RV Travel Problems

The San Rafael Swell Utah – BLM camping

Its April 1, 2022 and we are fully loaded, probably overloaded if you know us headed to our first BLM experience at the Swell. We have given ourselves two days to reach the Swell. Stopping at a truck stop in Winnemucca, Nevada for our fist night and our second night at Rowley’s Red Barn in Santaquin, UT. This was a Harvest Host location and a lot of fun with great ice cream. We woke up early to snow capped mountain views and hurriedly headed to The Bonneville Salt Flats. First impressions, Flat, Vast and super white. Encompassing approx. 40 square miles and 7 miles long, you can drive on the flats as far as you can see. Very unique, you got to visit just once.

The drive from Nevada into Utah is definitely a high dessert experience, rolling hills, sage brush and sand dunes, surrounded by snow topped glacier carved mountains. Its mile after mile of sand and sage yet with this said there is a peaceful beauty. We headed down route 10 to Castle Dale and headed East into the San Rafael Swell. We stayed in a BLM campground named N. Swinging bridge. Amenities were a actual clean pit toilet that didn’t smell and cleaned daily , a picnic table and a fire ring. NO water is available in the whole area and we were twenty eight miles from a paved road. At $3.50 a night not bad, we were very prepared for this and only one other camper in the campground, very peaceful.

The next 2 days we spent exploring petroglyph’s and pictograph’s, hiking through slot canyons and even a dinosaur foot print. The views and the rock formations were incredible. the roads are ruff, wash boarded and dusty. We especially loved the Little Grand Canyon view point.

Next Stop Arches National park

Cheers for Jeff and Liz

PS: Not everything is perfect on the road. We had to buy a new battery for our Honda CRV that we tow, but luckily we were in Santaquin and not in the middle of Swell. Otherwise all systems are working great.

SHAKE DOWN AT THE METOLIOUS RIVER

We have returned to our absolute favorite camping spot at Camp Sherman, Oregon. Nestled along the glorious banks of the Metolious River. This visit is a shake down trip to work out any bugs, possible problems and to make sure we have plenty of supplies and very important kitchen gadgets we (me) think I cannot live without. If you read our last blog you know we sold the Artic fox trailer and Tundra Truck and purchased a 2018 Winnebago Navon.  Our next adventure is Utah, visiting the Big 5 and any other National Park or parks or Indian Dwellings that are along our path.

The weather here in Bend has been a bit chilly -28 degrees at night, good time to make sure heater, refrigerator, hot water, Micro and slide out all work. First night no HOT water, actually no HOT water until we returned home 3 days later.  Ok good thing we were shaking down!

Next day I decided to make bread to see if the solar panels could handle that much power usage. The solar was plenty to mix, rise and bake the bread, the problem was a misty rain came in that afternoon and our solar didn’t get a chance to build it self back  up. The next day was the same, misty cold drizzle, the good part the generator helped us and we were fine for heat and lights. Oh by the way the bread turned out amazing.

Friday the sun finally is out and we have solar and a Ranger at our door advising us they are going to dynamite some trees along the river just down from us so BEWARE. Well let me tell you he should have advised us to wear earplugs, it was the loudest bang we have ever heard or felt, boom it shook us a good one. Later we walked down the river to see the damage, it was extensive..

Except for the hot water all systems are a go, we will spend the next two days exploring the trails and hunting mushrooms, one of our favorite things to do.

Stay tuned for our Utah Big 5 Adventure

Cheers Jeff and Liz

PS: Update on Truma Hot Water Heater- a bi pass valve was turned the wrong direction, simple fix ,der.

ELKS Club Camping – Brookings Oregon

We rolled into Brookings, Oregon heading for Harris Beach State Park. Ok, no we did not have reservations and yes, it was a major holiday weekend and yes, they were full. So, we retreated to our second backup idea, which was The Elks. With 20 sites available and only 3 other RV’s in the parking lot, we were delighted.

Amenities were many: all paved parking, water and electric included and with a very nice RV dump station, all for a donation of $20.00 a night. With a beautiful view of the ocean, it was perfect.

NOTE: You do need to be a club member, which I would highly recommend.

After settling into our very private and quiet campsite we returned to Harris Beach view point to explore the well known tide pools and walk the beaches. It was spectacular!

We were very fortunate that the weather was 47 degrees, no wind and clear skies. Exploring the town of Brooking was fun and enjoyable. I also highly recommend Harris Beach Campground, (with reservations) which is located above the ocean with beautiful views.

Our next Adventure is Elk Country RV Resort in California

CHEERS FROM JUST AROUND THE BEND

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Chipmunk Invasion

It was 3 am in the morning, we are peacefully sleeping in our cozy trailer at one of our favorite campgrounds (Union Bay Campground]  at Phillips Reservoir, Oregon.  When we heard not the sound of music but little teeth gnawing and the precious sound of little feet scampering up and down the inside wall of our bedroom, not 2 inches from our heads. It sounded like they were truly going to chew right through the wooden headboard and the scampering never stopped until early morning. We pounded on the walls, yelled niceties at them and even thought about taking a blow torch to the front of our trailer- just joking !!!.  Ok,  the next morning it was Chipmunk war, how do you keep these precious little invaders from raising havoc on your trailer not to mention the damage they can do in a small amount of time and remain humane. After much thought and exploring Northwoods RV Owner Associations Forum, Jeff found the perfect humane solution to a very real problem.

With $40.00 of supplies from our local Ace Hardware Store and a half day of crawling around under the trailer we are now ready for the next attack of Chipmunks, squirrels, snakes and any varmint that wants to disrupt our peaceful sleep and destroy or nest in our trailer.

Supplies:

1/4 inch mesh galvanised hardware cloth

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Black foam sealent

Approx. 40 galvanised screws

3 LBS of Repels-All Granules

Mesh bags to hold granules

There is a two to three inch gap between the fiber glass Arctic Fox cap and the frame. Northwood Manufacturing say that they are aware of the problem but it would be to costly in the manufacturing process to fix the problem. Well at least they could of suggested their engineering suggestions which they haven’t so on to my engineering ideas.

I cut 3 inch wide strips of the hardware cloth , covered the opening and screwed the cloth onto the bottom of the fiberglass. The bigger openings I cut out 10″x 10″ squares and trimmed to fit openings. I sprayed the black foam sealant in the places I could not apply the hardware cloth. Northwood says the cap area needs ventilation so solid foam would not be the answer. Well time will tell on round one on the chipmunk war. We will put a mesh bag of Repels-All on the battery compartment to add some extra precautions. Varmints like to chew on your wiring which can be costly. We will put Repels-All mesh bags on each front tire of the truck to keep them out of the engine compartment. Another piece of advice we picked up from our snowbird adventures is to leave your hood open so the varmints dont feel safe.

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Hope this helps to all that may have experienced this problem.

 

Until our next adventure – Cheers from Just Around The Bend ♥♥♥♥liz-logo-1

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