Category Archives: Trailer

Spyder on the Loose

I made good on my intention to clean the coach yesterday. The dust and rain over the past week had it looking pretty shabby. I used a California Duster first to remove the abrasive dust, then I cleaned the coach with a waterless product called The Solution. I love this stuff, you just spray a small amount with a fine mist from a pump bottle and wipe. I work on small areas at a time and the results are great.

I didn’t think a mobile RV wash company would work out here in Thousand Trails Las Vegas RV Resort because the sites are so cramped. I was wrong. A mobile RV washer came to the site next to us and managed to wash their trailer without spraying our coach. The lack of wind helped.

After I cleaned the coach, I had another project to work on. I used the same aluminum tie-down anchors for the rear wheel of the Spyder that were originally used for the scooter in our old trailer. The aluminum plates hold adjustable tie-down rings and are mounted with countersunk head screws. On the trip from Kingman to Las Vegas, the countersunk holes in the aluminum plates pulled through and the anchors came loose. Good thing I had a wheel chock along with the tie-downs or the Spyder could have rolled into the rear door.

I don’t remember what the maximum load for these plates was, but I must have exceeded it. I installed new stainless steel anchors rated for 1,200 lbs.

New anchors rated for 1,200 lbs

When I load the Spyder on Thursday, I’ll attach the rear wheel tie-downs to these plates and run a second tie-down to anchors in the side walls and use a wheel chock. I won’t have any worries of the Spyder breaking loose with this belt-and-suspenders approach.

While I was working, Donna had Mongolian beef cooking in the slow cooker. Crock pot meals are so handy. I neglected to take a photo of my dinner plate – it was a scrumptious meal. After dinner, we watched two more episodes of Homeland that our friend, Joel Myaer, recorded on our hard drive for us.

We went to bed around 10pm and I was out like a light. Ozark the cat usually sleeps with us through the night, but occasionally she’ll get wild in the night. Around 4:30am, she woke us up running around the coach and scratching the bed pedestal. Cats are supposed to sleep up to 17 hours a day. She gets plenty of sleep in the afternoons. Maybe I should interrupt her afternoon naps so she sleeps at night.

Ozark always finds a comfy spot to nap

One of the reasons we booked a full week in Las Vegas is to attend the National Hardware Show that starts Wednesday. The show isn’t open to the public, but Donna managed to get us press credentials to attend. The credential is legitimate for her, maybe not so much for me – although I’ll be sure to include information on products I find useful there in this blog. It also gives us the opportunity to meet up with our friends, Jeff and Deb Spencer (Rolling Recess). They’re here for the show as Jeff is a rep for Dometic and has a booth. Dometic makes many RV products – we have a Dometic refrigerator and our A&E power awning is a Dometic product.

Our plan for today is to do some shopping to restock the refrigerator and pantry. Tomorrow we’ll hit the National Hardware Show, then we’ll pull out of here on Thursday. Our next destination is Sparks/Reno. We have two days to get there and will probably boondock for one night on the way to break up the 400-mile trip. We expect warm to hot temperatures here in Las Vegas over the next couple of days – into the 90s tomorrow. Reno will be cooler with highs in the upper 60s and low 70s.

*Just so you know, if you follow one of my links to Amazon and decide to make a purchase, you pay the same price as usual and I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

Sitting Tight in Vegas

After another quiet night at the Kingman Elks lodge, we woke up early on Wednesday. Donna finished writing an article that was due. Then we rode the Spyder up Stockton Hill Road. After a mile or so, Stockton Hill Road becomes Hualapai Mountain Road. The road goes uphill as you head east, rapidly climbing to 5,000 feet above sea level at the Hualapai Mountain Park ranger station. The peaks in the park reach elevations greater than 8,400 feet. Hualapai (pronounced wah-lah-pie) is the name of an Indian tribe. It means “People of the Pines.”

Hualapai Mountain Park

We rode to the resort – it’s a small hotel, restaurant and store popular with ATVers.

Motorcycle parking

We went into the restaurant for lunch.

Donna in front of the restaurant

It’s a typical rustic setting with tables mostly set for parties of four. There’s also a bar and patio. It was larger inside than it looked from the entry. Donna had half a grilled turkey and cheese sandwich and a bowl of minestrone soup. I had the chili burger which was real man food. It was a ground beef patty covered with chili, smothered with cheese. The chili had chunks of beef and beans – lots of protein.

We took a look around but didn’t hike anywhere. There are a number of hiking trails in the park, but after a big lunch we weren’t up for it. The views coming down Hualapai Mountain Road were spectacular. On the way home, we reconnoitered the Super Walmart parking lot. We thought about stopping there on our way out of town to pick up groceries. However, the entry/exit was narrow and I decided it was too risky to try to get in there with the coach and trailer. The truck entrance led to a loading dock – not a place for us to park. We went back to the Elks Lodge and I loaded the Spyder in the trailer.

Later we popped in to the Elks Lodge for a cold one at happy hour, then returned to the coach to prepare dinner. Donna made yet another version of lemon-butter chicken – this one with chicken breasts instead of thighs.

Lemon-butter chicken breasts with roasted zucchini and tomatoes

She served it over leftover herbed brown rice and roasted zucchini and tomatoes. Yummy!

