Day 3 – ACA Pre-Rally – Hart Ranch (Valencia Travel Village, CA)

2015/03/24 davidhobden@mac.com 1 Comment

Sunday was yet another great Alpine Coach Pre-Rally day full of activities!

After another fine breakfast, once again courtesy of our hosts (Tris and Carolyn Swan) and co-hosts (Joel and Mary Langord), our group gathered outside the campground activities building (where we have all our meals) to convoy over to the William S. Hart Park and Museum and the Heritage Junction Historic Park. (Click on names to see the respective websites for details on these attractions)

Helena Mazzocco, along with her husband, Bob, gave us a briefing on the days planned activity. They live nearby, and Helena was kind enough to set up our tour(s) for the day. We first met Bob and Helena a few years ago at our very first Alpine Coach rally in St George, UT. They even stopped by our house in Colorado Springs for a quick visit a couple years ago when they were passing through. Of course, we’ve seen them again at several other venues since then as well. Although, they didn’t join us with their Coach this time at the Pre-Rally, they took the time to set up today’s tour for us and arrived today in their car.

Bob & Helena Mazzocco giving us a briefing on the days planned activity.

It took us about 15 minutes to make the 10 mile trip. Our first tour was the Heritage Junction Historic Park which is co-located with the William S. Hart Park & Museum. Both of these attractions are free of charge.

We all gathered in the train station to get an orientation from one of the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society volunteers.

Informational Placard on the Saugus Train Station

The Historical Society website provided the following information on the Saugus Train Station which is also summarized on the informational placard above:

When the Golden Spike was driven at Lang in 1876, tying together Los Angeles to San Francisco, and, in turn, the continent-spanning Union Pacific, it signaled an irreversible change in the lifestyle of the Santa Clarita Valley. The Saugus Train Station opened eleven years later on September 1, 1887 when the spur line to Ventura was completed by Southern Pacific Railroad.
In order to accommodate hungry travelers, Tolefree’s Saugus Eating House was established at the north end of the depot. It was taken over by Martin and Richard Wood in 1898, who changed the name to The Saugus Cafe. By 1905 more room was needed for additional storage of freight at the Station, so the cafe moved across the tracks, where it stands today.

Cowboys would occasionally shoot up the Station as their way of greeting the trains. There were robberies, too, the most famous being the night in 1929 when “Buffalo” Tom Vernon derailed and looted Engine Number 59.

President Benjamin Harrison stopped over in April, 1891, and Theodore Roosevelt was met by Governor Henry T. Gage here in 1903.

The last passenger train that stopped at the Station during April, 1971 and the last freight train was discontinued in 1979. The depot was closed on November 15, 1978 by the last Agent, Mr. James Guthrie. Through a massive community effort, the building was saved and moved on June 24, 1980 to its present location on land leased from Los Angeles Country within William S. Hart Park.

The Saugus Station has been featured in a number of motion pictures, television shows, music videos and commercials. Films include “The Pilgrim” (1919) with Charlie Chaplin, “Suddenly” (1954) starring Frank Sinatra, and most recently “The Grifters” (1989) starring Angelica Huston and John Cusack, and many student projects for area film schools.

Then they set us loose in the mini-museum and gift shop located inside the restored train station.

Then we viewed the Mitchell Schoolhouse Adobe building that was directly across from the train station. This is one of the seven or so buildings that the Historical Society have acquired, moved, and restored here.

The Historical Society website reiterates the informational placard seen above:

Colonel Thomas Finley Mitchell, a veteran of the Mexican-American War, moved a miner’s shack to Soledad and Sand Canyons in 1860 where he lived and headquartered his 160-acre ranch. After he married Martha Catherine Taylor in 1865, he constructed a large adobe, using parts of the miner’s shack.
After the Colonel had increased his holdings to 1,000 acres, Martha began the Sulphur Springs School in 1872, with classes being held regularly in the kitchen of the adobe. It moved to the Lang Hotel and Spa in 1879. The first students were from the Mitchell, Stewart and Lang families. In 1886, a regular school was built by John Lang and Sanford Lyon on land donated by the Mitchells.

By 1919, the old adobe had fallen into ruin, but was salvaged by the Colonel’s son-in-law, Walter Murphy. He used the remaining adobe bricks to erect a home for the ranch foreman. It later served as a guest house, apiary and tack room until it was destroyed by developers on August 14, 1986. What remained was moved to Heritage Junction, dedicated on November 5, 1989, and has been restored.

The adobe was originally 45 x 60 feet, and made of clay dug from a layer deep in a hand-dug well. The roof was covered with either split redwood shake or a very thin cedar shake. It had a wooden floor constructed of light-colored wainscoting.

This building, the NewHall Ranch House was closed today because film students from a local college were filming.

The Historical Society website provides the following information on this building:

Rancho San Francisco was established by Franciscan padres late in the 18th century, where they built a sub-mission, or asistencia, at Castaic Junction in 1804. The 48,612 acres were granted to the Del Valle family 35 years later. William Wolfskill, a renowned vintner and orchard owner purchased the acreage following the 1857 earthquake. Thomas R. Bard bought the property in 1865, acting as an agent for his uncle, Col. Thomas A. Scott. He may have erected the first structure, a small house with a basement.
Henry M. Newhall bought the place at a Sheriff’s sale in 1875. He had the financial backing to make improvements, but the main, two-story front portion was probably ordered by his son, Gregory, in 1893. Gregory spent more time here than other family members. After his death in 1903, a younger brother, Walter Scott Newhall, visited often until he passed away in 1906. The house then became the ranch foreman’s residence. It was severely damaged during the 1971 earthquake, but repaired.

With a grant from the City of Santa Clarita, the house was moved to Heritage Junction during the nights of August 14 and 15, 1990.

This two-story, stick Victorian house with gabled roof and 8′ wide veranda on three sides began as a shed-like structure built over a brick cellar. The original portion now houses the kitchen and was made with hand-hammered, square nails and rough-hewn redwood.

The larger, gabled portion is also constructed of redwood, including its hand-chiseled, wooden gutters. The interior had been greatly modified, with its 14′ ceilings lowered. It had three to four fireplaces, and wrought-iron registers for heat. The entire home is approximately 4,000 square feet, and is said to be haunted by several spirits of the past.

After touring around the train station and adjacent area, we wandered up the roadway to the next collection of buildings where we gathered again for guided tours.

The Historical Society volunteers broke us up into smaller, more manageable groups.

Our (now smaller) group started the guided portion of our tour with the Edison House.

According to the Historical Society webpage:

This house was one of a group of cottages built by the Southern California Edison Company to house employees in 1919 when the Newhall substation was opened. It was moved west of Saugus in 1925 when the “new” substation was completed and five other homes were built of identical design. Assistant Edison Patrolman Raymond Starbard occupied it and was credited as being the first to spread the alarm of the 1928 St. Francis Dam disaster. The cottages were sold to Newhall Land and Farming Company on January 17, 1972.

The cottage was donated to the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society and moved to Heritage Junction on January 18, 1989. The other houses were burned by the Los Angeles County Fire Department as a training exercise.

Architecturally significant, not only for their Swiss-Germanic Style, but for being unmodified, this single family residence has a shingled, gabled roof, clapboard siding, and hardwood floors.

We saw a picture of Multnomah Falls hanging in the living room. We visited this place in August of last year.

Even though we broke down into smaller groups, it was still pretty cramped in the little house.

It looks like these tour members lost their group… or maybe they lost interest… hmmm.

Next, we toured the Kingsburry Residence.

According to the Historical Society webpage:

This home was originally built in 1878, and was located at 8th and San Fernando Road. It was occupied by Lyman Stewart in 1883, who later formed the Union Oil Co.
August Ferrier bought the house in 1911, moved the structure to Walnut Street, and leased it to the Young family. Julia H. Young owned and managed the drug store, and was voted Queen of the first Newhall Rodeo. Ted Kornelissen, a native-born Dutchman who became the local mailman, bought the property from Ferrier. He then sold it to Ruth and Charles Kingsburry in 1943. Charles was a veteran of the Spanish-American War. He helped build the powerhouse in San Francisquito Canyon and operated a meat market in Newhall. “Uncle Charlie,” as he was usually called, aided widows and was a coach in the Masonic Order.

