lainey are flying to San Diego for a two-week visit and she might not have been able to get immediate attention.

Pulling out was an emotional moment for Donna. She had set up projects for Lainey and Andrea on Monday to help her with some upcoming book projects. At least this will keep them in touch. The bittersweet part of it for me is the excitement and anticipation of getting back on the road at the same time coupled with the realization that I don’t know when we’ll be together again.

On the way out of Arlington, I stopped at Island Crossing and topped up our fuel tank. I like to keep the tank topped up to prevent condensation and moisture from collecting in the fuel.

I-5 south through Seattle was the usual nightmare. Traffic slowed to a crawl on the Ship Canal Bridge, even though it was midday. Through downtown, there’s a section where you need to move over to the left lanes or you’ll end up on I-90 east. I saw a gap in the lane to our left and indicated a left turn. As I pulled into the lane, a car in the next lane over decided to occupy this space at the same time. I heard the driver honk as he panic-braked to avoid hitting our trailer.

The road surface from Tukwila to Puyallup was appalling. It was a washboard surface with a series of rollercoaster whoops. In places, I could see where the concrete surface had worn down to the rebar reinforcement. It’s hard for me to accept how badly the infrastructure of our great country has deteriorated.

We rolled through Tacoma and made our way to Lacey, just east of Olympia. We found Cabela’s there after a missed turn and recalculation by Nally (our GPS). Donna spotted a semi-tractor trailer rig in the lot to the west and we headed over there. I found a level spot to park. Then we saw a “No Overnight Parking” sign.

We went inside the store to get something to eat for a late lunch. I asked the greeter about parking overnight. He said he didn’t think it was an issue, but he directed us to the customer service desk. The gals at customer service were super-friendly and told us we were fine to stay the night where we were.

After we dined upstairs in Cabela’s, Donna stayed behind to work at the table on her laptop. I went downstairs and found a great pair of leather Teva flip flops that are anatomically shaped with arch support. It kills me to spend $50 on flip flops, but I wear them more often than I wear regular shoes and wore out my last good pair. Good quality, anatomically shaped flip flops make sense for my lifestyle.

We had a SNAFU that we found once we parked. There’s a compartment on the right side of the coach, behind the entry door. It’s not a storage bay. It’s a compartment that’s bolted shut and houses the holding tanks.

When we arrived at Cabela’s, Donna noticed this compartment wasn’t secure. The bolts that normally hold it closed were gone. Presumably, the pounding on I-5 between Tukwilla and Puyallup shook them loose and they departed the coach. By the way, I had fun quizzing Donna on the pronunciation of the many Indian names of towns around here, such as Tulalip (Too-LAY-lip) and Puyallup (PEW-al-up).

I wired the compartment closed with safety wire. The bolts that secure it thread into blind holes. I’ll have to find the right size bolts. I think it’s going to be either 6mm or 1/4 inch. I’m hoping I can figure this out when we reach Chehalis today.

Donna rejoined me at the coach around 6pm after doing some shopping as well. We took a short stroll and found wild blackberries growing along the edge of the Cabela’s parking lot.

Wild blackberries ripening on the vine

Donna picked a container full to have for breakfast with her cereal and who knows what else. She mentioned something about making a wild blackberry galette.

Container full of wild ripe, wild blackberries

Container full of ripe, wild blackberries

Our itinerary is open for the next couple of days, before we check in at the Fairview RV Park in Portland. We’ll just play it loose.

Sunny Outside, Frosty Inside

The blue skies and warm weather returned yesterday. Summertime in western Washington – hooray! We had a chore to attend to though.

RV refrigerators are usually a heat absorption type instead of the household compressor type. This allows operation with electricity or propane. However, this type of refrigeration tends to build up frost on the cooling fins.

The climate here in western Washington has a high level of humidity. Humidity increases the amount of frost build-up in the refrigerator. I noticed the frost accumulating at an alarming rate since we arrived here. Something wasn’t right. I inspected the door seal and found a problem.

Door seal deformed and not sealing

The door seal was deformed. It looked like something must have been caught in the seal and the deformation set. We had to wait a few days to reduce the amount of groceries in the refrigerator before we could defrost it. Yesterday, Donna and I emptied the contents of the refrigerator into coolers and turned off the unit.

