Yes, We Made it to Sacramento Area

 

Indy with her new Hair Cut

We arrived safely Thursday Evening at my Sister Sandy and husband Arny's backyard...a place we have found ourselves each year for a number of month since 2012.  All three of our dogs LOVE their backyard, and LOVE both of them too.  When we arrived, Indy squealed and squealed.  This is our first RV in which we did not need to have ramps since our first Class A which we could pump up the air suspension to get over the steepness of the driveway.  We did scratch with the luggage carrier, but very little, and it didn't even leave a mark.  Hooked up electricity, and we were set up for the night.  We only hook up the electricity because many days we will be leaving the backyard, going to visit mom, shop, do laundry, visit my precious Granddaughter...so using water stored in the fresh water tank makes coming and going easier.  Also, while out, we can empty our grey and black water holding tanks, which is easier than filling the blue tote and walking it over to the other side of the house to get rid of the holding tanks contents.

We have visited a number of times, and tomorrow Sandy takes her to a hearing aid appointment and then the four of us will have lunch.  Visiting her reminds me of when her mother was in the same environment, yet a larger facility, way back in the late 70's, early 80's.  I would visit Grandma and she would always say, "Now which one are you?"  Heck, she had 11 children, and 50+ grandchildren, so what do you expect???  Mom gets confused in that she thinks Sandy is her sister Mary...she has called me by my dad's name many times, but once you point out who you are, she remembers...some day that may not be the case.

The fires in California are a good distance away from us.  We do smell smoke in the air, but the air does not show any heavy smoke look.  We do hear Cal Fire planes going north, but most of the planes hitting the big fire are working out of Redding, which is closer to the active fire areas.  That fire, called the Park Fire, is nearly 400,000 acres and 90 miles north of us.  It was started by a guy who pushed his automobile/truck down into a gully while it was on fire.  He hung around to watch the fire spread, and others who saw him do it told the authorities, and he was arrested on site.  A new fire southeast of us called the Pedro Fire is 130 miles from us and is already 4,000 acres in size.  It is not burning as quickly as the Park Fire, but we are now coming back into a hot cycle, with temps hitting 100 again starting tomorrow.  Oh, how fun...

Saturday we have a date to see my granddaughter...now that will be fun...

Drowsey Alert & EMERGENCY EMERGENCY EMERGENCY -- What I didn't know still...

Imagine if you would, driving a few hours and you decide it is time to stretch your neck.  A little to the right, a little to the left, head up, head down, and BEEEEEEP...It appears your are drowsy!  WHAT????  A guy can't stretch his neck out without the creeper dash system acting like that kid in school that has to tell the teacher on everyone!   No, I was not tired, just stretching my neck...gee whizzzzz

Then today...I was driving along the two lane highway in Colorado close to the four corners area.  The road is hilly...goes up, then down, then up a bit higher, than down even lower, over and over and over.  Then, as I just get to the top of one of these hills, there are three trucks in their appropriate lane headed up the other side of the hill.  Apparently "Creeper Dash" (I coined that term Nancy) throws a HUGE HISSY FIT!  An alarm...yes, an alarm goes off.  I look at the Dash and it said something like, "Emergency! Stop! and a Flash, and it all goes away.  I pass along on my side of the road, the trucks pass along on their side of the road, and Marcia is like, "What the Hell was THAT?"  Oh, I wish I knew...   My guess is, Creeper Dash thought the trucks and us were going to hit each other.  It took about 2 seconds before it realized that like Congressman Jamaal Bowmen it panicked and pulled a false alarm.  Then, like the Congressman, it goes on like nothing unusual happened.  The only difference is that there was no media that witnessed mine, so Creeper Dash got away with it...

I forgot to mention yesterday that I drove for well over an hour first thing in the morning without one lane assist violation.  All proud with my shoulders pulled back I look down at the buttons under the GPS-Radio-ETC Screen and notice a light on...it is on the lane assist...Indy must have been trying to look at me through the front window and hit that button twice in a row turning the alarm off.  Dejected, I turned it back on, and within 10 minutes it goes off.  GRRRRR!!!  

Then today, while driving up in the North West area of New Mexico I hit a 40 mile stretch that had lots of pot holes...as I drove around as many as I could, Creeper Dash reported me as a lane violation.  Well, Creeper Dash is just lucky I did not have a gun in my hand...

Today we are in Monticello Utah, tomorrow we will visit Arches, then drive to Salt Lake City were we are meeting Stephanie and her Aunt Debbie (my first wife's sister) for dinner.  After dinner we will travel an hour outside of SLC to a rest area so that Thursday we won't have to worry about any morning rush hour traffic.  Not sure, but we might just get to Sacramento Thursday night...

