Thursday, November 27, 2014

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, OBAMACARE AND OTHER GREMLINS

Currently in Goodyear AZ (Low 38 Sunny High 82) 

First of all Happy Thanksgiving to all! Hope everyone is safe and enjoying the holiday. We are thankful for all of our family and friends and the fact that we can tour this great country and enjoy the wonderful scenery like this from our visit to Yosemite.



Bob has been tearing out his hair recently researching Obamacare. He was one of many that lost his insurance because of Obamacare and after his experience it should be called the "Unaffordable Care Act", at least for us. He is not old enough for Medicare, who thought the day would come when you were looking forward to Medicare?

Here are the cold hard numbers, premiums went up 80% over what he was paying for retiree coverage. That premium is now about 1/3 of his pension. The deductible and out of pocket maximum are both higher. We think this change will easily double what we were paying before after you add in the higher deductible and out of pocket expenses. The only good news is that he signed with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas which we know is a good company.

Finally, we got some feedback that our description of the great horned gremlin that was causing our trailer brake problem might need some better explanation. Here is hopefully a better picture.



Here is hopefully a better description. The above is a picture of the brake wire that was cut out. The plastic insulation on the wire was peeled back forming the horns by the wire rubbing against the grommet that it ran through into the frame. As we bounced along the rubbing exposed the bare copper, you may have to zoom in to see the exposed copper, which then shorted out occasionally. If you click on the photo it should become bigger. We think this great horned gremlin was the problem with the trailer wiring.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Thursday, November 20, 2014

LAST TRAILER BRAKE GREMLIN - A HORNED GREMLIN AT THAT

Currently in Goodyear AZ (Low 37 Sunny High 72) 

We had quite the time chasing all the trailer brake gremlins away. We would change something (pigtail plug, truck socket, power line to the brakes, etc.) and the problem would appear to be fixed but crop up later down the road. The last fix was good for about 800 miles and 5 trips. Exhausting all the possibilities from the truck towards the actual brakes it was time to examine the brakes.

Dale's Mobile Service in Albuquerque first tested the workings of the brakes and they were OK. Then he checked the power line from one side of the trailer to the other that runs through the axle. One line had a small defect that may have been an issue but the other line revealed the great horned gremlin.




The insulation was peeled back exposing both power and ground leads. The gremlin was just waiting for the right bad road conditions to strike. Although all the other things we changed out "could" have been a problem this certainly appears to be the culprit. 

We had trips from Albuquerque to Gallup, from Gallup to Winslow, from Winslow to Congress and finally Congress to Goodyear and we had brakes all the way every time. We think we finally found the gremlin, a great horned gremlin at that.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

ON THE ROAD AGAIN - TO GOODYEAR ARIZONA

Currently in Goodyear AZ (Low 37 Abundant Sunshine High 70) 

After a great couple of weeks at Escapees North Ranch in Congress Arizona we headed yesterday to our winter home. It was approximately 60 miles, here is the route we took.



We had brakes the entire way and arrived safely at are at our usual place, Destiny Phoenix West.



We will be here until early March. While here we plan to blog at least once a week but our days here are more relaxed than when we are traveling across the country. We have a few blog entries from our stay in Congress and others that we hope won't bore you too much.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Monday, November 17, 2014

DAY IN THE DESERT - CRESTED SAGUARO

Currently in Congress AZ (Low 35 Mostly Sunny Currently 45)
Heading to Goodyear AZ (Currently 41 Plenty of Sun but Cool High 67) 

We teased earlier with a photo of a crested saguaro. Here is our adventure getting there. We have been lot sitting at Escapees North Ranch near Congress Arizona the last couple weeks, parked next door to the Roving Riders. They have a Polaris side-by-side ATV and we went on multiple trips to the desert. We really enjoy the ruggedness of the desert. We also got a chance to drive the Polaris, aka the blue buggy. Here is Jo really enjoying her turn at the wheel.



The desert on the way to the crested saguaro.





Saguaros are everywhere.



We came across a dead saguaro. Notice the woody spines that provide the support for these beasts.





Congress in the distance.



A couple more shots of the crested saguaro.




We liked this shot of the crested and regular saguaro with the mountains in the distance and a barrel cactus closer.



It was a great day in the desert.

Today we are heading to our winter spot at Destiny RV in Goodyear Arizona, Lord willing and the slideout comes in, AND the brakes work.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Thursday, November 13, 2014

EXTENDED OUR STAY IN CONGRESS ARIZONA

Currently in Congress AZ (Low 40 Clouds and Sun High 71) 

We were having so much fun in Congress Arizona that we extended our stay. We have been real busy sightseeing and other activities, we sure have a lot of blog entries to catch up on once we settle into our winter home in Goodyear Arizona next week.

Sorry that we haven't blogged lately, here is a teaser on future blog entries. We went with our neighbors The Roving Riders to the desert a number of times, one time was to see a crested saguaro.



We will have more on this visit, what causes the saguaros to crest, and other activities in future blog entries so stay tuned.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

ON THE ROAD AGAIN - TO CONGRESS ARIZONA

Currently in Congress AZ (Low 49 Sunny High 71) 

We left Winslow Arizona yesterday and drove approximately 200 miles to Congress Arizona. This is the route we took.



We are at Escapees North Ranch and will be here for a week.




Our next stop is our home for the winter, Destiny Phoenix West in Goodyear Arizona.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Saturday, November 1, 2014

ON THE ROAD AGAIN - TO WINSLOW ARIZONA

Currently in Winslow AZ (Low 50 Partly Sunny and Windy High 75)

We left Gallup New Mexico yesterday and headed to Winslow Arizona. It was approximately 145 miles, this is the route we took.



We are now on Arizona time which means we fell back 1 hour once we crossed the border. Arizona does not observe daylight savings time so we are ahead of the curve and changed our clocks before everybody else this weekend.

As mentioned we are in Winslow, aka Windsblow per the truckers, and today is no different. Luckily it wasn't bad wind yesterday during our travel but really bad now and the forecast is bad tomorrow. Hopefully it will be OK on Monday our next travel day.

Besides no wind issues the other good news from yesterday is that we did have trailer brakes for the entire trip. With high winds and rain in the forecast tomorrow we will probably just hang loose the next couple days. Here is a photo of Meteor Crater which we visited during our last visit to the area.




Till next time,

Bob and Jo