In 1987, the home was purchased by local Realtor Jim Droz and dentist Alan Fine and donated to the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society. It was moved to its present location in July of 1987.

The Kingsburry House is architecturally significant as an outstanding example of colonial-revival style that has not been modified, with the exception of two additions at the rear: one to enclose the kitchen and indoor bathroom, and a second for a service area and additional bedroom. The house originally consisted of a living room, dining area and two bedrooms. Cooking was probably done outside on a back porch. It has a pyramid-shaped roof and shed porch.

Tight quarters again…

The Callahan School House was next on the tour:

Constructed in 1927 by Robert E. Callahan for his Mission Village in Culver City, this building was used as a tourist attraction and movie set. In 1963 the area of the Mission Village was paved to form the Santa Monica Freeway, forcing Mr. Callahan to move the structure to Mint Canyon, where it was converted into a school house to hold desks, a blackboard, and a lectern which came from Vallejo, California, and dating back to 1858.

The Callahan School House was donated to the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society by Mrs. Marion Callahan (Kitty Kelley) and moved to its present location in April, 1987.

This building is clapboard with a wood shingle roof and an overhanging, triangular- shaped porch. Not architecturally significant, it does however represent small schools used in mining camps and frontier settlements during the late 19th Century in the American West. Restoration was completed under the direction of Cathe Daley as a Girl Scout project in 1992.

We definitely wouldn’t fit in here as a group.

And then came the Ramona Chapel:

Designed by Carrie Jacobs Bond, composer of “The End of a Perfect Day,” “I Love You Truly,” and other songs, this chapel was based on the one at Rancho Camulos made famous in Helen Hunt Jackson’s novel, Ramona. From 1926 until 1962, it was the centerpiece of Robert E. Callahan’s Mission Village in Culver City.

Mrs. Marion Callahan (Kitty Kelley) states that her late husband assembled bits and pieces of old churches, some as old as 200 years. However, the guide book for the Village describes the “. . . altar made from ruins of 200-year-old mission.” The 48 cup brass candelabra was donated by Mrs. Bond. Here Gary Cooper was inducted into the Sioux Nation. John Wayne used it as a movie set, and the chapel was visited by Wyatt Earp, Will Rogers, Joan Crawford, and many other stars.

In 1963, the area of the Mission Village was paved to form the Santa Monica Freeway, forcing Mr. Callahan to move to Mint Canyon. Mrs. Callahan donated the Chapel to the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society, and it was moved to its present location at Heritage Junction in 1987.

After we finished up our tours, we all joined up again on Main Street.

Helena Mazzocco gave us our walking directions to get to our next destination; the William S. Hart Park & Museum.

But, before we left the Heritage Junction Historic Park, we had to stop behind the train station to view the locomotive…

The Historical Society website tells us: This Mogul Engine 1629 is a class M4 engine weighing 75 tons, with wheels 2-6-0. It was built in Schenectady, New York, in 1900, and purchased by Southern Pacific Railroad for use on the line which ran from Yuma, Arizona to Portland, Oregon, passing through the Santa Clarita Valley.

In 1957, it was retired and sold to Western actor, Gene Autry, who used it in films at his Melody Ranch in Placerita Canyon. It appeared in such television series as “Gunsmoke” and “Wyatt Earp.” Autry donated the locomotive in 1981 to the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society, and it was moved to its present location next to the Saugus Station using donated funds in 1982, where it is being restored as a static display.

Of course, we had to take turns playing engineer. And yes, the bell rings…

After playing with the locomotive, we started our trek over to the Hart Ranch. First stop before we walked up the hill to the mansion, was the Ranch House.

Then we walked up the hill on a trail.

Along the trail, we passed by the Bunk House. It was closed up and the windows were shuttered.

Near the top of the hill we stopped to view the bison.

And finally, we made it to the top.

Here’s the entrance door for the tour of the house. The website gives the following information:

Entrance to the Hart Museum Mansion, located at the top of the hill in William S. Hart Park, is by guided tour only. Free tours are offered every 30 minutes during the Museum’s hours of operation. The tours start on the hour and half-hour. Visitors are asked to park their vehicles in the lots near the entrance to the Park, walk up the hill to the Hart Mansion, and kindly wait outside the front door until the start of the next tour. The guides will open the door and invite the guests inside.

We waited outside the mansion for our tour guide as instructed.

Check out this link for biographical information on actor William S. Hart.

The informational brochure tells us he was the first cowboy movie star and made movies from 1914 to 1925. When he retired he moved to Horseshoe ranch in Newhall, California, and built his home, La Loma de los Vientos (the Hill of the Winds). Hart’s home is now a museum filled with his personal effects and movie paraphernalia along with Native American artifacts and Western American art. Free docent-led tours of the home take place Wednesday through Sunday.

Here’s inside the entrance of the mansion.

Our guide told us that all the furnishings and decor are original and untouched.

What a great house!… I think I’ll buy two of them 🙂 Another “must-see!”

We stopped at the gift shop which was conveniently located at the bottom of the trail when we got back down the hill.

We didn’t see any souvenir’s we couldn’t live without.

We finished up our tour for the day and headed over to the Claim Jumper Saloon and Restaurant for a late lunch. Once again, good food and good people to enjoy it with!

On the way back to the campground, Stilla checked her iPhone for attractions near us, and found that the Paul Walker Crash Site was along our return route. So we did a quick drive-by after letting the iPhone app guide us to the location near Kelly Johnson Parkway in Valencia, Santa Clarita, CA. Some of you may recall, that actor, Paul Walker, of ‘Fast and Furious‘ fame, died in November of 2013 in a fiery car crash. The only evidence of the accident that we saw; were a couple of painted rocks set alongside the road with “R.I.P. Paul Walker” written on them.

We arrived back at the Valencia Travel Village with just enough time to prepare for our Pot Luck dinner.

Here we are heading off to our activity building again for another meal… Moooo…

The pot luck dinner was awesome as usual… us Alpiner’s sure know how to eat 🙂

Hope you enjoyed the tour 🙂

Our destination for Monday is the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. We’re supposed to get a catered meal under the wings of Air Force One. Check back soon…

California

Day 2 – ACA Pre-Rally – Nethercutt Museum (Valencia Travel Village, CA)

2015/03/22 davidhobden@mac.com 2 Comments

Warning! Today’s post is very picture-heavy… consider viewing on the website with your computer instead of on your mobile device.

www.UrbanEscapeVehicle.com

Day 2 of our rally started off with a fine selection of muffins, pastries, and more; all in the grand Alpine Coach Association tradition 🙂 And oh… I forgot to mention, yesterday we had breakfast burritos! Our hosts for this rally have sure outdone themselves already!

After our satisfying breakfast, everyone jumped in their respective vehicles or car-pools and headed out for the days scheduled activity; a guided tour of the Nethercutt Collection & Museum located in nearby Sylmar which is only 20 minutes away from our park.

Once again, here’s our itinerary for the week:

If you’re a “car-nut”, this place is for you! The Nethercutt Museum & Collection consists of two buildings of the finest restored vintage and antique automobiles in the world. They also have a huge assortment of mechanical musical instruments; but I was here to look at the cars 🙂

Be sure to click on the name above for a link to their website, or click here for a YouTube video tour that I found online taken in 2012. And if you are so inclined, here’s a link to another YouTube video of this fine car collection which was filmed for the TV series; My Classic Car from Season 9, Episode 10. On the My Classic Car episode, the host, Dennis Gage, tours the maintenance shop and restoration area of the Nethercutt Museum – which was something we weren’t able to see during our tour.

