2021/07/03 - Saturday - Vacation - Day 16 - Across the Plains...

 We left early today, because I have been having a tire that was loosing air very slowly.  We left at 8 and headed to Discount Tire.  It was determined to be a valve stem that needed to be replaced.

Of course gas is needed...

We stopped at Beaumont Rest area to eat lunch.

Then more gas....

Now stop for the night at RJ's RV Park.  A VERY old KOA park (based on the building...)  but this park is very run down!

2021/06/19 - Saturday - Vacation - Day 02 - Interuption - Trip to Hospital

We found a Discount Tire so our first stop was to get 4 new tires for the trailer and two new tires for the RV.  While we waited we went next door for lunch.

 While I was getting new tires, C went and got a portable a/c so we can be cooler in the RV.

We finally got on the road a little after 2:00pm.

 Next stop was at a Flying J's for necessary gas.  I finished up and pulled into a parking area.  I noticed Mom M was not responding.  We had to call 911 because she was in the middle of having heatstroke.

I followed the ambulance.  A few hours later she was recovering slowly and we need to determine what to do next.  The Urgent Care stated that they will need to transfer her to a hospital.

We found a campground relatively close to the hospital for tonight and tomorrow night.

We are staying at Prince of Tucson RV Park.  I unloaded the 4Runner and headed back to the Urgent Care.

Headed back to the RV for some sleep.

2021/06/18 - Friday - Vacation - Day 01 - Hit by Semi / Flats

 We left a little of 10

Did our stop at Pilot for the necessary drink for the RV and eat lunch.

We crossed the state line in to AZ.  About mile 7 a semi drifts from the fast lane into the trailer taking out the trailer tire, but luckily did not hit so hard to also hitting the 4Runner on the trailer.  I thought he was going to take us out, but I was able to keep everything on the road.  There was a couple behind me that see it all and pulled over behind the semi.  He was claiming that I hit him.  We waited for the highway patrol.  Once the investigation was done - the highway patrol gave the semi a ticket for unsafe lane change.

We then started to change the tire on the trailer.  The officer left and short afterwards somebody else stopped to help us change the tire.

Getting close to Tonopah, a RV tire goes flat.  So on the side of the road again to change the tire.

We pull in to a Pilot near Tonopah and I can hear tire hissing air.  so after filling up we pulled to the side to change the passenger front tire.

Next is where to stop for the night?...

I pulled into a TA but to see if they had any tires but they did not and during the time of waiting they found a place to stay for the night.  The temp was still above 100...

Almost 10pm we are finally at - Leaf Verde RV Resort for the night.

2020/06/26 - Friday - Vacation - Day 15 - Tire, Long Drive, and Family

We got moving about 8:50.  Our first stop was at Discount Tires to get the van tire replaced.  While we were there we also got all the tires air pressure checked.  The time at the place was only an hour so not bad.

Our next stop was for gas.

We went ahead and did drive to the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center.  The drive is very bouncy and one of the wheel straps on the van came off, so I had to redo that.  We ate lunch in the parking lot after we did our walk/hike.

Our next stop was for gas again.

The passenger front tire is very slowly loosing air and the Smarttire sensor is going off because of it.

We finally made a decision on where to stay for the night near Long Beach, WA.

We headed out for dinner and then finally went and visited family in the area.

2020/06/25 - Thursday - Vacation - Day 14 - Long Drive, Falls, Water, Beach, and T???

We got moving shortly after 9.

First stop was at Starbucks to get drinks and my food.

Next stop was gas for the Van

Now our long drive to the southwest corner of the park.  We stopped at Ruby Beach but it was overcast/foggy

We stopped at Quinault lodge for lunch. 

We backtracked a little bit and we walked a nature loop (the falls was not really viewable from the trail).  We drove all the way to the end of road stopping several times along the way to view water falls.

On the way back we crossed over and did the north side of the lake.

Now that we were heading back, the tire sensor light went off and I determined that it was the back driver tire was bad so I drove further to find a safer stop to change the tire.  Once changed, we drove to Ruby Beach and A and I went down to the beach and walked it.  The fog was still covering the area.

Next stop was dinner at a place in Forks.

We stopped again for gas.

Back at the RV, I loaded up the Van on the tow-dolly and took Turquoise for a long walk.

