Back to the Beginning…

Yesterday I drove the motorhome about 175 miles from Bakersfield to Riverside, California. I titled the Blog entry Back To The Beginning because Riverside is where our motorhome was manufactured in February, 2006. So after 36,383 miles the motorhome has revisited the city of its creation,

Riverside is not a normal port of call for me. It’s far too big city, noisy and lots of traffic for me. I’m not here to visit the Fleetwood factory which has since closed from when our motorhome was made. My normal route through this area on the way to Palm Desert is to skirt Riverside to the northeast by about 10 miles. I’m in Riverside because the dinette cushions in our motorhome were also manufactured here at Neff’s Upholstery. I’m scheduled to visit there this morning to get the foam replaced in the cushions on my side of the dinette. Mary says the cushions on her side are fine and do not need to be replaced. RV manufacturers to do use top grade foam and so after almost six years it’s time to replace mine.

The easiest route from Bakersfield to this area is over the Tehachapi Mountains. In the early morning fog I took this somewhat scenic view out of the passenger’s side windshield… (You can click on the photos to see an enlarged view.)

As you approach the summit one can see hundreds of wind generators atop of the ridges…

That’s because this area is famous for some rather substantial winds. Last March 8th Mary and I encountered the strongest winds I have ever encountered in all of my RVing years. Just north of the town of Mojave, within a 1/2 mile distance of each other, we saw three 18-wheelers on their sides! Here’s the link to Mary’s Blog of that event…

http://otrwjam.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/dangerous-wind-storm-mojave-to-tehachapi/

Here’s the link to the Blog that I wrote on that day…

http://otrwjam.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/a-most-unusual-rving-day/

Yesterday morning shortly after cresting the summit I turned on to California Highway 14 South and immediately felt the steady 30-40 mile an hour broadside winds hitting the passenger side of the motorhome. I hadn’t felt them previously because they were hitting me from behind in the form of tail winds.

Remembering what happened to our awning last time, when I reached Mojave a few miles later, I stopped to tie down my awning struts so that I would not have a repeat experience of March 8th. Here’s a photo of the tie-down that I applied to both awning struts…

Another thing that happens after cresting the summit is you notice an increase in the temperature. It was time to get in to my shorts and tee-shirt again!

Along the way to Riverside I experienced more wind-buffeting…so much so that I had to keep my speeds down to 45 miles per hour. I finally arrived at Riverside about 1:00 PM where I am parked at the Eagles Club #997…

Yesterday’s afternoon temperature was 75 degrees! It’s nice to feel warm again!

Fortunately it’s only about three blocks to Neff’s Upholstery which I’ll go to this morning. Unfortunately, the Eagles Club is located very near Interstate Highway 215 which is very noisy with heavy vehicle traffic. That combined with the wind buffeting during the night made for difficult sleep.

After finishing my business at Neff’s Upholstery I had planned to drive the about 75 miles to Palm Desert and into Thousand Trails. Unfortunately…today’s weather forecast is predicting steady 40-50 mile per hour winds with gusts to 70 and perhaps 80 miles per hour! I’ll just have to monitor the situation before I decide what to do. I may just have to spend another night in Riverside until the winds are predicted to dissipate on Friday. It’s all a part of the great RVing lifestyle!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

A Different Kind Of Camera…

A few Blog entries back I identified that I had just bought a new Sony Cyber-Shot DSC 4X5V Digital Camera. This story is about a different kind of Sony Camera…part of a Rear View Camera System on our motorhome

You may also remember prior to that… I identified that while on my way to my current camping site at Thousand Trails Mount Vernon RV Resort in Bow, Washington…that the rear view camera on the motorhome quit working.

When you  drive a big square box on wheels you have restricted ability to see what’s going on behind you as you go down the road. What you can see in your rear view mirrors is all you can see. Our towed Ford Bronco II cannot be seen when driving in a straight line. The answer to that problem is a rear view camera system. It provides me with a great deal of comfort that I can see that all is okay with the Bronco while driving down the highway.

Some motorhomes come factory equipped with this type of camera system…ours did not. So when we bought the motorhome in 2009 I decided I really preferred to see what’s going on behind me…and decided to install an after-market rear view camera system. In the below photo…the little black thing above the center red running light above the word Fleetwood…that’s the camera that sends a live video signal to a 7 inch monitor in the drivers area. That’s the unit that quit working.

Here’s a closer view. The camera allows me to see the towed Ford Bronco II as well as vehicles approaching from the rear. It also is a great visual aid when backing into a camping spot. It helps me avoid backing into the picnic table, trees, etc…a most helpful use!

After contacting the vendor…4UCam.com about my problem…they evaluated that the camera was the most likely culprit. So that meant I had to get up there and check all the electrical connections to ensure they were all secure…

Once satisfied that all the electrical connections were fine…the next step was to check that the infrared LED was lit. Nope…it wasn’t. That confirmed the camera was not working. Even though the camera was out of warranty…the 4UCam.com made me a fair deal for a replacement camera. It showed up a few day later. Once it did I made a very interesting discovery. In the below photo you can see the old camera on the left and the new one on the right. If you look carefully…you can see what I discovered. The new one has a rubber sealant applied over the four screws and where the back plate attaches to the main body. The old unit somehow made it out of the factory without any rubber sealant.

