Category Archives: Western RV/Alpine Coach

Tight Squeeze

The weekend weather was true to the forecast. The temperatures reached the low to mid-80s which felt nice in this dry climate. I had a task to accomplish on Saturday. Our generator was showing 855 hours of run time. It was due for an oil and filter change at 850 hours, so I didn’t want to wait any longer – especially since we’ve been running the generator for a couple of hours in the morning and few more hours in the evening each day while we were dry camped at the Lake Havasu City rodeo grounds.

While I tackled the generator service, Donna went for a hike with some of our Alpine Coach friends. It turned out to be a good thing I got to the generator service when I did. When I opened the trap door to the compartment where the oil filter is located, I found a mess in there. The oil filter seal had a small leak. The filter had worked loose. I’m not sure how that happened – I installed the filter myself. I was sure I had tightened it properly, but I must have made a mistake. The filter is up inside a small compartment and you have to install it by feel while lying on your back underneath it. I was extra careful to be sure I tightened the new filter more than half a turn after the seal made contact.

The big event for Saturday was the Cowboy Barbeque. We had tickets – $10 each – for the dinner. They had a bandstand and a few dozen tables on a large concrete patio behind the rodeo grandstands. They also had a beer bar featuring ales from a local brewery called Mudshark Brewing. This was a fund raiser for the rodeo association.

Live music at the barbeque

We had a choice of chicken or beef tri-tip for the entree. I chose the beef while Donna went for the chicken. We also had a tossed salad, beans and garlic bread with it. It was very good and a fun time. Donna brought her hoops along and did some hoop dancing to the music before we ate. She even persuaded a couple of guys in our group to give it a try.

Ed working the hoop

You know how they say a picture is worth a thousand words? Well, pictures can also be deceiving. Ed looks like a hoop master in the photo. He actually got one revolution of the hoop – that’s when I snapped the photo – before the hoop fell to the ground. But he gave it a good try!

Saturday night sunset in the desert

After a spectacular sunset, we watched fireworks again. Saturday night’s show was the biggest of the weekend.

The wind picked up on Sunday. Donna went for a group hike up Picnic Table Mountain – the name comes from the picnic table someone carried – presumably in pieces – up the rugged mountain trail. I ran a few errands including grocery shopping with a list Donna gave me.

The wind really increased as the day wore on. Our Alpine Coach Association happy hour and dinner was cancelled due to the wind blowing tables, chairs and mats away. Our wagon master, Dave Guhse, served roasted chicken halves with potato salad and broccoli slaw on paper plates at his coach. We lined up, got our plates and retreated back to our individual coaches to eat dinner out of the wind.

The day before, the guys surreptitiously got together to put icing on cupcakes one of the women in the group made. After dinner we retrieved our cupcakes and gave them to our valentines. I missed the photo opportunity before Donna ate the cake decorated with a pink heart shaped icing topped with a dollop of purple icing. Donna had a valentine gift for me as well. It was a red ale from Alesmith called My Bloody Valentine Ale.

My Bloody Valentine Ale

Before dinner, I spent the afternoon rearranging the trailer to make room for the Can Am Spyder. It took some doing but I managed to make enough room. The tricky part was backing the Spyder into the trailer. I rode it in reverse up the ramp. There are spring-loaded cables on each side of the ramp door. These cables are about 61″ apart from each other. The Spyder is over 59″ wide at the front wheels giving me about 3/4″ clearance on each side. With Donna and our friend Dave Hobden watching the wheels and cables and guiding me, I got past them without scraping the wheels or fenders. But then I had a problem. Backing slowly past the cables I had to open the throttle to provide enough power to get up the ramp. The rear wheel lost traction and fishtailed off to the side. I rolled back down the ramp and repeated the procedure three times with the same result each time.

I told Donna I needed her to get on the back seat of the Spyder so I would have enough weight over the rear wheel for traction. That did the trick. The next issue was getting her out of the trailer – the Spyder completely blocked her in. She was able to climb over the front suspension without doing any damage. In the photo it looks like there’s plenty of clearance for the Spyder. The interior width of the trailer is 68″, giving me about four inches of clearance on each side. The challenge was getting past the cables and through the 63″ door opening.

Spyder shoehorned into the trailer

The wind didn’t abate after dark – if anything it grew in intensity. I slept fitfully as gusts made noises. I got up in the night to roll up the bedroom window awning. We both got out of bed tired the next morning. The poor night’s sleep coupled with the weekend activities caught up with us. We made our final preparations and said “until next time’ to our Alpine Coach friends and headed out a little after 10am.

A row of Alpine Coaches getting ready to depart

We headed south on AZ95 toward Quartzsite, then followed AZ68 to I-10 east. The wind diminished – we had mostly a tailwind all day. The trip was a little over 200 miles. I stopped at the Pilot/Flying J in Avondale and took on 65 gallons of diesel fuel at $1.78/gallon – the lowest price we’ve ever paid for fuel since hitting the road in 2013.

We checked into Towerpoint RV Resort in Mesa Arizona (map) where we’ve booked a two-month stay. After dropping the trailer in our site, we were set up quickly. After a full week of dry camping, it’s good to be on full hook-ups again. I dumped and flushed the tanks first thing before showering and making a run to Red, White and Brew for a cold one.