2020/06/16 - Tuesday - Vacation - Day 05 - Wet and Water

We got moving a little head of time.  But as soon as we got moving the SmartTire system squawked at me saying a tire was low. So I finally found a spot to pull into and checked the tires.  What my gauge says and what the system says is off by 10 lbs.  So I guess I will have to deal with the alarm for now.  That only delayed us about 15 minutes.  So this does not count as a flat!!!

I missed a Pilot, so when we got to Redmond I pulled in to get gas.  And then pulled behind the location to have lunch.

We pulled into a very small campground in Grass Valley this was about halfway between last night stop and getting to L&G.

I did jump on to work and took care of a few things.

We did go for a drive and stopped at White River Falls State Park.  We continued on and headed toward the Columbia River.  We crossed it and headed east before crossing back over and stopping for dinner.

Back at the RV, I did more work and next thing it was time for bed.

2019/06/23 - Sunday - Vacation - Day 03 - Travel - Tire - Cross - Dinner

We got moving a little before 9 so a good start for the day.  I first stop was just down the street at a Pilot to get the necessary gas for the RV. 

As a  big rig passed one of the back passenger tire exploded - for a brief second I thought it was one of mine, but knock on wood, I was good and it was the big rigs tire.

Next stop was gas again and to get a quick bite to eat for lunch.  All morning my back is not treating me good, hurting is not fun!

Next stop was at "Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ Ministries" in Groom TX.  Amanda took some photos.  I was able to walk around for a little bit before the pain in my back was to great. 

As we were approaching our night stop, we kept checking the weather because the clouds look darker and darker.

We setup camp quickly and then we headed out to get a few things.  First stop was at a Petco to get a thunder shirt for Turquoise (which does help keep him calm when it rains (the noise in the RV is to much for him)). 

We tried out a new restaurant called Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen.  The price is good, the food is good. but if you have any allergies, make sure the manager knows.  I had to get a new stake because it had pepper spice in the rub. But they were falling all over themselves to make sure thing were good.  I will for sure go back to them.

After dinner, we stopped at Wal-Mart, Gas for the van, and CVS.

Back at the RV, put tape on the finder of the tow dolly so I don't loose the driver side tail light.

A busy late night.

2019/06/21 - Friday - Vacation - Day 01 - First Day of Travel!

Getting things ready to leave, packing the last minute items into the RV.  And then trying to make sure all the vehicles will fit in the driveway (E.M. car, Graphite, Blue, and the Prius...)

We got moving a little after 9.  First stop was at Costco to get the Tow Dolly tires up to pressure.

Next stop was at Flying J's for the necessary fuel stop in Barstow.  And it is lunch time, so I went ahead and agreed to In-N-Out.  They have room for RV/Bus parking.   When we walked in there was a very long line for picking up and ordering.  Once we got ours we went out to the RV to eat it.

By back pain is not doing good.  Driving I am not having problems, but when we get out and walk around it hurts a lot.

Next stop was at Flying J's in Kingman.

After leaving I should have done what Waze suggestion - take route 66.  Because I didn't do it and got back onto the I-40, there was a very bad accident that delayed us almost 45 minutes.

We pulled off just after Williams at a KOA but they had no available spot, we got back on the road again.  Amanda made several more phone calls and found a place (Black Bart's RV Park) on the east side of Flagstaff.  We got in a little after 8:00 and finally found a campsite that would work.

Unload the van and then head out for dinner to Texas Roadhouse

The cats are doing ok somewhat.  Tiger and Amber are not happy with each other.  Amber will hiss then Tiger would hiss back.  At least Tiger and Pearl can walk by each other without a major ordeal. 

2019/06/20 - Thursday - Getting ready to go

Well, getting everything done did not happen. But what did get done I am very happy about.

Things we got done.
- Two new tires for the front.
- Oils changed (engine and tranny)
- Got CB working
- Replaced the trailer break controller
- Replaced the ABS sensor
- Put in an power cord so it can feed the power at the couch

Thanks to D.M. for getting several of these things done!

I did make a decision not bring the bikes, so removed the bike rack.

So we are not leaving today, we will leave in the morning.

2018/07/12 - Thursday - Vacation - Day 21 - Drive and Hot Tires

We left our friends a little after 9.

We stopped for gas.

