More Projects

Monday - Another warm day today. After two days with the Multiplus powered on plus whatever other parasitic loads, the battery was down to 81% SOC (state of charge) or about 11% per day. I plugged in shore power to recharge the battery, and the temperature of the Multiplus was 111°F. Not unreasonable, but I really do need to get some sort of ventilation for the underseat compartment. I'm thinking of an air intake vent near the Multiplus and an exhaust fan next to the battery. I should have another temperature controller lying around to control the 12V fan. 

While being used as a rental, the roof vents had covers over them. They were removed, but the mounting hardware was still installed, making it simple to install new vent covers. Now, the vents can be left open even when it is raining. There is one more vent in the front, but I'm considering replacing that vent with a MaxxAir fan.

Tuesday - I drove the Jeep with the trailer to Uvalde to the large hardware store to pick up some half-height strut channel, aka as Unistrut. I needed to bring the trailer as each piece is 10' long.  The high strength outdoor VHB tape will be used to attach it to the roof as well as several screws into the aluminum channel roof joists. At least, I'm pretty sure that they are aluminum. The nuts with the blue plastic slide into the strut channel will be used to mount the solar panels. The slots in the channel will have Dicor self-leveling sealant to keep water from the back of the VHB tape.

The heat and humidity prevent much work from being done in the afternoon. The mornings are pleasant.

Wednesday - Two ten-foot sections of the strut channel are stuck to the roof after cleaning the roof and the metal strut channel with acetone. I used high-strength outdoor-rated VHB tape. I then sealed the inside of the strut channel with 1” wide strips of Eternabond tape. Then, I ran some Dicor along the sides of the channel to protect the edges of the VHB tape. I still want to run screws into the roof joists but their location is somewhat elusive. 

I started working on this at ~7:30am, and by noon, it was way too hot. I’ll start on the roof penetration for the wiring tomorrow morning. And I’m still waiting for a cooling fan. The Magnum inverter complained about temperatures as well. The transformer hit 250°F when the unit shut down. I have a fan blowing into the compartment right now. I think a cooling fan is needed to help reduce the temperature in that compartment. 

Thursday - I finally got the roof entry fitting installed. The roof looks to be only about 2" total. I'm thinking that for the unistrut along the roof edge, I may try using ¼" bolts through the roof. It'll be cooler in a couple of days. The 10AWG wire is currently run into the compartment and I did manage to find some latch duct at the local Ace Hardware to kind of protect the wire in the vertical run from the upper cabinet to the dinette bench where the rest of the electrical upgrade is located. The 12V fan and vents arrived from Amazon this evening. Tomorrow's project.

It was 94°F, and I didn't really feel like cooking anything. I decided to try out one of the Chinese buffets in Hondo. I wasn't expecting much. It really wasn't that bad. Not great, but not as bad as I was led to believe. 

More Class C Mods

Friday - It looks like we dodged another one. The storm is moving northeast. Harlingen got hammered with over a foot of rain in this one storm. 

Saturday - The receiver on the class C is a couple of inches higher than the class A so I picked up a 2” drop receiver extension from Amazon. The tow bar is almost perfectly level and the additional distance from the rear bumper should help on sharp turns. The extension is solid steel (not a tube) and rated at 10k pounds which is more than the hitch or the tow bar. Plus, we could add a bike rack and still tow the Jeep.

I tried the setup down Hwy 90 and you can definitely feel the additional weight when accelerating or braking. On the class A, you can’t tell anything is back there. I ended up disassembling the Ready Brake mechanism as it was pretty filthy from the 25k miles of use behind the oil spewing RV. 

I turned on the Multiplus to see how much power it uses with nothing running as this would be the norm. I initially noticed that it was drawing 15amps. This was the converter charging the AGM battery. I turned off the breaker for the converter.

It was a hot, humid day today and we ended up having dinner at Cowboys in D’Hanis. I was too tired to cook tonight.

