Getting Closer to Time to Leave

We are now about a month away from to time to leave on May 29th.  We have been busy stocking up with all sorts for items such as meds, particular types of food that are hard to find, and being sure that the MH has all the little items in it that we will want or need during our 4 months in Lake City.  I still have to wash the beast since we put it up dirty after the Mena, Arkansas trip.  Like my Daddy used to say after working to get ready to go somewhere with their travel trailer, "Having fun is a lot of work!"  My Dad really wasn't into camping but Mom loved it so he went along for her sake.  I worry some that Toni may be doing the same thing but she says she really enjoys spending time in Colorado and driving the trails in our ATV so "Yay"!

Here are a couple of a pictures of the spare carrier and tire that I added to our Can Am Maverick:

 

We carry our lunch, a few tools, water, rain clothes, etc. in the storage box on the rear.  Also back here is extra gas, a fire extinguisher, and a first aide kit.  The jack for changing a flat tire is under the driver's seat.  It is 40 miles over the passes from Lake City to Silverton and it is best to be prepared as well as possible. Many times, Toni and I make the run by ourselves so we need to be somewhat self-sufficient.  We are working hard at refusing to just sit still until we fall into the grave!  Praise God that so far, we can still be active!

And, here is a picture of how we travel.  Yep.  The Jeep behind the MH and the Maverick on a trailer behind the Jeep.  Buying gas can be a real challenge when finding a station that lends itself to a train stopping by.  The good thing our MH gets such wonderful fuel mileage at 6.5 mpg, which means the 80 gallon tank takes us a pretty good ways on one fill up!  ha

April 23, 2016, we have been getting ready for weeks for this year's trip to Lake City, Colorado.  We sold our Can Am Outlander that you ride straddling it like riding a horse, due to it hurting Toni's shoulder when hanging on during our rides over the passes.

We bought a Can Am Maverick side by side unit and I spent weeks making it as comfortable and safe as possible.  Added doors to help keep the mud out so we would arrive in Silverton looking as fresh as a daisy.  Also added fender flares for the same reason.  I certainly didn't want my sweet wife to be unhappy with the new unit so, for that reason, I added suspension seats that cradle you like a new born baby to minimize being thrown around when I get a little too wild on the trails!  Also, added new seat belts for the same reason.

We took the Maverick to San Saba County for a test run on the county roads and learned that it produced significant heat inside the cab on the passenger side.  I sure didn't want anything detracting from Toni's enjoyment so I spent two or three days adding insulating material to stop the production of heat and, luckily, it worked.

On our trip to Mena, Arkansas, we had a flat on one of the rear tires and had to drive 12 miles on a flat tire to get to a spot where I could bring the trailer to get it back to camp.  Luckily, some nice folks stopped and were gracious enough to haul my happy behind back to camp to get the trailer.  As a result of this fiasco, I built a spare tire carrier, bought a new tire and wheel, and now we don't have to worry so much about flats.  We also now have a small CO2 bottle and a patch kit.  Yippee, not so much fear now!

Last year, when we returned from Colorado, our front AC in the motor home wouldn't blow cool due to being low on Freon, so this year, I have a re-fill kit and will top it off myself and again before we head back.  Also, the generator wouldn't transfer electricity into the MH so the roof air-conditioners wouldn't work..  By the time we got home last year, we were so hot that we were about ready to get out of the RV business!  I started doing research as to what could be causing the generator to keep running but not actually transfer the electricity inside.  I learned that it can be a heat related problem involving the electronic control board so I purchased a replacement.  I installed the new board yesterday and only time will tell whether the generator is now working as designed. 

Travelling when the generator isn't working properly has me so paranoid that I have been exploring every possible item that could be causing the problem. The transfer switch, which allows the electricity to transfer into the coach has already been replaced.  The last possibility is the two 30 amp circuit breakers so I ordered them today (Sunday) and will install them when they arrive.  With the breakers being new, a new transfer switch, and a new control board, the generator should be working fine.  I questioned the Onan generator technician as to the possibility that the unit simply isn't putting out electricity and he said that it would kill itself if that happens.  Besides, once everything cools down, it runs fine and will pull both air-conditioners.  Oh the glories of owning an RV!!