Streetside view of the Nethercutt Museum. This is across the street from the other building which houses the “car salon” and mechanical musical instrument.

We all gathered for our guided tour outside one of the buildings until they opened the doors.

I’ll let you read about the founders and how the museum collection came to be, from the website link I provided earlier.

So now… sit back and enjoy some of my favorite pictures from the day. But don’t worry, I didn’t include all 300 of them.. just my favorites, maybe 100, or so 🙂

Here we are listening to our tour guide inside an exquisite re-creation of an opulent automotive “grand salon” of the 1920’s and 1930’s.

Then we were set loose to browse the fine automobiles on our own recognizance.

It is my strong opinion that this is where the term “trunk” comes from. What do you think?

I’ve always liked the decorative “mascots” or hood ornaments… I’m sure some of these cost more than a new car nowadays.

Hope you’re not too bored with all the hood ornaments already, because there’s more to come…

But first, we ascended the semi-spiral staircase to the upper level(s).

Once on the first upper level, we viewed the fine displays and antiques.

And remember when I said earlier that there were more hood ornaments…

I have to wonder if there’s a larger collection of these anywhere else in the world?

We ascended yet another set of spiral stairs.

And found ourselves in the world of mechanical musical instruments, and they all worked…

But, before we listened to all the antique musical boxes in the huge room, we viewed the Louis XV style grand dining room.

Check out the infinite number of chandeliers effect in the mirror.

We viewed and listened to the various mechanical musical instruments that included: Nickelodeons; Cylinder & Disc Music Boxes; European Orchestrions; Grand Pianos; and more. Link here for more info on these devices if interested.

After viewing and listening to some of the finely tuned mechanical musical instruments, we got a mini-concert from the Wurlitzer pipe organ. All of these instruments were demonstrated by the museum’s mechanical music master technician/curator who acted as our tour guide.

After our senses were astounded with the visual and acoustic grandeur, we descended the many flights of stairs to depart the building.

We then went across the street to the second of the Nethercutt Museum buildings for a self-guided tour. By the way, did I mention that this is all free of charge? Here we were greeted by more finely restored automobiles and memorabilia that we wandered around gaping at.

I don’t think I’d kick any of these cars out of the garage for leaking oil on the floor, would you?

This 1936 Pierce-Arrow Travelodge trailer was a big hit with the Alpine Coach group.

And now, just when you thought there couldn’t be any more hood ornaments to take pictures of…

There were also display cases full of other types of antique automobile memorabilia.

Even headlights…

and horns…

spark plugs…

and more cars… Yay!

And then, just when we thought there couldn’t be anything more to astound us, we toured this cool train and luxury car that is stationed behind the building. Click here for more info on this 1937 Canadian Pacific Royal Hudson Locomotive and Pullman Private Palace Car.

We stood in line to get the free tour of the locomotive and the 1912 Pullman Private Car.

After listening to our tour guide give us the details, we toured the inside of this fully-restored luxurious palace car:

We stepped out of the car and onto the massive locomotive.

Yes, we even got to ring the bell.

That was one awesome locomotive! See a YouTube video of it’s farewell trip here.

And what an awesome museum! This is definitely a must-see attraction and you can’t beat the price.

We finally exited the museum late in the day and headed back to the campground.

On the way back to the campground, we made a stop at the local Camping World to get a new flex-hose water connection. I replaced the water filter when we got here, but the short flex-hose that connects to my quick-disconnect, developed a leak. Apparently, I overtightened it. Oh well, it was only $7.

Then we pretty much just lazed around for the rest of the day recuperating from all the walking. At least, that’s the excuse we used.

I hope you enjoyed today’s post. Tomorrow we take a tour of the William S. Hart Park & Museum, so check back in for a full recap.

California

Day 1 – Alpine Coach Association Pre-Rally (Valencia Travel Village, CA)

2015/03/21 davidhobden@mac.com 1 Comment

Yoo Hoo! We arrived safely at the Valencia Travel Village for the Alpine Coach Association Pre-Rally to the FMCA Rally in Pomona. We made it here around 3 PM on Thursday after successfully navigating the bumpy and busy LA freeways thanks to our Rand-McNally GPS. Whenever we get near a major city after being in the wide open southwest – it seems that all the drivers are impatient and in a hurry… common-sense and courtesy seem to be things that are reserved only for non-urban areas. Oh well… we’re here, with only a few frazzled nerves from the sudden traffic jams and lack of merge etiquette.

Here’s an awesome sight… a long row of fine Alpine Coaches. I think there are about 30 Coaches in attendance, (I’ll confirm that number later). Our Coaches filled up the first two rows near the entrance to the park and we ended up in the front row with a view of the pool and spa across from us. 🙂

Everyone gathered at the designated meeting spot for our “Meet & Greet Social”. Once again, it was nice to see old acquaintances/friends and to meet new ones.

After an hour of “catching-up” with folks, it was time for our catered dinner from Panda Express. Great selections, great food, great people!

After our fine meal, we finished setting up the Coach and relaxed for the evening. We were lucky to get a shot for the satellite dish through the tall trees around our site. I thought we might have to move forward or back a few feet but it worked out.

In case anyone’s interested; here’s a view of our schedule for our time here at the Valencia Travel Village:

Since Friday is a “free” day, we decided to check out some sights in and around LA. I thought about downloading the Harley, but decided against it after recalling our freeway experience(s) on the way in here. So, we jumped in the Silverado and plugged “Hollywood Sign” into the iPhone. What did we do in the days before GPS?

After 35 miles and about 50 minutes later, we ended up at the Griffith Observatory parking lot which is also on the road to the Hollywood sign (which is closed).

Here’s some pics of our time at the observatory:

Hollywood sign as seen from Griffith Observatory.

LA skyline through the smog, from the Griffith Observatory.

Hollywood sign in the background, picture is from the top of the Griffith Observatory.

Memorial to James Dean at the Griffith Observatory.

Plaque on the Memorial to James Dean at the Griffith Observatory.

We each took turns walking through the observatory because little dog, Coach, wasn’t allowed 🙁

Giant rotating earth inside the Griffith Observatory.

Giant rotating moon inside the Griffith Observatory.

Stilla and Coach greeted me outside the building after my fast-paced whirlwind tour. Pretty cool place… wish we had more time without having to worry about the dog… it was too hot to leave him alone in the pickup. Another must-see place.

After we left the observatory, we drove a little ways up the road to the Hollywood SIgn. A park ranger said that this is the first time in 20 years that vehicles can travel part way up the road. It’s still blocked off about 2 miles from the sign. Then we cruised around Hollywood and found ourselves at the La Brea Tar Pits.

The Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits was pretty cool. But as usual, no dogs allowed inside the museum. At least we were able to walk throughout the grounds with him on leash.

I’m running late this morning, so I’ll close for now and join the group for our scheduled trip to the Nethercutt Museum. Stay tuned for Day 2 of our Pre-Rally…

Arizona

Dirt Farming (Casa Grande, AZ)

2015/03/19 davidhobden@mac.com 1 Comment

We’ve been hanging out at the “dirt farm” in Casa Grande for a couple weeks now. The name “dirt farm” is not meant to be derogatory. It’s the name my brother and his significant other, Cheryl, have given to their 5-acre homesite complete with horses and chickens. It’s actually quite green for the moment with the recent rains and somewhat cooler weather.

This is also where my mom and stepdad live in their separate, but smaller pre-fabricated house. Brother Steven and Cheryl have the “big house” – a super-sized triple wide home.

We’ve been parked in front of Mom’s house, where stepdad Jim just finished hooking up a 50-Amp receptacle in the garage. Now we, or anyone else for that matter, can mooch power from either house… just depends on who you want to visit. 🙂 Although, the houses are only a couple hundred feet apart, we opted to park at Mom’s because it’s fenced in. This is great for little dog, Coach. We don’t have to put him on a leash… just let him out the door in the morning to do his business. Besides, as I reported earlier, the ground at Steven & Cheryl’s 50-Amp pedestal was still soggy from recent rain when we first arrived here.

