Reed & Karen's Blog -

[KarenLukens]

We popped into Allenswood State Park on the way home, it's a nice quiet place for $10.00 a night boondocking. The strange thing is, it has water, showers, and a fish cleaning station, but the water is not drinkable... Go figure, Southern California's water problems abound and that's what shut down this little abandoned town back in the day. But it's so quiet :)

 

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/08/22/former-slaves-dream-freedom-allensworth-california/

 

 

[KarenLukens]

We got our new rims and off-road tires put on this week, now with new license plates and tires, we're ready to head south :)

 

[John E Davies]

We got our new rims and off-road tires put on this week, now with new license plates and tires, we’re ready to head south ????

What tires did you choose, and why?

 

I am running Nokian Hakka LT  snow tires right now (they work great), but will be buying a set of Nitto Ridge Grapplers next spring for my other set of wheels. Both are 275/75R18E (33.2 inches OD, 11 inches section width). I ‘ve never owned Nittos before but they are really well regarded as an agressive hybrid AT/ mud tire.

 

John E Davies

 

Spokane WA

[KarenLukens]

KarenLukens wrote:

We got our new rims and off-road tires put on this week, now with new license plates and tires, we’re ready to head south

What tires did you choose, and why? I am running Nokian Hakka LT snow tires right now (they work great), but will be buying a set of Nitto Ridge Grapplers next spring for my other set of wheels. Both are 275/75R18E (33.2 inches OD, 11 inches section width). I ‘ve never owned Nittos before but they are really well regarded as an agressive hybrid AT/ mud tire. John E Davies Spokane WA

 

We bought the Nitto Ridge Grapplers because they are better for towing and a lot quieter then the Trail Grapplers that I usually use for 4x4s. They have a good stout tread pattern with plenty of traction and they run pretty quiet for a good dual purpose tire. Towing and good off-road capability all in one tire. Our son works for Wheel Pro's and is the tire guy with the knowledge that we go to. These tires were his recommendation and together we picked the rims that would fit. As soon as I saw the tires, it was easy to see that these were perfect for my style of off-roading with Karen and still had the ability to be a good TV tire.

 

You can choose your car on their web site and check out all of the different options they have and then view them on your virtual car on their website, it's worth checking out :)

 

Reed

 

http://www.wheelpros.com

 

 

[KarenLukens]

So... After yesterday's fiasco with the rain coming in the windows, Kathy Reed told me that they've had problems with the screws in the windows, so I called Jason this morning to talk about things...lol... and he told me that the actual screws on both sides of the lights needed silicone added to them and that the lights need to be resealed... OK, I can do that, it's an easy fix but we had a ton of water come in, so he also said that it could be coming in above the window but the windows were sealed at installation and that it would be best to let them take care of it and check it out through the window company.

 

Either way we did have a huge rain storm and I had to tarp the trailer to keep it from pouring in

 

 

You can see from the pic that I've added the Camco Block Chocks to my arsenal and for what it's worth, I really like them. You have to use a few more blocks with them to get them to set in nice, but it gives me a great feeling in knowing that the wheels aren't going anywhere.

 

You can read about the rain story here -

 

http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/its-raining-its-pouring-all-the-windows/

[topgun2]

I like that "camo" look!  One can hardly even see the Oliver.  Thank goodness for the lower outside lights - at least you can still find the Oliver in the dark.

 

Bill

[DavePhelps]

So I guess Oliver needs to start including tarps with their send-off kit! Maybe white with their logo on it. Seriously....what is going on here?

 

Dave

[KarenLukens]

So I guess Oliver needs to start including tarps with their send-off kit! Maybe white with their logo on it. Seriously….what is going on here? Dave

 

Well... You have to understand the type of downpour that we were in, millions of big round thumbnail size drops... We've been over on the Oregon coast this week and everyone here says how it rains so much, but we just came from home where it rains 25% more every year but in half the time... Lol... It rained on us here as usual but nothing came inside. It's actually a lot drier here on the coast then it was at home and the rain drops are the normal small 1/8" drops, give or take... We surprised Karen's mom, everyone drove up and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving at her house in Florence, OR. She was out when we got there and we had just finished setting up when she turned down the street on her way to the front of the house. She looked over, saw the trailer, did a double take, slammed on her brakes, then smiled :)

 

It was a complete surprise :)

 

Reed

 

[KarenLukens]

We left mom's house on Monday and headed south down the Oregon Coast. Being that there was a volcano that went off in Indonesia, Tuesday and Wednesday were supposed to top out with 26' swells, so we headed to Brookings to one of our favorite campgrounds and spent a couple of nights at Harris State Beach and watched the huge waves pound the shoreline. This Campground is open year round but a lot of it is closed off during the Winter and this time there was only one spot open with the ocean view because of the work going on and we came in at just the right time. Lot's of fun and stopping to see the large waves come pounding in was breathtaking :)

 

 

 

On our way down we found "Stray Cat City", in Gold Beach Oregon, located on the North Jetty.

