Whether you live in a sticks-and-bricks house, an RV, a mud hut, or something else, inevitably things break or need attention over time. As full-time RVers, our livelihood is literally riding on the structure and integrity of our fifth-wheel home. That means we have to take RV repairs and maintenance extremely seriously. Replacing a Ram 3500 turbo After Gulliver, our Dodge Ram 3500 dually, experienced difficulties climbing in the Black Hills of South Dakota — while towing our RV — we rerouted our planned course to Arizona for the winter to avoid mountainous areas. But we knew we had to address the issue before hitting the road again in the spring. The truck even had trouble accelerating to get onto a freeway, sans Tagalong. Wanting time to work out any kinks before committing to our travel season, we decided to change the turbo in December. Since Bob is handy, he chose to do the work himself. Taking the truck to a dealer to replace the turbo posed a large expense and threatened to affect the performance of our diesel exhaust fluid since a recall was due. Bob ordered the necessary parts for the repair, to the tune of nearly $3,500. Then he got busy watching YouTube videos to see exactly how to tackle the job. It looked to be a full-day commitment of six to eight hours — if everything went according to plan. (How often does that happen?) Wanting a second opinion, Bob reached out to Roy, our diesel mechanic friend. Roy confirmed the two of them could complete the job successfully, but he told Bob it would likely take three days. Not willing to risk that much time investment, Bob searched for a diesel expert in the Mesa, Arizona, area and found Copperhead Diesel Performance in Chandler. Chatting with an employee over the phone gave Bob great confidence that the organization could better handle the job, so he made an appointment to drop off Gulliver, along with the purchased parts. The techs at the shop were unable to replicate the error we had encountered, so they took us at our word that the turbo was the issue. In addition to replacing it and the air filter, the fix involved changing the oil and coolant, since both of those had to be drained. Three days bled into five business days before the truck was ready to be picked up — for another $3,100. Cha-ching! The costly investment was worth it for the assurance it gave us that Gulliver will have no trouble towing Tagalong on our next travel season and beyond. Patching a tire After setting up the RV for the winter, I went to cover the fifth-wheel tires to protect them from the harsh Arizona sun. Something shiny in one of the tires caught my eye. Closer inspection revealed it to be a screw. Had we picked it up on the side of the freeway after our fire mishap? Since we were situated for a long-term stay and the tire wasn’t losing any air, it appeared to be a non-issue. We certainly didn’t want to close the trailer and connect it to the truck to take it to a tire shop. Nor did we want to jack up the rig to put on the spare tire and take the problem tire to be fixed. Bob remembered that the G-rated tires we had purchased were designed to be regrooved after being worn down. In theory, that meant they had plenty of tread depth to absorb a screw or nail without puncturing the tire itself. With this in mind, Bob took a pair of needle-nose pliers to test his suspicion that the screw was bent over. He succeeded in prying the screw up and confirmed his hypothesis. The screw didn’t go very deep into the tire. After removing the screw completely, he filled the hole with tire repair glue* (paid link) to seal it from dirt and debris. And voila! No tire issue and no trip to a tire shop. Letting off steam As the Arizona temperatures started to warm, we took advantage of the moderate weather and opened our RV windows to let in some fresh air. We also opened our roof vent in the main living area, which operates electronically. Normally when activating the switch, the vent would reach a certain point and stop. Instead, the motor continued whirring. We couldn’t let that go on, so we closed the vent. Thankfully, it had no trouble finding the closing stop point.
A day or so later, I ascended the fifth-wheel ladder to investigate the unit while Bob opened the vent. The whirring continued once again, and I couldn’t identify anything clearly wrong. Bob put his excellent research skills to use and discovered that a piece on these units was prone to failure after about five years. It looked like that’s what had happened to ours, so he ordered a replacement part. When the part arrived, Bob took his turn climbing the ladder to address the unit while I activated the switch. Replacing the part didn’t immediately fix the issue. He had to retrain the vent where to stop. This took a lot of opening and closing — and a small crack — before getting it right. But we succeeded and are happy to have a working roof vent once again. You might also like Hole in the roof. * As Amazon associates, we earn from qualifying purchases.
