My primary reason for coming to UT for a month was to see more of the countryside. I was able to complete a very nice hike this morning to Lower Calf Creek Falls, between Escalante and Boulder UT.
The owner of the place I’m working suggested that I download an app called All Trails. This made my life so much easier finding local trails to hike. It also mentioned that this was a very popular hike and could get crowded at times so I planned on a very early start. I arrived at the trailhead about 7:30 and found plenty of parking spots open. There’s also a small campground, mostly suitable for tenters, vans or small Class C motorhomes.
If you’re just hiking here, there’s a day use fee of $5, envelopes at the kiosk. I filled out the envelope, paid my money and hit the trail. I’m still getting acclimated to the elevation so there was some heavy breathing involved due to exertion. Take away the altitude and there might still deep breaths just from looking at the landscape.
I didn’t time this hike, and there’s no cell service so I couldn’t use my fitness app but it probably took about 90 minutes to get to the falls. There were a few stops just for photo opps, numerous ups and downs on the trail and lots of deep sand to walk through but it was worth it. The temp at the falls dropped considerably.
By the time I got back to the parking lot, it was full and cars were parked on the side of the road. Seems like I timed this one very well.
Those sandy parts of the trail? A lot of that sand wound up inside my socks. I found that out when taking off shoes and socks after getting back to the RV. If you find yourself in this part of Utah, I would highly recommend this hike.
My planned departure from the RGV was delayed by several weeks due to getting Covid vaccinations. My age group became eligible and I was lucky enough to find a clinic that had cancellations. Figuring in the 2 week wait for the second dose, I eagerly got my first shot. The second dose at the same clinic was delayed but I was able to find an opening at a local WalMart and saved a few extra days by doing that. I’m happy to report that I suffered ZERO side effects from either shot.
Since my departure date was chiseled in Jello, I hadn’t made any reservations although I did have a short list of places to stay depending on how far I felt like driving each day. My first day drive was supposed to be a short one, just up to Ft. Sam Houston RV park in San Antonio. I assumed that at this time of year there would certainly be open sites for me. Just in case, I called 2 days prior and discovered they were booked solid. I would have to bypass a commissary trip and a stop at an old favorite Chinese buffet there. I found another small RV park less than 1 hour NW of San Antonio and headed out.
After my last 2 trips in the RV, I was very apprehensive about mechanical breakdowns. Maybe doubly so since I had personally replaced 2 leaf springs. I was absolutely relentless about checking my sideview mirrors for signs of trouble. Anytime another vehicle (especially 18 wheelers) passed me, I made sure to look at them to see if they were signaling something. As the trip progressed, I worried a little less but it was always lingering just below the surface.
Made it to my first stop in Comfort TX with plenty of daylight left and no problems. The park had a nice, pull through site for me and Dakota and I were able to relax for a few hours before settling in for the night. Naturally, I checked driving distances and options for the next day.
My primary plan involved getting to Littlefield TX for a (free) night at Waylon Jennings Free RV Park. This is a small, no-frills park but they had 30amp and water, and a nearby Sonic restaurant. According to the website, you can stay for 4 24 hour periods without paying anything, $20/night after that. They have donation/payment boxes in the park. Since it was such a good deal, I left a donation anyway. Again, I deliberately made it a short driving day so I had time to relax and eat before going to bed.
I planned to drive to the western side of New Mexico the next day. Depending on how I felt, I had 2 options on my list. But it’s nice to be flexible too. I spotted a billboard for a casino RV park that was in the general area so I called them just to be sure they were open. (One other casino park had closed completely due to Covid.) I was in luck. They were open and had plenty of open spots. All pull through and all full hook up. The only downside was their restaurant. It was still open for dine-in but they discontinued the buffet because of the pandemic. I’m not a gambler but I did walk from the RV park back to the travel center for some snacks. If you don’t like snakes, you might not want to use the shortcut.
The next morning I was rolling westward again, crossing into AZ. I was still relaxed driving, with no signs of anything getting ready to fall off. But a couple of things combined to make my heart drop a little. The first was the radio. There was a commercial on the radio that featured a car horn. Those should be banned, just like the songs that have police sirens in them. With all the other road noises I had to contend with I couldn’t be sure if it was a real horn or not. So I checked the sideview mirror and saw a Class B conversion van very slowly overtaking me on the left. Like they were studying something on my RV so they would know exactly what to signal as they pulled next to me. They finally came even with my window and weren’t even paying attention to me. The driver was intent on watching the road ahead and the passenger had her nose buried in her phone. Just one of those coincidences.
