Yesterday we left home in the RV for a few days' outing. We hitched up our ugly little 4 X 8 foot trailer to haul our tandem recumbent Terratrike along with us in case we found opportunity to ride it anywhere during our RV trip.We made it almost 100 yards before the first problem occurred.
We stopped at our shed with the big air compressor to check and top off the tires before the big trip. The tires were fine and required little in the way of additional air but when I went to get back inside I was horrified to find the RV electric step actuator no longer worked. Looking underneath I discovered the actuator arm was broken. It took me 15 minutes or more to chain the steps in the up position, since when they're in the down position they are too low and protrude out the side of the RV making it unsafe to drive. We stopped at Rocky Mountain RV first on our way into Albuquerque but they did not have a replacement assembly or repair parts for it. They called Central Trailer Supply, who DID have the assembly, and sent us on over there. Central Trailer Supply is downtown Central in heavy - traffic Albuquerque but luckily we found a large empty spot to park the rig. Central not only had the whole assembly new (Price 300 bucks PLUS) but they had a repair kit for the bargain price of 65 bucks. I was able to crawl under the RV in their lot and replace and repair the offending parts. Thankfully. It's NOT a good idea to try getting such disaster repaired on the VERY MORNING you're trying to leave on a trip but we lucked out finding a part on such short notice.
Sadly, then we went to Sam's Club to fill up the huge expensive thirsty RV gas tank. As the pump rapidly ran up the gallons and the total cost (at the bargain price of $3.23 per gallon) I was horrified to see gasoline spilling out from under the middle of the beast where the filler neck tubing connects to the gas tank. I stopped the pump before filling up completely and decided this was much too dangerous. When Jacque came out of the store she was not thrilled to hear we had ANOTHER problem to delay us. Rocky Mountain Power had worked on that same gas tank last November so we drove over there to see if they could have a mechanic take a look at it to see if it might be under warranty. They actually got a tech to look at it in short order, but he seemed to make slow progress. We arrived about noonish and by 3:00 PM the shop informed us the filler neck hose was cracked; it required a new one; there was too much gas in the tank and it couldn't be worked on until drained; the shop was closing soon and they wouldn't be able to work on it more until tomorrow; etc, etc. They offered to let us stay the night in their fenced yard but we decided to just take it back home for the night, albeit reluctantly. On our way back east through town I decided I would just have to do this one myself too. I decided I could:
-Pull into the empty lot behind Checker Auto Parts
-Use the RV leveling jacks to raise the RV on one side to make the gas in the tank go to the side opposite of the filler neck
And so I did. For about twenty bucks and twenty minutes I had it ready to roll again. A quick trip to the gas station to re-fill the tank proved it was no longer leaking (HURRAY). So we hit the road again.
We started late this way and drove late into the night trying to make up for lost time and wound up staying the night in Norma's RV Park in Joseph City AZ. Got up this morning and made more uneventful miles until we reached the East Entrance to the Grand Canyon way north of Flagstaff.
We had not made reservations anywhere and the web sites for area campsites said they were all full. Jacque wanted to "just ask, anyway" so we drove up to the crowded Trailer Village camp - and, with 3 RV's waiting in front of us, were informed we could have their last spot. What a great place, tall pines, and sweeping views. PLUS - Get This - The area has BIKE trails that run through our camp. Since it was like 5 PM locally, rather than spend precious daylight setting up the RV, we immediately unloaded the trike and took off for a ride. This is my first time ever at the Grand Canyon and Jacque's first trip since about 1965. Great stuff, and riding the bike trail puts us up close and personal to the rim and has many views not available to auto drivers unless they park and walk.
After a great peaceful night's rest at the Grand Canyon Trailer Village, we did another trike-ride in the other direction, this time riding west up to Hermits Rest, Kolb Artist Studio, and the amazing Hopi Lodge and
El Tovar structures designed by Mary Colter and financed and built by the Fred Harvey company and the Santa Fe Railroad. Fantastic views of the Canyon were again in all directions. We encountered a murderously steep climb the last quarter-mile into the main parking lot but we made it.
Gotta come back to this wonderland before we die so we can spend at least a few days exploring. I watched the hikers going through one of the rock tunnels on the trail to the bottom with some envy....
There is STRONG Ham Radio coverage at these Canyon locations. A digipeater ID'ing as "CANYON" relayed my gps-aprs position reports solidly to the internet and there is a very strong ham repeater on 147.32 WB6JAA. The only trouble is..... no one seems to be listening to it. I heard some weak signals on 146.520 simplex while riding the rim but wasn't able to make contact with anyone. Oh Well. At least the automatic digipeater provides useful service.
Friday evening Trip Started: 5:00 PM Trip Ended: 6:15 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.0 Ending Voltage: 13.2 (weird)
Lowest Temp 67 F Highest Temp: 77 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 6.28
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
4.1 MPH 5.6 MPH 17.2 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 32 mins 1 hour 7 mins 25 minutes
Saturday morning Trip Started: 8:27 AM Trip Ended: 11:11 AM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.7 Ending Voltage: 13.2
Lowest Temp 52 F Highest Temp: 72 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.85
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
2.3 MPH 4.5 MPH 21.1 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 29 mins 1 hour 17 mins 1 hour 11 minutes
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