Where is everyone?

[rverdlm]

My last new message was posted on May 13. There used to be several messages a day. What's happened?

[2blackdogs]

I don't know what happened. I was wondering the same thing. Maybe everyone is out camping ?
Bob

[rdunk]

This situation does just happen at times, probably for various reasons. The national SOITC rally , held in Amana Iowa, just ended this past Sunday. It is likely that many of the attendees (80+ Suites) are going in different directions, just seeing this great country of ours.

Maybe fewer newbies posting because of delayed rv'ing plans as a result of doubled fuel prices????????

Whatever, don't be concerned. The postings will continue as has been normal in the past.

[Motor31]

We just spent the better part of a couple weeks traveling. We went from Louisiana to Medford Oregon. We'll be moving again up to Washington state next month. Hopefully it will be cooler up there. It got to over 100 here in Medford the last few days. It broke records but since they only started keeping records here in the late 1970's it's not a real big deal.

Nuthin to report so haven't been posting.

[bstark]

Here's a thought: is it possible, as this forum has been of primary use as a problem solver, that the problems have been stabilized to the ones previously discussed and the solutions have all been posted already? :)

People coming on to find the answer to a problem they're having with their trailer simply do a search, find what they're looking for, scream EUREKA and move on without leaving a comment. :wink:

I also believed in Santa Clause until just last year when he refused to bring me the new Screaming Eagle harley I was lusting for! :lol:

[rverdlm]

Thanks for the responces. We're on the road also heading from Mission, TX to Dubois, WY. Spent a couple of days in Carlsbad to see the bats leave the cave. Cool! We're now at Buena Vista, CO and drove up to Leadville today. We'd been through there before and thought it would be fun to spend a day there. We were right. We've only had one night where we didn't have wireless available. That was the night we spent in a casino parking lot. So far a good trip burning up that $2/gal Mexican diesel fuel.

[SuiteWheels]

Well summer heat has hit here in central CA. it was 102 yesterday and it simply is draining all of our engery. Just want to sit and relax most of the time.

I did go down to Santa Barbara for ten days while hubby took the 5er to AZ.....the dang diesel fuel cost an arm and a leg. Don't think we'll be taking many trips in our unit this summer.

[berghild]

we drove from san diego to vegas....filled up in Tijuana for $.15 gallon, paid $110.00 for 23 gallons in Barstow! driving back on Weds. not moving rig again until July when next SS checks come in! may only go as far as Mt Shasta this year.

[Gemstone]

"So far a good trip burning up that $2/gal Mexican diesel fuel."

Dave....How did you get the T-2 across to fill it up ?

Regards
Gemstone

[2 DA WDS]

Good one Bruce!! :lol:

[rverdlm]

Gemstone; On a bridge! LOL! Here's the way it went;

Friday May 9

Well, the 2008 travel season is fast approaching. The first order of business is to fill the truck with fuel. As most of you know diesel fuel even here in the valley is way over $4.00/gal. However here in the valley there is an alternative and that is to go into Mexico where diesel fuel is about $2.00/gal. There is a bit of hassle, but when you need 230 gal that is a savings of over $500. You need to buy insurance at a daily cost of $19 and there are bridge tolls for another $15 and it’s about 30 miles each way. That gives a net savings of over $500. Now here is the whole story; We took the Jeep down to investigate and find the Pemex station. That cost us another $19 for insurance plus $5 toll. We asked on both sides of the Reynosa Bridge and were told that as long as we were not commercial there was not any problem. We went to Sanborns to get Mexican insurance for the truck and they said no one would write it for the truck unless we bought an annual policy for almost $300. That hardly seemed worth it, but on the way home I remembered that the RV caravan co. that we once worked for had quit that business to sell Mexican Ins. That company is Point South Ins. I looked them up on the internet and called them. They walked me through the application and that’s how I got the insurance for $19. If anyone else wants to do this or even wants just Mexican insurance for their car just Google Point South and click on Mexican Insurance. So I bought the insurance and went to start the truck to find it had dead batteries again. That was a waste of $19! After charging the batteries we went this morning. We arrived at the Reynosa bridge and when we got to the Mexican side an officer came running waiving his arms. Said we couldn’t go in there. We had to go to Pharr. He made me turn around and go the wrong way on the bridge. When we got about half way across another officer came waiving his arms and said we had to turn around. Ain’t this fun! We could just go in circles on the bridge forever! I explained the situation and he stopped traffic and opened a gate to let us out. They X-rayed the truck and inspected it all over even though they knew I had not even left the country. Well on to Pharr! We crossed that bridge, went through the empty truck lane, explained to the Mexican border guard what we were doing and he sent us on our way. Anyone who reads this and wants to benefit from our experience here is what to do. Come off the bridge and go straight until you come to the road to Matamoros/Reynosa (Mexican route 2). Go toward Reynosa, stay in the right lane and take the first exit this will allow you to do a U turn. When you come back onto route 2 the station with truck pumps will be on the right. Have cash in Pesos. The pumps here are modern pumps that reset automatically when you turn them on. Go to the window and give them pesos that you think will cover your purchase. When you’re full go get your change and be on your way. When you come back onto the road go under the bridge and go right. This will take you back to the bridge. Stay in the left lane. This is for empty trucks. When we arrived at the US side we went with the trucks. DO NOT DO THIS! When we got to the head of the line they asked for a statement of decloration. I said what’s that? I’m not commercial. He said “doesn’t matter if you’re in this lane you need it and there is a big fine for not having it!” I begged and whined a little and he gave me one to fill out. Then he said “ there can only be one person in the truck and oh by the way there is also a fee”. He finally made a phone call and let us go to be X-rayed again. When we were done being X-rayed that border guard when I asked where to go pay he said “pay what?” I explained what the other guy said and he show me where to go to pay and said I should just explain. I did and didn’t need to pay. Another great adventure and we