I made it to Flagstaff and left the interstate for secondary roads for the remainder of the trip. I rolled the dice on my next stop and did not make a reservation, figuring I’d be there early enough to snag an open spot. I arrived at Cameron Trading Post very early in the afternoon and had no problem getting a spot. If you’re traveling through the area and want to stay here, I would recommend reservations. It looked like quite a few people were using this park as a home base to visit local attractions, including the south rim of the Grand Canyon. It was a very pleasant experience dealing with the staff. It reminded me of how most businesses were reacting to the pandemic a year ago. They sanitized a pen before handing it to me to sign the credit card receipt. The park itself is rather small and does not have 50 amp. Some of the RVs were hanging out, either at the front or back of their sites and there were some interesting ruts left after rains. I pulled into a site that I thought would be perfect to get out of in the morning, until someone pulled in next to me and pulled pretty far forward. The next morning I opted to back out of my spot instead of trying that tight turn. During the afternoon, I ordered curbside pickup from their restaurant ( a very tasty chef’s salad), then wandered around a bit. They have a decorated underpass for pedestrians to use.
And on the other side of the highway is a suspension bridge that I couldn’t quite figure out until I walked right up to it. Apparently, its sole reason for being is to support a gas pipeline going over the wash.
You can see the pipeline just to the left of the bridge.
This is the part of the trip that got more interesting. Although only a secondary road, route 89 had quite a bit of traffic. There were a lot of RVs even though it’s still early in the season. I had filled up the tank in Cameron but knew I wouldn’t make it to my final destination on that tank alone. I only saw 1 truck stop on this route using my Trucker Path app. I got lucky and spotted a Maverik fuel station in Page AZ that had an RV island. The rest of the trip was much slower than the previous 4 days. Like I said, there were lots of RVs on the road and lots of tourist destinations. While driving on UT-12 there was a warning sign about rock tunnels ahead with a clearance of 13’6″. Well, that got me worrying again. My RV specs say it’s 13’2″ tall but I’ve never measured it myself. And 4 inches just doesn’t seem like a huge safety buffer at 50mph. As I approached the first tunnel, I aimed for the center of the road where the clearance most likely exceeded what was listed on the sign. I also slowed down, rolled down my windows and held my breath, all in the hopes of hearing any damage to the first rooftop AC unit in time to stop and save the second AC unit. Made it through both tunnels without a scratch and pulled into Escalante about an hour later. I’ll be here for a month, putting in minimal hours for my site and hiking the local countryside as much as possible.
As my time in the RGV comes to a close (for this season), I need to report on the Chinese buffets. Naturally, since the area is largely Hispanic, I didn’t expect many buffets but did find 2 within a reasonable driving distance. The first is the Grand China Buffet. I checked their Google reviews before making the drive. Since we were still in the middle of a pandemic, I also paid attention to the mitigation efforts listed on the website. I was pleasantly surprised to find the restaurant had implemented social distancing for seating, mandatory face masks, and gloves for use at the steam tables. (Full disclosure: they add $0.20 per person to the bill for those gloves.)
On to the food. They had a very good variety on the steam and cold tables, along with a small sushi bar and small Mongolian BBQ. Apparently, they discontinued the ice cream for Covid precautions. I was disappointed that they did not have one of my favorites – frog legs. They also don’t ever serve crab legs. But, the middle of the day fare is pretty decent. Besides the normal items, they also served squid and coconut shrimp. I returned here on almost a weekly basis. Definitely recommend if you’re in the area.
An honorable mention goes to Lin’s Buffet in Weslaco. I only visited here once. It was decent restaurant but with a slightly smaller selection than Grand China Buffet.
Some of you may have wondered how RVers do their laundry. It’s a valid question. For the recreational RVer with several kids getting dirty every day, they might be miles from the nearest laundromat. And what about the fulltime RVer?
