Well, That Was Close….A Few Belts Short Of A Tire BlowOut!

That’s the look of a broken belt

Paul and I are very, very careful about our RV tires. We religiously check tire pressure, cover them whenever we are parked, keep them clean, use 303 Aerospace Protectant (the best stuff out there IMHO) and keep a close eye on datecode. Almost any RV tire you ever buy will “age out” rather than actually “wear out”. The vast majority of RVs simply don’t get that much road-time (compared to a commercial truck, for example) and at some point the rubber just starts to get too old and you risk problems. Exactly when that happens is a favorite debate on RV forums that usually elicits at least 10 pages of heated answers. Many folks will push their tires to 10 years, but we’ve always held that we would replace ours at 6 years of age no matter what…and for “the beast” that year was 2013.

Jeff starts work on the rig

So, the good news is that I knew this and had spent the last couple of months researching tires, looking at load and dimension specs and figuring out cost. We run 275/80 22.5 H-load tires on our rig and there’s only around 4 manufacturers (Michelin, Bridgestone, Continental, Goodyear) that offer that particular size and load. I had carefully narrowed down our choice to a couple of options, joined the FMCA Tire Program (which gives awesome discounts on Michelin tires) and even chosen the very place we’d get them done in Oregon (no sales tax, ya know). Oh yeah, we were all set and prepared. No problem baby!

But, as you know, sometimes RV life isn’t always as smooth as you expect. In fact, one of the age-old laws of RVing is that things will always happen at the least opportune moment….in other words you will inevitably have a major tire problem when you’re within agonizing reach of Oregon (but not quite there), in a place where no-one has your size and where you definitely can’t get any tire discounts.

“the Beast” at Les Schwab

We noticed the bulge on our front tire as we were sitting in the RV park in Boise. Originally we thought it was the curb a person-who-shall-not-be-named had scuffed on the way in, but shortly after we realized BOTH front wheels had the same damage. It’s the classic look of a broken steel belt and the way you can tell is the bulge is apparent in the same place on both sides of the tire (front-facing and inside-facing tire-walls -> run your hand radially along the front, over the tread and continue along the back and you’ll feel it on both sides). BAH! BUM@ CR*P! Given the abuse we put our tires through (especially with boondocking and crazy, bumpy, rocky roads), I guess it’s kind of lucky this didn’t happen before, but the timing just sucked.

The ONE thing that is NOT acceptable on a 33,000 lb beast is a bulge in the tires. No, no, no, no, no….!

Paul chats w/ Jeff after the work is done

Back view of “the beast”

Knowing there was no way we could drive with this, I started calling around to all the tire spots in the area. The 2 commercial truck tire guys in the area did not have the size we needed, or could only get it 2 weeks from now and/or could not guarantee datecode (very important this -> you should always ask about datecode if you’re buying tires), and most of the regular tire places didn’t have the facilities to handle us. But there was one place, and one guy who could answer all my nit-picky questions (I’ve never been an easy customer) and had the facilities to take us. Les Schwab on Jefferson (208-336-3110), and more specifically Jeff knew exactly what we needed. He was able to get the tires within 2 days and could guarantee a datecode of 1013 (that’s the 10th week of 2013, almost impossible to get fresher). Total SCORE!

That’s an AWESOME datecode!

Happily tucked into the pines in Oregon

I was ridiculously nervous about the 5-mile drive over, but we made the drive painlessly and Jeff was there to personally greet us and get us going. He started work as soon as we stepped off the RV and had the 2 front tires changed (brand new Michelin XZE’s) within an hour while we went for a Starbuck’s and lounged with doggie in their waiting room. An overall fabulous experience! We’ve decided to keep the back (undamaged) tires until we get to Oregon, but feel 500% better with new steers even though the cost {{groan}} caused us to hyperventilate and cackle hysterically like old witches. Ah well, ’tis the price we pay for no mortgage and utter freedom, right? The new ride is smooth as silk and I couldn’t be happier with the service.

We’ve now made it (FINALLY) to Oregon and are hanging for a few days in deep pine forest (oh yeah!) before we make the drive to spend the next few weeks in the Columbia River Gorge. Onwards and upwards Scotty…we averted another near-disaster and are still on the road.

Related Post: Tire Maintenance & Handling Tire Blow-Outs

So What the “EEeeeeeeeek” Happened???!!

I’ve kept you in suspense long enough and it’s time to open the can, so to speak, and let it all out. Our story starts just over a week ago at our boondocking site at Goosenecks State Park. To set the scene just imagine a typical relaxing morning at wheelingit headquarters…a calm breeze, blue, sunny skies, a wide-open space of nothing and a world of calm . Yours truly was lounging in the sofa while hubby was lazily whipping up a morning brew…

“I just saw something” said Paul, sounding rather strange

“Huh?” I mumbled, my usual early-morning plucky self. I turned to see Paul frozen over the kitchen drawer with a haunted look in his eye.

“I just saw something” repeated Paul, apparently zombie-like.

“Erhmmm….What????” I managed, suddenly feeling wide awake ”A UFO? Microraptor Gui? Purple Elephants?” Something about the way he was looking told me I would be happier if said object was not actually real.

“It was brown” he replied “furry…and it might possibly have had a tail”

“EEEEeeeeek!”

Within microseconds I was standing ontop of the sofa in karate-chop stance (not that I have any actual karate experience you know, but mentally it was helpful).

“NO, NO, NO….it’s not possible” I reasoned “I mean we have TWO CATS, for fricks sake!” (keeping it PG here)

Don’t bother me…I’m sleeping

I looked over at our furry killers who were both currently lounging in their cat bed by the window. They raised their heads nonchalantly, laid back down to sleep and flicked their tails in indifference. “The puny schemes of mice of men doth not us import”…was the obvious retort.

They could at least have got the quote right, I thought.

“Argh!!!” Paul gurgled, snapping me back to the present and general kitchen area “I just saw it again”

Paul shines a flashlight into the “bowels” of the kitchen

“OH SH*T” (we harmonized on that one), followed by various other very-non-PG swear-words. This was NOT good. I immediately had visions of teeny mice-teeth chewing their way through the entire underbelly of our rig…tasty wires, yummy fuel lines, sumptuous RV connectors. We were no longer “the beast” -> we were a mobile mouse dining-al-fresco restaurant, and the invitation for all-you-can-eat dinner was out. I suddenly envisioned an entire family of mice-happy feet scrambling in our walls and munching on the RV while the cats enjoyed the TV show from the comfort of their afternoon sunning spot.

“Seriously cats” I threw at them “WHERE is your killer instinct???!!”

Flick…flick…still no response.

EVERYTHING out in the RV…including around 100 screws

I tuned to Paul and our brains did a Vulcan mind-lock….or perhaps the bleeding obvious just came to light. Clearly we needed to get rid of this beast and clearly it had to be NOW. We were 100 miles from the nearest purchasable mouse-trap so we needed to do some serious brainstorming. Our engineering training clicked into gear -> debug the problem, contain the issue and eliminate the threat. Or, something to that effect.

We engaged the enemy like mice-marine-killers on the move. First course of action was to take apart ALL accessible areas of the RV and follow the clues. Every drawer, every piece of wood and several hundred screws later we discovered lots of happy mice droppings and a neat little trail to a “nest” underneath the bathroom sink where said invader had been enjoying the fruity delights of Paul’s Peruvian seed-necklace. Found you, you furry menace. Thankfully no chewed wires were apparent.

Peppermint…the secret mouse-repellant?

Seriously, no-one likes this stuff…not even mice

Next we cleaned, scrubbed and disinfected everything and then moved onto plan B. This involved leaving everything open, giving free access to our mice-killer cats (as you can see I am an eternal optimist) and putting in scent deterrents that I had read about on the internet. Apparently mice hate the smell of Irish Spring Soap (as do we, which is naturally why I’d bought a Costco-load worth 2 years ago and stored it for never-use later…duh!), and Peppermint Essential Oil (which I just happened to have in stock for use in my home-made deodorant).

We proceeded to load up everything we could with both items placing fresh bars of soap and containers of cotton-soaked oil in each and every corner. I even toyed with the idea of leaving a cheese-trail to our boondocking neighbors who had blasted outdoor music the entire previous evening (who does such a thing??), but alas my better nature prevailed.

The final result was a complete transformation. I can honestly say that NEVER, in the history of RVing, has a “beastly” rig EVER smelt so minty fresh. We had created a 40-foot Peppermint garden, a minty Eden, a leafy green vision in RV. The odor was so strong it made us dizzy, and gave us an overwhelming urge to chew gum…or drink Mojito’s depending on the hour. It’s possible my application de Mentha had gone a tad overboard, but I was on a mission and there was no way I was dialing back on this baby.

 

This is NOT a pretty gap-filler job…but it is effective darn it!

We maintained said situation, renewing the scents twice daily for several days, and then crawled around inside and under the RV to plug up each and every hole we could find with gap filler. There were several, surprisingly and it was not a pretty fix, but at this point we didn’t care.

It’s been over a week since “the incident” and so far no more mice-poos and no more furry sightings. I am hopeful the threat has been eliminated. Either that or the darn animal has decided to re-hibernate until better days. Of course since this time we’ve managed several other masterpieces -> our vacuum motor has burnt out and we’ve discovered a major plug in one of our sinks, all events bound to happen when you’re out in the deep boonies (and thus with zero access to hardware stores…universal RV rule #3 I think?). But all of this pales in comparison to the horror of little furry feet and sharp teeth. As long as the mouse is gone, I’m happy to hand-wash outside and live with a bit of dirt. And to think some people think boondocking is just sitting around and relaxing.

Oh and bloody cats too….

Easy RV Mod -> Re-String Your Reclining Chair (with Kitty Approval)

A properly strung recliner w/ paw approval

While I’m in the middle of socializing and gathering more cactus shots for you, I figured I would give you a little light entertainment with this (ridiculously) easy RV Mod. The key to this mod is actually two-fold:

1/ Buy the right cord
2/ Involve a feline friend

Indeed whereas my other RV mods have merely required furry approval, this one is best done with actual kitty involvement. In fact, I might go so far as to say your results will be inadequate without the appropriate paw-of-involvement. But I digress…

Our old cord was toast and had broken in many spots

The basis for this mod is re-stringing the elastic cord (often called “shock cord” or “bungee cord”) on a recliner chair. We have some very basic no-name recliners that we bought at Camping World over 3 years ago. We love the chairs and apart from some rust they’re actually in pretty good shape. But the shock cord which holds the fabric to the metal frame had deteriorated completely, a pretty normal occurrence for something that sits outdoors in the elements all the time.

The excellent 100-ft 1/4″ cord from Amazon.com

Now you can buy “repair kits” for certain types of recliner chairs (e.g. LaFuma chairs have this one), but generally the cord is of mediocre quality and/or the kits are expensive for what you get. The other alternative is to buy bungee or shock cord by the foot. Many stores (such as bungeecords or campmore or REI) offer this, but costs are often ~$0.50-$0.75 per foot depending on thickness. I managed to find an OUTSTANDING deal on Amazon HERE which offered 100 ft of 1/4″ cord for only $27, by far the best I’ve seen anywhere. This was more cord than I needed, but it was solid quality and I figured it would give me enough to re-string both our recliners for the next 5 years. DONE!

Once you have the cord the steps are easy:

1. Cut off existing  cord, making a note of HOW it is wound onto your chair. The easiest way to do this is actually to tackle one side at a time, using the other side as reference before you cut it off.
2. Start stringing the cord through the eyelets. Kitty will keep you alert and ensure you are hitting all the holes. If you lose the end of your cord, kitty will help you retrieve it.
3. Once string is completely through, tie one end using a good non-slip knot (I personally like the Figure 8 knot, but you can use any you prefer).
4. Progressively tighten the cord along the length of the chair, starting at the knotted end and pulling hard through each eyelet to remove slack until you get to the other end. Work this way along the chair several times to get a good, taut fit. Kitty will observe and approve. Once one side is taught, string the other side and tighten that too before tieing off both sides in a final non-slip knot.
5. Finish string ends by burning (to seal fibers) and covering with tape. This will prevent fraying.
6. Complete final kitty test (see header shot)

The steps to re-string a reclining chair (with cat)

The Biggest RV Gathering On Earth! Quartzsite, AZ

Calm before the big show…sunrise at Quartzsite!

Once a year, beyond the bounds of reason, thousands of RVs all converge in the same place. The spot is a small, dusty nondescript desert town of ~3,000 people in the SW of Arizona. Under normal circumstances you might drive by without even noticing it’s there, but come January the transformation of a desert phoenix occurs.  The RV’s come, and not just a few of them either…but in the hundreds and thousands! They pack and populate the desert boonies like a giant ant colony, creating a massive sprawl of boondocking RV’s as far as the eye can see.

The biggest RV gathering on EARTH! This fabulous pic was taken by IVAN who graciously allowed me to post it on the blog.

Vendors aisles outside the big tent

The town is Quartzsite, AZ and it’s the biggest RV gathering on earth! What follows is a feast of sellers, flea-markets, rummage-sales, gem shows, artists, professionals and every knick-knack shack you can possibly imagine. Although there are people here for many weeks before and after, the ”big show” officially runs around the last 2 weeks of January. During this time a giant tent (creatively known as the “big tent”) is raised in the very center of town, the desert becomes a massive ad-hoc parking lot and vendors cram the streets.

Shop in the day, and sunset at night…yeah, I like!

