2019 Recap, 3 parts this year, Part 1

We had a lot going on this year, lots of changed plans, unexpected events, and a very big detour.  I wanted to make this as painless as possible so I am dividing the recap into 3 parts; 1, while still in Florida, 2, leaving Florida until we end up finally back on our planned itinerary, and 3, the remainder of our year back to our winter digs in Florida.

We ended up going all the way out to Oregon unexpectedly, then back to Colorado and back on track, and never got east to include Buffalo to visit our son, Jason and his fiancé, Joanne, because of our problems.

So now the nitty-gritty numbers.  Our total miles this year were 12,624, a bit more than last year's 11,044.  We traveled on 58 days and stayed in 15 different states.  Our shortest day was 22.2 miles from The Antlers in Creede, CO to our boondock spot near Clear Creek also in Colorado.  Our longest day was 527.5 miles from Pensacola RV Park to Fernbrook RV Park in Longview, TX.  The average campground price increased again this year to $46.16, the lowest being free at some of our boondock spots, the next higher price, a pleasant $12/night on the Fire Hole River in Wisdom, MT.  The highest was a very exorbitant $100.98/night at the Crown Villa Resort in Bend, OR.  We felt totally ripped off by the very overpriced, not very friendly or accommodating so-called resort.  We used 2369.5 gallons of fuel and I started using an additive this year, a combination of Opti-lube Summer and Biobor.  We paid an average price of $3.05/gal, with a high of $3.47 in Casper, WY, and a low of $2.79 everywhere in Montana, oh and we buy 95% of our fuel at Pilot Flying J with a Good Sam discount card.  Our mileage was about 5.63mpg, with a caveat that after our entire hydraulic pump and cooling fiasco, and finally replacing our wax valve, details to follow, our mileage is up at least 1mpg!  That doesn't sound like much, but it is a 17% increase.

Okay, now on to the details and memories.

So, Florida in January means we have gotten our site set up, applied bags and bags of mulch, hung lights, and at least said hello to lots of friends, maybe even gotten a few Doctor's appointments out of the way, and basically settled into our lifestyle for the winter.  We always save a few projects to take care of while we have the time, are sitting for a bit, and have lots of available help around.  So first off we were having a little slide roller problem with our new wood floor, yes, our last floor.  We modified where the rollers sat both in and out, and still had issues with them getting caught up.  Upon further inspection our rubber covered rollers needed to be replaced.

New roller in the front

Then we measured for Guardian Plates to protect and encapsulate our slide's bottom corners, a known problem with Monaco coaches.  Ordered and installed them on the front 2 slides.

Guardian Plate

Installed

Then we noticed that our heat exchanger/fan unit for our main living area's heat was getting intermittent and very loud, ordered and replaced.

New one almost installed

Then, of course while under the cabinet, Jan noticed our instant hot water heater was leaking like a sieve, another replacement.

Out with this old one

The toilet compartment floor was the last part of the floor redo, and we wanted to tile it, but such that it wouldn't crack again or cause problems, so on the recommendation of a friend, Phil, we put Vitra down first and then laid our tile with friend, Harold's help.

Before

And after

Our 2014 Ram 1500 truck had 97,000 miles on it driven and at least 50,000 miles towed, so we started looking for and ended up ordering a new truck, a 2019 Ram 1500.  

Our new ride

We also learned about this time that we would be experiencing an enormous changing of the guard here at our park.  Jack and Betty, the quintessential king and queen of the park, due to health issues would be leaving, and good friends Bob and Harlean after being here for almost 30 years would also be leaving.  It was very sad and hard to say good bye to these fine folks.

Good bye, Jack and Betty

Good bye Bob and Harlean

Coincidentally, at about this same moment, Jack told me he had lost his hot water and heat and could I check it out?  I did and found his older AquaHot unit needed a lot of work and numerous new parts, he said he didn't want to mess with it, so he would replace it, and get somebody to install it.  I told he and Betty that I would install it, especially after all the amazing things Jack had done for everyone including me in the park.  Jack could fix ANYTHING, but unfortunately his health didn't allow him to do it anymore.  So I and my good friend, Harold, removed and replaced their AquaHot, and unfortunately due to a bad circuit board from the factory, and the messing around getting it replaced they were without hot water for almost 2 weeks!

Harold and I getting it done

And right in the midst of this was when it was discovered I had prostate cancer, quite a blow when the Doc sits you down and tells you, you have cancer.  It hadn't spread, thank God, and I had it removed promptly, and so far so good, it appears I am cancer free!

Smiling after surgery

Enjoying my first bourbon after coming home with Jan and BIL Tom

And only several days later we had to say goodbye to Jan's mother, Viv, who certainly had a great 96+ year run, and will be dearly missed.

RIP, you will be missed

So when you get a new truck that you tow, there are several things you have to do to get it ready, install a base plate and lighting system, and get a brake system installed.  And to complicate things a bit, after my surgery I wasn't able to contribute as much as I'd have liked, but with BIL Tom, Harold, and of course the diesel mechanic, Jan, we were covered.

Me offering guidance, Tom under, and Harold doing all the work

I was able to handle the lights

We would get the M&G brake system installed in Texas after leaving Florida.

So with one last get together we said good bye to Florida.

Caley, Harold, Betty, Nancy, Doug, Jack, and Jan