I spent most of Friday at my old high school buddy’s automotive shop “Chuck’s Auto“. My oldest daughter’s car had some serious front tire issues as you can see from the following pics:
My buddy Mike came to the rescue again with reasonable prices and his outstanding mechanical abilities. As usual, I did a good job of supervising and even got my hands dirty:) You may remember Mike from previous posts HERE, HERE, and HERE.
Mike gave the car a much needed alignment…
and mounted/balanced two new front tires.
Thanks for the help again Mike!
In other news: The Urban Escape Vehicle just missed being clobbered by this tree branch overnight. We woke up to see this laying in front of the Coach. We didn’t even hear the wind that must have kicked up to do this… or could it be the work of mad squirrels? Luckily, the tree isn’t directly above us.
Stay tuned for my next post. We went to a car show on Saturday in Woodland Park and saw my old ’57 Chevy Pickup, then it was on to a mini-family reunion at my Uncle Alan’s in Florrisant/Divide CO.
and just enjoyed each other’s company until it was time to call it a night. The brats were excellent by the way.
Thursday was more of the same… we hung out in the evening with Jim & Sally outside their Coach. Jim & Sally are heading out in the morning so this would be our last evening with them. We expect to see them again in Quartzsite, AZ at the Alpine Coach “Desert Rat Rally” in early January. But, you never know, we might cross paths before then 🙂
Sally made a nice stew for us. We talked for a while and then said our farewells and ‘see-ya-laters’. Til next time Jim & Sally…
And guess who’s back in town?!? Ricky & Cathy Broussard stopped by! They just rolled back into Colorado Springs and saw us in the Elks Lodge parking lot. I guess you could say; one Alpine rolls-out and another rolls-in. Except, Ricky & Cathy aren’t staying at the lodge, they are going to their usual spot in an RV park just around the corner. But they’ll come over to the lodge as their busy schedule permits and I’m sure I’ll be posting more pictures soon 🙂
In other news – My brother Steve and his long-time girlfriend Cheryl just sent us a picture today of their new (to them) Class C. They’re in Casa Grande, AZ where we like to spend some of the winter months. I’ve written many posts from their place which they affectionately call “the dirt farm“. You can do a search on this blog by typing in “dirt farm” to see more, or click on the link. Maybe some family RV trips are in our future? 🙂
No, not us this time, but I did help Jim & Sally do some battery maintenance and then I helped my Dad & Stepmom (Elaine) pick up a new car. Read on to hear more…
Here’s Jim & Sally’s Alpine Coach parked in the “overflow” area of the Elks Lodge 309 parking lot:
I wrote about Jim & Sally in a previous post (click Here). Jim has had some issues lately with his ~5 year-old batteries. Some of the battery posts have worked themselves loose over time due to (possible) manufacturer defect and excessive heat.
Jim pulled his batteries out while I employed my awesome supervisory skills honed through years of military service. I made sure nothing sparked and ensured we had a fire extinguisher handy 🙂
His Coach, (a 1999 Alpine), has eight ‘house’ and two ‘chassis’ batteries, just like my 2005. Although, Jim has installed an array of solar panels on top of his Coach, while I only have the original (two) 50 Watt panels.
Jim’s battery bay (three batteries already removed)
It may be hard to see in this picture (below), but the old battery post appeared to be a bolt (turned upside-down) and embedded in the lead which simply pulled out after years of use. It sure doesn’t seem (to me) that it’s a very good method of manufacture. All the batteries I’ve dealt with in the past had solid (poured) lead posts.
Original battery post (on the right) fell out.
In this picture (below), you can see the original battery post on the right. It’s loose and it wiggles around, which isn’t good for a battery post. This creates high resistance and reduces the batteries ability to conduct electricity efficiently. The hole on the left-side of the picture (below) was drilled by Jim in order to use a self-tapping screw to secure the battery cables since the original post is loose and therefore unusable.
And here’s how Jim did it:
Here, he is cleaning up the area with a wire brush on his drill to prep for drilling. Again, I supervised and kept a fire extinguisher handy 🙂
And here’s Jim drilling into the lead so he could ‘sink’ a new self-tapping screw to replace the old ‘post’.
After fixing two of his batteries with this ‘modification’… Jim started the task of putting all the batteries back in the bay.
And here ya go! All back in place, hooked up, and working again:)
That took most of Tuesday morning – but, Great job Jim! Now, start budgeting for new batteries instead of doing this again, eh?