We stopped for lunch at a rest stop - but it was not much of one, it was at the top of a pass and it only had a pit toilet, it was basically on an off-ramp.

Stopped for more gas.

it was getting later in the day, and I started checking the temperatures of the tires.  I noticed the driver inside dually was at 170, so I slowed down form 60 to 55.  That did bring down the temperature to 168.  About  30 minutes later the tire was back up at 170, so I pulled off to cool down the tires.  We looked and found a campground in the town so we drove to check it out.

At the campground nobody was at the 'store front' but they had a way to register and pay, so we did.

Drove the van back into town to get dinner and try to find a laundry mat, but they all close to early to be able to do any loads. 

We had dinner and then back to the RV to relax.  While at dinner, I made a phone call to the location where we were going to stay but they are full, so now I am not sure where we will stay for the night tomorrow.  I guess we will wait and see.

2018/07/11 - Wednesday - Vacation - Day 20 - Spiral and Tire

Today was an exploration day.  We got moving after 10.

We headed to Spiral Jetty.  Before turning off toward Golden Spike road, we stopped for lunch.

It was about 11 miles of dirt roads, and Waze had it incorrect, it had a ranch road instead of the intended road to the location, so that will need to be fixed.  When we got to the parking location, I can hear air escaping from someplace.  Well it turned out to be our friends Jeep tire got a leak.  While almost everybody else went exploring the spiral, we worked on the tire.  We could not get the three of the lugs to loosen up.  So I had a can of fix-a-flat, so when it was time to leave we tried to use it, we got more of the stuff outside the can then what went into the tire.

We started back and the tire looked like we had just aired it down for off-roading.  We made it back to Golden Spike parking lot and we need to put more air in.  I used our little pump.  Then the pump stopped working.  It appears the pump died. So now we have a tire not up to the proper pressure.

We drove to the next town and found a place what would patch it and they did it for free.  When they took the lugs off, the air gun did not even indicate that it was on very tight.

Back at home, we finally agreed on where to go to dinner. Yummm. And we thanked our friends for treating us.

We chit-chatted outside until late into the night - said our good-byes to several of them.

2018/07/10 - Tuesday - Vacation - Day 19 - New Tread and Friends

We got moving a little early - 8:45.

Our first stop was a rest area for the necessary bathroom break.

So because we were getting into Salt Lake early, I made a decision to stop at Discount Tire first.  We got there at about noon.  We replaced three RV tires (the one that bubbled, the one that blew and the spare that we put on that looked to have the start of dry rot)  two of them was covered under the cert, the third one I got tread/mileage credit.  Looking at the tow-dolly they needed replaced, so I went ahead and got both of those replaced.  That took a little over two hours.

We finally made it to our dear long-time friends.  I got the RV down the very tight driveway.

We all went and we treated them to dinner at Black Bear Dinner.

Amanda and Mom M and two of the kids (adults.....) went to go see a movie.

2018/07/09 - Monday - Vacation - Day 18 - Kaboom - Messy

We got moving by 8:40, on my way, I noticed that was below quarter of a tank.  The next gas was in Cheyenne, well I put in 50+ gallons, so I was getting very low.

Next stop was lunch at a rest area.

The next stop was unplanned, we had to stop because the driver side, outside dually exploded (and de-lamenated).  When it did that it also disconnected the sewer connections.  So when I first stopped I had fluids flowing out.  And because it was the driver side, I did not want to change it on the highway.  I drove VERY slowly on the shoulder for the next two miles to get to a ramp.  We changed the tire and headed to camp

We stopped again for the necessary gas for the RV, the parking lot was very small for all the RVs that were there at that time.

We made it to the Rock Springs / Green River KOA, they did not have full hookups.  I worked on the sewer connections and nothing was broken, it was just pulled apart, so I was able to put those back together.  But the metal box is now all messed up and that will require a lot more work.

We headed out and stopped at several more stores for projects that Amanda and Mom M wanted to work on.  We finally had dinner and after dinner they wanted yogurt.

Back at the RV, they worked on the projects.  

2018/07/01 - Sunday - Vacation - Day 10 - Drive, Tire, and Family

It rained in the early hours and by the time I got up it had stopped.  We left about 9:15 heading North East. 

First stop was for Gas.

Next stop was for lunch at a rest area.

