Catching up....

Since my last blog post about our garage sale, and our continuing efforts to rid our lives of a lot of "stuff" we do not need in preparation for fulltiming in (now less than) 15 months, we have covered a lot of ground! Now, that was one LONG run on sentence!

In mid May I flew up to Spokane, WA to visit my sister and her family while Elaine went on a women's retreat near Canon Beach, OR. I spent about 6 days there bicycling around the Spokane area with my sister, Hilary, and her family. Spokane is really a very beautiful place, and there are so many things to see, and every kind of outdoor activity you can imagine. I spent one day playing 18 holes with Hilary's husband, Bob....haven't played in 10 years, and I still have all those bad habits! During my stay there my Blackberry gave up the ghost, so I was "forced" to by a Droid....oh my goodness.....it is like 100 times faster than the Blackberry. All of the pictures in this installment of our blog were taken with the camera option on the Droid. I like the quality of both the still camera, and video camera options. In addition, I loaded all the music from my Ipod to the Droid, so I have eliminated two separate items I need when travelling...the Ipod, and my camera. I only need the Droid now.

My sister Hilary and her daughter Caroline

Bike riding on the Centennial Trail (Hilary's husband Bob in the background)

Spokane River and Falls in downtown Spokane....note the 3 gondolas visible in the lower left of the picture.

Rocket Bakery....a local institution, and a reputation well earned!

Shorly after our return from our "trips" to the Pacific Northwest we headed out for a long Memorial Day weekend with family and friends in our respective RV's. In all we had 6 RV's at Rancho Jurupa Regional Park for the long weekend (5 motorhomes, and one travel trailer). We watched Boston trample Orlando in game 6 to advance to the NBA finals, and the next night watched the Lakes do the same to Phoenix in their game six.

Set up by 11am on Friday!

I called the RV park Friday morning around 9:30am and found out we could check in anytime we wished, so I headed over the ARCO station and put $400 worth of diesel in the near empty tank of the Newell...that got us almost to full! Then we headed over to the RV park and got setup by 11am. My brother Philip and his wife arrived around 2:30pm. Philip is in the picture below with Elaine cooking breakfast the next morning.

Cooking pancakes

Part of our extended family - Rex and Joyce. They have a Fleetwood Bounder with a couple of slides.

Our long weekend ended on Monday and we headed home to unpack and prepare for our flight to Austin, TX the next afternoon. The purpose of our trip was to attend the high school graduation of our niece, Sarah Katharine Parker from the Griffin School, a small private arts school. There were 16 kids in Kate's graduating class, and the cool thing was as each graduate was given their diploma someone, chosen by the student, from their family, or faculty, got up and spoke for 5 minutes about the graduating student. Very, very touching, as well as very humorous at times.

My lovely wife Elaine (left) and her sister, Laureen Parker at Precision Camera

Laureen took us out to do a little site seeing, and while out we paid a visit to the well known local camera experts at Precision Camera in downtown Austin. She is heading to Taiwan on business the day we leave to fly home, and needed a new camera for the trip. As is turned out they did not have the camera in stock that Laureen wanted so she paid a visit to the local Best Buy and they did. Precision Camera will match anyone's price, however. Later that evening we returned to downtown Austin on South Congress street to listen to some blues music at The Continental Club, a local institution since 1952. If you are ever in town be sure to check out this funky club. Afterward we walked around South Congress enjoying the atmosphere and the humidity (hahaha!), ultimately stopping in Guero's Taco Bar for a late dinner. They have an outdoor garden with a bandstand, and on this evening a group was playing 50's music....a lot of Chuck Berry....an who doesn't love Chuck Berry?

My brother-in-law, Glen Parker, in front of The Continental Club in downtown Austin on South Congress Ave. Listened to some great blues music.

Small narrow gauge railroad along side Town Lake in downtown Austin

Town Lake

On Saturday we headed over to Town Lake in downtown Austin to take a 3 mile hike around a portion of the lake. This is a great local asset, and the citizens really use it.....there were runners, bicyclists, kayakers, canoers, as well as many just walking. I think the humidty was in the 70's, and the temps at 7pm were in the 90's....very, very muggy! After the walk we were ready for something cold so we headed over to Sandy's for some dipped ice cream cones.

The famous Sandy's....great dipped icecream cones!

A few months after we bought our Newell we met Michael and Georgia who own a 1992 42' Newell. They fulltime in their Newell, and we met them in Newport Beach, CA where they were for the winter of 2008. They are now in Austin, TX at the same RV park we had our min-rally in April 0f 2009. We couldn't come to Austin without spending a few hours visiting with them and catching up on their adventures.

