Tag Archives: tow truck

2015/03/14-16 (S-M) Escapade to RVillage

2015/03/14 (S) Wrapping Up; Signing Up

I spent most of the day and evening processing photos, although I took time to dump the holding tanks and fill the fresh water tank.  Linda and Val did Laundry and then went grocery shopping after which Linda started preparing the inside of our coach for travel.  It was a long, busy, productive day but it was mostly chores and work, so not much to write about.  We did, however, sign up to be staff at the July 2016 Escapade in Essex Junction, Vermont.  I signed up to be the assistant staff photographer again while Linda signed up for any job that was in a quiet environment so she can hear.  We really do enjoy the Escapade rallies.

Sunset as viewed from our campsite at the Pima County Fairgrounds near Tucson, AZ.

Sunset as viewed from our campsite at the Pima County Fairgrounds near Tucson, AZ.

2015/03/15 (N) Back to RVillage WHQ

Today was our scheduled departure date but we did not need to vacate the Pima County Fairgrounds until noon.  We would be caravanning a relatively short distance with Lou and Val and targeted 11 AM for our departure.

The more time we spend in our bus the less anxious we are the night before we are going to move to a new location, but there is still a certain anticipation about it.  Moving the bus is not like getting in a car to go to work.  It’s a big, complicated, machine and there are many details to attend to before we can move it.  It also rarely travels the same route twice so we spend time researching and planning travel routes.  Fortunately, we enjoy these aspects of the RV lifestyle and had most everything in order by the time we went to bed last night.  We both slept well enough having worked and played fairly hard all week.

We had a leisurely morning and took care of the final preparations for travel.  As it was getting to be 10 AM we had to ask someone to move a car so we could pull out.  Paul Evert’s RV dealership had moved some of the rigs they had sold during the rally to the full hookup area where we were camped all week and had folks pull there trade-in units there so they could transfer their belongings.  As a result the area was getting crowded and obstructed with cars parked wherever it was convenient (for the owner).  The RV Driving School was also busy in one of the parking lots near us teaching people how to turn, back up, and park, including teaching the “spotter” (co-pilot/navigator) how to give hand signals to the driver.  (This is actually the more difficult job requiring judgement, proper positioning, and clear/timely signals.)  As long as the driver can see the spotter all they have to do is follow directions.  Many of the Escapade staff were still at the fairgrounds and attendees who signed up for HOPs (Head Out Programs) were still camped there as well.  The HOPs are organized outings that sometimes involve a tour bus for transportation, a tour leader/guide, admission to one or more venues, and possibly food.

We pulled out roughly on time with Lou and Val right behind us.  We headed out of the fairgrounds and then north on Houghton Road to I-10 where we headed west.  They needed fuel so we took an exit on the west side of Tucson where there was supposed to be a truck stop, but it wasn’t there.  Lou pulled into a station where we could not get in/out so we found a spot a little farther down the road where we could turn around and waited for them to pull out of the station.

We followed them back on to the highway and then retook the lead.  We exited at Eloy where there were both Pilot and Flying J truck stops.  We topped up our diesel tank while Lou filled their propane tank.  We got back on I-10 for another eight miles and then exited at Sunland Gin Road and headed south into Arizona City.  A few miles, and a bunch more minutes, later we pulled into the rental property that currently serves as Curtis Coleman’s residence and headquarters for the RVillage social network.  Good things are happening for RVillage and it was good to be back here to spend a little more time with Curtis and his adorable dog Augie, a Bevar (sp? may be Biewer) Yorkshire Terrier.

A panoramic view looking west from the deck of RVillage World Headquarters.  It was very peaceful here.

A panoramic view looking west from the deck of RVillage World Headquarters. It was very peaceful here.

We got settled in and then visited a bit.  We eventually went to Duffer’s Restaurant at the golf course and then went back to the house for movie night.  The film for this evening was “The Social Network” about the founding of Facebook; a most appropriate choice given where we are boondocked.

2015/03/16 (M) Florence, AZ

Someone at the Escapade told Lou about a road that runs between Florence and Kelvin Arizona.  They said it was mostly good gravel and very scenic and Lou was determined that we find it, drive it, and photograph it.  Linda and Val packed a picnic lunch while Lou and I prepared our photography gear.  I grabbed the Garmin GPS out of our car (just in case) and we took off, leaving Curtis some peace and quiet to attend to RVillage.