Generator Charging Test

Thursday - After watching a YouTube video last night where some friends upgraded the electrical system in their RV and while on their shakedown trip,they discovered that their house batteries weren’t being charged from their generator, I figured that I should test try this out.

I started the generator on the class C and turned on the Multiplus (inverter/charger). From the screen shot, you can see the generator was putting out 868watts and 54.3amps were charging the house battery (SOK LiFePO4). The AC out was the converter which was charging the original AGM house battery. 

There was 5.02amps going into the AGM battery which is around 68 watts. A few minutes later, it jumped up to around 15amps. I turned off the generator after around 5 minutes of run time. 

One surprise to me was that the Multiplus needs to be running to allow any AC power into the RV. Not really an issue as it will probably be running all the time while the RV is being used. 

This is the SmartShunt showing the battery voltage and current. The AGM battery voltage is shown at the bottom labeled as “Starter battery”. As I mentioned before, the AGM battery is used to start and run the generator only. 

Spring Storms

Monday - Around 9pm yesterday, there was a severe storm advisory and the radar showed a storm to the north. High winds, hail to 1.25” possible, and moving southeast at ~25mph. I moved things into our shed and watch the Texas Storm Chasers YouTube channel for the next hour and a half. The northern sky was lit up by the lightning. Around 10:30, the radar showed that we would be spared. 

The news this morning showed the damage in Kerrville, a larger town about an hour north and a little east of here. Damaged roofs, vehicles, glass. Other parts of Texas were hit by the storms. They also got up to an inch and a half of rain resulting in flash flooding. 

My only activity today was my annual visit to the clinic to get my prescriptions renewed. 

Tuesday - I didn’t get much done today. I tried using the stud finder on the roof of the class C and it was very inconsistent. Maybe the battery needs to be replaced. The new mattress from Brooklyn Bedding finally arrived today. We had ordered it from the store in Casa Grande to be delivered here. It took almost 3½ weeks to get here. 

The 2/0 cable for chassis ground arrived today. I may install it this afternoon. This will finish up the wiring on the inverter/charger. One other task is moving the positive cable on the stock converter to the original house battery. This will allow the converter to charge the original battery whenever we are plugged into shore power or running the generator. 

Wednesday - Today, I rerouted the positive wire from the stock converter to the original AGM house battery. I also connected the alternate battery wire from the Victron SmartShunt to this battery. The only function this battery performs is starting and running the 4.5KW generator. It can also be used to jump start the engine using the dash mounted switch.

Removing the Solar Panels

Saturday - It’s another warm day today. This morning, I removed three of the four solar panels from the class A to be installed on the class C. The plastic glue-on solar panel mounts are really junk. All of them are discolored and brittle from UV and the Sikaflex doesn’t stick to them very well. The Sikaflex is well bonded to the fiberglass roof material but the fiberglass isn’t very thick. I would not recommend just gluing down the solar panels. 

I will wait for cooler weather before removing the plastic solar panel mounts and sealing up the screw holes with Eternabond and Dicor. The roof also needs a good cleaning. 

But burgers with grilled onions and tater tots sounds good today!

Sunday - I finished up the DC-DC installation today. I installed an MRBF fuse on the positive battery terminal and ran a 6 AWG cable from there to the input of the DC-DC charger. I picked up the common ground model as it was a little cheaper. Plus, I didn’t need to run a separate ground wire from the start battery. After setting it up via Bluetooth, I tried it out. It works as advertised. Up to 30amps to the SOK battery when the engine is running. 

The stock AGM battery was only 80ah and you could only use about half of that without damaging the battery internally. The SOK battery has about five times the usable capacity but the addition of the inverter adds new capability but potentially.

Electrical Upgrade Continues

Thursday - The inverter/charger is mostly installed. I need more large wire nuts to splice into the shore/generator line as they are all 10/2 romex (large gauge solid wires). 

I installed the Victron VE.bus configuration software on my Windows laptop and connected to the inverter/charger via USB. I configured the SmartShunt using my phone via Bluetooth. I have most of the setup done and found a YouTube video from the SOK importer with their recommended settings. 