Our good friends Michael and Georgia Day, the first Newell owners we met after buying ours.

And, of course, the main reason for our visit....Katie's graduation.....from left to right, Laureen (Mom), Katie, Jeffrey (Son), and Glen....very proud father! Katie graduated from the Griffin School in Austin, TX.

Waxing eloquent....

8am

Has it really been six months since the boys from Integrity Mobile Detail put a winter coat of wax on our baby? Seems like we were just embarking on our trip into the frozen tundra, and here it is late May (even though it feels more like February) and time for another coat of wax......Tom and Carmello Montoya will be here on Thursday at 8:30am to wash and wax our Newell, and detail Elaine's Thunderbird.

On Friday we will head back to Rancho Jurupa Regional Park where Elaine and I spent President's Day weekend in February. This time 5 other family members, and their respective RV's will be joining us for 3 days of relaxation at this great local park!

After my last trip to Temecula for the soccer tournament I noticed I was getting an error message on the Prodigy brake controller.....the flashing initials "SH" kept taunting me all the way home. I pulled out the Prodigy owners manual and discovered that "SH" was short for, well, SHORT! I put on the right blinker and had no blinking light. I turned on the lights, and had NO tail lights.....ugghhh! This has been the winter for electrical problems. I took the coach into Joel's Automotive Repair (http://www.allmar-tech.com/joels/Joels_New/new_contact.html) in Upland (he has been my trusted mechanic for about 12 years). They discovered a short in the wiring between the brake controller and the rear of the coach which had blown the rear fuse. So, they rewired the controller, reset the fuse, and all is well once again. I go in today to pay my bill (gladly) and bring the coach home to get detailed on Thursday, and prepare for our long weekend.

This past weekend marked the end of the spring soccer season, and the summer tournament season will start this weekend (I won't be wearing my soccer official hat this weekend!). Before we know it we will be starting the fall season again, and Elaine and I will be less than 12 months from retirement and hitting the road in the Newell....yeah!!!

9:15pm

Picked up the Newell this afternoon. They completely rewired the brake controller using existing conduit to run the new wire so there won't be a "shorting" problem again. I decided to check the turn signals, etc. before leaving and they worked, however, the trailer jack was not putting out any turn signals, so they had to rerun those wires....took about 15 minutes, but now it all works.

Great to have the coach home again....we'll be cleaning up the inside in preparation for our long weekend, and getting the outside washed and waxed in a couple of days.

I'm still in mourning as the Lakers lost for the second time in Phoenix, so now they return to L.A. all tied up at 2 games a piece. Hope Orlando can extend Boston a couple of more games, but now am not sure the Lakers will be their opponent the way we have played the last two games.

Simplifying...

We sold 2 trundle beds, dressers, etc.

Part of our strategy for starting our "fulltime" adventure (now just 16 months away) is to divest ourselves of "stuff". A few weeks ago we spent parts of two days removing stored "stuff" from the attic over our 3 car garage. That exercise was in preparation for a garage sale. Garage sales are really cool.......people pay us for the priviledge of hauling away our "stuff". What a great concept!! The City of Ontario requires that you obtain a "garage sale" permit. You are only allowed to hold two of these per year. Failure to obtain the permit is punishable with a $30 fine. We chose the "two consecutive weekend" option. Over the 2 consecutive Saturdays (April 24th and May 1st) we sold a lot of "stuff" we hadn't used in years, and received around $700 from eager buyers.

Our fair city also provides a free pickup of "LARGE" items once per year, so the couple of remaining large items (old entertainment center, 4 poster bed) will be picked up in the next few days. Our garage attic is now emtpy, and we now have the use of our 3 car garage again for garaging cars! What a novel concept.....haha!!

The pieces are slowly falling into place. Our next big task will be getting rid of stuff inside the house as we get closer to our "exit" date. No doubt some of the "stuff" will end up in storage. In the mean time we will be doing a lot of long weekends, and maybe one long trip this year. It really depends on Elaine's schedule. We have two "flying trips" planned over the next 30 days. Elaine is flying up to Oregon next week for a getaway with girl friends from her company, and I am flying to Spokane to visit my sister and her family for a few days. Next month we will fly down to Austin, TX for our niece's graduation and to visit with the Texas contingent of our extended family. Additionally, we wil get out in the Newell over Memorial Day weekend, and the July 4th weekend visiting local county parks (Rancho Jurupa and Yucaipa Regional Park respectively).

Thanks for following along!!!