It rained overnight. On Thursday morning, we had a few sprinkles as I prepared to move. Donna went for a short run and did some exercises, then we finished packing up. We pulled out of the Kingman Elks Lodge a few minutes after 10am.

I expected rain on the way out of town. Heading up US93, I figured we would put the rain behind us after thirty miles or so. This turned out to be the case – and the forecast called for 0% chance of rain in Las Vegas.

Google maps and our GPS showed a route to the Thousand Trails Las Vegas RV Resort that took us up US93 until it becomes I-515. Then we would exit onto Boulder Highway and backtrack south, make a U-turn and enter the park. This may be the fastest route, but I wasn’t too keen to try it. The exit from I-515 onto Boulder Highway south requires a sharp right turn of about 135 degrees. Also, making a U-turn isn’t advisable with our overall length.

I modified the route to exit I-515 at Tropicana so I could make an easy 90-degree turn to the right. Then I turned left on Nellis taking me north. Nellis intersects Boulder Highway, which is a diagonal road compared to the north/south – east/west grid of the other major roads in the area. It was a gentle left turn of about 45 degrees onto Boulder Highway.

With our overall length of nearly 65 feet now, it pays to take a few minutes to study a map and plan for alternate routes. We could easily find ourselves in a bad situation otherwise. We pulled in to the RV park just after noon. The girl at the security station told me the biggest site they had available was 55 feet long and 24 feet wide. I said it sounded big enough for me to drop the trailer and park the motorhome next to it.

Once we were in the park, I could see we had our work cut out for us. The roads in the park are narrow, the sites are tightly packed together and I have my doubts about the 24-foot site width. We found site 34 and Donna and I talked over our plan for getting the trailer in it. With the narrow road, I was limited on how much maneuvering I could do without hitting anything with the coach.

Donna stayed in the site at the rear of the trailer and directed me with her handheld Cobra CB radio. I was having problems at the front of the coach. There were a couple of vehicles on the opposite side of the road. As I backed the trailer in, I had to swing the front of the coach to the right, toward the vehicles. As I got close to the vehicles, they disappeared from sight as they are much lower than the front of the coach. A neighbor came over and started directing me from the front. With Donna at the back and another set of eyes at the front, I worked my way into the site. It took a few attempts to get the trailer positioned where I wanted it.

We finally dropped the trailer, then I had to maneuver the coach into the site right next to the trailer. It took more than 35 minutes of jockeying back and forth to get the trailer and coach into the site. It’s tight. Our door clears the trailer with only a few inches to spare.

It’s a tight site – the yellow line marks the boundary

I got the Spyder out and made a quick beer run. I had a few raindrops on the way. I hurried back to coach as I could see heavy, dark clouds looming. At the park entrance, a car was stopped at the entrance barrier. The guy in the car stuck his head out the window and asked me if I knew the entry code. I said I knew the code, but I didn’t know him. He got out of his car and started yelling at me and cussing me out for not letting him in. A few big rain drops started falling. I punched in the code and told him to move his car. He kept yelling at me. Now it was really starting to rain. He finally got the message and got in his car and pulled through, letting me get into the park.

I got to our site and covered the Spyder just as the clouds really opened up and started pouring rain. So much for the 0% chance of rain in Las Vegas.

Donna made sweet and spicy salmon in the convection oven – last time I cooked it on the grill. It came out great. She served it with spinach sauteed with garlic oil and leftover Israeli couscous.

Sweet and spicy salmon with spinach and Israeli couscous

We had more rain into the night. We sat up and watched another recorded episode of The Americans that now brings us up to date with the live series. We expect a sunny day today with the temperature in the high 70s. Rain is forecast to return tomorrow, then we should have nice weather for the rest of our week in Las Vegas.

Good Service Gone Bad

I need to catch up on our last week at Towerpoint RV Resort in Mesa, Arizona. I won’t go into a blow-by-blow account, but there are a few highlights.

First off, I mentioned that we had another Jetpack battery failure. This is the third time in less than three years that we had a lithium-ion battery pack fail. The battery packs go into an overheat protection mode that blows the pack apart and shuts the battery down. I think it’s a charging issue with our Jetpack. I purchased a digital lamp timer and set it to vary the time of the charge with discharge times. Somehow the programming of the timer was lost and unbeknownst to me it’s been charging the battery pack full-time. Lithium-ion batteries are at their best between 40% and 85% of full charge – this should result in long life.

I had a new battery delivered overnight. It’s a different brand, not the same Pantech that came with the Jetpack. This one is branded Beltron. Both brands come from China, so they may be the exact same thing with different labels for all I know.

Old battery self-destructed

New Beltron branded battery pack

I bought the new battery from Amazon for less than $18 including overnight shipping. I reprogrammed the timer to cycle between one hour on and one hour off. We’ll see how this works out. When we’re stationary for a week or more, I’ll order another battery for back-up.

I was a pickleball demon the last week in the park. My court time culminated with a round robin session at Sun Life RV Resort for 3.5 level players. I’m not sure how much pickleball action we’ll see in the coming weeks, so I wanted to get my quota. After the round robin on Wednesday, I cleaned the Traeger and loaded the trailer. I’m happy with the results – everything has a place and it all came together nicely.