I managed to navigate us to Florence where we decided it would be prudent for Lou to top off the fuel tank in his truck.  We pulled into a Circle K (Kangaroo?) and took care of that.  When Lou tried to start the truck the starter would not engage.  It would turn but made a really bad grinding sound.  Sometimes the throw-out gear binds and we tried tapping on the starter with a long stick and hammer but it did not help.  The starter had just been replaced a month ago in Mesa, Arizona and had a 60 day towing policy in addition to the parts and labor warranty.

Val, Lou, and Linda having lunch by the fuel pump island at the Circle K in Florence, AZ.

Val, Lou, and Linda having lunch by the fuel pump island at the Circle K in Florence, AZ.

Lou called the repair shop and they dispatched a tow truck.  I then called Curtis to see if he could fetch Val, Linda, and me from the Circle K and he graciously agreed to come get us.  We let the station attendants know what was going on and they were cool with the whole thing even though we were blocking one of the pumps.  It took a while for the tow truck to arrive so we ate our lunch standing in the shade at the end of the fuel island.  We must have made an interesting sight to passersby.  The tow truck eventually arrived, pulled the pickup truck up onto the flatbed, and drove off with Lou riding shotgun.  A little while later Curtis arrived.  We loaded our picnic supplies and camera gear into the back of his SUV and he drove us back to his place.

Lou photographs their pickup truck being loaded onto the flatbed hauler at the Circle K in Florence, AZ.

Lou photographs their pickup truck being loaded onto the flatbed hauler at the Circle K in Florence, AZ.

I expected to get a call from Lou letting me know that I needed to drive to Mesa to pick him up.  What we got instead was a call that the truck was repaired and he was on his way back.  The problem was that the starter mounting bolts had not been torqued tight enough and had backed out about 1/4 inch.  As a result the throw-out gear was pushing the starter back rather than engaging with the gear teeth on the flywheel.  As we thought about it we were realized we were very lucky this did not happen on the road from Florence to Kelvin.

Bonnie was also staying at the RVillage compound and joined us for dinner last night.  This evening we did a pot luck thing and dined at the outside table by the lake.

 

2013_08_14 (Wed) No Way To Start An RV Outing

We planned to leave today around noon for an RV rally in Clio, Michigan, about an hour’s drive north of our house.  We spent most of the morning with final preparations, loading food, clothes, technology, toiletries, and finally the cats.  We also put fresh water on board and checked/adjusted all of the tire pressures.

The tires were holding their pressures fairly well, but I discovered that the Pressure Pro Tire Pressure Monitoring System was reading 1 to 3 PSI low on most of the sensors compared to my tire gauge.  I have a very good gauge and had its calibration checked a couple of years ago at the Eastern Gypsy Gathering Rally, so I tend to trust its readings.  Besides, when it tells me two tires have the same pressure and the Pressure Pro TPMS tells me the pressures are different (from each other) I tend to go with the gauge.

The rear end buried up to the frame.

The rear end buried up to the frame.

The last thing is always to disconnect and stow the shore power line and lock up the house.  I fired up the engine, put it gear, and got stuck in our brand new gravel driveway!  We tried to extricate ourselves, but that only made it worse and the drive tires ended up buried in the loose gravel.  I called the guy who did the driveway work for us to let him know of our predicament and see what he could suggest.  He didn’t have the equipment needed to get us out, but recommended a towing company that could handle vehicles our size.  He also indicated that he would stop by the house tomorrow evening and survey the situation.  Clearly something (else, additional) will have to be done.

The winch really worked!

The winch really worked!

I called Woody’s Towing, and they said they would have someone there within 45 minutes.  While we were waiting for the tow truck, I engaged the level low system and aired the suspension all the way up.  This got the chassis up enough that we could dig out some of the gravel from around the tires and under the rear end.  The tow truck showed up on time.  It didn’t look like a big enough truck to do the job, but it turned to be up to the task.  The secret was the very substantial winch and the use of multiple pulleys to multiple the pulling force.

Impressive tires holes.  We clearly were not getting out of this situation by ourselves.

Impressive tires holes. We clearly were not getting out of this situation by ourselves.

The technician had to position the truck three times to finally get us out.  This was because we had to make a hard left turn onto the concrete driveway that would then take us out to the street.  The first pull was straight forward using both attachment points under the front bumper with the bus engine running, the transmission in 1st gear, the tag axles UP, and me applying power as directed.  This was the hardest pull as we had to get the drive tires out of the rather deep holes they had made for themselves.  The second pull was from the driver side attachment point at an angel toward the driver’s side to get us started in that direction.  This got our steer tires onto the concrete driveway.  The third pull was again from the driver’s side attachment point at an angle, pulling straight out towards the street.  This pull finally got our drive tires off the gravel and onto the concrete.  The holes where the tires had been were very impressive.