Frost build-up on the cooling fins

After Donna cleaned the inside of the refrigerator, I made a temporary repair on the seal. I used two short sections of rubber tubing and glued them into the groove on either side of the seal where it was deformed. The rubber tubing forced the collapsed section of the seal in place.

Rubber tubing forces seal back into shape

Rubber tubing forcing seal back into shape

While the refrigerator was defrosting, I checked the outside drain tube to make sure it was draining outside. These tubes can come off the fitting behind the refrigerator and the melting ice will drain on the floor under the refrigerator. I placed a cookie sheet on the shelf under the cooling fins to catch ice falling from the fins.

Hopefully my temporary seal repair will slow down the frost. Meanwhile, I’ll try to find a replacement seal. I certainly don’t want to replace the unit. Our refrigerator is a Dometic New Dimensions side-by-side unit. Replacement cost is about $2,700!

While the refrigerator was defrosting, Donna drove to Arlington and picked up our granddaughter, Gabi. When they returned, they went for a walk through the county park. Later, Gabi and I walked down to the lake and went out on the dock.

Gabi on the dock

Alana stopped by after work. We watched an old Austin Powers movie (Austin Powers 2). Gabi stayed the night. We didn’t pull the hide-a-bed out this time – she crashed on the sofa.

The forecast for today calls for another warm, sunny day with the temperature reaching the mid 70s. Donna’s going for a bike ride this morning. Later, I’m sure Gabi will want to spend some time in the lake. I’ll get started on organizing the trailer. We’ll be leaving here on Monday.

Friends and Family Time

Monday started off with a heavy overcast sky. While I caught up on the RV blogs I follow, Donna went for a walk. She started out on West Lake Goodwin Road and followed it south all the way to the end of the lake. At the south end of the lake, the road curves back and becomes East Lake Goodwin Road. She made a loop of the entire lake, a distance of just under six miles in about 90 minutes. Donna said the distance wasn’t bad, but the rolling hills made it challenging.

While Donna was out walking, the temperature rose to the upper 60s. The humidity made it feel sticky and much warmer.

Alana and the girls (Gabi, Lainey and Andrea) came over around midday. Alana brought lunch fixings. We sat at the picnic table and made sandwiches with sliced deli turkey meat and cheese on hoagie rolls. After lunch, the sky cleared. It was partly cloudy and the temperature rose to the lower 70s – not such bad weather after all! We spent the afternoon outdoors.

Donna had a pork tenderloin in the slow cooker all day with a barbeque sauce. So for dinner, we had BBQ pulled pork with grilled potatoes, peppers and onions and homemade corn muffins. We all sat together at the picnic table and enjoyed good food, good company and pleasant weather.

Andrea, Lainey and Alana on the left, Gabi and Donna on the right

Pulled pork plate

Yesterday, I was out of bed by 8am. Once again, the skies were overcast. I had a 10am appointment at Adventure Powersports in Monroe, to replace the rear tire on our scooter. After 5,400 miles, the original rear tire was knackered.

The ride to Monroe was a little over 30 miles from Lake Goodwin. The route I took made it a 50-minute ride. I rode through a couple of light rain showers on the way.

While the work was being done, I phoned my friend, Dan Wolanski. Dan lives a few miles away from the Adventure Powersports shop. He invited me to come to his place around noon. Dan and I spent a lot of time together in the ’90s. We were flying partners. We practiced flying aerobatic routines with giant-scale radio-controlled airplanes. Although we were both sponsored by Futaba and were close friends, we competed against each other.

Dan has a mechanical engineering degree from Michigan State University. He and his wife, Jen, moved to the Seattle area and Dan went to work for Boeing. Today, Dan owns a company called Mag-Knight. Back in the day, Mag-Knight produced magnetic motorcycle tank bras through a proprietary, patented process. Dan worked from a shop behind his home. We also built our giant-scale airplanes in his shop. He built up the Mag-Knight business and eventually left Boeing.

It’s been at least 10 years since I last saw Dan. In that time, he built a new house about a mile away from where he used to live. He also built a larger workshop behind his new house.

The Wolanski’s new 4,200-square-foot home

Although the Mag-Knight company still makes magnetic tank bras, the business diversified into die cutting and laser cutting. This is where the bulk of the business is today. Dan has several contracts as a supplier to major corporations. One of the products he manufactures is a ceramic fiber seal used in fuel cells. Ceramic fiber is heat-resistant and replaces asbestos in many applications.