We planned an early – for us – getaway on Thursday. We wanted to be on the road by 9am, 9:30 at the latest. The day didn’t start off well. I couldn’t log in to my blog. In fact, my web page wouldn’t open at all. When I tried to open Flyingthekoop, I got an error message telling me the page wasn’t available! I didn’t have time to investigate – I had to disconnect our coach, hook up the trailer and load the Can Am Spyder.

I wanted to push the trailer back on the concrete pad at our site, then angle it so I could back the coach up to it and hook up. This turned out to be easier said than done. A few weeks ago I saw an older man struggling to move his car dolly trailer into position in the site across from us. I went over to help and pulled it into place over his trailer hitch. I knew our 20-foot car hauler trailer would be harder to move than a car dolly, but I didn’t realize how hard.

First of all, pushing it back on the pad was a slightly uphill push. I had to enlist Donna’s aid to get it moving. Then, getting turned to the angle I needed was really tough. Our old trailer had a single axle and getting it to turn wasn’t too difficult. The new trailer has tandem axles. With one set of tires ahead of the other set, all four tires describe a different arc through a turn. This means the tires have to scrub as they fight each other to track the turn. It takes a lot of muscle to overcome the friction of the tires scrubbing and laying down rubber.

We eventually got the trailer in position with a lot of sweat. I hitched it to the coach and pulled into the street to load the Spyder. The Spyder rides pretty much alone in the back half of the trailer.

Spyder occupies the back half of the trailer

We wanted to get an early start due to an appointment I had at TrailersPlus. You might recall the issue I had when they installed a door handle on the side door. It wasn’t installed properly and I had holes in the door skin. I was told they would replace the door skin while I waited if I got there between 10 and 10:30am. It’s about a 45-mile drive and I wanted to allow an hour of drive time. We left the RV park around 9:40am.

The traffic wasn’t bad and I made good time arriving at TrailersPlus at 10:30am. But, we had a problem. There were two pickup trucks at the entry, blocked by a locked gate! When I talked to the manager, Troy, on Tuesday he told me they don’t officially open until 1:30pm, but he would book time to have his guy install the door skin in the morning. I thought that was great service.

Now I was stopped on the frontage road next to I-17 blocking the lane as I tried to figure out what was happening. A couple of cars got around me to access the freeway on ramp, but then a big tractor-trailer rig pulled up behind me. I had to move on, I couldn’t sit there and block the ramp.

I went down the road and made a right turn at the next stoplight. I could see the map on the GPS and figured I would make a loop and park on a side street to see why the place was locked up. The next right turn wasn’t pretty. The road was fairly narrow with cars stopped at the light in the opposite lane. As I made the right turn, I had to go deep before I turned in to get our 65-foot length through the turn. I wasn’t going to make it. Lucky for me, the drivers were attentive – the first car pulled forward and moved over. The next two cars backed up giving me room to complete the turn.

Meanwhile Donna was on the phone with the TrailersPlus corporate office trying to find out what happened to our appointment. I parked on the street around the corner from TrailersPlus. I went to the gate – it was closed but not locked with a chain now. I could see people in the office so I opened the gate and walked in. It was 10:45am by now. I walked to the office and went in.

The guy at the counter asked me what I wanted. I told him I had an appointment and needed to get my coach off the street and into their lot. He acted like he didn’t know anything about an appointment but he agreed to open the gate and let me drive in.

After parking the coach and trailer in their lot, I went back to the office. Another guy at the counter asked me if I was dropping off the trailer! I told him I had an appointment and Troy said he would book the time to get the door skin replaced while I waited. Th guy was surly and said Troy would be in later. Then he said let’s go take a look. We walked to the coach and trailer and it seemed like he suddenly remembered why I was there. He told me to drop the trailer and he would get it into the service bay. I don’t know why I had to go through the hassle of dropping the trailer and then hooking up again. The service bay was easily big enough for me to pull through with the coach and he could have replaced the door skin with the trailer in the bay. But I didn’t argue. I dropped the trailer.

He pulled the trailer with a fork lift equipped with a ball. I got my torque wrench out of my tool box and proceeded to check the trailer lug nuts. Troy showed up while I was doing that. He said I should let his guy work and stay out of his way. I told him it would just be a minute, then I’ll stay out. But I watched the work from about 30 feet away. After the fiasco with the door handle and the guy hiding his shoddy work, I wanted to see how this went together.

Door skin removed

The guy damaged a trim piece on the door and had to replace that as well. We were on our way again a little past noon.

Our destination for the day was the Thousand Trails Verde Valley RV Resort and Campground (map). When I pulled off Highway 260, our GPS said we had arrived. All I saw was a narrow winding road ahead and a group of RVs in a dirt lot to my left. I pulled into the lot – I didn’t want to go down a narrow road without knowing where it went or if I would be able to turn around.

I found the campground on the GPS map – it was at the end of the winding road. The dirt lot I pulled into wasn’t big enough to make a U-turn. I had to jockey back and forth to get turned around – good practice maneuvering the new trailer.

The ranger at the entrance had all of our paperwork. This is our first stay at a Thousand Trails park. Our membership entitles us to 30 free nights – well, it isn’t really free if you count the $545 membership fee – it works out to about $18/night for full hook-ups. Not bad. After our free 30 nights, we’ll pay $3/night. That’s a deal! The ranger told me he had four sites that would fit our rig and we could choose the site we wanted and let him know which one we took.