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Setting out on an RV journey can provide many learning opportunities. When you’re transitioning from sticks and bricks to living full time in an RV, the lessons can be that much more important. We’ve grown a lot since embracing this RV lifestyle five years ago. Here are our top RV lessons. 1. Communication is paramount Communication affects every single aspect of RV living. If we’re not communicating well, we’re not living well. It’s important that we share our thoughts and expectations about travel days, setups, plans, etc. Otherwise, it’s easy to assume that what’s in my head is also in Bob’s head and vice versa — which is hardly ever the truth. We had to come up with recognizable terms when parking our 42-foot fifth wheel. For example, instead of saying “straighten out” to mean five different things, like on our very first trip, I’ve learned to give more helpful advice, such as “get your truck in front of your trailer.” That may sound ridiculous because, of course, the truck is in front of the trailer when we’re towing. But we’ve come to understand that to mean the truck needs to be aligned with the trailer. 2. Leveling doesn’t have to be complicated We’ve had more issues with leveling our rig than we ever thought we would, especially considering it has a Lippert auto-leveling system. After much trial and error throughout our first couple of years on the road, we gleaned a few tips and tricks that have helped us streamline the leveling process. We don’t push the auto-level button until our unit is above level. We determine that status using a LevelMatePRO wireless RV leveling device (paid link) we added to the rig. We also stack rubber and Camco leveling blocks (paid link) under our six stabilizer jacks before pushing the auto-level button to help prevent stroke errors. In addition, Bob learned how to reset the Lippert system using the digital display screen inside the RV. In conjunction with the LevelMatePRO unit, he retrains the Lippert system to what level is when the unit unexpectedly loses its memory. 3. Adaptability is the name of the game Nothing is set in stone when you live in a vehicle. It moves. The things inside it move. Sometimes its parts fail. Tires go flat. Weather shifts. Plans change. You have to be able to roll with the punches and adapt. Having been a perfectionist most of my life, it’s taken me many years to get to the point where I can go with the flow — and even enjoy doing so. I attribute much of my success in this area to my husband, who has helped round my edges and make me a better person. If it weren’t for his efforts, I might not be able to survive and thrive in the RV lifestyle, something I really enjoy. 4. Preventive maintenance is beneficial Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Nearly 300 years later, that adage couldn’t be more apt for RV life. Making a point to keep up with vehicle maintenance — on both our truck and trailer — can go a long way toward preventing issues literally down the road. Keeping tabs on tire pressure, performing oil and transmission fluid changes, greasing joints, and doing similar tasks are well worth the effort and the time they take. We can’t help but wonder if preventive maintenance could have avoided our freeway mishap at the end of our last travel season. 5. A TPMS is invaluable With 10 tires between our truck and fifth wheel, we’ve had our share of tire issues. In fact, in one year, we experienced four flat tires — all on the RV. Thankfully, they didn’t all happen at the same time. Before we first set out on the road, we invested in an EEZTire tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS; paid link) and are super grateful we did. As soon as a tire starts losing pressure, we get alerted. On more than one occasion after safely pulling to the side of the road, we’ve gotten out of the truck and heard air rushing out of the faulty tire. Thanks to early notification, the TPMS has saved our rig from damage. 6. Pleather doesn’t last Our 2018 Jayco Pinnacle came with a three-person couch and a reclining loveseat. This furniture is wonderful for hosting family and friends who want to visit — or at least it was. Because the pieces are finished with pleather, or plastic leather, they started to peel after five years of use, making them quite unattractive.
We found a temporary fix with a self-adhesive leather repair kit (paid link). That lasted for a year. It’s still holding at the time of this writing, but it’s starting to detach at the edges. On top of that, our furniture began peeling in other areas. We’ll probably bandage it with the temporary fix as well, but eventually we’ll need to replace our furniture with fabric pieces. You might also like Our biggest RV mistakes. * As Amazon associates, we earn from qualifying purchases. If 400 square feet of living space sounds small to you, that’s because it is. Despite that, for our first five years of full-time RV living, we used two Google Home smart speaker devices: one in the bedroom and one about 15 steps away in the kitchen. Recently, we became an RV divided when we traded one of the units for an Amazon Alexa virtual assistant. Embracing convenience It only seemed natural that we would have Google devices. After all, both Bob and I own Google Pixel phones and Google Chromebooks. In addition, I have a Google Pixel watch. When we sold our house and moved into the fifth wheel, we ended up keeping two Google smart devices, with the intention of giving one away. Before that could happen, Bob set up both units, and we quickly became accustomed to their convenience. The kitchen Google Home assistant is handy for rapidly adding items to our grocery list when we think of them, setting timers for cooking, playing music, and answering our questions that arise from conversations and TV shows. The bedroom Google Nest Hub displays photos we’ve taken, in addition to occasionally playing peaceful sounds, such as crashing waves or thunderstorms, when we doze off and answering our all-important weather questions in the morning when we’re getting dressed. Facing issues