As it turns out, either could use the laundry facilities at the campground or RV park where they’re staying. Most places have washers and dryers available at fair prices. Of course, they come with pros and cons, some justified and some not. Let’s start with the pro arguments. They’re very convenient. Many times, you don’t even have to drive to it. Just load up a laundry bag, grab your quarters and walk to it. Again, many also have soap/bleach/dryer sheet dispensers available. It gets you out of the RV for awhile and you generally have a table available to fold clothes, if you’re into that. Can you remember the last time you cleaned your personal washer and dryer? Probably not. The machines at campgrounds and RV parks are typically cleaned on a daily or weekly basis.
What about the cons? Well, especially at a campground that caters to kids, many people want to do laundry at the same time. You might have to come back to start your load. Or you might have to deal with one of the rude people who don’t stay with their laundry. They typically think their time is more valuable than everybody else so their laundry will sit in the machine for an hour or more after it’s finished. Feel free to remove those loads and just place them on a nearby table.
If you’re close to a town, even a small one, you can generally find a commercial laundromat. These are great if you have a lot of stuff to wash. They have multiple machines and sometimes even machines capable of handling multiple loads (for an increased price). This can be a real time-saver, especially for large families. And while you’re in town, you can always restock groceries when the laundry is finished.
And now we come to the part of the discussion that almost always generates lively debate – putting a washer and dryer inside your RV. Most of the larger RVs you see now are plumbed for laundry and you have a few options. Both of my 5th wheels were plumbed for washer and dryer but I never seriously entertained the thought using those areas for the intended purpose. Others absolutely must have their own washer/dryer with them when traveling. Some love the convenience. You can do laundry on your terms, without worrying about others or facility hours. Some also claim that they would never use a commercial facility because somebody else’s germs/dirt might still be in the machine. Whatever!
Regardless of the reason, once you’ve decided to have onboard laundry, you still have choices to make. I’ve seen some units that could accept a full sized washer and dryer, just like you see in a house or apartment. That would be great if you have lots of laundry at once (like with kids) but you would need to be camping with full hookups for that. A washing machine will fill up a gray tank rather quickly.
I’ve also seen units where the space was designed for a stackable washer/dryer. If you haven’t done any small apartment living, you may never have seen one of these units but they do a fine job, although the loads would be slightly smaller than a conventional washer/dryer.
And last (and certainly least in my opinion) are the all-in-one units. That’s right. Just one machine to wash and dry. I’ve never looked at these seriously since most comments I see online talk about the very small loads they can handle and the very long time it takes to complete just one load. That being said, I’ve finally figured out a situation where a unit like this would make sense to me. Drumroll please! A nudist park!! You still have clothes, towels and bedding to wash but there’s really no rush to do any of it and the loads would be very small to begin with. I just recently realized this since I’m staying at a nudist RV park and noticed how long it takes me to generate enough dirty clothes for a visit to the laundromat.
I thought my trip from SD to KY was a helluva trip. This trip said ‘hold my beer’. I was able to leave Campbellsville a day earlier than planned and got to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville AL without any problems at all. It was a good idea that I looked closely at Google maps routing before I left KY. It would have had me on a very narrow, winding back road, just like it did on the way in. I avoided that stretch and the associated white knuckles that accompanied it. I had to call Redstone from a rest area to make sure they could take me a day early and all was good. I didn’t even have to stop for diesel. One tank lasted the entire way. Maybe there’s something to short driving days after all.
So, the plan was to stay at Redstone Arsenal until the day after Christmas. Usually I prefer driving on major holidays because of lighter traffic. This time, the memory of my last trip was still very fresh. I really didn’t want to break down on Christmas day, or New Year’s for that matter and take forever to get help. I spent a few days in Huntsville relaxing and even managed to visit a Chinese buffet that I’d been to before. Pulled out on the morning of the 26th and made it about 15 miles down I-565. A car pulled up next to me and started motioning towards the back of the RV and also pointing to his nose. I immediately started checking mirrors and slowing down. I was able to stop in a safe place at the next exit to figure out what was wrong. That spring hanger weld that cracked in Arkansas? Yep, it cracked again in Alabama. Maybe I just need to stay out of states that start with A. I started making phone calls looking for a mobile welder. After several fruitless hours, I broke down and called my roadside assistance. They couldn’t find a mobile welder but offered to find a tow truck that would put the 5th wheel on a flatbed. Well, they failed at that also. I was getting ready to spend the night on the interstate when a local deputy checked on me. After I explained the situation, he called a local towing company. They were able to respond about an hour later with a mobile welder. He was very concerned about the propane line next to the hangar so he made a very temporary repair and suggested a local welder for a more permanent fix.