Today Donna has a dentist appointment this morning. She’ll ride the Spyder (her inaugural ride) over to the dentist on Power Road. When she comes home, I’ll be off trailer shopping. I’m looking at 8.5 x 20 enclosed car carriers.

Western Winter Blast

We’ve had a busy and fun-filled time the past few days. On Thursday, the Alpine Coach Association SoCal chapter rally officially opened. Donna hiked the Crack in the Mountain trail in the morning. The trailhead is across the road from the rodeo grounds, about a quarter of mile from our coach. It goes down through a slot canyon and includes a dry waterfall slide before you reach the river – about three miles down the trail. Here are a few photos from her hike.

Down through the slot

Tight trail

Sandy wash

Colorado River

Our first social event was happy hour and a pizza dinner Thursday afternoon and evening.

Marcie and Donna in the foreground at happy hour

Marcy and Donna in the foreground at happy hour

On Friday morning, we had a BYOC (Bring Your Own Coffee) breakfast with the group – fresh fruit, pastries, yogurt, hard boiled eggs and toasted bagels were on the buffet.

Later, Donna and I rode the Spyder up to the mall on the north side of town. The large parking lot in front of Dillard’s where they had the RV show last weekend was mostly empty. We thought this would be an ideal place for Donna to take a few test runs on the Spyder. She started out with some low speed maneuvering, then picked up speed and worked on upshifting and downshifting. She took to it like a duck to water and had fun riding it. I’m totally comfortable on it now and I think Donna will have an easy transition from motorcycling to the Spyder.

Later I got her bicycle out of the trailer and she rode the paved bike path that runs along US95. It was an out and back ride – mostly downhill on the way out which meant she had a climb coming back. She rode about 20 miles.

When she returned, we joined a group of friends for happy hour and a potluck heavy hors d’oeuvres dinner. The reason for this gathering at Lake Havasu City is the Western Pyrotechnic Association Western Winter Blast. The Western Winter Blast is a convention put on by the association and it includes a lot of activities for their members including training, seminars, certifications and vendor exhibits. This is for various municipalities and private companies that wish to put on fireworks displays. Some of the training is for firemen to learn how to best handle fires containing various chemicals and compounds used in the fireworks. There are also classes to learn how to construct class B and Class C fireworks. All this stuff is for Western Pyrotechnic Association members. The rest of us are here just to watch the show.

During the daytime, we heard a few loud booms – I could feel the concussion from one inside our coach! I think they were simulating firework accidents for training purposes across the wash to the east of us.

Open shooting happens from 6:30pm to 7:30pm – open shooting is where members practice with fireworks. From 7:30pm to 8:30pm is the public display where vendors show off their latest and greatest fireworks. Open Shooting resumes from 8:30pm to 10:30pm. That’s a lot of fireworks.

The rodeo grounds are separated from the race track area east of us by a large sandy wash. The pyrotechnics are fired from the race track area over the empty wash. Each night a big boom and large fire is visible near the race track area – I think this is part of the training for firemen.

I attempted a few photos with my smartphone. The results aren’t stellar, but I’m compelled to include a few in this post.

Watching the fireworks from our ACA viewing area

Ooohh

Aaahh

Grand finale

The temperature is in the low 80s and will continue to be warm until we leave on Monday. Donna is going to hike the Crack in the Mountain trail again today with Alpine friends we met a few years ago at the FMCA Redmond pre-rally in Portland. I need to change the oil on our generator – It’s about five hours overdue.

Along Came a Spyder

In my last post, I wrote about us wanting to move on from the scooter. Our Kymco Downtown 300i scooter has served us well for nearly three years. It limits our mobility though. It was great for running to the store or going to the beach as long as we didn’t have to travel much more than 10 miles each way. Longer rides became uncomfortable. Also, even though it could cruise easily at 60 mph, high-speed riding wasn’t its forte. So we avoided fast highways and interstates.

We started seriously thinking about replacing it with something that we could easily trailer behind our coach. We aren’t ready to give up the trailer. It’s my rolling garage where I keep my tools, our bicycles and kayak along with a few bins filled with spare parts and whatnot.

After seeing a number of Utility Task Vehicles (UTVs) licensed for the street here in Arizona, we thought that might be a viable option. We liked the look of the Reeper I wrote about in my last post. It seemed to be more suited for street use than most UTVs and was also capable of playing in the desert. After test driving one, two things became apparent. It wasn’t very exciting to drive. In fact, it was under-powered and a little squirrelly. Also, Donna realized she doesn’t like off-roading – it scared her.

On Tuesday, I went to another dealer to look at Polaris UTVs. I thought I should look past the Reeper and see if I couldn’t find something that drove better. Maybe Donna could learn to like off-roading too. The Polaris and Arctic Cat dealer here in Lake Havasu City is AZ West. They had a large inventory of vehicles including the Polaris Slingshot. This is a wild, side-by-side two-seat tricycle made for street driving, not off-roading. I nixed that idea though – too expensive, too big and not practical for our needs.

In the showroom, I was asked several times if I needed help finding anything. I said I was just browsing and went outside to have a look around. I saw something that caught my eye. It was another tricycle type vehicle, but it was laid out more like a motorcycle. It was a Can Am Spyder they had taken in on trade. When I went back into the showroom, I was asked if I found what I was looking for. I said, “No, but I found something that I wasn’t looking for and I’m interested.” I found out the Spyder had a trunk for storage in the front and was reasonably priced.

