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.

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Until next time......

8:14 am - Wednesday - April 17th - Fontana, CA - 55° F, 74% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the northeast......partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 82° F.

We were up at 7 am to help Glenn and Laureen get underway for the next leg of their trip bac kto Texas.  Since they need to have the coach serviced (oil, coolant change, lube drive train, filters, etc.) I helped them make an appointment with Leo at All Aboard America for Wednesday morning.  Leo agreed they could spend the night when they arrived Tuesday for their Wednesday appointment.  When we arrived at their coach they were having breakfast......

.....we talked about what needed to be done before they could depart including disconnecting the city water, the electric and finally dumping their effluent......

......they wanted to take a few staged pictures before we did the waste tank deed.....

This one is my favorite....thank you Laureen!

Dumping and flushing their single waste tank....it was quite full!

.....I'm glad I helped them dump, because now I know how their system works....it is quite different from mine, but at least I can answer questions for them if they arise in the future.

By 8 am they were ready to begin their travel to Mesa, AZ and All Aboard America.....

.....we said our 'until next times', exchanged hugs, and wished them safe travels.....only 1,330 miles until they reach Austin.

After their departure TLE and I got dressed and drove into Rancho Cucamonga to drop some donations at Goodwill, and to do a little junking.  I found a t-shirt I liked, and TLE a couple pairs of shorts for working this summer.  From there we headed a couple of blocks over to my son's office to go through all the stuff we have been storing in his warehouse on heavy duty shelving we purchased from Sam's Club about 10 years ago.  We ended up throwing away a lot of stuff, and making another trip to Goodwill with some more donations.  We managed to reduce our stuff on the shelves by over 1/3.  I have a lot of bicycle parts I had forgotten about, but now they are organized, and if I need any of them I know my son will be happy to ship them to me.

We were home by 3 pm watching a couple of English Premier soccer matches we had recorded, and before we knew it was 5 pm......we got a text message from Glenn and Laureen about 4:50 pm advising they had reached All Aboard America and were 'tucked in for the night'.  On their way they stopped just over the border into Arizona in Ehrenberg to 'pay the rent' for the first time taking on 109 gallons of diesel at $3.05/gallon.

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.

RV School......

7:12 am - Tuesday - April 16th - Fontana, CA - 54° F, 76% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the south.....cloudy today with a forecast high of 63° F!

As I mentioned in yesterday's post we discovered an exhaust leak in Glenn and Laureen's Newel, so Monday was dedicated to getting a temporary fix installed which would hold until they reach All Aboard America on Wednesday where Leo will provide a permanent fix.....

 

The breech is right where the flex tubing 

connects to the muffler elbow

 ......about 9 years ago I found an exhaust leak and applied this same temporary fix.  Went to Home Depot and bought an 18" x 12" sheet of aluminum, cut it down using my tin snips to a 4" x 18" strip, wrapped it around the area of the breech, and then installed two stainless steel hose clamps to hold it in place.  This should get them another 330 miles to Mesa, AZ where it can be fixed properly.  In all, including the time we spent at HD it took about 30 minutes to fix.

TLE and Laureen went shopping after we had fixed the exhaust leak, but when they returned we showed them how to deploy the Zip Dee awning, and TLE spent some time sewing little plastic tabs on their new shower curtain so it could be hung from the little aluminum slide inside the shower......

....by the time we finished with the awning, and the shower curtain it was time for dinner......

.....our first meal shared in their 'new' coach!  

I'm really happy they chose to come south and spend a few more days with us as now I feel much more confident about their knowledge of their Newell.  We spent time hooking them up to 'city' water, learning how to dump their single waste tank using their unique to this coach setup, and talking more about the differences between inverter power, propane generator power, and shore power, and the circumstances under which they would typically use each one.  Glenn and I ran the generator for about 30 minutes under load to determine the operating parameters......the normal operating temperature, and the normal oil pressure.  It ran flawlessly for that time, and the blower ran quietly, and smoothly.

We bid them adieu a little before 9 pm and headed back to our Newell for the evening.  it was a good three days working with them, and as Laureen says.....'RV school is out of session for now!'.

Thanks for stopping by!

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How sublime.....

7:24 am - Monday - April 15th - Fontana, CA - 53° F, 54% humidity, wind - CALM......partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 73° F.