This space is cramped as I still need to install the DC-DC charger and the solar charge controller. I’m leaving the stock AGM battery in place but disconnected from the RV. It will be used to start and run the Onan 4.5K generator. I may have the built-in converter charge that battery whenever the generator is running or plugged into shore power. There is an isolation relay with some electronics to charge the built in battery when the engine is running. The generator adds a some complexity that I hadn’t thought about before. 

Friday - Inverter/charger installation is complete. New addition are the DC-DC charger on the left, the solar disconnect right above it, and the junction box on the floor where I inserted the inverter into the shore/generator cable. I tested the all of the outlets and the microwave. I plugged in shore power and limited the current to 12amps and turned on the A/C. It works with the additional power being supplied from the battery. 

I need to order a long (25’-30’) of 6awg cable to run from the start battery to the DC-DC charger. And I need about 6’ of 2/0 cable to run from the Lynx Distributor to chassis ground. 

D’Hanis, TX - SKP

Tuesday - Yesterday was a busy day. We “hosted” a St Patrick’s Day dinner here at the park. Corned beef, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, Irish soda bread, and applesauce cake. We had over 50 people and there was a lot of cabbage and potatoes left over. I didn’t get around to taking any pictures. Afterwards, I was too tired to do much else.

We went into the outskirts of San Antonio for some shopping. Including Daiso, which is kind of a Japanese dollar store. Lots of cheap items. I didn’t see anything I had to have. Then on to Hobby Lobby. Followed by a delicious lunch at Chicken Salad Chick. I had a toasted spicy pimento cheese BLT. Very different as I never had pimento cheese before. 

Wednesday - The regular early morning coffee got me up and about. I picked up the class C and started installing ½" plywood on the inside of the one of the dining seats. This will allow me to install all of the components for the upgraded electrical system. 

On the left is a Vctron 2000 watt sine-wave inverter/charger. It also functions as a configurable battery charger and will deliver up to 70amps. In addition, it has features such as PowerAssist. This allows you to add additional power to your shore power connection. For example, you choose to limit shore power to 10amps to avoid blowing a breaker. And you want to run a high current appliance. The inverter/charger will add up to 2000 watts to allow the appliance to run by combining battery power with shore power. 

To the right is a Victron Lynx Distributor. Basically a positive and negative buss bar with up to four fused circuits. Next to that is a single SOK 206ah LiFePO4 battery. Above the battery is a Victron 500amp shunt, and to the right is a 300amp ANL fuse. Two more components need to be added to this space. A 30amp DC-DC charger and a solar charge controller. 

The two lengths of romex will get patched into the shore power connection after cutting the existing cable. I still need to finish the 12V run between the SOK battery, the ANL fuse, the main shutoff switch and the Lynx Distributor. Then on to configuration. 

Misc. Activities - SKP

Thursday - This morning, before it got too warm, I rode the Ural to Uvalde to pick up a prescription. I also wanted to check out the building supply store for half-height strut channel. They had it and the cost was the same as Home Depot. This location is more convenient as I need to use the trailer to pick them up.  By the time I got back to Hondo, it was getting pretty warm. Most of the rest of the day was spent in the RV with the A/C. 

Friday - I'm starting to build out the revised electrical system for the class C. I will be moving one SOK 206ha battery from the class A, installing a Lynx Distributor, Multiplus 2K inverter/charger, Orion DC-DC charger, and probably moving the solar charge controller from the class A. Here is a "before" picture.

By noon, it was approaching 90°F. Too warm to do much work outside. I started to remove one battery but need to turn off most of the DC which would include the A/C control boards. I’ll wait until it cools off. Tomorrow, the wind is forecast to be over 45mph.

D’Hanis, TX - SKP

Tuesday - It’s another warm one today. 

Wednesday - I worked on the class C a bit this morning before it warmed up too much. 

The storage compartment locks were keyed with the ultra common CH751 locks. I replaced them with tubular locks like I had done on the 5th wheel. 

