Walt's Corner

Putting the exciting news up front (I do hate clickbait), we accidentally bought our Retirement RV a little sooner than expected. An Airstream Rangeline! Which also means we’ll be selling the Lance (sad face).

Picking out our Lance was about a year-long process. Innumerable visits to many RV dealerships. Walking around them. Walking in them. Picturing us camping in them. Getting kicked out by security because “you can’t sleep here overnight.” Bitch, please. I lie down on that bed before I buy it!

Taking our time to pick that Lance out was almost as fun as buying it. What we (I) really wanted was an Airstream but back then there was no way we were going to afford that. We could barely afford the Lance, but at least it was the next best thing in my opinion. So the Airstream dream slipped into the back recesses of my mind and sprouted roots that dug deep and held.

The retirement RV was going to be all metal construction. No more applying sealant to the seams as a cyclic maintenance routine. No more wondering if this would be the time the slide decides to not work. Is it going to start leaking around the slide? How long is this frame and plywood sheet house going to last?

It was a major compromise from the both of us. Carol wanted a motor coach. Something she could comfortably drive. I wanted an Airstream – the classic bullet shaped aluminum riveted trailers. The Rangeline is our compromise. All steel construction. No slides.

We initially went to the Airstream dealer to just have a look at the touring coaches. See what they looked like inside. Would we think we’d be able to downsize that much? Dude made us an offer we couldn’t refuse and we bought it on the spot.

This will certainly be a huge learning curve as we transition from camping in what essentially was a mobile home (trailer) with walk-around queen size bed, full kitchen with oven, stove, full-size fridge and freezer, table that seats six, walk in bathroom with shower and full vanity over the sink to store all my assorted sundries, separate closets and wardrobes, and food pantry.

Transitioning to what’s basically a cargo van. But Airstream does find a way to maximize what little space it does have. Definitely a 2-person only RV with a full-size bed that folds up and out of the way for maximizing cargo space when traveling. Could have opted for a pop-up top. Nope! Just another place to worry about leaking later.

Due to its much smaller footprint, we will be able to fit into a ton of more spaces than what we have been accustomed to. It is hard to explain the anxiety one gets when rolling into a camping area, knowing that out of the 30 different spots available, your rig will only fit into 5 of them, and let’s hope there is at least one of those 5 available. This van will fit just about anywhere.

All of the usual places we repeat camp? I can think of all the spots that are available to us now. City of Rocks. Aguirre Springs. Oliver Lee Memorial. Bryce Canyon. Zion. Joshua Tree. Fort Davis.

Sad to see the Lance go, but we will be selling it. The Airstream dealer graciously offered to sell it on consignment, with no fees.

This is going to be a wonderful next chapter in our lives!

I had purchased a couple of these lights when I installed a new cabinet in my bathroom. Small. Easy to mount with magnetic plates that mount under your cabinet via two-sided tape or small screws. I opted for the tape. It has held up well for the last several months. The light just snaps into place and easily removes when needed for charging. This model is 8 inches long and super thin. Easily fits into the shallow side pocket of my toiletry bag when I’m packing for the trip or packing to leave. It is so thin that mounted where it is, unless I’m looking for it, I won’t see it and will forget to take it home with me after our trip.

The light has 3 brightness levels to choose from and can be set to turn off after a few seconds of no motion or constantly on.

The light charges using the included USB-C cable, but any will do. Chances are you arleady have plenty of USB-C cables laying around. In my house the single charge lasts longer than 2 weeks but will be dead by 3.

You can check it out on Amazon.

I had never heard of this one before but it sounds absolutely amazing! No fool, not the name, the actual recipe. I came across this from one of my tech-friends on Mastodon. You can read about it here and even see a cool YouTube video.

Being the ordained minister that I am, always doing the Lord’s work, I’ll give it to you here so that you don’t have to deep dive into another website full of pop-ups and ads.

First layer is coffee liquor. 2nd layer is Irish Cream. Top layer is whiskey. Serve in a tall 2oz shot glass. I love coffee. I love Irish cream. I love whiskey. What’s not to love about this shooter?

Early last month (July) I wrote about May’s Energy usage and how much longer our air conditioner had to run to maintain 73-74º inside the house during our days of 100-110º weather.

Since our air conditioner was over 17 years old now and the fact that Freon for this old system is much harder (if at all possible) to find, we decided it was time to replace it. Replace it while it was still operating and not replace it because it broke down. That would probably force us to take whatever is available in stock to minimize the downtime of cool air.

We decided on a Trane Premium system. 2-stage variable system. It did take over a week to come in and then another week to where the authorized Trane dealer’s and our schedule lined up to make it happen.

In our area, there is only one authorized installer – Dynamic Heating, Cooling, and Refrigeration. They did an excellent job. Nothing but praise from me. They had the new system installed and running by the end of the day, with cosmetic finishing touches completed by lunch the following day. They even put in an extra return vent at my request.