Our Thor Sequence - Part Three - Travel Update

Parked at Storrie Lake, Las Vegas New Mexico

 So here are a few pics of our Camper Van in use.

Shows the two storage areas over front seats

There is always a cabinet that is for electronics

The breaker box which includes the converter

Indy was pleased....

Driver side includes power, water, sewer, propane, etc

These two steps help us reach the first van step

There is a hook up for a grill...nothing we will use

In order to bring the ADA GoGo, we got this carrier with a swing arm so we can still open the back

Below the closet and drawers in bathroom is this cubby for water hose, electric lines, etc., accessible from outside by opening back doors

We added this two bins to carry cleaning supplies and coffee

The Walker has to have a home too...on bed while travel, where ever it fits while parked.

A organizer for toiletry items

TRIP UPDATE

Sunday we drove from Texarkana to Amarillo Texas.  Another 500+ day which was uneventful other than it was a lot of driving through small town to another small town.  After 1,500 miles in such a short time period, decided to drive another 240 miles today to Storrie Lake near Las Vegas New Mexico.  

Of course, just as we enter the park we get a Flash Flood Warning for the area on our phones.  Turns out we had very little water here, but nearby roads were flooded.  Today has been a much more relaxing day.

Texarkana, Texas

We had a very uneventful day other than trying to narrow down a pesky occasional rattle.  It ended up being the microwave rotating gizmo.  With some bad roads, other than the noise all was well...our other motorhome would have beaten the crap right out of you!

It was another 500+ travel day, and tomorrow will be around 475.  We got 17.5 mpg today, which is twice the old one.  Yes, I was nailed by the lane assist, but much fewer times earlier in the day.  A few while I searched for something to play on the radio...but as the day got closer to ending, I found a couple of buttons on the back of the steering wheel that changed channels and loudness,  figured that there had to be a button or two that I missed somewhere...

Still working on getting more pics...soon, I promise

The Journey Begins

I know I owe you all a third part to our new Camper Van...well, not today.  I only write this to catch you up on where we are.  We are at Wilderness RV Park in/near Robertsdale, Alabama.  We have stayed her a number of times in the past.

Yesterday after Marcia's Doctor's Appointment we went by Mr. Souvlaki in Tarpon Springs to get some Spanakopita (Spinach Pie) and Pastitsio to take to Dean (Marcia's brother) and his wife Caryl over in DeLand.  They cooked up some pork and veggies, and together it all made a great dinner.  We dr0ve over to the Cracker Barrel in Sanford and we both had a "so-so" nights sleep.  With the heat and humidity the generator was on all night, and the A/C ran for much of the night.  We were on the road by 6:45, got gas and coffee and headed along I-4, then the "East-West" toll road, and finally the Florida Toll Road until we hit I-75, to I-10 where we headed West. 

We ended up in Robertsdale for a full hook-up so that at least we won't hear the generator all night.  Tomorrow we hope to get into North Texas and on to Amarillo the next day.

The Camper Van drives so nice...very little noise, very easy to keep up to highway speed, with the only slight complaint being that it catches every time I get out of my lane.  Marcia said she never heard the turn signal work so much while I drive...but without turning on the signal, it won't let me get into the next lane.  And I do want to note, there were a number of times (more than 5) where it said "get back into your lane" when I was in my lane.  Our gas usage is half of what it was with our old motorhome.  It was a nice trip, all 500 miles.  We arrived at 5 pm central time, and the trip included a number of rest area stops for this tired old driver.

And being tired and old, is my reason for not publishing anything else at this time.... 

Our 2004 Thor Sequence Camper Van - Part Two

 

In part One I showed you the driving area, today the living area.  To the right you can see the kitchen sink, and that is my Android Pad sitting on the counter.  That becomes important and I talk about it real later.  The brown on the beds are "Walensee Sherpa Fleece Blanket (Throw Size 50”x60” Brown) Plush Throw Fuzzy Super Soft Reversible Microfiber Flannel Blankets" that we bought from Amazon earlier this year...we decided to put them in the Camper Van.  Under each blanket is a bottom sheet...the one on the left is a Cot Sheet which is 31 by 75, and the one on the right is a Cot Sheet which is 30 by 80.  They are perfect fits.  In the far back is the bathroom and a closet with two drawers.  That "Dark Animal" is a stow-away who keeps saying, "I WANT to see Aunt Sandy, I WANT to see her NOW!!!"

