Eastward HO!!- Just the facts Maam!

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SargeW

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Well the weather is just starting to break in parts of the country.  At least we hope. Starting next Friday we strike out on a eastward trip that will take us through Red Bay, Al to visit the mother ship (Tiffin) to get some warranty work, then on to the Keys for a few weeks. 

Lots of stops in between, and we are hoping for some smooth sailing. You are welcome to tag along on here, or the DW's blog, (link in signature line).  She is a great writer, and always includes her own special flair. See ya on the road!  ;)
 
Sounds awesome Sarge. Maybe we will see you on the road because we are in FL heading west after visiting Freightliner in SC for annual maintenance. Hopefully you have few repairs that Tiffin can get to quickly because I believe Red Bay is worse than Forest City as far as being secluded, as if that is possible LOL.

Have fun and be safe!
 
Thanks Kev! You need to get out there and stretch those legs!

Dar, I think you may be right, but I got my fingers crossed.  But hey, its all part of the adventure!
 
SargeW said:
Thanks Kev! You need to get out there and stretch those legs!

I know, I know. Right now the MHs in a bunch of pieces while a large solar system is being installed - while all the valances are being replaced - while some cabinet work is being done - yada yada. Even though I just retired, Cyndii Jo is still working and Andi Jo has got another year of high school. So for now, all I can do is enjoy other people's long RV trips vicariously. :-\  Keep the trip reports comin'.

Kev
Edit: Fixed quote.
 
I agree with Sarge, some pics when you are done Kevin would be greatly appreciated.

We saw a million dollar coach at Lazy Days a couple of weeks ago with wooden valances that had just a hint of matching fabric to the motif. Liked them allot so I am thinking another year or so I should be bored with the current fabric and it will be time for a change. In the mean time I will live vicariously through you on that because we don't sit long enough for me to get anything like that done ;). Enjoy your remodel.
 
Well we have arrived at the first leg of our Eastward Ho journey. It was a short trip actually to enjoy some of the cooler temps of our local ski resort mountains.  So we pulled into Serrano Campground in Big Bear, and the weather was still a beautiful 70 degrees.  I know that some of the eastern readers will find that mildly amusing! But with our temps at home in So. Cal hitting high 70's and low 80's this weekend, it was a nice way to start. 

Other than some typical So. Cal Friday afternoon traffic, the journey was uneventful.  I was interested to see just how the new rig would pull the mountain grades coming up here.  We got as high as 7200+ feet, with lots of switchbacks and 20 MPH corners.  We are loaded heavy right now too, just about "full timer" loaded.  Plus a little extra as Diane took all the extra stuff from the house that we would not be back to use for the next 3 months. 

The rig pulled well, the upgrade to the Cummins ISC 8.3 motor and the Allison 3000 MH trans worked just as I had hoped.  The 1025 ft lbs of torque really helped keep us rolling on the mountain grades.  Even with the 5000# Jeep in tow, the rig never felt sluggish. (Our Journey that we had was powered by the Cummins ISB 6.7, and an Allison 2500MH trans)

With the VMSpc I was able to keep an eye on the temps, and all were within comfortable specs.

We chose Serrano campground as we have stayed here before. We are staying in Snowberry loop, which is full hookups.  This is a National Forest campground, which is way cheaper than the private campground across the street.  This is a little more rustic, but at around $37 a night, it works out great.  The private place across the street is around $100 a night. 

Our kids and grand kids will visit for a few days so we can get some big hugs to take with us on the road. We will do some exploring around here (watch Diane's blog for her details) before we head to Lake Mead for the next stop. 
 
Marty,

After reading your post about Serrano campground, we took a look at it online. It looks like a great place to camp. Most of the sites look like they're big-rig friendly but I was wondering how level they are, and if the roads going up the hill and in the campground were doable for a 43 foot motorhome. We thought we might like to head up there sometime.

Kev
 
The pads from side to side are very level Kev. The biggest issue we had was that some of them sloped backwards, away from the road, thus making your jacks lift the back end higher than the front.  We walked the loop and recorded the the site # that were favorable to a MH.  I also picked the ones that had most of the free space on the door side of the RV. 

If interested let me know and I can provide site#'s for you. 
 
Well we left Serrano campground and headed for Nevada. We went down the "back way" out of Big Bear.  It's highway 18 East, and the  route is shorter down the mountain, but much steeper in places. Some grades are as much as 11% with some tight switchbacks. The key to the decent is GO SLOW and use low gears.  I also recommend hitting the turnouts whenever necessary.

Even going slow and using the pullouts to let traffic go by I could still smell the brakes by the time we got to the bottom. It is just a whole lot of weight to hold back on that steep of a grade.  I wasn't alone though, there were a few other trucks behind me creeping down the mountain as well.

The next stop was a campground we had not stayed in before, Lake Mead National recreational area. It is a campground that requires an entrance fee to get in every day, so having a National Parks pass is highly recommended.  The campground itself has lots of permenant park models that have been here for quite a while, but several of the areas are being refurbished with RV only sites.  We stayed in the newest section which is the "Lake View" sites in the very front.  They are FHU sites with 50 amp, wide cement pads for the rig and patio area, and new gravel around that.  The sites have hookups on both sides of the pad, so you can pull in with your MH or back in with your towable and still have an awesome view of the lake. 