How was I supposed to know that? I remember looking at the unit when I received it in 2009…remembering the vendor’s claim that it was weather-resistant. I guessed they must have installed a rubber gasket inside the unit. Wrong! 2-3 months back I grew suspicious when the camera developed condensation on the inside of the protective glass and I could not see anything in the monitor despite knowing that the camera was operational. So…up on the roof I went. I carefully opened the unit and cleaned/dried the condensation. All was well once again…or so I thought…until the camera quit during a hard rain on my way here…which brings me back to the beginning of this story.

4UCam has been just really terrific about this situation. When I emailed them about the lack of sealant problem they were most apologetic indicating that they did not manufacture the unit…but they would refund the money I paid them for the replacement unit while they took up the matter with their supplier.

If you are in the market for a vehicle camera system…you cannot go wrong with looking at http://www.4Ucam.com …they have great customer service and are willing to stand behind their products. Most unusual in today’s money-greedy business world. As part of their apologies to me…they are willing to offer a $10 credit refund…simply by mentioning my name…Jim Jaillet…when you purchase a new full camera system.

Other than this minor problem…which was not the fault of 4UCam.com…I’ve been most happy with this camera system and their customer service. They are definitely a Good-Guy Company!

In yesterday’s Blog entry I discussed that it helps to be technically minded when being an RVer. This story is a perfect illustration. The two hours I spent evaluating and replacing the unit would have cost us $250…plus the mark-up on the replacement unit price.

Instead of giving that money to a technician to do the job…we get to put that money in the gas tank…a much more agreeable use for that money!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://lulu.com/panamaorbust

Fleetwood Motorhome Factory Tour, Decatur, Indiana

Jim says:

Our motorhome is a Fleetwood Terra. Yesterday Mary and I took the two-hour Fleetwood Motorhome Factory Tour here in Decatur, Indiana. There are five Fleetwood factories in Decatur. The factory we toured, shown below, is on 95 acres, 1.2 million square feet with a paint shop that’s almost 1,000 feet long. On average, this factory produces 18 units per day.

This Fleetwood Plant manufactures Class A Motorhomes. It’s one of five Fleetwood plants in Decatur, Indiana…the company’s headquarters location.

Unfortunately, no photography is allowed inside the factory, so we had to wait for the final inspection area or outside to take photos. Here are four photos…

To see the other 23 photos I took, click this link…
http://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver/Fleetwood082710#

Here’s the Fleetwood official website link…
http://fleetwoodrv.com/

It was really interesting to see how motorhomes are put together. The chassis is manufactured by Workhorse, Ford, Freightliner or Spartan. The chassis’ arrive a couple of days before they are needed. Then Fleetwood constructs the coach which rests upon the chassis. The processes for the various components which make up the coach is fascinating. A through quality control inspection completes the fabrication process.

We’ll hangout in Decatur over the weekend…depart on Monday 50 miles down the road to Union City for a Tuesday Workhorse Chassis Factory Tour. Reason…Decatur is about 10,000 population and Union City is about 3,500…not much going on there.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
My three books may be purchased at http://www.lulu.com
Just enter Jim Jaillet in the search box.

Decatur, Indiana

Jim says:

Yesterday Mary and I drove the motorhome about 50 miles from Fort Wayne to Decatur, Indiana. Because it’s so much larger than Decatur, before departing Fort Wayne we attended to some vehicle preventative maintenance items. Specifically we:

On the Bronco had a slow leak on the front left tire repaired then had the tires rotated. Then a lube and oil change.

On the motorhome a lube and oil change…

The motorhome barely fits into a 12 foot high bay.

Our motorhome is a Fleetwood Terra. Today we will tour the Fleetwood Motorhome Factory here in Decatur, Indiana. They provided free overnight RV parking with electricity, water and dump station.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
My three books may be purchased at http://www.lulu.com
Just enter Jim Jaillet in the search box.

14 Years Ago Today!

December 22, 1995 I departed Olympia, WA to begin my life as a full-time RVer. At that time I had a 1976 Chevy Suburban and a 1988, 18′ Fleetwood Lynx 18′ Travel Trailer.

This photo of my Chevy Suburban and my 18′ travel trailer was taken in Baja, Mexico during the winter of 1997-98. The poor picture quality resulted from film being developed in Mexico.

I happy to report that after…
5115 days can be converted to one of these units:

* 441,936,000 seconds
* 7,365,600 minutes
* 122,760 hours
* 730 weeks (rounded down)

I’m still going strong as I begin my 15th year full-time RVing.

Yesterday I visited my dentist in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico. Two fillings and cleaning…$80.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2009
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com