The technician from Woody’s clearly knew what he was doing.  He got us out without any damage to the coach, and we were glad to pay the $175 charge.  We hooked up the car and were on our way around 1:30 PM.

We made it less than four miles from our house and encountered a major construction-related traffic jam on M-59 just west of US-23; a one lane road with a flagger.  With no way to turn around and no alternate route there wasn’t anything to do put patiently move ahead when we could.  In what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only 15 minutes, we cleared the construction zone and were northbound on US-23 at 62 MPH, my preferred highway travel speed.  US-23 merged into northbound I-75 at the southwest corner of Flint and we continued on our way.  Things were looking good until about six miles south of our destination exit, when another construction zone had the left two lanes (of a 3-lane highway) closed down.  There was a warning sign some miles before, but almost no indication of the actual lanes closures.  No barrels placed a mile or so before the work to close down one lane at a time; just the sudden loss of two lanes of the highway.  Highway work crews should not be allowed to do this.

Some folks, most perhaps, get on their brakes and stay/merge to the right.  But there are always those “other people” (who are obviously more important than the rest of us) who try to speed by on the left for as long as possible and then merge in at the last moment.  Well, not today bunky.  I was already in the right hand lane when I became part of the traffic crawl and I watched with some delight in my driver side rear view mirror as several vehicles teamed up to block all of the other lanes, including the left shoulder.  We patiently worked our way through the blockage for what seemed like our second eternity today, but was again probably no more than 15 minutes.

All set up at the Clio Fireman’s Park.

All set up at the Clio Fireman’s Park.

We exited I-75/US-23 at M-57 and made our way east through Clio, Michigan.  On the east side of town we headed southeast on Saginaw Road.  About three miles down the road we spotted the Fireman’s Park and made our turn.  The Clio Fireman’s Park is a nice little rally site.  It has an open pavilion with power surrounded by fairly level grass and gravel surfaces, all hard packed.  There is a long driveway leading in that provides an excellent place for arriving RVs to stop and unhook their towed vehicles.  We did just that and while Linda parked the car and went and found Marty Caverly to find out where we should park.  Marty and his wife, Pat, are one of the two that organize and conduct this rally.

All of the other early arrival buses except ours.

All of the other early arrival buses except ours.

Today was early arrival day and there were only five other motorhomes there (all converted buses) so we had our pick of spots.  We chose one we had used before, next to the pavilion and with good access to 20A power.  Marty is an electrician and had been working for days to install permanent and temporary power drops so everyone would have a legitimate 20A connection.  In warmer weather we would not be able to function on a 20A connection, but the weather has been, and is forecast to be, cooler than normal for this time of year with highs in the 70’s and lows of 50.

Part of the protocol of RV rallies is that folks tend to leave you alone while you get parked and set up, but once you are done there is lots of meeting and greeting.  We are expecting 22 converted coaches, and the balance of them will be arriving tomorrow, so there will be lots more meeting and greeting.

Sullivan’s Black Forest restaurant and brew pub.

Sullivan’s Black Forest restaurant and brew pub.

The pre-planned dinner event for this evening was the Black Forest Restaurant in Frankenmuth.  The 13 of is figured out car pooling arrangements and we rode with Paul and Claudiene Elbisser.

 

 

The 13 early arrivals at dinner.

The 13 early arrivals at dinner.

I had a raspberry/strawberry Belgian wheat dessert beer and it was freaking awesome!  (I am not generally a big fan of beer and have finally figured out that I don’t care for the bitterness of hops.)  It made a great “cocktail beer” too; think strawberry daiquiri with a hint of beer after taste.  Linda and I ordered a 16” think crust pizza, no cheese, with mushrooms, onions, and pineapple.  What they brought to the table was a pizza with a crust 2” thick.  15 minutes later we got the pizza we ordered, and it was pretty good.

Everyone (except us) enjoying ice cream under the pavilion.

Everyone (except us) enjoying ice cream under the pavilion.

Back at the rally site, we got a tour of Paula and Claudine’s MCI MC-5 conversion.  We last saw it two years ago at this same rally, and they have made a lot of progress on it.  It‘s a very nice design, and Paul is a superb craftsman.  Ed Roelle set up to serve ice cream with toppings, and everyone brought their camp chairs to the pavilion and set them up in a big circle.  Ed and his wife, Janet, are the other rally organizer couple.  We passed on the ice cream, of course, but enjoyed the camaraderie.  As the sun set it got very cool, and folks gradually peeled off from the group to hunker down for the night.