Just some rambling thoughts - Montana Owners Club

CountryGuy · 12-31-2005, 01:51 PM

So, after having trouble winterizing the water system in the stick built and having an "interesting" hook up session cause of the ice and black ice on the drive, we got started on the way to the Rio Grande Valley about 1 to 2 hours later than we had hoped, and more tired than we had hoped, cause we had been up so late the night before with that water thing!

We drove about 400 miles day number 1, weather was mild, and dry. We drove about the same day number 2, weather was mild, and wet. At the end of day 2 we were south far enough that we were able to put water in, it is a great invention, plumbing!

Day 3, and 4, we drove something like 350 miles, OFF the expressways, through Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. Today, day 5, we did about 250 arriving in Mission about 2:30 in the afternoon.

We (ok, CAROL), wanted to be in the valley for New Years Eve, go in the pool and hot tub and all that rot. Not sure why, but, I did. OK, did it once, and have to say it was great, but next year we will take 7 to 10 days to drive the 1600 to 1725 mile trip (depending on route). Tenative plan is to drive those first 2 days hard, and find a NICE place to stop for 2 days, and REST! Then maybe find a few places to stop on the way down, staying for another day or so each time.

Yesterday Al was way tooo tired, both of us have sore backs and shoulders, (thanks in part, but only in part to I20). Ya all can make all the smart remarks about Carol & Al being old and stuff, but, we just don't care to be that tired, he is retired, we are supposed to be able to relax, and now that I have this New Years Eve dip in the pool silliness out of my system, we are gonna go to plan S, for SLOW is better!

As as aside, have any of you ever lost that vinyl (?) trim that goes over the screws???? There is a lot of that stuff down the sides and around the nose of the units?? Just wondering, Al said he has never heard of anyone at MOC telling stories about losing theirs. We lost ours, I was driving this afternoon, glanced in the rear view mirror and saw it a floppin in the wind! I said, "we got a problem", he gasped for air! Then I said, "the trim is coming off" and I thought he was gonna have a stroke! His mind went to FLAT TIRE! with trim flying all over the roadway! After I informed him that we had NO flat tire, he began breathing again! HA HA Anyway, I told him I would mention it and see if any of you had ever had that happen.

Anyway, he was able to remove 2 screws, take the stuff off, and we will address the situation later. It is not really a biggie, we know that, the prior RV's all had problems with that stuff, it shinks, etc. I guess it is one of those, you had to be there type stories. Poor Al!

Oh, and something interesting we noticed while running Garmin GPS and Microsoft Streets & Trips GPS. They have a substantial difference of opinion as to altitude! While Garmin had us about 40 feet above sea level, MS&T had us about 60 feet UNDER, which meant that Bill Gates had us in a submarine!

Happy New Year to ya all!

jrgwdenner · 12-31-2005, 02:18 PM

Carol, that was quite some driving you guys did. We drove for about six hours from near Montgomery, AL to Vicksburg (nice camping space at Cracker barrel, by the way) where we spent the night. Then we pulled in to Burleson, TX some 720 miles total later in just over 24 hours. And we are TIRED! It didn't help that we had overnight quests, Christmas decorations to take down, last minute work and prep on the house, packing, etc. just before we left. Jumping on the trampoline is hard on an old, out-of-shape grandma, too! Those long days take their toll and I vote for slower. We are stiff, too, from sitting in the truck so much. It's hard to get those old joints moving.

CountryGuy · 12-31-2005, 02:26 PM

Judy

You TOOK DOWN THE DECORATIONS??? Ha ha ha, you are Way up on me! I left up 2 trees and some other stuff. Last year I left up the xmas village, and you know what, it is STILL UP! I sure enjoyed looking at it last year WHEN I was home (we were gone a lot Teee heeee)

Plan S will be taking on some shape in the next year! HA HA

See ya soon!

