October 22, 2000, Sunday- a different day for a change. It started pouring at 8 last night and by 11 when we left Camp Verde, the cats and dogs were still hitting the coach. We drove 80 miles through the rain, and by the time we got into the Phoenix area, it was only sprinkling. Into the Pleasant Harbor RV Park, one of only 122 in the US that earned the 5 W's and 5W's from the Woodall's Rating Service. After checking in, I got back into the coach, and nada…lights but no action. The machine would not turn over. Sooooo, the question was to call Spartan, the chassis manufacturer or Cummins, the engine manufacturer. I tried the former, but on Sunday afternoon, only got voice mails. Cummins answered the phone- and after we determined that they had installed the starting system to the engine, it looks like they are responsible. They connected me to their warrantee people, Freightliner, in Phoenix. Next, within a hour the 40,000 pound tow truck arrived. It took an hour and a half to get us ready for the tow. First, the small hooks on the stinger raised the front end enough to put wooden blocks under the front wheels. This permitted a larger set of hooks now to lift the coach. After the front end was under control, we had to put locking keys in the rear breaks to prevent their lockup in the event of loss of air pressure. Now, don't forget that in order to tow the coach, one had to remove the driveline. Whew…finally.

THE BIG HOOK!

October 23, 2000, Monday- why oh why does Murphy's Law apply to motor homes? This morning the coach started like a charm. After two hours of "testing" including computer reading from the engine and transmission, two interstate test drives, and lots of visual inspections, the coach started every time. After a little haggling, Spartan Motors, the chassis manufacturer picked up the "inspection time", and I picked up the towing, and will submit it to our towing insurance company. Frustrating that we could not duplicate the problem so that it could be repaired. I'm sure it will creep up when we least expect it….

By just after one pm we were in Mesa Regal RV park, across from Phil and Karen place, still fighting another day of rain. Hopefully by tomorrow the sun will return and everything can dry out.

October 24, 2000, Tuesday- yes- the sun did come out today. Due to some office computer problems yesterday at Mesa Regal RV, we were given a space, but didn't actually check-in and pay. This morning I washed the car and coach to get rid of the last three day's of rain and mud. Boy everything is looking good. Even detailed the inside of the car to better (?) then new condition. The park limits vehicles to under 36', so when I checked in I said we were, I think, 35 feet. So, we are a little too far back onto the empty lot behind us, and a little forward towards the street. The one piece of landscape, a small orange tree, was a little close to the coach door, so I took out the trimmer and did a little size reduction.

This afternoon we went back to the office, and Susan picked up a rulebook with 50 specifics. Wow, in less then 24 hours we have broken the rules well. No washing permitted in the park. Absolutely no tree trimming permitted! Oh well, I guess we're subject to eviction, or arrest, or something. It's a good thing the place isn't full because then all the busy buddies would be reporting us to the establishment!

We even pretended that we could hit the golf ball today as we went to hit a few balls at the Painted Mountain driving range. Nice change of pace!

October 25, 2000, Wednesday- a perfect day for a round of golf. With Karen in the lead we headed to the Painted Mountain Golf Course, the home of the John Jacobs Golf School. An early season special let us walk the course for $22 each. The course was in great shape and provided enough of a challenge to test all of our skills, yet was a legitimate set of links. There weren't the Mickey Mouse holes that some courses seem to think are necessary for "humbling" the masses. Susan and I broke 100, which pleased us, and Karen came in below 90. A good day for all!

October 26, 2000, Thursday- Phil made it down from Vail today- and he, Karen, Susan and I did a bike ride for lunch. Afterwards, Susan and I decided to see how many miles the streets and avenues covered in the Mesa Regal RV Park. Wow- 10.2 miles. Now that's a lot of pavement. Dinner was a belated birthday treat for Susan with a great leather belt and a relaxing dinner at one of the local golf courses.

 

SUSAN WITH BIRTHDAY BELT	SUSAN, LARRY, PHIL AND KAREN

October 27, 2000, Friday- with the rain forecast to start early in the day, a change in pace- up early and while Susan took Hobbes on a two mile walk, I visited the exercise room for some leg strengthening. I think that my legs lost a lot of strength since my broken angle and leg, and maybe staying here for almost three weeks, I can work on the rebuilding project.

There is an indoor flea market on the east end of Mesa, so it was a perfect time to visit. Fortunately, most of the "stuff" wasn't what we needed or wanted, so the walk about was painless. An early dinner with K&P and to the movies to see "Best in Show", a short picture of some dysfunctional folks preoccupied with their pets. Cute, but nothing to write home about.

October 28, 2000, Saturday- During the night the cats and dogs pounded on the roof of the coach. It was a long, heavy rain, and in the morning lots of gravel from some of the parking spots had filled the streets. Fortunately the storms passed and only a cloud deck remained by morning. Phil & Karen's friend George just came out of the hospital yesterday so we piled into the plane and flew from Mesa to Tucson. I got almost an hour's worth of actual flying through the clouds. It felt good on the hour's flight down and the same back. The Falcon Field landing was interesting directly into the low sun with a strobe light effect on the windmilling prop on short final. However, a greaser landing still ensued.

October 29, 2000, Sunday- Phil and I were all set up to do some electrical research at Lu's place. A circuit breaker was continuing to pop. Removing one of the lines stopped the failure. Now, try to figure out what along the line was causing the popping. We plugged in one of our RV testers and determined that there was an open ground on the line. So, we pulled wires, opened outlets, looked behind switches, etc. No luck. As much as we tried to isolate and remove, we still couldn't find where the problem lies, so back to square one, and call an electrician in the morning. It was a challenging exercise, but frustrating that we couldn't isolate the problem.

October 30, 2000, Monday- our plans changed from the original golf date with Peter and Carol since it was supposed to rain this afternoon, and our 1:48 tee time wouldn't, most likely, permit us to finish the 18 holes. So, it's to be rescheduled. Susan and Karen played an executive course for a few hours this morning before the weather changed, while Phil and I worked with the electrician to isolate the open ground fault at Lu's place. With our input and his testing equipment we were able to determine the line having a problem, and remove it from the system. Phil and I next installed a satellite dish at Lu's place and were able to beam down the signal without any problems.

This evening we saw "The Contenders", a poignant and sad commentary on US politics. Very well casted and acted.

Oh yes, the temps dropped from 72 to 59 in a few minutes, with wind and rain following.

October 31, 2000, Tuesday- another month is drawing to a close, and has flown by. Susan and Karen left early for a 7 AM tee time. While they enjoyed a wet course from yesterday's rain, Phil and I rode the bikes over to Falcon field where we flew for an hour "in the pattern", practicing lands. Fortunately my greasers continued and I was pleased with the smooth results. We've just finished another historic weather pattern with the wettest October in the Phoenix area on record, and it looks like another set of storms are heading our way later in the week.