Something is on my mind

English: Wine grapes from the Guadalupe Valley in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. Español: Uvas para vino del Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California, México. Français : Grappe de raisins de cuve dans la Guadalupe Valley. Municipalité d’Ensenada, Basse-Californie, Mexique. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ensenada, Mexico at night (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am thinking of downsizing or completely selling off my RV rig. I don’t seem to have the same level of intensity to travel as much. I’m comfortable here in Mexico and have friends and a social life for one of the few times in my life. I would like to see more of Mexico, but even doing that I would prefer a more sedate and comfortable mode of travel. Driving large distances finding a place to park and then doing it again in a few days has lost its appeal. Of course I may change my mind tomorrow, but that is how I feel this evening. I have thought of getting a smaller rig like a camper van to do shorter trips in then I would be able to use the van for non-camping trips too. I haven’t found anything yet to switch to, but who knows what may happen? There is a little bit of serendipity yet to this old lady’s life so stay tuned as they say.

I am planning on visiting the Ensenada area next weekend for the first time. Ensenada is on the Pacific Ocean side of the Baja peninsular and both north and south of there are many communities that interest me. The summers are cooler there than in San Felipe and some folks leave here during the summer and rent a place there to be more comfortable. I’m hoping to see for myself what it is like in that area. There is a valley there called the Guadalupe Valley where there are many vineyards and wineries-every year there is a Winery tour that takes several days, sounds interesting.

Life has been good lately and I’m grateful for it.

My tow equipment

97 Geo Tracker 2400lbs

 

 

Showing where the “A” frame attaches to the GEO

“A” Frame

“A” frame and hitch ball

This is the system I have it is very basic. First there is a plate attached to the frame of the towed vehicle and a light cable is also wired in so your towed car has brake lights and turn signals. Then there is the tow bar mine is a basic “A” frame this attaches the two vehicles. An “A” frame is none adjustable and is a PIA to attach to the RV with only one person doing the work. I don’t have an auxiliary braking system on mine because my towed vehicle is only 2400 lbs. I should have a brake system it is the safest thing to do. When I stop the RV I have over a ton pushing the RV from the towed car and that’s not a good thing.

New Project Laminate Floor

I have had this project in mind for some time and I found someone to do the installation for me all that remains is to install the trim around the walls and steps.

Living area

Galley and hallway

Dinning area

Cleaning and Polishing the RV

Today I have a crew power washing and waxing the RV the waxing is by hand. The power washer sure blew a lot of dirt off the roof and the crevices of the rig. here are some photos of the power washing.

Her are some photos of the men hand waxing the rig;

The rig is looking cleaner and sharper I’ll post a critique of the job later.

Critique; There was a lot of oxidation and it is not all gone to many years without removing the oxidation and it just doesn’t come off that easily. The rig looks a lot better and the design looks sharper and all together the rig looks much better. So how much did this cost ? Three men x six hours and wax came out to $75.00 and that included an 18 pack of beer for the men because I could see they worked all day didn’t take a lunch break. I gave them a soda for a break and they were greatful. Their hands looked so sore I felt bad therefor the beer for tonight when they get home.

Escapees RV Club Escapade

I have decided to attend the Escapees Escapade in Gillette WY June 30 to July 5th 2013. Escapade is a big meeting of members of the Escapees RV club where one attends seminars on various aspects of RVing and shopping for RV stuff as there will be a lot of vendors there, or so I’m told. I have not made plans this far in advance for a long time but I think I can live with doing it this time, as I have to go to South Dakota to get my driver’s license again. Sad story that, my license again because it was stolen while shopping in Wal-Mart Calexico CA. Sad I got robbed in the U.S. and I spend the Winter in Mexico you would think I would be robbed in Mexico, but nooo I get robbed in the U.S..

Oddly enough here at Pete’s Camp we have 42 RVs of Chapter 8 of Escapees camped on our beach. Very nice (expensive) RVs all lined up on the beach. As far as RVrs go they are a quiet bunch. I haven’t heard any whooping, hollering or fireworks. Usually when we have guests there is a lot of party noise, but these guys are so quiet I am surprised on my walk to find them still here!

