150 Yards......

8:34 am - Thursday - February 21st - Wittmann, AZ - 41º F, 98% humidity (began raining early this morning, and continues as I write), wind 10 mph out of the southeast......cloudy and rainy today (Friday, too) with a forecast high of 50º F....

Can't seem to escape the rain

Our main obsession Wednesday was to move our Newell and trailer to the rear of Tom's property.  Normally once we are settled I don't like to move, but our hosts have their 4th annual BBQ coming up on March 2nd and they will need the front area where we were for guest parking for the event.  As you know it has been raining quite often since we arrived here in Wittmann, and there will be more rain so we waited until the ground was as dry as possible following the last rain storm before moving.  

It was bitter cold first thing Wednesday, so we did not begin to even think about moving until after 12 pm.....right in the middle of the '4 hour window' when the day is at its warmest.  Instead of packing everything up for the 150 yard move I disconnected the hoses and drug them back to the new hookups, then disconnected the electrical cords and placed them on top of the artificial turf which TLE and I then drug to the new site after moving the Newell and trailer.  In all it took about 30 minutes start to finish to get situated in our new site for the next 2 weeks.

Our new site....behind the Newell Barn

The the tables and chairs for the guests at the BBQ are inside Tom and Darlene's large Newell Barn, so both the Newells in there must be moved outside so everything can be set up.  That will happen in the next 10 days I would surmise.

In the afternoon I spent some time with Tom watching him work on his rivet project, and then the rest of the afternoon taking a nap, and doing some reading.  TLE played cards with Darlene and Karen until almost 10 pm.

I will be publishing the 5th and final installment of '2018 Year In Review' later today so be sure to look for it.....thanks for stopping by!

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Relaxing.......

7:53 am - Wednesday - February 20th - Wittmann, AZ - 28º F, 76% humidity, wind 7 mph out of the east by northeast......clear, blue skies today with a forecast high of 54º F.  Today we move from the front yard of Tom and Darlene's home to the backyard, and full hookups including 50 amp electric!

Tuesday was such a nice, sunny day that we just took the day off from chores, projects, home improvement and repairs.  I spent a large part of the day out in Tom's Newell Barn helping him work on his Newells part of the time, but mostly just keeping him company while he rebuilt 12 air valves for a 1998 Newell he recently purchased, and then helping him remove some outside trim on his 2002 Newell so he could realign two large pieces of aluminum skin which cover the outer wall, and then replace all broken rivets, which, in this case, was ALL of them in the middle section between his two slides.  When the rivets popped the aluminum skin shifted almost 3/16" of an inch, and if left unattended would continue to shift, eventually interfering with his slide operation.....

 A lot of missing rivets!

Where the trim pieces where

Click on picture to enlarge....I have circled the area where the aluminum skin has sifted 3/16" ....the panel on the right is the actual slide, so you can see the shifting skin is moving towards the slide.

.....Tom and I have become good friends since we first met about 9 years ago when he had a 1990 Newell at the time, and I enjoy working with him, and talking about everything under the sun.  Since he retired and moved out to the 'country' in Wittmann we have visited he and Darlene pretty much every winter since for anywhere from a week to a month at a time.

TLE, on the other hand, spent the afternoon playing cards with Darlene and Karen (wife of Adri)....they also have a Newell.....I think 1999, with two slides.....and have been here for about a month now while Adrian commutes into Phoenix to work each day......

.....in the above picture you can see Adrian and Karen's coach in the back (left side of picture) next to the Newell Barn, and our coach and trailer in the front of the house (on the right).

While I was helping Tom my new air cleaner arrived via UPS, so now I have another project on which to spend a couple of hours in the next few days.  Tuesday was a very relaxing day.....just what we needed.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Home improvements and repairs continue.....

7:45 am - Tuesday - February 19th - Wittmann, AZ - 34º F, 84% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the northwest......clear, blue skies today with a forecast high of 55º F. 

Monday, following the unexpected rain overnight, it was heavily overcast until mid morning when we began to see patches of blue peaking through the cloud cover.  By early afternoon there was more sun than clouds and things began to dry out a tad.  It never got warm enough for t-shirts and shorts, but by early afternoon I had switched from shoes to flip flops.