Workshop behind Dan’s house

The die-cutting machines Dan uses were sourced from China. He told me the machines work well mechanically, but the software isn’t the best. It’s an area he’s put a lot of time into. He also bought a laser cutting machine. To learn its capabilities and shortcomings, he made a few hobby projects. One project was a model of the Seattle Space Needle. Another, more complicated model is a Ferris wheel. The Ferris wheel has an electric motor operating a ring-and-pinion gear cut from plywood!

Seven-foot-tall model Ferris wheel laser cut from plywood

Like me, Dan eventually burned out on the radio-controlled aerobatic competition circuit. He hasn’t flown an RC airplane in years. He still has a passion for airplanes and flying though. He earned his pilot’s license and bought a Cessna several years ago – I think it was a 172. Since then, he’s become instrument-rated and replaced the Cessna with a speedy Cirrus SR-22. He flies regularly out of Harvey Field in Snohomish.

After catching up with Dan for an hour and a half, it was time to hit the road. I considered riding to Snohomish, where Alana, Donna and Gabi were poking around in the shops. It started to rain as I donned my helmet, so I decided to high-tail it home.

Alana, Donna and Gabi came home around 4pm. I drove Alana to her mother LuAnn’s house and brought her car back to the park. The plan was for us to come over for dinner at LuAnn’s at 6pm.

LuAnn’s husband, Jerry, is retired from the US Forest Service. During fire season, he’s often called back under contract to work as an administrator at wild fire sites. So far, this has been one of the worst fire seasons on record in the Northwest. Jerry is working at a fire site in Oregon. It was his birthday, so we raised a toast to him in absentia.

We enjoyed cocktails on the back patio as the rain showers had moved on early in the afternoon and the sun came out. LuAnn grilled alder-planked sockeye salmon and roasted a medley of fresh vegetables, many from her garden, as well as the bunch of garlic spears we bought at Pike Place. Donna also brought a couple of bottles of wine and a freshly baked marion berry pie she picked up earlier in the day from a bakery in Snohomish.

Dinner served buffet-style

It was a very enjoyable evening. We had after-dinner drinks and talked well past 9pm before we headed back to the RV park with Gabi in tow. Gabi spent the night with us on the fold-out queen-size hide-a-bed.

This morning we woke to the sound of heavy rain and a couple of thunder claps. The forecast calls for a rainy day. It looks to be an indoors kind of day.

First Saturday Club Anniversary

My last post was a short blurb on Thursday, July 17th about computer trouble. I think this is my longest stretch without a post. My laptop runs hot. Several months ago, Donna bought me a Targus Laptop Chill Mat with fans to circulate cool air under the laptop. This seemed to help. Last week, my laptop started shutting itself off. When I restarted it, the laptop displayed an error message about a cooling fan not working and an overheat error message.

I bought this laptop about a year and a half ago. On Thursday, I rode down to Best Buy and talked to them about the issue. The warranty is only good for 12 months. They said they would need to send the laptop to their service center and it would take about 10 business days before I would get it back. The estimated cost to replace the fan was $150 minimum, plus any heat damaged components they find. This sounded expensive considering the laptop (HP Pavilion G6) costs around $300 new.

I was afraid to use the laptop. If it overheated and crashed, I might lose all of my files. On Friday, I talked to my friend and former colleague, Khaldoon Tufail. Khaldoon is very computer savvy. He told me fan issues more often than not are caused by dust and debris build-up on the fan itself. The fan is located underneath the keyboard. His advice was to start by trying to blow the area out with a compressed gas duster. If that didn’t work, I would have to open the case and replace the fan. I found instructions for this on YouTube. It requires nearly complete disassembly of the laptop.

I bought a couple of cans of compressed gas and blew gas through all of the vent openings for the fan and through the keyboard. After doing this several times, the laptop seems to function fine. In fact, I think it’s running cooler than ever. Thanks, Khaldoon!

My daughter, Alana, had Wednesday and Thursday off work at the hospital. We spent both days together with her and our granddaughters and their “adopted” friend, Andrea. Andrea is about Lainey’s age and she is currently living with them.

It was hot and sunny both days. They bought some floating mattresses on their way out to the lake. I cut the stem of a Presta valve out of an old bicycle tube and made an adapter to fill the mattresses with air, using our bicycle tire pump. This was better than trying to blow up four mattresses. The girls enjoyed time in the lake and we grilled dinner both nights.

