A change of plans......

6:51 am - Saturday - April 13th - Fontana, CA - 44° F, 53% humidity, wind 6 mph out of the north......clear blue skies today with a forecast high of 81° F.

I woke up to a cryptic text message from Glenn and Laureen with a time stamp of 6:57 am saying "Propane is not coming on so no heaters and stove burners don't come on using BIC lighter...".  I had just gotten up, and I appreciate that they sent a text just in case I wasn't conscious yet.  I immediately called them.  As I wrote in yesterday's blog entry 'we' discovered that what we thought was a full propane tank, was actually a quite empty propane tank.  It took a little troubleshooting before I was convinced that was the problem, but ultimately it was, and that explained why the propane generator would only run for a few seconds before stopping.  That was a simple fix......there is a propane dealer less than a mile from Ernestine's property where they had the tank filled with 39.5 gallons of propane in their 40 gallon tank....yup, it was quite empty.

Of course, right after that the generator started and ran smoothly, the gas heaters worked, and the fridge began working again in the 'GAS' mode.  From there they headed a few blocks into town to have 6 new 22.5" tires installed.  It was determined during the installation that the front brakes have very little wear showing.....another piece of good news.  So rear and front brakes have been redone at some time in the past 10 years, and they will never have to worry about relining the brakes in their lifetime.

Throughout the day we exchanged text messages as they prepared to depart Yuba City.  Their original plan had been to drive to Colorado Springs to retrieve a vehicle Glenn bought from his brother (Honda Element) which will be used as their 'toad' car.  If you have been watching the Weather Channel you probably know Colorado has been slammed with a Spring snow storm, and it is quite cold, and snowy there.  I suggested via text that they consider heading directly south on I-5 and come to visit us, then head to Mesa, AZ to have a service done on their Newell at All Aboard America, and then head home to Austin, TX directly from there.  After careful consideration they agreed, and changed their plans....I like their flexibility in changing the Jello plan...they're getting the hang of this lifestyle quite quickly!

By the time they let Yuba City it was after 2 pm, so I found a small RV park with nothing but pull through sites about 160 miles south just off I-5 for them to overnight.  They arrived there about 5:45 pm after a lovely first day of travel in their Newell.  They will probably arrive here in Fontana late Saturday, or early Sunday.

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A picture from Glenn and Laureen's first RV park this morning

I spent most of the day watching the 2nd round of the 'Masters' which saw Tiger Woods pull within one stroke of the lead by the end of the round.....a very good day for many of the world's best golfers.....there are five tied at -7, and four (including Tiger) tied at -6, another four, or five tied at -5......should be an interesting weekend.

During that time I pulled out our four Newell manuals to go through them to weed out the documentation which no longer applies.  Many appliances have been replaced, so it was time to remove the old owners manuals, and sort through all the new documentation I have accumulated over 11 years of ownership and get it all properly filed.......

 The now empty manuals....we went from four 3 ring binders down to the two below.....↴

What is left.....just two manuals

.....in the top picture you will see two piles of documentation....the left pile already has holes so they can be put into the remaining two manuals, and the right pile needs holes punched.

The 2nd round of the Masters ended just before 4:45 pm, so we headed into the Elks Lodge for Friday night dinner.  Two of our daughters and their families wanted to meet us for dinner there, and they joined us shortly thereafter......

Left to right: Moi, Elijah (Kate's son), Nick, Kate, TLE, Rod and Sharon.....the other kids were at the 'children's table'

.....we had a typical Hockwald dinner with multiple conversations going at the same time for 90 minutes, or so.  After dinner, which was quite good by the way, we retired to the patio area behind the RV section where the kids played, and the adults continued their many conversations for another hour before the setting sun, and dipping temperatures signaled an end to another great time spent with family.

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The rest of the inspection story......

6:54 am - Friday - April 12th - Fontana, CA - 50° F, 74% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the north.......clear skies today with a forecast high of 76° F.

We awoke Thursday morning knowing our initial inspection mission had been successfully accomplished.  I had a scheduled flight out of Sacramento at 12:10 pm, but Glenn and Laureen had cancelled theirs since they had decided to buy the 1984 Newell and drive it home to Texas.  I needed to be at the airport an hour ahead to print my boarding pass, and get through security, so we left Yuba City around 10 am heading south to the Sacramento International Airport located just north of the city for which it is named.