After finishing up the battery maintenance with Jim, my Dad and stepmom Elaine stopped by the Elks Lodge to pick me up. I offered to chauffeur them to an auto dealership (Hoo Motors in Kiowa, CO) where they found a new (to them) car over the weekend.
They attended a Labor Day weekend campout with the FCRV “Rolling Springs” group in the Kiowa area and had stopped by the dealership to “just look-around”. They found a really nice 2013 VW Passat TDI with low mileage.
They’ve been looking to trade in their Toyota Camry before it got too old and started to have maintenance issues. It’s been good to them over the years, but they wanted something newer. They’ve been known to go on long road-trips and certainly don’t want any break-downs to be in their future.
Here’s the old Toyota that they traded in.
And here’s the new (to them) 2013 VW Passat TDI.
Side-by-side comparison:
The Passat is a really nice car… I told them they should have bought two 🙂 The interior reminded me very much of our old 2004 E320 Mercedes which I guess isn’t unusual since they’re both German cars with (probably) the same design engineers. It was fun to drive too! I chauffeured them back to the Elks Lodge where we enjoyed (once-again) “Taco Tuesday” with all our friends 🙂
“Taco Tuesday” at Elks 309 with (L to R) Biff, my Dad, Linda, Marilyn, Jerry, Stilla, and Elaine.
After tacos and drinks, we all went outside to check out Dad’s (or should I say?) – Elaine’s new car. After everyone was properly impressed… we said our farewell’s to Dad/Elaine and Biff/Linda.
The rest of us; Jerry/Marilyn and Jim/Sally went back to the lodge to enjoy some more adult beverages and later on we finished up the evening outside Jerry/Marilyn’s Coach.
(L to R) Marilyn, David, Jerry, and Jim.
Good times with good people… and another awesome Colorado sunset completed the day!
On Labor Day Monday we joined our new friends Jerry & Marilyn for an awesome day of riding. We met Jerry & Marilyn here at the Elks Lodge in COS only last week and we already consider them “best-friends” that we hope to be associated with for many, many years to come. It never ceases to amaze me how many great people we get to meet our full-timing adventure.
Here’s some pictures from our motorcycle tour around Colorado Springs, Manitou, and Woodland Park:
David & Stilla riding up the pass (I-24 to Woodland Park) [picture taken by Marilyn]Jerry & Marilyn in Colorado Springs.Jerry & Marilyn in Manitou, CO.
(L to R) Stilla, David, Jerry, and Marilyn at the Garden of the Gods Visitor Center in COS, CO.(L to R) Jerry, Marilyn, Stilla, and myself at the Garden of the Gods Visitor Center in COS, CO.Jerry trying on a new look at the Garden of the Gods Visitor Center in COS, CO.(L to R) Jerry, Marilyn, and Stilla at the Garden of the Gods Trading Post in COS, CO.(L to R) Stilla, Jerry, Stilla, and Marilyn at the BierWerks in Woodland Park, CO.
After a full day of riding – we made it back to the Elks Lodge just in time… it started raining as we pulled into the parking lot. What a great day!
Check back in for my next post which includes the always enjoyable subject-matter of battery maintenance; a new car; and the ever-popular Taco Tuesday.
Happy Labor Day everyone! Stilla and I finished up our ‘labor’ before the big party at the Elks Lodge 309. We completed our self-imposed project of sanding and painting all the lawn furniture that was previously green.
‘before’ pic of a table‘after’ pic of some tables we painted
Some other folks here at the lodge, also got the ‘bug’ and cleaned the pool partitions while we finished up our painting. There’s a lot of nice people here at the lodge living the Elks motto; “Elks Care, Elks Share”.
Biff stopped by again to repair an electrical outlet that was about to fall off the wall.
You may remember Biff from my previous post when he was fixing and painting some of the old wooden picnic tables.
In other news – Our next-door neighbor (Barney) here at the RV park had to put his little dog to sleep on Friday. I think Barney told me he was either 16 or 18 years old. He was blind and deaf. Here’s one last photo in memory of “Noah”. Rest-in-Peace little guy…
We enjoyed the pool some more on Saturday with the grandson who comes by pretty often. Somehow, his X-Box playstation ended up in our bedroom again recently hooked up to the TV. At least he didn’t glue himself to it and got out in the pool most of the day.
