All Aboard!

8:09 am - Thursday - April 18th - Fontana, CA - 63° F, 43% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the north......clear blue skies today with a forecast high of 91°.....oh yeah, it's going to be a warm one for sure.

Our son-in-law, Nick (married to Kate), advised us a week, or so ago that his current job (he works for a housing developer) has him just a few blocks from the Elks Lodge, and would we like to have lunch some day?  Of course we would!  We set the lunch date for Wednesday at 11:30 am at, where else, Mariscos del Pacifico.

Just as we pulled into the parking lot Nick was exiting his vehicle.....I love it when people are on time!  I think this is probably the first time ever we have had Nick all to ourselves, and we enjoyed peppering him with questions about his job, and life in general.  I've known Nick since 2003 when I used to pick him up to take him to high school each day with my son Tim.  He has developed into a good man, and we are so grateful to have him married to our daughter, and a part of our family.....

.....of course this was a work day, so we had him for a little less than an hour.  We will see him again in just a few days as we are going to their (Nick and Kate's) home for Easter Sunday brunch, and are looking forward to seeing the whole family again.

Just after we bid adieu to Nick I began to get a series of pictures from Glenn and Laureen of their visit to All Aboard America in Mesa, AZ to have a full service done on their new to them 1984 Newell Classic.....it is always cool to see you coach in the air for the first time......↴

 Laureen hamming it up for the camera

Before....↗

......in addition to the traditional service they had their exhaust leak permanently fixed.....↴

After↗

......with a whole new section of flex pipe to replace the old, rusted section that was leaking.  They took time to snap a picture with Leo.......↴

Leo and Laureen....the nicest Detroit Diesel 

2 stroke mechanic you will ever meet!

......and one of Darren, Leo's helper.  Darren worked with Leo on our coach the last three times we have been there.......↴

Darren

....we didn't hear any more from them until after 4:30 pm when the work was done and they were paying for said work.  They left All Aboard America about 5 pm and drove 100 miles to the Cracker Barrel in Tucson, AZ where they planned on spending the night, so they are no longer Cracker Barrel virgins.  So our Newell proteges have flown the coop, and are on their own heading next into New Mexico and then deep into the heart of Texas.  They are slowly adapting to life lived on the road in their home away from home.  Glenn has said he finds himself sleeping better at night, and happy to be so busy learning about their Newell.  That learning curve will go on for some time into the future, for sure!

I spent some time in the late, late afternoon paying some attention to our poor Beetle which has been in sore need of a wash for about a week.  She now has a smile upon her face once again, and my guilt for neglecting her has been somewhat assuaged. 

We are anticipating a very warm next couple of days (Thursday/Friday) when temps will pop into the 90's before settling back into the 70's over the weekend.  Our time here at the Elks Lodge is fast coming to a conclusion, and we will be pulling up anchor on the 25th to head for our summer job at Ramona Oaks RV Resort.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel.

A day of Fantasy......

7:55 am - Friday - March 15th - Indio, CA - 56º F, 30% humidity, wind 6 mph out of the north by northwest.......clear blue skies today with a forecast high here in Indio, CA of 80º F.

Waking up Thursday I realized that all the tasks which stood between us in Arizona and our kids in SoCal were now complete.  We had been in Arizona since January 26th taking care of chores, repairs, doctor appointments, surgeries, recoveries, etc. Now, on March 14th we were free to merge on to I-10 and head for SoCal.  I slept as well as I have slept in quite a few weeks, and waking up to warm temperatures, and clear blue skies was such a tonic.

By the time we pulled the Newell out the bus bay on Wednesday and got situated it was late, so I suggested to Leo that we settle the bill in the morning since we were not planning to leave All Aboard America before 10 am.  No one wants to drive through Phoenix during rush hour......no one.  By 9 am Leo had the paperwork done and we went inside to pay the tab.  In all we had the drive axle brake pads replaced, a new spring kit, new drums, a new left axle seal and gasket, new bushings for both rear shocks, and finally tighten up the bolts on the torque rod above the differential housing.  Parts were about $750, and labor was just over $1,500 for a total just under $2,400.....a little painful, but very necessary.....functioning brakes do come in very handy from time to time.

We were pulling out of the All Aboard America parking lot just before 10 am, and merging onto I-10 by 10:15 am......it is just 342 miles to the Fontana/Rialto Elks Lodge.  Of course, you know I am not going to drive 342 miles in one day, right?  Minus a gun to my head I prefer to keep my daily mileage under 300.  Since I hadn't driven much in the prior 5 weeks we decided to knock out the bulk of the 342 miles on Thursday......268 miles to be exact.  That distance would get us to Indio, CA and just 88 miles from home.

