Beginning Another Phase, Again

     Well, fair reader, we are back in Sonora, as you have likely guessed. We are busying ourselves with clerical work, doing necessary things like denying grand jury summons, and sifting through the labyrinthine maze that is health insurance. Even so, the Sunrader is, once again, up on blocks, rendering it at least passingly level.
     We will be here for 4-ish weeks, doing the last modifications to our beasty. In that time, I would like to be posting the occasional update, but my track record makes me less than hopeful. Thus, I will leave you with this promise: I will post again when the almond wonder is complete. Therefore, any post before then will be a bonus. ;)

These are a few of my favorite pictures, featuring my family:

The road is long, which brings us home
But it is good to pause the roam
Resplendent journey, yet to end
Gives tales to tell to you, my friend
And when we leave again to zoom
We will, at last, have a bathroom

:-D

The Signs of Ending

Well, our little almond wonder has begun to say: "Enough! Get home and finish me, already!"
Allow me to elaborate: today, we have blown two fuses, fried our inverter (leaving our laptop dead and me to type this on my phone), had our new radio cease working at a very intense place in our current audio book(fear not, I fixed it), our water run out(this was planned), and the big dog puke in the rv. Sigh
We are, currently, in southern California, hoping to arrive back in Sonora, our current base of retrofitting, late tonight or mid tomorrow.
As a post that was phoned in (pun intended), it is quite short. I hope you have enjoyed it;have a great day. :)

A Cold Night at a Great Site

A cold night at a great site

        First, to catch up:

        I forgot to mention, in Tucson, we saw a huge, tornado like dust devil.

        We had a scare with our transmission, mainly that, while in Flagstaff, it refused to engage reverse, forcing us to push the RV out of its parking spot. As it was Saturday, when this happened, we stayed in the local KOA, testing out that experience, until Monday. The KOA was awesome, and we were at the AAMCO bright and early on Monday, at which time the rv decided to behave perfectly, and the AAMCO people seemed to think we were crazy. (I swear; it was broken! Yeah…I’m sure it was…transmissions fix themselves all the time.) Sigh.

        That brings us to yesterday, which was the day of AAMCO. We headed West, to Williams and the ranger station there, to get information on dispersed camping, in the area. After meeting with an affable ranger, getting many, gigantic maps, and swinging through Safeway to stock up on food for the next week or so, we headed north towards the Grand Canyon, talking and having a grand old time.

        We decided to stop short of earth’s biggest above water crack, so we pulled out one of the handy maps and decided that fire road 688 was our lucky spot.

        Sure enough, roughly half a mile in, on road 688D, we found this wonderful campsite.

        Nearby is a large section of turned up earth with many fallen trees, so we decided to walk there to gather our firewood. Cal and Naga chased a rabbit and were, in general, ecstatic to be off leash.

        After much playing, wood gathering, and general settling in, Morgan and I were sitting out by our fire pit, the little pup having wandered off, when said little one comes gallivanting back, following his genetic programming to a tee, a cow leg griped tightly in his jaws.

        Did Cal kill the cow? Most likely, no. Did he let that keep him from the biggest stick of meaty goodness he had ever found? Absolutely not. And, most importantly, did we let him keep it? HECK NO! Who knows how long that thing had been dead, flesh and fur not withstanding.

        So, Cal’s unexpected find behind us, we settled into our evening, enjoying surprisingly tasty white cheddar pasta with beef. Eventually, after a beautiful sunset, jumbo marshmallows, and a roaring fire, we let the night wind down and were left with a stunning array of coals that, to me, looked like a continent, viewed from space.

        Thus our evening came to a close and, as the low last night was to be 27F, we revved up our furnace.

        It took much longer than it should have for us to realize that the furnace wasn’t heating…

        We were out of propane!!! :-O That’s right, we had a freakishly cold night ahead, and nothing with which to heat the RV. Now, you may be thinking: “I’ve camped in colder than that, you’ll be fine.” Yeah? Well I’ll bet you had a sleeping bag, and other such niceties to keep warm with. Our accoutrements were meant to keep us comfortable in a cool RV, not keep us warm on their own.

        Thus, I slept in many layers, disliking every compound wrinkle, and Morgan wore heavy pajamas as well, keeping close to multiply our heat.