The next task was a rear view camera. Power for the camera is from the center clearance light so the camera is on whenever the taillights are on. I am trying having the 7” monitor zip tied to the rear view mirror. There is no rear window so the mirror is kind of useless. I still need to route the monitor power cable.

The next task was opening up one of the dining seats where I plan to install the upgraded electrical system. I suspected that there would be plenty of room. I’ll need to remove the white tube which is storage for the table leg. 

D’Hanis, TX - SKP

Friday - Now to start on the “list” for the class C RV. I plan to move some things from the class A such as one lithium battery, solar panels, solar charge controller, and DC-DC charger. I’m still wondering about a charger. I need to open the bench to see what kind of a converter is installed. 

I plan on using Unistrut on the roof of the RV. This is what I should have used on the class A. They are available in 10’ lengths in both steel and aluminum. 

Saturday - An early morning for me since I volunteered to help in the kitchen for today’s yard sale. I helped with breakfast and lunch and we were done at 1pm. 

Yesterday, while cooking, I was running the convection/ microwave, the rice cooker, and the induction cooktop. These circuits all pass through the inverter and unbeknownst to me, the breaker providing shore power to the inverter tripped. This turns off battery charging and when I got up at 5 this morning, the batteries were at 22%. Everything except the A/C units had been running off of the batteries all night. Kind of confusing to me at 5am but I traced it to the inverter breaker within a couple of minutes. After resetting the breaker, everything was back to normal and the batteries were charged up to 100% by 1pm. 

An interesting morning but it has caused me to rethink my plan to remove one of the 206ah lithium batteries from the class A and install it into the class C. 

Sunday - More things making a mess on our driveway and yard. I think they are domestic escapees from somewhere around here. 

Almost Home

Thursday - A very windy travel day with both cross and head winds. So the gas mileage has dropped to about 7mpg. This RV is much less stable than the class A in the wind. And, much noisier as it would downshift a lot just from the headwind. We stopped for lunch just east of Del Rio near the Air Force base and noticed this in the median. 

I’m not exactly sure what it is maybe the logo for the flight school. It is really only visible from the air. 

At this point, we were less than 100miles from the SKP park so we forged ahead into a 35mph headwind. At least it’s fairly flat and there isn’t a whole lot of traffic. Bridget is driving now even with the wind. It’s nice to have a second driver. 

No issues with dry camping last night though I really would prefer more information. I already ordered a Victron shunt and plan on an inverter. 

We arrived back at the SKP park around 3:30 fighting a quartering headwind for the last hundred miles. It didn’t take long to unpack then move the RV into storage. 

Fort Stockton, TX

Wednesday - We left Deming around 9:30 after a cold-ish overnight low of around freezing. The propane furnace works fine but the thermostat doesn’t actually show temperature. It just has a slider for warmer or cooler. We left with a full tank of propane and I’ll get it refilled when we get back to Hondo. Bridget doesn’t seem to mind driving this RV. As long as it isn’t in the city. El Paso was, as usual, a pain to drive through. Lots of construction, traffic, and narrow lanes (due to all of the construction).

I’m not sure if the tank sensors actually work so I emptied the tanks in Deming since we were at an RV park. We’ve identified a few more things that are needed for more functionality and they have been ordered.

We stopped at the Fort Stockton rest area around 4pm. We lost an hour of travel time due to the time zone change. It’s a nice rest area and Texas allows overnight parking. Once we pass Fort Stockton, there aren’t many places to stop especially not this nice. We really want to see how things go dry camping in this RV. Only 311 miles to go.

Mesa, AZ

Monday - Sitting in the dealership this morning waiting. A lot of waiting. The dealership needs to fix a leak in the kitchen sink drain and convince us that there is no real damage to the wood floor underneath the cabinet. Plus, we are waiting to hear back from the credit union in Fairbanks that they received our wire transfer request and that they can process it as soon as possible. 

We were on the road around 3:30. This RV has a harsher ride and noisier than the class A. More like driving the truck. We filled up in Eloy, AZ, at the Love’s and the gas pumps are much slower than the diesel pumps in the truck lanes.

