Put to Bed

Sunday, 30 January 2011

We returned to the storage lot this morning to move the Phaeton to its permanent spot.  It was only 8:00a when we got on the road.  The early hour meant little to no traffic, and we made it to our destination in record time.  It sure is nice to have a shorter drive to get to the motor home.

Pristine snow scenes and dry pavement make for a pleasant drive.

The Phaeton lives in a gated community.
(there's a second locked gate at the fenced in lot beyond this one.)

Mui had already checked out the map of available locations and settled on #87.  Before we could put the Phaeton to bed, however, we had to deal with a tiny problem.  When we parked the coach yesterday, the tires were still hot from our recent drive.  The snow around the tires had melted, creating snow-chocks that needed to be dealt with before we could go anywhere.  Having anticipated this, we were prepared.

I’m assigned to tackling the front …

… While Mui digs out the rear tires.

A little kitty-litter will do wonders … 

… to give the tires traction.

Yes, Mui … I’m working as fast as I can.

Lying down on the job, are we?

Fifteen minutes later, the coach was out of its overnight spot …

… leaving a mess behind!

It didn’t take us long to get the Phaeton re-situated.  I walked over to #87, Mui followed behind in the coach.  (Don’t get used to that, Mui; I am going to learn how to drive the motor home and then we’ll see where that leaves you!)  Taking advantage of the wide road just to the left of our spot, maneuvering in was a piece of cake.  Pulling out to go camping is going to be even easier!

# 87 awaits the Phaeton.

The wide road just ahead is why Mui picked this spot.

Wish we didn’t have to lock up and leave.

Weather permitting, we hope to take the coach out for a couple of day trips in the coming weeks.  We also have a few service appointments ahead of us as we prepare for what I consider to be our first real motor home vacation in April.  Until then …

X-Stitch: Seaside Lovers

I’ve always enjoyed crafts. I’ve tried my hand at ceramics, knitting, crochet, and cross stitch. Cross stitch was my favorite; specifically, the counted variety where there’s nothing printed on the fabric. I liked seeing my creations come to life on a blank canvas. The smaller the fabric count the better as far as I was concerned.

Alas those days are over. My near-sight isn’t what it used to be, and doing detail work, though not impossible, is more difficult these days. As well, over the years, other hobbies have started to vie for my attention — photography and blogging come to mind. And to top it off, we’re planning to downsize after retirement, living for a while (at least) full-time in our “condo on wheels.” So after much debate (with myself), I’m putting this hobby on the shelf.

For a while now, I’ve been wanting to take images of my “art” and include them in the blog. That way, they’ll be with me no matter where I am. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not giving up what I worked so hard to create. There just won’t be any new projects in my future.

So here it is … Seaside Lovers — my last cross stitch project; first to be featured in the blog.

If you’re wondering how this has anything to do with “travel.” Well, in many instances, a trip we took was the inspiration for a pattern that I later stitched. Take this one for instance … it reminds me of the many beach strolls we’ve taken in years past.

Update – February 4

Mom was working on the same cross stitch pattern. Her project turned out just as beautifully. She stitched the gold thread frame around the scene, whereas I opted to skip it; she added some birds in the sky — the pattern had some birds but they blended into the clouds, so I opted not to stitch them; mom got frustrated with the back-stitch beach grasses and came up with an alternate solution. The framer suggested they not do a mat; since Mom did the stitched frame, I think it works. So here’s another version of Seaside Lovers — this one hangs in my sister’s living room.

Home Away From Home

Saturday, 29 January 2011

The plan was to pick up the coach and take it to storage on Wednesday, the 26th. But Mother Nature played a trick on us, dumping 8 inches (20 cm) of wet, heavy snow on the area. (Click here to read about our first real snowstorm of the season.) So, we postponed getting Phae to her home away from home until today.

We headed to Restless Wheels bright and early this morning. The temperature was just above freezing, but considering it was in the teens just a week ago, we weren’t complaining. When we arrived at 9:00a, they were just unlocking the doors. The coach had been stored inside the shop during the snowstorm, so it was snug as a bug in one of the service bays.

It’s time to get this baby home.

First on our to-do list was to make sure the levelers were functioning properly. After all, that was the reason why we’d brought the Phaeton to Restless Wheels in the first place. After positioning the landing blocks he had made the previous weekend, Mui dropped the levelers. We held our breath as the legs slowly moved down and came to a stop. When we noted that the indicators were flashing green, a cheer went up. Our pleasure was doubled when the levelers retracted without a glitch.

The blocks will reduce the distance the leveler legs have to drop.

The source of the problem — a fried control board.
(be glad your noses are being spared the burnt smell.)

After nearly two months, the coach was ready to go home. One of the technicians drove the Phaeton out of the shop and positioned it so that we could hook up the toad. Under the watchful eye of Paul, who’d installed the towing system and trained him last week, Mui went to work running cables through the d-ring and connecting them as he’d been instructed. He gets a gold star for getting it all right!

here she comes.

