Rally Specials

One of the nice things about going to an RV rally once in awhile is having various vendors offering slightly reduced prices ready to come to your site.  

On Wednesday we had several windows defogged, and on Thursday morning our Alfa got her annual wash and wax. 



Thursday afternoon we had the holding tanks professionally blasted clean. Now, the SENSORS ARE WORKING. In two and a half years the black tank sensor has never read empty. We will see how long this remains true. We have tried lots of recommended things to keep them clean and unclogged, but despite them the sensors still showed 2/3 full after being emptied. EMPTY is good. The cleaning did cost $180, but that is far less than having the sensors replaced. Now we know they were not malfunctioning.

Throughout the week we have been to a number of seminars. As usual some are just informercials with product to push, but some have been interesting and informative. We have some very smart people in our group who gave talks about some of the systems we all have.

Our favorite repair service guys from Alfateers are here, but we waited too long to get on their work schedule here. We were surprised that we couldn't get in for work at their shop until mid-May. We had unrealistically expected to be able to just drive there next week and get our work done. Not. We are on the list, and if they get a cancellation earlier they will let us know. In the meantime we will drive there, in the car, for a day next week to look at carpet samples and discuss satellite systems and installation of our new front TV. If we order something they do not have in stock it will take a couple of weeks to get there anyway.

With this in mind, we are going to go to the Escapee park, Jojoba Hills, near Aguanga CA. It's about sixty miles from Alfateers' location. It looks very comfortable. A bit on the rustic side, it has been on my list of places I wanted to visit in California. They don't take reservations, but I called and they said they currently had several sites in the rental pool. So we should be able to get in.

I've done my homework, and made the plan for the next drive. We will leave here Sunday morning, meet a friend in Phoenix for brunch and then drive most of the way to the Escapee park. It looks like the last miles are on a narrowish road and we don't want to drive it at the end of the day in the dark. Best to do that Monday morning.

Gee, it's nice to be able to take our time! I checked my "Casino Camping" book and located the Casino in Indio that allows overnight RV parking. So that's where we will stop over Sunday night.

The rally days have zipped by. We have had wonderful dinners each night. I have only had to cook once! They are even going to pass out complimentary "breakfasts in bags" Sunday morning. I think we will save ours for an afternoon snack when we are driving.

So many people have worked very hard and volunteered their time to make this a fun event. I did a little by volunteering to teach a craft class. It was fun. I asked the lady who had showed me how to do plastic-canvas needlepoint last year, if she would join me in leading a class. Between the two of us, we think we have inspired a few of our friends to give it a try, or if they had done it years ago, to give it another look. Leading a class also helped me become "part of the group" and get to know some of the other ladies better.

Everyone has a story, and everyone comes from a different place, but they all enjoy RVing and are part of the Alfa family. We also enjoy the Alfa Rally because is is a lot smaller than the FMCA's. We only had 120 rigs, so it was actually possible to get to know some of the people. 

We may be able to be back next year, or we may not. We will just have to wait and see where the Alfa take us.

Freedom!

Last Few Days of our Trip

Friday afternoon, we made it home, safe and sound, and got the Alfa parked without problems. 

Sigh.

I'm a bit sad that this wonderful month has ended, and determined to take the next on with a good positive attitude.  That's a big step for me.  I'm naturally a "Negative Nelly."

So here is a short recap of our last four days...

We had abandoned our plan to drive down to Quartzsite because of the weather.  After making it to Santa Barbara for the weekend, we decided to turn back south and go to Alfateers so they could take a look at and hopefully fix a leak we had discovered.

It was quite cold and windy in the LA area as well.  Not as cold as Arizona, but we heard there were wind gusts up to 50 mph.

We were glad we weren't driving.

We spent two nights there.  When I looked at these four Alfas parked together it made me think of a herd of beasties huddled together for protection from the wind.  We were all quite cozy with the big building at our backs.

We hope the new caulking will fix the leak.  They showed Craig how to do an even better job on rinsing the black tank, so now the sensor is reading more accurately, and although they couldn't fix the front-door whistle completely, it is less annoying and I know a few places that are not causing the problem.

Oh, and the new Koni shocks we had installed before Christmas, seem to have broken in and are giving us a much nicer ride.

We left Fontana Wednesday just after noon and had an easy drive thru the LA area.  It was a rare day because we didn't have any really bad traffic.  It can take hours to get thru there!

  
We stopped at the El Captain CA State Beach. Arriving just in time for a nice sunset walk along the water. 

The RV site was  near the beach, and although it had no hook-ups  it was easy to get to from the highway.  Maybe too easy!  The biggest draw back was the traffic noise.  I'm not really bothered by it, but I know some people are, so I thought I'd mention it.  