We loaded Donna’s bike in Alana’s car and Alana drove Donna to her house on Thursday so she could ride the Centennial Trail, which passes near Alana’s house. The roads around Lake Goodwin aren’t wide enough for safe bicycling. Donna took a ride on the trail and put in 30 miles or so.

On Friday, Alana picked us up after work. She took us to a brew pub called Skookum Brewery near her home. We sampled a few brews and had nachos. Afterwards, Alana gave us her car for the weekend. We dropped her off at home and drove her car back to the Lake Goodwin RV Resort.

Donna enjoyed a hefe while Alana tried a sample flight

Donna enjoyed a hefe while Alana tried a sampler flight

Yesterday, our friends from Portland, DeWayne and Marlo Nikkila, were passing through the area. They had visited relatives in Bremerton and were taking the Bremerton-Seattle Ferry to continue their travels to Wyoming and South Dakota. The ferry would drop them off in Seattle at 11am.

We arranged to meet at an Indian restaurant called Bombay House. It was right on their route, just off of I-90 in the Eastgate area of Bellevue. DeWayne and Marlo are vegans and they love Indian food (as do we), so this restaurant fit the bill. We met at 11:30am and had lunch. I haven’t seen them since we visited them on a motorcycle tour back in 2010. They were living in North Bay, Ontario at the time. Donna and I rode our BMWs on an extended motorcycle tour that took us through Ontario. Since then, they’ve lived in Hawaii, where DeWayne was stationed, and now Portland. The last time Donna and Marlo were together was at a convention in Las Vegas in 2011.

We sat at our table and talked for over an hour. DeWayne is a retired military man now. We talked about adjusting to The Saturday Club (every day is Saturday).

Marlo and Donna

After we left them, we drove west on I-90 to downtown Seattle. I was a little concerned because there were signs warning of lane closures on I-90 and traffic delays. We took our chances and found the traffic was so light (everyone else must have heeded the warnings), we didn’t have any problems.

Our first stop was at the Esquin Wine Merchant south of the city center. This store is in an old warehouse. They have aisle after aisle of wine – great selection and great prices. Donna picked out a few bottles.

From there, we drove downtown and parked on the corner of 2nd and Pike. We walked down the street to Pike Place Market. Pike Place Market is Seattle’s original farmers’ market. It first opened on August 17, 1907. It’s located on a steep hillside overlooking Elliott Bay. You can find great prices on some of the freshest seafood there. Most of the vendor stalls are in a large building with six levels. The building houses vendors with everything from seafood, fresh fruit and vegetables to tourist trinkets, T-shirts and fine art to restaurants and bars. You name it, you can probably find it there.

Saturday crowd at Pike Place Market

There’s one fish monger in particular with a large selection of fresh fish. They always draw a crowd. While we were standing in front of their display, someone bought some fish. One of the employees hollered, “Four black cod!” He then picked up a large, whole black cod from the crushed ice and threw it to another guy behind the counter about 15 feet away. The second guy made the catch and wrapped the fish. This was repeated until all four of the fish purchased were caught, wrapped and delivered. It was a good show.

Fish monger

More seafood

We stopped at a fruit and vegetable stand and found garlic spears. These are like the garlic scapes we bought in Coeur d’Alene, but they are from elephant garlic plants. Donna bought a bunch.

Fruit and vegetable stand

We wandered among the stalls until I was feeling claustrophobic from the crowd. We walked outside the building and shopped across the street. Donna bought handmade cheese from a small store.

Fresh flower arrangements – from $5 to $20

After we left Pike Place, I drove us up to Ballard, a small fishing community north of downtown. I wanted to show Donna the Chittenden Locks (also known as the Ballard Locks). These locks are part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal. The locks connect the fresh water of Lake Washington and Lake Union to the salt water of Puget Sound. The locks maintain the fresh water levels 20-22 feet above the mean low tide level of the sound. This prevents salt water intrusion into the fresh water of the lakes.

We crossed the locks and went to the fish ladder. This is a unique ladder due to it’s location at the confluence of fresh and salt water. When the Corps of Engineers built the dam and locks, they blocked the natural flow of fresh water to the sound. The fish ladder provides flow from the lake for salmon and steelhead trout to return from the sea to fresh water. These fish hatch in fresh water. Then they migrate to the sea. At the end of their lifespan, they return to the fresh water to spawn.

