Here I go! Here I come? Where can I go now?

[pamerica]

Sounds like you are doing OK Pam.   Does using he Van's over drive seem to contribute to the over heating ? 
I would hope you could use that feature when on open level roads and get the fuel mileage to higher numbers.

Does your cat ever look out the windows as you travel ?  What's he seem to think of all of this ?   I know I once had neighbors who traveled in their class A and their cat couldn't stand it.   So the cat stayed home when they went out and different neighbors took turns looking after him.

Hi eDJ.  I do think it is better to not use over drive up hills.  I have been doing everything everyone has suggested.  Sometimes, though, when it is 95+ degrees out going up hill, it still overheats and I pull over a while.  Otherwise, it is just fine.

My cat stays underneath my seat while I drive.  He has always been fine with traveling.  When I stop, he sits on my seat and maybe looks out the windows while he is curled up.  What he has that is great for him, is the upper level of the van.  I call it his Penthouse.  He jumps up there and has a great view.  He also sits on the little side table and looks out the side windows, and sometimes gets on the dash.  I have the passenger seat turned around and it also makes a nice perch for him.

I love my cat...he is nine this month and I have had him since a baby kitty.  He never does anything wrong except stands up and knocks his food cans on the floor if he wants more and he feels I did not give him enough.  He is a real good cat.  Affectionate, comes for attention, makes me pet him and he is just a wonderful fellow.  A big orange tabby.  We are best friends.  Thanks for asking about him.

 

[pamerica]

Almost to Flagstaff.  Oh, what a beautiful country.  

Thanks to all of you for the help with the ride and the van.  I have 2 hours to go and if it is all uphill like it has been these past miles, I will remember what you said and take it easy.

Some kind folks on here have graciously invited me to meet them, so I have somewhere to go.   


Pam

 

[eDJ_]

Pam,

I experience some engine "missing" when I'm driving up hills for considerable distance.  In my Ford Van.

The next time I have the engine opened up for tuning, I'll likely replace the ignition cables with those containing copper wire.  (provided that would be compatible with my electronic ignition system)

What so many people don't understand about ignition wires is that they don't  actually have "Wire" in them.  They use carbon impregnated fiber as a conductor,  which is so that they don't interfere with radios & TV's.   But that looses it's efficiency in time and they must be replaced with a new set.   If you were mainly west of the Mississippi River where the population is more sparse it may not matter so much. (or traveling on the interstate highways of the east)

I like those with real copper wire) as I'm not listening to my radio all the time.  As for radio and TV interference,  remember you are just passing through and won't be much of a bother very long.   But if using these it is important to use "resistor spark plugs" as there needs to be "some" resistance in the circuit for a healthy ignition system. 


I think your cat is quite fortunate to be with you.  I know a lot of cat owners who feed and care for their cat(s)
but I think those cats are bored with their lives.   How they come alive when the kids get of the School Bus, especially when the girls pet them and make of them.   I know mine has his favorite Colorado Blue spruce tree he climbs up in during the summer when the flea's get bad.  Seems to work for him as I never see him kicking fleas.  Then there is this old travel trailer down the road set up like a camp by the river.  All the cats in the area seem to go there late at night.  So I call the tree,  "The Cat Spa" and the trailer "Club Cat".  I think they have their own secret society together probably telling each other funny stories about us humans.

 

[ArtW]

Any of you cat lovers who also like to read and haven't check out a book called 'Tailchaser's Song', very good read
I can't think of the name right now but there's an author of mystery books featuring both cats and dogs

 

[towhee]

Thanks for the updates Pamerica. I can feel your excitement. I am getting a vicarious thrill from hearing about your westward travels. It's fun to be a beginner at something. Scary. And fun at the same time.

 

[eDJ_]

Thought I'd throw this in for anyone traveling with Cats or just living with them.

13 things you didn't know about Cats

http://www.rd.com/advice/pets/13-things-you-didnt-know-about-cats/

 

[pamerica]

Thanks for the updates Pamerica. I can feel your excitement. I am getting a vicarious thrill from hearing about your westward travels. It's fun to be a beginner at something. Scary. And fun at the same time.

Oh boy.  This is the third time tonight I have tried to explain my first week in the camp, and for some reason I keep erasing it.  I hit the backspace button or the back arrow and it disappears.  This makes me sad because I am in the moment and feeling it.

Bob, is there anyway to retrieve what has just been lost, like saving to draft, like in Gmail when you do this?
 
Towhee, I wrote all that for you and anyone else following along who was wondering if all this is real, and as good as it seems.

It is all that, and more.  I am now afraid to write a bigger description in case it gets erased again...

These people are so kind, helpful and go out of their way to make you welcome and comfortable.  I have only been here a week and it is amazing what has happened.

I missed the road into the camp and a really great guy, Jamie, came on his dirt bike and got me and led me up to the camp.  When I got here, about 15 folks were having a great taco/burrito meal with all the fixings.  No skimping here.  I was immediately invited and met everyone.  These meals have happened a couple times since and I have only been here a week.  Okay I am a foodie but this tells you something.