I couldn’t get our full length into the frame at the park entrance

We’re in a 90-foot pull through site, so we didn’t have to drop the trailer. Oh, and while we were on the road, Donna got on the phone with Bluehost – the web hosting service for this blog. They found a bug in a plug-in and deactivated it. Then we updated the plug-in, reactivated it, and that fixed the problem.

It was very quiet here last night. We’re at an elevation of a little over 3,000 feet above sea level. It’s a little cooler here than in Phoenix. We plan to explore the area over the next few days. This post is getting wordy, so I’ll post some of the meals Donna prepared last week in my next post.

Jetpack Down

We suffered another Pantech battery failure in our Verizon Jetpack, so I’m on a very slow park wifi connection today. I’ll post a short update without pictures due to these circumstances.

On Monday afternoon, I had to go back to the dentist. I had some work done last Thursday and had a small problem with a filling. There was a sharp edge on the side of the tooth and my tongue wouldn’t leave it alone. You know how it is when something is off with your teeth – like when something is stuck between them. Your tongue always finds it. The dentist removed a couple thousandths of an inch of material and all was good. It took about five minutes.

That night, I went to the Mesa Buckhorn Elks Lodge at 6pm for the mandatory indoctrination. I learned a few things about the history of the Elks and also the many philanthropic services they provide. I had no idea they were involved in so many charitable causes. The 75-minute indoctrination became a bit tedious after a while – the husband and wife team that presented the material were good and provided a ton of information, but it was bit like watching a PBS fundraiser at times as they gave convincing arguments for the need to participate in various groups. I’m not one for joining groups. I’ll probably be what they call a BMO – bar member only.

Tonight I’ll return to the lodge at 6:30pm for the mandatory initiation. Maybe I’ll learn the secret handshake there. Seriously, this is where I’ll become an official member and receive my Elks membership card. This card will identify me as an Elks member at any lodge in the US. There are four of us joining tonight. I learned last night that all four of us are RVers and are interested in visiting Elks lodges with RV hook-ups. I’m sure it’ll come in handy down the road. The low rates for Elks members should offset the $71.50 annual dues.

I have a few things to get done before we pull out of Towerpoint RV Resort in Mesa, Arizona. We’ve been here for nearly 10 weeks and have enjoyed our stay. I think we’ll be back again next year. We’ll leave here on Thursday and head over to the Verde Valley Thousand Trails RV park. I’ve booked four nights there taking advantage of our new Thousand Trails membership – this will be a free stay.

Before we leave here, I’ll dump and flush our tanks, fill the fresh water tank and of course have the trailer packed. I added a few more D-rings and also a paper towel rack to the trailer. I think I have a place for everything and it should be easy to pack. After staying in one place for so long, I’m getting anxious to move on.

I’ve ordered another battery for the Jetpack with overnight delivery. With any luck, we’ll have it tomorrow so we’ll be back up and running at full speed. With the upcoming move, I probably won’t post for a couple of days.

Hot Days and Sad News

My last post mentioned a change at the Phon D Sutton recreation area on the Salt River in the Tonto National Forest. This recreation area was open to self-contained RVs for overnight stays – no hook-ups provided. It required a pass which cost six dollars per night. That changed and it is now open for day use only.

Donna said the place really deteriorated and was in need of general maintenance. When RVers were there, we watched out for each other and bagged our trash and used the dumpsters. Now, the day-use visitors leave beer cans and trash all around the parking lot. We wondered why it changed. Our friend, Emily Fagan, already researched the issue and wrote about it in this post. The area definitely isn’t being managed with the public interest in mind. Something’s rotten in the Tonto National Forest. By the way, the header photo for my blog was taken by Mark Fagan at Phon D Sutton.

On Monday night, Donna made yet another new dish. She prepared wild Alaskan cod fillets steamed in parchment paper with orange juice, asparagus and fresh tarragon. This was a tasty dish – the fish was so tender and yummy.

Fisk filet steamed with asparagus and terragon in parchment

Fish fillet steamed with asparagus and tarragon in parchment

Great combination

Tuesday morning at the pickleball courts I heard some sad news. Our pickleball friends, Howard and Nancy, left the park on Saturday to head home to Arkansas. Howard was driving the motorhome with his 92-year-old mother-in-law in the passenger seat. His wife Nancy was following in their car. Somewhere near Tucson, the motorhome went off I-10 and crashed down a steep embankment. Howard and his mother-in-law had to be airlifted to Tucson. I was told he had a broken back. His mother-in-law also broke her back and both legs. I don’t know anything else about the accident. I searched online to see if I could find any more information, but couldn’t come up with anything. We’re wishing the best for them and hope they make a full recovery.

After pickleball on Tuesday, I had a delivery. The two Suncast cabinets I ordered arrived. I assembled the cabinets and mounted them on the wall in the trailer beside the cabinets I had installed earlier. Now I have two cabinets on each side. I used the same Munchkin Xtraguard latches I used on the first cabinet installation to keep the doors closed

Suncast cabinets mounted side-by-side

After installing the cabinets, I spent the rest of the day relaxing and reading. The thermometer hit 90 degrees, so reading indoors with the air conditioners running was the way to go. Donna rode the Spyder to her piano lesson at 3:15pm. When she returned an hour later, I rode it to the store. It was not happy after a hot start in this heat. Apparently the refineries haven’t switched to the summer blend gasoline.