As we were heading around Des Moines, I started to noticed a vibration, so I stopped at a gore point and sure enough the passenger inside tire had a elongated bubble.  So I drove to the next exit and pulled into the truck parking lot of Flying J's.  We changed the tire in about 35 minutes.

On the way to our next destination I had to drive through some flood water that going over the road.

Getting close to our destination for the next three nights, I noticed that it appears there is no flooding in this region.

We setup camp and headed on over to family.  He (B.G.) fed us dinner and we spent the rest of the night there chit-chatting.   

2017/07/07 - Friday - Vacation - Day 23 - HOT HOT HOT HOT

I got up early and got things ready to leave.  We chatted a little bit with friends and got going about 8:45.

Stopped for gas and lunch at about noon.

As we were getting close to St George, I was checking the SmarTire system and noticed the tires were getting hotter, so I slowed down to 55 MPH (from 60 MPH).

As we approached Mesquite, I pulled off at the first exit and waited in a parking lot to cool down the tires and transmission for about 30 minutes

The next stop I had to do at the top of the hill from Mesquite because the engine temp was get very close to red.  We waited there for another 30 minutes.

We made it into Las Vegas before the SmarTire system went off complaining about the temp of the tire (177). O and the temperature here was 117

As we were transitioning from the 15 to 515 the ABS light turned on.

We are camped at the KOA.  When we setup for camp, the A/C did not want to turn on, come to find out the circuit breaker tripped.  Once that was reset the A/C turned on.

The Cats where very hot, so we got them wet and made sure they were cooled down before heading into Sam Town Casino.

We got dinner, Cheryl and Amanda did some gambling, Amanda and I did some walking around.

I left and once back at the RV found out that the dog had peed on the bed, so stripped the bed, turn the mattress over and make the bed.  Needless to say I was not a happy camper!!!

Amanda and Cheryl returned with pockets a little lighter of money...

2017/06/16 - Friday - Vacation - Day 02 - Another Tire

We got moving about 8:40.  First stop was at Flying J's to feed the RV the necessary fuel.

Once on the road, the pulsating vibration seemed to be worse.  So I went ahead and stopped at the Barstow Wal-Mart.  Well, the tire I thought was bad is bad.  So I changed the tire.

Now the drive was smother, well as smooth as California roads are.

We stopped at John Wilkie Rest area for lunch.  Amanda would not make my lunch, but my mom did :)

The tire sensors was indicating the tires were getting hot (174) so I slowed down from 60 to 56 and that help lower the tire temperatures.

Amanda did some research and we found out that Kingman does have a Discount Tire store so we stopped there to replace the bad tire and get the front two re-balanced.  The manager noticed that I did not have a spare for the tow-dolly and stated that he can check to see if he had a rim and tire for it.  He did and now I have a spare tire for the tow-dolly. 

Uncle P. came and picked up Amanda and Mom M. while I waited to get the tires done.

Once the RV tires were done, I headed over to get gas at Flying J's, and then headed to family by 4:24.

E made a very good dinner even with trying to learn of all of our restrictions and the home made cookies were great.  We watched a movie before calling it a night.

2017/06/15 - Thursday - Vacation - Day 01 - Heading Out

I worked most of the day today.  For lunch I went to the Bar and Mom M and A.M joined me.

Once I finally made it home, put in the last minutes items and waited for Cheryl to get home.

Got the RV, tow dolly, and the van all together.  Of course the Dog was ready to go, but fishing Amber out of the cat walk was a challenge.

I stopped for gas, because after the last trip I did not fill up the tank and it was over half empty.  We also went and parked to get some dinner.  TGIF had a 30 min wait, Islands had a 20 min wait, but the Peruvian place had no wait.  Peruvian it was - yum.

Cheryl and D.M. went back home and Mom M., A.M., and I headed on the first leg of the trip.

On the way up the pass, the RV felt like one of the tires had developed a bulge, I stopped at Cleghorn Rd, but could not find any bulge.

We stopped at Little Sister's Truck Wash to get the RV and Van cleaned.  Now they look nice, but they did not do a really good job.  They did not do all the tire dressings.  And when I tried to complain they just went back into the bay to start working on another customer and because of that I did not leave a tip!

We stopped close to the Barstow Outlet.  We are camping in the OHV area for the night.  I checked the tires again. I think I might know which tire but nothing visible and purely speculations.