I came home and did some research on Spyder prices. Then I told Donna I wanted to test drive it and she should come along. We went back to AZ West and arranged a test drive. I was in for a surprise. After 45 years of riding motorcycles I thought I knew what I was getting into. I’ve never ridden a vehicle with this layout before though. We put on our helmets and Donna hopped on back. We were to follow one of the employees on a loop that took us past the rodeo grounds on back roads, then blast down highway AZ95 back to the dealership.

I barely made it out of the parking lot. This thing felt so awkward, I was fighting it. The thing is, with your butt in the saddle, feet on foot pegs and hands gripping the handle bars with the throttle on the right grip, it seems like riding a motorcycle. But it isn’t. It’s more like a small sports car, but it isn’t quite like a car either. It’s neither fish nor fowl – it’s something unique.

This Spyder Roadster was the SE5 model with a semi-automatic transmission. It idles at about 1,400 rpm. Twist the throttle and at 1,800 rpm, the centrifugal clutch begins to engage and is fully locked up by 3,000 rpm. The engine is a powerful Rotax 998cc V-twin – the same engine that powered the Aprillia 1000R and Mille superbikes. In the superbikes, it was tuned to produce over 140 hp. In the Spyder, it’s de-tuned to 106 hp making it more tractable with a broad powerband. The acceleration is snappy – it will go from 0 to 60 mph in just over 4 seconds. By the left grip is a paddle shifter. A flick of the paddle with your thumb shifts up to the next higher gear. Pulling the paddle back with your index finger downshifts to the next lower gear. It automatically cuts power to upshift and blips the throttle to match rpms with road speed when you downshift. The gearshifts are quick – 200 milliseconds (0.2 seconds). It has a reverse gear and also has ABS brakes, traction control and electronic stabilization. It’s a sophisticated vehicle.

But in my mind, I was riding a motorcycle. As we rode through curves, I leaned into the turn and the Spyder didn’t. In fact, it rolled to outside of the turn, completely counter to what I was used to feeling on a motorcycle. Instead of swooping smoothly through the turns like I can on a motorcycle, I was choppy and fighting my way through.

I can get a motorcycle through the turns

After a while it began to make sense. The front suspension was acting like a car. As I went through a turn instead of leaning into the turn as a motorcycle would, centrifugal force was rolling the vehicle toward the outside of the turn and compressing the front suspension on the outer wheel. Once I understood this, I got over the out-of-control feeling and started driving smoother. That’s right, driving – not riding. It’s more like a car than a motorcycle.

Donna didn’t enjoy the test drive. She could tell I was having issues and felt like I was struggling for control. I was at first. She thought if I was having such a hard time, she would never be able to ride this machine. After the test drive we told Jack, the salesman, that we would have to think it over. We came home and I explained to Donna what was happening. I felt confident that I had it figured out and would get over trying to ride it like a motorcycle. I also felt confident that she could learn to ride it easily enough.

We did some more online research and slept on it. On Wednesday morning, I went back to AZ West and struck a deal. I traded in the scooter and left with the Spyder. Donna and I took a drive down to Parker Dam on the Spyder. She could see that I had indeed adjusted my style and could drive it competently. The drive was 20 miles each way and we took AZ95 at 65-70mph the whole way. It was a nice ride.

Donna and the Can AM Spyder at a scenic overlook

Donna and our Can AM Spyder at a scenic overlook

Another view of the Spyder

View from overlook

We rode over the dam and parked. We walked around and took in the views of the Colorado River.

Parker Dam

Colorado River behind the dam

View from the west end of the dam

I cancelled the policy on the scooter and insured the Spyder. Our premium increased by only $56 annually. It’ll be a tight squeeze to shoehorn the Spyder into our trailer. When we get to Mesa, I plan to get a bigger trailer.

The Alpine Coach rally officially opens this evening. We have 25 Alpines registered along with a few hundred other RVs at the rodeo grounds. The pyrotechnic display begins tonight. The weather is nice – clear, sunny skies with the temperature reaching the low 80s. Humidity is under 20%. I’ll write more about the Winter Blast Western Pyrotechnic Association show in another post.

Reeper Test Drive

Sunday was Superbowl Sunday. Most of the day was like any other day. The weather was warm but windy. Donna and I rode the scooter up to The Shops at Lake Havasu Mall to take another look at the Reeper utility task vehicle (UTV) I wrote about in my last post. I had done some research and found the Reeper to be one of the most suitable UTVs for street use. I also confirmed it can be licensed and street legal in our domicile state of South Dakota. When we arrived at the mall, the parking lot was empty. The three-day expo was Thursday-Friday-Saturday, not Friday-Saturday-Sunday as I thought.

Donna did a little sleuth work and after a couple of phone calls, was able to track down the guy selling his Reeper. She made arrangements for us to take another look Monday afternoon.

I treated the sidewalls of our tires with 303 Aerospace protectant. I really like this product. It’s easy to use and blocks UV rays from deteriorating the rubber sidewalls. I usually apply it every couple of months.