I was able to spend that night in an RV park with electric and water so that was great. The next day, Sunday, I called the welder to get on his radar before he opened on Monday. He actually came to the park on Sunday to look at the RV. I wasn’t able to find another buffet in that town but I did top off the tank with some very cheap diesel. Monday morning I was at his shop at 0700. Besides the spring hanger, he found worn bushings and recommended replacing leaf springs at the first opportunity. I pulled out of his shop with plans to reach Duson LA that night.
As it turned out, I got tired faster than anticipated and only made it as far as Hammond LA. I’d called ahead and they gave me directions to their ‘overnight’ row and said to pick any open spot. I got there after dark and at first it didn’t look like any of the spots had electric. I had to get out of the truck to find very small outlets at the back of the sites. Found one with 50 amp and had to go around the loop again to get to it. Well, I suppose I could’ve backed up about 100 yards but I really didn’t feel like doing that in the dark after another long day. The next morning, I woke up to peacocks wandering around my site. After paying in the office I hit the road again – and made it about 2 hours down the road.
I pulled off to fill up again at a truck stop. While I was looking down the line of the RV, I noticed one of the tires looked low. OK, no biggie. I’m in a truck stop with a big empty parking lot. Plenty of room to safely put the spare on. Then I looked at the other side and noticed the tires rubbing against each other again. I finished filling up and pulled slowly into the parking area. The other side (same side with the broken spring hanger) had a broken leaf spring this time. Oh well, it was still fairly early in the day and there was a trailer repair shop less than 2 miles away. I could limp there without a problem. Unfortunately, they were all booked up and couldn’t help me other than providing a phone number for a mobile tech. The mobile tech was very busy. He managed to get to me just after 4 PM to get measurements on the leaf springs so he could get parts from the trailer shop before they closed. He had another job to finish before he got back to me so I filled the time by walking to the DQ across the street for a blizzard and changing the flat tire. That was the first time I saw a rock embedded deep enough to lose air. The mobile tech returned and replaced both leaf springs on that side and I was able to find another RV park to spend the night just 5 miles down the road in an easy pull thru spot. Early the next morning, I was first in line at a local tire shop getting a new tire.
Back on the road again for Texas. By this time I was hyper sensitive to any problems with the rig. I cringed a little every time a truck passed me, just waiting for them to signal another problem. Sure enough, after leaving the interstate for a state highway, a trucker signaled me to look at the back of the RV. One of the nice things about Texas is that they have ample shoulders on their highways so I immediately pulled over. I walked towards the back of the RV like a pedatory animal, eyes looking for anything out of the ordinary and nose sniffing for burning rubber. None of the tires were rubbing or low on air. I crawled under and didn’t see anything broken. I searched for another few minutes and couldn’t find anything wrong so I hopped back in the truck and continued driving. A few miles down the road, I remembered that I’d just changed a tire recently but didn’t use the torque wrench on the lug nuts or check tightness after 50 miles. I pulled off at the next truck stop and got the 1/2 inch ratchet out. Sure enough, some of the lug nuts weren’t as tight as they should’ve been. Maybe the trucker spotted a slight shimmy on that wheel. On to my next scheduled stop, a place to lay up until after New Year’s day. It was a nice enough park, lots of live oaks. They escorted me to my site, avoiding the low hanging branches on the way. I had hoped to get the leaf springs on the other side replaced at a local shop while I was here but they were either closed or couldn’t get the parts for several days. My biggest problem at this park was a split sewer hose which was easily repaired and fire ants that were displaced by heavy rains.
I left that park very slowly and carefully to make sure I didn’t hit any limbs and made it to my final destination without any further problems. My assigned site for the next few months was a 90 degree back in spot, which shouldn’t have been a problem except the permanent residents around that site had ‘stuff’ that came right to the edge of the road. Due to that ‘stuff’ I couldn’t make it from the good side. Had to go around the block to come at it from the other direction. Oops. Couldn’t make the last turn because of previously mentioned ‘stuff’ too close to the road. Had to back out of that turn to the next intersection, go around the original direction, but back down the street from there. I was very fortunate to have a 5th wheel neighbor assisting with spotting and suggestions. Without much further ado, I got into the spot, auto-leveled and started relaxing. The weather was great for setup.