 

 

Brookings is right on the line between California and Oregon and we were heading home and once again saying good by to the Pacific Ocean...

 

[KarenLukens]

When coming home we found a great spot to boondock off hwy299 at a Trinity River access location. There were no signs saying, no overnight camping, so we pulled in and had a nice quiet evening alone by the river...

 

 

Deep in the canyon there was no cell service, so we spent another nice evening enjoying the beautiful area and having a great time. With no cell phone access, this place wasn't listed that we know of in the rvparky apps but what a wonderful find. I was hearing a ticking sound that I thought was coming from the wheels, so I retorqued them all again to 90lbs and the ticking was still there... It turned out to be Karen's new sign slapping the wall in the kitchen... Lol. Still though a couple of the nuts had backed off a touch and took an eighth of a turn, so it was time anyway. We never had these problems with the old steel rims back in the day but you do need to check these new aluminum rims and be sure not to over torque them because you can damage them. 90 foot pounds is standard for the newer rims and I noticed on the Oliver web site that is says for stage 3 use 120ftlbs... But you need to go by the torque specks for the rims and the owners manual says 90ftlbs which is where I set both the truck and the trailer.

 

Reed

 

[KarenLukens]

We sure love boondocking... And here in California, us retirees pay half the going rate in state parks, so we hit up Red Rock Canyon state park again on our way south to the Sedona, AZ Rally this Thursday and boondocked in the beauty of the place. There were only 2 other RV's in the place, so we had the whole back half of the campground to ourselves :)

 

 

[KarenLukens]

Just about ready for lift off :)

 

 

We were here in March on the other side of the road when the balloons came over us and today they took off from right here :)

 

It sure made for a pleasant sunrise :)

 

I took this one the other day when it was nice and sunny with my trust old Phantom 3

 

[KarenLukens]

The Scamp Camp South West RV Rally was lots of fun and I was able to really check out a 12 x 12 Clam. They are nice and it was surprisingly warm for having no heater on. The outside panels made adjusting the inside temp easy.

 

 

There were just a few of us at this small Rally, but it sure is a nice area here in Sedona, Az.

 

http://lakeshoreimages.com/18trip/scampcampsw.html

 

 

Once again, Goldilocks was visited by many people on Viewing Day. It was lots of fun with lots of good people :)

[KarenLukens]

We moved on down to Congress, AZ and the weather has been 68° to 70° during the day and then drops into the high 50°s at night. So we had Christmas with the saguaro cactus's for the first time. Finally it's warm enough to fix the leaks in our outside lights and I will make a video on that when I start on it next week. Karen decorated the tree's around us and life is good :)

 

Reed

 

 

 

 

[KarenLukens]

Bumping to a new page... Been trying for a week to post but the Az 4g here is maybe 20k, so I'm starting the next page early... Hopefully :)

[KarenLukens]

...

[KarenLukens]

Still trying an hour later, maybe 10 posts per page would be easier... 5 bars 4g but next to impossible to load...

[KarenLukens]

Happy New Year :)

 

Sunrise New Year's Eve :)

 

[KarenLukens]

5 days later... Success!!! :)

[SeaDawg]

Beautiful!!!

 

Sherry

[KarenLukens]

Ok, it's been months since we posted or looked at the forum because we actually took a job... Lol. Now that things are almost back to normal, we are back. My tablet isn't dependable, it won't take pictures anymore so, we have a new welcome addition to our trailer, and it's a water softener! A new tablet is next.

 

Soft water... Wow! We don't use it all of the time, just when we are in a really hard water area but it sure is nice!

 

Reed

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KVPNVJ6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

[topgun2]

Welcome back Reed & Karen.  Are you STILL working or has the camp host deal ended for the time being?  Or, are the two of you off to something else?

 

Bill

[STEVEnBETTY]

Welcome back! I was thinking about you guys a few days ago, good hearing everything's well.

 

steve

[Mike and Carol]

 

Soft water… Wow! We don’t use it all of the time, just when we are in a really hard water area but it sure is nice!

 

Reed

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KVPNVJ6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Welcome back! We got a water softener as well and use it all the time. Mike

 

[KarenLukens]

No more camp hosting for me :)

 

That job ended for us on the 15th. It was fun but being confined to one spot doesn't fit our traveling lifestyle :)