        This morning we woke bright and early to drive back, away from the Grand Canyon, to a KOA that told us they couldn’t, legally, fill our propane tanks…

        They directed us back up the road to a gas station where the kind woman filled our tank and we, once again, had the liquid of life: that which heats our home, cooks our food, keeps our ingredients cold, and warms our water. It’s important stuff.

        So, fair reader, we have had yet more hiccups which left us with funny stories to tell, and a renewed realization that stuff happens.

        On a side note, I have, for the last six months or so, been trying various protein bars and rating them, for my own use. I have decided to share such! So, if you see a flurry of posts, here, fear not, I have not gone insane, I have just decided to share a little of what I have learned. Don’t worry, there are only 14 so far. ;) I may, also, do reviews on other things from time to tim.

        Thanks for reading, yet again, and may you be safe and warm, unless it would be better for your personal growth to be otherwise.

Power Bar, Performance Energy Bar -Vanilla Crisp

Smooth, mild pleasant taste, very chewy, no discernible aftertaste

****

I'd definitely eat another.

Luna Protein - Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Sweet, a little grainy, kind of odd middle tongue taste, mild not unpleasant aftertaste

***+

I am glad I tried it, and I might eat another, maybe.

Catholes and Progress

        For those of you who don’t know, a cathole is a hole you dig to answer nature’s call, whilst camping away from any developed restrooms. Also, for those of you who don’t know, you should never wait to dig such until it is needed; doing so leads to much frantic scrambling for a good spot and great frustration at uncooperative soil. You have been warned.

        With that aside, we have had several notable accomplishments, over the last few days:

1. Our transmission rebuild was a resounding success, and our little sunrader is happier than ever.
2. Believe it or not, we have found a way to, occasionally, be paid to attend all you can eat buffets. Quick version? Many casinos have free players’ clubs which, upon signing up, grant you a free trip through their buffet, and some free play on their machines. So, as long as you stop when you use up all your free play you can, generally, come out at least a few dollars ahead. (i.e. with more than $0, since that is how much you came in with.) Note: If you wish to take advantage of this awesomeness, two bits of warning: First, not all casinos offer this, look on their website before making the trip. Second, never bet what you aren’t willing to lose, casinos make their millions by making people feel lucky, or like they have a clever system. ;)
3. Since there seems to have been some confusion, let me clarify. I was not hurt during the dog fight mentioned in the last post- that is unless you count mildly sprained fingers. Also, as a point of order, the bulldog in question was roughly the size of Naga, so I am left wondering where such a giant beast came from.
4. I installed a new car radio into our motor-home, allowing the linkage of our phones, and the playing of music off of thumb drives. I am left with a enduring irritation at manufacturers for not using standard plugs, even across like brands, and a satisfaction that I can, in fact, figure out wiring on the go…especially when each wire is conveniently color-coded.
5. Morgan dug a cathole, for the first time, as we disperse camped, for the first time, and was exceptionally proud of the achievement. I, on the other hand, thought it a simple matter, until I found a need to penetrate the incredibly rocky, root-filled soil while in a hurry.
6. As hinted above, we disperse camped for the first time, last night. (i.e. we stayed in a national forest, in undeveloped terrain, and I happily made a roaring fire with countless innocent pine-needles.)
   
   
7. We are, currently, east of Flagstaff, AZ, and plan on visiting the giant meteor crater on the morrow.

        Now, I feel that I should have some, further, funny story to brighten your evening, but, instead, I have a summary of what we have learned, yet again:

        God’s timing is perfect. We may not understand why He allows our transmission to break, or delays us in some other way, but His way is always the best, and I am ashamed how often I am fool enough to fret at delays, which, as stated, turn out for the best.

        May God’s timing be evident in your lives, in the coming days, and may you never cease to marvel at how much better it is than your own.

Dog Fights and Our Brave Little Sunrader

        Today, I broke up a dog fight, and that wasn't the most costly choice I made.

        Now, with the melodrama aside, here we go!

