No excuse really, just not a lot going on that’s worth writing about.
We did do a few short RV trips during the Spring and Summer with friends and you may have noticed the photo on the header has changed. Yes, I have a new to me 2018 GMC Sierra pickup pulling that trailer. The old Ford truck was 24 years old and still ran fine but it was OLD and Clyda complained about the seat.
So I put out the word that I might be interested in a new truck. My friend Budd emailed me a photo a few days later entitled “Your new truck” which he had found in Arroyo Grande North of us. I called the owner and said I would be up in a few days to purchase the truck. He wanted to know how I found out about it as he had just parked it beside the road a few hours before with a For Sale sign in it. Anyway, I bought the truck and then began the work.
The first thing I did was have a Linex bed liner sprayed into it. Then I needed to purchase a 5th wheel hitch. A friend at Elks had one for sale which was perfect for my truck as it was made for a short bed pickup and was an automatic slider. The hitch slides back as the truck turns thereby keeping the trailer from hitting the back of the cab.
Next I needed a rail kit to mount in the bed of the truck to mount the hitch on. Thank goodness for Amazon. The kit I purchased bolts to the pre-threaded holes on the truck frame. After watching numerous YouTube videos and with the help of my neighbor Paul, the hitch was installed.
The truck comes with a 7 pin plug to connect the trailer for lights and brakes but it was mounted on the rear bumper which meant the trailer cable was hanging over the tailgate. I wanted a connector inside the truck bed, GM made provisions for that by putting the wires to do that in a bundle in front of the rear bumper. I just had to install the plug and wire it up. Well, that didn’t go too well as the right turn signal remained on instead of blinking. A trip to the local GM dealer and a quick check with the Scan tool showed a short in the main fuse block. How that could have happened as all lines to the plug are fused still remains a mystery.
A new fuse block was installed and I was good to go. As we prepared to leave on the first trip with the new truck pulling the trailer, I noticed the trailer lights were very dim. Neighbor Paul came out to help and he suggested turning on the running lights. Some of the running lights were brightly lite while others were dim suggesting that a ground wire was missing. I had opened a junction box under the hitch and obviously didn’t get a ground wire connected to the rest of the bundle when I did it. So temporarily we ran a wire from the battery ground to one of the running lights and all then worked. Later I redid the junction box and all was good.
A common theme of RV trailers is that it is like going through an earthquake every time you take it down the road and things happen. Constant maintenance is required.
In August we made a quick trip to Oregon via Hwy 395 in the Eastern Serra to see friends. We spent a couple of days camped at Mammoth Lakes with neighbors on the way North, a couple of days in Reno to see a friend then on to Eugene, OR where we visited long time friends from Boy Scouting, Dick and Barbara. We then moved South to Creswell, OR for 4 days of good food, and games with Thomas and Debbie and Rose, Debbie’s mother. It was a very quick trip but good to see everyone.
I made my usual fall trip with Son Tim again this year in October and November. We spent a week camping in a BLM area outside of Tecopa, CA. Because of the rains in September in the desert many roads were closed. To get to Tecopa we had to travel to Las Vegas, cross the mountains to Pahrump, NV then drive South to Shoshone, CA and then to Tecopa. The road into Death Valley finally opened so we moved on to camp in our usual spots. We hiked, found more Mylar balloons and enjoyed meeting all of our desert friends. Our balloon count last year was 129 which did not seem close to achievable this year. However, never say never, as were were tied with last years total with one day to beat the record. By then only 3 of us remained in camp so we were determined to find one more balloon. We searched an area South of Furnace Creek wash where we had been successful before and after a couple of hours found two more balloons to make our total 131 for the year.
Enjoying a Date Shake
Tim recording a Geo-Cache.
For Thanksgiving we again took the RV to Boulder City, NV Elks Club with 4 other couples as we did 2 years ago. We had a great time and good food as usual.
In January we are going on a cruise with 20 or so other people from the Elks Club for 7 days. We are doing the Mexican Riviera on the Discovery Princess, their newest ship.
We will go to Arizona with the RV shortly after that as we usually do each winter.
This update was thanks to Cousin Marlene who said she missed my postings. Thanks Cous.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