All purpose room......

As you will recall, we have been looking for an enclosed trailer for the past month, or so. This has been a part of our "master plan" since we bought the 2002 Thunderbird, and then the Newell. There are many ways to "drag" your car with you on your adventures.....flat towing (four down), dolly, flat bed trailer, or enclosed trailer. I guess there is a fifth option...ship it to wherever you are going....haha! That, of course, would be expensive and impractical. The inherent risks with the first three are your car will be hit by road debris, flying objects, oil thrown off by the diesel, and will be generally dirty, if not filthy when you reach your destination. In addition, there is extra hardware that must be attached to flat tow, as well as a transmission pump, and/or a disconnect for the drive shaft. Finally, there is just the extra wear and tear on the chassis, tires, suspension, etc. Modifying our "baby" in this way is not desireable, and subjecting her to the perils of the open road is even less desireable. The added bonus of an enclosed trailer is that "it" becomes an "all purpose room".....at our regular home I hang out in the garage listening to music, working my bikes, cars, etc. This will be my garage on the road when the car is not in it.

So, the search for an appropriate conveyance for the 'Bird has really been going on for at least 2 years (since we bought the Newell), but very, very seriously the past month. Our search has brought us in contact with scammers...remember the Haulmark trailer on Craigslist with the Lamorghini for $3200, including shipping.....haha! Additionally, I've enlisted friends in distant out of state cities to inspect trailers of interest. I even contemplated flying up to Sacramento to inspect a trailer. You might say, "why not just have a new one built to your specifications?" Certainly, that would be easier, but way more expensive, and I really don't like wrapping my mind around the instant depreciation. I always feel like I'm flushing several thousand dollars down the toilet when I buy new. I haven't bought a new car since 1987. The down side to buying used is that what I want is not readily available in the used market. After a lot of research I determined I need combined axle ratings (GVWR) of at least 10,000 lbs, and I really wanted to keep the trailer down to around 20-22'. Typically, the trailers that have 10,000 GVWR or higher are at least 24' long, and may have up to 3 axles. It's rare to find a used trailer under 24' with 2 axles rated at combined 10,000 GVWR.............until this past Friday!

I have been cruising Craigslist (in most of the western states) for the past month. I have been interested in a few....the one in Phoenix would have been great, but it turned out the trailer was really 28', not 26', plus the length of the tongue,which would have put it over 30'......way, way too long.

So, fast forward to this past Friday.....I was searching the Inland Empire Craigslist and came across a 2006 American Trailer, 20', 10,000 GVWR. The price was about 1/2 what it cost to build 4 years ago. Well, to try and make a long story a little shorter, we bought it, and here are the pictures!

Front view...has a locked tool box mounted on tongue!

Not large side door on drivers side...this a 4' wide ramp door that lower!

The view of the interior looking in from the rear beaver tail ramp door

Looking out the rear door.

This trailer was built with a lot of extras......g-flooring, e-track, 2nd ramp door on the driver's side, independent rear axles, locking tool box, sway control, 10,000 GVWR, and finished interior. To boot, the current owner just installed new radial tires....original tires were bias ply.

I will return to Murrietta (just north of Temecula off Interstate 15) on Monday to pick up the trailer. More to follow as we add our own touches to the trailer....work bench, 110 lighting, A/C, etc.

Thanks for following our adventure!

"They look brand new!"

We bought our Newell March 1, 2008. At the time we thought the tires were less than 4 years old with the exception of the right front that had been replaced by the prior owner due to hitting road debris a year before. Tires on any kind of RV (trailer, 5th wheel, motorhome) have a life expectancy. Since, typcially, RV's are not used on a regular basis, and in many cases sit for weeks, or months at a time you cannot judge their condition by the depth of the tread, or their appearance. In fact, it is extremely important when buying "new" tires for your RV that you have the date codes on the tires checked. Whether, or not tires are being used, or sitting on the rack at the tire store, they are deteriorating. Depending on the brand of tire, you can expect 5-7 years of use out of a tire, no matter how good the tread looks.

In our case the Goodyear tires that had been installed by the prior owner just a couple of years previously were really much older at the time of installation than the prior owner thought. I did not know I had a ticking time bomb on my hands.