As the time drew near for the Superbowl, Donna prepared a snack tray. They were mostly healthy snacks – she made fresh fries by cutting jicama to dip in her homemade guacamole, plus cut up celery and carrots. She also roasted garbanzo beans and prepared asparagus spears wrapped with boursin cheese and prosciutto.

Snack tray

The Superbowl opened with Lady Gaga singing the national anthem. I’m not a fan of hers but I thought she did a wonderful job. The game turned out to be very entertaining with strong defensive performances by both teams. At halftime, I opened a bottle of IPA and did my best to ignore the show.

Trestles IPA from Left Coast Brewing

Donna made adobo-seasoned baked chicken wings which was basically our dinner as we snacked through the second half of the game.

Adobo-seasoned baked chicken wings

I was happy to see Peyton Manning take home the trophy.

Monday was a move day. I spent the morning loading the scooter and grill and making the trailer ready for travel. We were only going about 10 miles to the rodeo grounds on the south side of Lake Havasu City, but everything needs to be secure regardless of the distance we travel. Donna went out for a three-mile run as I was loading.

I filled our fresh water tank and dumped and flushed our holding tanks. We’ll be dry camped for the next week so we want to have all the water we can hold on board and full holding tank capacity. The rodeo grounds open for dry camping the week of the Winter Blast Western Pyrotechnic Show. We’re here with the Alpine Coach Association group. We were pre-registered so checking in was quick and painless. We were escorted to site D5 – basically chalk lines drawn in the dirt lot. We were too long with the trailer to fit in the space allotted, so I had to drop the trailer and park beside it. The site slopes from the driver to passenger side but I was able to get the coach level with the HWH hydraulic jacks.

Rodeo grounds site

After we were set up and ate lunch, we rode the scooter over to Arizona Motors, about a mile away from here. That’s where the Reeper was. We talked to Doug – he works there and is selling his Reeper. After a while, Doug and I went for a test drive. The UTV wasn’t as powerful as I expected – it accelerated much slower than I thought it would. Then I took Donna for a ride in the side-by-side two seater. She was not prepared for the noise and amount of wind. It has a full windshield – and windshield wipers – but no side or rear windows.

We thanked Doug for his time and test drive but also said we weren’t sure if it’s the right thing for us. We’re still on the fence.

When we came back to the rodeo grounds there were seven or eight Alpine Coaches here. I expect more to arrive soon. I grilled bacon wrapped filet mignon for dinner. Donna served it with spicy chipotle sweet potato fries with parsley mayo for dipping and steamed asparagus.

Bacon wrapped filet, spicy chipotle sweet potato fries with dipping sauce and asparagus

I paired it with pale oat ale from Lagunitas Brewing – a great beer.

Equinox pale oat ale

We finished the day watching a couple of TV shows. It’s very quiet out here so far. It won’t be once the fireworks start on Thursday. The forecast calls for temperatures to reach the 80s all week. We’ll be putting some hours on the generator.

*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!

Blue-Green Water

The weather was much improved yesterday. We took advantage of it by hiking along Lake Havasu at Mesquite Bay. There are parking areas on both the north and south sides of the bay off London Bridge Road. We rode the scooter to the paved lot on the north side of the bay.

There are a few different trails beginning at the end of the lot. One is a short dirt trail for non-motorized boat access to the water. Another trail is paved and leads to a fishing pier on the water. We took this path first. Along the way, there are several informational signs describing the flora and fauna. One sign said the name Havasu is from the native America Yuman language spoken by the Havasupai people and means blue-green water. I’ve read conflicting information online about the tribe, language and translation of Havasu.

The water in Lake Havasu actually is blue-green. It’s hard to capture in photos. In yesterday’s post, the photo of London Bridge definitely shows a green cast to the water. At Mesquite Bay, the light refracted in the clear water and had areas of blue and green.

Cove in Mesquite Bay

We left the paved path and hiked around the hilltop that forms a point in the bay. We didn’t see much in the way of wildlife – just a few song birds and waterfowl. The trails are short loops and we didn’t hike very far.

We rode the scooter from there into town for lunch at Bad Miguel’s – a Mexican restaurant that was recommended to us. The place is popular but we were able to snag a table. The food was good and the portions generous. There was a poster on the door for an RV Super Show this weekend. I had seen one of these posters when we arrived at Lake Havasu City but forgot about it.

The show was at The Shops at Lake Havasu – a shopping mall on AZ95 north of the Lake Havasu Falls RV resort – about five miles away from Bad Miguel’s. We blasted up AZ95 on the scooter to check out the show. It turned out to be not so super. It was a local dealer displaying everything from utility vehicles to fifth-wheel trailers and boats. No motorhomes and no manufacturer displays.

We walked through a couple of fifth-wheel trailers then we found a Polaris street legal utility vehicle.

Donna looking good in a Polaris Ranger

We wandered over to another area and found Oreion Reeper street legal utility vehicles. These things are pretty cool – lightweight, but capable of cruising at 55mph and can go off-road. We started thinking one of these might be a viable alternative to the scooter. Weather would be less of a factor and I wouldn’t be so hesitant to ride after dark. It would be easy to fit in a trailer at only 64 inches wide and 124 inches long. I might go back for a second look.

While yesterday’s temperature reached the low 70s, today’s forecast calls for upper 70s. It will be just the two of us here watching the Superbowl tonight. Tomorrow we’ll pack up and move to the rodeo grounds where we’ll be dry-camped for a week with the Alpine Coach Association group.