Gasoline in the summer has lower volatility than winter blend fuel. The switch to summer blend gasoline is federally mandated from May 1st to September 15th. In high temperatures, the winter fuel can boil in the fuel lines, fuel rail or injectors. This can cause hard starting, rough running and stalling.

The Spyder starts fine, but if it sits for a short time after running at full temperature, it runs rough for a minute or two until the fuel vapor clears the injectors. I’m sure it’s a fuel issue – it has only happened when we have high ambient temperature. I don’t think there’s a fuel pressure or injector problem. The engine starts right away and only runs rough for a minute or so. I think I’ll try a fuel additive to lower the fuel volatility.

Today the forecast calls for the temperature to reach the upper 90s here in Mesa, Arizona. It should cool down to the lower 80s by Friday.

Breaks From the Routine

It’s been a fairly routine week here at Towerpoint RV Resort in Mesa, Arizona. That’s what happens when we stay in one location for an extended period of time – we fall into a routine. Donna plays pickleball with me on Monday, Wednesday and Friday – I play at least five days a week. On Tuesday and Thursday, Donna works out with a personal trainer. She also bicycles, runs or walks a few times a week, so we’re getting plenty of exercise.

On Mondays and Fridays, I hit happy hour at Red, White and Brew. On Thursdays, I have happy hour with the usual crew at Lucky Lou’s. Last Wednesday, we met my friend from our high school days, Andy King, and his wife Donna for sushi at Osaka Japanese Steakhouse. We each ordered our favorites a la carte from the sushi menu and sat and talked for about two hours. It was a good time and I’m looking forward to meeting up again next Wednesday at the Handlebar Pub where Andy will be performing with the String ’em Up bluegrass band.

On Thursday at Lucky Lou’s, tables were set up by the entrance with a variety of snack foods. It was a fundraiser for Golden Gates of America – a local non-profit funding education for learning challenged kids.

Fundraiser at Lucky Lou’s

That night, Donna prepared a new recipe – fennel-crusted pork chops. She cooked 1-inch thick pork chops in a cast iron skillet on the induction cooktop along with potatoes and shallots, then popped the skillet in the oven to finish cooking.

Fennel-crusted pork chops in the skillet

Fennel-crusted pork chops with potatoes and broccoli

It was an excellent meal. Donna says it was easy to prepare – everything in one skillet, except for the steamed broccoli which was cooked separately. Next time, she says she’ll make it even simpler by just mixing fresh baby spinach or other greens in with the potatoes when they come out of the oven.

I managed to do a little more work in the trailer this week – it’s shaping up. I’m waiting for two more Suncast cabinets to arrive. Meanwhile, I have a few things that need to be done on the coach. I’ll try to get started on those projects this weekend.

On Friday morning, instead of playing pickleball, Donna took an Uber ride to downtown Phoenix. She met Jan Walker at 40th and Van Buren (map). Jan is traveling by foot from Oceanside, California to the Pentagon Memorial in Arlington County, Virginia. The reason for her long journey is to raise awareness and funds for the September 11th National Memorial Trail. Donna has been following Jan’s journey via Facebook after a fellow minimalist from San Diego mentioned meeting her on the first day of her trek. Donna walked with Jan for about seven miles – Jan said it made the time go by much easier. Their route took them up Galvin Parkway past the Desert Botanical Garden to McDowell Road. I rode the Spyder to the intersection of McDowell and Pima Road to pick Donna up at 12:30pm. Jan planned to make it to Fountain Hills by the end of the day.

Donna and Jan and Jan's Rise Up for the Fallen cart on McDowell

Jan and Donna and Jan’s Rise Up for the Fallen cart on McDowell

I picked Donna up so we could make it to a lunch date at Fat Willy’s restaurant at the Viewpoint RV Resort. We met our friend, Marilyn Cross, there for lunch on the patio. We met Marilyn and her husband Ron in Hemet, California at the RV Resort there. They took us on a day trip to Idyllwild when we were in Hemet. They were in Mesa for the afternoon having some interior work done on their motorhome. Ron stayed with the coach while Marilyn met a friend to play pickleball in the morning, then ran a few errands before meeting us for lunch.

Marilyn is an avid pickleballer and we talked a little about game strategy. Donna and Marilyn caught up on things and the conversation danced around politics – scary topic. We talked about border crossings – Ron and Marilyn are Canadians. She told us a couple of funny stories. Once, when crossing the Canadian border, Ron was asked if he had any firearms in his coach. He said, “No, but my wife’s a pistol.” Another time he was asked if had anything to declare and he said, “I do declare I’m one handsome guy.” Funny stuff, but you have to be careful – not all border agents have a sense of humor.

After taking Donna home, I made my usual stop at Red, White and Brew. They had a new IPA on tap – Birthday Suit from Goldwater Brewing in Scottsdale, Arizona. It’s a new brewery and pub that opened about a year ago. The IPA was citrusy and surprisingly light-bodied although it had a kick with 7.6% ABV.