It was important that I test the repair I made on the TRICO air operated windshield wiper motor, so I turned on the block heater to warm up the big DD so I could start it a couple of hours later when I was ready.  Otherwise, I spent time fiddling around with the MAC valve I replaced back in early January, and as far as I can tell now it is working as it should, so it will go back with the other spare MAC valves I carry with us.


About 1 pm I lit the fires in the DD 6V92, built air pressure, and then tested the TRICO air wiper motor......it works again!  I don't know if my repair will last, but now I know how it works, how to remove it, take it apart, and put it back together again......successfully.  My good friend, Guy Cobham, owns a 1984 Newell and recently had issues with one of his TRICO air wiper motors (driver side).  He was able to find a truck parts place in Rome, GA (Rome Truck Parts, Inc.) which carries our exact TRICO wiper motor, so if I do need to replace ours I now know where to get one ($175 shipped).

Exactly like mine 

By 2 pm it was getting cold outside again, and time to head inside.....you've got to make the most of that 4 hour window.  

TLE spent the better part of the afternoon working on our curtains.  Several years ago she worked on the front curtains that cover the passenger and driver side windows, as well as the front windshield at night.  The 'pull ends' were getting a little shabby, so she bought some light weight 'ultra suede' material to rebind those ends, and it really came out well.  As the years have passed the other curtains have begun to show their age, so over the past week she has been doing the rest of the curtains.  The curtains themselves still look good, but the ends where you grab them to pull them open and closed needed attention.....

 Curtain on the driver side with 'ultra suede' now covering it

 An 'unbound' curtain end

 The original work TLE did a few years ago on the front curtains

.....the dark brown'ultra suede' looks good, and 'renews' the curtains for a few more years, as well as adding a little color to them......the color matches our faux dash leather covering pretty well, don't ya think?  So, home improvement continues at a brisk pace.  When we get back to Fontana TLE will begin to work on our 'blackout' curtains for our trip to Alaska to block out the midnight sun.

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 may use to buy wine and lift a glass in appreciation to all those who read our blog......thank you all again for following our travels!!!

The 4 hour window......

8:29 am - Monday - February 18th - Wittmann, AZ - 39º F, 94% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the northwest......cloudy today after an all night rain storm with a forecast high of 52º F.

Without the clear blue skies Sunday, and the constant sun it would have felt much colder.  Here in the desert during this winter there is about a 4 hour window during the day when the outdoor temperatures are conducive to t-shirts, shorts and flip flops.....10 am to 2 pm.  Outside of that time window you must wear hooded sweatshirts, pants and shoes when outside, so I just don't go outside until 10 am.

I only had two things I wished to accomplish Sunday.....finish wiping the dirt and grime off the rear cap, and remove the right windshield wiper air operated motor to see why it stopped working.  You will recall our harrowing journey from Chattanooga, TN southward through Atlanta and Macon to Valdosta, GA on I-24 when it rained hard all day long.  I don't think I have ever had to run my wipers for 9 straight hours before, but apparently that put the almost 37 year old right (passenger) windshield wiper on the disabled list.  Fortunately I can get by with just the driver side wiper.....the passenger side is really for TLE's convenience, but I want my stuff to work, so Sunday was the day I decided to investigate the cause of its demise.

Since the windshield wipers are air operated they function independently one from another.  There are approximately 12 phillips head screws which hold the wiper assembly in place on the front of the coach, plus two more screw caps which attached the actual 'wiper' to the motor.  Once you get the wiper detached from the motor and the 8 phillips head screws there are at least 4 more slot screws to remove before you can get at the actual motor.  Then there is one vacuum line, and two air lines to detach before you can hold the motor in your hand.  It took me a good hour to remove the motor, mostly because it was my first time.  I'm sure the next time I have to remove one of them it will only take 20-30 minutes.

 The whole assembly before removal

That's a lot of screws!

Once I had the motor sitting on my workbench there were another 8 screws to remove which hold the body of the motor together, then I was able to pull the halves of the motor apart.  Once I had the motor opened I saw there was a plastic piece that was broken.  It appeared to be some sort of a 'stop' to limit the range of the wiper, but I couldn't be sure that was what was keeping the motor from operating.  Nevertheless, using some super glue, I fixed the broken piece and reinstalled it where it belonged.  The motor appeared to be well lubricated, so that ruled out one idea I had.  At any rate, I reassembled the motor making sure all the parts were moving easily, and then reinstalled the motor....only took about 15 minutes, and there were no parts leftover!  I'll need to start up the Newell to build air pressure to check to see if it is fixed......I have my doubts, but we will find out then.  If not, then more research will be required to repair it, or solve the problem of its disabled nature.