London Bridge

After spending days indoors writing various articles and reviewing one of her books for an upcoming reprint, Donna decided it was time for a break. The weather was much nicer Friday with an afternoon high of about 70 degrees.

We rode the scooter to town. Donna got a tip for a good place to stop for lunch at the Barley Brothers Brewery and Restaurant by the London Bridge. There’s quite a story behind the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City. In 1958, Robert McCulloch bought 3,353 acres of land along the east side of Lake Havasu at Pittsburgh Point. This is the same Robert McCulloch that was the CEO of McCulloch chainsaws and also the creator of the community of Fountain Hills, Arizona – I wrote about that in this post.

This area of arid desert land wasn’t very useful at the time. It was a long way from any major cities and didn’t attract visitors. About the only thing here was an old Army Air Corps field and runway. The federal government deeded the 13,000 acres of land around the airfield to the state of Arizona. The state in turn deeded the land – reportedly free – to Robert McCulloch for his promise to develop the area.

McCulloch needed a way to attract attention and bring people out to this desert on the Colorado River bordering Arizona and California. His real estate agent, Robert Plumer, heard about an old bridge in London that was for sale. The bridge originally spanned the River Thames and was built in the 1830s. It could no longer support modern traffic and had to be replaced. Plumer convinced McCulloch to buy the bridge and transport it to Lake Havasu.

What he actually bought was the exterior facing stonework of the original bridge. A new reinforced concrete bridge was built in the same shape as the original. The original stonework was carefully removed and numbered from the old bridge. It was transported via ship to Houston and ground transport to the desert. Reconstruction began in 1968. The granite facing was clad to the exterior of the new bridge in the desert. At the time, the bridge didn’t span a body of water. It was erected over a wash leading out to the Pittsburgh Point peninsula. Once the bridge was competed in 1971, the wash was dredged and filled with water creating an island on one end of the bridge. The bridge was a successful lure and brought people to Lake Havasu where real estate agents started selling property. Today the population is estimated to be over 53,000.

London Bridge under construction in 1971 – file photo

Aerial view of the bridge from 2011 – file photo

Instead of blasting down AZ95 on the scooter, we took a more scenic route down London Bridge Road (map). The thing is, London Bridge Road doesn’t take you directly over the bridge. You have to cross back over AZ95 in town to get to McCulloch Boulevard North which is the road that crosses the bridge.

Once across the bridge, the first building on the right is the Island Mall. It houses a few boutique stores, Shugrue’s Restaurant and Barley Brothers Brewery. We parked and walked down to the waterside at the bridge. It’s beautifully landscaped with nice walking paths. There are boat docks and boat tour tickets can be purchased for a tour of the lake.

London Bridge view from waterside path

Tour boat unloading passengers

The tour boat we saw had an interesting hull. If you click on the picture above to enlarge it, you’ll see what appears to be a flat bottom under the familiar shape of the bow.

After taking a short walk along the waterside, we went up to the Barley Brothers Brewery and Restaurant. Donna and I ordered glasses of oatmeal stout – Donna had a pint and I had the large 23 ounce pour.

Donna at the Barley Brothers Brewery with stout

Donna at the Barley Brothers Brewery with oatmeal stout

The beer was good but I thought it had a lingering bitterness that I don’t expect from oatmeal stout. Donna ordered a plate of mussels in a broth and I went for the pastrami sandwich – it was really tender, thinly sliced pastrami with apple slaw, swiss cheese and thousand island dressing on rye. It was yummy! The portion was big and the sandwich was rich – more than I’m used to eating, but I managed.

The view from the brewery was great.

View from Barley Brothers Brewery

After the big lunch, we went down to the rodeo grounds to scope out the area – we’ll be moving there on Monday. Then we went grocery shopping. Donna had quite a list of things she needed to prepare hors d’oeuvres for tomorrow’s Super Bowl game.

Today the temperature should be well into the 70s. We’ll get out and enjoy the nice weather.

More Number Crunching

I mentioned in my last post how cool the temperature was after a cold front blew across southern California and into Arizona. The thermometer hasn’t touched 60 since we arrived in Lake Havasu City. When we were in Jojoba Hills, we also had a cold spell. I put about 18 hours on the generator running the heat pumps for two days while we were there. I wondered at the time how efficient that was. Would I have been better off running the propane furnace?

Our Onan 7.5kW Quiet Diesel generator consumes an average of a little over half a gallon of diesel fuel per hour. Diesel fuel is currently down to about two bucks per gallon – so let’s assume $1.20/hour fuel cost for the generator. Of course the generator isn’t just supplying electricity for the heat pumps – it’s also powering the hot water heater, charging the batteries through the inverter, allowing the use of the induction cooktop and microwave oven and any other 120-volt AC appliances.

I did some research and found that our Suburban model SF42F propane furnace requires 40,000 BTU/hour input. One gallon of propane supplies about 91,000 BTU, so the furnace will burn about 0.44 gallons per hour. It will also draw about 11.5 amps of electricity from the battery bank. Propane fuel prices seem to vary widely. I haven’t bought propane since January of 2014 and we still have over a quarter tank in our 44-gallon propane tank. I was told that I could find propane for as little as $1.20/gallon if I searched around or I could have propane delivered to my rig for about $2.60/gallon. That’s a pretty wide spread. If I split the difference and call it $2.00/gallon, I would burn about $0.88/hour of propane. But, I would still have to run the generator sooner or later to recharge the battery bank.

