Southwest Michigan Local Produce - July

 

Some local produce available as of July 3

G at the farm stand

Meanwhile - Green Flag at the Beach - July 2

Beach at 11:15am

With the arrival of July, the beach is sunny and the water 70F.  Local farm produce selection will expand significantly.

The farm stands are open and June vegetables such as Rhubarb, Asparagus and Spinach are replaced, and the list of available vegetables expands. It is early July, but as the month progresses the list of local farm stand produce will expand to include:

• Apricots
• Beans
• Beets
• Blueberries
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Sweet corn (later in the month)
• Cherries
• Cucumbers
• Currants
• Dill weed
• Eggplant
• Gooseberries
• Herbs
• Honey
• Lettuce
• Nectarines
• Peaches
• Peas
• Peppers
• Potatoes
• Raspberries
• Summer squash
• Strawberries
• Tomatoes
• Turnips
• Zucchini 
• Local wild mushrooms.

(C) N. Retzke 2022

June 2022 Summary

 

Sunset - June 24, 2022 - Raton, NM

It has been a high travel month.  June Summary:

• Distance: 3,932 miles
•  Average Speed: 54 MPH (peak 80+)
• Trip (Driving) Time: 73h 25m
• Average MPG: 16 MPG

Elephant Butte, NM

We arrived at our final destination yesterday. We are currently in Southwest Michigan, at the shore of Lake Michigan.  This morning we walked along the Michigan Dunes.  We were at the shore early and so we beat the July 4 revelers.  There is rain in the area, and it is a pleasant 81F.

Looking North, on the shore of Lake Michigan

Looking South

(c) N. Retzke 2022

Sunset almost looks like Egypt

Sunset at Voyager, Tucson June 11, 2022

 

We were at the Voyager Resort in Tucson and went to Fat Willy's, the independent bar and grill within the resort.  As we exited after dinner this is the sunset that greeted us. 

One could almost imagine those are pyramids in the desert. 

(c) 2022 N. Retzke

Pleasant Surprises - Three Sisters Tavern & Grill

 

Three Sisters Tavern & Grill

We experience some pleasant surprises on our treks. For example, during a recent trek we decided to take a lunch stop near Colorado City.  As I was pumping gas, G spotted a nearby BBQ.  On the other side of I-25 there is another restaurant.  We talked it over and decided to have lunch at the Three Sisters Tavern & Grill.  Adjacent to it is a small gift shop.  

Booth seating in the restaurant

Poster in the Restaurant

I ordered the Three Sisters Burger, medium with cheddar cheese. It was described as "Char-grilled to perfection. Garnished with lettuce, sliced tomato, red onion and pickle." G ordered a bowl of the So-Co Green Chile which is described as "Savory and rich green chile made with local Pueblo chiles" and served with a couple of soft tortillas. I split the burger and we each shared. The burger was excellent and nicely char-grilled.  The chile was also delicious, and G described it as "mild".

Three Sisters burger with fries

Three Sisters So-Co Green Chile

After lunch we stopped by the small gift shop next door.  G purchased a pair of locally made earrings. 

Gift shop

By this time we had been off the road for 100 minutes. It was time to continue our trek,

View at Three Sisters

Ready to continue our journey

(c) N. Retzke 2022

Heat and approaching monsoon season

Tucson Sunset

 

It's June and that means high heat and the Monsoon Season is approaching.  This time of year is called the Monsoon Tease. There have been rainstorms in the area, and they bring spectacular sunsets and the occasional rainbow.

Rainbow at sunset

Fiery sky looking up and easterly at sunset, with the rainbow to my right

A few minutes earlier it was a much less dramatic sunset

(c) N. Retzke 2022

Trek and Sunset Elephant Butte, NM - Towing 15+ MPG

 

Elephant Butte Sunset

This trek we took I-80 to I-76 to I-25 through Denver, but we also took highways such as NM 26.  We were towing a trailer, estimated weight 1500 lbs. As a consequence, we generally travelled via the interstate highway system at 55-60 MPH, and I wanted to be on a main road with a good shoulder should there be an issue with the trailer.  Ergo the trek through Denver, rather than via US 350, the old Santa Fe Trail. 

I've included a few statistics in this post.

We did investigate the Colorado E-470 tollway which would have allowed us to bypass Denver. According to the online Colorado website our cost for a vehicle with three axels would have been about $35.  However, if we pre-registered the toll would have been half; that's a significant savings. But there is a minimum "charge" to the account of $35 which goes in a digital wallet.  We're not sure when we'll be going through Denver again.  So, we saw no advantage to the pre-registration and leaving about $18 for future use in Colorado.  

There were speed restrictions imposed by UHaul.  They said the trailer max speed is 55 MPH. The trailer had new tires and we were towing about 1,500 lbs.  I followed their recommendation.    

We began on June 4 at 7:10am and arrived at our final destination on June 8 at 12:30pm local time.  The trip was about 4-1/2 days. We spent four nights in a variety of campgrounds.  