The fish ladder has 21 weirs (or steps). The weirs are like large, square concrete buckets of water overflowing into the next lower weir. Each weir is about a foot higher than the previous weir. The fish are attracted to the weirs by the smell of the fresh water flowing through them. The fish jump up each weir, climbing to the level of the lake to continue their journey to the rivers, streams and creeks they originally came from. We could see fish in the weirs from the walkway above. We walked down to a special viewing room. Some of the weirs have a plexiglass wall, allowing us to look into the weir like an aquarium. We saw steelhead trout and Coho (silver) salmon working their way up.

Yesterday was a landmark day for me. Friday, July 19, 2013 was my last day of work at the office. I walked out the door, joined the Saturday Club and haven’t looked back. The time seems to have flown by. Paradoxically, it also seems like we’ve been so many places and have seen so many things, it couldn’t possibly have fit into a span of just one year. Wednesday will mark one year since we locked up the house for the last time and hit the road.

We ended the day by watching an old movie, Witness, starring Harrison Ford. All in all, it was a great anniversary of my induction into The Saturday Club.

Nuclear Waste

We rolled out of Tamarack RV Park on Thursday morning and headed west out of Coeur d’Alene. We intended to make an early start and be on the road by 9:30am at the latest. I thought this would give us ample time to reach Aubrey’s RV in Union Gap, Washington to have our slide-out repaired. I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start over.

I had organized the trailer and added another strap on the left side to secure cargo on Monday afternoon. It was hot in the trailer. The outside temperature reached the 90s and it was even hotter inside the trailer. While I was working in the trailer, we had visitors – Suzanne Holman and her boyfriend, Doug. This gave me a good excuse to take a break. Donna and Suzanne met through a random connection on Facebook. Donna learned from a recent post that Suzanne was taking Doug on a quick tour of Idaho and Washington and invited them to stop by so they could meet in person. We sat at the picnic table enjoying some of Donna’s homemade artichoke hummus and veggies and talked for about an hour. Then I went back to work.

Doug, Donna and Suzanne

That night, Donna prepared garlic scapes that she picked up at the farmers’ market on Saturday. She was excited to find them after trying them once many years ago. I’d never eaten a scape before. Donna massaged the scapes with olive oil, wound bunches of 4-5 in a loose knot, and sprinkled them with sea salt and fresh pepper. I grilled them in our veggie grilling pan.

Garlic scapes, hot off the grill

I should mention that before cooking, you need to break off the lower, thicker part of the stem and discard it. It’s tough and woody. The white garlic “flower” (it doesn’t really flower) and the upper stem are tender and delicious.

I grilled boneless, skinless chicken thighs marinated with the honey-maple dressing, another find at the farmers’ market. Served with the scapes and garlic smashed red potatoes, it was a meal worth repeating.

Honey-maple marinated chicken with scapes and garlic smashed red potatoes

On Tuesday morning, we were up early and walked next door to the Broken Egg for breakfast at 7:30am. We had a hearty breakfast. I ordered eggs benedict with hash browns and Donna had bacon, eggs and hash browns.

We were a little behind schedule. It was 9:40am when I was finally ready to fire up the beast. On our way out of the park, I stopped at the propane station. I wanted to fill our tank as I didn’t think we would see a better price on propane in the months ahead. That took another 20-minute chunk out of the morning by the time the tank was filled. We should be set on propane for the rest of the year now though.

Our next stop was the Pilot-Flying J truck stop at exit 2, in Post Falls (two miles from the Washington border). I knew fuel would cost more in Washington, so I wanted to fill up our fuel tank. The card reader at the pump wouldn’t authorize my Flying J card. This card gives me a discount on the price and allows me to put up to $500 worth of fuel in the tank. Many pumps will stop at $100 when you use a regular credit card.

I went inside and handed my Flying J card to the cashier and told her I was having a problem at the pump. She swiped the card and asked me for my PIN. I gave her the number and she said my PIN was wrong. I opened my e-mail on my smartphone and showed the e-mail from Pilot-Flying J with my PIN. She tried it again and said, “Sorry, it doesn’t work. You’ll have to call customer service.” Another 20-minute chunk of time gone.