Thursday we drove up to Morro Bay and were settled into our site before noon.  We choose a full hook up over the State Park because we knew our next stop was at home and we didn't want to have to stop to empty the tanks before parking the Alfa.

I wore my pedometer for this walk.  By the time we got back to the rig it was reading 7.85 miles!  The beaches are such beautiful places and so easy to walk on if you stay on the wet sand near the water.

This was the first time I have seen a starfish in the sand.  I picked him up and verified he was alive.  I have seen them on the pier pilings. We also saw otters, and of course lots of birds. 

One of these things is not like the others.  Can you see him?






I have many thoughts about this trip that I may write about soon.  

For now all I can say is: we enjoyed it.

U-Turn

Monday: another change in direction!

Last May we had an unfortunate connection with a neighbor's tree that resulted in a big dent in the top rear corner of the Alfa. We had it fixed at a well-rated shop in San Jose. At the time we felt that although it looked pretty good, the price they charged our insurance carrier was way high. We also had them fix a few other smaller things, and were not pleased with their prices.

The repair looked pretty good. From the back, the Alfa  looked like new.

It hardly ever rains in California between May and October. This year we didn't have a big rain storm until mid-November. At the time we really didn't go up and check for leaks. Perhaps we should have.

On about the third morning of this trip, as I was looking up at the ceiling from the bed, I noticed a rather large water stain in the corner.

Because of the way the shadows are cast, you can hardly see it when standing in the bedroom. And when the slide is in, it is covered completely.

When I first spotted it, we decided we would take it back to where we had it fixed, when we returned home. 

But this morning Craig suggested we head back south and take it to Alfateers in Fontana. We were about 150 miles away, but we knew we would be so much happier with their work than fighting with the other guys. Plus there are several other minor things that need attention, including an air whistle on the passenger side, some places that need re-caulking, and tank sensors that are not reading correctly.  

We called to see if they could take us, and headed on over. They can't do anything until tomorrow, but we are now safely parked and hooked up in the parking lot. 

I hear it's still pretty chilly on the beach :-)

Craig is working hard!

There just are no "little" jobs to do around here!

While I was in San Diego, Craig started power washing all of the cement driveways, stone walls, retaining walls, deck railings, and decks. He continued last week while I did my jury duty, and will finish this weekend.  Two weeks of power washing!  He has done the same complete job in the past, but there has been some build-up of moss and black algae. He sanded and stained the deck railings a couple of years ago, and the decks a few years before that. So, much of this job is required but deferred maintenance.

Two years ago I bought a product that is supposed to prevent the growth of the algae and mildew, called Wet&Forget. I did a test spot, and it is still relatively clean. I have sprayed it on the walls, and am waiting for an order of two more gallons from Amazon so I can do all the driveways as well.  Hopefully this will help keep them looking nicer thru next year without having to redo the power washing.

Much of the wash time has been spent on the zillion upright 2x2's of the deck railings.  He will sand the railing tops and the deck floors, but he doesn't want to have to sand the uprights. 

We have large decks, and many railings!

I was on a jury for three days, but was able to get one little project done: a wall. I painted the garden wall after Craig had cleaned it. It is very rough stucco, and the painting was not easy! There are more railings along here too.

I'm not sure what the next step will be.  Some sanding I suppose. When he gets to the stain application I will be helping.

We are currently planning on taking a trip in a couple of weeks. I'm not sure exactly when or were other than to go to Yosemite National park  Sept. 18-22. I have reservations! Hopefully lots of people will stay away because of the hantavirus, so it won't be crowded.

We want to go down to LA first to get a small repair done on the Alfa at Alfateers and also to get an oil change at the Freightliner where Alfateers sends that kind of work. I'm not sure how that will work out yet, but I'm looking into interesting things to do near there for the week of September 10th.

Any "Must Do" LA adventures you can suggest?

RV Grill

If you have an RV, you have to have a grill, right?


One of the features of the Alfa is a propane connection on the side where you can hook up your gas grill.  Not having to cary a tank does save some room in the basement!


So our daughter and her husband bought us a Weber Q for Christmas.  But we didn't have the right kind of hose connection for it.  It has been a search to find the right one.  Neither Camping World nor Weber itself has a hose that would work with the Alfa.  We finally got one thru Alfateers, and as soon as it stopped raining we gave it a try.

Mostly vegetable kabobs

  I have told Craig that RV BBQing is man's work!   We shall see how long that lasts!  Actually I won't mind doing the cooking if he takes over cleaning and storing the grill!

The cook enjoys  a glass of wine while watching over the grill. 


My diet doesn't allow me to drink wine, but Craig still can.

Mostly 
veggie kabobs.