We stopped at a friend’s home in Tucson leaving the RV on the street in front of their home. 

Tuesday - After picking up some groceries, we headed east towards TX. It was windy for most of the day but it was mostly from the west so more of a tailwind. There was only one time that the dust storm was on the highway and only for about 1/4 of a mile. 

We stopped at the Escapee park in Deming, NM. We had stopped here before back in November on our way to California so it is familiar. The only “problem” is the city water connection is really worn so it’s somewhat challenging to tighten the hose. 

I filled up the gas tank here in Deming even though it was just under an half tank. I was wondering about the gas mileage. We are getting just under 10mpg which is about what I expected. That’s with me driving around 63mph mostly with the cruise control engaged. All gauges readings were nominal for the entire trip. The ride is harsher than the class A and it’s much noisier since the engine is up front and runs at a higher rpm. Plus, there was a lot of rattling from the stove burners and the almost empty cabinets. 

Mesa, AZ

Friday - We had dinner in Mesa, AZ, at a Denny’s and arrived at our hotel after 1am. It was a long day and the day really reinforced my dislike of flying. I was up and about in time for the free hotel breakfast. Nothing special but more than adequate. 

We then headed to Cruise America, which is a business that rents RVs. We are considering purchasing one of the former rentals that they refurbish. The exterior looks almost new and the interior, while not pristine, looks to be in decent shape. 

Saturday - This morning, we had an RV inspection done to identify current and prior issues. She was very thorough and identified several minor and one major problem which need to be addressed by the dealer. 

We then headed down to Casa Grande to visit with friends Kevin and Charla at the Encore RV Park. We had stayed at the park numerous times over the years. We had dinner at Black Bear Diner in Eloy, AZ, before checking into our hotel in Casa Grande. 

Hondo, TX - SKP

Monday - It's warm again! In fact, the A/C just kicked on at 11:30am! I was testing the "Auto" function on the thermostat which switches between the heat pump and the A/C but since you have to pick a one temperature, it either has the heat too warm or the A/C too low. So I'm forced to learn how to program the thermostat. It's now set to switch to "Auto" at 9am at 72°F and the heat pump at 9pm at 68°F. We'll see how that works over the next couple of days.

Tuesday - The mount for the dashcam had broken a while back and I was just going to replace the camera. But I have all of these bits and pieces for the GoPro. There must be something that'll work. i did find some pieces that I "modified" with a Dremel and I think that it should work. Probably better than the original mount as the GoPro bits are much sturdier.

BTW, did I mention that it’s hot again. Quite the change from last week. I’m not sure how long it’s going to last but, hopefully, it’ll stick around for at least a week. 

Thursday - Today was the coop annual meeting. Right after the meeting was over, we were off to the airport. The cheapest flight we could find was on Frontier where they charge for everything. If you need to talk to an agent, that’s $20.  It took a while to figure out how to check in and get a baggage tag printed out ($55 for the first bag as long as it’s under 40#. The counter staff didn’t even show up until the 2 hours before the flight. At that point, the line was almost the full length of the concourse. 

Renting a car at the airport yesterday afternoon to return today was a reasonable, cost-saving strategy. It was less than long term parking and less than Lyft/Uber. And much more convenient. More later on the reason for the trip. 

Still Cold

Thursday - Another cold morning. It didn’t get as cold as was predicted, which was 21°F, but cold enough for this area. I believe the park was planning to shut off the water last night but I don’t know if they did. A number of people here aren’t set up to use their own tanks such as broken pumps. I’m not sure the park models even have tanks. 

I did do a quick check around the RV and no obvious leaks. I still have the water turned off at the pedestal but still have everything hooked up. The pedestal was nice and warm as was the wet bay. I can disassemble all of this on Sunday as the forecast is for highs of 75°F. Texas weather is fickle…

Friday - Another cold day here at the SKP park with an overnight low of 30°F. Not really that cold but you must realize that around here, water pipes are buried maybe 1”. In many cases they are on the surface. Freezing temperatures aren’t the norm. Pictured is our water line with the main line running near the top of the picture. I believe that the park has the water turned off or at least I hope they do.

