Spring is in the Air

Posted on May 4, 2011 by W&W Mudd

Aah, the smells and sounds of spring are in the air here in the Sierra foothills. We’re camped at one of our all-time favorite parks, Park Sierra SKP in Coarsegold CA. And at this time of year, the smells here are a luscious blend of flora and fresh air. And the sounds are all those you would want of a spring in the foothills: the chirp of the birds, the hammering of the woodpeckers, the buzz of the bees, the whirr of the swarm of golf carts going here-and-there, and an occasional hoot or howl from some form of wildlife. And then there are the weed whackers.

We arrived last Sunday and requested our favorite spot (#436 for those of you who might come to visit). It was available OK, but alas was scheduled for weed removal that was not yet complete. But wait! We can do that! What fun to have some real farming to do! So we happily accepted the overgrown site because it’s one of our very favorites, and promised like Boy Scouts to make our way to the utility shed to check out a couple of Stihl FSE 60’s, the tool of choice for the “occasional” weed trimmer.

The job was just a WEE bit larger than we imagined, but we rolled up our sleeves, stretched out the extension cords, and attacked. This particular site is about 100′ wide and about 90′ deep, with slopes on two sides that lead to the wonderful gully that anchors our privacy here. The weeds went from 24″ high to 3″ high in about 2 hours.

The Easy Part – Patio Edging
Watch it – She’s got a Weed Whacker!
The Reward – A beautiful Camp Site

Buzz buzz, whir whir, whack whack. And then, silence. The photos show us in action, and our reward, the beautifully landscaped site we will call home until May 14. So now we can kick back in silent splendor, well except for the OTHER weed whackers that buzz around for about 5 hours a day, and enjoy some beautiful late spring weather while we plan our travels to Glacier National Park.

 
Of course, Tippy always has SOMETHING to add, and don’t forget to scroll down and “Like” this page. We’re still climbing our way to the top of the Google search listings. And do us ONE MORE special favor. If you belong to Facebook (and you can always join just for this) navigate your way to http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Vintage-Fashion-Tips/199767710047295 and click the “LIKE” button. This way my Mom can get her cool URL for the fan page that will help us to sell her vintage sewing pattern collection so she can feed her cats.
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Gastropalooza II was a HUGE sucess!

Posted on April 28, 2011 by W&W Mudd
 

We traveled to San Diego yesterday for Gastropalooza II, a day devoted to fine dining and friendship. It was a 2 1/2 hour drive each way, but well worth it! This is the second time that the Hartwell’s home has been the “G” spot (so to speak), and the garden was in full bloom for our feast. Fresh sweet peas and green beans, tender young green onions, a huge variety of salad greens, beets (with greens), and even a couple of artichokes donated from our niece Morgan’s garden all complimented the super sauted scallop salad that Frankie and Wally found on one of their favorite food shows, “Mexican Made Easy”. Add in grilled tiger shrimps and take us to heaven! But none of this got properly started until Wally rendered a round of Hartwell Pure Citrus Margaritas. Well, to be honest, he insured his success by starting everyone with shots of Milagro tequila. Which were downed while everyone drooled over his platter of fixin’s.

Wally’s Fruitopalooza Pure Citrus Margarita Fixins

 Take all of this stuff and add in Cabo Wabo, Cointreau, Grand Marnier and fresh squeezed lime juice and KABOOM!, it magically transforms into the Hartwell Pure Citrus Margarita!

The Hartwel Pure Citrus Margarita

 Frankie’s Kitchen is a true delight. It just LOOKS like good stuff to eat long before there has been any cooking done. Everyone is invited to jump into the preparation, and when just the right amount of Milagro’s and Hartwell Pure Citrus is poured into the crew a Gastropalooza jumps out of the pans and onto the plates! It’s a magical thing to see.

Frankie’s Kitchen – Gastropalooza II Central

 This happy group is about to chow down on the perfect early dinner for a very warm San Diego day. The salad contained fresh cut greens (don’t ask how many different kinds), scallops sauteed in a citrus anato marinade (which was also used to dress the salad), sugar sprinkled avocados grilled until carmelized, and grapefruit wedges. The tiger shrimp were also marinated in the anato sauce and grilled hot and fast. We warmed up our taste buds on grilled baby green onions and green beans, which were perfect just drizzled with olive oil and sea salt, and fresh garden peas and roasted artichokes with a small ranch dressing to dip.

The Dining was definitely Fine

 Of course, there is ALWAYS dessert. We somehow missed taking pictures of these, and I attribute that to the Hartwell Pure Citrus hand grenades. There was a “really homely but totally delicious” layer cake from Barbara, and Piggy Cake Pops from Wendy. If you are interested in cake pops, visit Morgan and her tutorial at The Little Hen House.

The Gastropaloozites

 A GREAT time was had by all, our thanks to Frankie and Wally, Barbara and Joe, and Mary and Jeff. We thought of each of you, and how nice it must have been to put your head on your pillow, as we make the long trek back to the rig in LA.

And now, don’t forget to “Like” this post so Hartwell gets his props. Oh yeah, and Tippy has a thing or two to say about things!

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The Road Ahead – Spring 2011

Posted on April 25, 2011 by W&W Mudd

We’ve been camped here in Northridge for over 3 weeks, and it’s getting close to time to move on. We tried to negotiate one more day (Sunday May 1) onto our stay but the park here can’t accomodate us. After all, it’s the start of the rv travel season, and folks are on the move!

Speaking of on the move, I have just finished getting our route planned that will take us to Depoe Bay for Rachel and Greg’s wedding at the end of July. Some juggling was done to our original plan to visit the Tetons during this time when we were informed that nothing really opens in the Tetons until early June when they can plow the area out and open the campgrounds. So we put a detour into the plan and are headed instead to Glacier National Park. I think we’ll be happy we did, the pictures we have seen from the internet are fabulous. We will be sure to post a bunch while were up there.

For those of you who are interested in seeing where we will be blogging from over the next 3 months, here’s a graphic of our plan.

So, we’re all welded back together. We’ve gotten the family visit tank refilled. We’ve eaten more than about a million calories of holiday and birthday food. Our tans have started to recover after our winter up north. And the temperature has stayed above 40 for almost a full month! We have a few more events to attend to (Gastropalooza II in San Diego, Dana’s Birthday dinner in Valley Village, The Cake Pop Class, and a final clean up and rig prep, this time with a full check of the undercarraige added to the pilot’s stroll around the beast) and then we’re on the road again.

Don’t forget to register for email updates, and look below the authors box to “Like” this page. I Googled “mudd rv” this morning, and we got 2 of the top 10 listings out of 1,260,000 found, that’s “Above the Fold on Page 1” in search parlance! With your help by clicking that little “Like” box, we could be top dogs! I don’t think it pays much, but it sure would be fun hitting the top of page 1 just once!

And, of course, here’s Tippy!

                                                   

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Wertle Gets Welded

Posted on April 23, 2011 by W&W Mudd

Not to compete with well-known movie titles (did ANYONE get this gag? Let us know!), this post is about the healing of our rig after the traumatic trip up Interstate 5 through LA. From a previous post, we chronicled the massive abuse that the hyper-bad roads of California have inflicted on the undercarriage of our home. And what we did to arrange a repair when that abuse turned to a potentially fatal break.

One of three broken cross members, two were gone!

 We are happy to report the repair is complete! And also happy to give a big plug to the two businesses that made it happen. Our first call for help went out to Coast RV of Agoura Hills (www.coastrvcenter.com) who recommended Brent Eckhart Mobile Welding (www.brentsmobilewelding.com/) as a solution. 

Brent Eckhart Mobile Welding to the rescue

 Brent took his time to understand the problem, and the outcome was very impressive. After an initial inspection Brent suggested a repair that seemed very logical. Straighten out the frame that had become badly tweaked, construct a VERY strong truss that would prevent the tweak in the future, fix a few other things he had seen in his inspection, and DONE! It all sound so simple until you see him at work. His original estimate was about $1,600. He came in “under the wire” at $1,100, and the work looked first rate. He arrived on time (7:30AM on the DOT!) and got the job done within his estimated time. We couldn’t be happier.

You don’t need to ask Brent “Where’s the beef?”
The Brooklyn Bridge is probably jealous of this truss work

Not only did he fix the obvious problem, he suggested an addition that fixed another problem we weren’t entirely aware of. Our bedroom is in the back of the rig, and the queen-size bed slides out about 40” to give us room to move around. The slide-out was always “sticky”, frequently requiring one of us to push on the outside to get it to close properly. This was because the rear frame, which sticks out behind the main axles about 12 feet, was a little twisted. Brent suggested welding in two massive 3” box tubes to straighten the rear end of our chassis, and this has cured our slide-out stickiness. It slides like melted butter now.  

Wertle won’t be shaking any tailfeathers anymore

 To say the least, we are extremely relieved. Thanks much to Coast RV of Agoura Hills CA, and to Brent Eckhart Mobile Welding of Simi Valley CA for their support. We will now depart Walnut RV in Northridge CA with the goal of a week of relaxation in Glacier National Park with the total confidence of a trailer that will stay behind us the way it was intended!

 And, as reminded by our friend (and blog visitor) Dan Stordahl, here’s Tippy!

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Poor Forgotten Tippy!

Posted on April 3, 2011 by W&W Mudd

I was reminded by our good friend (and blog follower) Dan Stordahl, that Tippy was conspicuoulsy missing from our post on the undercarraige troubles with the rig. Great catch, Dan! This is a very important thing to remind ALL RV owners of, the importance of paying attention to every side of your rig, the shiny ones AND the greasy ones, before you hit the road. A good walk around should look like the one your pilot makes before that Southwest flight takes you to the destination of your dreams. Well, maybe even better! Better late than never, here’s Tippy!

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This One’s a DOOSIE!

Posted on April 3, 2011 by W&W Mudd

Many of you know how much I like to fish. And, of course, along with fishing comes fish stories. And if you can’t stretch a fish with a story, how are you supposed to catch the big ones? But some stories, as much as they sound stretched, are simply hard to fathom. Pun intended. This is one of them.

We recently spent a week visiting family in San Diego, and then made the transit up to LA to spend a month visiting more family. And we’re also getting ready for a big Western States tour that would lead up to Rachel and Greg’s wedding at the end of July on the Oregon Coast. If any of you have ever driven Interstate 5 from San Diego to the San Fernando Valley, you would know that there is a giant stretch of that beast that goes through the heart of LA, and that this stretch has fallen into horrible disrepair because the Governor keeps “borrowing” from the highway maintenance fund to cover budget shortfalls in the state. We know this well because we used this same ugly stretch of road to get down to San Diego in the first place. So we have recently traveled it TWICE.

This road isn’t (yet) a toll road, but it sure has taken its toll on the rig. We weren’t aware, but all the bouncing and shaking from the very rough pavement caused a structural cross member on the chassis to break loose. When this broke loose, it let other parts of the chassis shake and bend even more, and that caused 2 other braces to break loose and fall completely off. I only hope they didn’t end up in someone’s grill.

Just ONE of the broken cross members

Some of the damage was done on the way TO San Diego, but not enough that we really noticed it. There was a lot more done on trip back to LA, enough so that when we pulled into the RV park registration area the landscape maintenance man pointed out that our side trim was coming off.

These wheels should be completely INSIDE the wheel well

Upon further examination, it was REAL obvious what was going on. The wheels on the bus go round-and-round, but they sure shouldn’t go back-and-forth, and that was exactly what was happening. The lack of structural bracing had allowed the axles to drift back and forth, which caused the main frame rails along the length of the rig to flex and bend. Not good. We’re actually quite lucky the whole thing didn’t just snap off and send the rig flying across lanes on the freeway. God only knows what that would have done to the truck.

Bent main frame rail and suspension

Not knowing exactly how to handle this, we consulted our notes. We keep very good notes on our travels about RV parts stores and service companies. So we called one we really like in Agoura Hills, Coast RV (this IS a big plug for them, they are great folks and have a TON of great parts). They couldn’t help us, but their owner, Susan, referred us to their most trusted Mobile Welding service, Brent Eckhardt, in Simi Valley. We gave Brent a call, and on Tuesday he will come out to see what it takes to weld this all together again. I’m going to ask him to put some extra “beef” in the frame while he’s at it.

All’s well that ends well. And all good fish stories come to an end sooner or later (sometimes much later in the Mudd family). And we’re glad this story is at least on pause with all of us safe. Personally, I’d like THIS story to be as short as possible. Stay tuned!

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Installing our JefaTech RV wireless repeater

Posted on March 25, 2011 by W&W Mudd

Although I had recently hand-built a wireless repeater for the RV, it had no capability to add a high-gain antenna. So I was stuck with a pair of “rubber duck” antennas, and while they worked OK in campgrounds with good signal strength they were woefully inadequate as a wireless repeater if we weren’t parked close enough to a wireless source.

I’ve been asked “Why a repeater? Why not just connect to the source signal?” For a couple of reasons it’s good to have a repeater. A wireless repeater picks up the source signal, “cleans” and amplifies it to remove signal noise and to boost the power, then re-broadcasts it on a private network inside our rig. And if the campground source is “open”, requiring no password, I can install security for our internal network. That helps by discouraging any nearby campers from piggybacking on our signal and slowing us down. Let them buy their own repeater! It also lets us create a wireless Windows 7 Homegroup network so we can easily share our wireless printer, files on our 2 laptops, and our large photo library disk drive. As a side benefit, it keeps the “rig net” static; that means that all of computing gear and printers can permanently “remember” a network name and seamlessly connect when we power up. All that’s needed once we’re camped is to re-set the source network that’s supplying our repeater.

I acquired our kit from JefaTech (www.jefatech.com), who assembles and customizes off-shelf equipment to create a complete set ready to install. Ours came with a customized Linksys Wireless G router (it also has 4 hard wire ports), custom firmware to make it super easy to use and configure, an 8 dB high-gain antenna (they offer an even larger one if you want), 20 feet of high quality coax cable (you can order in any length you need), and a mounting kit to put the high-gain antenna onto the outside of the rig for best signal reception. I took a tip from the JefaTech user forum and decided to mount the antenna onto our existing crank-up TV batwing antenna. By doing this I can raise the antenna up so that it reaches 18 feet above ground for great long distance signal reception. I’m actually able to “see” wireless access point signals more than ¼ mile away, so if we’re parked near a Starbucks, we get free internet!

Reaching to the sky for a great signal

By using the batwing for our mount, I was also able to route the coax cable into the rig using the existing waterproof boot for the TV antenna cable. Not having to “breach the hull” was a relief as this almost ALWAYS creates a leak point. And with the winter we had, and the spring we are having, a leak is the last thing I want. A little routing of the cable inside the rig took it to a convenient shelf near our equipment. Note: JefaTech recommends having the router, which still has a single rubber duck antenna, relatively close to the external mast so they two antennas can “see” each other’s signals. Our two antennas are almost line-of-sight through our forward vent hatch.

Out with the old and in with the new

I did need to contact JefaTech support for one small detail. We recently camped in San Diego where the campground contracted with Tengo Internet for wireless service. The router wouldn’t connect, and it turns out JefaTech has published a firmware upgrade to fix this. It also makes the unit a whole lot easier to use, a big plus. Service was fast, friendly, and smart. As a result, I heartily recommend JefaTech for your RV wireless independence. Just don’t forget to crank the antenna down before you hit the road!

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But for the grace of God

Posted on March 11, 2011 by W&W Mudd

Our hearts go out to the victims and families affected by yesterday’s disaster in northern Japan. On the road we frequently fall into a news “black hole”, whether we are disconnected from cable tv, internet, or even cell phone service, and bad news often catches us by surprise. I didn’t know for almost a week that Egypt had undergone a “management change”. I really found out about Libya when we pulled in to fill up with gas. But this morning I awoke to my email with a message from my niece Morgan, another family blogger, telling her readers that today’s entry would be delayed. She simply didn’t feel any humor would be appropriate in light of the massive suffering, and we feel the same.

Many of our blog readers already know we were just recently in Smith River on the northern California coast, just a few miles north of Crescent City. All throughout that area are “tsunami zones” with signs clearly marking areas that become dangerous when big waves come in.

Take these signs seriously, please

They stood out to us, and we never failed to remark to each other as we drove past the signs. But it’s hard to imagine what really happens when a tsunami hits. I watched some news video of the 23 foot wave that hit Sendai, Japan, and the video of the wave inundating the airport defies description. As I write this I’m listening to the news on TV. Crescent City reported a tide recession from the harbor about 30 minutes ago, and as I write we are watching the surges in Santa Cruz harbor tear boats loose and wash the harbor in and out repeatedly, so I can only imagine the damage that will occur in the much shallower Crescent City harbor, which will reportedly get about twice the surge we will see here (7 feet vs. 3 feet).

Our thoughts and prayers are with all the victims and their families in Japan, and all those who will be affected by the aftermath.

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For all you RV maintenance enthusiasts, both of you

Posted on March 8, 2011 by W&W Mudd

On the Level with your Finicky RV Furnace

Of all the appliances in your RV, the propane furnace will take the cake for acting badly. There are so many things that can go wrong, not only with the furnace itself but with all of the support systems that feed it. Propane gas pressure, electric voltage supply, air ducting (both intake and output), and thermostat signals can all act up to defeat the perfectly operational furnace without so much as giving a single clue to the camper.

Some simple RV furnace diagnostic calculations - thanks NASA!

And there is one more thing that can put the evil eye on your furnace. But if I told you that now you wouldn’t read through to the end, would you?

If you are the type to take diagnosis into your own hands instead of forking over fistfuls of hundred dollar bills to the mobile RV repair service, then you know the value (and satisfaction) of having a few (or maybe more than a few) proper tools. For diagnosing furnace problems you will need:

  • A digital multimeter, a good one can be bought for about $20 in any home supply warehouse or hardware store, for reading voltage supplied to the furnace controls (Note: the stick-your-tongue-on-the-electrical-contacts method isn’t accurate enough)
  • A good flashlight, furnace stuff is generally buried deep in the RV interior
  • A manometer for measuring the static and operational propane gas pressure in your rig – don’t buy an expensive digital one, build your own to get perfectly accurate results for less than $10 (see http://www.campersmotorhomesonline.com/manometer for simple instructions with pictures)
  • The usual small handful of screwdrivers and nut drivers, for removing Philips and hex headed screws
  • A small torpedo level: you can buy one at Home Depot for $3, or you can buy an iPhone and download the “Spirit Level” app ($450), your choice

    The trusty Torpedo Level

You might not be too surprised at the first 5 items (well, maybe the manometer, but trust me it’s indispensable), but a torpedo level? Yes. After carefully logging the performance of my furnace for 6 months and observing that it really never quite behaved the same at any given RV park, I began to look back at what was different about each RV park and how that might contribute to furnace performance. Temperature, humidity, cold night and warm day versus cold night and cold day. Was the propane full or nearing empty? Had I just switched to a new propane tank? Nothing seemed to stand out as a protagonist. And then it hit me. Each time we dock the rig I level it up. Usually I use the “Good Enough for Government Work” standard and get it reasonably close to level. But on those few occasions where all the right parts of the universe lined up and the rig ended up perfectly level, the furnace worked just fine. On this last setup I left the rig listing just a slight bit to port and just an inch nose-down. The furnace refused to light, even after 2 days and many tries. So I re-setup the rig, adding just a little bit to the port side and a little more elevation to the nose until my torpedo level read dead-on both laterally and bow-to-stern. Bingo! The furnace fired right up! I’m not quite sure why yet, but maybe after a little more studying of the technical manual I might actually be able to figure out how even just a little out-of-kilter can make the furnace finicky. And I’ll be paying a whole lot more attention to leveling during the winter months!

Now, let’s let Tippy have HIS word!

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Bean Blog

Posted on March 8, 2011 by W&W Mudd

This blog is being published NOW because, although it was written on Sept. 22, 2010, it has been quietly sitting in the “Draft” folder, unnoticed by me, for almost 6 months. This isn’t exactly like finding $20 in your freshly-washed jeans pocket, it’s more like finding an unwrapped holiday gift from your Aunt Milly that got stuck behind the couch. Anyway, enjoy (apologies to anyone’s Aunt Milly).

In a previous post Tippy had some good advice. When full-timing in an RV, don’t buy beans in bulk. We had no idea how many beans we had schlepped home from Costco until we had to clean out everything and pack all our food into the rig. #1 in volume: Beans, hands down. Baked beans, kidney beans, cannelli beans, garbanzo beans, refried beans, small navy beans. Every kind of bean I’ve never heard of, and more. And much more than one can each. Some types had many many cans. I think now that it’s all loaded we could probably qualify for a huge federal alternative energy grant. But I guess we’d have to eat them first, and I’m just not going to go there.

Speaking of bulk, by the time we sorted out what we needed on-board, and what was going to storage, I figured we added close to 800 lbs. to the rig. That puts us about 500 lbs under our road legal maximum if we’re full of gas, fresh water and propane. So job #1 is to eat our way through the larder so we can reduce enough weight to hope to climb the Rockies next spring on our way to Eastern Canada. Wendy thinks all we need to buy for the next 5 months is fresh fruit and veggies and dairy products. All our meals can chip away at the full cabinets until we get room to really put everything away.

This Super Blog Person of Interest is: Brandon Marks! And his co-POI is his little brother Dylan! On our last visit to see the grandkids, we challenged Brandon to read every single blog post because he would, at some random time, be featured as a Person Of Interest! And today, that time comes! Hey Bran, give Dylan a kiss for us. Eat your vegetables. Don’t play too much PlayStation. Root for UCLA. And keep reading these posts because you never know when you will get a repeat performance from us!

Brandon, Dylan and Dad

Here’s Tippy!

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