 

 

At the foot of the longer bed, which is my bed, is the TV.  This is a smart TV which gives us access to our Amazon Prime Movies, and I am sure I can load RoKu and other stuff if we wish to.  It will pick up over-the-air channels, and cable if you are at an RV Park which offers that.  On the roof is a Winegard which, if you want to pay for it, turn into a Cellular Receiver and then you can turn that into a WiFi Hotspot.  We have an aircard from Verizon that has done us good, so we probably won't be going that route with Winegard.

As I mentioned in Part One, both front driving chairs will rotate around to the living area.  Marcia will have access to this table top desk, with 110 power and two USB charging hubs below for her power.  I have access to the counter top which includes the same amount of power.  Of course, we have to be plugged into 110v -or- the generator has to be on.

Between the two driving chairs are two small drawers...one comes equipped with a doggie dinner/water bowl!  Even Indy liked that, but she still is looking for her Aunt Sandy...

  

Under the kitchen counter is the microwave/convection oven, and half of a refrigerator.  I think the refrigerator size is going to be our biggest adjustment...more trips to the store, but bringing back less food.  That is one small freezer, that is for sure.  Not shown is a portable induction cooker, which I love...last year while at Sandy and Arny's we got one and I have used it inside our condo way more than the normal stove.

  

In the back is the bathroom and clothes closet.  The closet, pictured left, will hold our hang-ups, and at the bottom of the closet we will store a few misc items such as these adult washcloths.  The toilet area is also the shower area, which Marcia will really like since she needs to sit down to shower anyway.  Not shown behind the toilet is a sink which folds down over the toilet which includes its own water facet. 

   

The Electronics on Camper Van are very nice...as long as they work.  But just like any "on-off" switch to turn on lights, start and stop your water pump, to use the generator, to use the water heater, to use the A/C or the Heat (and other stuff)...but with this Camper Van all of those components (on/off switches) are incorporated into three electronic systems. In the upper left picture is the Truma Hot Water and General Heater control.  This is an electric device (need to be plugged into power or have the generator on), and it is instant heat and/or hot water.  On the right of the same picture is the inverter, which only runs the TV off of battery power.  That is a basic on/off switch.  The picture to the right is the main On/Off switch.  If you want to store your Camper Van for a prolong period, you would want to turn this to off.  I am not sure if the solar will work to keep the batteries from running down, if it doesn't, you would need to charge the house battery at least once a month...along with starting the engine...or have them on a battery tender to keep them charged.  I doubt we will turn this switch except when we need to change the house batteries or something like that.

Which leaves us with the BMPro, a complete power management control.  From these controls you turn on/off the Generator, the Lights, control the Awning, turn on/off and open/close the Ceiling Vent, control the Air Conditioner (on/off and temp setting), on/off the water pump, on/off tank heaters, control eight different light areas in which four can be dimmed, AND it monitors the solar power, the battery levels, the LP tank level, the Grey/Black and Water tank levels...and I think that's about it...all on that little, hard to read control center.  If it goes down, you are up a creek without a paddle.  That is the bad thing about all this electronics stuff.

THIS is where the Android Pad comes in.  Via Bluetooth, you connect to the BMPro system via the free App (at least some things are still free in this world) and have an easier to read and easier to understand way to control all these systems.  When I go over to the Camper Van, which I do just about every day, I can pull up near it, and connect to the system.  If I am going to go in, I will turn on the generator...then a minute or so later, turn on the A/C to it highest level.  A few minutes later I will go in and it is already cooling down.

From this screen you can turn on/off the generator, AND you can program the generator to turn on/off depending on the battery levels you choose, AND/OR the inside temperature of the Camper Van.  For the temp, you need to keep your A/C turned on so that when the generator turns on, and it is ready to accept a load, it will then turn the A/C on.  You can set the generator to turn off when the battery reaches a certain level, or the inside temps are at a certain level.  It allows for time levels too...you can set it to stay on for a minimum amount of time and to turn off at a maximum time.  If you don't set a time limit, it will turn off when the inside temp reaches your desired level or the batteries have reached a certain level.  Finally, you can set a "Sleep Period" when it won't turn on during quiet hours at a campground.  I have it set to turn on the generator if the batteries get to 12v, turn off it they get to 12.7v, and run a minimum of 20 minutes and maximum of 1 hour...with a sleep time of 9 pm to 7 am.  Because of shade at the Storage Area, the generator runs just about every day for about 20-30 minutes, or up to 90 minutes on a rainy day. 