Saturday - A wet, cold morning. Not a lot of rain but at least it was above freezing. It's on 40°F at 10am but the forecast for tomorrow is 70°F. I think that winter may be over (finally!). There is no more wind in the forecast so I put out the awning to allow it to dry off. When I put it away last week, it was raining. 

Right now, I'm waiting for the morning test session to start. By morning, that's Alaska time so for me it's late morning. I won't be sitting outside for the test session.

Errands & Cold

Monday - Another Costco run partly to pick up corned beef. I’m making St Patrick’s Day dinner next month and Costco had some nice, large flats. 

Tuesday - A morning trip to Uvalde to pick up a prescription for a sore knee. And while I was there, I finally got around to my flu shot. Probably a bit late but the Dr said that I should get it every year. After the Walgreens was H-E-B right across the street for essentials such as ground coffee! 

Not really sure what the knee issue is but I did visit the clinic last week. They took some X-rays and prescribed some medication. 

Wednesday - Winter has arrived again. The temperature was barely back up to freezing by 10:30am and the forecasted high is mid-40s before dropping back to 21°F tomorrow morning. The whole state is cold with northern TX dropping in negative single digits. Plus, the wind isn’t helping much with gusts to 25mph. 

Fredericksburg

Wednesday - I rode the Ural into town today but it was hard to start. Usually, it starts on the first compression but everything was wet from last night's rain. Maybe that had something to do with it. But it did eventually start and I made my morning appointment. UDF after I made it back to the rig. Someone with a lot of questions. 

Thursday - I drove into San Antonio and picked up our friends from Fairbanks and we headed to explore Fredericksburg. On previous trips, the Nimitz Museum was closed but it was open today. It is a huge museum with a lot of exhibits. We didn't even get to all of the sections of the museum. It was pretty cold at 45°F with a north wind.

We had lunch at a small German restaurant and the food was delicious. The German bakery that we visited in the past was closed (on Wednesday and Thursday) but we did find another small bakery down the street was open. We then headed to Hondo as they wanted to see where we were living before heading back into San Antonio to their new hotel. The first one had some sort of conference so they couldn't extend their stay. We had dinner at Rudy's Barbecue and the food was delicious. The place is in a repurposed gas station so not a deluxe restaurant location. Tables and chairs were set up in what used to be the garage. 

Saturday - I had an early morning test session today and noticed it rained last night. I also participated in the regular late-morning session. There are some sub-freezing temperatures in next week's forecast I had removed the "winter water" setup a bit too early. Putting all that back in place will be this afternoon's activity. It had warmed up to 78°F by late afternoon. Quite a change from the last couple of days. I did need to run into Hondo for a new short hose. The old one was leaking at the fittings. I couldn't find repair parts at the hardware store so I ended up picking up a new 10' hose. I now have two hoses that just need the brass fittings replaced. Another Amazon order...

Dinner was at the small Mexican restaurant in D'Hanis. Very tasty dishes and huge servings. 

San Antonio Touristing

Monday - Not too much exciting going on today. After the morning test session, we picked up some groceries and printed all of the paperwork for our taxes. 

Tuesday - This morning, we drove into San Antonio to meet up with Ron and Connie from Fairbanks. They were on a cruise and decided to do some sightseeing around TX. Since it was sprinkling, we drove to a couple of the missions. This is Mission San Francisco de la Espada, the one furthest south from San Antonio. We had also stopped at Mission Concepción but I didn’t take a picture. 

Before heading back to the River Walk area, we stopped at a local Mexican restaurant for lunch. In San Antonio, we parked at the Houston Street parking garage. At $10 for all day parking, it was more reasonable than most of the other parking options in the Riverwalk area.

We also visited the Alamo as it is the iconic tourist destination in San Antonio. The site has changed quite a bit since our last visit but there is still a lot of restoration work being done at the site. 

Minor Ural Repair

Wednesday - Another grocery run to the much larger H-E-B in Uvalde which is a town around 30 miles west of here. Not as hectic of a drive as heading towards San Antonio. 

I finally installed the exhaust gaskets on the Ural. They fell apart when I pulled the heads back in November and it took quite a while to get a couple of replacements during the Christmas holidays. Plus, when I received the order, they shipped the wrong order. So I now have some new fuel filters and fuel line courtesy of Raceway. 

Thursday - I took the Ural for a short ride into Hondo to see if the exhaust gaskets quieted things down. Not really and there is still an occasional “pop” in the exhaust. This usually suggests an exhaust leak leaking fresh air into the exhaust. There is slightly more power now than yesterday and the only change was the exhaust gasket install. Full throttle now gets you to 65+ mph. When I rode it to Pipe Creek, it would top out at around 60mph. 

Friday - A morning test session today. It's only 71°F right now (11:30am) though the RH is 84% so it feels kind of muggy. 

RV Tasks

Monday - My attempt at fixing the chip on our windshield. I should've taken a "before" picture as this looks like it'll do the job. The challenge was that the repair kit was designed for a regular, angled windshield. The RV windshield is almost vertical so the repair liquid didn’t pool on surface of the windshield on the chip.

It hit 82°F by mid-afternoon so I’m glad we have the new A/C unit installed. 

Tuesday - It's an overcast, humid (81% RH) morning. Fortunately, it isn't too hot yet, though the forecast is for highs in the low 80s! I'm outside for the morning test session. I packed away the winter water insulation as it had gotten wet when it touched the ground. I noticed that the short hoses that I've been using for years have slow leaks where the fittings attach to the hose. I like the short ones for when we are in the park as it's only about 6' from the spigot to the RV.

After the morning test session, I rode the Ural to Pipe Creek which is east of Bandara. About 95 miles round trip. I just needed to open an account at the propane business so we can easily get our tanks filled without needing to wait for the tanker truck. It was a nice ride. This was the first long-ish trip since we’ve been back this year. 

Warm Day

Sunday - Clear and sunny. I neglected to check the dip switches on the A/C unit yesterday so the thermostat didn’t know there was a furnace installed. The heat pump worked just fine. This morning, I pulled off the covers to access the dip switch and enabled the furnace. Then reset the thermostat.

RMarx helped again to lower the old A/C unit and dismantle the scaffold. Still more projects and I can no longer use weather as an excuse. 

Next task was de-wintering our water inlet. Packed up the heated water hose, pack up the fiberglass insulation I had wrapped around the water spigot, re-install the water softener, etc. I probably need to regen the softener as the last time was at Bay Landing. I’ll need two containers of table salt for that task. 

I still need to repair the chip in the windshield and install the SS slide skis on the living room slide. The RJ45 pass through for the StarLink still needs to be installed … somewhere. And the replacement slide topper for the kitchen slide is still waiting to be installed. And I’m sure that there are many more things such as Ural exhaust gaskets.

Back in the SKP Park - New A/C

Friday - For most of this week, this is what the weather has been like. Drizzle to rain almost continuously. Yesterday, it started to clear up but the wind kept the temperature in the upper 60s (°F). It was even warm enough for me to participate in a test while sitting outside!

The new front A/C w/heat pump arrived on Wednesday afternoon. It’s around 100# and the biggest challenge is getting it up onto the roof. The park has scaffolding available which I picked up yesterday afternoon. This is the first time I’ve needed the trailer since we arrived.

I have the first 5’ of the scaffolding assembled and need to figure out where the best location for it. I might just move the kitchen slide in and set it up there. Maybe I’ll replace the slide topper while I have the scaffolding set up. 

This morning, we drove to the outskirts of San Antonio to an urgent care for Bridget. It just happened to be near Costco so a visit may be in order.