In about 30 minutes we had escaped the gravitational pull of metro Phoenix and the big views returned.  We both kind of exhaled and smiled.......

 

.....I turned to TLE and said "Nice to be moving again, right?" to which she replied...."Yeah".  There is nothing which brings a smile to my face more quickly than seeing the road opening up in front of me.

By the time we reached the California border we were down to 1/4 tank of diesel.  We hadn't filled our tank since the Route 66 RV Park (Casino) just west of Albuquerque, NM back on January 25th, and had covered over 840 miles since then.  There is a Chevron station just shy of the California border on the Arizona side that we have 'paid the rent' at numerous times over the years before we reenter the 'People's Republic of California'.  Diesel is at least $1.20 higher per gallon in California than almost anywhere else in the USA.  California taxes the hell out of gasoline and diesel.  We ended up taking just over 135 gallons at $2.77/ gallon for a total just under $400, so Thursday ended up being a very expensive day for us.....  

.....within 5 minutes of departing the Chevron station we were crossing the Colorado River which forms the Arizona/California border and had the Newell back in California after an 11 month absence.

We stopped one more time at a Rest Area about 15 miles east of Indio to take a break, and then began our descent into the Coachella Valley.  The first fuel station we saw as we entered Indio had a price of $3.95/gallon for diesel (that's the cash price.....credit would have been $4.01/gallon).....see what I mean?  A $1.20/gallon difference would mean that 137 gallons of diesel we bought in Arizona would cost us $164 more in California....easy decision.  The way I have it figured, we will not need to 'pay the rent' again until we hit Nevada.

The bugs were out in force Thursday and you could see the evidence of the massacre on our windshield......

.....we pulled into the Fantasy Springs Casino RV parking area around 4 pm, and quickly found a place to park facing east (we don't like to have that afternoon sun beating in our windshield......much better to have it in the morning to warm up the salon quickly)....

.....there are close to 100 RV's in the dirt parking area adjacent to the Casino, and some appear to have been here for some time.  There is no time limit here, and no charge, so it is quite popular in the winter.

By 6:40 the sun had set, and we were spending our first night back in California in the Newell in 11 months......life is good.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel.

Leaving Wittmann........

7:23 am - Thursday - March 14th - Mesa, AZ - 39º F, 67% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the east by northeast......clear blue skies today with a forecast high in Mesa, AZ of 63º F, but we will not be here for that high.....we will be on our way to SoCal!  Roll our wheels in 3 hours!

I was up at 4:30 am Wednesday in advance of our desired 6 am departure time.....this is why I wanted to leave for All Aboard America on Tuesday so I would not have to get up at 4:30 am.  The wind blew all night, and the rain came and went right up until I turned the 6v92 over at 6 am.  We were moving within 10 minutes.  The one mile of dirt road was a muddy mess, but we made it to the pavement without getting stuck.  The key is DO NOT stop once you start moving.

Traffic for a weekday morning was relatively light and we arrived at All Aboard America just after 8 am......perfect.  Leo wanted us to be ready to move into the bus bay by 8:30 am so they could get an early start on the brakes.  We actually removed the VW from the trailer, dropped the trailer and had the Newell ensconced inside the bus bay by 8:25 am.....again, perfect!  

We had not eaten breakfast yet so TLE found a Starbucks a few blocks away where we each got a coffee and a pastry.  We spent the next 2.5 hours sitting outside (me in the shade) reading our books, and passing the time.  We knew at a very minimum they would need the entire day to get the scheduled work finished: reline the brakes shoes, either turn the existing drums, or replace them, plus install new bushings on the torque rod above the rear axle.    At worst the work might not be finished until Thursday, but we were hoping to be finished Wednesday.

Around noon we drove across town to meet our good friends Charles and Bobbie for lunch.  We haven't seen them since Acadia National Park back in September.  Originally we met at a local Thai restaurant, but they were, inexplicably, not open, so we drove a few blocks to their favorite Chinese restaurant arriving there by 1 pm.  We had a lovely lunch, and great conversation getting caught up on each others lives before bidding them adieu around 2:15 pm, and heading back across town to All Aboard America hoping for good news on the Newell.

We arrived there just before 3 pm to find they had installed new rear brake drums......

We have new rear brake drums!