Two units may seem like overkill for our small living quarters, and indeed they are. Many times, the Google device we wanted to operate deferred to the other, setting a timer in the bedroom, for example, when we needed it in the living room. Although activated by a simple “Hey Google,” the Google devices’ abilities seemed to be lacking. For some reason, I was never allowed to add anything to the grocery list. Google didn’t recognize my voice for that, even though I could ask her anything else. I had to go through Bob to add an item to the list or open the app on my phone and manually add it. We encountered another issue with the grocery list when trying to add two items at once. Google didn’t know how to process that. Instead, she added the two items as a single entry: cheese and dental floss. Exploring an alternative Having set up Amazon Alexa for his mom and seeing her success in using it to turn her lights on and off and handle other tasks, Bob started considering having us transition as well. Logically, it didn’t make sense, given our affinity for all things Google. Seeing a smoking deal on Black Friday, we decided to purchase an Amazon Echo Dot (paid link) to replace our Google Home smart assistant in the kitchen. We debated transitioning to a single unit given our small living space but decided to keep the Google unit in the bedroom, at least for the time being. I have to admit I like the Amazon technology. I’m now able to add items to our grocery list by voice. If I want to add more than one item at a time, Alexa is able to parse that information and add two (or more) entries rather than combining the items into one. If I attempt to add something I previously added, she’s smart enough to tell me it’s already on my list and can even delete an item if I accidentally say something I didn’t mean. Google couldn’t do that. In addition, I can talk to Alexa from upstairs in the bathroom or bedroom, and she can usually hear me. So, do we still need the Google unit? No, not really. But we like the convenience of having it available. And sometimes, we like Google’s answers to our questions better than Alexa’s. You might also like Staying healthy and fit on the road. As Amazon affiliates, we earn from qualifying purchases. Traveling the country on the well-designed interstate highway system and connecting state highways has been a staple of American life and freedom since President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. Although I first experienced the benefits of the interconnected highways at the age of 4, when my family moved from Michigan to Oregon, I didn’t appreciate the marvel of the highway system until embarking on my first cross-country tour with the Continental Singers and Orchestra at 18. I remember being amazed at the ease of travel with cloverleaf on and off ramps in Texas. Today, the “Greatest Public Works Project in History” makes full-time RVing possible. Although we like using interstates because we know they’re safe for our tall fifth wheel, we also like to venture off the freeways and away from large cities to get a better taste and feel for small-town America. Both kinds of travel can lead to some unusual sights. In addition to witnessing a total solar eclipse, dinosaur tracks, and the northern lights, here are some of the rare sightings we’ve observed in five years of RV living. Horse-Drawn Carriage on a Main Road Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is home to the oldest Amish settlement in the country. There, Amish people, who believe in simplicity and eschew technology, live alongside modern Americans who espouse contemporary conveniences. While en route from an overnight stop in Lancaster to Sight and Sound Theatre to see a show, signs displaying a horse and buggy gave way to the real thing. We happened upon a slow-moving horse-drawn carriage on the two-lane road and had to reduce our speed until oncoming traffic dissipated so we could pass. Camping Hearse Because our rig is fitted with solar panels that allow us to do a lot of boondocking, we don’t spend a lot of time at campgrounds. When visiting our son Josh in Eugene, Oregon, however, a campground offered closer proximity to him than boondocking options did, so we took advantage of it. While at this campground, a hearse pulled in one day and took up temporary residence in one of the campsites. We had heard of van living, but not hearse living. Typically, hearses are associated with death. Truck Camper on a Trailer Speaking of odd campers, while camped in Homer, Alaska, we saw a truck camper on the bed of a trailer, towed by a truck. I’m sure it has its advantages. After all, you don’t have to remove the camper from the bed of the truck in order to separate the two. But it looks a bit funny. We witnessed this phenomenon again in Canada en route to the Lower 48 after our summer in Alaska. Maybe it’s a new trend. A search on Reddit revealed people are asking about this setup and how to do it. Precarious Class A Motorhome While boondocking in the Badlands of South Dakota, we caught sight of a class A motorhome parked downhill with its front tires off the ground. The weight of the coach rested on its levelers, with no supports under the tires whatsoever. It looked too unsafe for my liking, but apparently the owner had no issues. I have to admit that the first time we took our fifth wheel out for a test camping run, we set it up and leveled it, lifting the two passenger-side tires off the ground. Although it looked a little risky, we felt pretty safe. We were quite inexperienced then and have learned a lot about proper leveling techniques since. We no longer park with tires out of contact with the ground. Windmill Fan Blades in Transit Travels through windy areas of the U.S. can lead to sightings of wind turbines designed to convert wind power into electricity. In passing, it’s difficult to gauge the immensity of these structures and how quickly their blades actually move. The length of a single blade is about 170 feet, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. We gained an appreciation for their enormity when seeing a blade stretched from behind a tractor trailer, seemingly suspended, and then attached to a self-steering, dolly-type trailer toward the back of the unit. Roadside Attractions Living on the road gives us lots of opportunities to see roadside attractions, of which there are too many to count. We’ve seen a gigantic hot dog on the roof of a restaurant in Michigan, an enormous roadrunner made of recycled electronics in New Mexico, a giant beaver in Beaverlodge, Alberta (between Calgary and Edmonton), the Dignity statue of a Sioux woman in South Dakota, and many others.