I just finished my recent assignment for Amazon a couple of days ago and wanted to write about it before I start forgetting stuff – a common old-age malady.
Why then vs now? Well, this is where I worked my first peak season for Amazon back in 2012. It was a lot more personalized then. The head of Camperforce actually came to the rec center in the RV park to give us our initial briefing. He provided lots of information and answered lots of questions. We knew who to approach with additional questions. Now? Not so much.
We all received emails to report to the fulfillment center (FC) on a certain date and time. Virtually all of the required paperwork had already been completed online. Yet, they managed to screw that up this year. I was one of several people who did NOT get their initial paycheck direct deposited. I provided all that information a few weeks before my start date. For some reason I checked the ADP website a few days before that first payday and discovered they did not have my direct deposit info. I quickly input it. I noted the test deposit the day before payday, too late to do any good. There’s an active CamperForce group on FB and I had warned others to check their info. Someone else advised that paper checks would be held by HR at the facility for pickup. Great! I went to HR the day after payday and asked for my check. The young lady went through the entire stack twice before telling me it wasn’t there. If they had mailed it to my FL address I really didn’t want to wait 2 weeks to be able to cash it. I called a central number for Amazon, they opened a ticket to have a specialist call me. They called and agreed to cancel the paper check and reissue as a direct deposit. What really ticked me off about all this? After all this, someone more senior in local HR contacted me via FB and told me my check had been there the whole time, even provided a pic of the envelope. Suffice it to say that nobody in CamperForce was very impressed by SDF1 HR.
Anyway, back to the work aspect. Training was minimal and abbreviated, mostly because of the coronavirus. They were trying to minimize the possibility of getting infected throughout the building. They still had Learning Ambassadors who would shadow you while working to help and answer questions. I didn’t need any hand holding so my ambassador was able to spend more time with other newbies.
Since I’ve worked previous peak seasons, including here, I was pretty much working at full speed the first week. I was mildly surprised that they were offering overtime that soon but gladly took advantage of it. They allow CamperForce to work a max of 60 hrs a week and I did that a few times, Probably would’ve done it more but I did need some time to shop, do laundry, take care of the RV, etc. Physically, it hasn’t been as bad this time around. The first time I had all sorts of blisters and chafing rashes. Maybe I was just trying to work too fast then. This time I was only bothered by rare, minor foot problems. I made an effort NOT to work as fast. They have performance metrics, which workers are able to check for themselves. If you fall into the bottom 3% of the entire building, somebody is going to come talk to you. I never heard of anyone being talked to and I never got anywhere close to bottom 3%.
The coronavirus precautions were very prevalent but not always enforced as well as they should have been (in my opinion). We had a small percentage of Covidiots who would wear their masks properly and behave when they were in areas where they might get caught by a supervisor, but were much more lax in the far reaches of the building. I stayed as far away from them as possible and apparently did well. 3 days before my last shift I took a free Covid test in the building and it came back negative.
It got very lonely this season, again, mainly due to the coronavirus precautions. It’s tough to have casual conversations while wearing a mask and maintaining 6 foot separation so I mostly just worked, ate and slept. The money was definitely good although I’m still waiting for the end of season bonus money.
I will probably not return here next year. My current travel plans will have me in the Pacific NorthWest over the summer and that’s just too far to drive back to work. I might work for CamperForce again in Portland if they offer that again. Or I might just sign up as regular employee at the facility in Salem OR. We’ll see as the time gets closer.
I was recently asked if I ever had time to sightsee since I also work. The answer is a qualified YES.
I have to mention here that since I’m not independently wealthy, fulltiming is NOT a constant vacation. There are periods of work and periods of relaxation. Even during the periods of relaxation, life just happens, especially maintenance on an RV.
I also generally abhor tourist traps. I consider them overpriced, overcrowded and overhyped. There are far too many things to see in this country without standing in long lines or paying exorbitant prices. I offer the following examples.
While hiking in the Black Hills, I missed a trail marker. I didn’t finish the planned hike that day but my detour did allow me to see a herd of bighorn sheep and a cloud-wreathed mountain peak.
While riding an exercise bike next to the Banana River in Florida, a dolphin swam right up to the sea wall. I quickly dismounted and slapped the wall. That dolphin made another pass and turned on his side to get a better look at me.
I’ve seen beautiful sunrises over snow covered fields from the cab of my sugar beet piler.
When I’m jogging or walking, it’s much easier to get close to deer.
Also, while walking I’ve seen bald eagles and swallowtail kites. Some of these have even been in developed areas.
I guess the point of this post is to say that worthwhile sights are all around us. They don’t require planning or tickets, just a willingness to get outside and keep your eyes open.
For starters, this is my third peak season working for Amazon and the first that I didn’t work the sugar beet harvest just prior. Amazon changed their start dates so the sugar beet harvest workers would be excluded. That was OK by me. I got a start date that was earlier than a harvest start date, I don’t have to worry about freezing weather (at least not yet) and don’t have to be responsible for anyone other than myself.
The reason I came to Campbellsville is because this was the first place I worked for Amazon, way back in 2012. We (the RVers) were treated very well. Apparently, the shine has come off that relationship. We’re pretty much like any other temp, seasonal workers now.
Training and mentoring definitely left a lot to be desired. Part of that was certainly coronavirus related. Trying to maintain social distancing and wearing masks would make that difficult for any company. I can’t remember if we picked at all during our first day of training, but the second day they pretty much turned us loose. There were a number of changes to the facility but parts of it still looked familiar to me. A mentor checked with me a few times and just said ‘you’re doing great’.
One of the big differences this year is we’re allowed to keep our cell phones on the floor. I loaded a pedometer app on mine and have been hitting 22k steps per day on a regular basis.
They also made an announcement that production ranking would be reinstituted. I guess they backed off while getting a handle on how to work during a pandemic. I asked about that and was told that if you’re in the bottom 3% of everyone in the building (not just your department), you’ll get talked to. Well, I’ve seen some real slugs in the building and I’ve also seen older folks with some mobility problems. I shouldn’t have any problems being in the upper 97% but I’ll curb my competitive nature so I’m NOT trying for the upper 3%. Actually, I’ll be satisfied if I’m one production unit above the lower 3%. The pay is still the same.
Last year I had problems with my near vision. I would wear my reading glasses to check a barcode or read the scanner, then push them up on my head to walk to the next bin. That got old real quick. This year, I ordered a pair of bifocal readers. Clear on top, reading strength on the bottom. They’ve done a world of good. Just keep the glasses in place all the time. The only problem is the mask, which causes some intermittent fogging.
We left the farm on Labor Day morning. It was 15 miles before we got to the first paved road. I was pleasantly surprised at the good conditions of the back roads and lack of Covid checkpoints going past the Rosebud reservation. Got to Grand Island NE in plenty of time to find an empty site in the country park. We spent a very relaxing 2 days there and even found a Chinese buffet in town that was open.
On to our next stop in Peculiar MO. That was a nice park, also a 2 day stay. On the drive there, I noticed some errors on my brake controller for an open short, resulting in no trailer brakes. I looked at a few different things and found a broken wire at the rear driver side brake. Checked with a local auto parts store and an RV dealer and neither carried the connector used by the factory, so I just used a wire nut to reconnect the 3 wires. Jean sat in the driver’s seat and tested the brakes and everything looked good. Right up until we drove out. The first time I applied the brakes it showed the short again. At various points of that day’s drive, I got intermittent results from the brakes and definitely wanted to get a technician to look at it.
Fortunately, our next stop, in Alma AR, was a campground attached to an RV service center (Crabtree Service Center). The campground part was less than impressive but the service center was able to look at the rig bright and early the next morning. During the course of troubleshooting, the tech tried to activate the breakaway switch. It was extremely difficult to pull out but when it finally came out the 2 wires coming out of it started smoking. Then the wires in the junction box started smoking. So, the next order of business was to replace the breakaway switch and do some rewiring in the junction box. After taking care of that, the tech moved under the RV to check the wiring at the axles. He noted my repair, then happened to catch a glint of more bare copper. After fixing that part of the wiring, we were on our way again, heading for Crater of Diamonds State Park.