When they realized the three of them were not going to be able to lift the massive new condenser over our wall for placement in the back yard, they called in a crane to handle the task.

Now our house can get down into the 60s should I choose to do so. Typically I enjoy 72 at night and 73 during the day. With the 2 stages and variable condenser, it can be barely running at 30% if that’s what it takes to maintain our temperature, or it can be like a blasting fan when more oomph is needed. Love it!

Before heading up to the Lincoln National Forest for Memorial Day weekend, I noticed the fresh water tank hanging low on the back drivers’ side. Further inspection revealed a busted bracket. Fuck! I was able to secure it with a cargo strap for the trip, but a more permanent solution would be required.

I was not motivated enough to spend an entire weekend dedicated to this repair, but I was motivated enough to NOT pay a repair shop for the work. While this post documents each day of work, know that it was one to four hours per day, and one day per weekend that I dedicated to this.

This ends up being much more labor intensive than the initial building of the RV because this bracket is fabricated on the spot as it is being built, AND while the coach has not been assembled onto the trailer yet. So they can just stand over the trailer frame and mount it all from above. I don’t have that luxury. I used the tongue jack to crank up the front end as high as possible and I crawled up underneath to make this repair.

Day One – 1 hour

I crawled under and removed that bracket so I can see how I’m going to fix it. Was not an easy task, to be sure. At least the cargo strap is holding the water tank and protective cover in place while the bracket is removed.

Hauling the trailer down normal roads probably would not have broken this bracket. It is those forest and back desert roads (and off roading) that are so hard on a fully filled 45-gallon water tank. Onto the frame of the bracket, Lance welds an end cap which contains a couple wing tabs that extend out for securing the bracket to the frame of the trailer – 2 bolts on each side. Same setup for the front of the fresh water tank. Down the middle is the strap that connects the front bracket to the rear bracket and literally holds up the tank.

Day Two – 2 hours

I cut off those wing tab end caps and fabricated two L-brackets of similar width to the bracket bar. I had to apply a torch to 1/8 inch steel bars in order to bend the steel without breaking or weakening the steel’s integrity. A final heating and cooling cycle for additional hardening. Instead of using a wing bracket to secure to the frame, I now have a L bracket that points straight down from the bracket. This was where my first mistake was made. The bend of my first bracket did not happen where I intended. I’ve never bent steal like this. This made it an inch longer than I intended. I’ll deal with that later if necessary. The 2nd bracket I took that Kentucky windage into consideration and was able to get it to bend exactly where I wanted. Put a fresh coat of paint on the entire bracket.

Day Three – 1 hour

Next step was attaching the brackets to the bar. I went with some self tapping screws, drilling down from the top of the bracket to keep the stubby ends from poking into the floor of the trailer.

Day Four – 2 hours.

Now that I had the bracket fabricated, I had to maneuver it back into place up under the trailer. Because of my extended L brackets, that proved impossible unless I removed the tunnel cover that runs between the axles housing HVAC ventilating hose and miscellaneous wires. After removing that tunnel cover I was able to position the bracket into place with ease.

Remember that mistake of the inch longer than intended bracket? This is where it bit me in the ass. The bracket would not rest clean against the trailer frame. IT was resting on another bolt. I would have to come back with a cutter. Would I remove the bracket and take it back home or come another day with a cutter? I chose the latter. Another day it is.

Day 5 – 1 hour

Today would be spend cutting off an inch of bracket. With an angle grinder. While installed in place. Right next to a propane line. “Careful” was the word of the day! Success! Now the bracket fit perfectly in place. But still not flush against the frame. To properly mount the bracket to the trailer frame I needed the brackets clamped flush to the trailer. This was not going to happen without some type of C-clamp that had a throat much larger than any I already owned. Sounds like I’ve finished for the day.

Day Six – 4 hours

With the bracket in place and my newly purchased 18-inch C-clamp locking pliers, I was able to secure the passenger side bracket with 1 self tapping screw, but the 2nd one proved to be some trouble. Eventually I stripped that side out. Moved to the driver’s side and almost had the same result. Found my problem before I stripped this one. More steal to go through than the 1st screw. Needed a slightly longer one. A trip to Lowes and back fixed it. But it was too late for that other side. Already stripped out. It needs the next size up, or a simple bolt/locking nut combo.

Day Seven – 3 hours

Ended up using a 5/16 bolt with lock washer after drilling out the hole I stripped. Only took about 15 minutes to drill up the hole a couple sizes and install the nut/bolt combo. Made sure everything was put back properly and tightened, as well as shoring up some of the power and propane lines with pipe insulation for protection against vibration against the new metal parts.

I felt victorious as I removed that makeshift cargo strap “bracket” I installed back on Memorial Day weekend.

14 hours of labor and less than $150 in parts (including a new torch and C-Clamp locking pliers) I was able to get it back in operation. Question is, when will our next Field Training Exercise be?