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Re: Newbie

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2019 5:46 pm
by stevek
Regarding RV spots around Camarillo, CA.
If you don't mind driving about 24 miles.
One of our favorite campgrounds. Right on the ocean.
Faria Beach Park. Ran and owned by Ventura County.

Re: Newbie

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2019 6:48 pm
by bornnorm
Small things.

Began with the two mile walk and 2 hours of Pickleball. Ginny was very good today, joining to beat har younger son and husband in separate games. So nice to see the pride and big smile.

Added two breakers, now there are 5 (10 circuits). No doubling of circuits on a single breaker function.

Mounted hooks for kitchen utensils on inside of door over sink. There definitely seems to be a shortage of tall cabinets in our Born Free.

Rejunvenated the rubber on all windows, actually anywhere there was a rubber seal. It certainly an improvement, now to see the duration of the rejuvenation..

Added a tow strap rated for 8000 lbs to allow the safety chains to be connected on the passenger side. On the driver's side Scion provides a metal tow hook.

Noticed the stove vent fan is not working and the propane gauge seems to not work.

Re: Newbie

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2019 6:55 pm
by bornnorm
Getting ready has many aspects. Today I power washed the house, mold grows in FL and the house requires two washings a year, particularly since we'll be gone 8 months. Tomorrow it's our trailer we wash.

As well I installed a center arm rest in the Scion.

Re: Newbie

Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2019 10:52 am
by perleys
What did you use to rejuvenate the rubber on all the windows and areas?

Re: Newbie

Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2019 3:45 pm
by bornnorm
I've tried two preparations. I feel they are typically mostly cosmetic.

The first by Car Guys. Ch.osen because it had good reviews. I've done the Born Free and the Scion, I was not impressed using them on plastic but they definitely made the rubber look better. Certainly appearance is part of the game.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071F ... UTF8&psc=1

My neighbor brought over an equivalent product by Mcguairs. I don't have a link to it but will get one if it tests better than Car Guys.

Re: Newbie

Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2019 9:01 pm
by bornnorm
Interior Scion Prep.

I'm not sure anyone will find this interesting. Traveling about over the last 19 years we found more than half of the trips miles are in the tow vehicle. As well the roads and places the tow vehicle go are generally more out of the way and not as good as those seen by the Born Free. Our goal is lots of roads.

We carry a case of water at all times sometimes finding ourselves way out. We carry snacks, a backpack and an assortment of clothing including raincoats and the ability to layer up, to handle quick changes.

In the Scion we fold the rear seats flat. Behind the front seats we each have a bin for our clothing. Under each of the front seats there's a shoe box. One contains emergency stuff, a jump starter, an OBD reader.a tire repair kit, ... The other contains first aid supplies. Between the bins seats we have snacks, and a cooler bag, frequently we carry a lunch for the hikes. Ginny generally keeps her atlas on top of her bin. Though we sometimes use GPS, generally Ginny always has a map on her lap. She never sleeps while we drive and helps with traffic.

I don't know if I wrote it in an earlier post, we generally drive 150 mile per day and rarely more than 200, leaving around 8 AM and stopping by noon. Our reasoning is that it gives us a chance to explore the area.

On the folded down seats we carry carry a large bin for two warmer jacks, always hoping we don't need then. A second bin contains our walking sticks, hiking backpack, binoculars and the bulk of the water.

A third bin holds car supplies, car oil, Silicon spray, distilled water (once on an island in Newfoundland without it and nowhere to buy it, our campground host gave us water from a dehumidifier), Small tool kit, torque wrench.

Under the rear deck is our compressor.

SUre I forgot something....

Re: Newbie

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2019 6:19 pm
by bornnorm
Setbacks.

Better now then we're on the road. Today the freshwater check valve started leaking. I was able to fix it with a couple of o-rings. Happy we were there when it happened or we could of really had a mess.

Over the years we've seen a number of trailers and motorhomes accidentally flood by their owners. With fear we always shut the water and pump off when we leave the campground.

Yesterday we went to a deserted parking lot and attached the tow vehicle for the first time. Everything went well. We towed the Scion around the empty lot. The only change required was flipping the receiver to lower the ball 1.5 inches. Now the tow bar is virtually flat.

On our trip to Alaska and across the Trans Labrador highway, we glued one inch thick construction foam board to our black and gray tanks on the front and bottom surfaces. On our trip to Alaska we also covered the gas tank. After the trip the foam was peppered but no damage to the tanks.

A week to go and pack, pack, pack.

Re: Newbie

Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2019 3:42 pm
by bornnorm
Little Things.

One of the neat parts of RVing is that everything needs a defined place. This was particularly true in our Scamp 16, inside it was only 13' long and needed to meet our needs for up to 310 days in a year. AS well our fridge was only 2 cubic feet. I really find it fun to define little storage volumes.

I bought a half dozen plastic white trays, about 2"w x 2"d x 10"L. They are less than a dollar apiece. I mount them on the inside of doors or walls and use them for containing all kinds of little things that need well defined positions like pill boxes, tooth brushes, small container containing salt and pepper, baking powder and so on.

We have a large utensil storage drawer divided into 8 areas, five are for traditional forks, spoons, knives, etc.... the three other are large and are used for larger sharp knives, and other miscellaneous utensils. I use two of the small white trays to sub-divide two of the large areas. One is used for small knives, particularly the most commonly used small knives. The other is used for other small utensils that could easily get lost in a big drawer. These two small trays are screwed to the bottom of the drawer.

I'm really enjoying getting our Born Free road ready. I wish I had more time to do the over cab area... maybe as we travel, certainly when we get home. For us that volume needs organization and shelving.

Thursday will be our first day on the road since we brought it home.

One more thing happened today. We saw a Class C in a parking lot towing a Scion xB like ours. He has absolutely loved it. He said he fit two Honda scooters in it after the last hurricane and took them back north. The volume in these little Scion xBs is just amazing.

I've added an OBDII to our unit. It displays all kinds of information. We've been just driving around town for a week or so, averaging almost 39 mpg around town... silly. The ability to see instant mpg changes one's driving style.

Re: Newbie

Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2019 3:52 pm
by perleys
Norm, I take you are not sleeping the cab over? I got 4 large brown wicker looking totes from Walmart and store allot in those in the overhead cab. The only thing I still want to do is make a curtain to go across that area to put them behind the curtain!

Re: Newbie

Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2019 6:12 am
by bornnorm
Our Born Free was purchased with cabinet doors in the overhead though even if there were sleeping space above Ginny would not be in favor of it. She'd really into minimum risk. Before every Pickleball match she tells the participants, no diving and no running, play for the next point, next match, the next day. Even with her statements we've had one broken hip and one cracked pelvis.

In the first case an 83 year old man, actually a marathoner bent over to pick up a stray ball. He crossed his legs and crashed to the ground. He was just a passer by. In the second case a 93 year old just wanted to try hitting a few balls. He let his male drive take over reaching for a ball, fell and cracked his pelvis.

As we age our bodies are not as capable but the mental drive doesn't know it. Ginny does and no overhead sleeping.

We do have a number of plastic bins in the overhead, however I think it can be more usefully done. It certainly is cavernous.

Re: Newbie

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2019 7:20 pm
by bornnorm
Wireless Tow Vehicle Lights.
We purchased a Towmate light bar for the roof of the Scion, from Best Tool USA, cost $210. It communicates with the Born Free over a wireless connection. The transmitter plugs into the RV's 7 pin connector.

Re: Newbie

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2019 2:15 pm
by bornnorm
Day 1 - Paynes Prairies Reserve, FL State Park

This was about 180 miles from our Florida home 50 miles south of Lakeland. The campground is just north of Ocala just off I-75.

This was our first long tow of the Scion xB. Almost invisible back there, though I can see it through the rear bathroom window and it's Fresnel lens.

We averaged 10 mpg for the first 162 miles. Not dissimilar to what we averaged driving down from Maine when we peaked at 11 mpg. My typical speed was 55 mph including the Interstate.

Florida has great and numerous state parks, frequently rated the best state park system in the nation. FL seniors camp for half price. Tonight we're paying $17 and that includes a $10 reservation fee. Earlier thus year we camped at Gilchrist Blue Springs, a 75 million gallon per day, 72 F crystal clear spring. The charge was $75 for the week and that includes a onetime $10 reservation fee.

Now we're discovering the flaws in our packing, mostly re-organization, nothing serious.

It's 86F at 1 PM so we're giving the AC it's first real test. In less than an hour it's down to a comfortable 81F.

Our son gave us a handheld, infrared thermometer two years ago. When we stopped at a rest area I used it for the first time to measure tire temperatures, typically 115 F. Nice tool. Though we have TPMS on the Scion, it understates temperature but definitely show's direction and change

Re: Newbie

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2019 2:36 pm
by bornnorm
Day 2 = Coe Landing County Park, Midway, FL

Another lovely park of 20 sites located on the water. Wonderful spot close to Tallahassee.

One air bag as a slow leak, losing about 10 pounds a day, I assume a tubing connection problem somewhere. Each day out we;re discovering a little thing to address. Today a location for the dish towel; tonight our first use of the convection oven - corn muffins to go with lentil soup. We've dramatically changed our diet over the last two months, dramatically reducing meat and processed foods.

As we've traveled we've lost weight each year; shocking to me I've lost 82 pounds over the last 19 years. This year's change started when a friend suspected heart issues. We joined him in support for his life change.

Re: Newbie

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2019 7:00 pm
by bornnorm
Microwave/Convection Oven.

We have never owned a Convection Oven and have not carried a Microwave since we sold our Motorhome in '08. WE felt that in our small trailers a microwave was a waste of space because everything it does could be done on the stove top. Also we have not had any kind of oven in our RV's since '08.

Tonight we broke the fast and used the Convection Oven. It is as fast as a rocket. I'm sure this will become part of our life. Before we left we bought a convection oven cookbook.

Today we added a nightlight and Terro (sp) (intended to rid the rig of ants). In our 4 months in FL I did not see a single ant in the rig. Today there were 3. Terro to the rescue.

Re: Newbie

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2019 2:02 pm
by bornnorm
Escapee Rainbow Plantation, Summerdale, AL

We've now covered 600 miles and are spending 2 days at the plantation. I added a fan to the vent system of the Fridge to improve efficiency, typically only helpful in really warm weather.

We belong to Escapees, we'll stay in a number of their parks as we cross the country and proceed up the West coast.