Parrothead · 12-31-2005, 03:00 PM

I vote for plan S also. You guys are driving way to much each day - glad you all made in safe and sound though. I know getting to warm was what made you do it. Have a great time in the RGV. And Happy New Year. We've decided when you are retired, you have to remember to take days off!
Happy trails.....................

Northstar · 12-31-2005, 05:22 PM

Well we have tried some of those long long days driving like I was a teenager. Well I'm getting too old for these all nighters. We too are learning to slow down and take our time. Now I understand why some of you drive only 250 to 300 miles in one day. We are learning by experience to slow down. Best of luck in the new year to all of you folks. And I am glad Al and Carol had a safe trip down here in Texas.

jrgwdenner · 01-01-2006, 12:24 AM

Carol, we thought about leaving the trees up (one large, one small) but seemed to find the time so we took them down. It sure was convenient to have the Christmas candle centerpiece on the dining room table when we returned from Alaska though. Guess what? It's still there and ready for next Christmas! I guess red and gold are good for year around decorations!

Fordzilla · 01-01-2006, 01:56 AM

Glad your trip was uneventful other than the trim falling off. After you are rested up and want to tackle the trim pieces what I have done on previous trailers was any areas where it flies out like yours did I normally secure it with duct tape until I can put a little dab of silicone behind the trouble spot and then let it dry good. It will hold the molding to the trailer and will still release next year when I pull all the molding off to wash them. We drove entirely to fast when we went to Texas this fall also. We have decided when we retire we are not taking the interstate system any more. There is so much more to see on the little roads. Enjoy your stay down there in the warm weather. I'll mail you some of this white stuff so you don't forget what it looks like. HA HA

kdeiss · 01-01-2006, 03:00 AM

On our way to Florida in April the trim came off around the door.Was abel to clean and attach with silicone.

When we travel we start at 6Am and off the road by 3Pm and enjoy the C.G

OntMont · 01-01-2006, 03:21 AM

Hi Carol and Al,

Glad you made it through, sounds like a bit of a trial covering all that distance so quickly though. We are anxious to get down there, but we won't have a deadline to meet. (except get out of the freezing weather ASAP).

Our trim used come loose on our previous 2002 trailer. So far not on the 2005. It mostly happened in really hot weather. A few dabs of silicone at strategic points seemed to cure the problem.

See you soon! (and Happy New Year!)

richfaa · 01-01-2006, 03:43 AM

You sure pushed hard. We plan to be in the Mission ,Tx area next winter.According to Rand. Mc Nally it is 1739.1 Miles from Northeren, Ohio and we plan on a 7 to 10 day drive. We rarely drive 300 miles a day and being retired...what's the rush.on the Garman GPS and altitude..When driving down the outer banks this summer our Garman would read +/_ 10 feet of sea level and since you could look out the window and see the sea we figured that was pretty accurate/ Also as Helen pointed out the antenna was on the roof of the truck which is at least 6 feet off the ground and the accuracy of the GPS was indicated as 12/15 feet.(picking up many sat) so we think the garman is pretty accurate. In term of ground speed when we held a steady 60MPH the GPS was off by @ 4 MPH/ We are keeping a eye on the RGV post by all who are there.With any luck we will spend the winter there next winter.

CountryGuy · 01-01-2006, 05:39 AM

Fordzilla,

When you take the trim off for cleaning, what is the process and what are you using?? Are you soaking the trim?? for how long?? in what??

Silicone seems the answer, we can do that!

Yep, we pushed hard this year, gotta say, sitting here at the moment, well, the sun is shining and it is warm, and oh, dear, this is NOT hard to take! HA HA. Ya all remind me next year, that we were too tired! HA HA, and, to think, last year we did it in 6 days, with only one lay over and we were sick! Have NO idea how we did that, ohhh, I remember, we stayed in Montana for 14 days after we got here trying to get over that nasty coughing virus thingy we both had! UGHHH, that was the pits!