Now, I’ve heard alot of people say they can’t stand Quartzsite and I can certainly understand that viewpoint. There are people and cars everywhere, enough shopping to overwhelm even the most dedicated rummage-lover, and the whole thing is rather staged and crazy. But if you take your time to find a decent boondocking spot and embrace the show for it for what it is, it is SO MUCH FUN!

I mean, for starters here’s just a few of the things you can do during the show:

Checking out the rummage sales

Alex gets new awning toppers at our boondocking site

This unique rig is run on veggie oil and part of a roaming artist’s colony

Panning for gold demo…cool!

1/ Rummage Sales Galore - there are masses of large “shops” selling buckets of knick knacks all around town. Looking for that special drill bit? Or perhaps an RV switch? Or some kind of collapsible kitchen or outdoor equipment? Or that weird RV dohickey thing you can’t find anywhere else? You WILL find it here…somewhere.

2/ Art, Crafts & Gems – even before the official Gem Fest at the end of Jan there are massive slews of stores selling individual arts, wood carvings, rocks, gems, fossils, jewelry, unique pieces…you name it. Some are nomadic ”communities” that come in and sell their stuff together, others are commercial ventures, or tribal shops. It’s ALL here.

3/ RV Repairs & Upgrades - Looking to upgrade your suspension? Get that windshield replaced? New awnings? Solar? Satellite TV? Not only can you find the shop here, but they will come out into the desert boonies to your site to do the work. Pretty nifty!

4/ People Watching & Activities – Perhaps you’d like to learn how to pan for gold? Or hang and listen to some music at the Belly Bar? Meet an author? Eat some BBQ?  Get your teeth whitened (I’m not kidding)? Somewhere around here all of that is happening.

5/ Social Get-Togethers - No matter who you are, or what kind of group you would like to be part of they are ALL here. I went over to the Monaco iRV2 group for an AM get-together (even met some fellow Danes there!), had our buddies Jil&Tom from the Escapees boomers come over yesterday (in fact, these were folks we met our first few months of RVing in Utah in 2010 and just saw again for the first time since then!), had Ivan&kittyHailey come over for a visit (we met his kitty, yeah!), and are planning to see some other folks later this week. No matter if you’re single, alternative, young, old, LGBT, or even nudist there is a group for you!

Happy Hour at the Wheelingit site!

We’ve actually been to Quartzsite several times before, but this is the first year we’ve hit the “big show” right at its peak. There are multiple RV parks in town, but most RVers chose to boondock in the massive swarfs of BLM land around Quartzsite, and our fav spot is one of the (relatively) lesser-visited 14-day free areas called Dome Rock just west of town. We set-up shop here on Tuesday and in the past few days we’ve been joined by several friends creating a mini-gathering of nomads in our little spot as well as some excellent happy hour’s and sunset-watching moments.

Our mini-gathering of rigs. That’s Alex&Ellen on the right, Sue&Dave on the left and us plus Suzie&Gary in the background.

We’ll be staying here until (at least) the beginning of next week, so if anyone is in the area you’re welcome to come by. In the meantime I will be SHOPPING…and sipping

Just another great desert sunset

Laundry today or naked tomorrow…I can relate

Polly plays with her BEST pal Lewis

Hats anyone?

African carvings?!

LED bulbs are VERY popular

My new COOL shades!!

And another sunset!

Two Danes & A Week in S.CA

Recognize this girl? Posing at Torrey Pines in San Diego

It’s hard to believe we’re already 1 week into 2013. The time just seems to fly by (a sign of age, perhaps?) and we’ve been busy as a swarm of S.CA bees in an RV honey hive. You see at the end of Dec we received a rather impulsive visit from my Danish cousin, Christina. If you’ve been following the blog for a while you’ll remember this young lady from adventures on the OR coast this summer, and a memorable tale of sore buttocks in the Rockies of CO from 2010. She’s a travellin’ lover and jumped at the chance to see us in CA this winter. A ticket and 20 hours later she was here and ready to take S.CA by storm.

So what do you get up to in San Diego with two Danish gals on the loose? Well, we had a couple of cool adventures that I can now bring you up to date on:

1/ Day-Trip To Los Angeles

Sunset at Venice Beach

I fully admit I have a love-hate relationship with LA. I love the diversity there, but man-oh-man do I hate that traffic. It almost killed us last time we drove through the city, so it was with some trepidation that I agreed to take a day-trip w/ the toad to see the sights. I mean seeing LA is something every tourist has gotta do, at least once right? So I braced myself for the ride and planned a manageable itinerary with some cool sights.

