Any day uneventful travel day is a good day!
It was a long day. Eleven hours on the road, but everything went smoothly, from getting out of our driveways to getting thru LA rush hour traffic without any major delays. We were parked and plugged into a spot in the Alfateers parking lot by 8 PM.
I want to thank Karen and Al for noticing that our Blue Ox hitch system was not quite right. The height difference (the Alfa above the Accent) was too much and we were towing with a dangerous hitch.
Before this trip, Craig did some measurements and ordered a 4" drop receiver for the tow bar. However, once when I followed the Alfa I noticed that at a "flex point" in our road, the rear end of the coach almost touched the road!
We were concerned about this, so I did what I am prone to do and made a test "mock-up" drop hitch out of cardboard and styrofoam.
We removed the Blue Ox tow bar and put the mock up drop hitch in its place. We figured that if the styrofoam hit the road, nothing important would be damaged.
It's a good thing we did the test, because the styrofoam did hit the road and scraped along for a foot or two. If it had been the Blue Ox with the drop receiver, we might have had a serious scrape!
As it is, the hitch is almost parallel to the ground.
A flex point like on our road the road is not a common road condition, and if we can avoid that one place we will be fine. Our solution to this is that as long as we live where we do and store the Alfa on our land, we will have to take the tow bar and drop hitch off at the end of each trip before we come home, and remount it when we hook up hook up after going through our flex point. This is not hard. When we are traveling it is not an issue.
So many things that can go wrong!
Have you avoided any disasters this year?
Advice from Karen, one of my blogger friends, saved our butts (or at least our toad) once again! She suggested that after hooking up, we check all lights and that one of us should stay by the toad as the other pulls forward a few feet to make sure everything is tracking properly.
As we hooked up to leave the Lava Beds area RV park, a neighbor was around and was asking us some questions about the Alfa. Of course we are proud of our rig, and let his chat distract us.
But because I was watching, disaster was averted.
We forgot to release the hand brake and the wheels were still locked! I caught it and stopped Craig from pulling forward more than a foot or two.
Remember how our mothers would tell us to pay attention to what we were doing? That still applies. Next time someone wants to chat during hook up time, we have to be polite but pay attention to our task.
We did get out of the park and on our way without damage.
We are also learning not to rely on the navigation system on the Android phone.
This time it told us "your destination is on the right" about 8 miles too early. When there was no road or promising driveway, Craig started watching addresses and got us where we wanted to go.
We are now tucked in at the Crater Lake RV Park, a private park about 15 miles from the entrance of the National Park. We drove up to the NP after getting set up, for a short preview of the week to come.
All I can say is WOW!
Yes, it really is that blue. Every minute and every view is breathtaking.
On Monday we walked down Cleetwood Creek trail to the lake and took the two hour boat tour. This trail is the only way regular people can get to the water's edge. I'm sure Rangers can rappel down other ways! The walk down wasn't bad. It was the mile long uphill climb (equivalent to 70 flights of stairs) that was a killer. So glad I've been pushing to be in better shape, because the views of the caldera from the boat were fantastic.
Tuesday?
We are just about ready to set off for the park and find another hike.
What a long, long day!
Hard work,
Some stress,
No mishaps,
Nice lunch,
Long drive,
Safe arrival,
We're here.
We got up about an hour early this morning and had fresh baked croissants (frozen from Trader Joe's) for breakfast. This was a real treat, and we only had them because they were still in the freezer from "before healthy eating."
While they baked, I made some deviled eggs and chicken wraps to take along for our "rest stop lunch."
Our target departure time was 11 AM, but it took until noon to get everything stowed and all of the mechanicals checked. We didn't rush, but we both worked hard to get everything done right.
Craig got the Alfa out of her parking place quite smoothly and after filling the water tanks backed out of the lower drive and drove up our road without mishap. I followed him down to our agreed-upon hook up spot in the Accent. Getting the vehicles connected went smoothly.
Traffic was light and the miles flew by. We pulled into a rest stop for lunch and took this picture of the Alfa and her toad!
It was a little hard to keep our speed down to just over 55 MPH, but we both did. The Alfa really feels like she wants to go faster, but the California speed limit for towing is 55. Since we've had a few minor mishaps we really don't need a speeding ticket too!
We arrived at the Shingletown KOA about 7 PM. The driving distance was 286 miles. In a car it would have been about a five hour drive. For us it was seven.
We had a simple dinner, a couple of glasses of wine, took a short walk and are now having a cup of tea before bed.
As Kate would say
"Life is Good!"
The last two weeks have been very busy in very many ways. The next two will be equally so, and the finally we will be taking off in the Alfa for a nice trip!
1. Art work: April was a good month. I'm starting to see sales as valued in gallons of diesel fuel! April will fill the tank at least twice.