And on Saturday we had a little impromptu BBQ in the Elks backyard with our new friends; Jerry & Marilyn from Oklahoma. Good food with good people!
Jerry and I went on a short motorcycle ride together Sunday morning before the Elks Lodge Labor Day BBQ kicked off. Jerry hauls his 2003 Heritage Softail around in his Ford Ranger pickup, pulled by his motorhome when they’re traveling.
We stopped by my old high school buddy’s shop to try to get him to join us for a ride, but he was taking part in a ‘poker-run’. His shop was one of the stops for “Bikers United for America 9/11 Remembrance Run“. We hung out for a bit and then toured Manitou before returning to the lodge for the day’s activities.
My best friend and old Manitou High School buddy, Mike Harris in front of his automotive repair shop.
Back at the Lodge, the band had started up and the BBQ was in full-swing…
And then we ran into Alpine Coach owners, Jim & Sally! They just came down from the Westminster Elks Lodge in Denver. I wrote about our last visit with them in my post HERE.
It was a great evening with new and old friends… here’s Jim and Stilla getting a little dance on…
Our oldest daughter Jennifer and her son Kaan enjoyed the pool…
We hung out with Jerry & Marilyn and Jim & Sally for the rest of the evening. Jerry & Marilyn even had some friends from Westcliffe stop by for a quick visit. It was nice to meet them too.
A friend of Jim & Sally also joined us briefly. It’s a small RV world out there.
(L to R) David, Ted, and Sally.(L to R) Marilyn, Jerry, and Jim.Jerry & Marilyn dancing by the pool.(L to R) Stilla, David, Sally, Jim, Marilyn, and Jerry.
And another great evening in Colorado comes to a close…
Little Coach says, C U later 🙂
This morning (Monday) we plan on getting in some riding on the motorcycle with new friends Jerry & Marilyn. Check back in for a full recap…
More of the same around here… we continue to help out around the lodge. As a matter-of-fact, our friend Biff stopped by yesterday to join in on the fun.
Biff fixed and painted a few of the picnic tables while Stilla and I continued sanding and painting the metal lawn furniture. You may remember Biff from many of our recent blog post pictures; Biff & Linda are good friends with my Dad and stepmom Elaine and are also members of the FCRV group that we attend campouts with. He is also a long-time Elks Lodge 309 member and originally sponsored my membership here.
Biff fixing picnic tables at Elks Lodge 309.Biff fixing picnic tables at Elks Lodge 309.Biff prepping one of the picnic tables for a fresh coat of paint.Biff painting one of three wooden picnic tables at Elks Lodge 309.
And here’s the finished product… like new again and ready for some more fun Elks Lodge activities. Great job Biff!
Here’s a ‘before’ picture of one of the metal chairs we’ve been painting…
And here’s an ‘after’ pic of Wednesday’s progress…
Only a dozen or so tables left to paint… we finished up all the chairs 🙂
Afterwards, we had the pool all to ourselves…
We topped off the evening with new friends, Jerry and Marilyn. They parked their RV here at the lodge a couple days ago and plan to stay for a couple weeks. They got us very interested in visiting Port Aransas near Corpus Christi, TX in the near future. We’ll see…
Jerry & Marilyn; our new friends here at Elks Lodge 309.
We look forward to spending more ‘quality’ time with Jerry & Marilyn during their stay here 🙂
In other news: We got little dog ‘Coach’ into the vet last week. We chose Banfield Pet Hospital because they are located throughout the country in PetSmart stores. This will make it easier in our future travels to get him shots, check-ups, etc., since every PetSmart™ will now have his medical history. He got all his shots current and the vet gave him a clean bill of health. The vet thinks his seizure-like episodes may be due to a restricted trachea and we need to watch his weight. In order to determine anything more, we’d have to order x-rays and ultrasounds. He hasn’t had any new episodes since the 4th of August which I wrote about (Here). He has thrown up once or twice since then, but he seems to be able to get air and recovers quickly. We continue to watch his diet but sometimes he’ll grab something from the ground or grass when we’re not watching. Hopefully, he doesn’t get ahold of a poisonous mushroom or something like that.
Little ‘Coach’ watching us paint lawn furniture from his plastic throne.
We have a follow-up appointment in three weeks for little Coach and also some doctor appointments for us that will keep us here until the 20th of October. So stay tuned…