A citrusy and refreshing IPA

While I was sipping my beer, a woman sat next to me at the bar and started conversation. A few minutes later, three guys walked in. There were only two open seats at the bar. One of the guys came up to the woman and asked her if she wanted tickets for the Indycar Race at Phoenix International Raceway. He said he would give her two tickets so we could go to the races. She told him she wasn’t with me – we’d just met. Then she told him she couldn’t make it to the race. The guy offered the tickets to me if I would give up my seat at the bar. I thought it might be some kind of April Fool’s prank but I took him up on it and called my friend, Mike Hall. Mike was planning to go to the race and buy tickets there. I told him I had two free tickets – he’ll pick me up this afternoon and we’ll head out to Glendale for the race.

Free tickets!

Speaking of April Fool’s, I posted on Facebook that our old house here in Mesa was up for sale and Donna and I were getting off the road and buying our old house back. This morning I revealed it was an April Fool’s post. Actually, our old house WAS for sale in the fall when we stopped in Mesa for a brief visit. It’s since been sold.

Last night at 5:30pm, one of our neighbors organized a potluck dinner for the people on J Street and friends. Donna made chicken meatballs to contribute. It was a fun time and good eats too!

Chicken meatballs over a bed of spinach

J Street potluck

Today my projects will go on the back burner again so I can go to the races.

Directing the Dolphin

I finally got started on a couple of easy projects yesterday after a couple of hours on the pickleball court in the morning. We had much cooler weather – the high temperature for the day was 67 degrees. That’s a drop of more than 20 degrees from the weekend. It stayed overcast and windy all afternoon and a few raindrops fell – not enough to wet the pavement though.

I went to Ace Hardware to pick up some 3/16″ rivets with long 1/2″ shanks. I wrote about my rivet repair in this post. The rivets I used for that repair were a little short and didn’t hold well enough. I needed to replace them again. The longer shanks on the rivets I used this time should hold up fine.

I planned on buying some carabiner clips to secure the doors on the cabinets I installed in the trailer. The doors are set up for padlocks but I didn’t want to hassle with locks every time I wanted something in the cabinet. I thought a carabiner would work if I could find the right size. Donna had a different idea. She’s been working with Procter & Gamble’s PR firm. They sent her a package that included Tide PODS and a few gifts. One of the gifts is from a company called Munchkin – they make baby products. The product Donna received is a latch to secure cabinets, drawers and anything you wouldn’t want a toddler getting into. They’re called Munchkin Xtra Guard multi-use latches.

Munchkin Xtra Guard latch

Donna received four latches – I used two on the cabinet doors and it looks like they’ll work perfectly. They’re easy to install – they have an adhesive backing that sticks to the door surface.

Xtra Guard latch on the trailer cabinet

There’s a button on the top and bottom of the pads – holding these buttons in releases the latch. They should keep the doors closed while we roll down the road but it will still be easy to access the cabinets.

Latch released

I decided to order two more of the Suncast cabinets to install in the trailer. I like the way they’re built and it will make it easier to store and access stuff.

I took a few measurements and installed D-rings to secure the Traeger wood pellet grill/smoker in the trailer. That was the extent of my projects for the day. Today I’ll add a few more D-rings to secure the ladders and a few other things.

Last week, I stopped at Seńor Taco and had the daily special – fish taco with rice, beans and soft drink for $5. Donna and I like fish tacos – we always have them when we’re in San Diego. Good fish tacos obviously need to be made with a good fish filet. Then it’s the sauce that makes them special. The Seńor Taco fish tacos are good.

Fish taco plate at Seńor Taco

On Monday afternoon, I rode the Spyder to the Sprouts store at Higley and Southern. Donna sent me there with a small shopping list. I bought two fresh tilapia filets, a lime, a jalapeńo pepper and an avocado. Donna already had the corn tortillas, cabbage and cilantro. She made blackened Baja fish tacos.

Donna’s homemade fish taco plate

She seasoned and pan fried the fish filets in a cast iron skillet. Her sauce was made from yogurt, jalapeńo pepper, lime juice and cilantro. Very tasty and we each had two big tacos for a total cost of about seven bucks!

Last night, Donna made a spring minestrone soup with chicken meatballs. The meatballs were made with ground chicken, panko bread crumbs, minced scallions and garlic, egg, salt and pepper. Another tasty treat. We had leftovers for lunch and it was even better the second time around.

Spring minestrone with chicken meatballs

This morning when I rode my bicycle home from pickleball, I found a motorhome blocking our street. It was a 34-foot National Dolphin. I carefully went around the front of it where there was about three feet of clearance. Once I went around it, I saw a woman sitting on the steps in the doorway of the coach smoking a cigarette. I stopped and she said, “I’m wedged in here.”

I looked back and saw what she meant. Apparently she was pulling out of her site and turning left. She didn’t account for the swingout of the rear and the last basement door on the right rear was hard against a palm tree.

After looking at it, I told her she needed to crank the steering wheel full left and slowly back up. She was afraid of causing more damage. I told her it will scrape at first, then swing away from the tree. She did as I said and was able to reverse back into her site. Then I had her go forward and angle to the right to pull into an empty site across the street from her. Once she pulled halfway into the site, I had her reverse again and crank the wheel to the left. I guided her back then told her to stop, crank the wheel right and come forward. She was in the street now heading in the opposite direction of the way she first tried to go. It didn’t matter – it’s a short street and either direction will take you to the park exit. With a wave and a thanks, she was on her way.

She was alone and driving a motorhome into or out of a tight space without guidance isn’t easy. Although her coach was only 34 feet long, the National Dolphin is gas powered and the chassis has a lot of rear overhang. The longer the distance from the rear axle to the rear of the coach, the greater the amount of swingout.