Saturday - This morning after I helped with the park “dump run”, RMarx helped me to add the second level to the scaffolding and lift the new A/C unit up onto the roof. I then disconnected the wiring and unbolted the old unit from the roof. I’m in the process of lining it up with the roof opening before finishing up the wiring. There are dip switches on the control board that need to be set before testing. The final task is moving the old unit back down to the ground where I plan to salvage some parts.

It’s a very pleasant 72°F right now with a light breeze. Very pleasant. It would’ve been a great day for a motorcycle ride to just about anywhere. 

Later - The new A/C unit is mostly installed. It’s running right now as the RV was almost 80°F. The air from the A/C unit is 48°F so it appears to work. I still need to tape some foam into the ductwork to isolate the intake and outlet from each other.

Day 7 - Sea Day

Saturday - Today the ship is heading back to Galveston into a 35kt quartering headwind. The net result is an apparent wind of around 45kts according to the status screen. You can feel some movement but this ship is pretty stable due to its size. You can hear the empty hangers rattling in the closet as a reminder that the trip is almost over. It really has been a nice vacation. To me, the most enjoyable part have been the sea days. I could really take or leave the ports and excursions. We’ll arrive sometime tomorrow in the early morning and our departure window opens at 8:45am. The picture was actually taken at lunch but it was the only picture I took all day.

Breakfast was in the main dining room with Bill and Casey from the park. I don’t have much planned today besides packing. We need to vacate the room by 8am tomorrow and we opted out of the crew moving our luggage. This gives us more flexibility but we will need to carry our luggage off the ship. Hopefully we can get most of it into luggage with wheels. 

Mid-morning was spent in the solarium. Supposedly a quiet place but there are a few loud people but it’s generally pretty quiet. I heard that there is slow WiFi available in the card room. 

Later - Sigh, No WiFi on the card room. We had lunch in the main dining room. I think we both decided that we like someone bringing us the food instead of fighting the crowds at the buffet. On sea days, they serve lunch so we took advantage of it. 

It seems like I came down with a fever today. And an annoying cough. Bridget brought me dinner from the main dining room. It was a delicious lamb shank! Fabulous flavor with some mint jelly and pearl onions!

Since I’m feeling sick (tired, cough, aches) we opted for the crew to take all except our carry on bags.

Day 6 - Cozumel, Mexico

Friday - Today’s adventure started early. We met Gail, one other member from the park, for breakfast at Park Place. The toasted onion bagel with cream cheese, smoked salmon, onion, and capers was delicious. We had an excursion scheduled which started with a bus ride to some Mayan ruins followed by a couple more stops. After signing waivers we headed out. Travel on the road system here seemed much more controlled than Roatan. Traffic signals!

The Mayan ruins at San Gervasio were less impressive than expected. Then again, Cozumel is a small island. No pyramids. Several foundations for a temple, palace, and other limestone structures. The commoners lived in wooden structures. Many of the buildings had their stones taken by conquering Spaniards for their own buildings and churches. 

It was interesting and the guide did a fantastic job. One thing that surprised me was the lack of any writing but that could have been due to the site being picked over in the past. While we were there, I did pick up some more extra-strength Ibuprofen for less than we paid yesterday. $35 for 100 tablets versus $20 for 50. Still more than Los Algodones. But I now have enough to last for a while. 

We then stopped at a honey bee place to give us an opportunity to buy more stuff. I think it was associated with the tour company. The claimed reason was to allow a shaman to “bless” the obsidian pendants that people purchased at the previous stop. The next stop was scheduled and listed on the itinerary. A chocolate demonstration at the Mayan Cacao Company. They gave us the history including how it was used by the Mayans. They did a demonstration of grinding the cacao nibs and adding honey, allspice, cinnamon, and a few other things to make Mayan chocolate. Their traditional drink is mixed with water. Using milk was a European thing after the cacao was brought back to Europe by the Spaniards. 

We arrived back at the ship around 2:45 and we hit up the hot dog place again for a quick snack as we missed lunch. This excursion was fairly long time-wise and we ended up traversing the entire road system of the island. 

Tomorrow is a sea day as we head back to Galveston.