When we weren’t working on the “dirt farm”, we went out to eat a few times… but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been eating well at the farm too! We’re going to have to get away from here so we can go on a diet! Just kidding Mom 🙂

While enjoying all the good meals and the company of family, we’ve been helping out a little with all the on-going projects around here. Some of these projects include, but are not limited to: running electrical power and burying cable for outlying sheds and a casita; putting up or moving fencing; spreading gravel and leveling with the bobcat; etc., etc.,

Brother Steve and Stepdad Jimmy spreading gravel.

Mom’s future orchard… all leveled and ready for planting… almost…

Mom working on the future fruit tree orchard.

And the first fruit tree goes in…

Mom’s first fruit tree in the new “orchard”.

Earlier picture of Mom’s vegetable garden. There are now two rows of corn and one row of onions… more rows to follow…

I also used the time here to reorganize the contents of my cargo trailer and made room in my “Conex” storage container for more items. Now I can park either the ATV or the Harley inside the trailer, depending on which one we decide to haul around in the pickup with us.

The new Xantrex inverter/charger that I wrote about in my last post has been working as advertised. Although, when I did some checking, I found out that the technician forgot to tighten down the nuts that hold it to the basement wall. I guess he got distracted after finger-tightening the nuts… must have been tired from lifting the 75 pound unit into place.

Also, I think I need to come up with a junction box of some sort for the wire connections he spliced. I wish he would have taken the time to run new wires, the old ones (orange) were just a couple inches too short.

In other RV maintenance related news; I finally took the time to do something about the sagging insulation in the engine compartment. My stepdad had some super-sized washers that I was able to use after drilling holes through the closet floor (under the drawers). Don’t look too bad, eh?

I also fixed a support bracket for the charge-air cooler tube that had broken again. This bracket had been fixed once already by my old high school buddy and good friend, Mike Harris. My buddy Mike welded the bracket, but I think the extra weight of the sagging insulation that was laying on top of the tube was just too much for it. Thanks anyway Mike! 🙂

Oh, and by the way – the technicians at Speedco lied! They didn’t lube the u-joints on the Coach after changing the oil and replacing the fuel filter like they said they did. There was absolutely no evidence the dirt-encrusted grease fittings had been touched with a grease gun since last year. So I cleaned the fittings and lubed them myself while I was under there.

It’s been great spending time here at the “dirt farm’ with family. Thanks Ma, Jimmy, Steve & Cheryl! See you again soon… hopefully we’ll be back in time for some Easter fun at the farm 🙂

And now it’s time to move on… we’re signed up for an Alpine Coach Pre-Rally in Valencia CA that starts the 19th. After that, we’ll convoy to the FMCA Rally in Pomona. We’re looking forward to both rallies, there’s going to be lots of activities and new things to do and see.

Here we are at a rest stop by the Imperial Sand Dunes along I-8 yesterday (Wednesday) after we said our farewells and hit the road.

I decided to load the Harley and the bicycles for our next adventure in California. I parked the ATV safely away in the cargo trailer back at the “dirt farm”.

All loaded up for the rallies in California.

We found an overnight spot at the Red Earth Casino along highway 86 next to the Salton Sea. And the price was right, Free! We just had to stay at our $20 limit inside the casino…

Little Coach enjoying some California dirt.

We should make it to Valencia in a few hours after I post this. Check back in later to see what we’re up to. 🙂

Arizona

Maintenance Day (Gilbert, AZ)

2015/03/11 davidhobden@mac.com

It was a very early day on Tuesday – we had to get up around 5:30 AM and hit the road by 6 AM to make the 55 mile trip to Gilbert, AZ for my scheduled inverter/charger repair. The Xantrex inverter/charger went out on me last week on Thursday. I wrote about this in a previous blog post titled “Dirt Farm“.

Stilla joined my Mom, stepdad Jimmy, brother Steven, and his girlfriend Cheryl in their car so they could run “errands” (code for shopping) in and around the Phoenix area while I stayed with the Coach.

We arrived at Tekris Power around 7 AM. The knowledgeable technician, Robert Meeker, quickly verified that my old Xantrex RS2000 was ready for the trash can. They don’t make them any more and parts are hard to get… repairing the unit is not cost-effective. He determined that the best replacement unit is the Xantrex Freedom 3012. This is a nice 3,000 watt unit that will go well with my 8 house batteries and residential fridge.

Urban Escape Vehicle parked behind the Xantrex “authorized” service center in Gilbert, AZ.

Items on display inside the office at Tekris Power.

My extended warranty company, EasyCare, sent a warranty coordinator to verify the failure and authorize the replacement. He arrived around 10AM, took photos, asked questions, and filled out a lot of paperwork. We got word by telephone that the replacement was authorized about an hour after he left. The end-result was a bill for a little over $3000… luckily my portion only ended up being around $375 thanks to the extended warranty.

Here’s the old RS2000 unit on Robert’s workbench. Notice the small vents on the bottom that are clogged with dust. This side was mounted against the wall and probably contributed to it’s demise. Although, it has lasted 10 years – which is a pretty good run for an inverter/charger. The Coach is a 2005 model.

Robert packed up my old inverter/charger in the box from the new unit. I decided to keep it in case someone might need parts or want to have it repaired.

Here’s Robert mounting the new unit on the back wall of the basement where the old unit was. He must have crawled in and out of there about 50 times before he was done hooking things up.

And here’s the new unit all mounted and ready for wiring.

While my technician, Robert was working away… I got a text from my friend, fellow Alpine driver and blogger, Mike Kuper. He and his lovely wife, Donna are currently staying at an RV Resort in the nearby Mesa, AZ area.

Mike came over on his scooter to visit and provide moral support while the Coach was getting fixed.

Mike hung out with me for a good portion of the day while we talked Alpine and full-time RV stuff. We even walked over to a nearby restaurant, Los Favoritos to have some fish tacos for lunch. It was good seeing Mike again… it’s a small RV world after all 🙂

We first met Mike and Donna in Portland, OR at an Alpine Coach Pre-Rally in August 2014. We convoyed together afterwards to the FMCA Rally in Redmond where we enjoyed more time with them on a sightseeing trip to Lava Lands in addition to other rally activities.

Here’s a few pictures we took back then on a hike we took around an old volcano… this was before I was doing the blog:

Donna and Stilla at Lava Lands National Monument (Oregon) in August of 2014.

Lava Butte – Newberry National Volcanic Monument near the Lava Lands Visitors Center in August of 2014 with Mike and Donna.

Mike has a great blog named “Flying the Koop” that I read regularly. I even emulated his website when I was starting mine. Check it out.

After Robert finished up the inverter/charger replacement and put in a new system control panel to replace the old one (they weren’t compatible), we tested everything out with shore power and the generator. We even boiled some water in the microwave using just the inverter on battery power… don’t think the old unit would let me do that! I paid my portion of the bill and headed back to Casa Grande. Stilla and the others were still out shopping and running around the greater Phoenix area, so I drove back alone.

I knew it was time for an oil change and what better time than now – since I was already out and about. It’s been a year since the last service and we’ve put on about 8000 miles since then.

Mike told me he had a good experience at Speedco near Casa Grande, so I plugged them into the GPS and got there by 5 PM. Thanks for the tip Mike!

After a 20 minute wait, they drained and replaced my 25 quarts of engine oil and the filter. Then they replaced my fuel-water separator filter with a Baldwin BF 1293-SPS, but couldn’t get to the other fuel filter (an FF5488) that is hidden above the starter. That one was replaced last year and the shop that did it then, had to remove the starter to gain access. I decided to let that one go until next time… maybe I’ll try to tackle that one myself.

I paid the somewhat reasonable $200 bill and got back to the “dirt farm” shortly after Stilla and the rest of the family.