We should see a high temperature of about 70 degrees today with partly cloudy skies and a gentle breeze. Very comfortable. This evening we plan to meet up with my friend from high school, Andy King, and his wife Donna for sushi.

Trailer Project – Part Two

After Donna proofread my post yesterday, she headed out on the Spyder to meet her friend Julia in Scottsdale. It was about a 20-mile ride each way. It was Donna’s first time riding the Spyder on the freeway – she took the loop 202 to the 101 to Old Town Scottsdale. They had lunch and visited at Arcadia Farms Cafe on east 1st Avenue. Donna thought very highly of the restaurant – food, service, ambiance. What more can you ask for?

When she came home, she told me she felt a vibration in the footpegs at ~5,100 rpm at 70 mph. Donna is pretty sensitive to these things and always tells me to see if I think there’s a problem.

I spent the afternoon working on the trailer while Donna was away. I wanted to get the SteepGrade bike rack installation figured out and finalized. I don’t have any affiliation with this company – Donna found them online and although not inexpensive, it looked like a good fit for us. With our new 8.5-foot wide trailer, I have room to secure the bicycles on the floor across the trailer. A little work with a tape measure had me visualizing how it could work.

I like to balance the load in the trailer as much as possible. This means some heavy stuff needs to be in front of the axles to offset weight behind the axles. Side-to-side weight is also a consideration. I think I have it pretty well sussed-out at this point. We have three bicycles – two road bikes and my mountain bike. They will travel just ahead of the axles cross-ways in the trailer. There’s enough room for me to walk past the bikes on the right side of the trailer to access the rear portion when needed. The SteepGrade racks mount the front fork with the wheel removed. The wheel is then fastened to a holder that fits over the top tube of the bike. This makes for a compact arrangement of the bikes. I needed to add some D-rings to the trailer to attach the tie-downs for the bikes.

D-rings and tape measure – measure twice

I used one-inch self-drilling screws to attach the D-rings to the steel wall studs in the trailer.

This is how they’ll ride

I think I’ll put a furniture pad over the bike in the center to prevent damage if they should move about as we travel down the road.

I wouldn’t want them to contact each other

This photo shows how the system works.

The set up on my Specialized Crave mountain bike

I also installed tie-down points for the rear of the Spyder. The front wheels will be fastened to the flush-mount rings that came with the Interstate car hauler trailer.

Meanwhile I’d treated the burn on my right leg – see yesterday’s post – with 100% aloe vera gel. It seems to be helping. Hopefully this doesn’t turn into any kind of a big deal.

I rode the Spyder to Red, White and Brew after Donna came home. I made a pass at 5,100 rpm at 70 mph to check out the vibration she felt. The Spyder is powered by a Rotax 998cc 60-degree V-twin engine. This layout is inherently unbalanced. The narrow 60-degree layout makes for a compact front-to-rear dimension – which is good for a motorcycle. Rotax compensates for the imbalance by employing counter-balance shafts in the engine. However, counter-balance shafts can’t eliminate all vibrations at all engine speeds. There will always be certain engine speeds that result in vibration. In my opinion, the foot peg vibration Donna felt at 5,100 rpm is a normal result of the inherent imbalance of a 60-degree V-twin engine.

Donna prepared turmeric chicken thighs for dinner. This is a dish she’s prepared before. This time she felt like the spice was missing its usual kick. The chicken was still tasty – just not the same as before. After thinking about it, she realized that she’s had that bottle of spice for 3-4 years – time for some fresh spice! In the future she’ll buy turmeric in smaller quantities.

3_23dnrplTimeric chicken with rice and asparagus

Turmeric chicken with rice and asparagus

Today we’ll have another typical March day in central Arizona with temperatures reaching 80 degrees. After pickleball, I’ll continue work on the trailer. I have a couple of other projects that I need to attend to before we leave here.

Trailer Project – Part One

In my last post, I said I expected a change from the routine here at Towerpoint RV Resort in Mesa, Arizona. I’ve been hitting the pickleball courts every morning then relaxing and reading in the afternoons before finding friends at the pub. Well, the parcels that I mentioned in my last post were delivered late, so Tuesday was a repeat of the previous days.

Donna bought a seven-pound whole chicken and we roasted it on the Traeger grill/smoker Tuesday evening. It took a little longer than the typical five-pound chicken but it came out great. We went with the usual rub of Sweet Rub O’Mine to spice the chicken. As always, the roasted chicken was great. I checked the internal temperature at 90 minutes since it was such a large bird and found it needed a little more time. When I checked it again 10 minutes later, I feared I’d overcooked it, but it was fine – juicy and tasty.

Another Traeger chicken - it's not burnt, the rib turns black with no burnt taste at all

Another Traeger chicken – it’s not burnt, the rub turns black with no burnt taste at all

Donna served it with steamed broccoli and fried sweet potato

Donna served the grilled chicken with steamed broccoli and roasted sweet potato

On Wednesday morning, we hit the pickleball courts early as the weather is heating up with a high pressure system stalled over the southwest. We expected temperatures to reach 90 degrees in the afternoon.