I used  3 ounces of shrimp for each of us.  Plus lots of tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, mushrooms and fresh pineapple. 


 I used a Catalina dressing that I had on hand.  It's not a "low fat" dressing because you need a little oil for the grilling.  


Next time I might experiment with mixing up something myself.


To me grilling has almost always meant "meat."  Steaks, whole chicken, hamburgers.  But with our new outlook on food I'm going to have to explore a more vegetarian, or at least a non red meat approach.  


Our kabobs in the past were always about half lamb and half veggies.  These were so good we probably didn't even need the shrimp.  Craig said he really like the pineapple and so did I.


Later today we will have to clean the grill and stow it back in the Alfa.  That is one thing I'm a bit concerned about.  With our deck grill we just burn off the grates, and change the drip pan from time to time.  I don't want a greasy grill in the Alfa basement.  I think it would attract mice and rats.


How thoroughly do you clean your grill?

Float building, RV Repairs

On Saturday and Sunday we took our grandsons to see the floats being built for the Rose Parade.

Before I write about it, I want to write a a bit more about Alfateers Service Center. The most important information I want to get out there is that they service brands other than Alfa.  So if you need service on any brand of class A diesel, and you are near Southern California, give them a call!  They are a great group, and they have several overnight spots. We feel they did an excellent job and were quite reasonably priced.

We had new seals put on both slides, some trim repairs, and had them go over the entire rig checking it out.  We are happy to say that everything is good!  They took it over to Freightliner for us, and we still need a new fuel filter (it was out of stock).  One was ordered for us and we will stop back there after the Indio Rally.  We'll also have Alfateers service the generator diesel.

Float Building

All surfaces of the float must be covered with organic material.  I'm not sure there's a rule for the percentage that must be fresh flowers; they also use seeds, leaves, beans and bark.  Stuff can be dried, chopped, and even put through a blender to create a powder that can be glued to the surface.

Can you imagine glueing individual split peas or lentils onto a float?  Cranberries are a little bigger.  They also use coffee and chocolate.

We waited in long lines full of fun people.  Most of the building locations had a high overlook walkway.  We did not get down onto the floor, but were able to ask questions of guides stationed every few feet.

Craig and our two Grandsons.

Too much to blog about

It is now 2:41 A.M.  I am awake and at the table in the Alfa.  I am never awake at this hour at home.  There I have disciplined myself to stay in bed if I wake up.  Oh, I do get up for a few minutes for a drink of water and a visit to the bathroom, but I don't "do" anything like read or look at the computer.


The last few days have been going by so fast, that except for a quick read of a few blogs,  I have had very little time or energy,] for the computer.


Pictures?  Give Craig a digital camera and he will shoot a couple hundred shots in a day.  Who has time to process or even look thru that many images?  I haven't had time to look at the few I have taken.


Is all of this bad?  No.  Living is so much better than sitting around the house dreaming!

Someday, after we get back home, I will have time to review the picture folders. 

But not tonight!


Yesterday morning we left the KOA and drove 20 miles to the Alfa repair shop called Alfateers.  When Alfa went under, the employees formed this repair center company and specialize in fixing Alfas.


We had a very long list of work that we want done.  We decided not to trust what La Mesa told us about maintenance, and are having everything checked out here.  We also are having the seals on the slide replaced, and some EternaBond applied to the top edge of the slide to prevent further leakage. We know the bill will be steep, but we want things done right!


So far they have solved two problems, the electrical and the tank sensors, by simply finding loose wires.  We had a problem filling the fresh water tank, and they found a kinked hose in the line.

As at many RV service centers, we have been able to park overnight with a 50 amp hookup.  This week there are five rigs with their owners staying in them.  We all gather at a picnic area while our Alfas are taken back into the work areas. At the end of the day they are brought back out and reparked and connected up for us.


The other couples have been quite friendly.  Tonight we had a bit of a party celebrating that we would all be moving on tomorrow.  One couple had driven cross country from South Carolina just to bring their rig to Alfateers. They are having extensive remodeling done and a full body paint job on the outside. They will fly back home and leave the Alfa here for several months.  I asked why they came all this way, and couldn't they have gotten the work done on the East coast somewhere.  Their answer was that they wanted it all done right and this was "the place!"


Yesterday we took the rental car and went to the Getty Museum.  Another of my long list of places I have always wanted to see!  The art was amazing of course, but the building and garden design was also a feast of fantastic views.

Banner on the wall

Patio at the Getty

Our repairs should be done tomorrow, and they will be giving her a wash and cleaning the carpets as a bonus free service.  (Nothing is really free, but it won't be a line item on the bill!)

We have a good feeling about this place and the people who work here!

Yawn!  No editing ... just publish and go back to bed!