May was a dud, but I did however receive an order for two sculptures, a Gnu and a White Buffalo. I started them, and will be scrambling to finish and ship them before we leave. Their sale should cover much of the diesel fuel for our trip up to Crater Lake.
2. Painting and safety equipment: Although Craig did consider safety equipment, he decided against it. He finished painting the area he could reach while seated on the walkway, but has now decided to hire someone to do the highest part. Today he is once again climbing up and down on his 20' ladder and working on the lower part of the walkway itself.
One painter came by this morning and will be sending us a bid via email. He gave us two options. Do it thru the painting company he works for at a higher price, or have him and his son do it on a weekend. Since the company has insurance and workman's comp coverage, we will choose that option. What we could save by having them do it on a weekend would be a small drop in our liability bucket if there was an accident! A second painter is coming to look at the job Monday.
An end to this project may be in sight!
3. Toad: Blue Ox and AirForce One are installed and we have towed the Accent. We still have issues with just where we will be hooking up when we leave for our trip. I'm sure once we get used to doing it, finding suitable hook up spots will become second nature. It's just that everything new is so scary! Any words of wisdom on this subject will be greatly appreciated!
4. Alfa repairs: The back corner fiberglass work came out beautifully. The entire back end has been repainted and we are still waiting for a new light glass and a new SeeYa decal. The front spoiler looked pretty good too, but unfortunately we re-damaged it going out of the parking lot of the Hitch Shop. The spoiler is just badly designed! It is way too low. Scraping it on the ground was not anyone's fault. Craig was driving as slow as he could. Some Alfa owners have the spoiler cut off. For now we will not have it repaired again.
Since the Alfa is over at the repair shop anyway, we decided to have them look for the cause of the increasingly annoying "whistle sound" in the cab area we have been hearing when we drive. It has been getting louder.
The report was that the windshield on the driver side has shifted out of the gaskets around it to the degree that it presented a danger of falling out! EEK!
That windshield was cracked and was replaced as part of our purchase in September. We called the dealer, who referred us to the glass installation company, who told us to bring it back and they would fix it. So we made an appointment for Friday morning and drove the 30 miles up there. Although we were told it would probably only take a few hours, we decided to tow the Accent. It was good practice.
It turned out that was a good idea because the glass installer decided to reset both of the front windows. When finished he told us we could drive it, but we should be very careful of going over bumps because the goo was still soft. When asked how long it took to cure we were told "two days."
We knew there are some pretty rough areas on the roads between there and San Jose. We didn't want to damage the seal, but there was no place at the glass company to leave the Alfa for the weekend. What to do?
The La Mesa dealership where we bought her is a short distance from the glass company. We first tried to call them, but got only voice mail connections, so we just drove over there, explained our problem, and asked if we could park her there until Monday. Permission granted. None of the people we had dealt with last fall were around. Since we had not had a good rapport with any of them, we were glad! They said something about being sure we came back on Monday because they had a lot of rigs coming back from a "show". We didn't leave the keys, but will go up there as soon as we are done talking with the painter at the house!
So that's where we are! Hope all is moving along for the rest of you.
Some days are longer than others! Today was one of the more exhausting days that we've had for some time.
We started out early by driving the Accent and my van over to the RV repair place and picking up the Alfa. We left the van there and drove the Alfa and the Accent across town to the hitch place and had them finish the Blue Ox installation. They hooked up the Accent and we headed back to the RV repair place to drop it off again so they could install the Air Force One. Craig says he could have installed both, but he wanted to have authorized installers so that we could feel good about the result.
On the way we stopped at a large parking lot and did a series of practice turns around some large plastic water bottles (our version of traffic cones). We both drove and we each took a turn outside watching to see how the toad tracked behind the Alfa. It was fun.
We then dropped the Alfa and Accent off and returned home in my van. We will be able to get the car back in a few days, but they are still waiting for our new back decal for the Alfa. Might as well leave her there.
We have also asked them to do an air pressure test to see if they can find and fix two "whistle" noises in the front windshield. They are quite annoying.
It was just past noon when we got back home, but neither of us felt like doing any work. Craig has finally agreed to buying some safety equipment for the window painting project. I don't know if it is because he is tired of me nagging, or because he has had a number of people tell him he should, as comments or in person, or if he has just gotten a bit scared when he was out on the ledge. I don't care why.
We spent some time this afternoon looking at safety harnesses online, and then decided we should go and talk to someone at REI that might give us some advice about such things.
At the same time, Craig was reading the morning paper and mentioned he would like to see "Snow White and the Huntsman." We don't go to movies very often, but since the movie theatre and REI are in the same shopping center, we decided to do both this afternoon.
The movie was OK. Not great, but OK. We did get some information from REI, but they were unable to give us any advice as to what to do. (Liability reasons.) We will probably be ordering some rope and a harness over the weekend.
