Reservations about reservations...and the reservation...

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Here is our general route for the UT-AZ-NM journey

Yesterday, I got on the internet and located some RV parks in the area of Kanab, UT and Moab, UT, the two towns that will be the hubs for our exploration of the five national parks we hope to visit on our journey. After several hours of researching facilities, reviews, and prices, I got on the phone and made reservations at the Hitch-n-Post RV park in Kanab and at Moab Village RV park.

In between these two parks, we will need to find places to stay near Flagstaff/Sedona, Santa Fe, and Durango, CO. We also are in a quandary about where to stay between Flagstaff and Santa Fe. Along I-40 is the petrified forest, and we may try to visit that park and find an RV park nearby, but we also recently met a young man who was visiting our church. Ray works at the Sun Valley Indian School in Holbrook, AZ. He invited us to stop and visit the school as we pass by. He even promised we could dry camp in the adjacent church parking lot. It's the decisions that get to be tedious in this process!

Other than the two reservations we have, we are going to try to be pretty unstructured about our travels, so as not to be boxed in by a schedule we have to keep. The whole idea for this vacation is to get away from the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, see the countryside and be free to explore. We are planning to leave 2 weeks from today, so time is getting short and there is lots to do. In fact I had better get busy and do some of it!

Closing in on the finish line...

Yesterday, I finished installing new weatherstripping on the driver's and passenger's doors. Then I washed Sadie and began applying wax to the front cap, so that bugs won't stick so readily. I did some detailing on the dash board and on the exterior, aired up the spare, tightened the screws on the license plate light. I also cleaned out the burner for the propane side of the refrigerator and thoroughly cleaned the compartment where the refrigeration equipment resides.

Tomorrow, we will clean her inside and then take her back to the storage facility. She is pretty much ready to go for our trip to Arizona and New Mexico. When we bring her home to pack, we will top off the fuel and propane, put another coat of wax on the front cap, shampoo the carpets, and then we will be ready to roll. I also want to take her to Les Schwab and have the tires checked for adequate air pressure and the lug nuts torqued.

I think we have covered the bases on preparations, when all of those things are done. I feel confident that Sadie can make an extended trip with minimal worries about mechanical problems. Just in case, we have Good Sam emergency road service, which is kind of like AAA for RVs.

So, our job now is to finish planning the packing and the routing for our trip. That is fun. We also need to make reservations at some RV parks in the area of the attractions we want to see. A lot goes into planning a trip like this. I'm sure if we do this again, we will find it easier.

Vehicle preparations nearly complete...

Yesterday, we finally had some nice weather, which gave me a chance to get out and do some projects on Sadie. The first was to install a shelf in the large storage bay on the port side. This bay is 4 feet by 2 feet by 2 feet. Without any shelving, it became a big jumble of stuff. I installed a wire shelf the length of the bay and 16 inches wide. Installing the shelf unit upside down gave us a lip on the outer edge of the shelf to prevent items from sliding off during travels.

Inside, under the dining table, there is a cabinet that is a foot wide, 15" deep and two feet high. It, too, had no shelf, so part of the space was wasted. I installed a shelf halfway up, which effectively doubles the storage capacity of the cabinet.

Another job I have been intending to get to is to re-secure the brackets that support the tire valve extensions on the rear dual-wheels. On the right rear, both of the brackets had come loose. I was able to secure them with 1/8" pop rivets. Easy job that I have been putting off for months.

Today was rainy, so I didn't get to the next job on the list, which is to install weather stripping on the driver's door. The forecast for tomorrow is better, so I hope to complete that job then. When it is complete, I think Sadie will be ready to hit the road.

The only other vehicle preparations concern our towed vehicle, also known as a "toad" or "dinghy." I prefer the latter term, after many years of boating. I bought a "car bra" for the dinghy last year, but I have not installed it yet. It will require some minor alterations to accommodate the towing gear attachments, so I will need to take care of that before we leave. In addition the dinghy is due for an oil change and tire rotation. Minor stuff, to be sure.

Home again, home again, jiggity jog...

Sadie is home again. John found a transmission temp sender that he thinks will work. He said he got five different ones and kept trying them until he got one to work. In the meantime, I think I identified the gauge as a Teleflex. They make marine gear, among lots of other products, and they have a line of senders. I don't know if any of them would work, but we shall see what happens with the sender John installed.

