Walt's Corner

We bought our Lance 1995 in 2015. The following year I noticed there was this tunnel cover that runs between the passenger and driver side between the axles. This cover protects a heating duct. This cover had worked its way loose. I also noticed why. Lance manufacturing became a bit skimpy when applying their self-drilling bolts. While they put a bolt every 6 inches or so along the front of the tunnel cover, they only used 3 bolts to cover the entire front of the tunnel cover.

My first fix was to tighten them back up and make a mental note to check it every trip. Over the years I got a bit lazy and ended up not checking it EVERY SINGLE TRIP. While we were out on our last trip, I noticed it was sagging again on the passenger side. Upon further inspection I also saw that the bracket had snapped on both the front and back sides of the passenger side. Time for a permanent fix.

We were at Morefield Campground, Mesa Verde National Park and a Walmart about 10 miles or so away. I picked up some self-drilling screws and some square brackets from the hardware department of Walmart and headed back to the campground.

I used the brackets on the 4 corners of the tunnel cover. Securing the cover to the frame of the trailer. I removed the existing screws and re-installed them a few inches over along the sides of the tunnel cover while adding a few more on the skimpy side. This cover is now rock solid.

This year’s Summer Camping Trip was the first big one coming off the heals of COVID-19. COVID didn’t stop us from the last couple years but it certainly had an impact on where we could or couldn’t go. I think the highest gas prices we saw were $5.56/gallon, but generally hovered around $5/gallon. It certainly could’ve been worse.

This year, the fires and droughts ended up being the big impacters preventing us from hitting a couple of the National Forests we had intended on spending a night or two in.

As usual, we didn’t need to fire up the generator one time. I always bring a little WEN 2000k inverter generator just in case. The trip I don’t bring it will be the one where my solar breaks down and I wish I had brought my genny.

Our first leg of the camping trip was supposed to be at Bluewater Lake State Park, New Mexico, but that plan was scrapped when a couple car wrecks along the I-40 between Albuquerque and Grants caused an over-26-mile line of dead-stopped traffic. People exited their vehicles and began tailgating. We decided to head east instead and spent the night at the Route 66 Casino RV Resort. That line of stopped traffic ended up lasting over 5 hours.

2nd stop we were back on schedule at the Navajo National Monument. Navajo Nation still has high concentrations of COVID so not all of the park is back open. In the meantime, the Sunset View campground is free to stay at. There are over 30 sites to choose from. With a 24 foot trailer, we had several options to choose from. Anything over 24 feet and your options were limited to around a couple sites. There was a 28 foot limit, but there was one site where a 40 foot motorhome was able to back in and just fit.

3rd stop took us back to one of our favorites parks – Bryce Canyon National Park. The campground sucks. If you know me at all, I prefer to park in a forest away from other people. But if you want easy access to all of Bryce’s natural beauty, you put up with a lot of people. Spent several days on several hikes. I will say this, for a crowded campground, the park hosts do a phenomenal job in maintaining the thin line between order and chaos. Kudos to those hosts.

Apparently, when I planned this trip back in January, I had planned a 1-night stop in between Bryce and the next big stop, Mesa Verde National Park. Between January and now, I forgot. I usually plan about 250 miles in between stops. When we left Bryce and plugged in the coordinates to Mesa Verde, I saw we had 396 miles. I gaped at that and said, “OK, let’s do this.” Once we arrived at Mesa Verde and checked in, the campground office informed me that my reservation was for the following day. They were able to accommodate the extra night. Mesa Verde is one our National Parks that is contracted out to resort companies. They handle the job well. I especially like how they give you a slip of paper with your check out date on it, and you find the site you want and claim it. With almost 300 sites, they rarely run full. Sites are well placed with plenty of room between most to trick you into thinking that you’re by yourself. We spent 5 days here and could have easily spent a few more. We did the longer hikes and visited most of the ruins.

Park services are amongst the best. Trash dumpsters are strategically placed and are numerous. The trash truck comes around every day to collect. We stayed in the dry camping loop. There are 2 dump stations with dumps each for a total of 4 choices. 1 fresh water source is available at each dump station. Many national parks could take lessons from the management of this campground. I’m looking at you Guadalupe National Park. The Campground General Store is amazing. Many shirts to choose from. Lots of camping groceries, ice, even liquor to keep you from having to go into the nearest town.

You hear about the man who with no flight experience who came into real trouble when the pilot of the Cessna he was in became incapacitated? He radioed the tower and they gave him a quick block of instruction and he landed the plane without incident. Give that man a license!

Shoot. I just throw my replaced unwanted appliances right on the curb with a piece of paper taped to that contains the words “free” and “works.” The Recycle Fairy swoops in and takes it away for free within minutes. Sometimes I don’t even have to do that. People have actually knocked on my door just to make sure that entertainment center was there to be taken.

According this article people actually pay for that to happen?

Best Buy can go love themself. When was the last time I even stepped foot in a Best Buy? Had to be around the time that X-Files and Star Trek TNG was coming out in full seasons on DVD.

This reminds me I’ve got a fully operational over the range microwave to drag out to the curb this weekend.

For those of us who still wear real watches, and not some Dick-Tracy-wannabe-lets-notify-me-without-having-to-carry-a-phone-yet-another-gadget-tell-me-you’re-a-nerd-without-telling-me-you’re-a-nerd, it’s that time again. Personally, I wish we’d just get rid of Daylight Savings Time altogether.

Those with the smart watches will be really happy when the iBrain iMplants come out. Perhaps they’ll even charge themselves off our bodies, essentially, using our bodies as the battery. We’ll just call ourselves copper tops.

I kid, I kid. I’m a bit envious of Apple watches. But my love of real watches is a bit stronger and wins out. At least for now. I reserve the right to change my mind at a later date.

The irony of the movement of my GS and the title of this blog post is not lost on me. 🙂