Here are some photos of the Escapees camped on the beach.

This and that in San Felipe

Sunset in San Felipe (Photo credit: larock)

 

Winter here in San Felipe MX is often sunny and pleasant with brief encounters of windy and, to us residents, cold weather sometimes reaching into the 40°F. range. Of course with a wind of 20+mph the chill factor come into play. Today it is bright and sunny with a 15-20mph wind out of the North at 55° F. feels cold to my ancient bones. I still went for my walk, not as early as usual-later made for a warmer walk, but the wind was brisk and I felt the chill.

 

I worked on cleaning up my RV yesterday. The poor thing was looking neglected so I did an exterior wash and got a lot of the dust and grime off of the old girl. She needs a professional wash and wax to get her looking presentable again. Sitting about in the salt air, dust, rain and fog is not good for the paint and roof fabric. I may have to do a patch on the rubber roof I’ll go up later and have a closer look, but from the ground it looks like a hole is forming near the front cap. Like almost anything mechanical there is always something to fix. I did run the engine, generator and put the transmission into gear yesterday to get all the fluids moving about. I remembered to run the generator with a load-I use the Air conditioner as the load. I didn’t note any problems; oil pressure came up, alternator charged, generator started right up and provided steady electric power and ran the A/C without a problem so all seems well.

 

I had the steps bent back into alignment so they work now and what is more the mechanic fixed the light that comes on when the steps are extended which very nice. The next repair is to get the house furnace to work properly. The furnace fan comes on with the thermostat however the furnace doesn’t blow hot air just blows air. This alone doesn’t concern me as I have a Wave 6 catalytic heater with an extension hose that keeps the rig reasonably warm in cold weather and uses no electricity, less LP and no noise versus the noisy house furnace. I also installed the step’s carpet so now the entrance looks like and acts like it should …… Yea

 

I am still searching for my next RV to replace this one and I have found the Blue Bird Wanderlodge site.

 

English: “Large Marge”, a 1980 Blue Bird Wanderlodge FC33 taken on Sanibel Island Causeway, Florida USA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

These RVs have been around a long time and were custom ordered and top of the line RVs in their day. Many are still running after over thirty years of RVing! They started out with gasoline motors and then changed over to diesel and steadily improved on the diesel power plants over the years. Many 70′s rigs are still on the road and some owners have had the same rig for 25 years or more. That says something for the durability and desirability of the BBs. The older model’s interiors seem dated, not a problem for me, but functional. Some of the later models are as modern as anything on the road today. I am intrigued and I want to investigate if the Blue Bird RV would be a good replacement for my present rig so I have joined the owner’s group and hope to educate myself on Blue Bird RVs.

While doing the initial research into Blue Birds I remembered my father Charlie told stories of driving a Blue Bird School Bus in the forties during the winter in Billerica Massachusetts. Charlie thought highly of the Blue Bird Buses and he was a mechanic in those days.

 

 

 

Cleaning out the closet

Today I started sorting out my clothes closet and donating some clothes to charity. I have been carrying around clothes I don’t wear or don’t fit and it is time to reduce the amount of unused clothes. As a part time RV’r and part time resident of Baja MX I don’t wear a lot of fancy clothes. I just don’t have the opportunity to get dressed up. Even after this culling of the clothes closet I still have stuff I seldom wear. I just don’t have the nerve to let the clothes go. Isn’t that weird ? I suppose some Psychologist would have fun with my inability to let go of certain clothes. Nah, to mundane.

I still have cowboy (girl?) boots, so when am I going to need them ? I don’t know. I have fishing gear I bought and never used. I would like to go fishing again, but will I ? I don’t know. Then there are books and tapes/CDS on spanish …. oye!

How can a boring person like me gather so much stuff ? Sigh…..

I am getting a little bored here but it is so cold anywhere else there is no point in leaving. I hate the cold and it is so cold up north I wouldn’t have anything to do with it.