Our daughter, Allie and her husband Andy live in Frederick, Maryland. Andy was going out be out of town for a few days so Allie decided to fly out and hang with mom & dad 3/28 - 4/2.
So....
Instead of leaving the Coachella Valley and beginning our two month meander homeward, we spent Thursday & Friday with Allie at IWRVR (we were paid up through 3/30) and on Saturday made the 1/2 mile jaunt around the corner to Motorcoach Country Club where we rented a Gold Premium site and enjoyed three days of luxury at the "Crown Jewel of Motorcoach Resorts". If you've been following our travels you know we spent a week at MCC before moving to IWRVR on January 5.
We slid nicely into site #12 - a beautiful site with all the amenities - pool, casita, outdoor kitchen and living area - fenced backyard allowing the dogs to run free. Everything seemed wonderful until we decided to take a dip in the pool and couldn't get the heater to work. Allie has had experience dealing with this sort of thing and it became her mission to find a solution to our dilemma - a task made more difficult by the fact that it was Saturday ... and management takes weekends off.
After several relayed messages to the manager via the front gate, Dawn, the manager, finally contacted Allie directly and we were offered a change of venue. It was a hassle, but within an hour we were moved and set up in our new site. Our first night was deducted from the bill and the remaining two nights were discounted.
Allie persevered, Dawn stepped up to the plate and everybody was happy.
We had a great time at MCC. Suzanne's family joined us for a Sunday afternoon barbecue and our friend, Tim came over Monday evening (bearing gifts) for dinner and cocktails. We had some good times with Tim this winter and will be genuinely looking forward to seeing him again when we return next winter.
****
Stop...
Back up...
Before Allie's arrival and our departure from IWRVR I was able to check a few items off my to-do list. You may remember that I had ordered and received a mounting plate for the satellite dish I installed on the roof of the coach. I'm sure the dish was adequately secured, but I generally prefer to over-build things and, after seeing how relatively thin the roof was the addition of the mounting plate seemed like a good idea. The job didn't take as long as I thought it would. The most time consuming part was removing the Dicor sealant from around the perimeter of the base. I had applied it sparingly in anticipation of removal. There are now several more screws (16?) anchoring the dish to the roof. It ain't goin' nowhere.
I ordered an 8 pack of Dicor online and over the duration of our trip home I plan to replace the sealant on all the roof fixtures and seams. I started with the shower skylight.
Old Dicor removed and surfaces cleaned with mineral spirits
Done
The "flame" went out in our "fireplace". The "flame" is actually light reflected off a rotating cylinder with a spiral of tinsel-like fingers and a very cleverly designed combination of amber colored shiny stuff & mirrors. It's really quite magical and mysterious. The end result is a fairly convincing faux flame - made even more convincing by glowing logs and heat. There are three bulbs inside and in order to access and change them the entire assembly must be removed from the wall and disassembled. Somewhat of a pain in the ass. I'm guessing the bulbs didn't blow out simultaneously and that we've been unknowingly content with a ~33% level of make-believe fire for several months.
I replaced the bulbs and cleaned everything cleanable. We're pretty much staying as far south as possible for the return trip home and temps here in the desert southwest will soon be into the mid 90s. It may be a while before we're once again able to enjoy our faux-yer place.
I've changed oil and oil filters on both the Tour's 450 Cummins engine and its 10k watt Onan generator. I have three fuel filters that I am waiting to change in a more appropriate setting. It's a potentially messy job. The one filter that I absolutely wanted to replace before heading east was the engine air filter. It's a big 11.5" x 23" canister and the existing one looked well past its prime. I had ordered one online back on March 5 and was guaranteed delivery before March 30. On March 29 I received an email stating the order had been cancelled. Major disappointment. The filter typically sells for somewhere in the $150 range. The one I had found online was $118 with free shipping. I found a truck supply store a few miles from our location and forked over $163 for a new filter. More than I wanted to spend, but knowing the big Cummins is breathing a little easier is worth it.
When we bought the coach I asked that all filters and fluids be changed. I'm pretty sure they overlooked the air filter. Pretty nasty looking - inside & out.
Old filter - rusty & very dirty inside
Like a breath of fresh air
So here we are at Rio Bend RV Resort in El Centro, California. Why RBRVR? It's on the way and came highly recommended by a fellow we met at IWRVR. It really is a nice place and with our Passport America membership is setting us back only $76 for a four night stay. Suzanne had rearranged her schedule to accommodate Allison's visit, working Wednesday thru Friday instead of her usual Monday thru Wednesday. We needed a place to drop anchor for a few days and RBRVR fit the bill. The huge dog park, resort quality pool area, very well equipped fitness center and outdoor bar/restaurant (we enjoyed taco Tuesday) make it all the more appealing.
Oh, upon arrival I had to jockey around to get the coach in just the right position so that I was able to set the outside chairs on the concrete patio and in front of the TV. That meant getting as close as possible to the water hook-up on the driver's side. There is also a short fan palm just outside the door which, no matter how I positioned the coach, always seemed to be in the way - interfering with the door opening & closing. So I decided to bungee the offending branch up and out of the way. In the process I drove a thorn deep into my finger where it broke off. I was able to pull it out - and it bled like a bugger and kinda smarted for a couple of days. I guess I never realized the branches of the fan palm have thorns on them.
I do now.
Ouch!
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