Some might say "Let's talk about the elephant in the room....", but today I have to say, let's talk about the 'Tiger' in the room.......it was so improbable, so unimaginable, so unlikely, so against all conventional wisdom, and yet at the exact same time so delightful, wonderful, delicious, magnificent, and finally emotional.  Tiger Woods has now officially come all the way BACK. On Sunday he walked up the 18th fairway with a two stroke lead in The Masters.  To me it was surreal, almost like I was having a dream watching him sink the final putt to win the 2019 edition of The Masters.......

.......there were so many scenarios developing on the back 9 Sunday.....any number of 7,or 8 different guys could have won, but in the end it was Tiger standing alone with a 1 stroke lead.  He hugged his son, his mother, his daughter and girl friend.....all wearing 'Tiger red'.  It was so sublime.....what else is there to say?

Ironically, my brother-in-law has not yet figured out how to watch over the air TV on the TV in the 1984 Newell (I tried to figure it out for about an hour, but was not successful) so I invited him over to watch the end of The Masters. He didn't realize they had started early due to impending weather, so when he came in the door of our coach it was seconds before Tiger made the final putt to win The Masters.....perfect timing Glenn!

Once The Masters was over Glenn and I got busy taking care of a few more things on the 1984 Newell.  I installed a better hose bib on his city water connection that would not leak.  We adjusted the vents on each engine bay door outward to the 'middle' position so they grab  a little more air and force it through the engine compartment to keep the big Detroit Diesel a little cooler.  We also tightened all of the brass fittings on each MAC air valve to be sure they were tight hoping to find the source of the air leak that empties his supply air tank so quickly once the engine is shut down.  Finally, we discovered an exhaust leak in the passenger side engine compartment which we will address Monday morning.  

By the time we finished it was fast approaching 6 pm so I suggested we all get cleaned up and head over to Mariscos Del Pacifico for a later dinner......

 Bacon wrapped shrimp

.....I ordered my usual shrimp tacos, but TLE and Glenn ordered bacon wrapped shrimp.....OMG....is there really such a thing? I know what I will be ordering next time!

.......we were home by 8 pm each bidding the other adieu for the evening as we headed to ur separate Newell Classics for the evening.  Sunday was a day that was perfect in every regard, and years from now people will be asking the question....."Where were you when Tiger won The 2019 Masters?

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.

MOENY, MOENY......

8:00 am - Sunday - April 14th - Fontana, CA - 59° F, 49% humidity, wind 1 mph out of the south by southwest......partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 79° F.

Saturday began with a screw in our MOEN kitchen faucet breaking causing the single pull handle to separate from the valve which it operates to provide and mix hot and cold water......okay, I know what I am doing this (Saturday) morning.......

It's all back together now, but just under the cap was an allen screw which broke in half causing the handle to fall off the base

......MOEN does provide a lifetime warranty on their products, and I could probably have called them and they would mail me a new part, but I was pretty sure I could drill out the screw, however, there was no guarantee I would succeed in doing so without possibly damaging the threads in this critical part.  It took me about 90 minutes to delicately drill out the old screw, and I broke two 5/64ths drill bits in the process, but in the end I was successful, did not damage the threads, and found the only screw I had which would work to reattach this part to the MOEN valve.  I applied a little 'Locktite' to the screw and reassembled the MOEN faucet......works better than ever!

All during the day we were exchanging texts, and the occasional phone call with Glenn and Laureen.  They began their day leaving Santa Nella RV Park just off I-5 with a Jello plan to drive as far as Castaic (near Valencia and 6 Flags Magic Mountain) leaving them about 85 miles short of the Elks Lodge here in Fontana.  As the day progressed and they finished climbing and descending the 'Grapevine' taking them over Tejon Pass and through Gorman into the Santa Clarita Valley they decided to continue and make it all the way to Fontana.  They arrived around 6:40 pm.......

....and within a few minutes they were parked, we were exchanging hugs, and talking about their drive of 320 miles Saturday.  On the climb over the 'Grapevine' their engine temps never got above 190° F, and it was reported by Glenn that the 'Jake' brake worked just as it should.  Laureen drove a short distance with Glenn doing the rest.

TLE had prepared 'fajitas' for our group dinner, and we sat eating and talking until after 9 pm.  Well, their first 500 miles are under their belt with no mishaps, or malfunctions.  We'll have a few days with them to go over the coach and fix a couple of things, get their TV's working, and break a little more bread......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.