{"id":2714,"date":"2023-03-26T19:58:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-26T19:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themuellerfamily.org\/htr\/?p=2714"},"modified":"2023-03-28T03:00:46","modified_gmt":"2023-03-28T03:00:46","slug":"week-18-saying-good-bye-to-our-old-rig-and-hello-to-the-new","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themuellerfamily.org\/htr\/2023\/03\/26\/week-18-saying-good-bye-to-our-old-rig-and-hello-to-the-new\/","title":{"rendered":"Week 18 Saying Good-bye to our Old Rig and Hello to the New"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

March 26, 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week we finish our last trip with Stanley and begin our new adventures with Fancy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3\/20- We had no idea what to expect when we headed to Death Valley and weren\u2019t sure we even really wanted to see this National Park but we were told it was worth it so we included it in our travels. In our minds we imagined a flat, desolate, dry place without any beauty but that was not Death Valley. It was full of mountains and with all the rain they have gotten this year in places it was very green. We spent an hour driving around and exploring the various land masses, mountains and hills emerging from the desert floor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Death Valley National Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We found out that Death Valley is the lowest point in North America with some areas being 282 feet below sea level. The temperature there can be as high as 134 degrees but the day we were there it was only 76 degrees at the lowest place and snow was expected for the next day. The temperature dropped up to 10 degrees as we drove above sea level. https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Death_Valley<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Furnace Creek in Death Valley is 190 feet below sea level<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After going through Death Valley we headed a short distance down the road to our campground in Shoshone, California. It was a cute little campground that had been around for quite a few years. It was well taking care of and had a hot springs swimming pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Shoshone Trailer Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We hung out at the campground until Frank was off work for the day then headed back to the other side of Death Valley to watch the sunset over the valley and see the stars come out. We were able to get lots pictures of the valley as it changed from light to dark but unfortunately with the approaching weather it was just too cloudy to get a good view of the stars. Since there is no light pollution out in Death Valley I am sure it would have been an amazing view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Death Valley in the Evening<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

3\/21- It was so windy and we had to drive about 2 hours from Shoshone to Barstow, California. We fought the winds the whole way and watch the dust cloud the sky reducing visibility to about a mile. On the way to Barstow the wind blew the awing over the living room slide loose. Lucky for us the campground had a listing for a Mobile RV tech. He was in the park working on another rig so could come over right away after he finished the one he was working on. But the best luck was that the awing had blown loose because one of the screws that held it in place had loosened. The screw was still attached and the tech was able to screw it back in and tightened all our awing screws in the process. We said Stanley was throwing a temper tantrum because he knew he was getting traded in soon and didn\u2019t want to lose us. By the time we got that done it was too late to visit Calico Ghost Town so tomorrow we will get up early and Frank will get his work done so we can go see it before heading back to Desert Springs. https:\/\/parks.sbcounty.gov\/park\/calico-ghost-town-regional-park\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3\/22- After Frank got off work today we headed over to Calico Ghost Town. It was an old silver mining town from the 1880 to the 1890\u2019s then was abandoned after silver lost its value and it cost more to mine it than it was worth. Back in the 1950\u2019s Walter Knott of Knott\u2019s Berry Farm fame bought the land and restored some of the buildings. In 2005 it was proclaimed to be California Silver Mine Ghost Town. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Calico Ghost Town<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We rode the little train around and learned the history of the area. We had fun walking around and exploring the town. We saw what was China Town and old houses that had been built into rocks and hillsides. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Calico Ghost Town<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then it was back to our campground to get our RV and move to Desert Springs. Tomorrow we will be trading Stanley in for Fancy our new RV so there will be a lot of prep work for that. Once we got settled in our campground and Frank finished working his afternoon shift we ran to Home Depot and picked up 6 bins so we could pack up Stanley first thing in the morning. We did our laundry while we were out and then it was time for some rest so we would be ready for our long day tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3\/23- Got up at 6 am and started packing bins. We had an 11 am walk through on Fancy our new RV, so we needed to have all our packing done in the morning. Our walk through took two hours as they went through all the things Fancy can do. It was so much information it was hard to retain it all. Luckily Fancy comes with a binder full of information that we can refer to as needed. Frank drove Fancy over to the campground and I followed in the Jeep. We were able to book an RV slot right next to Stanley for the night but the space we were in was large enough that we could pull Stanley and Fancy\u2019s doors opposite each other to make it easier to move everything over. We spent 5 hours moving and putting stuff away in our new RV. By 6:30 pm we were so tired and sore we couldn\u2019t do anymore. We had emptied the entire inside of Stanley but still had the outside bins to empty and some cleaning to do. We made the bed in Fancy and went to bed early so we could finish in the morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Packed and moving stuff from one rig to another<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

3\/24- Stanley was to be picked up at 9 am and then a driver was to drive Fancy to Arizona. We are taking possession of Fancy in Arizona and will be registering her in Texas instead of California, otherwise we would have to pay a large amount of tax in California and then again in Texas on our new RV. Fortunately we will able to change our pickup time to 10 am because I woke up with my back thrown out and was unable to move. Frank had to empty the bins by himself. After laying around a bit I felt good enough to do a light cleaning of Stanley. We left Desert Springs a little after 11 am and made it to Ehrenberg, Arizona where we met with a notary and took possession of Fancy. We headed back down the road into California to camp at a Harvest Host and try out our solar power. We spent our first night on the road in Fancy at Chirico Summit behind General Patton\u2019s Museum. We enjoyed dinner at a little diner nearby. It is peaceful and beautiful out in the desert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Camping in the desert<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

3\/25- First night using solar power didn\u2019t go as well as we expected. We woke at 2 am with the batteries drained. One of the windows was left open during the night and somehow we had not shut the fridge tight so the heater was fighting to keep the RV warm and the fridge was fighting to keep the food cold, so our hope was that we would be able to overcome that the next night and have enough power to make it thought the night. Once the sun came up this morning our solar panels worked well and quickly started recharging the batteries, we ran our generator to give the batteries an extra boost. We spent most of the morning going through Fancy and getting everything organized and in its proper place. We had just put stuff everywhere yesterday so we could hit the road but it was time to figure out a proper home for everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After we got done working on Fancy we headed over to the General Patton Museum to take the tour. https:\/\/generalpattonmuseum.com\/<\/a> . It was packed with information on World War II and they had lots of tanks. We were able to explore the tanks and other vehicles and could even see our RV parked behind the museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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General Patton’s Museum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then it was time to have some off-roading fun. We took the Red Canyon Jeep Trail into the desert. https:\/\/theadventureportal.com\/californian-overland-trails\/red-canyon-trail\/<\/a> . The trail is close to the original entrance of Camp Young, Patton\u2019s Desert Training Center established in 1942 and used to prepare troops to fight in the North African deserts in World War II. Frank drove up the trail and I drove back down the trail. It was a fun way to end a very busy day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Off-Roading<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

3\/26- Well another night and our batteries just didn\u2019t last. They made it a couple more hours but we ran out of juice before the sun came out to recharge them. Frank spent some time doing research and discovered part of our problem is the age and size of the batteries and that if we buy a couple new Lithium batteries they will hold the charge from the solar and allow us to do more dry camping. We really are very happy with our new RV and how it runs and works but as with anything there are always a few tweaks to make it fit your needs. So while Frank was working on the battery issue I spent some time measuring for storage bins that will help us organize our cupboards easier.  Then we packed up and headed to Lake Havasu City, AZ to stay in a campground and be plugged in tonight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we got to the campground we headed down to see London Bridge which was moved from England to the United States. https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/London_Bridge_(Lake_Havasu_City)<\/a> . They now have a proper English village area around the bridge which we were able to explore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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London Bridge Arizona<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then we got on a Ferry on a 17 minute ride across the lake. We had amazing views on the ride over and back. The Ferry dropped us off by a casino where we ate dinner before heading back. Then it was back to the campsite for the night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Enjoying our Ferry ride across the lake and back<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We are hoping to finally head to see family next week but once again we will have to see how the weather holds in California. Our goal is to get to the bay area while our son and his family are visiting the first of April.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

March 26, 2023 This week we finish our last trip with Stanley and begin our new adventures with Fancy. 3\/20- We had no idea what to expect when we headed to Death Valley and weren\u2019t sure we even really wanted to see this National Park but we were told it was worth it so we…Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themuellerfamily.org\/htr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themuellerfamily.org\/htr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themuellerfamily.org\/htr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themuellerfamily.org\/htr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themuellerfamily.org\/htr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2714"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/themuellerfamily.org\/htr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2813,"href":"https:\/\/themuellerfamily.org\/htr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2714\/revisions\/2813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themuellerfamily.org\/htr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themuellerfamily.org\/htr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themuellerfamily.org\/htr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}