We decided to stay parked in front of my Mom’s house because it’s fenced-in. This is convenient for little dog “Coach” so he doesn’t go near the horses or get chased by the chickens at my brother and Cheryl’s. We’ll have to test out that 50-Amp pedestal they installed next to their house another time. Meanwhile, we’re doing ok with an extension cord to a 20-Amp outlet… especially, since I have a new 3000 watt inverter 🙂

Time to close out todays blog post and go help out around the farm here in order to earn our keep. Wouldn’t want to wear out our welcome here with the family… especially since we still don’t have a buyer for the house back in Colorado Springs yet. We need to save some bucks in the campground budget category until we head to Valencia and Pomona on the 19th. At least we’ve already paid for those rallies.

Until next time…

Arizona

Hanging out at the “Dirt Farm” & Casa Grande Ruins (Casa Grande, AZ)

2015/03/09 davidhobden@mac.com

We’re still hanging around the “dirt farm” with my Mom, stepdad Jim, brother Steve, and Cheryl. Since the inverter/charger went out on the Urban Escape Vehicle, (see my last post) we’ve been minimizing battery usage by having meals and watching television with our hosts. Thanks family!

Urban Escape Vehicle parked in front of Mom’s house at the “dirt farm”.

We still haven’t moved over to the 50-Amp pedestal that brother Steve had installed next to his house, since it wouldn’t do us any good now anyway. You may recall from my last posting, that recent rains prevented us from parking there when we arrived. The ground was pretty soggy… wouldn’t want to sink in and get stuck.

Anyway, I was able to schedule an appointment with the authorized Xantrex service center in Gilbert, AZ for Tuesday morning. We’ll depart early in the morning to get there by 8 AM.

Meanwhile, we’ve just been puttering around here or in the local area. Yesterday (Sunday) we drove over to Coolidge to browse the flea market with Mom and Jim. Mom picked up a few more fruit trees to plant at the farm.

And before that, on Saturday, we toured the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument with Mom and Jim. Here’s some pics we took for the day:

Entrance sign to the national monument from the main road in Coolidge, AZ.

We were able to use my disabled veteran National Parks Pass in lieu of the entrance fee.

Entrance sign in front of the Visitors Center.

The visitors center was chock-full of displays and informational placards.

We watched the film in the theater and then browsed all the displays until it was time for the guided tour.

Artists conception of daily life back in the day.

Here’s a diorama of the “Great House” with informational placard below.

I was surprised to learn there’a a large number of archeological sites throughout Arizona.

Once you step out the back door of the Visitors Center, you are greeted with a grand view of the ruins.

When it was time for the guided tour, we gathered under the pavilion.

Our tour guide, John, was passionate and knowledgeable. His background was in engineering, so he gave his presentation from that perspective.

Here, our informative tour guide John, is explaining how one of the circular openings in the wall align with the setting sun on the summer solstice.

Another view of the ruins from the front, or is it the back? Oh heck, the other side.

Informational placards were placed throughout the compound:

Mom and stepdad Jimmy posed for a picture.

Then it was our turn.

Another view of the ruins. I found it interesting in itself that the protective structure was built around 1932. It replaced a wooden structure that was in place before that.

After our tour of the Casa Grande Ruins, we took the short walking tour from the parking lot to view some more of this compound. Here’s the ball field with another informational placard in the foreground.

There were many of these signs all around the parking lot and compound.

Stilla supported one of the local “artists” inside the visitors center.

Great tour!… I would highly recommend it for anyone visiting the area.

Back at the “dirt farm” there’s always something to do. Here’s some electrical wire getting laid in the ground to power up the sheds, and recently built casita.

And here’s Jim and Steve filling in one of the ditches. I even helped a little… the fun part was packing it back down by running over the fresh dirt with the ATV 🙂

Anyway, gotta run and help out a little more…

Stay tuned to see how our repairs to the Urban Escape Vehicle go tomorrow…

Arizona

“Dirt Farm” (Casa Grande, AZ)

2015/03/06 davidhobden@mac.com 2 Comments

We’ve enjoyed our time here in Prescott Valley at Scott and Julie’s house. But, with more rain and possible snow expected on Tuesday afternoon, we decided it was time to head south for warmer weather while we had the chance. So, we said our sad goodbyes in the morning between rainstorms and moved on. Plus, we didn’t want to wear out our welcome at the Richardson Ranch 🙂

The evening before we left, Julie made us an awesome spaghetti dinner… thanks Julie!

Here’s our moochdocking spot, looking east. The streets were finally drying somewhat after the last couple days of rain. Sure Julie… we believe you… it’s really nice weather here most of the time… suuuure…. 🙂

And here’s looking west.

Our hosts saw us on our way. Bye Scott & Julie… see you again soon! Thanks again! We’ll definitely be back to see some of the local attractions with you when the weather’s better.

A sign over I-17 just north of Phoenix told us to drive with care due to winter weather conditions. Luckily, we were able to stay dry and the Urban Escape Vehicle stayed clean except for a very brief rain shower near the middle of Phoenix.

By the way – we had decided to go down to the “dirt farm” in Casa Grande to stay a while with my Mom, Stepdad, brother Steve, and his girlfriend Cheryl. They reported good weather there, plus we can save a little money on diesel and campgrounds until it’s time to go to California for a couple Rallies in mid-March that we already signed up for.

We got to the “dirt farm” without incident after fueling up and dumping tanks at a Pilot/Flying J nearby.

Brother Steve and Stepdad Jimmy showed us the 50-Amp pedestal they finally got installed 🙂 However, the ground was still pretty soggy from recent rain at the designated spot, so we opted to park in front of Mom’s house until it gets a little drier here.

Our own 50 amp pedestal at the “dirt farm”. Pedestal is to the right, next to the house.

Brother Steven and Cheryl’s house, aka “the dirt farm”. Their name for it – not mine 🙂

Here’s where we’re parked in front of Mom and Jimmy’s house on the “dirt farm” until the 50-amp site on the side of Steven and Cheryl’s dries out.

View up the drive. The Coach is parked in front of Mom’s house on the right.

On Wednesday, we downloaded the ATV from the pickup and puttered around. Here’s Mom (below) starting her garden. She’s planting some corn and onions. The “dirt farm” has gotten quite “green” since we were last here in mid-January.

We went into town for lunch at a place we call the “Cactus Garden Restaurant”. It’s official name is BeDillon’s. Nice place, good food with cool ambience, this was the second time we’ve been here. They even have a little museum on site.

After lunch, Mom had us all working hard in the garden. We even managed to keep the rows straight and even, with a little help from tent stakes and string. Then we enjoyed another family meal and an evening of movies.

On Thursday, I helped stepdad Jimmy pick up supplies at Lowe’s so he could finish up some more electrical runs and breaker boxes to supply power for outlying sheds and the garage. There’s always something to do here at the farm.

When I returned and stepped into the Urban Escape Vehicle, I heard the Inverter/Charger (Xantrex) alarm going off. The display panel indicated an Inverter/Charger internal fault and there was no power except for 12 volt. This is especially bad for us because we have a residential refrigerator. We must always leave our Inverter/Charger running with the Inverter “enabled” in order to power the fridge at all times.

I checked everything I could think of, but we have no 110-120 volt power to anything, no matter what I do. Every time I reset (either from the display panel or on the actual Inverter/Charger) it goes directly to “fault-mode” and the alarm sounds.

Our surge-guard appears to be working fine and “clicks” when I plug in to shore power. The generator appears to be supplying voltage when I turn it on, but again, the Inverter/Charger keeps going to “fault-mode” whenever I “enable” the Inverter portion of the Inverter/Charger.

Now, I thought that when hooked to shore power or with the generator running, I could still power all my appliances (Fridge, Microwave, TV, etc.,) without the Inverter being “enabled”. But, since I ALWAYS leave my Inverter “enabled” for the times when we disconnect from shore power or turn the generator off… so that the batteries will continue to provide seamless power – I’m not sure. I certainly can’t get any appliances to work now, no matter what I do with the Inverter/Charger.

