Howdy everyone! Its mid June 2020 and we are in northern Montana, near Glacier National Park. So wonderful to be out again in the RV, and in the mountains. There’s something about the mountains and the big sky out west that we just love.
We left June 2, 2020 for our 4th (do you believe it???) season of RV travel. We have not been in the RV since we returned back to Ohio last November. Feels like a very long time and we’re happy to be back in our home on wheels. Lots to update you on!
First, the RV: we almost traded in our Mobile Suites last fall/winter. We visited the factories of 2 other manufacturers: New Horizons and Luxe. We liked both makes, and were tempted to buy a new 5th wheel. But, in the end, we decided ours was still in very good condition and we will wait another year or so before we trade in. We’re glad for our decision since we would likely have had a significant delay in the building of a new RV had we moved forward, since the manufacturing plants shut down for awhile.
We did, however, have quite an adventure with our RV this spring . I’ll give you an overview and try to keep it short (you know I’m not very good at that! 🙂 ) We took the RV to our dealership in November when we returned, as usual. We had a list of things for them to repair/look at, as well as our usual “we’re not mechanical so please look everything over including brakes, wheels, etc to be sure it is in good condition for the long travel we do” request. They had it in service until mid-February. Seems the holidays and an RV show in Cleveland every winter get in the way of our service appointment. Anyhow, it was “done” and we picked it up at the dealer in Medina, Ohio, and drove it to our indoor storage unit in Springfield, Ohio – about a 3 hour drive. Our storage unit is about 1 mile off the interstate, and, literally as we pulled into the driveway of the storage facility, the RV skidded to a stop, lurching the truck. Big skid marks in the parking lot. Turns out a brake line had broken. We were extremely lucky this happened after we got off the interstate. We were pretty shaken about what could have happened. Anyhow, a phone call to the dealer, a couple of pictures sent and we figured out the broken brake line. We managed to “rock” the RV a little, and got the wheels unlocked and managed to get into our storage unit. So unhappy to say the least. We ended up hiring a repair shop, Andy’s Big Rig Brakes, locally, who came to our storage unit and replaced all the brakes, the entire wheel that was ruined from the brake line failure, and also replaced all 4 tires. Our extended warranty people came to examine the RV twice and ended up only paying for a small part (I know….shouldn’t be surprised….but we were anyhow!) We also took it to Cleveland to a special alignment place that determined our axles were out of alignment and corrected. I’ve written about this suspicion in other posts…we kept getting excessive tire wear – hoping this alignment fixes that issue too. We spent a lot of time on these repairs and discussions with the dealer about how unhappy we are with them not even looking at the brakes, in spite of our request they do so.
So, that was a big project and would be nice if that was all. But – wait! – there’s more! So we get the RV out of indoor storage in May, to get ready for our trip. The RV was winterized while at the dealer since it sits outside while it waits for its service there. I’m not a fan of the winterizing process, they run this pink stuff all through the water lines and it takes forever to get it all out again. Which is why we pay for an indoor storage unit. And, last year, when we picked up the RV from service, it was full of mice from being outside at the dealer so long. Alas, that is another story and I will save you that one! Anyhow, back to last month when we took the RV out of our indoor storage unit and brought it up to Columbus to get ready for this trip. I started the “unwinterizing” process, hooking water up and running water through all the pipes.
You may recall in previous posts how we had problems with our fresh water tank filling sometimes, even when we didn’t have it set to. I researched an found the check valve in the water system had a recall for a faulty valve. So, that was one of the things that was replaced when it was in for service this last time. They replaced the entire water hook up system, which included the water heater valve. When they winterize an RV, they set the water heater to “bypass” so you don’t get pink stuff in your water heater. Then, when you “unwinterize” you change it to “normal” on the water heater, to get the water heater tank to fill up. So I did this. And, after giving it ample time to fill up, I turned on the water heater. It kicked on, but water never got hot. So, I called a mobile RV repair guy who found out they installed the “bypass” and “normal” settings backwards for our hot water tank! Yup! The tank never got water into it because “normal” was really “bypass”. So when I turned on the water heater, it burnt out the heating element since there was no water in the tank.
We hear stories like this a lot. Really, I don’t know how things can get done so poorly all the time. But, lucky for us, we have a back up water heater that runs on propane, so we are doing without the electric heating element for the time being. I’m going to get it replaced somewhere along the way this summer. Oh well, I’m learning a lot!
Now on to the fun stuff! Our first destination this year was Minnesota to visit with Guy and Katelyn. We stayed again at Crystal Springs RV Resort. We love it there. It’s about 80 miles from Saint Paul, but it is beautiful and lots of acres for Gerry to run. Guy and Katelyn stayed with us for a few days, and Katelyn’s parents came to visit also. So nice to get to know them and spend a day together! I’m also happy to report that Aspire Sober Living added it’s 3rd home – we closed on the house the end of March, and it has been up and running one day after Guy moved in. Even with all the business closures, the sober community supports each other and many went out of their way to help Guy furnish the house and make repairs needed so the home could be occupied as soon as possible. Amazing stories of people helping way above and beyond. So thankful.
After leaving Minnesota, it was on to Bismark, ND to visit some Lewis and Clark sites. A nice museum and a replica of the fort they built in 1804 when they spent the winter there. Then on to Montana. First we went to Great Falls, Montana – we had this idea of kinda following the Lewis and Clark trail. So I had booked us into a RV park for 3 nights, thinking we would explore the area and maybe get in a hike. Well, I didn’t research the area enough, and we got there and were terribly disappointed. It is not a pretty area (despite the name sounding pretty!), and it is not in the mountains like I thought it would be. And the RV park was terrible. So, we left after one night. That’s one of the advantages of traveling by RV, we can be pretty flexible with our travel plans. So we arrived in Columbia Falls, Montana, where we are now, a couple of days early. We stayed in this same area 3 years ago, when we were on our maiden voyage, to Alaska. It’s fun to be back and remember places we visited then and to reminisce; and to realize how much we really didn’t know then about RVs! Not that we’re experts now, far from it, but we have learned a lot!
We’re spending a few weeks in Montana, at a few different locations. We love it here and are so glad to be back out in the mountains. We got out yesterday for our first hike – a beautiful hike through the pine forest up to an alpine lake. Wonderful. I think we all (Steve, me and Gerry) needed that hike! Now we’re going to relax and enjoy this area. Columbia Falls, Montana is also very close to the little towns of Whitefish and Kalispel. Each town has its own farmers market, so there are 3 each week. Perfect in our book!
Pictures of our hike here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Fe5FGdyGVoX4pnjy7