On the not-exactly-legal trail to the sign

We started with a trip to the famous Hollywood sign where we promptly got lost on our hike (well, because I’m me), ended up on a road with warnings that there was “absolutely no access to the Hollywood sign” (a natural invitation to walk there, of course) followed by other warnings that it was completely illegal to hike this path (an obvious encouragement) followed by various other decisively discouraging signs that naturally led us to a perfect path right to the base of the sign….AWESOME!

Posing with the star-prints on Hollywood Road

After our rebellious trek we dropped back to Hollywood Blvd to see the Hollywood Walk of Fame. We managed to squeeze the CRV into a ridiculously small, but free parking spot (the equivalent of hitting the LA jackpot) and massed our way through the throng of crowds to put our hands in the cement imprints of the stars and gawk at all the various performers dressed in outrageous costumes posing for money. COOL!

Having satisfied our star-lust we decided on a slower pace and made our way over to Venice Beach to end the day with a glass and some people-watching on the promenade. Exactly the kind of eclectic mix of color and roller-skating beach-goers that originally bought me to California. Just before sunset an impromptu drum-jam started up on the sand swelling to a mass of 50 people jiving and grooving with the beats (and a bit of ganga thrown in, by the smells of it). GROOVY!

A pretty neat day, despite 5 hours of frustrating driving…like I said…totally love-hate relationship!

Late PM glow at Venice Beach

2/ Adventures On The Water

And she’s up!!!

Kayaking La Jolla Bay

San Diego is one of the best places to play in the water. With miles of beach, tons of killer surf breaks and protected bays you can splash just about any way you wish. Our first day on the water we took Christina for a surf lesson on the beautiful long-board break by San Elijo State Beach. She finished with jello arms, but managed some good stands on the board and was totally captivated by the sport (I see surfing in Denmark in her future). Our next day out we switched pace and went kayaking in gorgeous La Jolla Bay. We learned our lesson from our last visit and rented from Bike & Kayak insted of taking a tour this time, opting for a liesurely 2-hour paddle around the sea caves and giant kelp at our own pace. While we were floating in the bay we were visited by a family of seals who curiously popped their heads around the kayaks, sniffed the boats and swam underneath to check us out…just fabulous!

3/ Adventures On Land

By Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach

With near-perfect weather the entire week we opted for a few extra adventures on land including a 14-mile bike-ride around Mission Bay, a gorgeous hike in Torrey Pines State Reserve (totally worth it for the wacky sandstone cliffs and the rare pines) and trips to the various beach towns. It’s hard to beat the coastal winter views in San Diego!

4/ Adventures In Urban Parks

In the artists colony at Balboa Park

Christina catches a shot of the giant turtles right before “the action” starts

I gushed poetic about the urban parks in San Diego last year (here and here), so I had to take Christina to see a few of them during her time here. We managed a gorgeous day (with doggie in tow) to Balboa Park followed by another day at the San Diego Zoo. The latter was actually a first time visit for me. I’ve always been partial to the bigger San Diego Safari Park up north (and I still think the Safari Park is an overall cooler experience), but I enjoyed our time at the Zoo in town. Our Zoo experience was also rather enlightening in other ways as we caught a couple of giant turtles “getting jiggy with it” (always wondered how they managed) and sampled Kalhua & Bailey coffee’s (yes, I recommend).

5/ Adventures In RV Socializing

Drinking with “the crew” in Mission Bay RV Resort

No visit to “the beast” would be complete without a bit of RV socializing thrown in. We’ve got several RV buddies in the park (Hans&Lisa, Alex&Ellen, Wendy&James, Sue&Dave) and I decided to bring them all together with the invitation to a special Danish spiced-wine concoction…Glögg. It’s typically a Christmas-season drink so I was a bit late in the making, but figured I could pass it off with the non-initiated locals. Also I happen to have my mother’s super-secret, extra-potent (even by Danish standards) but deceiving smooth recipe which is guaranteed to get any party in a good mood. And indeed no-one noticed the lapse in protocol. In fact after several glasses of the fine fusion, the festive spirit was firmly re-ignited and a jolly good time declared by all.

And that….phew!…is what two Danes get up to in a week in S.CA. We’re winding down our last few days here in San Diego before we pick up and rock back to boondocking in the desert. We’ve got an adventure in Mexico lined up for you (with tips on how to get inexpensive quality dentistry work) and a trip to the largest RV gathering on earth. See you soon….

Stilt-walkers on Venice Beach

Drum-jam on Venice Beach

Enjoying a glass on Venice Beach

It’s Shrek!!

Toes in the sun in La Jolla Bay

Colorful Balboa Park

An alert Mircat at the zoo

Pink Flamingo reflections