Exhausting! But it felt like progress.
The upper drive sure looks empty without the Alfa up there.
The shop where we are having the upper back corner repaired called today and asked if we wanted to get the front spoiler fixed too. It was damaged before we bought her, and the dealer's estimate for the fix was outrageous. This place's estimate was less than half what the dealer wanted, so we said yes. Our Alfa has decals, and all are in great shape except for the one on the back. Since they will be repainting the back they will be applying a new back decal as well.
She is going to be so pretty!
At home, the boxes of parts for the tow and braking systems are collecting in the front hall. We are waiting for one more part and then will make the arrangements for the installation. The place that is doing the fiberglass is an Airforce One dealer, but doesn't seem to like installing the Blue Ox. Seems they are a Roadmaster Dealer. The place Craig has found that does Blue Ox said they didn't have any experience with the Airforce One braking system. Neither place could match our internet price, with no sales tax and free shipping, so we bought the parts ourselves.
I just hope it all comes together and we don't have any problems. I figure with two different installers they could easily point the finger at each others work!
Why does everything have to be so complicated.
Just after noon Craig came down to the studio where I was working and asked if I wanted to go up to Redding (250+ miles) with him to see the eclipse.
I wasn't overwhelmingly enthusiastic given some of the less than spectacular astronomical experiences we have had in the last few years, but I've been trying to be more spontaneous.
So we hopped into the new Accent and drove 4 1/2 hours. It was a pleasant and pretty drive. Traffic was light and the weather was beautiful.
We arrived at a parking lot along the shore of Whiskeytown Lake near Redding at about 4:30 PM. All the parking areas were quite full and many cars were just parked along the roads. There were several people with large telescopes and video screens that were willing to let anyone take a look. We were loaned two pair of viewing glasses by a very nice man. We tried doing the pin-hole camera thing, but compared to seeing it thru the glasses or telescopes the pin hole just didn't cut it.
The sky was clear, the temperature was in the 70's, and all the people were friendly. It reminded me of a street full of people waiting for a parade. As we chatted with the others we discovered there were people there from much farther away than we were. It seems we had all read the same article that mentioned the park we were at. The eclipse reached complete annularity at about 6:25 PM. This picture is from the web, but it is exactly what we saw. As Judy would say "cool beans!"
Before driving back home we stopped for dinner at the Black Bear Diner. We were not impressed with the food. It was quite ordinary. I was proud of myself though. This is the first restaurant meal I've had since January. I eyed the big burgers on the menu, but choose to have a Chinese Chicken salad instead. While we were waiting to be served I found the nutritional information sheet tucked behind the napkin dispenser. A hamburger and fries was listed as having 1400 calories. My salad had 910. Given that I had only had a 300 calorie breakfast and nothing else all day, I was still well under my goal of 1500 calories for the day. We generally only drink ice water with meals out. I'm not a soda drinker. My weight loss is at 27 pounds now.
The Hyundai Accent preformed very well. We got 40.8 miles per gallon, highway driving, on the way home. Pretty good for a sub-compact! Now if it just doesn't wear out too fast we'll be happy.
Well it's after midnight now, and I'm off to bed.
Good night!
Tuesday was both a happy and a sad day. After a hectic weekend of locating and test driving four sub compact cars from the Motor Coach Magazine dinghy car list, we made our decision and purchased a white, 2012 Hyundai Accent Hatchback.
It was sad to drive our red Prius for the last time. It was a very good, solid ride. In five years and 84,000 miles, it never gave us any trouble. If it didn't weigh so much, and could have been towed, we would have kept it for long time.
But if we want to ride together in the Alfa, we need a car we can tow.
Good-by Prius.
Hello "Little White Thing". I hope we have many adventures together in the future. We know you can't go charging down wild dirt roads like a Jeep, but you have lots of cargo space for your weight, a decent engine for your class, and a price point we were comfortable with.
Speaking of price, we were both a bit shocked by the cost of a tow package! We haven't bought one yet, but we're leaning toward a Blue Ox and an Air Force. We got an estimate on a Roadmaster and an Air Force One from the place that's doing our Alfa body work.
The repair estimate was a shocker too! We usually just pay for such things out of pocket without filing an insurance claim. But as it turned out there was more damage than just the fiberglass corner. It seems the back panel separated both along the side edge and the roof edge. And they will need to repaint the entire back end! The estimate was over $5000. Big Ouch!
Too bad Alfateers is way down in Southern California.
Our insurance adjustor has been to take a look, and has authorized the work. It will take a couple of weeks before she is home again. Meanwhile we have to make a decision on the tow package and get it ordered and installed before the Crater Lake trip.
If you have a class A, what tow package do you have? Do you like it? Any advice will be appreciated.