Before.....

After.....all clean now!

Once that was done I got out my telescoping ladder to wipe the grime/dirt off the top of the rear cap, and then called it a day.....by then it was fast approaching 2 pm and beginning to become, once again, inhospitable to t-shirts, shorts and flip flops.....time to head inside to watch some golf!

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 may use to buy wine and lift a glass in appreciation to all those who read our blog......thank you all again for following our travels!!!

2018 Year In Review - Part 4 - Amazon

We arrived in Campbellsville, KY October 18th, got settled in at Heartland Campground, and then began our 8 week workamping odyssey on October 22nd....

Our home for 8 weeks....just a big gravel lot with full hookups

My 2018 Amazon ID card....the same picture from 6 years prior!

 Our gang...

We only saw sunrises on the mornings we were off work.....sunrise wasn't until after 7 am, and we walked to work at 6 am

 Brothers BBQ in Campbellsville....OMG, those St. Louis Style Spare Ribs!

French press coffee at Longhunters Coffee & Tea Cafe in Greensburg

......adjusting to being on your feet for 10 hours per day on cold concrete was not as difficult as it was 6 years ago.  We were 'pickers' just as we were 6 years ago, but it didn't seem as boring, and it was much easier doing a job we had done before.  The learning curve, for me anyway, was cut in half.  We quickly made good friends on our shift, and spent every break, and lunch with them.  It is the circle of friends you have at Amazon that makes the experience bearable, if not actually enjoyable at times.

On our off days we spend time at Harden Coffee enjoying their fresh brewed coffee and fresh baked pastries, and ate several meals at Brothers BBQ.  We only left town one time to drive a few miles down to Greensburg to have lunch at Longhunters Coffee & Tea Cafe, otherwise we just stayed home and rested up for our next shift.....

  Our favorite coffee house in Campbellsville....Harden Coffee

Another visit to Brothers BBQ with good friends

Thanksgiving dinner in Elizabethtown.....left to right: Moi, Don, Di, Fred....back row: George, Linda and TLE

 Snow!

Best 'Peak' t-shirt from Amazon ever!

At Brothers once again....those spare ribs are addictive!

December 19th.....another Peak Season completed successfully....time to celebrate!

......we finished our contract with Amazon on December 19th, and soon after were on our way south to Nashville where we spent a few days being tourists before flying home to see our kids for Christmas.....

That will conclude Part 4 of 2018 Year In Review.....next up Part 5 which will take us to Cedar Florida where we welcomed in the new year......2019....thanks for stopping by!

The little generator that could.......

7:42 am - Sunday - February 17th - Wittmann, AZ - 35º F, 84% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the northwest......cloudless, deep blue skies with a forecast high today of 54º  F.

Our hosts (Tom and Darlene) arrived home from their one month trip to Southeast Asia on Friday, and Saturday TLE went on some errands with Darlene.  While she was gone I decided to disconnect from our electrical umbilical cord and plug into our 'new' Honda EU2000i generator to see if, as advertised, it could power our rear A/C unit, which was really the whole point of buying it, right?  

This used Honda 2000 watt, 3.5 horsepower generator starts on the first pull every time, and runs so quiet.....maybe a little quieter than the Predator, but not by much.  Once the Honda had warmed up for a few minutes I plugged in the RV 50 amp cord, and then went inside to turn on the rear A/C.  It takes about 4 minutes before the cooling unit kicks in, and when it did I saw the amp usage surge, but the little Honda kept up with the surge, and then settled down.  Within seconds I could feel the air coming out the A/C vents getting colder and colder.....YAY!!!  It works!  I let the Honda power the A/C for about 20 minutes before turning off the A/C, and then let it run a few more minutes to cool down before shutting it down.  I could not be happier with my decision to buy the Honda, and once again, have successfully bought an appliance on eBay that works as it should.