I drove out of the Flying J and went to the Exxon station across the street. This turned out to be a better option anyway. My Chase Visa card is offering 5% cash back on gas station purchases (truck stops are excluded). So, the 5% meant about 20 cents off per gallon. That’s better than the Flying J discount. I filled the tank and found that my fuel mileage from Great Falls to Coeur d”Alene was 9.8 MPG. Not bad!

It was 10:45 by the time we hit the border. We had a 2pm appointment at Aubrey’s RV in Union Gap. We cruised west on I-90 at 62mph, then turned south on US395. I planned to follow US395 to Tri-cities (Pasco-Kennewick-Richland) and pick up I-82 there. I knew we weren’t going to be at Aubrey’s by 2pm.

I asked Donna to program Aubrey’s address into Nally (our GPS). I wanted to see if Nally would come up with a faster route. Nally had me exit US395 and follow a series of county roads. When I planned our route, I though it might be quicker to cross over to WA24, which runs right into Union Gap. This was where Nally was taking us. However, that route has to jog around the Hanford Department of Energy (DOE) site. I didn’t want to drive near Hanford.

Hanford is the biggest, most toxic nuclear waste site in the western hemisphere. The site was part of the Manhattan Project in 1943. It was the first full-scale plutonium reactor in the world. The plutonium for the first nuclear test (Trinity) and for the bomb detonated over Nagasaki was made there.

Today, the 586-square-mile site has more than 56 million gallons of radioactive liquid waste stored in failing containers. In 1973, 115,000 gallons of nuclear sludge leaked there. Today, at least 67 containers of radioactive sludge are known to be leaking.

The site was decommissioned in 1987, but many experts agree the worst is yet to come. Many of the leaking containers date back to the 1940s. There are many more containers that are sure to fail at some point. This waste will eventually find its way to the Columbia Gorge and contaminate the river. It could be potentially worse than Fukushima. If you’re interested in knowing more about Hanford, click on the links below.

Koin Article

Huffington Articles

As we skirted around the desolation of the Hanford area, the day became very hot. The temperature outside was 103 degrees. I fired up the generator to run the roof air conditioner as we drove along. The intense heat was creating thermal air streams which developed into dust devils. These mini-twisters were creating funnels of dust and vegetation swirling into the sky. We were slammed by a couple of the fierce winds.

Donna phoned Aubrey’s and told them we would be an hour late. They told her that 3pm would be okay. We arrived at their shop right at 3pm. I went inside to write up my repair order.

The woman I talked to two weeks earlier when I made my appointment wrote up the ticket. Then she asked me when I needed the coach back! I told her we live in it. When I made the appointment, I clearly told her we were full-timers and I wanted to be sure they could get the work done. We found out later that she was new to the position and misunderstood what I meant when I said we were full-timers.

This wasn’t good. She told me she only booked time to diagnose and make an estimate – they didn’t have time to do the work. Their technician was an experienced guy and he was very helpful. He asked me a few questions and then he pulled the coach into the shop with the hope of finding a simple fix. I told him I thought the seal had come loose and jammed the slide. He looked at the inner seal and told me he had never seen this type of seal jam a slide in over 20 years of RV experience. The inner seal is soft foam. He said the outer wiper seal is bonded to an aluminum strip and it could jam a slide, but our outer seal is intact.

You know how it is when you have a toothache. You make an appointment and go to the dentist. When you get there, the tooth doesn’t hurt anymore and the dentist doesn’t find anything wrong.

Well, that’s how it went. The tech operated the slide and it worked fine. He did find the hydraulic reservoir for the HWH jack and slide rams was low on fluid. His theory was the low fluid allowed air into the ram for the living room slide, as that is the last thing I operate when I set up. He topped up the fluid and operated the slide several times. I’m skeptical, but I didn’t have any other ideas. We’ve been living without opening the living room slide for about five weeks, and it’s working perfectly.

I paid for the shop time and fluid and drove to the WalMart in Terrace Heights. We were told at Aubrey’s that this WalMart is RV-friendly and we could overnight there.

We found a good spot near the end of the WalMart lot. There were a couple of semi tractor-trailer rigs parked there. It was beer thirty and I opened a cold one. About then, a security vehicle drove around our rig. A few minutes later, the security vehicle stopped next to our door. I stepped outside and greeted the security guy. He told me we were welcome to stay the night, but he wanted me to pull forward about thirty feet. He said it was a popular stop for truckers and he wanted to maximize the parking space. No problem. Free overnight parking with a security guard – I’m good with that.