As I sat in the airport I reflected upon the whirlwind of activity over the last two days, and was still amazed we accomplished so much, and actually got to a decision point by early afternoon on Wednesday.......

......I didn't have long to reflect, however, as within 30 minutes of my arrival at gate B-16 it was time to board my flight.....

.......before I left Yuba City I had begun to write my daily blog post describing the events of Wednesday, but by the time I had downloaded all the pictures I wanted to use it was time to get breakfast, and get dressed to drive to the airport, so I deferred finishing it until I got back to Fontana.  That post did not go up until mid afternoon after I arrived home, as you know.

Overnight I was thinking about other things we had checked, and did not mention, which might have jumped out at you when you read that bullet list of things we checked.  We also checked the Dometic Classic refrigerator (works on gas and electric) and it worked in both modes (gas/electric) cooling down to the appropriate temps for the freezer and refrigerator.  We also turned on the Norcold refer in the basement and it worked well.  We verified that the rear brakes had been done about 15,000 miles ago.  The front brakes will be checked Friday when Glenn and Laureen have the 6 new tires installed.

One thing I did not get around to checking was the Magic Chef stove (there is no oven, but there is a microwave/convection) to see if the burners would light.  I mentioned I did check the three Suburban gas furnaces and they provided hot air over the few minutes I operated them.  The propane gauges on the propane tank and dashboard indicated there was propane, and, in fact, the dash gauge indicated the tank was full.  As I mentioned the propane generator would start briefly and then die.  Well this morning (Friday) I got a text message from Glenn at the stove would not light, and there was no heat coming out of the gas heaters.......hmmmm?  I asked him to go outside and open the 'bleed' valve on the propane tank......you should hear a rush of propane/air when it is opened, but there was silence.  Uh Oh.......the gauges were wrong....they are out of propane.....doh!  That explains the problem with the generator.  Apparently there was just enough propane left in the system to briefly start the generator, run the gas heaters for a couple of minutes and to light the pilot light on the Dometic fridge......my bad guys.  Had I checked the stove it probably would have become apparent that they were almost out of propane, as the burners would not have lit, or if they did, they would not have stayed lit very long.

The bad news this morning is they have no heat, but the very good news is the propane generator probably will work just fine once they fill up the propane tank this morning on their way to the tire store.  So, in the end, it appears that everything does work after all except for the dashboard propane gauge.....a minor issue!

My plane landed 20 minutes early in Ontario....there must have been a tail wind.  TLE was right there at curbside as I exited the building, and we were quickly on our way back to the Elks Lodge.  It is so good to be home with my Lovely Elaine, to hear her familiar voice, and to be able to reach across the salon and hold her hand.  Even a couple of days absence makes the heart fonder it seems.

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The inspection, part 2

7:22 am - Thursday - April 11th - Yuba City, CA - 52° F, 68% humidity, wind 6 mph out of the northeast.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 68° F.  

So Wednesday was the day of the big, complete, thorough inspection.   As I woke up around 6:30 am my mind was a swirl of thoughts regarding all the things I needed to do in order to give Glenn and Laureen my best advice, and to identify everything which would need attention, or repairing.  My main concerns were what had been reported to me by Ernistine (the current owner).....1) The front A/C would not run, 2) the gray water shut off valve would not completely shut, and 3) the generator blower would not run.  These were my main concerns as we pulled into the large farm property owned by Ernestine.  Her property (about 40 acres) is a working walnut farm.  

The 1984 Newell has been kept in their 'workshop' since 1988 when they bought it the first time.  In 1991 it was sold to some friends of theirs who continued to store it in the workshop, and when Ernestine and her husband reacquired it in 1998 they continued to store it there when not in use until the present.  So except for its first 4 years of its life it has been stored inside, and its condition reflects just that.....

In front of the coach before the inspection work began

After the crops were in each season Ernestine and her husband, Morgan, would take long trips in the Newell

Just after we puled the Newell out of the 

workshop early afternoon

......we proceeded to work, almost unabated, for 10.5 hours....took a short hamburger break around 1 pm.  During that 10.5 hours we checked the four builtin electric heaters and found they all had to be replaced.....I had the same heaters and replaced mine several years ago.  Following is a list what we also did during that time span:

• Verified that the front A/C did, indeed, work.  There is a switch on the dash (just like mine) that must be in the 'ON' position in order to turn on the roof A/C.  Both  A/C's blow ice cubes after a few minutes of running.
• Verified that the gray water shutoff valves DOES work....nothing wrong with it.
• Verified all 4 Suburban gas furnaces work.
• Verified the electric Raritan water heater works.
• Verified the water pumps work, and that plumbing system will pressurize.
• Verified the inverter/charger/converter works.
• Verified the block heater works.
• Verified the coach will build air pressure, but found there must be a 'SUPPLY SIDE' leak, however, the brake side holds 120 PSI.  The 'SUPPLY' side will build to 120 PSI and stay there as long as the engine is running, but looses all the pressure over 60 minutes after the engine is shut down.  Will have to be checked out.
• Verified the generator blower does work after resetting the breaker switch, but the propane generator will only run for about 5 seconds before shutting down.  I suspect the solenoid which opens the valve enabling propane to enter the engine is defective. They will have that diagnosed.
• Verified the tires are 13 years old so they will have them replaced immediately, if not sooner.
• Verified the toilet works properly.
• Verified all the interior lights, and light fixtures work.
• Verified all the gauges on the instrument panel work.
• Verified the headlights (low & high beam), running lights, turn signals, brake lights, fog lights, and marker lights all work.
• Verified all the windows open and close easily
• Verified the air, and city horns work
• Verified the Jacobs brake works
• Verified the original Bendix cruise control works, and works well!
• Could not verify when the last oil change was....the husband (Morgan) changed the oil himself, and did not keep a log book, or record, so Glenn will have the oil changed, all filters changed, and coolant replaced.
• Verified at 3:30 pm with Blackstone Labs (we overnighted the samples we drew to them via UPS) that the oil and transmission fluid samples checked out, and everything is within normal operating parameters for the age and mileage on the Detroit Diesel 6v92 and Allison 5 speed transmission.
• Took Glenn and Laureen for a 30 mile test drive of which Glenn drove about 25 miles in the Newell.  He did well, and I feel much better about their plan to drive the coach back to Texas.  He had to drive 15 miles on a two way road with a left side cross wind.
• Verified they have an onboard R/O water filtration system, but filters need to be renewed, and the system checked over by a qualified technician.
• Verified all four 8d AGM batteries are in good condition, and they are.  I did this by disconnecting all cables from all four batteries, letting them sit for 20 minutes, and then checking the voltage.....they all registered 13 to 13.5 volts at rest.
• Verified no roof leakage ever.....no signs whatsoever of water intrusion.
• Verified the steering is tight, and the coach does not wander as you drive down the road.

I'm sure I have forgotten a few small things, but this list is the gist of what I did, with Glenn & Laureen's assistance......

  

Had to remove the front bumper to get at the generator

Glenn disconnecting the quick release from the

exhaust so we could pull out the generator

Pulling the generator out

The blower which cools the generator would not run as the breaker had been overloaded and had to be reset to the left position shown in this picture

Wrench we had to use to break the quick release on 

the generator exhaust loose.....2.75" span

After we had put the bumper back on and back 

the Newell back into the workshop....we're done, and now to consummate the deal.

Ernestine and I.....a very sharp, witty, sweet lady

......we finished our work around 8 pm, and after bidding adieu to Ernestine headed for the hotel to clean up, and change clothes.  We were back to the hotel by 8:15 pm cleaning up and out the door by 8:30 to drive over to Pete's Restaurant and Brewhouse for some brews and salads.  We sat celebrating, drinking, eating, and talking until after 10 pm, essentially closing down the restaurant.

It's a done deal.....let the adventure begin!

Celebrating at Pete's Restaurant and Brewhouse......a 

stone's throw from our hotel....we closed the place down!

It was an exhausting day, but we accomplished our purpose and went to bed with big smiles on our collective faces.

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.