Our RV Adventures

Since we only had a 33 mile trip this morning, we didn’t get up until a little after 7:30 and then took our time getting ready to roll.

But after calling Voyager RV Resort and being told we couldn’t come in until after 11am, we decided we had time for breakfast. And remembering the extensive breakfast menu at the Horseshoe Café & Bakery from our visit last Thursday, we headed into Benson to give it a try.

And we weren’t the only ones, with a 20 minute wait before we got seated. But the service was fast, and the coffee was great.

Jan got her favorite Mushroom and Cheese Omelet with Country Potatoes, Bacon, and a Biscuit.

I  went with the Wagon Wheel Breakfast, with Eggs, Bacon, Sausage Links, and a Belgian Waffle.

Really, really good, and we both had plenty of leftovers, too.

Back at the rig a little after 10, we finished packing everything away and cranked up the rig a little after 10:30, planning to leave in about 10 minutes. But first we had to get the slide in.

Although we had no problem bring it in when we left Las Cruces last Tuesday, putting it out when we got here at Cochise Terrace in Benson was a different story, with a lot of jerking and groaning.

And this morning didn’t get any better. The right side only went out about 3 inches and  then stopped, while the left side kept going. So it was outside and into the bay under the slide to check out the problem.

At first everything looked fine as I had Jan move the slide in and out a bit. But finally looking down on the floor of the bay, I found a sheared-off bolt, and nearby, the broken nut end.

This led me to pull back the square shaft from the inside round shaft, so now it was obvious where the bolt came from. But why did the bolt shear off and the shear pin right behind it was fine. A little further investigation told me the reason.

The shear pin on the manual drive shaft to the left was sticking out a little too far and was jamming against the round base on the other shaft and maybe occasionally hitting the other shear pin too.

So now it was off to the Ace Hardware in Benson for a new bolt. Actually four new bolts. One for the repair and three for spares. You know me.

The guy at the hardware store confirmed what I thought I remembered, that the six lines on the bolt head indicated that the old bolt was a Grade 8, the hardest and strongest of standard bolts. So I was careful to get replacements of the same grade.

Getting back to the rig, I knocked the offending shear pin back out of the way a little and then jogged the manual drive to line up the two shaft holes, installed the bolt, and I was done.

I hoped.

And after cranking up, the slide came in smooth as silk.

So a few minutes later we were on our way, with Jan following me in the truck. No need to hitch up for a 30+ mile run.

We were checked in at Voyager and waiting to be parked by about 1:15pm. Unfortunately the lady who guided me to our site thought she also knew how to park me.

Now Jan and I have  been doing this for over nine years and we’ve got it down to a science. I tried to tell the lady that Jan and I could park just fine by ourselves without her ‘help’. But she was insistent that it was going to be done her way.

Jan said later she wondered why I kept jogging back and forth and ‘didn’t just pull in and park like we normally doâ€. I said it was because you weren’t guiding me, she was, and she didn’t know what she was doing.

But we did end up parked right next to our friend’s Chris and Charles Yust, so it all worked out for the best.

After we got parked, and after just plugging in power for the AC’s, we headed down the the Pima County Fairgrounds to get registered for the Escapade. Then it was off to the nearby Wal-Mart for a few things. The last time Jan had been to a Wal-Mart was about two weeks ago and she was starting to have withdrawal pains.

Later, we headed out with Chris and Charles to have dinner with some friends at a favorite place of theirs, Rigo’s, off 1-10 West, just south of the Silver Saddle Steakhouse.

And with a delicious Mexican buffet, Rigo’s is now a favorite of ours. Though Jan stuck with her Chile Rellenos, I did try the buffet, and it was great. And it was 2 for 1 Beer Night!

Caldo (Beef and Vegetable) Soup, Cheese and Potato Soup, Beef Fajitas, Shrimp Fajitas, Tacos with all the fixin’s, and a lot more. Plus Sopapillas and Rice Pudding for dessert.

And they also have a Breakfast and Lunch Buffet.

I did manage to get a picture of the whole motley crew. Well, almost the ‘whole’ crew.

Somehow I manage to leave Charles out of the photo on the front right. My excuse?

I had two beers. But then I wasn’t driving.

On the left, we have Jan, Bob, and Sandy. And on the right, there’s a small part of Charles, Chris, Mickey, and Lynn.

We had a great time, and what’s more amazing, we weren’t the loudest group there. Very unusual, believe me.

Tomorrow is first day of the Escapade, although the seminars don’t start until Monday. so Jan and I will get to spend some time roaming the Vendor area, buying stuff we want, but probably don’t need. Sounds like fun.

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I spent the morning tracking down a problem with Charles Yust’s Toshiba laptop, which was running very slow, glacierly slow, as a matter of fact.

After checking a lot of things, including the CPU speed, and cleaning and reseating the 2GB RAM stick, I dug further into the system and found that it was still a RAM problem

The laptop system RAM was showing anywhere for 500 to 2000 Hard Errors per Second. whereas my desktop computer shows maybe 1 Hard Error per Minute, and often goes several minutes without showing any errors.

So I ordered 2 new RAM sticks, one to replace the bad one, and a second one to bump the memory up to 4GB which will also make it run faster.

Finally about 12 noon I headed outside to finish up my rig cleaning by going over it again, this time with Turtle Wax Zip Car Wash & Wax. Took me about 90 minutes and it turned out pretty good.

Probably would have been a little better if I had buffed it dry, but still OK.

About 3pm we headed into Tucson to Voyager RV Resort to look at a problem Chris and Charles Yust were having with another laptop not staying connected to the Internet.

Although I was not able to duplicate the problem, I suspect it might be caused by the fact that the laptop’s connection to their MiFi was Public and not Private, thus causing the McAfee Firewall to interfere with the data flow. So we’ll have to see how it works now, and if the problem come s back.

Later, after Chris finished up with her customers about 6pm, we all headed over to one of our favorite Tucson eateries, Luckie’s Thai. Located in an unassuming strip center storefront location, the Chinese/Thai cuisine is hard to match.

Jan and I each started with a bowl of their Hot & Sour Soup.

Not quite King Food good, but very, very good anyway.

Then Jan got an order of their Sesame Chicken with Steamed Rice,

while I went with the Orange Beef with Fried Rice.

Both very good, with plenty left over for later.

Finishing up, we all rounded out the meal with a shared bowl of their fantastic homemade Coconut Ice Cream.

As seems to be usual for us, we finally left at 9pm as they turned the lights out on us.

Tomorrow we’ll head over to Voyager RV Resort where we be for the next week as we attend the 57th Escapees Escapade which starts on Sunday.

“Camping is nature’s way of promoting the motel business. †― Dave Barry

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