Big rigs at WalMart

They weren’t all big rigs

We were up early Wednesday morning. We had breakfast at the McDonalds in WalMart and hit the road. We headed north on I-82 over the Umptanum Ridge to Ellensburg. From there we took US97 over Blewett Pass and continued on to Wenatchee. We were thinking about boondocking at the Twisp-Winthrop Rodeo Grounds where we stayed last year.

I’ll have to continue this story tomorrow – it’s getting too long-winded already!

Last Ride in CdA

The long weekend wound down for most people yesterday. The RV park was half empty once again by late morning. Donna went out for a bike ride around 10am. She rode out the Centennial Trail to Liberty Lake in Washington State. I didn’t get on my bike until 11am and it was quite warm by then.

I did the usual route down the Prairie Trail to Coeur d’Alene City Park. Along the way, there was an American Legion baseball tournament in progress next to the Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Center. I stopped and watched for a few minutes, then continued on my way.

When I reached the Spokane River, I was struck by the number of boats on the water. Boat traffic was lined up, heading downriver to the lake.

Boat traffic on the Spokane River

It seemed that everyone wanted to get one last boat cruise in for the weekend. The weather was great for boating with the temperature reaching the 90s.

When I reached City Park, all the hustle and bustle of the Fourth of July was gone. It was like the energy had been sapped out. Even the beach crowd seemed sparse in comparison to Friday’s throng of people. I stopped and reflected for a moment on how lucky I am. Sunday no longer leads into the beginning of another work week for me. At the RV park, the City Park and beach, I had the sense of everyone gathering themselves up for a return back to their workaday lives.

I didn’t ride back on the trail, choosing instead to ride up Government Way. I saw an interesting sign in front of a barber shop.

Great idea!

I don’t need a barber, but if I did, I know where I would go!

Donna came home from her ride shortly after I returned. Her route covered about 40 miles. I had changed her pedals – she wanted to go back the SPD pedal and cleat system that she used years ago. The SPD-style cleats and shoes are easier to walk in and Donna finds them easier and faster to clip into. The soles are also grippier and give her a more secure feeling when she has to stop and put her foot down. And her new shoes are more ventilated for summer riding. She’s happy with the change from Shimano cleats to the SPDs.

Later, I rode the scooter over to a self-serve car wash and cleaned it up. It was dirty from all the rain we’ve had since we arrived in Coeur d’Alene. Then Donna took the scooter over to the mall and shopped for clothing.

Kymco Downtown 300i all clean again

We finished the day off with the last two episodes from season two of Longmire.

Today, I have much to do. I need to replace the accessory solenoid again. The replacement solenoid I bought at NAPA is sticking. I checked voltages – it appears to be a mechanical problem in the solenoid. The trigger voltage is good and a light tap on the case activates the solenoid once it’s energized. These solenoids are manufactured in China these days. Apparently their quality control leaves something to be desired.

I bought a new Cole-Hersee solenoid, made in the USA. We’ll see how that works out. The Cole-Hersee product was actually a few bucks cheaper than the Chinese NAPA solenoid.

I’ll repack the trailer and load the scooter this afternoon. I need to clean the glass on the coach. It’s dirty from the rain. I’ll check all of the tire pressures, of course. All of this is in preparation for an earlier than usual departure tomorrow.

We have an appointment at Aubrey’s RV Center near Yakima, Washington at 2pm tomorrow. We haven’t addressed our living room slide-out issue yet. I wanted to take it to someone that’s familiar with Alpine Coach. Aubrey’s is located near the the plant where Western RV built Alpine Coaches. When Western RV went out of business, Aubrey’s bought most of their inventory of spare parts. So Aubrey’s is familiar with Alpine Coach and they have parts on hand.

I have no idea what the work will entail or how long it will take. We’ll have to roll with it as it comes. I won’t post tomorrow as I will be busy dumping and flushing tanks and breaking camp for a 9am departure. Hopefully, I can report good news and repair success in a couple of days.

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Maintenance and Repair

First Work Day

Reliable Video Reviews

Willapa Bay Oysters

Day’s End at South Bend

$50 Flip Flops and Free Blackberries

Sunny Outside, Frosty Inside

Friends and Family Time

First Saturday Club Anniversary

Nuclear Waste

Last Ride in CdA

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: