I think we are almost done. We have been here in Menifee now for almost two weeks and I think we are about ready for when we leave. We have gotten everything we need out of our storage spaces; we had planned to get all our stuff in to one unit but it wasn’t happening so we now have two 5’ x 5’ storage lockers. We did move a lot of things into the trailer and also gave a lot to The Salvation Army but we still have stuff left and I just can’t get rid of anymore. I think we have to make one more trip to drop the final bits and pieces of there and then we are done.
Today Mike got almost all the remainder of his chores done, he put shelves in the bathroom and vents on the roof; all that’s left to do now is hook up the TV in the bedroom. He had planned on taking care of that today but it’s a little more complicated than it should be as our TV is a little big so he has to do some more thinking. I’m not sure we really need it actually since we will rarely watch TV in there, if ever. All his other chores are done, the truck bed is all sorted, underneath storage is all sorted, and the inside of the trailer is set; only problem I have is that I don’t have enough things to fill all the cupboards, but I’m sure that can be rectified as we start traveling again.
We have spent the rest of our time here so far catching up with friends and family which is always great, and making new friends in the form of the resident ducks and geese. They are getting a little too familiar though and now they stand on our mat at the bottom of the steps and call to us through the screen – they are eating me out of house and home.

Mike: The geese are a little pushy!

On the road for the last time for three whole weeks today, and we only had to drive about four hours – happy days. We spent the whole time on I15, passing through a few towns but mostly driving through mountains and desert, it was very bleak but very beautiful, and the San Bernardino mountains looked absolutely spectacular.
We are now back in Menifee and are going to be staying here until April 9, three weeks from today, before we strike out north.

Mike: Now all we have to do is move our stuff out of storage into our new trailer!

Today is our last drive till next week and I am so looking forward to not having to be on the road tomorrow. Thankfully today was not a long drive, just 3 hours from Southern Utah to Las Vegas, and it was a beautiful day too. We left through the State Park, stopped for gas, then got on the freeway; we didn’t turn til we got to Las Vegas – a nice easy drive for Mike. We are back at the park we stayed at a few weeks ago, but this time it’s a lot busier. There was only one other space available besides the one we have been given, and they didn’t charge us for the 50 amp space as they have no 30 amp to give us. Well we found our space straight away, we just followed the map, but getting into it was a little more difficult. We are parked on the last row in the park and it is absolutely cram packed full, not just with RV's’ but with tow vehicles as well which made it really difficult to swing the trailer round into our space. Two of the people opposite us actually came out and moved their cars so we’d have a little more room which was very kind of them, but the biggest problem was our next door neighbour. He had a truck like ours and while it was parked in his space, the way it was parked meant there was no room to maneuver. So, Mike backed up and pulled forward, and backed up and pulled forward, and well you get the idea. It took us a good 20 minutes to get into our space and people were watching which I hate, so Mike and I had a few words with each other. But it’s all good now, we have had Chinese food and now we are going to enjoy the rest of today and tomorrow without having to drive anywhere.

Mike:Ah! Food is the cure for all problems!

We had a beautiful drive today almost the whole length of Utah from Coalville to Hurricane. Almost the whole drive was through or alongside the mountains and they were spectacular; Utah really is a beautiful state. There is so much variance from the north to the south, the north is very, very mountainous and green (white this time of the year), while the further south you travel the redder the terrain gets; it’s hard to pick which is more magnificent.
We got to Hurricane, well just outside Hurricane around mid afternoon and managed to find the park without to much trouble; it’s right alongside the freeway next to State Park. We got checked in and took one of the last spots in the place, it’s a good job we’d reserved a space or we’d be in the Walmart parking lot about now. This park seems to have a lot of long term residents staying here, but more snow birds than trailer trash. I doubt there are too many trailer trash that could afford to stay here for too long at these prices. It's crazy, for what basically amounts to a space that's just wide enough for the trailer and nothing else. But we are only staying one night and we’ll be gone early tomorrow morning.

Mike:A trouble free day, yeah!

We got that early start, for all the good it did us. About 6 miles west of Casper that same something popped under the bonnet again and we found ourselves parked along the side of the road, again. Mike called Ford, and after some back and forth they sent the tech out to meet us to try to fix the problem again. When he got there he knew exactly what the problem was and climbed up on the engine to fix it – a clamp came loose and the hose slid off as a result. It took a few minutes for him to tighten it back down and then we were on our way with him following us. We didn’t get more than a few hundred feet before there was a noise, not a popping but a leaking of air, so we pulled over again. This time he replaced the boot that apparently had oil on it and that was why it was slipping (couldn’t they have replaced that yesterday?). Anyway, we got going again, with him following us for a few miles, and we didn’t have anymore problems. I was hoping he was going to follow us to Utah but no such luck. It was ok though as we drove all the way to Coalville, just east of Salt Lake City, and didn’t have any more issues. I think if he hadn’t fixed it properly we would have known by now as we have been up and down mountains the whole drive and the truck just seemed to take it all in her stride. I have to admit though that every time we climbed in elevation and she started making the noises that she makes, I was just waiting for the pop to come. But it didn’t, and now we are here in Coalville in a nice little park that has the weirdest space layout I’ve ever seen; the pads for us to park on are crescent shaped but Mike got in without any problems. We don’t have any water here, I guess they don’t turn it on until later in the season when it warms up; I don’t think it’s going to be that cold tonight, maybe freezing, but a storm is on it’s way – I hope we are out of here before it hits.

Mike: Holding our breath all day wears you out!

The one silver lining to breaking down and having to spend the night in a motel, free waffles for breakfast, yummy.
After checking out we walked to Ford and spent most of the day there waiting for the truck to be fixed. They figured out what the problem was, the hose that was replaced in Rapid City had popped off, and since it was something to do with the turbo Xena wasn’t getting enough power – at least that’s all I understand. No big deal right, except they also found that two of the fuel injectors needed replacing and that it was going to take most of the day and about $1,500.00 to do it. We figured it needed doing so it might as well get done while we are already here.
Other going out for lunch we sat at Ford and waited till just after three this afternoon. Mike, while we were sitting around, changed all our reservations by a day so we are spending tonight in Casper at the park we were supposed to be at last night, and then heading out on our 6 hour drive into Utah tomorrow morning.
When the technician was finally done we retrieved the trailer and headed about 2 miles down the road to the campground. They gave us a spot that was long enough that we haven’t had to unhitch and we’ll be able to get an early start tomorrow.




Mike: Job done! Wallet a little lighter!

Today we started our trip back south and we supposed to get to Casper, WY around mid afternoon after about a 4 ½ hour drive. It was a beautiful day, if a little windy, and the drive was lovely, at least till we were about 25 miles east of Casper. At that point, while driving about 60 along the freeway, something popped under the bonnet and the truck lost all her power. Mike managed to drive us of the next exit (thankfully there were no hills between it and us), and pulled off tot he side of the road. He looked under the hood but didn’t see anything to fix so he called the recovery people. After explaining what had happened the lady decided that it was best to send a tow truck to take us to the Ford dealership in Casper rather than getting a mechanic out to us. She promised he’d be there within an hour and he was, and then he took at least another hour to get us hooked up to his tow truck. The hooking up part wasn’t really the problem but he had to remove the drive shaft (???) and that took a while and a lot of lying on the floor under the truck.





The driver had intended to take the surface roads to get us to Casper and the wind was so bad he didn’t want to get on the freeway, but he couldn’t make the turn while towing the truck and the trailer so on the freeway we got. As it turned out the wind wasn’t really the problem, the problem was his truck wasn’t sure she was powerful enough to tow 20,000 of weight all the way to the Ford garage. It was not the most fun 30 miles I’ve ever driven, the tow truck was struggling, and the driver was using only one hand to steer and change gear while talking on the phone, but we got there eventually. Then the next obstacle was for the tow truck driver to get the trailer into the secure parking lot behind the dealership so we could leave it there for the night. It was a bit hairy but he got it in place and unhooked the truck. As it was close to closing time by the time we got to Ford they can’t start working on it till tomorrow so we had to unhook it from the trailer and leave them both in the lot. According to Mike the truck seemed fine when it didn’t have to tow the trailer but that doesn’t really do us any good for the rest of our trip.
The Ford shuttle took us to the Super 8 across the street, we are going to get Pizza Hut for dinner, and hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. Actually today could have been worse but both Mike and I were quite calm about the whole ordeal, he didn’t shout and I didn’t cry, it’s a miracle!

Mike: That was a hair-raising drive! Definitely an "E" ticket!

Mike drove into Rapid City this morning to have the diesel mechanic check out the truck. He actually took the truck for an oil change at the end of last week but the diesel guy wasn’t in and they tried to call him but he has no cell service here so didn’t get the message. They didn’t take too long this morning though as all they had to do was change some hose thingy. He also took care of picking up the mail while he was gone including our Montana tags for the trailer so now we are all set to leave tomorrow.
We have been into Rapid City a couple of times in the days we’ve been at this park but mostly we’ve been getting the trailer straight. Not the most exciting way to pass the time but it was necessary, now everything is clean, all the cupboards are lined, and I did all the flipping laundry. I think we are about ready to get on the road and head back to San Diego tomorrow so we can get our stuff back out of storage. We’ve had a busy but relaxing few days here in South Dakota, getting used to being in the new trailer. I think I’m going to like it, we have so much more room, and actually living space, although I will miss eating dinner in bed every night, now we get to be civilised and eat it on our laps on the sofa!







Mike: All dressed up and ready to go dancing!

Before leaving the park today we went to Rapid City DMV to get our South Dakota driver’s licenses. This state is very Rver friend;y and the only requirement to get a DL is to spend one night in the state. We headed over to the DMV, without an appointment; in California this would mean at least a three-hour wait. We parked walked through the door, and took a number. Before either one of us had finished filling out the application forms our numbers had been called, amazing. The staff we friendly and efficient and we walked out of the office about 15 minutes later with our brand spanking new driver’s licenses in our hands. The California DMV staff need to come here to see how it’s done properly.
After doing a few more chores, picking up a bumper end which we lost yesterday, and making an appointment at Ford for an oil change, we headed back to the park and got hitched up. It’s amazing how much easier it is to do this than the trailer, it takes about 5 minutes for me to get inside the trailer straight and about 20 minutes from start to finish for Mike to get his stuff done. He really likes this better as he doesn’t have to get on the floor to hook and unhook the sewer, and he also doesn’t have to lug the hitch around anymore.
The drive to the park we are going to spend the next few days at was really short (my favourite kind), only about 14 miles which took us about half an hour. It’s about 2 miles off the main road and is so much nicer than the one we just left; this is a member owned park and it shows. There are a few other people here, but not too many, but I imagine in the summer months this place is crazy. They gave us a nice spot and after a few attempts Mike got the trailer backed into it. I think the backing up will be the thing that takes the longest to get used to as apparently the trailer doesn’t respond as quickly as the other one used to, plus it’s about 10 feet longer. But, practice makes perfect and I’ve no doubt he’ll get plenty over the coming months.





It’s really peaceful here, no traffic noise, very few people, and the weather is gorgeous, a little chilly but sunny. I think it’s going to be an enjoyable few days.




Mike: This is better!!!!!

Our first night in our new home and we both slept like logs even though it was windy; it’s amazing what a little hard work will do for you! We were ready to go by about 8 this morning but we waited to see the dealer guys before leaving just to check on a few things. We said goodbye to our little trailer and hit the road heading north to Rapid City, South Dakota.



The drive was close to five hours but it was a lovely drive through more open countryside with lots of green for miles. It didn’t seem very different to me pulling the fifth wheel as opposed to the trailer but I’m sure Mike will take a little while to get used to it what with the height and length being more. As far as I could tell the truck did fine with it, she didn’t have any trouble at all, and even with the wind that was blowing there was hardly any movement – having dual wheels sure makes a difference.
We stopped a few times, mostly for bathroom breaks, and after getting on the wrong frontage road we finally made it to the camp ground around 3 this afternoon. The park (if you can call it that) that we are staying at tonight is owned by the people who now take care of our mail forwarding, Americas Mailboxes. So far we’ve had no trouble with the mailing part, but they really need to work on the campground as it’s basically just a big parking lot right along the side of the highway. It does have full hook ups which I am grateful for but at $25.00 a night the rates are a lot steep.




We went to the office to get checked in at the office and all was well until the woman gave us a sheet of paper explaining about shutting of the water and emptying our tanks in cold weather. Since it’s supposed to get well below freezing tonight she wanted us to do this this afternoon. Mike was a bit bewildered as in the cold weather we usually just leave our water running a little and when he asked about doing that he ended up having a long conversation with the owner of the place about cold weather water habits. He apparently has been a full time Rver for a number of years (not that that means too much sometimes) and really wanted us to follow his instructions. Mike never wants to do what he’s told however, and finally the guy said that leaving the water running a little would be fine.
Finally we started getting set up in the howling wind only to discover that the water didn’t work too well. Mike had to get the owner who told him it would only take a minute to fix, but turns out he didn’t have a clue and a person staying at the park had to come help him out – so much for his years of experience!
We had intended to spend a few days at this park while we took care of getting driver’s licenses and things, but after the hassle and the state of the park we are only here tonight and will be taking off in the morning. I’m glad we are moving as we are almost parked on the freeway and the wind is whistling through here like nobodys business.

Mike: They can keep this park! I'll go somewherre else!

We left Colorado this morning quite early; I’m glad to leave the snow and ice behind, although by this morning the majority of it had melted, there was just some patches left throughout the park. We headed north through the Mile High City and crossed the border into Wyoming.



Wyoming is just as pretty as I remember with lots of rolling green hills against the backdrop of the Rockies. We didn’t have too far to drive to get to Cheyenne, and we arrived at the RV dealership a little after 11 to find our new fifth wheel waiting patiently for us. Rich, the owner who Mike has been dealing with wasn’t there when we arrived so we took a little time to check out our new home – it looks just like all the other Cougar 327’s that we’ve seen, just in a slightly different colour.
When Rick arrived we got down to business, we checked out the fifth wheel and he checked out our trailer, and everyone seemed to be happy with what they were getting. We had already stopped on the way to Cheyenne to get a cashiers check from the bank so we just got down to the paperwork. I didn’t take very long at all, I think they’ve done it all before, and within about half an hour it was all taken care of. We decided at that point to get some food and go mail our paperwork to Montana before we got down to the fun part, moving everything from the trailer to the fifth wheel.
It actually took us most of the afternoon to get everything transferred (it’s amazing how much stuff we have even after emptying much of it into storage), but nowhere near as long as we had anticipated. We figured it would take us today and at least half of tomorrow, but now we’ll be able to take off to South Dakota in the morning. Once we got everything out of the trailer the guys at the dealership came with a tractor and moved here to a spot on the lot; it was quite emotional to see her been driven away, we’ve had a good time in her over the last couple of years. The guys showed Mike how to hook up and unhook the trailer and I hope he was paying really good attention as I haven’t got a clue.
We spent a few hours this evening putting everything away ready to travel tomorrow; it’s going to take a little while to find a home for all our things, but at least we have plenty of room to put everything.
We are spending tonight on the dealership lot, we have electricity and one of the guys here put some water in our tanks so we have a little fresh water. Not ideal as it would be really nice to take a shower, but being able to sleep in a full size bed without having to climb over Mike to get in will be a treat.

Mike: Bye,Bye my little trailer, I'll miss you! sob-sob!

We woke up this morning to a temperature of 18 degrees and about an inch of new snow. The temperature has managed to drag itself up to the mid 20's by around noon and that was about as far as it got. The sun was shining most of the morning though and it melted most of the snow off the roads.
Mike finally broke out the wellies that we have been carrying around with us for months and went out to check on Xena; she needed a bit of warming up but otherwise she's great. Mike was actually more concerned about making sure the satellite dish was clear of snow than he was about Xena; I'm glad he has his priorities right.
We haven't done too much of anything else today, Mike is sorting out our old computer because he has the time and we have free Internet, and I'm just dossing about. I did manage to take a shower; I had decided that I wasn't going to till we got back to temperatures that were more appropriate for taking my clothes off, but I couldn't stand dirty me for longer than 24 hours. I don't know how people dry camp for long periods, I need a nice hot shower at least once a day.
I also just managed to put my wellies and bobble hat on and take a stroll to the trash. It's actually not that cold out, or doesn't feel that cold anyway, but I was only out there for about 5 minutes. Now it's back to doing nothing for the rest of the day and watching the thermometer - we are looking forward to 11 degrees tonight, brrr.

Mike:What's a California boy doing here? Pass the wine bottle!

Happy St. David’s Day - I don't think I'm going to be seeing any daffodils today, other than on Skype!

Man was it cold last night, I mean it was cold outside, we were nice and toasty with the heater blasting all night. I think the temperature got down to the low 20’s last night, maybe we shouldn't be staying at a park that's at 7300 feet at this time of the year. We are not the only nutters though, as there are at least four other silly folk staying here. Of the 100+ spaces in the park only 12 of them have water, the rest have all been shut off for the winter.
After catching up with the family and the puppies we took a drive into Monument. There are quite a lot of stores but not too much else, but we managed to take care of business. We were out till around 1.30 this afternoon and got home just in the nick of time as the hose pipe had started to freeze. We had had the water running all night but turned it off when we left, and turned off the heater, as the sun was glorious, but the snow clouds came in really quickly and the temperature dropped drastically. By the time we got home it was around 27 degrees and just starting to snow. We are supposed to have snow showers tonight and through tomorrow and then we are expecting a ‘heat wave’ over the weekend; I think we’ll be spending the rest of today and tomorrow bundled up inside. I actually thought that temperatures that are below freezing are too cold for snow but obviously not; whatever, it’s pretty to watch it swirling around.

Mike:Not going anywhere for the next two days!