The owner’s manual for our Onan generator recommends a minimum of two hours per month of running time with at least a 50% load. Generators like to be run – sitting for long periods without running them can result in corrosion of the electrical windings and components and degradation of the fuel system. Running the heat pumps with the generator provides a sufficient load to get it up to full operating temperature.

When we’re plugged into a full hook-up site, there’s no question about it – use the heat pumps. Electricity is generally included in a full hook-up site, unless we’re on a deeply discounted monthly rate where the electricity is metered.

After crunching these numbers, I think I’ll continue doing what I’ve been doing. When we’re off the grid, I’ll use the generator and heat pumps as long as the ambient temperature is above 40 degrees. Below that temperature, the heat pumps become inefficient and we’ll switch to the propane furnace. Hopefully we won’t have to do that because one of our goals is to stay away from cold temperatures!

The lingering cold air mass made the past couple of days somewhat boring for me. I ventured out to pick up groceries at a Walmart Supercenter a few miles away on Monday. It was a cold ride on the scooter. Donna made salmon patties with canned wild Alaskan sockeye and served it topped with parsley mayo over a bed of mixed greens Monday night. It was delicious.

Salmon patties over mixed greens

Donna has mostly been tied up at her computer writing articles for Quill.com. She has one more to complete before close of business on Friday. She takes a break for about an hour each day to go for a walk or run in the area.

I’ve been reading most of the time. The cool temperature combined with 15-20 mph wind is keeping me indoors. I take a walk around the park to stretch out and get some fresh air. On one of my walks, I saw a rare motorhome here in the park. It was a GMC motorhome. These were built by General Motors at the Pontiac truck and bus plant from 1973 to 1978. They’re unique motorhomes that were considered ultra-modern at the time. General Motors is the only US car company that built complete motorhomes. They were designed for comfortable travel as well as camping.

GMC motorhome here in the Havasu Falls RV Resort

The chassis is a front wheel drive configuration. GM used the 455 cubic inch (7.5L) Oldsmobile engine from the Toronado coupled to the Turbo-Hydramatic 425 automatic transmission. They were built in 23-foot and 26-foot configurations. I read that 90% of the production was the 26- foot length.

GMC motorhome chassis – Wikipedia photo

These rigs were low to the ground due to the front wheel drive configuration and aerodynamic by motorhome standards. The example here in the RV park looks to be fully restored to showroom condition.

Today the weather should begin a warming trend. We should see temperatures in the 60s today, followed by the 70s this weekend. The warming trend is expected to continue next week with high temperatures reaching the 80s! We’ll get out and explore around the lake.

Full-Time Costs in 2015

Wow, we’re into February, 2016 already. Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’.

At the end of the year, my bank sends me a summary of purchases made on my Visa credit card. Since I always put campgrounds on the card, I can pull that category and see what we spent. I also put fuel on either my Visa card or Pilot/Flying J card, so I can track that easily. Also, maintenance costs go on my Visa card.

People are often curious about what we spend on this lifestyle. I decided to share a breakdown of maintenance, fuel and campgrounds (which includes utilities). Other expenses like food, clothing and restaurants are no different than when we lived in a stick-and-bricks home. Likewise, health insurance and healthcare haven’t changed – well, health insurance has gone up but it would’ve done that even if we never hit the road.

Maintenance costs for us in 2015 were minimal. We didn’t have any major breakdowns – it was mostly scheduled preventive maintenance. We spent more in the first year owning this coach as I brought everything up to snuff. Hopefully we’ll continue to pay for scheduled maintenance and not have major repair bills. In 2015, we spent $982.15, a monthly average of $85.85. I did most of the work myself keeping the costs low.

We traveled extensively in 2015 – about 10,000 miles in the motorhome. I was surprised to see how low our fuel costs were – thanks in no small part to the low fuel prices. Our fuel costs include diesel for the coach and generator and gasoline for the scooter. In 2015, we spent $3,278.15, a monthly average of $273.18. I expect our fuel costs to be lower this year as prices have fallen even lower and we won’t put on as many miles.

Our largest expenditure last year was on campground fees. We stayed in several parks that are pricier than we normally pay. Campgrounds in the east tend be priced higher than many of the places we find in the southwest. Also, we usually take advantage of monthly rates in San Diego and Arizona. We try to have a few days of free boondocking through dispersed camping on public land or an overnight here and there at Walmart, Cabela’s or casinos as we travel. Our campground cost for 2015 was $7,441.15, a monthly average of $620.10, a daily average of $28.08. I expect this expense to be similar this year.

Adding these three RV expense categories together, we spent $11,701.45 in 2015, a monthly average of $975.12. This is much less than we paid for mortgage, utilities and maintenance in the sticks-and-bricks lifestyle – and we’re seeing the country while we’re at it.