For about 25 miles. 2 truckers beeped at us and signaled to pull over. I really wasn’t sure about the first one but after the second I pulled onto the shoulder just before an exit. Walked around the RV and smelled burning rubber on the curb side. Upon closer inspection, it looked like the rear axle had broken a weld and moved just enough for those 2 tires to make contact. They had both lost tread (which I imagine the truckers saw). A few more miles at highway speed and they might have both blown out at the same time. While I was crawling around under the RV, Jean was checking her phone and found a Love’s truck stop at the very exit we stopped at. I slowly limped off the interstate and around the back of the Love’s. It was NOT one of the larger ones with their own mechanics but there was a local truck repair shop (https://exit-37-truck-services.business.site/)just behind them. We pulled next to the building and the owner said he could probably get somebody on it within the hour. He was true to his word and had a welder underneath the RV (after I turned off the propane and purged the line). 2 new tires later and we were back on the road. We didn’t make it as far as planned and stopped at a former KOA in Morrilton AR. If you have any other choices, do NOT stop there.
The next morning we drove to an RV park just south of Little Rock. I wanted to stay close to the city because I needed a new toilet seal set and they had a Camping World. We drove in, armed with a Thetford part number, but Camping World couldn’t find it in their computer system. I knew something was wrong because I’d seen it online. I called another RV service center from their parking lot and provided the make and model of the toilet to see if they had the seals. The response was that they probably had it but I should bring in the old one for them to find it. Thanks, but no thanks. I went back into Camping World with their item number on my phone. They could find that. Back to the campground for a quick toilet repair. Turned out it wasn’t the exact part I needed but was close enough for government work.
The following morning, we’re getting ready to leave, bringing in slides and heard some terrible noises while bringing in the large living room slide. Lucky for us it came all the way in. On the drive to Crater of Diamonds, I decided that we would NOT try to use that slide until we figured out what the problem was. We got to the state park (very nice campground) and quickly discovered the problem with the slide. A corner bracket for the cables had lost the heads for most of the bolts holding it to the wall. Needless to say, we didn’t use that slide at the park. We did, however, try our hands at diamond mining. To be truthful, the park should probably not allow mining by tourists during the pandemic. They would not rent any equipment, or even show the videos on how to do it properly. There were a number of people who do this as a part time job or hobby. They showed up equipped with their own shovels, buckets and screens. Buying all that for ourselves for one day would’ve been a terrible waste of money. We did buy 1 screen downtown and used 1 of our own buckets and a claw hammer. The odds of finding a decent diamond are right up there with winning the lottery. The trails were enjoyable and they even had WiFi in the campground.
On to our next leg, a campground in Yuma TN (https://www.pcrvpark.com/) that also provided repair services. We arrived about 2 in the afternoon. The owner (who does the repairs) was available right away and the bracket was reattached before 5 PM. Oh! While he was inspecting the damage, he found a wasp nest in the upper corner of the slide, which would explain the number of wasps I’ve seen inside over the last few weeks. This place was also very nice. We wanted to stay another night but they were booked solid, only able to offer us an overflow site next to the maintenance shed.
Our final leg was a relatively short drive to Campbellsville KY for my Amazon Camperforce gig. This leg featured absolutely zero mechanical problems but Google took us on some country backroads that were barely able to accommodate us, especially when passing a semi in the opposite direction. Our site was ready when we arrived and big enough to put the deck out. Now it’s just a matter of making some money to pay for the repairs and sock some away for the coming months.
In my last post I mentioned that I’d changed jobs within the state. What I’ve been primarily doing here at the farm is running farm stands and making deliveries (and eating a lot of free eggs). The deliveries aren’t too bad, especially since I don’t have access to a gym anymore. Lots of loading and unloading by hand so that’s taken the place of weightlifting.
The farm stands can get interesting. They’re all indoors, in some type of small building, without AC and sometimes without running water or toilet facilities. So, I make sure (especially on the 100 degree days) to take plenty of my own water and a wet dish towel. That dish towel gets stored in the cooler and I put it on my neck several times during the hottest parts of the day. As with any other assignment, I’ve learned a few things on this one. For instance, round watermelons are seedless and oblong melons have seeds.
And now I’ll be heading east in less than 1 week. This time, the drive across will be done in a more leisurely manner. My GF Jean isn’t really up to very long driving days so we’ll plan on stopping earlier each day, in an actual RV park instead of a rest area or truck stop. One of our planned stops will be Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas. Who knows? We might just get a lucky find and bypass Amazon altogether. I’ll mostly be happy with an incident-free drive.