Gonna go into Mantra mode, 250 miles per day, 250 miles per day, 250 miles per day. Geeshhhh, that is our norm, we really must have wanted to get to warm weather! HAHA

Later all, those of you still headed this way, safe rides! See ya soon!

JLBOZ60 · 01-01-2006, 08:47 AM

We knew that you guys were really pushing it and wondered why the rush. We knew that you like us wanted to get out of the snow & ice. But we were not aware that the HOT TUB was calling your name for you to be there by New Years Eve. HAHA
We are just glad that you both made it safe. See you on the 5th Take care Marge

CountryGuy · 01-01-2006, 09:04 AM

John and Marge, The call of the hot tub! Silly, eh! Was sweet tho! Going again in a few! Gonna be warm here for 4 or 5 days, then a bit cooler (70ish), so, going to take advantage, while I got it! HAHA. Gotta say, I do like this site, I can walk to the pool in about 2.5 minutes and that is draggin my feet! HAHA

See ya on the 5th!

OntMont · 01-01-2006, 10:15 AM

Aw you guys! I went to the BPV website just to remind myself why we want to be there. Now I'm getting anxious, 400 miles a day, eh? Took a look at the photo gallery and saw a number of people from last year including MOC members Ormee and Ginette, and Countryfolk of course. Can't wait to hit the road!

For any who are curious, the website is: http://www.bentsenpalmvillage.com/rvpark.html

MIMF2 · 01-01-2006, 10:17 AM

Al and Carol,

I've been conversing with the Riegles via e-mail the last couple days. It looks like you folks are in a very nice park and that there is going to be like a mini rally of a half dozen or so MOCers. Like I told him, "lucky stiffs"!

Dale and Gail

Fordzilla · 01-01-2006, 10:47 AM

Countryguy, I normally just mix up a 5qt bucket of warm/hot water with some simple green and use a vegetable brush to scrub off the dirt on the edges. Then clean the track where the molding goes before replacing it back into the tracks. Otherwise it just seems to get a little yellowish over the years. Maybe it would be cheaper just to buy new and replace it. But this gives me something to do when I'm on summer vacations and the DW is shopping.

CountryGuy · 01-01-2006, 12:13 PM

Thanks Fordzilla

Al tells me this stuff is NOT cheap to replace! SIGHHHH, luckily, we did not lose this piece or have to cut it or something. Thanks for the info!

Dale, we expect Steve and Vicki in here in 4 days, as well as John and Marge. Skip and Mary are already here, Ormee and Ginette are as well, we have to go say hi to them. They are just around the corner, sorry you guys, we seem to have let 2 days go flying by and have not stopped over yet! There are ohhh, 6 or more, and several are MOC members. Montana and Mountaineer and Big Sky are well represented in this park!

sreigle · 01-06-2006, 04:42 PM

Carol, it was four days (390, 263, 190, 353) totaling 1196 miles for us and that's more miles per day than we like to do. Like you, we'll have days where we stay put a couple of days before taking on the next leg. However, we had three very enjoyable overnights, visiting with MOC members each night. The only downer for us was yet another blowout with a Goodyear Marathon and running the last 900 miles with the bald (inside tread) spare on the ground. It made it but those Goodyear Marathons are history before we leave Mission in early March.

Good to see you and Al yesterday, by the way.

Go Pokes · 01-06-2006, 05:52 PM

We are glad you all made it safely down there. In a couple of years we hope to join you as snowbirds. Have lots of fun and get some rest. After being a MOC member for almost two years, finally met another member of the MOC and the member just happened to be the most famous member of all. We are sure glad Steve and Vickie made it on the bald tire. If any of you are ever traveling through Oklahoma please e-mail us and we will meet you for dinner. Bruce and Marilyn

HamRad · 01-06-2006, 08:13 PM

Steve,
I hope the blowout didn't do any damage to the rig. Did you lose the fender skirt?

Sounds like you're getting rid of the Marathons. And I assume the rig did OK with the blowout? No sudden jerks or sways? Glad it all worked out.

Dennis

You may also like: