The trip from CO to CA pulling the overloaded trailer: 7.12mpg
Not too bad. Could have been worse!!!
Monday, November 14, 2011
Sunday, November 6, 2011
California Dreamin'
When we got to the California border, we hit the inspection station. If you've never driven into California, an inspection station is where they ask you if you have any fruits, vegetables, or plants that could pose an ecological threat to the state. (I'll bite my tongue on how valid this really is...)
We had made sure we didn't have anything they would care about before getting to the border. But when we pulled up, the agent wanted to see inside the trailer.
Remember when I said it was too small? I'd packed it as tightly as possible, not expecting to need to open it again until we got to the house we were going to stay in. That was an invalid assumption, as the agent insisted I open it.
The load had, of course, shifted, and the door was difficult to open. The agent was satisfied I wasn't harboring any illegal ferns or oranges, and I was left to get it closed again. I blocked that lane for 15 minutes while trying to shove everything so I could get the door shut, and ultimately I was successful.
We stayed at the KOA near Calico Ghost Town. I've never actually been to the ghost town, but we've always wanted to stay at that KOA. It has an awesome playground with a rock climbing wall, train cars, and other cool things. They also had a Halloween BoneHunt for the kids. Pretty cool!
The house we were to stay in was in Riverside. We wanted to get there, unload the trailer, drop it off at U-Haul, then head to Anaheim to visit the wife's parents. But the Hippo had other ideas.
On the 215 freeway the engine just died. I checked around and found the "Module" fuse blew. I put a new one in, drove a few more miles, then it blew again. After that it would blow whenever the ignition would turn on. Whatever else it powered, the fuel pump relay was driven by that fuse. So no fuel to the carb.
I called AAA (I'm glad I upgraded to the RV coverage!) and got towed to the house I was supposed to stay at. The tow driver disconnected the drive line in the Hippo, then used the lift to raise the front wheels. He then pulled the whole rig: RV and trailer! We got to the house in Riverside, but there was no way to back that mess into the driveway.
A neighbor came and helped disconnect the trailer so the RV could be backed into the driveway. And that neighbor hooked the trailer up to his truck and backed the trailer into the driveway as well!
We slept in the RV in the driveway that night.
We had made sure we didn't have anything they would care about before getting to the border. But when we pulled up, the agent wanted to see inside the trailer.
Remember when I said it was too small? I'd packed it as tightly as possible, not expecting to need to open it again until we got to the house we were going to stay in. That was an invalid assumption, as the agent insisted I open it.
The load had, of course, shifted, and the door was difficult to open. The agent was satisfied I wasn't harboring any illegal ferns or oranges, and I was left to get it closed again. I blocked that lane for 15 minutes while trying to shove everything so I could get the door shut, and ultimately I was successful.
We stayed at the KOA near Calico Ghost Town. I've never actually been to the ghost town, but we've always wanted to stay at that KOA. It has an awesome playground with a rock climbing wall, train cars, and other cool things. They also had a Halloween BoneHunt for the kids. Pretty cool!
The house we were to stay in was in Riverside. We wanted to get there, unload the trailer, drop it off at U-Haul, then head to Anaheim to visit the wife's parents. But the Hippo had other ideas.
On the 215 freeway the engine just died. I checked around and found the "Module" fuse blew. I put a new one in, drove a few more miles, then it blew again. After that it would blow whenever the ignition would turn on. Whatever else it powered, the fuel pump relay was driven by that fuse. So no fuel to the carb.
I called AAA (I'm glad I upgraded to the RV coverage!) and got towed to the house I was supposed to stay at. The tow driver disconnected the drive line in the Hippo, then used the lift to raise the front wheels. He then pulled the whole rig: RV and trailer! We got to the house in Riverside, but there was no way to back that mess into the driveway.
A neighbor came and helped disconnect the trailer so the RV could be backed into the driveway. And that neighbor hooked the trailer up to his truck and backed the trailer into the driveway as well!
We slept in the RV in the driveway that night.
Flagstaff
We made it to Flagstaff the next night. Again, the Hippo struggled to pull that trailer up the hills, but made it. A heart-stopping moment happened when pulling up one particularly steep hill, with the cruise control set at 55mph. When the RV couldn't maintain 40mph, the cruise control decided to just shut off. No warning at all.
It scared the heck outta me, I thought the engine died. But pressing on the gas pedal reassured me that everything was fine, and the cc had just given up.
We stayed that night in the Flagstaff KOA. For some reason the house 12v was working. We had propane heat and lights! Hooray! This just reinforced my suspicion that the battery was the problem, and that we'd be good from here on.
Flagstaff's KOA is a "green" campground. The signs and notices were rather self-righteous, and insulting. The campground had a pretty cool playground for my daughter though, with a 2 story slide that she loved.
It scared the heck outta me, I thought the engine died. But pressing on the gas pedal reassured me that everything was fine, and the cc had just given up.
We stayed that night in the Flagstaff KOA. For some reason the house 12v was working. We had propane heat and lights! Hooray! This just reinforced my suspicion that the battery was the problem, and that we'd be good from here on.
Flagstaff's KOA is a "green" campground. The signs and notices were rather self-righteous, and insulting. The campground had a pretty cool playground for my daughter though, with a 2 story slide that she loved.
Into New Mexico
Crossing Raton Pass was a breeze. The road was dry, the sun was out, and life was good.
You may have noticed the Hippo's saggy butt in the photos with the trailer attached. In our efforts to maximize the use of that trailer, I suspect I heavily overloaded it. And pulling it up the mountain pass was a bear. That big 460ci engine was wide open, and still couldn't get over 40mph in some places. Gas mileage suffered too... The RV alone was getting 10-15, and on the flats it would get 10 pulling the trailer. But up those hills... 5. Maybe.