The rate for the lake view sites was about $45 a night, and some of the older ones up the hill may have been a little less.  There is also a dry camp area next to the FHU section that can be had for $10 a night, or $5 a night if you have the Senior National Parks Pass. 

The park is pretty close to Boulder City, and about 19 miles from Henderson.  It's a good thing too, since as soon as we pulled into the campground and unhooked the toad, I started hearing the tell tale "screech" from our rear brakes on the Jeep.  The early warning wear indicators were rubbing the rotors, and I knew a brake job was in my future.

I was able to hit a Jeep dealer in Henderson that got us in the next day, and with a little pain in the wallet, all is well again.  The weather has been great, cool mornings, 70 - 75 degree afternoons and a light breeze off of the lake.  I will be back here again.

We head for Arizona today, next stop is Cottonwood Arizona, Deadhorse Ranch Campground. Sounds like an interesting place! 

BTW, the DW is doing installments on her trip journal blog with area info and pics. Stop on by!
 
We arrived at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood AZ, and were pleasantly surprised. We have not been to this park before, and are always looking for new places to stay. The park is reasonably priced at $25 a night. The sites are water and electric with a dump station available.  The sites are asphalt with good space between them. 

One of the big reasons to take this trip was to hit Red Bay, AL to get some service done at the Tiffin factory.  I have been on a few different web sites checking posts about the activity at the service center.  It was picking up fast, with a crush of RV's expected to show up after April 1st when the snow birds start heading back north, much like what happens at the Winnebago factory in Forest City. 

I talked it over with Diane and decided to make a bee line for Red Bay, and try to make it before April 1st. So, very uncharacteristic of us we made a series of one night stops to make the time line work out.  So we drove between 325 to 360 a day for 4 days, and pulled into Red Bay on a Thursday the 27th.  We got on the service wait list, and have a full hook up site in their campground.  It's a good thing, because they expect 40 to 60 more rigs to show up Monday!  Most of them will be dry camping in the back lot.

Driving across I-40 had it's challenges. A few days we hit some really strong head winds, which just eats fuel. With the Cummins ISC power plant, I had the cruise set on 65 most of the time which the rig maintained pretty easily. However, watching the number on the boost gauge bounce around 25 to 30+ pounds, I felt the pain at the pump. (For those not sure what "boost" is, the higher the boost # the more air and fuel is being forced into the motor to achieve the desired speed by the turbocharger) 

I was putting in between 35 to 50 gallons of diesel a day. That hurts the pocketbook, but now while I wait here for 2-3 weeks getting service, I will use zero fuel, and the camping is free.

Once we get out of here, we head to Georgia to visit family for a few days and the pace slows dramatically.   
 
We may get down there Will. We are a little up in the air until we see how long it takes us to get into a service bay here in Red Bay.  Stay Tuned!
 
Enjoy that ole Southern hospitality  8)  ...My family is from Red Rock which is about 40 miles from Red Bay.  If you like catfish, there's an old gas station east of Red Bay at the only intersection; and in the annex is a small restaurant that has great catfish.  It's a hole in the wall, but often Bob Tiffin is in there.  Then there is supposed to be a good restaurant in the back of the local grocery store.

Marsha~
 
SeilerBird said:
The weather has been beautiful here in Florida lately Sarge. ;D Good luck on your trip. :)
We just finished a 20 day tour including Key West and all points between and Tom is right, the weather was great in Florida.  Still on the cool side a few nights, but cool is OK.  Starting from Cedarcreek, Mo. we drove nearly the full length of Florida from the Alabama line down the west coast to Naples, across the Everglades, down to Key West then back up the east coast to Mayport.  From Mayport back to Ft. Smith, Ar. (son lives there).  By the time we get home we'll have driven about 3400 miles in 22 days.  It's been a great trip.

We did have one disappointment and that was the Everglades.  It is virtually dying from lack of fresh water, much of which is being sucked off to meet water demands in the rapidly developing coastal cities.  What a shame.  Unless something is done soon (and I seriously doubt anything will be), I suspect the next generation will have to use their imaginations to picture the glory of the place.
 
Molaker said:
We just finished a 20 day tour including Key West and all points between and Tom is right, the weather was great in Florida.  Still on the cool side a few nights, but cool is OK.  Starting from Cedarcreek, Mo. we drove nearly the full length of Florida from the Alabama line down the west coast to Naples, across the Everglades, down to Key West then back up the east coast to Mayport.  From Mayport back to Ft. Smith, Ar. (son lives there).  By the time we get home we'll have driven about 3400 miles in 22 days.  It's been a great trip.

We did have one disappointment and that was the Everglades.  It is virtually dying from lack of fresh water, much of which is being sucked off to meet water demands in the rapidly developing coastal cities.  What a shame.  Unless something is done soon (and I seriously doubt anything will be), I suspect the next generation will have to use their imaginations to picture the glory of the place.
I may have been right, but I am not right today. It is raining and dreary today.

The Everglades has been dying for about 100 years. From what I read the bird population is about 10% of what it was 100 years ago. However the state of Florida is committed to restoring the Everglades to it's former glory. A few years ago a multi billion dollar plan was approved. It will be many years till the plan is complete because the damage is excessive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restoration_of_the_Everglades
 

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