Perusing the collection of photos from our travels, I can’t help but be grateful for the amazing lifestyle we get to lead. You might also like 6 Big-Rig-Friendly Overnight RV Stops. In our fifth year of full-time RV living, we traveled 8,233 miles, averaging 257 miles per trip and staying at 29 places. Having headed east, where boondocking options are minimal, we spent the bulk of our six months on the road moochdocking. That gave us considerable time with friends and family while keeping our expenses low. Our travels took us to New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Colorado. Highlights of the year included sledding down white sand in Alamogordo, New Mexico; witnessing the total solar eclipse in Paris, Texas; visiting Buc-ee’s for the first time in South Carolina; touring Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina; and seeing the bombers from CAF Airbase Arizona in many places along the way. We often get asked about our favorite parts of the country. So, rather than spotlight our top stops of the year, we thought it might be fun to count down our five favorite RV destinations in five years on the road. As you can imagine, narrowing down the best areas this great country has to offer was no easy task. To be fair, there’s still a lot of the U.S. we haven’t seen (seven states, to be exact, not including Hawaii), but here goes. 5. Waveland, Mississippi Located on the Gulf of Mexico, Waveland, Mississippi, is unique in that the city doesn’t allow commercial buildings on its 5-mile beachfront. That means residents and visitors can enjoy beautiful views year-round. Most buildings in the area are on stilts in case of flooding, making for even better panoramas. What drew us to “The Hospitality City,” population nearly 7,000, was Buccaneer State Park. The campground is set back away from the waterfront, so at the end of my workdays, we’d pack our beach chairs in Gulliver and drive to the coast to bury our feet in the sand and bask in the warmth of the sun. The area is probably abuzz during the summer months. After all, Buccaneer State Park spans 343 acres and features a waterpark. But we visited in late March 2022, far from peak season. We liked it so much that we returned in late April 2024, still beating the crowds. 4. Louisiana Another Southern state made our top five. Louisiana boasts beautiful state parks, many that offer cabin rentals literally on the water, in addition to canoeing, fishing, and hiking. Having stayed at these campgrounds in Delhi in the northwestern part of the state and Westwego near New Orleans, it was difficult to pinpoint a favorite area. Compounding our choices, we spent time in Ville Platte in the central part of the state to visit friends Dwaine and Belinda. The entire Pelican State made our list for its delectable Creole and Cajun cuisine, crawfish boils, and completely different way of life than what Bob and I grew up with in Massachusetts and Arizona, respectively. The people are genuine, friendly, down to Earth, and extremely hospitable. 3. New Mexico Deserts We’ve spent a fair share of time in the deserts of New Mexico. The wide open areas offer plentiful boondocking opportunities, something we’ve grown to prefer. Being out in nature away from the hustle and bustle of city life has a lot of appeal, at least for us. We weathered a wind storm with gusts up to 50 mph in the desert near Carlsbad, had the privilege of experiencing the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta while camping at a casino nearby, spent an adventurous week in Alamogordo, and braved the heat near Deming in mid-September. Although we didn’t boondock at all of these stops (we had hookups near Albuquerque and Deming), they were all remote and shared amazing vistas, alluring mountain views, and magnificent sunsets. 2. Michigan’s Upper Peninsula When we started RVing, we knew we wanted to head to the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan sometime in our travels, despite having to drive our long, heavy rig across the 5-mile Mackinac Bridge. We took that opportunity in May 2021, before the tourist and Black flies seasons, and spent a week in St. Ignace on Lake Huron, a week in Gladstone on Lake Michigan, and a week in Christmas on Lake Superior. The UP is renowned for its numerous waterfalls, Porcupine Mountains, and Pictured Rocks — in other words, natural beauty. It definitely lived up to that reputation when we visited. Each stop offered lighthouses and unique things to see. Our favorite of the three was undoubtedly Christmas. While there, we rented a pontoon boat and toured the vast lake with frigid wind in our faces, docking on a small beach to grill lunch — an unforgettable experience. 1. Gravel Lake, Alaska Our trip to Alaska in 2023 remains the top highlight of all our travels. We drove our fifth wheel on the Alaska Highway both ways, with picturesque overnights in Canada’s Alberta, British Columbia, and Yukon. We spent the entire summer in the 49th state, from Memorial Day weekend to Sept. 1.