Here’s a picture I took of the Inverter/Charger which is mounted sideways on the back wall of the basement. It’s the RS2000 model from Xantrex, and I’m relatively sure it’s original equipment from 2005. As you can see from the lights; the “Network” light is on and the “Charger Enable” light is on. In this current state, it does not alarm, but there is also no power to any appliances. Now, if I press the “Inverter Enable” button, the “Fault” light comes on and the alarm sounds at the display panel at the front of the Coach in the upper cabinet. The display shows “Fault F026 – Inverter/Charger Internal Failure”.

I then have to hit the “Reset” to stop the alarm.

I checked the network wires and connections.

I pulled off the front panel to see if there was anything obviously loose or wrong.

All the connections are tight and clean.

Then I pulled off the top cover. Note: All necessary safety precautions were taken – no one was hurt in the making of this blog post.

Again, nothing obviously wrong. I guess it’s time to call my extended warranty service and see what run-around I’ll get from them (based on my past experience with the refrigerator compressor) and see where they will allow me to take this problem to get fixed. Oh well, always a new adventure… it’s a good thing we’re parked where we are and not in the boonies somewhere, eh?

We emptied the refrigerator and freezer and moved everything into the house… thanks Mom and Cheryl!

Hopefully, we can get this resolved without a lot of money or drama. Honestly, I should have seen this coming, because I HAD noticed recently that the Inverter/Charger was louder than usual. It always “hummed”, but lately it’s been louder than I remember. I chalked it up to the lower voltage service we’ve subjected the Coach to in recent weeks; 30-Amp at Alamo Lake State Park, garage power (probably 20-Amp) at Scott & Julie’s, and now 20-Amp in front of my Mom’s house…

I called our extended warranty service, EasyCare. They tell me that there are only two “authorized” Xantrex service centers in Arizona. One is in Tucson, the other in Gilbert. I’ll be making some calls in the morning. Stay tuned…

Arizona

Moochdocking (Prescott Valley, AZ)

2015/03/02 davidhobden@mac.com 1 Comment

It’s wet, cold, and raining in Prescott Valley this morning (Monday), so we’re just hunkering down… we got here on Friday and I’ve used the last couple days to play catch-up on the blog since we didn’t have connectivity during our week-long stay at Alamo Lake State Park. Now let me bring you up to date on our time here so far…

As I said in my previous post from 28 February: “We are now in Prescott Valley at the home of Scott and Julie Richardson. Julie is a friend and former co-worker from my days at the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). We were both in the MDA Contracting Directorate together at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. Julie retired at about the same time that I resigned from my position back in May of 2014 and moved here to their lovely retirement home in Prescott Valley, AZ. We drove straight here from the lake (about 150 miles) when we learned that they were home and also willing to put up with us for a day or so.”

Scott and Julie Richardson inside their retirement ranch.

It’s great to see Julie again… we haven’t seen her since May of last year at her retirement party in Colorado Springs. After we arrived on Friday afternoon, we got caught up on recent events and old times a little bit and shared what little knowledge we had about mutual acquaintances’. We also got the “grand tour” of Scott and Julie’s beautiful home, aka., “Richardson Retirement Ranch” or (3R).

We parked the Urban Escape Vehicle in front of the 3rd garage so we wouldn’t block the driveway. Then we ran an extension cord to the garage outlet so we wouldn’t have to run our generator to charge the batteries.. the residential-type refrigerator sure sucks them down. Thanks for the juice Scott and Julie! And also the moochdocking, – er, I mean boondocking spot!

On Saturday, we took a little driving tour to catch some of the sights in the area. Julie acted as our tour-guide and we all piled into her car. We went north on AZ-89A aka the “Prescott Jerome Hwy” towards Sedona. We hadn’t gone very far up the winding pass before we spotted snow on the higher mountain tops around us. Ugh… thought we’d left that behind in Colorado.

We stopped to enjoy the view at a pull-out. It was windy but not raining yet.

When we got to Jerome, AZ, we decided to park and walk around a bit… what a neat town nestled on the hillside.

Here’s a pic I swiped from Google Images:

And here’s some actual pics we took while wandering around a bit.

Anyone recognize the lamp in the window?

We heard that the hotel in the pic below is supposed to be haunted.

We drove on down the pass and finally rolled into the picturesque town of Sedona. (don’t forget to click on the link for more info).

As you can see below, the rain picked up once we arrived in Sedona.

The rain didn’t stop us from shopping for some t-shirts though…

We passed by Pink Jeep Tours, who has quite a large fleet… and the crummy weather didn’t appear to be stopping tourists from lining up to take tours in the rain.

How about a couple more pics of the area:

Our downtown area walk was cut short with a brief downpour that made us dash for the car, so we headed on over to the Golden Goose Cafe & Bistro for a late lunch / early dinner. Scott and Julie treated… thanks again guys, you didn’t have to do that.

After our fine dining experience, we drove over to the nearby Chapel of the Holy Cross. Don’t forget to click the previous “green” link to go to the official church website, or here for more pictures from Google.

We were able to park in the upper lot and made the short walk to the semi-circular walkway up to the chapel.

Stilla, Julie, and Scott on the walkway up to the church.

The views from inside the church windows looking out – were awesome.

And here’s some views from the landing in front of the church entrance.

After visiting the picturesque church, we continued south on (also) picturesque route 179 until we got on I-17 which we took to the 169 exit, and then back to the house, effectively completing our loop for the day.

On Sunday, we stayed close to the area. Our highlight for the day was a trip to the local IN-N-OUT Burger. Yummm. This time Scott and Julie allowed us to treat. Julie acted as our chauffeur once again. Thanks Julie!!

Then we drove through the Bob Stump VA Medical Center… reminded me of an old Army base stuck in the ’50s. Check out the officer’s housing area:

Unfortunately, the museum here was closed.

In downtown Prescott, we stopped briefly in the rain for a picture of the courthouse. The crummy weather prevented us from wanting to wander around.

Then, on the way back home, we stopped at the Phippen Museum for a little “Art and Heritage of the American West”.

However, only a small portion of the museum was currently open for viewing due to new exhibits being put into place. So we opted to save our $7 per person entrance fee for another time and just browsed the gift shop.

Then we headed back to the house to relax again and hide out from the rain.

And that brings us to the present… here it is Monday (my new favorite day of the week since retirement) and it’s still raining outside. It rained all night, and it’s even been snowing a little bit this morning. At least it’s not sticking.

So we plan on just staying inside to wait out the weather. There’s a lot of cool stuff to see around here, but none of it’s quite so fun to do in the rain and cold.

As a parting shot… Julie shared this picture of an eagle with me that she saw in the back yard just the other day. We haven’t seen it since though… probably hiding from the cold weather like we are 🙂

Arizona

Alamo Lake State Park – continued (AZ)

2015/03/01 davidhobden@mac.com

We made it back to Scott and Julie Richardson’s house this evening (Sunday) after enjoying the day with them touring the area. I’ll post about that shortly.

But first, I have to bring you up to date on the rest of our time at Alamo Lake State Park. As I mentioned in my last post, the reason I got behind is because internet connectivity at the lake was almost non-existent. So, to continue on where I left off in my last post from this morning, here’s what we did…

21 Feb (Saturday):

We got invited to go ATVing with some other campers that we got into conversation with the day before. So we graciously accepted their invitation and met the group first thing in the morning. We carried our little dog “Coach” in his doggie backpack. And off we went…

There were seven ATV’s in the group altogether and our first destination for the day was going to be the “Mud Cliffs” that you can see on the right side of the hand drawn map (below) that we got from the ranger station. Our start point is labeled “Camp C” in the lower center of the map.

Stilla took some pics while riding on the back.

And here are the Mud Cliffs.

We rode through the sandy bottom of the gorge between the impressive cliffs.

