A Different Direction this Winter

Greetings!

Once we returned back to Minnesota in May (gosh that’s a long time ago, isn’t it?), we were able to locate a seasonal campground outside of the Minneapolis area that we can now call our summer home.  Having this has definitely taken away the stress of where to park the coach, so the miles we accumulate rest solely on Jeep trips from seeing family and friends both in the Minneapolis and Wisconsin areas.

A huge accomplishment this past July was to say goodbye to our storage unit in Wisconsin.  Yes, we were some of those silly people that rent a storage unit only to realize that it’s only stuff and not needed any longer.  We did keep a few furniture pieces and the oriental run for the sun room that we have on our lot, but past those items we had a little bit of work to do with the rest of our contents.  After that was accomplished, where did the summer go?

Fast forward to this September when we pretty much decided on where to travel for this coming winter.  Both of us were pretty much in agreement that we needed to give the desert a rest and make new adventures.  So, with that decision made, we elected to travel the miles needed to go and visit our grandson, Joe, who attends Camden Military Academy in Camden, South Carolina.

It’s a big day turning 17 with no immediate family around no one to help you eat cake (except his fellow classmates who’ll eat anything, we’re told), so we decided that we would be there to help Joe celebrate.  Keep in mind, that we first needed to travel the 1,353 miles first by way of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee to get us to South Carolina within five days’ time.   About the only occurrence that caused us a major problem was when our fridge pretty much lost it’s ability to provide our food a cold environment.  This was around the time when we were in Tennessee when the temps were in the triple digits for a couple of day.  We will definitely take care of this when we get to the campground in South Carolina that we have a reservation.

These are some of the pictures that we took as we were driving through the Smokey Mountains on our way East.  Lost of trees and traffic pretty much obscured our vision of the more majestic pictures that we were missing.  Oh well, maybe next time.

Overnight in Jellico, Tennessee

A few days spent near South Carolina

Our winter journey begins . . .

A Time to Reflect on Today

As God leads You,

Mend a quarrel.
Seek out a forgotten friend.
Share some treasure.
Give a soft answer.
Encourage a young person.
Keep a promise.
Find the time to listen.
Apologize.
Be gentle.
Laugh a little.
Give someone a big smile.
Be kind.
Greet a stranger.
Make a child happy.
Enjoy the world's beauty.
Tell someone

"I Love You."


Note:  The above was copied from a social card that we came across - not quite sure where we picked it up - but we wanted to share the message.

Awesome things to reflect on and really the simplest things that should bring us joy.  

Hugs,
Kay and Jeff

Quartzsite in December

The month of December went so fast that it's now time for us to wish everyone a very Happy New Year 2019!  We'd also like to share some of the highlights for this month, which are in no particular order.

Our grandson, Joseph, made Corporal at the military academy that he is attending in Camden, SC.   He is currently in ninth grade.   We are so proud of him!   His goal before he graduates is Second Lieutenant.  

The hiking paths in this area of the Desert are really nice so we take advantage of them whenever we can.

What a footprint!

It’s not everyday that you can have the Goodyear Blimp flying overhead.  This was such a surprise and so neat.

Friends ~  and a special Birthday to celebrate!

Louise & Glenn from "Beautiful British Columbia".
We met them at Five Palms (in California) boondocking back in 2013.  

Gee, I wonder who's Birthday we're celebrating???
The pizza at Silly Al's in Quartzsite is absolutely the best.

A new addition back in Minnesota.

(l-r) Kay's sister, Jan holding little Edward born Oct. 30; sister, Quinn who
will be 3 years old; Jeff's brother, Brian, holding Levi who will be 2.
Lots of time with these little ones!

More amazing splash-color sunsets ~

A little bit about Quartzsite, which lies in the heart of the Sonoran Desert, 879 feet above sea level.  It is world famous for its winter show season which starts January 5-14 with the Rock & Gem Show, then January 19-28 with the Tent Sale and finishing off January 20-28 with the RV Show.  

