Hot End To A Great Trip

[Kevin Means]

We just got home from a 4300+ mile trip throughout ten western states, going as far east as South Dakota. The purpose of the trip was two fold - to visit family and friends, and to look for someplace other than California to live and operate our business.

The good news is, the ONLY thing that went wrong with the RV on the entire trip was, three screws pulled out of their holes in the leg of one of our dining room chairs. That was easily fixed after a quick visit to a hardware store. The downside of the trip was, now we have to decide between a lot of nice places where we want to live. Man, there are a LOT of beautiful places in this country.

Diesel prices averaged about $2.20 a gallon, before factoring in the discount from our EFS card. (If you don't have one, you should get one.) The lowest prices we saw were in Wyoming, and the highest prices, by far, were in California. Fortunately, we were able to engineer our route, so we only had to fill up once (half a tank) in California.

We travelled mostly on interstate highways, but intentionally got off the beaten path in Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico. We wanted to see some of the small towns and other not-so-travelled sights. We were both glad we did.

With the exception of sections of I-5 through parts of California, road conditions were, overall, pretty good, although I-25 S/B from Denver rivaled California's poor road conditions. At least it was under construction. When you're not used to driving on nice, smooth highways for long stretches, and then you experience it, you really learn to appreciate it.

I used the cruise control the entire trip, and we averaged 7.4 mpg. Not bad when you consider that we were towing, and our route took us over a lot of mountain grades. We had a lot of great weather, but while on I-90 in Montana, we encountered quite a storm - pouring rain and driving winds throughout much of the day. I probably should have pulled into a rest area for the night.

On our last day (yesterday) we encountered 118 degree heat while crossing the Arizona and California deserts - the hottest temps in which I can ever remember driving. It was over 100 degrees from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM - mostly averaging around 110. We saw vehicles of all types on the side of the road. I was glad I had had our coolant system flushed, belts changed and engine and tranny serviced a few months earlier. We sure love this RVing stuff!

Kev

 

[HueyPilotVN]

Looks like a great trip, glad you could get out during this pandemic

I agree that California is not the best place for operating a business.

It was 118 here in Lake Havasu City.

When you serviced your transmission I hope you used those filters.

 

[Heli_av8tor]

Yes, it does sound like a great trip. Glad everything worked well.

 

[ChasA]

The CBS news this morning reported that death valley had recorded130? yesterday, a new record.

 

[SargeW]

Great trip Kev! And you know the rule, "It's not a successful RV trip unless SOMETHING breaks!".  Any front runners on where to relocate?

 

[Kevin Means]

Bill, I used the filter you gave me on a previous transmission service. I really appreciate it Buddy. Marty, we fell in love with the area around Mount Rushmore. I had never been there before. Acres and acres of land with rivers, trees, hills etc. - at unbelievable prices (compared to San Diego.) But the distance from our kids and grandkids was an issue for both of us, and then there's the snow... I grew up in snow country, but Cyndi wasn't going for it. I get it.

We're looking seriously at 12 acres in the foothills south of Sierra Vista, AZ. I know you guys are familiar with that area. Incredible 360 degree views and it backs up to Forest Service land, so it's highly unlikely that it'll be developed. It's already got two wells and power, so there aren't any surprises there. We're going over the numbers now.

Kev

 

[SeilerBird]

What a stunning looking rig Kevin. Wow. I am glad you trip was almost trouble free.  )  If you can stand the heat you get a lot more for you real estate dollar in Florida. No income tax!

 

[SargeW]

Yeah, we owned 5 acres in Sierra Vista Kev. Had plans to retire and build there, but the arrival of grand kids and various other issues caused us to rethink.  It's a great area though, nice community, and we like that it was a military town.  It would be a great choice.

 

[garyb1st]

Glad you and Cyndi are out enjoying the fruits of your labor.  Hopefully you'll spend more time on the road in the coming months.  Still looking forward to meeting up with you sometime.  For now, it looks like that may be for a day or two at KOFA. 

 

[Kevin Means]

Thanks Tom. That was nice of you to say. Florida was on our tax-friendly list, but like Wyoming and South Dakota, states that are also on that list, we felt that they're just too far from family - one of our determining factors. We don't mind paying taxes - it's a necessary process, but the disproportionate tax rates here in California, combined with the realities of how those ever-increasing tax dollars are spent, makes moving to ANY other state appealing. (End of rant)

Gary, we sure hope you guys can make it to KOFA. It wouldn't be the same without you. We were planning to have another booth in the "Big Tent" at Quartzsite to introduce our latest product, but unless there's a vaccine breakthrough for the Wuhan virus by then, I doubt we'll go. I can't think of a worse environment for the age group that tends to shop in that tent, and personnaly, I don't think masks would help at all. People are usually shoulder-to-shoulder in there. I've been notified that there will be a Big Tent in January, but it'll be interesting to see how many people (vendors & customers) attend.

Since we probably won't go to Q, it means we'll be more flexible with our KOFA dates. We'll go to KOFA at least twice, and I'll keep you posted on the dates. Say hi to Maria.

Kev

 

[garyb1st]

Kev, going to the big tent can be fun and there are always a few $5 and $10 items that Maria seems to find, but I doubt there will be much social distancing.  Regarding wearing a mask, I suspect many of those at Q will have the same attitude on masks as the Bikers in Sturgis.  So unless things change dramatically, we won't be spending much time anywhere near the big tent. 

 

[jackiemac]

Looks as though you both had a fun trip.  We really liked the Devil's Tower and South Dakota in general.

We have visited Sierra Vista twice and were amazed at how much it had expanded the second time were were there (2015).  Seems like a nice place to settle.  Lots to see down in that area and lots of great birds if you like birdwatching.

Scott (Back to PA) used to workcamp down there, he is busy helping on his son-in-law's farm at the moment so he has not been on the forum much, but I am sure he can give you some tips.


Good luck with your plans.

 

[Rene T]

Kev, do you have a web site for the products you?re selling?

 

[Kevin Means]

We have visited Sierra Vista twice and were amazed at how much it had expanded the second time were were there (2015).  Seems like a nice place to settle.  Lots to see down in that area and lots of great birds if you like birdwatching.

Yeah, it really is a nice area Jackie. I actually thought of Tom SeilerBird when we learned the area was a favorite for bird watchers. In fact, the property we're interested is only about a mile from a lodge that caters to bird watchers. The lodge itself is also for sale. Beautiful place, and we looked seriously at it, but it would be too difficult to get our RV into, and we have no interest in operating a lodge.

Rene, our website is www.solarvector.net, however it does not have any info about the latest product, SolaRVector III-60, the solar tracking version of SolaRVector. We were going to announce it at the Quartzsite show, but since we're probably not going to be there, we'll roll it out in a couple of months.

Kev

 

[SargeW]

Just some info about the Quartzite show that I read on a different web site. The owner of the show has announced that he has tentative approval from the city to put the show on this year. He has submitted a plan that includes masks,  wider isles in the big tent,  and one way isles to minimize congestion.  So far the show is a go.