With solar display you can see how much is being produced, and how much the battery is accepting.  We have 200w solar on the roof, which cannot be tilted to the sun unless you buy and install the proper tilting equipment.  If you really want to boondock camp, there is a port outside to plug in portable solar panels. 

   

These three screens show what your tank levels are, controlling the A/C system, and how to control the lights.  There are a few more screens, but this gives you an idea of what the Android Pad can do for you.

Well, we leave on Thursday for a three months trip, first to Marcia's brother's house in DeLand, then to Sacramento Area with a quick stop in Salt Lake City.  We plan to drive through Arches, which we have been to three or four times already...we love looking at the rock formations throughout the park.  We will leave Sacramento early enough to get home for the November election, and see a few friends on the way too.  My next blog will feature some of the things we have bought to make the Camper Van into a Camper Van Home. 

Our 2004 Thor Sequence Camper Van - Part One

 

Ok, time to share some pictures of our new Camper Van.  Nearly ready to take it for our first outing, and by the end of the month, we should be on our way to California.  

 

THE COCKPIT 

As you can see, the passenger's chair is facing the wrong way...both chairs can rotate like this to make it more of a living area when parked for a long time at an RV Park, Cracker Barrel Parking Lot, or at my Sister's House where we will located for a few months later this summer.  Note that the front windshield and the side windows have covers over them.  The door covers have magnets that hold them in place, and thanks to Nancy Kissack who also recently bought a Camper Van, she said they hold better if you open the door, put them up, and then shut the door.

Here is a view of the Driver's Dash Board, looking through the Steering Wheel with the engine off, so it is blank.

To start the vehicle, you need to have the Key Fob (handheld remote control device that controls a remote keyless entry system) nearby (like in your pocket), step on the break and push the button.  When you are ready to turn it off, just put in park and push the button.  If you leave the car running while in park, and you exit the vehicle, it will let you know that the Key Fob had left the vehicle and that it returned...just in case you set it down somewhere outside of your vehicle...you sure don't want to take off without your Fob.

On the left side of the steering wheel is the emergency start (in case your battery is low, you can use the house batteries to help start it), a switch to turn on and off the parking break, and a couple of things not shown that I have not figured out what they do yet.

This picture did not turn out well, but it shows the default dash.  The middle is the speed, the left is the tachometer, and the right is the gas gauge...and smaller areas show the time, odometer, trip odometer, lane management (are you too far left or right in your lane, is someone coming up on your side, etc).  Speaking of lane management, the outside mirrors will light up a triangle as someone comes up on your left or right to pass you.

There are like eight or more different screens, above are two of them. The top shows the tire pressure, the bottom is the lane management.  The ZERO at top is your speed.  Other screens not shown include GPS (even though there is a GPS between the driver and passenger which I discuss here in a bit), Trip Totals including Gas Mileage for the trip, Battery Management, Oil Level and Temps, Tire Pressure, just to name a few.  

Also, on the steering wheel there is cruise control, hands free phone to answer or close a call, stuff like that.

 

THE ENTERTAINMENT COMFORT CENTER

Between the Driver and the Passenger is the Entertainment / Comfort Center.  The blank screen is the heart of the Center, which includes a GPS, Radio (AM, FM, Sirus, Thumb Drive, Bluetooth connection to personal devices, etc.), Hands Free Cell Phone Access, controls for AC/Heat (not the house controls) and other stuff.

This is the home screen, showing the GPS and the Radio (or other media device you have going).  The menu choice at the bottom of the screen allow full access to the Media Center, AC/Heat controls, GPS, Cell Phone, Vehicle and Apps.  If you want you can pair your cell phone to the center and offer a hotspot access to others...much like our Air Card already does.

Screen above shows access to the media center.

Here is the comfort screen for AC/Heat.

And here is the GPS, which I am still learning.  You can see the little house, which is our Condo...we really are that close to it, thankfully.

This is a cordless charging station for Cell Phones and Personal Devices like an I-Pad.  Our flip phones do not charge on this, I think my Android Pad will, have not tried it yet.  The drink holder is way down almost on the ground...a 1 liter bottle will fit in the holder and under the cell charger.  I am sure a large diet coke drink will work too!  👍

I'm not sure how many miles I have driven it so far, perhaps 40-50.  It drives so nice, has a lot of power to get you up to speed, and it is so smooth, even over roads we know are pretty bumpy.  Have not had it above 60 mph yet, but I don't see any difference between 40 and 60, so it is not a concern to me.

In my next blog I will show the Living Area, Bathroom, Storage, etc., along with some pictures of the outside which I hope to take tomorrow when I visit Crystal Beach with Indy after dropping Marcia off at her Bible Study group.