1822 mile Return Trek to the Midwest

 

Well, this winter we were in the Southwest a month longer than originally planned.  Covid-19 lockdowns, shutdowns and travel restrictions made it necessary to delay our return to the Midwest.  We discovered that the camping situation was a bit chaotic with displaced RVers,  delayed openings and so on. One campground had social distancing restriction which meant not all campsites were open.  Some campgrounds delayed spring opening. We periodically checked the situation in the various states.  Some of the governors  had long and frequently changing "Executive Orders" which did not always make sense.  Power can go to one's head in politics. We designed four routes. I asked G to pick her #1 and #2 preferences. I then designed a detailed plan using her preferred campgrounds.  We designed the return for a short first day because we knew we would not leave until about 11:00am and we would almost immediately lose two hours that day as we headed east, because of time zone changes. The day before we left the resort the swimming pools were re-opened and the next day the restaurant was re-opened for sit-down seating. LOL.

The return trip was uneventful.  We had made reservations at all locations. However, the condition of campgrounds varied. All had a large number of campers. Some were "stranded" and waiting for other states to open or become more "normal". 

• The New Mexico campground was open, but the staff left before the published 4pm closing time and we arrived at 3:50pm  They neglected to put the bathroom key codes and wi-fi code in the reservation envelope left for us. A call to their help number went unanswered. I staked out the bathhouse and a friendly camper gave us the code.  We never got a call back.  The next morning after leaving we called the campground and told them of the problem. They apologized.
• The Oklahoma campground had just and I do mean "just" opened. It too had limited staff onsite hours of noon to 6pm. There was a problem in the bathhouse and hot water was scarce or non-existent.
• The Missouri campground was fully operational.  Even the swimming pool was open. 
  

We brought and used face masks. That was an interesting experience. We had been using them in Arizona but on the road we discovered a lot of people didn't use them.  In Missouri a door attendant controlled the number of people inside the truck stop.  Maximum 22 allowed. In Illinois it was posted that masks were mandatory but about half of the people didn't wear them.

In Oklahoma we had a sit-down lunch at a Waffle House. All safety protocols were in place and staff wore gloves and masks.  That was our first sit-down restaurant experience in 60 days. There have been none since.

Here is the situation in the neighborhood the morning we departed Arizona. Lots of empty spaces as the snowbirds have departed:

Here is the situation at dusk the day of arrival at our Illinois stop.  We haven't tried to get to the Michigan campground.  Gov. Whitmer is making life difficult for the state's residents. The campground is open.  A small issue with the Roadtrek needs to be resolved. I'll do it in Illinois and get an oil change, too.  We arrived for the Memorial Day weekend and that has made dealing with issues more difficult. Oil change scheduled for Tuesday.

Original material:  https://roadtrek210.blogspot.com/

Third Seat Repair in the Roadtrek 210P

Third Seat after Repair

I discovered a problem with the third seat of our 2013 210P.  It wasn't obvious  and came to my attention when it began to shift the side fabric material of the coach.  The seat is a complicated wooden structure which houses the Suburban Propane Furnace.

I removed the rear cushion and lifted the bottom cushion out of the way. This was an easy task; the bottom cushion in my Roadtrek is on a special hinge and the rear lifts out of position. After doing this I discovered that two screws in the wooden support structure had given way, and a thin side member had split at a joint.  That allowed the entire seat base to tip forward. This problem occurred because the seat is on a cantilevered base. That overhang puts a lot of stress on some of the wooden base components.

This structure is also compromised because the Suburban furnace goes through the base from left side to right side.  You can see the furnace in the photos.  All of the weight of a passenger is on the cantilever front which is only partly supported on the front, and the rear with two screws.

Swinging the base cushion forward (it is on a special hinge) exposed the top of the seat base. I then removed the screws holding the top surface of the wooden seat base. That revealed the entire problem.

The wooden support had pulled free of the two screws that attach it to the rear. That allowed the entire seat to slip forward about 5/8 inch.

Rear wooden attachment support pulled free.

This is how far the seat slid forward.  The failure of the rear attachment put additional stress
on the side bracket, and those screws had shifted, too.

I decided to screw and glue the wooden supports back in place. I could not access the heads of the  two rear screws unless I completely removed the seat base. I decided not to do that.



Instead I added two aluminum "L" brackets from rear to front. This would provide additional support. I had the light weight aluminum angle, screws and "gorilla glue" in my spare parts, so this repair cost nothing additional out of pocket.  

I did it in six steps:

1. Glue rear support and clamp with vice-grips overnight.
2. Glue left rear support and clamp with vice grips.
3. Cut two pieces of light weight aluminum angle using a small hack saw.
4. Raise the seat base by wedging a wonder-bar on a piece of carpet.
5. Trim the left angle so it could be mounted from above. 
6. Re-assemble the seat stop and put the cushions back in place.

Fabricated aluminum bracket prior to installation.

Rear support screwed and glued after removing clamp

Left support panel glued and clamped with vice-grip to dry

I drilled and installed the aluminum angles, one on the left and one on the right.I decided that cutting an indentation for the left would not be necessary.  

 

Two aluminum angles installed from rear to front
The left was screwed from the top

The right screwed from the side

Seat fully reassembled

Original material:  https://roadtrek210.blogspot.com/

101st FMCA Convention

We will be attending the FMCA International Convention in Tucson, AZ March 26-29, 2020.

This will be our first FMCA rally.  We have not yet received our packet for the event, but the FMCA has indicated that they have begun the mailing of packets.

