Mike and Carol

Welcome to the group and congrats on the new trailer and thorough break in trip! Mike

We won’t be attending this year, either. The last minute date change last year conflicted with a previously planned trip that we don’t want to cancel. Plus it includes a visit to our son and family. We never made reservations, so no site to offer. Mike

We used to run our jacks up until they clicked, until one jack wouldn’t reseat and I had to use the manual handle. That was in the first couple of months back in 2016. Since then we run them up to about an inch of shaft showing. It takes two to do that, or one checking a couple of times. Mike

I assume your storage location has overhead cover so your solar is reduced. Mine is too. When I store I turn my batteries off. I have an older trailer and I installed a cutoff switch in the battery compartment that sits on top of the batteries. I think the new trailers have a separate cutoff switch somewhere. I’d turn your batteries off. Mike

Try putting the magnet inside the dinette seat. It reduces the pull and can’t be seen.

Try this link: Bathroom Door Hack It’s from 2019. There are a couple of earlier posts, but they don’t seem to be active. I think I did this in 2017. The only change to what I posted is that I moved the magnet inside the dinette seat. It doesn’t show and the grip is not as strong but holds fine. You can see the magnet on the door, but only if you look. You can order these door magnets on Amazon fairly easily. Mike

We added the magnetic door catch years ago, simple but most used mod we’ve made! Mike

We have an RO system at home for drinking water. We get electrolyte drops to add to put back some of the minerals lost through RO. We try to drink out of stainless steel or ceramic with the new warnings about microplastics. Micro and nanoplastics seem to be everywhere and have been found to contribute to artery clogs, brain issues and other bad things. I checked with Berkey and was told their regular black filters should remove most microplastics, but they haven’t tested for that. Their new ceramic filter is advertised to remove microplastics. We’ll replace our black filters with the new ceramic filters when the time comes. Mike

It’s a friendly and helpful group here, so ask away. Someone will have an answer and will enjoy sharing their knowledge and experience. Welcome! Mike

Welcome! You’ll get the hang of it before you know it! My brother was an Aggie and so is my niece, so feel at home here! Mike

A few years ago we were headed to Catalina from Rockhound SP in Deming, NM. We got a call that morning that the park was closed, the road had flooded (again) and was closed. They were able to get us in to Lost Dutchman so we just kept driving past Tucson!

Catalina State Park is one of our favorites. Looks like your at the site next to the trailhead?

John, I had a small leak that caused drips from the curbside rear. With the water pump off and no city water I could see no leak under the bed in that area. Turn the water pump on and I found a leak (one drip every few seconds) from the T joint coming out of the hot water tank. It was a plastic joint and many miles of traveling obviously caused a very small crack at the bottom of the joint. I replaced it with a brass fitting and no issues since. There’s not a lot of room down there to maneuver tools and I had a sore back after I got it fixed. A blue paper towel helped in locating the drip. Good luck! Mike

Since this thread has taken the off ramp from the original topic…. We lived in France and became well acquainted with both the food and wine, same with Italy in our travels - each country a bit different but great food, both. We also lived in Belgium, good food there, especially in the north. More beer per capita in Belgium than anywhere else. I agree there is a false impression that food in the UK is not as good. Our experience with food in England and Scotland was very favorable, from scones and coffee in the morning to a simple pub meal late afternoon. We also miss the food and beer in Germany. We had a small Gasthaus in our town and a Stammtisch group we enjoyed meals with on Friday evenings. Memories! MIke

Doing ones own maintenance is an individual decision. I certainly did my own work for years and rarely went to the dealer. Growing older and more senior at work there just wasn’t time anymore with the long hours, frequent travel and weekend work. Today’s vehicles are also more technical and complicated. Now being retired, I just don’t feel like taking the time to get greasy. Need to spend that time with grandkids, kids and mom next door. Not to mention traveling and camping. I’ve got a good Ram dealer and Audi dealer very close by that I’ve been doing business with for years. To each his own. Mike

We have our original matresses but have switched to foam. We bought a 10” queen foam mattress at Costco, cut it in half and used the old mattresses as a template for the corner curve. They were very comfortable but a bit tall. We got an 8” gel memory foam queen mattress on Amazon and did the same drill. We’ve had this for the last 2 to 3 years and they are also very comfortable and the height is better. A queen is 60” wide, the Oliver twins are 30” wide, so half a queen mattress. Mike

Lots of great information, I’m trying to digest it all, my map is getting a workout. It’s quite a drive to the PNW from south Texas and we want to plan enough time do make the most of that long drive. Thanks to all for your insights! Mike

This is Aguirre Spring in January…

Lance, we love that campground too! Mike

Yes, using reserveamerica.com. I tried some other dates and looked at the availability view and did see some openings, thanks. Once I nail down our dates hopefully there will be a spot for us. We are right on the edge of the 6 month reservation window, so that might work in our favor too!

Just checked Beverly Beach SP for availability in August. All reservable sites are reserved. It looks like a 6 month reservation window and a number of sites are not reservable, I’m assuming they are probably first come first served. Big park! Will continue to check.

I’m starting the planning for a trip to visit some National Parks and states we haven’t been to. This will be a late summer trip, August/September. Planning to visit Lassen, Redwood, Crater Lake, Mt. Ranier, Olympic and North Cascades National Parks. Would also like to work in some coast driving (101) and camping. We’ve never been to either state so if anybody has any recommendations or advice it would be appreciated. I’m sure the weather is somewhat cooler there in late summer than it is here in south Texas! Mike

yonder. You know,

John, we’ve always had good experiences overnighting at Cracker Barrel’s. Stay safe if the roads are slick! It’s cold in Texas, 21 degrees here this morning, colder up north.

When we were thinking about retiring in Arizona the only places we considered were high country. Sierra Vista (5000+’), Payson (5000+’), Prescott (5000+’) and Flagstaff (nosebleed’). Our daughter graduated from Northern AZ University in Flagstaff, it’s easy to get used to the cool summer temperatures there! Plus, there isn’t any humidity anywhere which makes the heat very tolerable. 90 degrees in AZ is 20 degrees cooler than 90 degrees in San Antonio!!