The trail got smaller and smaller as the cliffs closed in on each side. Most of the group waited at the entrance to the cliffs because they had been there before and many of the side-by-side ATV’s were too wide to make it very far without getting stuck anyway.

We rode until the trail was blocked.

Then we parked and walked a little ways further up the canyon.

Stilla posed (at a safe distance) under an arch that looked like it could collapse at the first hint of rain.

After our “Mud Cliffs” adventure, we rejoined the rest of the group and headed further east. The destination was supposed to be a magnesium mine that some in the group had an agenda to see. However, during a short rest break, one of the side-by-side ATV’s wouldn’t restart. So we ended up spending the next hour or so troubleshooting the problem. We finally got it restarted but it was getting late so everyone decided to head on back instead of continuing on to the mine.

We got back in time to stop at the “Wayside Inn” before they closed for the day. This little bar and grill is in the middle of nowhere but they still manage to serve up great burgers and fries. They also have the only gas for sale within 35 miles.

Little “Coach” was happy to run around a bit after a long day of riding on the ATV. We had gone about 55 miles for the day and still had a few more miles to get back to the campground.

The “Wayside Inn” A small campground bar and grill – miles from nowhere.

One of the other riders in the group had a Can-AM ATV just like ours. His was a year newer than our 2007, but it was the same silver “limited-edition” series… the first one I’ve ever seen like ours. I took a couple pics and took note of how his mirrors are mounted because that’s something I’d like to add to ours in the near future.

We finished up our adult beverages (also available at the Wayside Inn) and motored on back to the campground to call it a day. And what a fun day it was!

22 Feb (Sunday):

We decided to spend the day (Sunday) on the lake to see if we could get some good use out of the $55 Arizona fishing license I purchased at the ranger station when we got here. So we broke out our Sea-Eagle inflatable raft that we keep in the back seat of the truck. It’s the SE-9 model called the “Fisherman’s Dream” with an electric trolling motor. We got ours from InflatableBoats4Less.com. The link to the SE-9 model we purchased is here.

We bought some live minnows at the ranger station / general store ($2.75 per dozen) and went to the boat ramp on the west-end of the lake to inflate the boat. After we got the boat into the water, we slowly motored our way to the other end of the lake while I trolled behind us with the minnows for bait. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the east-side of the lake, which is peppered with dead trees, the wind had picked up significantly. We were told that the “hot spot” for fishing was near the dead trees, however, an inflatable boat, no matter how sturdy, is no match for dead trees sticking up out of the lake… especially in high winds. So, we had to cut our day short and motor all the way back against the wind. We were worried the battery might not hold up, but luckily we were fine and didn’t have to flag down anyone for a tow.

Once we were safely back at the dock, we stored the trolling motor and battery, left the raft inflated and loaded it onto the back of the truck. We then released the remaining minnows on their own recognizance to fend for themselves in the dark waters of the lake.

Oh well, there’s always another day. You know what the say; “A bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work” 🙂

We spent the rest of the day hanging around the Coach. I used the time to give the ATV a good washing. Then I cleaned and serviced the K&N air filter after removing an old animal nest I found under the plastic cowling in front of the seat. A fellow camper gave me some of the “recharge” oil I needed to properly service the filter.

I know you’re disappointed, but there’s only one picture for the day.

It rained off and on all night.

23 Feb (Monday):

It was still sprinkling in the morning and it was chilly… I don’t think we’ve had temps this cold since we left Colorado. Another ATV ride had been scheduled with the same group we hung out with before, but everything was cancelled due to the poor weather.

We took the inflatable boat off the back of the pickup and drained out all the water it had collected overnight.

Then we decided to take the pickup out to the Wayside Inn to get our 5 gallon fuel can refilled, but that ended up being a short trip because the dirt road that goes out to the Inn was too muddy… I didn’t want to spend another day just washing the truck. We turned around and went back to the campground.

So we ended up taking another trip up to the dam to look for burro’s. We’ve heard the burros almost every night but haven’t seen any yet… Stilla wants to see some burros. Unfortunately for Stilla, no burros were to be found anywhere… just several road signs that say; “Watch for Burros”.

The rest of the day, we spent hanging around the Coach. At least the rain washed some of the dust off the Coach, so I spent some time wiping it dry once it stopped drizzling. Then we closed out the rest of the day with a lot of television.

24 Feb (Tuesday):

It was another chilly morning, but at least it was dry. We got invited to join a different group this time to do another ATV trip. The destination today was a giant Saguaro cactus that someone in the group had discovered on an earlier trip. This time, we left little dog “Coach” in the big Coach since it was supposed to be a long ride.

There were seven or eight ATV’s in our group today.

It was a long way out, but we finally arrived at the giant cactus.

Stilla posed for this picture which gives the huge cactus some perspective.

Pretty impressive, eh?

We then headed towards a distant mountain range… the goal was to see if there was a way across and then back to the campground. That goal was not realized…

Along our route to the mountain range, we stopped to explore around some abandoned mines.

Everyone had brought their own lunch which we stopped to enjoy after checking out the abandoned mines.

We then headed on up the mountain. Check out the long winding road in the picture below.

Here we can see the top of the mountain with all the antennae on top.

Getting closer to the top.

View back towards the lake… way in the background.

We ended up having to turn around at a gate near the top. At least the views were awesome. It’s a shame we couldn’t make it all the way up, or even better, down the other side. The GPS said we had attained an altitude of ~5,200 feet above sea level.

We stopped at the Wayside Inn on the way back. We must have been on fumes after traveling over 70 miles for the day. The fuel gauge was showing empty for miles before we finally rolled in. They close at 4 PM on weekdays, so we were especially lucky to have made it back on time, just as they were closing. Another good day!

25 Feb (Wed):

Today (Wednesday) was another full day of ATVing. We met John the first day we got here and he was with the group from yesterday when we visited the giant cactus. He and his wife offered to take us to the north side of the lake to “Red Canyon”. We took little “Coach” along with us today.

We crossed to the north side of the lake by going through the marsh-like river bed on the east side.

It was dry where we crossed the river, the water was running underground. John said they had to ford through at least six inches to a foot of water when he crossed last week.

After an hour or so we finally reached the “Red Canyon”. Here’s some pics for your viewing pleasure…

We even explored a couple side canyons, but most just dead-ended like this one.

This is truly a “must-see” canyon… and super fun to ride through. We’re going to have to come back here sometime in the future to explore of the area, we only scratched the surface from what we’ve been told. We ended up going about 50 miles for the day.

26 Feb (Thursday):

It was time to give the fishing another try. Today, the water was calm with very little wind. We stopped at the ranger station / general store to get some more minnows on the way to the boat launch. We met a guy that was checking out of the campground and he offered to give us his remaining minnows. I thanked him and we hit the lake.

Stilla thought it would be funny to take a picture of my catch. Really, it’s the bait minnow ready to go into service and do his duty.

This time, we stayed on the west side of the lake and didn’t worry about trying to go around the dead underwater trees on the east side. We didn’t want to get caught too far away from the boat launch if the wind picked up again… plus, we didn’t want to fight for space with the other fishermen in their boats.

After an hour or so, I hooked a fairly large fish, but it got off the hook just as Stilla was putting the net in the water. Bummer.

But it wasn’t too long before I landed another one.

It was a male crappie according to a fellow fisherman and our ever-helpful friend; Wikipedia.com.

It was a slow fishing day according to other fishermen that I talked to later. But at least I didn’t get skunked this time 🙂

We cleaned the fish back at our campground at the fish cleaning station with the help of yet another friendly fellow camper that was an experienced fisherman. We got some pretty nice filets for the freezer.

Here’s a final parting shot of the lake, since this is our last day here.

Tomorrow, we plan on moving on, as our weeklong reservation concludes.

And Stilla finally got a picture of some of the local burros. So she’s happy too.

Goodbye and good evening from Alamo Lake State Park. We’ll be back!