I took the long way home, so I could try the cruise control switch. It worked like a champ. Now I will be able to change lanes without having the cruise control shut off, when I use the turn signal. GM is pretty proud of that switch. The price was amazing.

The bumper repair, which John paid for, looks pretty good. I am a little disappointed in the fit of the rubber strip, which is kind of bowed away from the metal. The guy who fixed it thinks it will conform to the bumper when it gets warm enough in the sun. I hope so. The bumper doesn't look bad, and I am grateful that John paid the tab. Better have Jill take some cookies over!

Next on the agenda is to install some shelves in the storage bay. I think I will do that today, along with installing a shelf in the cabinet under the dining table. That will increase our storage a fair amount. I also need to install the weatherstripping on the driver's door. Once those things are done, I think we will be ready to roll.

More challenges

Latest word is the bumper can be fixed, but it will be painted not chromed. I think that will be OK, and if it isn't, I can have it chromed later.

The tranny temp gauge continues to be a challenge. John said he found a sender in a catalog and can get one today. He is not sure it will work, but it is worth a try. If that doesn't work, we will have to put a new gauge in. It is critical to know the tranny temp, when we are driving in the mountains, especially when we are towing the dinghy.

The saga continues! Stay tuned.

Out of the frying pan...

Sadie went into the shop yesterday for another try at fixing the transmission temperature gauge. In addition, I asked John to look into the semi-functional cruise control.

As it turns out, the cruise control problem is a bad switch, just as John and I suspected. He wasn't able to get to the tranny temp gauge, but that will happen. The bad news is that, when they were moving the coach from its parking space to the shop, the rear bumper snagged on the side of a concrete building and bent the right end out about 6 inches. That caused a tear in the metal. John said he had a friend coming over to see about fixing it.

There has been a crease in the left side of the bumper since we got the coach, so I asked John to have that fixed at the same time. That makes the whole thing seem like a blessing in disguise. We'll see how it turns out, but John assured me everything will be fine. The good news is that I can trust John to make this good.

So, Sadie came home from the beauty parlor, then went back to the doctor. Now it looks like she will need to go back to the beauty parlor...only it will be a different one.

Our girl is home from the beauty parlor...

Sadie came back from the body shop today. The areas on the doors that were rusted out now look perfect. I wish I had some before pictures so I could post before and after shots.

Tomorrow she goes to the mechanic again to see about getting a sender unit for the transmission temp gauge and to fix the cruise control. Then she'll be ready for the road.

We continue to cogitate about routes and places to see and stay. There is a lot to do when you plan to be on the road a while!

Stay tuned for more updates.

This is only the beginning...

Sadie has been part of our family for about a year and a half. She is a 1988 Hawkins Motor Coach, built on a Chevy P-30 chassis with a 454 c.i.d. V8 engine. We are the third owner of this fine coach, which in its day, was a top of the line motor home. The shell is fiberglass.

Since acquiring Sadie, we have made a number of improvements. They include:
1. New tires
2. New radiator and ancillary cooling equipment (including water pump, hoses and belts).
3. New brakes
4. New front air springs.
5. New rear view camera and monitor. (The original just wouldn't work anymore and would have cost more to repair than a new unit.)

That's about it, except for routine maintenance. Today Sadie is at the body shop having some rust areas on the driver and passenger doors repaired. This will put her in tip top condition.


So, now we are planning an extended trip. We are currently in the planning phase. We hope to see Bryce canyon, Zion National Park, the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest, Canyonlands, and Arches. I (Tom) have always wanted to see Santa Fe, NM, so we are planning a loop through Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. Then we will head home.

Today we sat down with a map and a pad of paper and began planning actual routes. Jill made some notes about how to pack the coach, and we are planning final jobs to do on the coach. The transmission temperature gauge needs a new sending unit. Our favorite mechanics cleaned up the old one, because they couldn't find a new one on short notice, but it has stopped working again. So, we will get that taken care of later this week. Then, I think, Sadie will be ready to go.


Tentative departure date for this caper is about May 8, 2009. In the meantime, stay tuned. We will keep you updated on stuff we do and learn as we prepare.