Of the myriad places we explored, manmade Gravel Lake (you won’t find it on a map), about 20 minutes south of Tok, ranked as our absolute favorite. We spent three wonderful weeks there, enjoying occasional appearances of moose, trumpeter swans, and fellow campers. For the most part, we had the quiet, peaceful place with mountain views to ourselves and appreciated its proximity to town for supplies. It also made for a good jumping-off point for a trip to Chicken, Alaska, a unique and worthwhile place to visit. You might also like 4 Perks of Full-Time RV Living. While camping at my brother’s farm in the middle of Michigan, we noticed some dark brown spots on the exterior of our fifth wheel that we hadn’t seen before. I was able to rub some off, so we didn’t think much about them. But we were curious as to their origin. We hadn’t painted or diffused anything nearby. Had my brother sprayed some pesticide or mosquito repellant? A quick browser search indicated we were dealing with fly defecation. Situated across the street from a cow farm, we had observed a number of flies in the area, so we quickly dismissed the dots as that. Shooting Spores Fast-forward two months. After setting up our rig for a long-term winter stay in the Southwest, we paid someone to power-wash it. He finished cleaning the coach’s exterior, but the spots remained. It appeared we had wasted $250. Further research revealed we were actually facing a case of artillery fungus, which is commonly found on rotting wood in moist environments. Having been established in 1893, the Michigan farm had its fair share of decaying wood piles, especially after a heavy windstorm wreaked havoc on the property earlier in the year. The name of the fungus is derived from its ability to release, or shoot, sticky spores into the air that attach to things such as vehicles up to 10 feet away. Those spores, if left untreated, can become permanent fixtures. Not wanting Tagalong to be speckled with brown spots for the rest of his life, we decided we’d better do something about them. But what? They clearly didn’t come off with power washing, which included soap and water. We needed a stronger substance. Finding a Heavy-Duty Solution Having spent a decade working on WWII airplanes, Bob is familiar with a variety of heavy-duty cleansers. His favorite is called Awesome, an all-purpose cleaner we’ve only been able to find at Dollar Tree. Evidently, it’s also available on Amazon (paid link). Knowing Awesome did a good job of removing grease and grime from airplane exteriors, Bob decided to try it on the RV spots. Simple rubbing of the cleanser didn’t immediately erase them. So, he invested in a polisher and put that to work with the Awesome. That extra power did the trick, allowing Bob to scrub the dots away. The only problem with this heavy-duty cleaner is that it can strip away wax and protective coatings. And that’s exactly what it did to our rig. In addition to removing the brown spots from Tagalong, we effectively rubbed away any protectant, a must-have in the harsh Arizona sun. Investing Elbow Grease and Time That meant we had twice the job we thought we did. With rain in the forecast, we spent our free time dousing, rubbing, and scrubbing Tagalong’s exterior to clean all the spots and Awesome off and reseal it with Turtle Wax ceramic spray coating (paid link). On a 42-foot trailer that stands more than 13 feet tall, that’s no easy feat. It involved a lot of early mornings to beat the heat and a lot of ascending and descending our telescoping ladder, moving it, and repeating the process — for the better part of a week. Afterward, we discovered a few spores we missed. Those will have to linger — and maybe even become permanent. But we’re confident our rig is clean and protected. And maybe next year, we’ll do the full job ourselves and not waste money on a middleman.
You might also like Storm-Ready: Battening Down the RV Hatches. As Amazon associates, we may earn from qualifying purchases. When we set out to become full-time RVers, we never envisioned spending a single night in a location en route to somewhere else. We quickly learned the folly of that mindset and have come to appreciate the respite of overnight stops when trying to reach distant destinations. Not all overnight options are big-rig-friendly, however. That means they can’t all accommodate a class A motorhome or a camping trailer that extends beyond 40 feet in length. Our fifth wheel is about 42 feet long, classifying it as a big rig. In our travels, we’ve found six big-rig-friendly overnight RV stops. 1. Rest Areas Rest areas are convenient stopping points on a long journey as they offer easy on-and-off access to a freeway. They also provide the added benefit of saving space in the RV wastewater tanks if we choose to use the public facilities instead of those in the rig. Some rest areas even have dump stations. In five years of RV travel, we’ve spent 15 nights at rest areas. Because of the length of our rig, we park with the semi-trucks. Although some run their engines all night long, it’s a constant hum that doesn’t really bother us. Not all rest areas are created equal, however. Some are smaller than others, and some are cleaner and feel safer than others. To determine if a rest area is big-rig-friendly, we examine the satellite view on Google Maps to get a better feel of the layout and ensure adequate space for opening our stairs. 2. Cabela’s/Bass Pro Many, but not all, Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shops allow overnight RV parking and can easily accommodate big rigs. Some locations are restricted by city ordinances, so it’s best to talk to the manager at the location you want to visit to make sure doing so is permissible. Although we’ve only spent three nights in a Cabela’s or Bass Pro parking lot, this is one of our favorite overnight stops. They’re usually quiet and close to restaurants, offering welcome relief after a long day of driving. 3. Walmart Like Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shops, some Walmarts don’t allow overnight RV parking, but most do. They also tend to be near restaurants. If not, they have food inside. We’ve stayed at eight Walmarts. This is often our last option because these parking lots can be noisy with people coming and going. At a Walmart in Gallup, New Mexico, we parked near a light pole and heard music blaring from a speaker on it all night long. If you choose to stay at a Walmart, avoid parking spots close to the store entrance and be aware of your surroundings. 4. Casinos Many casinos welcome RVers with the thought that you’ll go inside and spend money to cover the cost of your spot. Some casinos even provide hookups. And some charge for parking and/or hookups. We’ve stayed at three casinos — one on two separate occasions. With any overnight stop that offers food or services, we make a point to patronize the place as a courtesy for allowing us to stay there. Although we don’t gamble, we’ve found some good food options at casinos. 5. Boondockers Welcome/Harvest Hosts Harvest Hosts acquired Boondockers Welcome in 2021. The combined entity offers overnight (and sometimes longer) stays at more than 2,400 sites for an annual fee. These locations can range anywhere from residential driveways to farms to museums. These hosts expect RVers to be fully self-contained, but some provide electricity, water, and even sewer dumps for a small fee. We’ve stayed at nine and met some wonderful, generous people as a result. Some shared fresh eggs and garden harvests with us. 6. Love’s Travel Stops Although a bit costly, Love’s Travel Stops can be a good alternative for an overnight stay if you need to run an air conditioner. They typically offer water and electricity, as well as a dump station. Plus, they have food available for supper and breakfast, including coffee. We’ve taken advantage of this option twice.
Wherever you choose to spend a night, be a good camper and leave no trace. Let’s all work together to keep these big-rig-friendly overnight RV options available. If you don’t feel comfortable or safe in a location, don’t be afraid to move. It’s better to be safe than sorry. You might also like Our Favorite Phone Apps for RVing. South Dakota is known as the Mount Rushmore State. It’s also our state of domicile. As such, we made a point to visit its eponymous monument to the birth, growth, development, and preservation of our country while boondocking near the Badlands. The 60-foot-tall granite faces of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln took 14 years to complete. Today, those faces greet more than 2 million visitors annually on a mountain that stands 5,725 feet high in the Black Hills, a 5 million-acre forest plagued by controversy. Only 16 miles away is another, much larger granite monument we didn’t know about at the time we visited Mount Rushmore. This one, of Crazy Horse, is a tribute to Native Americans. Like us, you may have heard of Mount Rushmore and wonder if the Crazy Horse Memorial is worth visiting. Read on to decide for yourself. Envisioning Another Monument The entire Black Hills area was sacred to numerous Native American tribes and was granted to the Sioux and Arapaho tribes through a treaty in 1868. When Colonel George Custer and his expedition team found gold in the area in 1874, the Americans wanted the land for themselves. This led to the Battle of Little Bighorn, which ended with the tribes losing their rights to the land. Before the completion of Mount Rushmore, Lakota Sioux Chief Henry Standing Bear commissioned New England sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, who assisted sculptor Gutzon Borglum on Mount Rushmore, to carve another sculpture in the area to honor Native Americans. “My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes, too,” Chief Standing Bear wrote. Ziolkowski met the chief in 1940. After serving a call of duty in WWII, Ziolkowski agreed to take on the project to create a 100-foot sculpture of Crazy Horse, the Lakota war leader who fought the U.S. government to preserve Native American land and the Lakotan way of life. In 1946, Ziolkowski sculpted a scale model of Crazy Horse. A year later, he moved to the Black Hills to begin working on the full-scale project. Upon arrival, Ziolkowski decided to enlarge the sculpture to 563 feet, even though he knew he could never finish it in his lifetime. While five of the nine survivors of the Battle of Little Bighorn looked on in 1948, Ziolkowski made the first blast on the mountain, seven years after the completion of Mount Rushmore. Forgoing a salary and rejecting funding from the federal government, he pledged that the project would be nonprofit and educational. Exploring Crazy Horse Seventy-six years later, donation-funded work continues on the Crazy Horse Memorial, which became quite a sight to behold on its 50th anniversary in 1998. At that time, during a dedication ceremony, Ziolkowski’s widow, Ruth, unveiled the complete face of Crazy Horse. Although the sculpture is visible northbound on US Highway 385, more than 1 million visitors pay $30 to $35 per carload to navigate the winding road to the Crazy Horse Welcome Center. There, they pay their respects and glimpse the world’s largest mountain carving. From the parking lot, they’re greeted with a side view of Crazy Horse’s face, outstretched arm, and pointer finger. A round window in the granite marks the beginning separation between Crazy Horse and his horse.