In mid May of 2008 we drove the Newell down to Tempe, AZ for my daughter's graduation from Arizona State. It was a good excuse to take our first extended trip in our new purchase. All went well until we were about 85 miles from the California border, between Tonopah and Ehrenberg, on our return trip. I was in the #2 lane on I-10 cruising along about 60mph when I suddenly heard a loud "BANG!!!".....initially I thought I had hit something in the road, but quickly realized my left front tire had exploded. The coach jerked violently to the left taking me about half way into the #1 lane. I remembered my drivers ed training from years ago "Don't make dramatic corrections, or oversteer!".....I firmly gripped the steering wheel, took my foot off the accelerator, and gradually regained control, began steering to the right while coasting onto the shoulder about 100 feet down the road. Traffic was light that day and there was no one withiin a mile of me front, or back.

I sat there in the driver's seat listening to the gentle rumble of the idling Detroit Diesel, then heard one of my daughters sitting behind me say "Dad, you did a great job of saving us!". I turned off the diesel, and my wife and I (shakily) walked outside to survey the damage. Typically, when a tire blows out on a motorhome the damaged tire is the the least of it. A lot of times the exploding rubber acts like shrapenal damaging sheet metal, taking out plumbing, wiring, etc. As we walked around to the left front of the coach we soon realized the only damage was the tire.....not even the rim, which was now on the ground, appeared damaged.

Blowout on I-10

The picture above is what we first saw. I then looked back down the road and saw an enormous debris field of rubber going back a hundred feet, or so. Fortunately, we carry Good Sam Emergency Road Service. I called them, gave them the mile marker we were near and they arranged for a tire service to drive 80 miles out from Mesa, AZ with the proper tire. I turned on the generator so we could run the roof A/C's, cranked up the satellite dish, and turned on an NBA playoff game...can't remember who was playing now. Elaine and the girls prepared some cold cuts for a snack. In about 2 hours the guy arrived, changed the tire with the rim still on the motorhome, and had us on our way in 30 more minutes. My only cost was the tire....$350. Good Sam paid everything else!

The next, after arriving home without further incident, I had my mechanic check the date codes on the tires.....they were 7-11 years old! Wow, that meant when they were installed they were already 5-8 years old. I immediately had the rear 4 tires replaced and have had no further trouble since.

The moral of the story? 1) Do not take anyone's word for what kind of shape the tires are in on a new, or used RV purchase. Determine when they were installed (ask for paperwork), and then have the date codes checked to be sure "old/new" tires were not installed. 2) Have a good ERS provider!

Serendipity

Was at the San Bernardino Soccer Complex in Highland, CA this past Sunday getting ready to officiate my first soccer match. I looked up about 7:30am and saw this "Happy Face" in the clouds. Lasted about 30 seconds.....just enough time to get my phone out and take this picture.

Pretty cool, huh? Put a smile on my face the rest of the day.....

A day after I saw the ad for the Haulmark trailer (prior post) in the L.A. Craigslist I got an e-mail from a friend who saw the same one in the Houston, TX Craigslist. I began to think this is a scam. Then the next day I got the following e-mail:

"Hello, I'm the owner of Haulmark Enclosed Car Trailer Elite II on which you've recently shown interest. The trailer is in perfect working condition with a clean title. The price is 3,200 $ , shipping and handling are included in the price. Why is the price so low ? Because I am in a divorce dispute with my husband.The Trailer was bought for him and I no longer need it. I am located in Augusta, ME now and it will be shipped from here. Shipping will be done via Cargo Auto Shippers and it will take no more than 3-5 days (depending on your exact location).The transaction will be made through eBay Solutions for our own protection. If you like what you see,email me back with your exact location so I can calculate shipping costs and to discuss shipping and payment details and also other things regarding my trailer. If you are interested please email me back for the next step.

Sincerely,

Alpina McBride"

First of all, this trailer, used and without A/C, winch, generator, & workbench is worth between $6 and $8,000, so this LOW price is too good to be true. Then to imply that the $3,200 price includes shipping and handling is an even bigger red flag. I recently shipped my mother's car from Ann Arbor, Michigan to Spokane, WA. The cost was $1,000, and that was the low bid by 1/2. I can only imagine what the cost from Augusta, Maine to Ontario, CA would be....probably closer to $2,000, or higher. There is no way this "lady" would settle for a net profit of $1,200 (or less) on this trailer, unless she just wanted to stick it to her "ex". The third red flag is she wants to use something called "eBay Solutions" to complete the transaction. I have been using Ebay for 6 years with over 500 transactions, and I have never heard of eBay Solutions. The fourth red flag is I can find no information on an outfit called "Cargo Auto Shippers". Finally, in my initial e-mail to her I asked several specific questions, and in her reply she answered none of them.

Am I just being paranoid?

If any of you reading this post has heard of eBay Solutions, or Cargo Auto Shippers let me know.