It's a new year, and we're ready for new adventures! Our first journey has taken us to the southwest for the month of March, with some short side trips along the way. The warm weather and nice people in Arizona are sure to make our trip enjoyable!
It took us a bit of time to get out of town last Thursday. We had loaded "Nessie", the motorhome, the day before, so all we had to do was pickup our utility connections, hook up "Gus", the jeep, and hit the road. Well, two out of three ain't bad. The entry steps had failed to retract, so after a few minutes of calm inspection (!) we removed the entire step unit, threw it in the storage compartment, and drove off. Mind you, it's about 30" up to the floor of the coach, and not normally done in one big step, so we had to do the crawl, boost, grunt and tug routine. Oh well, we're finally moving, about 3 hours late….
First night: A parking lot near a truck stop in Bakersfield, CA. Nice place, quiet, and free. Sasha, our Boston Terrier pup decided to freak out at all the lights and noise, and refused to do her "business", eat, or sleep. Nice.
Second night: A casino parking lot in Indio, CA. Not so quiet, very busy, but free. Sasha finally, after almost 48 hours, finally gets with the program. Whew!
Third night: A gravel lot near a Petro Truck Stop in Casa Grande, AZ. Other than the dust, very quiet, surprisingly, and plenty of places for Sasha to sniff. Still climbing in and out of Nessie. Getting old. The climb, not us….
Fourth night: Arrive at Rincon Village West RV Park in Tucson, space 857. Climbed out of Nessie and immediately 3 neighbors came over to find out what's going on with the steps? With a folding step borrowed from one neighbor and an old milk crate, we improved our situation by about 12". Oh boy.
Monday, yesterday: After some phone calling, found a machine shop that could repair the steps. Went to PO Machine in North Tucson, and met John. If you're ever in Tucson and need a bit of machine work, go see John: he's a fountain of knowledge (particularly about Ford engines). After a bit of chit chat we left the step unit with him and took Sasha to the dog park. About 2 hours after we left his shop, John called and told us to "come pick up your steps". He had removed a sheared off bolt and straightened a bent steel plate and reassembled the unit with some improvements. Great! The design of the Lippert product is faulty, and I know that the bolt will break again in the future; it's just a matter of time. At some point, I'll probably replace the steps with another brand, most likely Kwikee brand, and get my welder buddy Steve at home to help me fabricate the installation.
So here we are on Tuesday, about to get our steps back. Yesterday's rain is gone, the temp at 10 am is in the high 60's and the sun is shining.
Life is good!
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