Late night getting the last minutes items put away and organized.  Wish us luck and no major issue with the tire tomorrow...

2016/07/08 - Friday - Vacation - Day 22 - Drive - HOT

We said our goodbyes and left basically right on time - 9:06

First stop of the day was at Flying J's in Beaver, we also got some lunch.

As we had passed Mesquite and was doing the climb up to the high plateau on the 15,  the SmarTire system alarm went off and said my inside rear passenger tire was at 177 degrees, so at the top is a parking area, I pulled into that to cool down the tires.

I waited about 10 minutes before heading out again.  I stopped two more times to get the tires to cool down.

As we got into Las Vegas we hit traffic and now the tranny temperature was getting warm.

We finally made it to KOA at Sam Town for the night.  This time were are camped in the North camping area.  We unloaded the van, the temp outside was about 111 (based on what the van had on the reading).

After we got things setup, we drove over to Sam Town to have dinner at TGI Friday's.  The north lot is further away from the casino then the south lot.

After dinner Cheryl, Amanda, and Mom D did some gambling.

They stopped in time for the light show in the atrium, which was a patriotic themed display.

Back at the RV, Mom D was heading to the bathhouse, she tripped and fell, so we had to do some TLC to her right hand.

The rest of the night was relaxing.

2016/06/19 - Sunday - Vacation - Day 03 - On The Trail

The RV park offered continental breakfast, so DM, EM, Mom M, and I got there at opening time of 8:00, not a lot to choose from but it was not terrible.

We were on the road by 8:40. 

Now from this point in the trip, I have not traveled these roads, so all new views..

Our first stop was at Sam's Club to get some go go juice for the RV.  And while we were there they went into the store to get a few items.


We stopped at Pecos National Historical Park, which is on the Santa Fe National Historic Trail.  Amanda of course did the JR Ranger program and we did part of the walk to tour the grounds.  Total time there was about 2 hours

Once back at the RV it was lunch time so we had a late lunch (around 1:00)

On to the next stop, for some reason I thought it was closer but nope.

We stopped at Fort Union National Monument.  There is really no specific place to part the RV, so I pulled into an area and hopped I would not get in trouble.  Amanda got several JR Ranger programs for several things we would be doing for this trip.  This weekend turns out to be a special weekend with several things that are being done in period style.  We were only able to see one demonstration and that was regarding the canon.  They fired it twice!  Amanda and I walked the grounds and both of us got sunburned!  The total time there was about two hours.

When we pulled away from our location the RV was feeling weird, something was wrong with the tires.  I stopped to check and sure enough!  But this was something I had not expected nor experienced.  The tires tore a chunk of the pavement and the pavement was sticking to the tires.  So in the middle of the road I had to scrape off the gooey mess.

It was worm today, so I decided I wanted a known campground and the time to stop was still reasonable, we pushed on by the original campground and went about 1.5 hours further.  We stopped at KOA in Raton, but they only had water and electric.

We walked to dinner.

Back at the RV we watched two movies, I did log into work and processed records, and we enjoyed our relaxing time.

2016/06/18 - Saturday - Vacation - Day 02 - Waze Win

The relatives cooked an awesome breakfast and of course we had a good time chatting.

We finally got on the road about 9:20.  When we started to pull away, I was flagged down because the relatives found a phone, well it was Mom M phone.

We stopped for the necessary fuel for the RV.

Come to find out, Mom M phone screen had broken and could only see a very small part of the screen.  So the next stop was changed.  We stopped at a Verizon store to get her a new phone, with the necessary phone call to LM to authorize the new phone for the account.

Lunch was at Subway in the same shopping area.

The tires got hot - up around 177 degrees, it stayed that way for about an hour until we stop to fuel the RV.

Getting closer for the stop for the night, Waze recalculated, so I went ahead and followed, listening to the CB there was a major accident so Waze routed us around the 3 mile backup.  Once back on the freeway, Waze again routed me off the freeway to take the old Route 66 around a 2 mile backup at a construction zone.

We finally made it to a RV place for the night just on the outskirts of Albuquerque.

Once in our site, now it was time for dinner.  So we unloaded the van and headed back down the road about 10 miles to a casino.

After dinner of course we headed back to the RV and went ahead and loaded the van onto the tow dolly.  And as a note the little dog did not have any issues so things are looking good on that front.