After several games, we came home around 10:30am and I set to work on my project for the day. I’d ordered cabinets to mount in our new 8.5 x 20′ car carrier trailer. My thinking is to reorganize the way we use the trailer. In our old 6 x 12′ cargo trailer, I had things stored in crates stacked on top of each other and hung bicycles from the ceiling. I’d like to organize it in a way that allows me to access and find things without unstacking crates and stepping over stuff on the trailer floor.

After pickleball Wednesday morning, I went to work in the trailer. The cabinets I received required some assembly.

Okay – cabinet in a box

Some assembly required

The Suncast Wall Storage cabinets I ordered weren’t too difficult to assemble. I think they’ll make it easier for me to organize and access things I frequently use in the trailer.

Cabinet mounted

Job done

I mounted two cabinets – one on each side at the forward end of the wheel wells. I think this is a well-balanced placement and I can add additional cabinets to the rear if I decide to do so. Of course the installation didn’t go without a hitch. I had 1-1/2 inch #10 self-drilling screws on hand. Wouldn’t you know it, they were a hair short of what I needed to tap into the steel upright wall studs to mount the cabinet to the trailer walls. So, as usual, the project meant a trip to the hardware store for 2″ self-tapping screws. I measured carefully to ensure the screws wouldn’t hit the outer trailer skin.

By the time I’d finished this, it was nearly 2pm. Donna, who had been busy working on her own projects, suddenly realized we had an appointment with our CPA George Montgomery to prepare our taxes at 2pm. She called George and we set our appointment back to 3pm. George is a former full-timer and understands the nomadic lifestyle as well as the tax implications.

Donna pan fried a wild Alaskan salmon filet for dinner and served it over an orzo salad with cherry tomatoes, spinach and feta cheese – so good.

Pan fried Alaskan salmon filet with orzo salad

I had another delivery on Tuesday – new front tires for the Spyder – and two deliveries late Wednesday. At 8:15pm, UPS showed up with an order I placed with Amsoil for the Spyder and an order I placed online with Sears for a hydraulic floor jack. My old jack was stolen by those Dirty, Rotten Thieves and I need one to service the Spyder. It’ll also come in handy if we ever suffer a flat on the trailer down the road. I have a spare trailer tire, but without a jack, I would need roadside assistance.

It was a warm day yesterday with the temperature in the mid-80s. Today is supposed to be hot with the temperature reaching an unseasonably high of 90 degrees. I’m off to the pickleball courts before it gets too hot to play.

Still Loving Leesa

Shortly after we arrived here at Towerpoint RV Resort in Mesa, Arizona Donna decided to use her account credit to order a couple more meals from Hello Fresh. Hello Fresh is an easy way to have all of the ingredients on hand for a tasty, balanced meal. They pack fresh ingredients into a box with an insulated liner and ice packs, then ship it to you. On Wednesday night, Donna made a Mahi Mahi piccata with capers, Israeli couscous pilaf and sauteed spinach. The only things she needed from our pantry were butter, olive oil, salt and pepper – everything else was in the package including the fresh lemon.

Mahi Mahi piccata

This tasty dish took about 30 minutes to prepare.

The pickleball courts are closed on Thursday and Friday this week due to a horseshoe tournament at the sports complex. So I caught up on a couple of projects on Thursday. First up, I installed the rubber bumpers on the cargo trailer ramp door. These pads will keep the metal rim of the door off the ground and prevent scraping.

Rubber bumper

I didn’t want to rely on the flanged screw head to hold the rubber bumper – I thought it would most likely tear through the rubber in short order. So I was off to Ace hardware where I found one-inch diameter fender washers.

Rubber bumper with fender washer

When I returned and started the installation, I found the #10 one-inch self-drilling screws I had were too short. So I was back on the Spyder for another trip to the hardware store for 1 1/2-inch self-drilling screws. After taking a few measurements, the installation was easy.

Rubber bumpers installed on rear ramp door

My next chore was to break down all the cardboard boxes we’ve accumulated since we’ve been here. We had boxes from the trash receptacle Donna ordered, the Hello Fresh box, the Leesa mattress box and a few other things that were delivered. I completely filled a recycle barrel with cardboard. Lucky for us, Towerpoint provides two recycle barrels per site.

Speaking of the Leesa mattress, we’re loving it. It’s hard to say if it’s better now than it was on the first night. We both think there may have been some improvement – we like it so much it’s hard to quantify any improvement. We are both side sleepers and the Leesa mattress is so much better on my hips. I used to feel pressure points on my hips, but not with this mattress.

Although I started honey pollen allergy therapy a couple of months ago, my pollen allergies have kicked into high gear. The unseasonably warm weather we’ve been experiencing has everything blooming around here. After I completed my tasks yesterday, I went to CVS for allergy medication. I prefer not to take daily doses of medication for allergies, but at this point I have no choice. I bought Zyrtec and hope for some relief without too many side effects.

The weather almanac shows an average high temperature for March 4th in Mesa, Arizona at 73 degrees. Today’s high is expected to be 91 degrees. We’ll have slightly cooler temperatures over the weekend and be back in the 70s by Monday. I shouldn’t complain about the heat – I’ll take it over cold weather any day.

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Trailer

Spyder on the Loose

Sitting Tight in Vegas

Good Service Gone Bad

Jetpack Down

Hot Days and Sad News

Breaks From the Routine

Directing the Dolphin

Trailer Project – Part Two

Trailer Project – Part One

Still Loving Leesa

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