One area of expense is higher than we paid in our sticks and bricks. That’s telephone, internet and satellite TV. In our sticks and bricks we had Comcast for cable TV, highspeed internet and a landline at a cost of about $180/month and Donna had a cell phone at $50/month – my cell phone was provided by my company. Now we have two smartphones, a Verizon Jetpack with a 30GB data plan and Dish Network with over 200 high definition channels. Our monthly expense is about $351 – that’s $4,212 per year. Comcast probably costs more than the $180/month we paid three years ago, but I don’t know what the current rate is.

I didn’t list our full-timers insurance policy costs for the coach and trailer or the scooter insurance. I don’t think it’s helpful to anyone because insurance rates vary based on value of the vehicles, coverage limits and deductibles, driving records, credit scores and the state you’re registered in. Our insurance costs overall are lower than the homeowner policy and motorcycle insurance we had before we hit the road.

We pulled out of our boondocking site at Dome Rock near Quartzsite, Arizona around noon yesterday. It was windy – the wind was coming from the west at about 20mph. It was steady with few gusts so driving wasn’t too stressful.

We drove east through town and then north on AZ95. This route was fairly level and mostly straight to Parker, Arizona. It was cold – the thermometer never reached 60 degrees. Once we passed through Parker, AZ95 hugs the Colorado River. At one of the many resort areas along the river, I saw someone water skiing! Even with a wetsuit it had to be cold.

The road north from Parker to Lake Havasu City has many hills and twists. The road surface was good. It’s mostly two-lane highway with occasional passing lanes. We cruised at 58-60mph. The engine ran very cool – I couldn’t keep it up to temperature in the cool air with the wind blowing across the radiator. The coolant temperature reached 186 degrees on a couple of the longer climbs, but mostly hovered around 178-180 degrees. Running too cool isn’t as worrisome as overheating, but it can lead to incomplete combustion and fuel dilution in the crankcase oil. Diesels run more efficiently at a coolant temperature around 190 degrees.

Lake Havasu City is a town with a population of about 52,000. It sprawls along the man-made lake. We’re located on the north side of town at the Havasu Falls RV Resort (map). This park has tight pull-though sites 50 feet long by 22 feet wide. They are paved and level. I managed to get our 56-foot length into the pull-through without dropping the trailer by pulling in at an angle with the trailer slightly turned.

Site 67 Havasu Falls RV Resort

The RV park is on high ground with a view of the lake/river.

View looking southwest from the RV park

Although we have have clear, sunny skies today, the cold front that blew in yesterday will linger. I doubt if we’ll see a temperature above the low 60s. The weather guessers are calling for a slow warming trend with the temperature reaching the 70s by this weekend. We’ll stay here and explore until next Monday. Then we’ll move to the rodeo grounds on the south side of town for the Alpine Coach rally and the Western Winter Blast Pyrotechnics show.

Cradle to Grave in Quartzsite

Friday was our last full day at Golden Village Palms RV Resort in Hemet, California. We started with our usual time on the pickleball courts and played until nearly noon. I spent the afternoon organizing the trailer and packing everything away. It was just about 5pm by the time I loaded the Traeger and scooter and locked the trailer. It was time for a shower and happy hour. Our friends Ron and Marilyn Cross invited us for dinner at their place but we took a rain check until next time.

Donna took her backpack and walked to Marshalls where she returned a couple of items, then walked to Stater Brothers to pick up a few groceries. When she returned and emptied her backpack, Ozark thought the backpack was a nice place for her to explore. She crawled into the backpack and made herself comfortable. We were surprised to see her do that – she doesn’t usually like to get under covers but she was happy to hide in the backpack.

Ozark peeking out of her backpack hideout

Our last sunset at Golden Village Palms

We hoped to make an early getaway Saturday morning but we weren’t ready to hitch the trailer until 10am. A few minutes later we were on the road. I wanted to leave early because high winds were in the forecast for the afternoon. We took CA79 north to Beaumont where we hit I-10 east. The wind picked up but it was a tailwind as we headed east. With the tailwind and downgrade from Banning to the desert floor, we were coasting along at 62mph. We made a stop for fuel in Thousand Palms at the Pilot/Flying J travel center. I probably could’ve waited until we crossed into Arizona to fuel up and save a few bucks, but I don’t like running below a quarter tank. I took on 50 gallons for peace of mind.

East of Indio, I-10 climbs to Chiriaco Summit, then drops back down to the desert. The wind shifted and we had a cross wind from the south. In a few areas there were columns of dust blowing – not really a full-on haboob – just a light dust storm.

Dust storm ahead seen through the windshield

Donna sent a text message to Jeff and Deb Spencer (Rolling Recess) when we crossed the border into Arizona. They’ve been here for about three weeks now – they had a booth in the big tent for the Quartzsite RV show. Jeff told us to take the Dome Rock exit and follow the road for about two miles and we would see his GMC Denali pickup truck. The Dome Rock Road exit is about 11 miles into Arizona. We found Jeff and his wife Deb waiting for us on the side of the road. They led us back to the area where they’re boondocking. It turned to be only a few hundred yards from the place we stayed two years ago. I wrote about it in this post.

We set up quickly in a level spot with plenty of open space around us. The road we followed in dead ends at a wash, thus we have very little traffic here (map).

