Time For A New Motorhome

Monday: (10/16) We got up early and were ready to roll but had some business to complete with our credit union for financing the new motorhome. Leftovers for breakfast and lunch. We finally departed about 1245. We stopped in Greenfield for a snack from the Rancho San Miguel Market. We were trying to get to Pismo by 1700 but our late departure assured we couldn’t possibly make it so we took our time and stopped for a break in Paso Robles. At the top of the long steep downhill run into San Luis Obispo we stopped to disconnect the Jeep. I had removed the tow brakes from the motorhome and we didn’t need to be pushed down the hill. We pulled into the campground in Oceana about 1800. For dinner, we went to the Country Kitchen restaurant.

Tuesday: (10/17) We started the day by moving out of the RV and placing everything into the Jeep. At 0830 we stopped by Sky River RV to see if we could get some paperwork that our credit union needed. The finance person wasn’t in so we went to breakfast returning about 1 hour later. We started the process of completing the paperwork. Nothing was going smoothly so we didn’t finish most of it and our walkthrough until about 1530. There was some work that wasn’t done to repair one of the compartments that was damaged by a blown tire. We went to a late lunch at Pismo Fish and Chips while the shop worked on it. After lunch, we returned. The shop had completed the structural repair and ordered a new floor pan so we moved into it and gave them our old motorhome and departed just about 1700. We thought we might have to spend the night in the RV store lot since the old one was no longer insured. We moved the new RV to our campsite and started cleaning it. It was actually much cleaner than our old one but we prefer to disinfect it so only our own cooties are present. About 1900 we stopped for the night and went to dinner at the Rock and Roll Diner. We enjoyed the best Nachos we’ve ever had. It was made with real cheeses and tri-tip beef. We share the nachos and a slice of cheesecake.  So now enjoying our first night in our new to us motorhome.

The motorhome is a 2006 National Surf Side 29 foot class A. Same length as our previous motorhome but this one is taller and has to slides. Mush roomier. It will take a little getting used too.

 

 

Wednesday: (10/18) We packed and prepared to go. Since the hitch receiver is higher on the new RV and because the skirt arms would bang against the rear of the coach, I remove the towbar and stowed it in a compartment. Ou will drive the Jeep home. Breakfast at the Station Cafe. We looked at a couple of thrift store for a rug for the new RV, none found. We looked several places n95 masks. They are in short supply due to all the fires. I ended up ordering them through Amazon. We stopped by the RV dealer and picked up a couple of refrigerator signs that had been forgotten in our move out. We parked the RV outside the RV park by a neighborhood park. The electric step bumped into the curb and wouldn’g go down all the way. When I left it retracted normally. When I returned to depart it again bumped into the curb but when i closed the door this time it didn't’ retract. It didn’t sound right so I opened the window to look out and sure enough it was out. It took about 10 minutes to get it up so i could leave. Interestingly, there is a switch that leaves the steps down when you're camped. But, it does nothing if the engine is running. I really don’t like this and will probably modify it so that there is a way to power off the steps such that the door switch has no effect and I can be more sure the steps stay up while we are on the road. I finally met Lou at the gas station. Filling the motorhome tank was interesting it only took about 53 gallons but it required using three credit card. Each one was limited to only $75. Usually Visa is $100 and MC is $125 and that is the card services limitation not the dealers. Not sure what happened but it sure makes more work because very few service stations bother to have working receipt printers any more. They want you to have to go inside their store to get the receipt hoping you’ll buy something from the store. We finally got on the road toward home. We stopped in Paso Robles for lunch. Nice Chinese buffet for me. Lou was off to enjoy the gardens at the Paso Robles Inn. Next stop was Gilroy for a visit to a thrift store and Walmart’s. Nice to stretch our legs. We got home about 1930. At Walmart we picked up a roasted chicken which was dinner.

The RV drove nicely. There are lots of things much nicer than the old one and a couple of things not as good. Nice ride up to 70 mph then gets rougher. The cruise control works much more smoothly and doesn’t search gears going uphill and nicely downshifts as needed going downhill. Handles well. Lots of new sounds. Low says it leans on the right side. We’ll have to have the suspension looked at when we have the front end aligned. We parked in our driveway in the same position as the old one and the two slides go nicely over the flower beds and down hit the fence. It is only a couple of inches longer but about 18 inches or more taller.

Thursday: (10/19) Leftover spaghetti for breakfast. First order of business was to mail off the pink slip for the old RV to the dealer. I got copies of the new RV keys made. We only had one set, needed four. The hinges on our dinette sets bases snag on the cushions when the cushions are removed. I cut cardboard sheets as a protective layer and tacked it down with upholstery tacks. Also got a good quality duct tape to patch the cushions which Lou installed. We spent some more time cleaning the front of the interior. Grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. Lou made stew for dinner. After dinner Lou and I went out looking for blinds, storage containers, wire storage drawers and such. We want to make the storage efficient.

Friday: (10/20) I made corned beef hash with eggs for breakfast. Lou was busy completing the cleaning and disinfection of the RV. I was busy all day planning the solar installation and locating materials. I selected to battery and inverter location and cable routing.  We did take a trip to the Container Store to look at storage boxes and such. Bread custard for lunch. Split pea soup for dinner.

Saturday: (10/21) Leftover corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast. I crawled under the RV looking at possible cable routing and checked out the route to the roof through the refrigerator venting. I collected actual lengths for my cables. Then I started work on the panels. I got the cabless off the panel that had the water leak on the terminal compartment and built a test setup with the solar controller and a battery so I can confirm all the panels are working. They didn’t seem to be working on the last day before we said goodbye to the old RV. I didn’t get any of the panels actually test because Lou reassigned me to  installing the drawer under the sink and building a storage compartment from hidden space in the bathroom. Leftover sauerkraut and pork for lunch. Leftover stew for dinner.

Sunday: (10/22) We did a shopping run mostly looking at and for storage boxes of the needed sizes. I tried to test my solar system components. I hooked up the controller and a battery and tried to test my panels. On our last outing the solar system didn’t charge the batteries. I wanted to be sure what was good and bad before ordering the items needed to reinstall the system. It turns out the panels are all good, the controller is bad. I was then able to order what I needed from AMsolar. I then could get busy cleaning , organizing and purging the items that were and will be in the RV.I Yogurt for breakfast. LUU Noodle House for lunch. Corned beef and cabbage for dinner.