.....the original drums had over 165,000 miles on them, and there was not enough left to "turn" them.  Additionally, one of the brake shoes was down to the rivets, and had scored the brake drum pretty badly. We were prepared for this eventuality, and we are really happy to have brand new rear drums, and brake shoes.  As it turned out the problem with the torque rod was not bad bushings.....the bolts affixing it to the frame were just loose, so Leo tightened them up and we were good to go!  The left axle seal was also replaced.  They had the dualies reinstalled by 4:15 pm, and we were able to move the coach out of the bus bay a little before 5 pm.  Since it was now in the middle of Phoenix rush hour we asked Leo if we could spend the night in their parking lot to which he immediately agreed.  In fact, he provided a 50 am hookup for us just outside the bus bay.....

She's a little muddy, but she'll clean up just fine

......after a long day it was time to close the curtains and relax for the evening.  We watched a couple of recorded programs, and then watched the current episode of 'Survivor'.  We were in bed by 10 pm looking forward to getting up with the sun once again!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel.

Service please!

6:49 am - Wednesday - February 13th - Wittmann, AZ - 42º F (!!!), 50% humidity (!!!), wind 5 mph out of the east by northeast......cloudy today with a forecast high of 68º F (!!!).  I don't recall the last time I woke up to a temperature in the 40's!

Tuesday began with a beautiful sunrise, and ended with another sunset fire, and everything in between went as well as one could hope.  I mentioned in yesterday's missive that Tuesday was the day we had scheduled for the service on our Newell in preparation for our Alaska trip this summer........

......we had disconnected from the utilities, and were rolling our wheels toward Mesa, AZ and All Aboard America (charter bus company) where Leo Witt, our mechanic, would perform our service.  It's been two years since we last had the coach serviced.  We've covered around 12,000 miles in that interim and it was time to change the oil, replace the coolant and all our filters (fuel, transmission and oil), as well as have the running gear inspected and lubed.  We departed Wittmann around 7:50 am, and arrived at All Aboard America two hours later just before 10 am.....love that Phoenix area traffic.....

.....why travel 140 miles round trip to get our coach serviced?  Well, there are not many experienced Detroit Diesel 2 stroke mechanics left in this country and you go where they are.....it's that simple.  Once we had finished discussing with Leo what we wanted done to our baby TLE and I hopped in the VW and made tracks across town to have breakfast at a place we recently saw reviewed on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (Triple 'D') by Guy Fieri......Perk Eatery located in Scottsdale, AZ (Yelp gives them 4 stars on 453 reviews).  You all know I am a 'Huevos Ranchero' guy, and they had one on the menu so I had to try it.  TLE had their 'Chicken on the Coup' (2 eggs any style, crispy sausage, biscuits, and sausage gravy) which was one of the dishes Guy Fieri featured on his show.  For me the Huevos Ranchero was top 5 ever, and TLE loved her dish.....

 Huevos Ranchero

 TLE's 'Chicken on the Coup'

.....we dined alfresco for the first time in literally months, and enjoyed just sipping coffee whilst soaking up the sun.....it was wonderful.  While we were eating we got a call advising the Newell service would be done around 12:30 pm, and it was now 11:30 am.....we had one more chore.....a stop at the Phoenix Trader Joe's which stocks spirits in addition to wine and beer.  I haven't had any of my favorite Finlaggan Islay Single Malt Scotch ($19.99/bottle) in months, which is a Trader Joe's brand, and since we were so close we had to stop in and pick up a couple of bottles.

We were back at All Aboard America by 12:30 pm at which time Leo went over a couple of things which need attention before we leave the area.....the rear brakes are down to 25%....I think they are the original brakes, so they've got almost 170,000 miles on them.  The fronts are at 80%, so I doubt if I will have to have them relined in my lifetime.  In addition, there is a torque rod located directly above the rear axle which needs new bushings.......

Torsion Bar in need of new bushings on each end

......so we will schedule a return trip in early March just before we depart Wittmann to have the rear brakes relined, and new bushings installed on the torque rod.  Otherwise our 37 year old Newell is in great condition. 

One thing discovered two years ago was that the gear oil in our giant differential was about a quart low as the seal had been leaking.  Leo replaced the missing quart of gear oil, and then tightened up the bolts hoping that would stop the leak.  The good news is it worked.  The oil level was the same as it was two years ago.  I had been checking the temperature of the axle each time I checked the tired temperatures over the intervening months and it was always running cool.  Had it been real hot that would have been a sign we were losing gear oil again.

We were out the door heading home by 1:15 pm, and back in Wittmann about 2:30 pm....a much faster drive home with no rush hour traffic!

About 5 pm we headed out side again to have another sunset fire, and did not go back inside until after 7 pm.......

.....we sat talking quietly, and sipping adult beverages....one of my favorite things to do with The Lovely Elaine....thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which we will use to by wine......lol!