There is so much more but I need to know what in the heck I did to erase the other posts.  Maybe I will continue tomorrow.  The kindness, the meals, the location, everything is all that.  I now, in only the first week, have a solar panel, a new AGM battery, friends, all kinds of good stuff in a beautiful area.  This is real.  These people are that good, and they know.  I traveled 2140 miles to get here, and it is more than worth it.  I know where to get mail, water, take trash, food, fuel, how to live this way.  Not all of it, of course, but a week here is like a couple years of college.  I can't wait for the winter RTR.   Thanks for all of this, Bob.

 

[pamerica]

p.s.  A very special Thank You, also, to WheelEstate USA.... Margie and Jay.  So good.

 

[rvwandering]

Smiled all the way through your post! I'm so glad that you are experiencing all of the goodness and kindness that this group willing gives. It's not something that can be easily explained - you have to experience it. Give Jay and Margie a hug from us!.

 

[Almost There]

Smiled all the way through your post! I'm so glad that you are experiencing all of the goodness and kindness that this group willing gives. It's not something that can be easily explained - you have to experience it.   Give Jay and Margie a hug from us!.

Me too!!

Please give all of them a hug from me - I miss y'all so much!!

 

[wagoneer]

I love the Pacos river, on our honeymoon we stopped it was very cold found a hot spring got in and it started to snow, all this hot spring next to all that cold water and snow on our heads a magic moment for 2 lovebirds on a honeymoon road trip 1990. Do not use the cruise control thats the car telling you how fast to go if you have a Tachometer use that instead of your speedo keep it under 2000 take the slow road start making coffee at 4 AM and drive 4 to 5 hours be consistent, pull off the road if need be.

 

[tx2sturgis]

BUMP!

What a great read...so many of these older threads get buried, then when you go read them, you find no 'closure'...

At least this one had a happy ending!

 

[Gideon33w]

Once in AZ, keep in mind that south of Phoenix and Tucson there is high desert again. About 20f cooler than Phoenix year round.
Plus, lots to see, cheaper cost of living, more rural, plenty of BLM land, and nobody is uptight enough to care about vandwellers.

If you do make it down here let me know and I can fill you in on everything to see. Tombstone and Bisbee are nice to visit.

 

[Grizzly708]

Two hours is great. I learned a convenient phrase when I first got on CRVL, and when "meandering" in my Motorhome it frequently comes to mind, mostly to slow me down and make me relax:

2-2-2

Drive two hours (some say 200 miles)

Arrive by 2:00 pm

Stay 2 days

That's 2 phunny!  Around the time of the last ice age my dad pointed out the frequency of multiple 2s you see. You may see a license plate 222abc, a phone number on a truck 222-2222, bus 22, etc. I have been amazed how often I see it still today. 


I like to repeat it for the benefit of those who may not have heard it. It's not mine; I'm not that original or deep. But it t has served me well. Hope it does the same for you.

Or, as Alfred E. Newman used to say, "What, me hurry?"

 

[pamerica]

Getting to Flagstaff from eastern NM means a long schlep through lower, hotter elevations. There are closer places with high elevations.

If I were in Tucumcari, I'd head to the Sangre de Christo Mountains in northern NM. For example, state highway 63 north from I-25 takes you along the Pecos River and up into some gorgeous scenery. There are several campgrounds in that area. Or there's road 475 east from Santa Fe. Or the Jemez Mountains west of Santa Fe (highway 4). 

And then I'd go north into the mountains of Colorado. Lots of great places, and the weather is excellent right now. I'm in Ridgway, but I've spent the past several weeks all over the central part of the state. I wish I had come here the previous summers.

However, the disadvantage of most mountainous areas is lack of cell signal.

Hi MrNoodly.  Thank you for your response.  So, speaking as kind of a chicken girl who likes to have contact with communication just in case, what do you do in the event of a breakdown, with no signal?  This just happened to me in Alabama last week and luckily I was able to move around and find a signal to call for help.  I do have an idea of the remote nature of a lot of gorgeous, beautiful, awe-inspiring New Mexco.  For how much I love it and am grateful to be there, it scares me to be "stuck" there with no cell signal.  How do you handle that, please?  Keep in mind I am not a studly guy who has conquered mechanical issues all my life  :shy:

 

[pamerica]

p.s.  The Alabama people I met as a Florida Hurricane Irma evacuee, were kind, friendly, welcoming, respectful, helpful, the best.  I met them at gas stations, service garage,  AAA Alabama, and more.  Wrecker service who towed me.  I should mention their names?  Makes me think Alabama is a good place to live.   Thank you, Alabama.

 

[pamerica]

p.s.  The Alabama people I met as a Florida Hurricane Irma evacuee, were kind, friendly, welcoming, respectful, helpful, the best.  I met them at gas stations, service garage,  AAA Alabama, and more.  Wrecker service who towed me.  I should mention their names?  Makes me think Alabama is a good place to live.   Thank you, Alabama.

 

[pamerica]

p.s.  The Alabama people I met as a Florida Hurricane Irma evacuee, were kind, friendly, welcoming, respectful, helpful, the best.  I met them at gas stations, service garage,  AAA Alabama, and more.  Wrecker service who towed me.  I should mention their names?  Makes me think Alabama is a good place to live.   Thank you, Alabama.