The town hosts thousands of vendors at these famous outdoor and indoor swap meets where shoppers can find anything and everything they could possibly want to buy.  Needless to say, with all of the people in this town the flag goes up and our next scheduled move will be Senator Wash near the Foothills of Yuma.

Here are a few fun things we'd like to share with you before we leave Quartzsite for now.

Anyone for a Bobblehead?

The nationally famous bookstore for a rather unique experience.  The only
thing missing at this visit was the owner who is also very unique.
I guess maybe he only comes out when the weather is much warmer.

What a collection of stuff - just need to blow some of the dust off first!.

Don't you just love his footwear? Ha-Ha.

The tomb of Quartzsite's famous Hadji Ali (Hi Jolly),
a camel driver who worked for the army in an
experiment to use camels as pack animals just
before the Civil War

And last but now least, Kay's new step hand made by Jeff.   Yahoo!

See you at Senator Wash with an update on a very special visitor that is traveling with us.  Hugs to all

More Phoenix Time Needed in November

I guess you could say that we feel like we pretty much bought stock in Cummins for the month of November; just a waiting “game” with their Service Department.  It was good that they have the site called “Camp Cummings” where people can park with 50 amp electrical hook-ups available while their rigs are being worked on during the day.

What a paint job!

Some of the people that we met while staying in the customer lounge.

Leilla & Greg, from Michigan, who wanted to know everything about boondocking.

Juliana, from California, who was having work
done on her Class B

We did, however, have to stay at a motel for one night as the work done on the coach needed the batteries to be disconnected.  This was definitely not good for us, or our cat, Abby.   She didn’t sleep so no one else did either.  That next day after another test drive of 6 miles was done on the coach, we got the okay that the check engine fault did not come back on.  (Note:  All of this work is being done to correct a problem.)  We were pretty pumped because all of our waiting time spent in the customer lounge area was going to come to an end. Kay actually cried from happiness! 

The 7 days spent at the dealer in November (plus the days we spent in October) was getting to wear on us.   But, little did we know that when getting on the road - after a mere 67 miles – we were going to get the dreaded “check engine” fault . . . again.  Yikes!!!!!  No way are we turning back to Phoenix just yet!  So, we continued our journey to Quartzsite and from there called Cummins to set up an appointment for the following week - after we had our foggy windows repaired.

We finally arrived in the Desert.

A much needed appointment to have our windows repaired.   They look like new and we highly recommend this company (based out of Lake Havasu City).

All windows were fixed in their parking lot in Quartzsite.

If you spend any time in Quartzsite you’ll come to find that there is perhaps someone in the area who can help you with a problem. And Jeff did find Dave’s Diesel Diagnostic Service on Main Street in Quartzsite for just that reason.  The way Jeff looked at it, he was going to do the leg work on just what needed to be done by Cummins in Phoenix before we got there.  

It was the best $100 we spent.  Jeff came away with detailed printout on the coach – from Cummins software - which gave us information on just what needed to be done to correct the problem. 
  

·        Fault Code 1878 – The after treatment diesel particulate filter outlet temperature sensor was not working with engine operating conditions

·        Fault Code 1667 – the after treatment diesel oxidation catalyst inlet temperature sensor was not working.
This information was emailed to the Service Manager and when we got back to Phoenix for another three days, Cummins installed a new after treatment jumper harness and all new after treatment temperature sensors.  the coolant level sensor was wired incorrectly.  They even determined that the ground strap on the engine block was missing.  Isn’t that odd? 
 We’re good now and even better because we are on the road back to Quartzsite.  No check engine fault messages coming up on our message board either.  One of the bits of info we found were that our ISL 8.9 is only operating at 27.5 percent!   We are happy campers - finally leaving the Phoenix area.
      
     

Hugs to all!

October Miles & Necessary Repairs

After we said “a dieu” to the Black Hills the coach meandered into Wyoming.  We wanted to make only one overnight stop in this state so that we could be refreshed and rested before getting to I-25 and the craziness that was ahead of us going through Denver and The Springs.

 

We had already contacted our friends, Matt and Nancy who own Haggard’s RV Campground in Pueblo West and had a reservation made to stay about a week.  One of our favorite campgrounds strategically located so that we can hook up with friends who live in Littleton and Colorado Springs.  Jeff was already planning on making his killer homemade Italian Sausage Lasagna for Matt and Nancy, so we were really ready to park the coach at this time.

Nancy & Matt

Colorado "Slopper" and some Coors

Our friends, Penny and Gary from Littleton drove down from their home to spend the day with us so that we could soak in the hot springs in Florence.  We have known this couple for 10 years now.  They were one of the three other couples that set sail with us in the BVI for a week’s stay on a catamaran sailing the islands around Tortola.  What a blast we had and after all of the years we still have contact with the other two couples.  How special is that?

Talking about a special connection with friends, Harley and Delores from Colorado Springs are right up at the top of this list.  We met them at Haggard's back in October 2014 and always make it a point to connect with them when we are in Colorado.  In fact, last winter it just so happened that we were both in the Yuma area at the same time. What is so unique about our relationship is that both of us own the same paint job on our Dutch Stars . . . plus we like each other like family.  Harley’s is a 40 ft. and ours is a 43 ft.  Harley is a wealth of information on his coach since he’s had his a little longer than we have, and Jeff truly appreciates the wisdom and experience that he is constantly sharing.  

New Friends ~

April and Da Boyz



April is an instructor for ENSA. She instructs
"Tower Climbers" on what and what not
to do.  Pretty awesome. . .yes, she is!!!

Ray & Suzanne who own a Dutch Star also.  Very nice people
that we hope to connect up with in Yuma this winter.

The Cat's sun patio from their window.  We need one of these for Abby.

Why is it that weather always has to put a damper on visits?  As we are always checking out weather before a future trip, this time was no different.  What was happening across most of the country was a cold snap with some precipitation in the forecast.  So it came to pass that after 8 days in Pueblo West, we knew that we would have to hit the road soon, on our way over Ratan Pass and into New Mexico.  Time to fill up on propane too!

Jeff's serenading me with the new Wilson Cell Booster
Antenna that we purchased.

Jeff & Abby sacked out.



Getting our fill of propane before we start the trek into New Mexico

The asset up Raton Pass to an elevation of over 7,000 ft. was a little on the challenge side. The saving grace is that when we did make it over the Pass, it was like day and night weather-wise.  No snow or precipitation of any kind on the other side and which made us very happy.

This kind of weather makes anyone in a big rig a little nervous.
We were no exception.

Some pictures along the way . . .

The Rio Grande near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico

The very colorful town of Hatch, known for their famous Chili's. 

But, what didn’t make us happy was a sick feeling that Jeff had that we just didn’t have the power that we should, and with a “regeneration required” message coming over our message dash along the miles,  there was a lot that we needed to do research on.

We pulled into the Escapee RV Park called Dream Catcher in Deming, New Mexico.  Jeff made a call to set up an appointment with a diesel shop in Phoenix that we had work done on in the past.  The shop, Massey Diesel, was about a week out so we spent a few days at Dream Catcher before putting more miles on the coach.

The nine days that we spent in Deming, after getting through Albuquerque where the Balloon Festival was well under way, did give us an opportunity just to relax somewhat.  We were also able to meet up with another friend from Colorado that was passing through the area, and share some home made bran muffins she whipped up, over coffee, at her Lazy Daze camper that was parked near Walmart.

A good visit with Kathy, Jessie and Mittens.

Enjoy the video below of the Festival that we picked up on TV.  One of these days we'll have to experience the real thing.

After leaving the Deming area, we were anxious to get to Phoenix and that was heavy on our minds.  We arrived for our appointment on 10/20 at Massey's Diesel.  Unfortunately, after four days of having them work on the coach they recommended that we needed to go to the Cummins dealer in Phoenix.  What appeared like possible warranty coverage on a fuel pump that was installed for us back in May, 2017 by this Cummins shop - and for codes that Massey couldn't identify - the last six days in October were spent at Camp Cummins.  What we didn't know was that more days in November were just on the horizon!!!