Original material:  https://roadtrek210.blogspot.com/

Slow Cooker Chicken Soup

serving suggestion: parsley and parmesan cheese

Chicken soup is something I could make in the Roadtrek. At present we don't because we don't take a slow cooker with us. However, here's the soup I made recently in a larger RV and the counter space available was similar to our 210P. I would probably put the cooker outside if the weather was dry....

One adjustment I would make in the Roadtrek is to braise the chicken in a cast iron pan. We don't carry a large stock pot, so cast iron would be the way to go.



Original material:  https://roadtrek210.blogspot.com/

Sunset, January 16, 2020

Original material (c) 2020:  https://roadtrek210.blogspot.com/

MPG Update 16.5 MPG when driving 55-65 MPH

Periodically I check the MPG we achieve.  I do this for trip budgeting purposes. I don't trust the computer generated MPG display, but it is helpful, so I use the gas receipts.  On a recent 2500+ mile trek I made a spreadsheet from the gas receipts and I thought I would share it here.

There are a variety of factors that impact the MPG. Some are:

• Driving habits
• Speed
• Stop and Go
• Terrain
• Onan generator use
• Idling
• etc.

On this trek we were generally level, on interstate highways and I did the driving. I follow the speed limits and will stay in the right lane on divided highways with two lanes going in our direction. In urban areas I generally drive the expressway second lane from the right to avoid those who simply don't know how to merge, or exit. As a consequence our speeds are consistent with little hard braking or flooring of the accelerator. On this trek our highway speeds were usually 55-65 MPH. However there were long segments where the speed limit was 70-80 MPH.  The initial day had about 40 minutes of stop and go 20 MPH on the expressway because of road construction and that decreased the MPG for the first segment at 55-65 MPH speed limits.

I do use 87 octane gasoline as recommended by Chevrolet. In portions of the west there is a choice between 86 and 88 octane. I usually fill up at about 1/2 tank level. I simply alternate fill-ups between 86 and 88 octane to keep 87 blend in the tank.

The weather was cool to mild for most of the trek, low of about 32F and high of about 75F. Little precipitation as our route allowed us to avoid some really unpleasant weather coming in from the West.

Perfect driving conditions as far as I am concerned.

From this trek with speed limits 55-80 MPH, I again observed the best gasoline mileage occurred at 55-65 MPH:

• 16.5 MPG - not bad!

At 80 MPH, which we encountered in the West, the mileage decreased:

• 11.0 MPG

The trip average:

• 15.2 MPG

Best mileage is achieved at 45-55 MPH, but we had few segments at that speed range on this trek, so I didn't attempt to calculate the MPG.

Original material:  https://roadtrek210.blogspot.com/

Winter Trek - Part I, 2500 miles

2550 miles to escape the cold

We had been lingering in the midwest. It is always difficult to say goodbye to family, friends and acquaintances. Departing also means acknowledging the end of summer and the impending arrival of winter. But then a nasty, early winter storm appeared in the weather forecast and it was time to move on.

We assessed the weather patterns and I chose to travel a greater distance to avoid ice, sleet, and snow. So we packed and travelled a more southerly route. This included segments we had never taken before and it opened up some new possibilities. So we did our trip research and made overnight reservations about every 500 miles.

We both like to do some exploring,  but freezing weather was predicted along much of our trek. So we opted to dispense with most of the sight seeing this time.

There are always surprises
We drove to I-65 and headed south. We didn't change our direction until we reached the Gulf of Mexico.

At Biloxi, MS we stopped at the Gulf Shores RV Resort. We arrived just before sunset on November 11, took a short walk on the beach and headed to dinner.

Sunset November 11

The resort is adjacent to a Waffle House and that was a call for Pecan Waffles. Resort stayers get a discount which was a welcome benefit. We split a waffle which was delicious.




The weather front caught up to us overnight, so there was some rain, but mild temperatures, thanks to the Gulf waters. We took another stroll along the beach before departing the next morning.

Biloxi Beach - very quiet morning

Ready to depart Biloxi

About two hours later we were crossing the Mississippi River

Baton Rouge, LA - Mississippi River

Lots of oil refining, chemicals and storage

It wasn't long and we were in Texas:

Our first night in Texas was at a private, family run campground we've spent time at previously.  We had a reservation and checked in. We were advised to disconnect our fresh water hose before retiring because there was a freeze warning. All well and good, we have experienced this many times. Then I asked "What about the bathrooms?" I was advised that all water in the campground would be turned off and the bath rooms locked as of 8:00 pm. 

Well, that was a new experience!  I've never been in a campground under a freeze warning where all of the fresh water services were shut down because of a freeze warning.

We have added this to the list of questions to ask when making reservations.

We dined at the Mexican restaurant across the street and had an excellent meal. LOL!

At Lucy Tequilas - "the Jared"

The night was uneventful and the low temperature was 33F. LOL!

Continuing on, we trekked to our next stop.

We spent a night at a KOA in Van Horn, TX. We've been at that campground before. Near freezing weather was predicted, so we put Reflectix in the windows. Our feathered neighbor didn't seem happy with the prediction. Freezing weather in this part of Texas is unusual in early November.

After a restful sleep, we got up early and prepared to continue.

Van Horn Texas at Dawn

The next morning we entered New Mexico.

Shortly thereafter we were on the downhill run and at a rest stop in Arizona.

This trek was different. We usually like to take our time and smell the roses. This trek we decided we wanted to avoid nasty weather and really cold. So we chose a route that accomplished that.

We made a few notes and hope to visit Biloxi again, in nice weather.

Our major goal was accomplished and we have arrived in our winter lily pad.



Original material:  https://roadtrek210.blogspot.com/