Florida to California in our new Fleetwood Fiesta LX

Let's see, If I call an old car pool buddy from "work" that graduated from Eagle Rock too, I'll bet I could find out.  OF course I need to find her maiden name first!  VBG

You're making a great trip report! So happy you're keeping your good attitude even after crunching a little fiberglass. Little thing in a big world.

Looking fwd to reading the rest!!  Be safe.

James Godward said:

Let's see, If I call an old car pool buddy from "work" that graduated from Eagle Rock too, I'll bet I could find out.  OF course I need to find her maiden name first!  VBG

Click to expand...

Calkins and it was pre-WWII

i called my friend, and he has moved so i will have to look him up the hard way an guess what??  His name is John Brown.  I think Jim Smith might be harder!!  :-((

James Godward said:

i called my friend, and he has moved so i will have to look him up the hard way an guess what??  His name is John Brown.  I think Jim Smith might be harder!!  :-((

Click to expand...

My wife's maiden name is Brown.  She (Victoria) and her two sisters and brother all attended Eagle Rock High (Laura, Shelby, and David).

  Today started off poorly, but once again due to the kindness of strangers, everything turned out just fine.  When we were ready to leave the campground, we discovered that we had parked a little bit too close to the electric and water hookups at our site.  There was no way that I could manuever our coach and dolly without inflicting some damage on at least one of those.  My wife went looking for help, and brought back a fellow with a toolbox who proceeded to get our car off of the dolly and the dolly off of our coach.  I then moved our coach to a position where the dolly could be reattached, which the kind gentleman did, and then he helped us secure the car back onto the dolly.

  My wife and I have almost come to the conclusion that when we get back home we might sell the dolly and make future trips sans automobile.  Just about every incident that we've had can be attributed to the tow dolly.  I realize that as we get more experience we will be able to maneuver with it more easily, but I can't help but think that traveling without it may be the way to go.  One advantage that I see to keeping it is that we are getting much better fuel mileage with the car/dolly than we did on our shakedown trip without them.  I don't know if that's enough of an advantage to warrant our keeping it.  Anyhow, for tonight we're safe and sound in Marana, AZ.  My wife phoned the wrong RV park, and when we got here they were not expecting us, but the manager kindly found us a spot with an electrical hookup only.  No problem, we've got big holding tanks!  Tomorrow we'll call the other RV park and apologize for not showing up!

Irv

Are you all "scooter capable?"  We tow a race trailer so no toad and find motor scooters small, cheap, light, and easy, but you have to be able to muscle them on/off the rig. Every bad thing that's happened to you has been the toad. I wonder if it's just new to you and you don't picture yourself as an articulated item, or if a trailer just isn't for you. You'll know by the time you get back home, I guess. Good luck and carry on!

Irv, you're seeing why we recommend strongly against tow dollies.  You will be better off getting a towed that you can tow four down and get rid of the dolly.

  Last night we pulled into a campground in Ehrenberg, AZ.  We had a little scare when one of our cats got loose.  We're trying to keep him an indoor cat, since we've lost two cats in the past three years to automobiles.  We called his name, shook a bag of Pounce cat treats, and opened up a tin of Friskies, and about a half an hour later he came back to us.

  It's our intention to make it to Bakersfield tonight.  We plan to take I-10 to San Bernadino and then I-15, I-215, US 395 to CA 58.  That way we avoid L.A. traffic and we also avoid going up the Grapevine.  We're almost home!  (Benicia, CA)

Irv

irvsiegel said:

  It's our intention to make it to Bakersfield tonight.  We plan to take I-10 to San Bernadino and then I-15, I-215, US 395 to CA 58.  That way we avoid L.A. traffic and we also avoid going up the Grapevine.  We're almost home!  (Benicia, CA)

Click to expand...

Irv, it's a little faster and a lot smoother to exit I-10 in Redlands, taking CA 30 north. That curves around to the west and you catch 215 from it. I understand that the 215 is completed now to Pomona.

BernieD said:

Irv, it's a little faster and a lot smoother to exit I-10 in Redlands, taking CA 30 north. That curves around to the west and you catch 215 from it. I understand that the 215 is completed now to Pomona.

Click to expand...

Bernie,

  We left before getting your message, so we went the way that we originally planned.  Other than hitting a snowstorm in the Tehachapis, the route was fine.  I haven't driven in the snow in years.  I had a lot of fun, but Victoria was very nervous (she's from L.A., never drove in snow).  Somewhere along US 395 our ABS light went on and a text message appeared saying "Check ABS!".  We had smelled some smoke about two minutes before that happened, so now we believe that we're without ABS.  I called Camping World and scheduled an oil change for Wednesday, but they said that they didn't work on ABS.

Irv

irvsiegel said:

e're almost home!  (Benicia, CA)

Click to expand...

Irv, you live in a neat little town! Benicia marina is one of our favorite stops when we head down river to the bay.

Tom said:

Irv, you live in a neat little town! Benicia marina is one of our favorite stops when we head down river to the bay.

Click to expand...

Tom,

  Give us a jingle the next time you're in town!  Our home phone is 707-746-1747 and my cell is 510-701-0727.

Irv

Will do Irv, thanks, although it might be a while. We head east for a few months right after Christmas. Have a great holiday.

irvsiegel said:

  We left before getting your message, so we went the way that we originally planned.  Other than hitting a snowstorm in the Tehachapis, the route was fine.  I haven't driven in the snow in years.  I had a lot of fun, but Victoria was very nervous (she's from L.A., never drove in snow).  Somewhere along US 395 our ABS light went on and a text message appeared saying "Check ABS!".  We had smelled some smoke about two minutes before that happened, so now we believe that we're without ABS.  I called Camping World and scheduled an oil change for Wednesday, but they said that they didn't work on ABS.

Click to expand...

Irv

I made a slight mistake in my note regarding CA 30. It becomes I-210 to Pomona, not I-215. This time of year you'll always have the chance of snow in the Tehachapis, but you made it OK  

Which chassis do you have, Ford or Workhorse? IIRC it is the Workhorse which can be serviced at a Chevy/GMC dealer. If a Ford any Ford dealer should be able to take care of the ABS problem.

BernieD said:

Irv

I made a slight mistake in my note regarding CA 30. It becomes I-210 to Pomona, not I-215. This time of year you'll always have the chance of snow in the Tehachapis, but you made it OK  

Which chassis do you have, Ford or Workhorse? IIRC it is the Workhorse which can be serviced at a Chevy/GMC dealer. If a Ford any Ford dealer should be able to take care of the ABS problem.

Click to expand...

  We have the Workhorse chassis.  I'll check with the local Chevy dealer tomorrow.  Thanks!

Go to the Workhorse chassis website and you can look up authorized service centers in your area. Not all GM/Chevy dealers are Workhorse servicers. In fact many are not.  Workhorse uses a GM engine and an Allison transmission, but few other parts (including the brake system) come from GM.

Hi Irv:
I'm new to this board and was following your adventure from FL out west.  I hope to be doing the same next year.  If its not to personal, and you don't know me from Adams goat but how did the Doctor's appointment go.  OK I hope.  I got caught up in your adventure.
Denis

wack2547 said:

Hi Irv:
I'm new to this board and was following your adventure from FL out west.  I hope to be doing the same next year.  If its not to personal, and you don't know me from Adams goat but how did the Doctor's appointment go.  OK I hope.  I got caught up in your adventure.
Denis

Click to expand...

Denis,

  No, it's not too personal at all.  As a matter of fact I have a Yahoo Groups page (irvsrecovery) where I make semi-regular reports on my battle with cancer.  So far I've lived two, almost three months past the one year point, when my original prognosis was death within six months to one year.  I'm investigating new, innovative approaches to the treatment of my particular cancer (cholangiocarcinoma, or bile duct cancer).  In sorting out the real possibilities versus the junk science practitioners I've enlisted the aid of a doctor in Petaluma who specializes in life-threatening illnesses and looks through all of the responsible medical journals for real doctors doing real science who have had promising results with drugs and procedures that haven't been FDA approved.  My regular oncologist is tied to the "proven" methods, such as radiation and chemotherapy.  The trouble is that I've already had all of the radiation that I can have, and no chemotherapy agents have been show to increase longevity for cholangiocarcinoma.  So I keep getting chemotherapy, 'cause that's all my oncologist can offer me.  I've been in one clinical trial and may be in another one soon.  I bought my motorhome in December, because I figured, "If not now, when?"

                                                                                Irv

Hi Irv.
Great to hear from you and how your living large.  Your giving me alot to think about in an RV and life.  I'm struggling with the decision to retire and how to live the rest of my life.  I think there are alot of people who are learning how to deal of life decisions by reading how you are dealing with yours.  I admire your patience in dealing with the crash at the gas pumps.  I can't imagine the string of profanities I would have woven together if faced with that situation.  Good luck and keep up the postings. 
Your Friend in south Florida.
Denis