True to sculptor Ziolkowski’s commitment, the memorial grounds include museums, a university, and a conference center. In the welcome center, guests find an informative film, a gift shop, and a restaurant. From the welcome center, visitors can hop on a bus to the base of the mountain for $5 per person — weather permitting (if there’s lightning in the area, tours stop) — to get a better perspective of the size of the mammoth monument. For an extra $125 per person, a van provides a guided tour to the top of the mountain. Even without taking a tour to get closer, the sculpture is truly a sight to behold and worth the visit. We’re glad we got to see it. You might also like Exploring Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. Following a successful climb to a remote spot in the Black Hills of South Dakota, the turbo on our truck continued to give us problems. It became obvious that our desire to stay in higher elevations and cooler temperatures as we worked our way southwest would be risky. Not feeling confident our truck could get Tagalong up mountainous roads, we rerouted our course to stay on interstates in lower elevations. That took us to Albuquerque, where high temperatures were in the 80s in mid-September, definitely tolerable. While there, however, the air conditioner (A/C) in our main living area started making strange vibrating noises that rattled the whole rig. The unit continued to work, so we didn’t think much of it. To give it a break, we shut it off in the evenings and relied on the bedroom A/C or opened windows to keep cool. We normally wouldn’t have ventured into the Southwest until October, but it appeared our first grandchild wasn’t going to wait until her Oct. 10 due date to make her entrance into the world. For that reason, we thought it best to keep making progress toward Arizona to help ensure we didn’t miss the special arrival. Warming Up That decision took us to a remote campground in the desert near Deming, New Mexico, where high temperatures hovered around 90 degrees, giving us a very warm welcome to the Southwest. Despite running both A/Cs, we didn’t feel cool air in our fifth wheel. With sweat beading on his forehead, Bob turned off the main A/C and restarted it. It blew cold air for about 5 minutes, but that was it. With Arizona — and 100-degree temperatures — in our near future, we needed working A/C. After doing some research, Bob climbed onto the roof and took our main A/C apart to troubleshoot. He checked all the simple-solution items. None of those repaired the problem. It didn’t appear the issue would be an easy fix. Meanwhile, we reverted to leaving the windows open and toughing it out, running fans to circulate the warm air and opening our awnings to minimize sun hitting the windows and heating the rig. On hot afternoons, we’d drive a half mile to Dairy Queen for a cool, refreshing treat. But this stop gap could only last so long. It became clear we needed to replace the A/C. Hitting Snags Bob ordered a new Coleman Mach unit from Camping World in Mesa, Arizona, and made arrangements for us to do the work ourselves at an organization we’re affiliated with to save on labor costs. This would also give us access to tools and equipment to help us get the old unit off the roof and the new one on. Our trip to Arizona went smoothly — until Tagalong sent smoke signals on the freeway about an hour from our destination. That incident and the ensuing damage derailed us for five days. When we finally picked up our fifth wheel from Cliff’s Welding, with practically a completely new underside, we drove straight to the location where we had permission to change out the A/C unit so we could get to work. We wanted to have a working A/C before parking and setting up for a monthslong stay. Bob opened the box the new A/C came in and discovered it was not the low-profile one we thought we had ordered. The closest Camping World that had the size we needed in stock was an hour away. Bob loaded the unit into Gulliver and headed out to trade it for the right one. Replacing the A/C After returning more than two hours later, Bob ascended the ladder to our RV roof to disassemble the existing A/C so he could remove it. He took off the shroud and traced around the edge of the unit so we could easily line up the new one in the right place. Then he removed four lag bolts and unplugged the wire harness, setting the factory-installed unit free. Years of dirt had accumulated in the thin space under the A/C. Bob took time to clean the area before installing the new one. We hoisted the new unit onto a scissor lift, only to discover the lift didn’t have enough juice to do the job. It needed to be charged. Our friend Tim hopped on a forklift and raised the forks up to the roof height of our RV. Bob and I loaded the old unit onto the forks, and Tim lowered it to the ground. Then he reversed the operation and lifted the new unit to our roof. Bob and I unloaded it and positioned it in place. Reinserting the four lag bolts into the original holes on the roof proved challenging. After struggling for a bit, Bob got three of them to line up correctly. Aligning the fourth required drilling a new hole to ensure the unit would be secure when traveling 70 mph down the freeway. After straightening the unit’s fins and plugging in the wire harness, Bob had me turn on the A/C from inside the trailer to see that it operated properly. With that confirmation, he installed the cover, cleaned up, and descended the ladder.