But it did make it over the pass.
We stayed in a Super 8 / Travelodge combo hotel (I have no idea) in New Mexico since I didn't want to deal with no house 12v power or propane heat.
The day was more or less uneventful.
You may have noticed the Hippo's saggy butt in the photos with the trailer attached. In our efforts to maximize the use of that trailer, I suspect I heavily overloaded it. And pulling it up the mountain pass was a bear. That big 460ci engine was wide open, and still couldn't get over 40mph in some places. Gas mileage suffered too... The RV alone was getting 10-15, and on the flats it would get 10 pulling the trailer. But up those hills... 5. Maybe.
But it did make it over the pass.
We stayed in a Super 8 / Travelodge combo hotel (I have no idea) in New Mexico since I didn't want to deal with no house 12v power or propane heat.
The day was more or less uneventful.
Hitting the road
The morning we left, we were finally ready. I hooked up the trailer, said goodbye to the neighbors, and away we went.
It was still snowing.
We decided the southern route via I25 through Raton Pass would be the least likely to be a dangerous route during the storm. I70 through the mountains was a mess past Eisenhower Tunnel.
We stopped for gas somewhere near Colorado City. I made a wrong turn and ended up on a dead end street, with just a muddy hill to turn around in. I figured we could handle a bit of mud. I was wrong.
As we pulled around, and were on a rather slight hill, the RV and trailer started sliding sideways. I let off the gas, hoping to coast out of it, but we stopped all forward motion and kept sliding sideways. I absolutely expected to flip on our side. Happily, that didn't happen, but we did get stuck. The slide stopped in a mud pool, up to the axles. I just spun the wheels trying to get out, but eventually was able to rock the RV and trailer onto more solid "ground".
It was starting to get dark at this point, so I checked the weather and found that Raton Pass was a skating rink. Having experienced first hand what the Hippo would do when traction is lost, we decided to stay the night at the KOA in Colorado City.
This was our first camp night in the Hippo! I had no idea what to expect. But I just wanted to rest so I plugged in the shore power, and found the 12v house lights didn't work. Nor did the propane heater. So we plugged in two space heaters and went to bed.
In the morning it was bright and sunny, but with the wonderful snow on the ground.
To give the road time to dry, we did some laundry at that KOA, and tried to figure out where the house 12v went. The aux battery was depleted when I got the RV, but figured between driving it and the converter built into the RV it would be charged by now. I checked the battery and it's at 12.3v. Not ideal, but should have been enough. Well, time to hit the road...
It was still snowing.
We decided the southern route via I25 through Raton Pass would be the least likely to be a dangerous route during the storm. I70 through the mountains was a mess past Eisenhower Tunnel.
We stopped for gas somewhere near Colorado City. I made a wrong turn and ended up on a dead end street, with just a muddy hill to turn around in. I figured we could handle a bit of mud. I was wrong.
As we pulled around, and were on a rather slight hill, the RV and trailer started sliding sideways. I let off the gas, hoping to coast out of it, but we stopped all forward motion and kept sliding sideways. I absolutely expected to flip on our side. Happily, that didn't happen, but we did get stuck. The slide stopped in a mud pool, up to the axles. I just spun the wheels trying to get out, but eventually was able to rock the RV and trailer onto more solid "ground".
It was starting to get dark at this point, so I checked the weather and found that Raton Pass was a skating rink. Having experienced first hand what the Hippo would do when traction is lost, we decided to stay the night at the KOA in Colorado City.
This was our first camp night in the Hippo! I had no idea what to expect. But I just wanted to rest so I plugged in the shore power, and found the 12v house lights didn't work. Nor did the propane heater. So we plugged in two space heaters and went to bed.
In the morning it was bright and sunny, but with the wonderful snow on the ground.
To give the road time to dry, we did some laundry at that KOA, and tried to figure out where the house 12v went. The aux battery was depleted when I got the RV, but figured between driving it and the converter built into the RV it would be charged by now. I checked the battery and it's at 12.3v. Not ideal, but should have been enough. Well, time to hit the road...
When plans change
The original plan for the move to California involved renting a big truck from Budget, loading all our crap, and towing the Saab behind. But getting the RV meant a change of plans.
First of all, the RV would have to tow a trailer. The only place we could find to rent a trailer for a one way trip to Cali was U-Haul. Ugh. Not cheap, plus their biggest trailer wasn't very big. So that involved getting rid of even more stuff. Including beds. The only bed we kept was the full size memory foam mattress to replace the full size mattress in the overhead in the RV.
Second, we would either have to drive or sell the Saab. Given that it's an older car (1986) and not worth dealing with, we sold it.
So after getting the trailer, we discovered that it was STILL too small even after getting rid of everything we possibly could. Two storage units later (gah!), we had the trailer loaded completely full, and ready to go. But by then it was too late to hit the road, so we stayed at a Super 8 in Castle Rock. Since at this point we had sold both of our cars, we drove the RV up the road to the motel.
It snowed.
First of all, the RV would have to tow a trailer. The only place we could find to rent a trailer for a one way trip to Cali was U-Haul. Ugh. Not cheap, plus their biggest trailer wasn't very big. So that involved getting rid of even more stuff. Including beds. The only bed we kept was the full size memory foam mattress to replace the full size mattress in the overhead in the RV.
Second, we would either have to drive or sell the Saab. Given that it's an older car (1986) and not worth dealing with, we sold it.
So after getting the trailer, we discovered that it was STILL too small even after getting rid of everything we possibly could. Two storage units later (gah!), we had the trailer loaded completely full, and ready to go. But by then it was too late to hit the road, so we stayed at a Super 8 in Castle Rock. Since at this point we had sold both of our cars, we drove the RV up the road to the motel.
It snowed.
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