I spent the rest of the morning using a micro fiber towel to wipe the accumulated dirt, and grime off the back, and passenger side of the coach.  The rear was particular dirty after driving in the snow and slush in Flagstaff on February 7th.  Initially I was going to get out the hose and wash it down, but one of the benefits of using the waterless wash system I use is that after application you can just wipe off the dirt, and the shine immediately returns....

You can really see the contrast in this picture!

......now I'll have to get out the ladder to finish the top portion!  I managed to get the lower half of the passenger side done before taking a break to watch some more of the Genesis Open (Riviera Country Club).

Around 4 pm Tom took me for a ride in his new 'Razor' for about 40 minutes, and just as we returned I saw that TLE and Darlene had also just returned.  We went inside to talk for a while, and then headed back out to the Newell for the evening. We watched a couple of recorded programs, and then called it another day.

Thanks for stopping by!

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A new 'generation'.......

8:04 am - Saturday - February 16th - Wittmann, AZ - 44º F, 80% humidity, wind 7 mph out of the west......sunny today with a forecast high of 58º F.

Friday began cloudy, but eventually cleared to partly cloudy with lots of sun....perfect for walking around outside in my winter uniform.....t-shirt, shorts and flip flops.  It was 8 days since we dumped our tanks at the Conoco fuel station in Flagstaff prior to descending to a more respectable, and warmer elevation.  At any rate it was time to deploy our portable macerator pump to transfer our current effluent to our hosts sewer clean out, which is about 40 feet from our coach, and slightly uphill.  I took my time pumping out the waste, then refilling our black tank to the 1/2 mark 4, or 5 times to really get her flushed out.  It's been a while since I had the time to really flush the tank properly.

While I was thus engaged we received two UPS shipments of things we had ordered since we arrived here in Wittmann......a lightly used Honda EU2000i generator, and a box of chrome 20 lug nut caps for our front wheels.....our old ones were getting rusty, and quite sad, so it was time to refresh them.  The new to us Honda will supplant our Predator 2000.  The Predator can only sustain a momentary surge of 1600 watts  (continuously at 1300 watts), and, therefore, will not run either of our A/C units.  Our A/C units only draw 10-12 amps when they are running, but when they start there is a momentary surge to about 1900 watts which overloads the Predator.. The Honda, on the other hand, can take a surge up to 2,000 watts, and run continuously at 1600 watts.  We wanted a small generator that could run at least one of our A/C's, or our block heater, and we really want that option for our trip to Alaska this summer.....  

The 'new' to us Honda EU2000i

  The new sparkly ones.....

 The old, sad, rusty ones....

......I spent some time adding fuel to the Honda, checking the oil, and then starting it to be sure all was well.  It works great, but the acid test will be putting it under load which I will do Saturday.  Next I installed the new chrome lug nut caps, and I was done for the day.

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching the Genisis Open (golf) being held at the Riviera Country Club in L.A.  I remember back in the late 80's taking my oldest son to Riviera Country Club to follow Jack Nicklaus around the course when it was still called the L.A. Open. It is a beautiful golf course.....at the end of the 18 holes Jack gave my son Chris his golf ball, which he still has to this day (I think).

As you will recall, last winter TLE and I worked at the Grand Canyon (Desert View General Store), and made several friends.  Sherrie and Kathy were two of those friends, and Friday evening they were both in town and suggested we get together for dinner.  We agreed to meet them at our favorite local Mexican restaurant, Rio Mirage Cafe in Surprise, at 7 pm......

Left to right: Moi, Sherrie, Kathy, TLE.....I like being surrounded by beautiful women!

....fortunately,  they arrived about 30 minutes early and were able to get a table.  I always forget how busy restaurants can be on a Friday night, and this Friday night was no exception!  It took us a while just to find a parking spot.  We had a wonderful time catching up, and reminiscing.  I remember on the first, or second day we were working at the Desert View General Store I told Kathy that although I did not know her very well yet, I knew I was going to like her a lot.  Sherrie worked down the hill from the General Store at the Trading Post, but would occasionally come through the store, and I remember telling her how much I liked her smile, and that every time I saw her smiling it made me happy.  Nothing has changed over the last year!  The food and company was stellar, but by 8:30 pm it was time to bid our adieus and head for home.  Thank you Sherrie and Kathy for the get together......we had a blast!

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 may use to buy wine......lol!