About every two hours we would stop for 30 minutes to stretch and get gas, etc. We also stopped once each day for a meal and that stop was about one hour. Sometimes our meal/stretch stop was a breakfast, and on other days it was a lunch.  Our stop one day was a 1-1/2 hour lunch break which included some shopping.  Other meals were with food we brought in the Roadtrek.  The stops were more frequent than usual for us; I guess this is what Class A or Super-C owners may experience.  I've spoken with a few and I was told that they generally travel about 300 miles a day with frequent stops each day.

One thing we observed on this trek was the difficulty of some RVs getting gasoline.  I'd never thought about this, but many of the "truck stops" have one side with pumps for gasoline powered vehicles and the other for diesel.  Getting in line at the gas pumps was clearly a challenge for some of the RVers.

Another thing we noticed was the Roadtrek seemed to travel more smoothly when towing. Some of that I attribute to the rear weight on the hitch.  I usually trek with water only in the front tank.  That's because I can visually inspect how full it is when the side drawer is open.  However, after this experience I may fill the inside fresh water tank at the rear of the vehicle instead.  That would put more weight on the rear wheels. 

I suppose I could have the vehicle weighed at each tire to determine the actual weight.

Trip Summary - To Lordsburg, NM 

This includes the portion of the trek up to and including Lordsburg, NM, which was our final gas stop for the 1,909 mile trek. To Lordburg was 1,760 miles. I didn't gas up when we arrived at the ultimate destination and so at the time I wrote this I was unsure of how much gas was actually used beyond Lordsburg.  That final leg was 149 miles plus local driving.  I used the receipts to calculate gas used, etc. Distance was per the odometer and our mapping software. 

• Miles driven for these statistics: 1,760
• Gallons of gas: 125.583
• Average cost, per gallon:  $4.73  (some gas at a $0.05 discount per gallon)
• Cost of gasoline: $548.49
• Octane of gas purchased: 87 and 88 (some stations only had 86 and 88)
• Average driving speed: 55.94 MPH
• MPG (based upon receipts): 15.2 (towing an estimated 1,500 lb. trailer).

Daily Miles

• June 4, 342 miles
• June 5, 445 miles
• June 6, 439 miles
• June 7, 379 miles
• June 8, 304 miles
• Total trek 1909 miles.

We experienced some overnight rain in Alda NE and Ogallala, then smoke from fires as we proceeded west.  There was a nice sunset at Elephant Butte NM.  We didn't drive to the lake because I was towing a trailer.  That means very wide turning radius and less than simple backups.

Iowa Storms

Castle Rock CO

Smoky Haze in the distance, NM

Smokey Haze at sunset - Elephant Butte NM

Sunset - Elephant Butte NM

Rio Grande River near Hatch NM

Entering Hatch on NM-26 - "Chili Capital of the World"

At the destination

(c) 2022 N. Retzke

Towing a trailer with a Roadtrek 210P

 

2013 210P Towing a 5x8 trailer

We are on a trek of about 1,900 miles.  We are towing a UHaul 5x8 trailer. I've never towed with the Roadtrek before, although I've towed in the past using a variety of vehicles. 

This is at the end of day one of the trek. The towing was very smooth and stable. I'm travelling "at" the UHaul recommended maximum speed of 55 MPH (Hint: travelling faster may void insurance, etc.). 

The trailer is not equipped with independent brakes, so some care must be exercised when braking. However, the vehicle seems perfectly capable of stopping with the trailer.  

I loaded the trailer so that the load is balanced with 60% of the weight near the trailer front. Everything in the trailer is secured. This is the recommended procedure and balancing the load reduces the tendency to "fishtail". 

Today, travelling 342 miles on some local roads, mostly interstate and minimizing the idling, the MPG is about 16.0, which is our usual experience at highway speeds below 70 MPH.

I'll track performance for the entire 1,900 miles. 

Our 2013 210P is on the Chevy Express 3500 Chassis with 6.0 liter V-8. If I couldn't see the trailer in the rear view mirror, I wouldn't even know it was there. 

I modified the factory equipped rear camera so it will operate when moving forward in "drive" and for this trek I pointed it slightly upwards so I can see the trailer and beyond, to the rear. 

The chassis can tow a maximum trailer weight of 10,000 lbs. However, the GCWR is limited to 16,000 lbs. According to Chevy "The Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR) is the total allowable weight of the completely loaded vehicle and trailer including any passengers, cargo equipment and conversion. The GCWR for the vehicle should not be exceeded." The empty trailer weight is 900 lbs, the cargo about 600 lbs; 1,500 lbs combined. The GVWR of the Roadtrek is a maximum 9,600 lbs. That's vehicle, passengers, cargo + tongue weight. Furthermore the ratings for the 2" hitch ball is 2,000 lbs, the hitch is 10,000 lbs and the hitch mounting is rated 5,000 lbs. 

I enabled the "Tow-Haul mode". The Chevy has this Mode which "adjusts the transmission shift pattern to reduce shift cycling, providing increased performance, vehicle control, and transmission cooling when towing or hauling heavy loads." 

Note: UHaul will not generally allow a Class B RV to tow this trailer. We passed because of the Chevy 3500 chassis and engine.

My "HUM" gave me a safety score rating of 100.  That is for 459 miles of driving per the GPS and includes about 100 miles of driving on the Memorial Day weekend. 

HUM Safety Score May 29-June 4

(c) N. Retzke 2022