Our piece of desert west of Quartzsite on Dome Rock Road

Donna invited Jeff and Deb to join us for dinner. In her usual fashion, Donna chose a recipe she’d never made before to serve our dinner guests. She prepared a Marseilles-style shrimp stew with fresh shrimp she picked up the night before at Stater Brothers. She also toasted French baguette slices and spread them with rouille (a sauce made with mayo, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, cayenne and paprika). It was delicious. The toasted baguette with rouille was the perfect accompaniment for the stew – that and a bottle of champagne.

Marseilles-style shrimp stew with toasted baguette

Jeff brought firewood and built a fire on the leeward side of our rig. We’re parked facing west and the wind from the south hits the driver’s side, making a nice wind block on the passenger side. While we were eating dinner inside, the wind really picked up.

Long shadows as the sun sets in the desert

I had four camp chairs set up around the fire. While we were eating dinner, we heard one of the chairs blow over. Jeff went outside and found it in the fire! It was one of the chairs we bought here at the Quartzsite big tent two years ago. Jeff joked about its lifespan being cradle to grave in Quartzsite. Oh, well. Donna’s had her eye on some new chairs.

Chair didn’t fare well in the fire

After dinner, I pulled the living room slide in – the wind was causing the slide topper to flap like crazy and make quite a ruckus. We went outside and sat around the fire. Deb cooked up s’mores while we chatted. As usual, the time flies while we’re enjoying good company. It was past 10pm before we knew it.

This morning, Donna and Deb went out for a three-mile power walk. After their walk, we toured their Domani fifth-wheel trailer. They pulled out today. We plan to spend another night here before we head up to Lake Havasu tomorrow. The wind is blowing again and is expected to increase throughout the day. I’ll probably pull the living room slide in again tonight.

This morning, our Verizon reception was weak – a couple of bars of 3G. I almost skipped writing a post because of it. Then I relocated the Jetpack and the signal improved to two bars of 4G LTE. It’s always nice to have an Internet connection.

Leaving SoCal

My time here at Golden Village Palms RV Resort in Hemet, CA (map) has been mostly consumed by playing pickleball. It’s such a fun and social game, Donna and I both love it. Donna has had a number of writing assignments cutting into her pickleball and free time – but hey, a little cash flow always helps. Of course, our main reason for relocating here was to assist my step-dad, Ken Keller, through his pre-operative and post-operative surgery. Thankfully he’s come through that without any complications and is back to living his usual routine.

We extended our stay here by a week to be sure Ken was alright. When I extended the stay, a gal at the office named Espey did us a real favor. The usual weekly rate for a Premium-Plus site is $378 – which we paid when I originally booked online. When I extended our stay for another week, she took the time to book each day as a daily reservation applying our Good Sam and Passport America discounts for each night. This resulted in the second week booking at $246. A savings of $132 – it took her a bit of time to circumvent the usual computerized booking method, but she was willing to help us out! Nice!

My pickleball game has improved with the nearly daily play. I’ll have one more day of play before we move on. Donna and I are both feeling the hitch itch and we planned our next move on Wednesday night. We’ll leave here Saturday morning and make the 180-mile drive to Quartszite, Arizona. Our friends, Deb and Jeff Spencer (RollingRecess) are still there and they decided to stay an extra night so we can meet up.

Our original plan was to meet with a number of nomadic friends and acquaintances in Quartszite last week, but being available for family needs trumped that plan. So now we intend to boondock near Dome Rock – just west of town for Saturday and Sunday nights, then move on to Havasu Falls RV Resort in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. After a week there, we’ll move to the rodeo grounds in Lake Havasu City for the Alpine Coach Association rally at the Western Pyrotechnics Convention and Fireworks show. This should be a good time.

In preparation for our travels, I checked tire pressures on the coach, trailer and scooter and broke out our Porter-Cable compressor to set them to the proper pressure on Thursday afternoon. I don’t take tire pressure for granted – tire failure is no joke and under-inflated tires are the number one cause of blow-outs. I also checked and topped off the oil level in our Onan 7.5kW Quiet Diesel generator. Today I’ll stow the windshield cover and load the trailer. We should be set to roll and ready to boondock fairly early on Saturday. I’m looking forward to a couple of very quiet nights in the desert.

Donna walked to Marshall’s yesterday afternoon to do some shopping. She said it was the nicest Marshall’s store she’s ever been to. After Marshall’s, she stopped at CVS and then Stater Brothers where she picked up some tilapia for dinner. She plans to go back to Stater Brothers today to re-stock our pantry for the next two weeks on the road. She loves it when we’re parked within walking distance of a variety of stores.

Fresh Mexican tilapia over sauteed mushrooms with roasted sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli

The weather yesterday was the nicest we’ve had since our arrival in Hemet. The temperature reached the upper 70s with clear, blue skies and little wind. I know I shouldn’t complain by saying this has been the coldest, wettest season since we hit the road over 30 months ago as it doesn’t compare to what many experience in the north or east coast. But one of the reasons for choosing the nomadic lifestyle is to follow the sun!

I’m not sure if I’ll post this weekend – if I remember correctly, we should have a good Verizon signal at Dome Rock and I can update at some point.

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Western RV/Alpine Coach

Tight Squeeze

Western Winter Blast

Along Came a Spyder

Reeper Test Drive

Blue-Green Water

London Bridge

More Number Crunching

Full-Time Costs in 2015

Cradle to Grave in Quartzsite

Leaving SoCal

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