        First, we have been in the Tucson (sorry about earlier misspellings), AZ area for a little over a week and a half. We spent much of that in the pleasant company of one of Morgan’s sets of an aunt and an   uncle. (I swear, I couldn't think of a better way to word that.) They were incredibly hospitable, and we enjoyed our time with them immensely. The primary reason for our extended stay, however, was that our gas tank was leaking profusely, and needed to be re-welded. Sigh

        During that portion of our time, we saw Saguaro National Park, Biosphere 2 (Earth is Biosphere 1, how human-centric is that?), some beautiful caves at Kartchner Caverns, Sabino Canyon, and a lovely casino, which proved a gambling methodology, which I had been itching to try, was very sound…so much so that the casino directly blocks its implementation…sigh - no free money for me. :-P

        Now, not to move on from such wonders, but that phase of our stay ended on Tuesday. Ah, Tuesday, we were so young and innocent, then.

        I will call this next phase: “The Little Engine that Could.” (Please don’t sue me, it just fits so well!)

        Our transmission has been slipping lately. Cue groans from the audience. Yes, there are issues, but here are the amazing parts:

1.      We have AAA trip interruption insurance, thus our hotel/meal/rental car bills will be paid, until the car is fixed. (I cannot recommend AAA more highly. They have been fantastic, in every regard.)

2.      We have been getting 18miles/gallon. (Remember this for later.)

3.      We have been able to do some dirt road camping, and take some steep grades. (Again, remember this for later.)

4.      Looking back, the first indication of transmission issues was, likely, as we were leaving Sonora, back on March 5. After that, we drove all the way to Texas, and, then, all the way back to Arizona. That is a long way.

5.      The AAMCO, here, decided to help us out with a big discount on the whole rebuild, and to double the usual warranty. (Hurray!)

     Now, the information that makes #2-4 above, amazing: (I apologize, in advance, if I get any of the mechanical terms wrong.)

1.      The mechanics that disassembled our transmission said that they have rarely seen a transmission in such bad shape.

2.      It looks like people tried to repair it before, but just sort of jury-rigged it. (There is even an internal part that looks to have been spray painted sky blue, for no particular reason.)

3.      The accelerator cable, which tells the transmission how fast the engine is going was shot…completely.

4.      The valve plate, which was described to me as the “heart” of the transmission, was warped to the point that the technicians are baffled that it could fit were it was mounted.

5.      Several springs were completely unwound, not in the correct place whatsoever.

6.      A “handful” of ball bearings were free floating inside.

7.      Now, combine #3-6, and understand why the AAMCO manager had no idea how the thing was still running. He said that it should not have been able to drive…at all. He has seen transmissions in twice as good a shape, kill their engines on start-up. (i.e. Start the car, put it in gear, engine dies.) This is because of how much resistance the transmission is giving.

8.      Remember #2 above? Yeah, we were getting 18miles/gallon on this baby, and we are assured that the transmission was “killing” the engine’s efficiency.

9.      Remember #3 above? So, with the transmission fighting the engine so hard that it really should have killed it, very, very little power was actually making its way to the wheels, yet we were still able to do all that we did.

     So, there we have it. Our little engine that could, fought through a bleeding gas tank, and ornery transmission to carry us nearly 2.5k miles. The human analogy that comes to mind is a man with a gut wound and an active taser trying to bring him down, carrying an old lady so that she wouldn't get her skirt dirty. WE LOVE YOU LITTLE SUNRADER!!

        Side notes:

        If you are ever in the Sacramento area, and need a mechanic, Exclusive Motors is a fabulous place. They have helped us out so many times, and they are always up for fielding questions, even a year after we left the area. They are amazing! Give them business! ;)

        The most costly decision of today was to go ahead and do the complete transmission rebuild. :)

Now:

        Was I silly enough to stick my arm between our Akita mix and a bulldog as they went at each other? Yes.

        Did I find my arm in a mouth, surrounded by sharp teeth, on multiple occasions? You bet!

        Did my martial arts training kick in, with God’s providence, and allow me to slip around the snapping jaws of unhappy dogs as I pinned the bulldog (who was the aggressor, by the way), in a sort of one handed, shoulder lock? Oh yeah. :-D 

        The important question: Will I, now that I have had time to think about it, ever interfere in a dog fight, again? If I am sane: no…but who knows what I will do in the moment? :-P

        May God bless and keep you all, through what life brings your way and the silly decisions you will, inevitably, make.