We relocated, got both A/C’s cranking, and completed our setup in the nick of time. Our granddaughter, Chloe Elizabeth, entered the world about 33 hours later. We couldn’t be happier. You might also like Removing an RV Antenna. A driver waved us down on the freeway and pointed to our fifth wheel tires. At the same time, our truck displayed a message reading, “Trailer brake disconnected.” Heeding the warnings, we pulled off to the side and got out. Smoke emanated from the front driver-side trailer tire. As Bob approached, he saw flames. “Fire!” he yelled. I ran to unlock the RV door and grab the fire extinguisher. By the time I got to Bob, he had already pulled out the gallon of water we carry in the truck and poured it over the flaming wheel bearings, resulting in a lot of steam. “More water!” Bob shouted over the traffic noise. I dashed to the truck and snatched some water bottles to put into his hands. Then I bolted back to the trailer door and snagged what was left of our case of water bottles, about 20. As I handed Bob one after another, he poured them over the hot bearings in an effort to cool them off. Determining Our Next Move That mission accomplished, we assessed the situation. The front driver-side tire bowed out on the top, making the fifth wheel undrivable. Should we call Coach-Net, our roadside assistance provider? we wondered. What would they do? They couldn’t tow our rig in that condition. We decided we needed to remove the bowed tire from our RV. Bob lay on the asphalt and jacked up the fifth wheel. I stood by watching passing cars and semis, trying to coax drivers to move to the next lane. Fortunately, this happened near where the third lane ended and vehicles had to move over anyway. You don’t realize how fast traffic is moving until you’re stopped on the side of the road. A word of caution, drivers: If you ever see a stalled vehicle on the highway and can safely move to the next lane, please do so. It can make a world of difference to the people in an already difficult situation. Getting to Safety Bob succeeded in removing the tire and the wheel hub, which was also leaning out. Without the hub or wheel bearings, putting on the spare tire was out of the question. But with the weight of the driver’s side of the rig on the remaining tire, Bob couldn’t get the bottle jack out from under the trailer axle. We quickly dislodged the factory-installed jack from under the passenger seat of the truck. That gave Bob the extra lift he needed to remove the other jack. Whew! Again, we weighed our options. We were about 2 miles from the next exit. Could we nurse the 18,000-pound fifth wheel along on only three tires to get it to a safer area? We decided to take the chance and crept down the emergency lane with our flashers on. I jumped out every few minutes to remove broken tire pieces that lay in our path. About 1.5 hours after our ordeal started, we succeeded in getting off the interstate and onto a nice flat dirt area about 20 feet from a two-lane road, where we could evaluate the damage. Bob discovered that, in the fiery heat, the washer on the spindle had melted to the outer raceway. He called his mechanic buddy Roy to chat through our options and came to the conclusion that we needed a new axle. Saying Goodbye to Our Home A state trooper showed up. Bob asked him about leaving the trailer, possibly overnight, so we could go to the Phoenix metropolitan area to get parts. We were about an hour outside of Mesa, Arizona, our destination for the birth of our first grandbaby. The trooper informed us we were on an Indian reservation and advised us to contact the reservation authorities. With an OK to leave the trailer overnight on this Friday, we disconnected it from the truck, got it as level as we could, and grabbed some clothes and toiletries. Then we said goodbye to Tagalong, hoping it wouldn’t be the last time we saw him mostly in one piece. I drove so Bob could call around for an axle. Our search led us to Cliff’s Welding, which has specialized in hitches, tow bars, trailer hitches, and RV accessories since 1964. We headed straight there, explained our situation, and discovered the shop could get an axle for our rig by Monday. (Another place we called had said it would take two to four weeks.) Finding a Fix The catch with Cliff’s was that it wouldn’t be an EasyLube axle, like the one in need of replacing. Because of that, we really needed to replace the second axle as well. Since Bob has never liked the EasyLube functionality, we decided to go for it. But Cliff’s wouldn’t go to our trailer. We had to get the trailer to the shop. One of the workers told us he had towed a number of trailers, even overweight ones, on three tires from the same area where we had left our fifth wheel. We asked how he did it and learned he ratcheted the bum axle to the frame to give it higher clearance and drove back roads at 35 to 40 mph. Based on his recommendation, we elected to attempt to move the RV on our own, waiting until later in the day so there’d be less traffic. Our son DJ went down with us in his truck to follow behind and keep an eye on the trailer. About three hours after we left Mesa to retrieve our home, we returned, thankful to have it off the reservation and in the same vicinity as us. Counting Our Blessings
Cliff’s offered to let us stay in our rig in the shop’s parking lot over the weekend. But because of the Arizona heat (yes, even in September) and the RV’s leaning to the damaged side, we opted to stay with family in the area instead. We thank God for keeping us safe. His angels were definitely watching over us. The incident happened close to our destination, family, and resources. Our home could have gone up in flames. Instead, we were able to get it to the best place it could have been for the work that needed to be done to it. We were blessed with a bed to sleep in (thanks, Mike and Susan!) and had everything we needed. We’re especially grateful to the driver who got our attention and alerted us to the situation in the first place. Thank you, sir, for your kindness. You might also like When Things Go Wrong in RV Life. |
AuthorThis is the travel blog of full-time RVers Bob and Lana Gates and our truck, Gulliver, and fifth wheel, Tagalong. Categories
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