27 Feb (Friday):

We left the state park after driving the Coach over to the dump station and taking care of business there. Tire pressures are all still holding… no more slow leaks, at least for now.

Once we drove the 35 miles or so to get back to highway 60, we expected our AT&T service to be back on. But, alas, it was not to be… it seems we used all our “off-network” allowance and can only connect once we get an actual AT&T 3G signal. At least we can still make phone calls, but I guess we’ll have to wait until the end of our billing cycle to get the “off-network” ability reset in order to use WiFi or google maps, etc.,

We decided to head east on 60, and since we were this close to Prescott Valley where my good friend and former coworker (Julie Richardson) now lives, I gave her a call to see if we could stop by.

After ~150 miles, and the help of google maps, we made it to Scott and Julie Richardson’s beautiful retirement home. And guess what – there’s a strong AT&T 3G signal here!

I’ll post more about our visit here at the “Richardson Ranch” later. Stay tuned…

Arizona

Alamo Lake State Park (AZ)

2015/02/28 davidhobden@mac.com

Sorry readers… haven’t been able to post since we got to Alamo Lake State Park last Thursday due to limited connectivity. Our Verizon MiFi Jetpack had zero signal and our iPhones on the AT&T network only had one bar and we were “off network”. We were lucky to even be able to make phone calls.

We are now in Prescott Valley at the home of Scott and Julie Richardson. Julie is a friend and former co-worker from my days at the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). We were both in the MDA Contracting Directorate together at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. Julie retired at about the same time that I resigned from my position back in May of 2014 and moved here to their lovely retirement home in Prescott Valley, AZ. We drove straight here from the lake (about 150 miles) when we learned that they were home and also willing to put up with us for a day or so.

Scott & Julie Richardson at their “retirement ranch” in Prescott Valley, AZ.

Plus – They have great internet connectivity 🙂

But first, let me bring you up to date with our adventure(s) since I last posted. It’s been a fun week with lots of off-roading on the ATV and even some fishing in the Sea-Eagle inflatable…

19 Feb (Thursday):

We got ready to leave Havasu Springs Resort and I noticed one of the tires was low on the Silverado. It was only at 20 psi, it should have been at 35 psi. The truck has a built-in sensor in each tire that alerts the driver on the instrument panel when it’s started or while driving. At the same time, one of the rear tires on the Coach was reading about 85 psi and it should be at 95 psi. I have a tire pressure monitoring system from Pressure Pro that I bought shortly after we got the Coach. It has sensors that replace the valve caps on each tire. Each of these valve caps have a non-replaceable battery in them that send a wireless signal to my display that I plug into a cigarette-type power outlet each time we get ready to roll. This particular tire, a rear inner dual, has been slowly leaking down (2-3 psi each month) since I last filled it in Colorado Springs back in January. I’ve had this problem before on the opposite side inner-rear tire. It seems that Redlands Truck & RV didn’t properly tighten the stainless steel valve stem extenders that I had them install a couple years ago while we were in Quartzsite having new shocks put on. The only way to tighten the valve stem is to remove the tire.

So, I used a can of Fix-a-Flat that I keep on hand, for the Silverado tire and then topped it off with my air hose connected to the Coach’s on-board air compressor. With that done, we hooked up and headed into Parker AZ, only a few miles away, to find a tire repair shop for both vehicles.

After a quick stop at an RV Supply store to ask for recommendations and directions, we were directed to a small garage/service shop in downtown Parker. The tire technician couldn’t find a leak on the Silverado… guess the can of Fix-a-Flat did it’s job. They even pulled off both rear tires and leak-checked them. Although, this was due to miscommunication between their techs. Oh well – Total cost was only $13.

While a tire technician was working on the Silverado, another one made good time removing the rear tires on the Coach. He was amazed that I was able to use the HWH leveling jacks to raise the right rear of the coach when it was obvious his hydraulic floor jack wasn’t up to the task. Once the inner tire was off, we quickly confirmed that the valve stem was leaking by using a soapy water solution in a spray bottle. The leak was evident where the valve stem goes through the rim, and was made worse by wiggling the stem. A quick tighten was all that it needed. Total cost $14.

With our tire situation resolved, we stopped at the local WalMart to stock up on groceries for our week at Alamo Lake State Park. We were told about this state park by our new friend and fellow Alpine Coach driver, Nick Escamilla. We met Nick at the Fireworks Rally that we had just attended (link here). Nick and his wife Romana did an awesome job hosting the rally. They told us they had spent a week at the park prior to going to the Fireworks Rally and said it was a “must-see” for anyone that likes ATV’ing and fishing. But they warned us to take everything we might need in with us, because it’s about 35 miles from the nearest gas station or grocery store.

I made online reservations for the park and was able to find what looked like a good spot in the C loop for the 20th through the 27th. The park has different rates for different areas, depending on whether you want full hook-ups, just electric and water, or are willing to dry-camp. We followed Nick’s advice and reserved a spot in the C loop. Our cost was $22 per night for 30 amp electric and water hook-up.

So, we headed south out of Parker and turned east on 60. We figured we would find an overnight spot somewhere on our way there since it was still the19th and our reserved site wasn’t available until the 20th. However, after passing several opportunities that just didn’t have that “it” factor we quickly found ourselves at the turn-off to Alamo Lake at the town of Wendon. So we decided to just head on up north towards the lake.

After traveling the 35 miles or so up to the lake, we still hadn’t seen any spots to spend the night at, so we ended up at the ranger station and asked the nice ranger guy if a spot was available for the night. Our reservation wasn’t until tomorrow and the spot was currently occupied by someone else, but the site across from them was open.

The park ranger directed us into the site across from our reserved spot and told us that when the current occupants leave our reserved spot in the morning, to just move on over and then come back to the ranger station to settle up the extra night’s cost.

20 Feb (Friday)

On Friday morning, the occupants in the site across from us left early in the morning, so we moved on over, put up the flagpole, set out the tablecloth, and put up Stilla’s chili pepper/cactus awning lights since we were going to stay put for a while… Nice spot with nice views! We even have a few Saguaro cacti in the back yard.

Then we went back to the ranger station / general store to pay for the additional night and got I also broke down and got an Arizona fishing license for $55. The general store portion of the ranger station had plenty of basic commodities, like milk, cereal, drinks and ice cream. But I was certainly glad we had already stocked up on food after seeing the prices.

Here’s a layout of the parks campsite loops. We are now in site C34.

And here’s a bonus… it’s a hand-drawn map of the area ATV trails and significant destinations, courtesy of the nice ranger guy.

We took the pickup and toured around all the campgrounds and quickly decided we liked our choice of spots. We even drove over to check out the dam.

Here’s Stilla and little Coach with Alamo Lake in the background. You can tell the water level is low.

After we got back from touring the campground loops and the dam, we downloaded the ATV and rode down to the lake.

We found out that there is a dirt road that bypasses the state park campground and leads to many boondocking spots. Oh well, maybe next time… it’s nice to have electricity sometimes.

Back at our campsite, we relaxed for the evening. Nice view eh?

And Stilla made us some Nacho plates for our own personal “Happy Hour”.

Well, gotta go now… Scott and Julie are going to show us around the Prescott Valley area… maybe Sedona…

Will finish updating you later… stay tuned.

Urban Escape Vehicle .com

Day 3 – ACA Pre-Rally – Hart Ranch (Valencia Travel Village, CA)

Day 2 – ACA Pre-Rally – Nethercutt Museum (Valencia Travel Village, CA)

Day 1 – Alpine Coach Association Pre-Rally (Valencia Travel Village, CA)

Dirt Farming (Casa Grande, AZ)

Maintenance Day (Gilbert, AZ)

Hanging out at the “Dirt Farm” & Casa Grande Ruins (Casa Grande, AZ)

“Dirt Farm” (Casa Grande, AZ)

Moochdocking (Prescott Valley, AZ)

Alamo Lake State Park – continued (AZ)

Alamo Lake State Park (AZ)

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