Mui gets to work hooking up the toad.

All hooked up … and this time, we have somewhere to go.

I have to admit to a bit of a trepidation as we slowly moved out of the parking lot and made the turn onto the street. After all, once 40 feet (12 m) in length, we were now 59 feet (18 m) long with the toad attached. Mui was confident that we’d do fine; he was right. It felt good seeing the toad in the rearview camera display on the dashboard. Our camping horizons have now expanded considerably.

There's plenty of snow still, but the roads are clear for our first towing event.

the toad obediently follows behind the coach.

On our way to Restless Wheels, we’d checked to make sure that a tree that had been blocking the road to the storage lot had been cleared. Sure enough, it had been removed overnight. So, seeing a bunch of utility trucks ahead of us as we neared our destination came as a total surprise. The workers were equally, if not more, surprised to see a giant motor home bearing down on them. A quick conversation with the foreman, a few orange cones repositioned, and we were past the work area.

A utility crew is hard at work restoring power, but there’s
enough room for us to get by.

After successfully negotiating the unexpected hurdle, we continued a few more miles to the storage lot. Knowing that the side road to the lot was not completely cleared of snow, we stopped just outside the gate to unhook the toad on dry pavement. Then, I followed Mui to the Phaeton’s new home away from home.

A handsome pair — now unhitched!
(the coordinating colors weren't by design.)

Living in a townhouse in the suburbs of Washington DC, we have no choice but to keep the coach in storage. When we brought the Phaeton from Oregon to our neck of the woods, we found a storage facility in Manassas. As it was the only place with an open spot, we took it; but kept our eyes open for something closer to us. Coincident with the installation of the towing system, we got a call from a facility where we’d put our name on the waiting list. Needless to say, when they told us that they’d recently expanded and had room for us now, we jumped on the opportunity. Too bad it’s not covered storage, but in this area, that would be a miracle — with a price tag to match.

we would have preferred not having snow today …

… but the Phaeton gets through without any problems.

It turns out that the corner spot we picked for the great maneuverability that it offers is just a tiny bit short for us. We left the coach there temporarily until Mui can consult with the lot manager and pick another spot. We’ll be back tomorrow to relocate the Phaeton.

Tow-Ready

Saturday, 22 January 2011

First off … I see we have some new followers.  Thanks for joining us.  Haven’t been posting for a while as I haven’t had anything to write about on this blog.  That’s not to say I’ve been silent … followers of our non-RV travel blog can attest to that.

Last November, we brought the 2010 RV season to a close with a “roughing-it-not-so-smoothly” adventure at Pohick Bay Regional Park.  (You can read all about it here.)  Shortly thereafter, we took our Phaeton into Restless Wheels for a check-up to determine the source of our problems.

As anticipated, the issue was a fried control board.  So, that was replaced.  While they had the vehicle, we asked them to take care of a few other things, including winterizing it.  Then, Mui had the bright idea of having the towing system installed while the Phaeton was still at Restless Wheels.  We asked for and got a quote, and an order was placed for all the parts and pieces.

Long story short, first our Caribbean cruise and then the holidays intruded into the schedule.  So, it wasn’t until today that we were able return to Restless Wheels to bring the Phaeton home.  Ooops, not so fast.

Mui’s smiling; he wants to bring the phaeton home.

We picked up the keys, and went out to the motor home to test the levelers and the slides.  First, we turned on the generator to let it run since it had been idle for longer than optimum.  Then we turned on both furnaces.  With the outside temp hovering around 19F (-7C), the heat flowing out of the vents was most welcome.  Soon it was cozy inside the Phaeton.

Finally, it was time to test the levelers.  Mui turned on the ignition and hit the button.  Everything looked to be working fine — until the rear driver’s side leveler refused to come down.  Oh no!  The technician came over and started poking around.  Alarms went off and were silenced.  Levelers went up and down, but not without problems.  Nothing to do but take it into the shop for more diagnostics.

So, onward we moved to learn how to set up the tow.  The CR-V was pulled up behind the Phaeton and another technician demonstrated the process of hooking and unhooking the toad.  I had the video camera out to tape it all for posterity, but the batteries didn't survive the excessively cold temperatures.  Oh well!

Mui was a quick learner and was soon flying solo …

For those interested in the nitty-gritty, we chose the ReadyBrute™ Elite with a Demco base plate, and of course, a break-a-way system in the event of an emergency.  The 8,000-pound (3,600 kg) towing capacity is twice what we need, so we should be good to go.

We already have a call from Restless Wheels that the diagnostics are completed and the levelers are operating normally.  I’ll report back when we go to pick up the Phaeton next week.  We’ll be towing for the first time, so keep your fingers crossed for us.