[bstark]

Our rig is sitting on the other side of our property all buttoned up with tire covers on. We were scheduled to head north for the Holiday (I believe it's Queen Victoria day to honour another dead monarch) weekend up here but Sandra checked the weather service and it was showing cold, wet stuff so we decided this would be a good weekend to repaint some window trim in the house (in honour of that dead monarch of course) and boy did we miss a really cra--y weekend, light snow flurries this AM.

The next scheduled outing for us is to join some other couples with Doubletree trailers in Quebec city in July at a sort of Canadian "mini-rally" during Quebec city's 400th anniversary summer celebrations.

Still can't get used to living in the rig in Arizona for 6 months then driving past truck and trailer sitting forlornly at the other side of the lot, the "hitch-itch" is tough to deal with sometimes.

[billr]

We are up and running for the season! First trip out went well. No issues. First tow with the Volvo, replacing the Chevy. WOW!

We missed ya's Bruce!! No snow up where we were! ha

Do have to get the fridge recall done.

Next trip in 3 weeks to upstate NY Adirondacks.

Bill

[Motor31]

Billr,

Welcome to the dark side. Use the force well.


Have you been through mountains yet? I love the jake brakes for those down hill grades.

[billr]

Thanks Mike. No mountains yet, just some mole hills in Southern Ontario! ha But did get a chance to try out Jake! Very cool indeed!!

Bill

[bstark]

Bill: Yer makin me crazy jealous here! Can't wait for the Quebec city trip. This cr---y weather is pushing all of the spring stuff back and making my D/W grouchy from lack of her daily garden fix!

Now wipe that Volvo grin off your face lest you mistakenly swallow your ears!

[billr]

Bruce, "Whad ya say??? Whad ya say??" Can't hear ya! :lol: :lol:

[rverdlm]

FWIW; we are in WY for the summer and we hope it will start sometime soon. We've had snow or cold rain for the past 5 days. I'm not complaining because after not having any winter for the past 12 years it's kind of cool. Especially when you know it's going to be in the 70s in a few days. We have just the one heat pump in the living room and it's keeping us cozy. The furnace only runs occasionally over night. Life is good!

[RodeWorthy]

I've got a fuel story too. Sorry to learn about the runaround you got Dave.

I took delivery of my 08 Chevy in August and am well aware it requires Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel. In every case up to last weekend I have been reassured by the EPA green sticker declaring the fuel compliant (even here in my hometown in Ontario). Mind you we were in or travelling to/from Florida for 5 months. We did come across some pumps with Low Sulphur Diesel (LSD) in the USA but we just passed them by.

Last weekend I made my first foray into the backwoods of Ontario to join Bill and Bruce (we missed you Bruce and Sandra) and on Sunday decided I needed a fuel top-up. All I could find were pumps labelled Low Sulphur Diesel. Knowing full well just one tank of LSD could do thousands of dollars damage to the emission system I would not put that fuel in my truck. We drove to several towns in a futile attempt to find ULSD. It just didn't happen. None of the attendants could shed any light on this situation and calls to On-Star and CAA did not produce any answers either. After exhausting all our fuel supply I finally filled up at a truck stop that insisted he had ULSD but it was not labelled. I bought a 5 gallon can and got that filled and headed back to rescue the Suite still not sure if we really had the correct fuel. By the time we got back we had a net gain of a 1/4 tank of fuel plus the 5-gal reserve in the can. Half our weekend was ruined.

I have since learned that all on-road fuel in Canada is ULSD but in their infinite wisdom the CPPI has decided to label the ULSD as Low Sulphur Diesel. Go figure. Environment Canada does not require the fuel to be labelled. This is in direct contrast to the US lead from the EPA. I was relieved to learn that I did not put harmful fuel in my truck but I am sure not happy about the stupidity of that labelling decision.

So if you bring your new diesel ('07 & up) to Canada rest assurred the diesel is all ULSD despite what the pump label says.

Dave I see you have returned once again to Dubois. It has been some time (35 years) since I spent time in that area on a work related project. I really look forward to getting back there sometime. Enjoy.

For now we are in purgatory in Ontario building on our mandatory 153 days of residence to maintain our health insurance so we can travel south again in mid-September. That's no so bad -Ontario is a very nice place to be.

[rverdlm]

RodeWorthy; your right about fuel labeling. I buy most of my fuel at FlyingJ and I've yet to see a pump at the truck island label ULSD. They are all labeled LSD. I'm assuming that they are ULSD because all the new trucks are fueling there. You're also right about ON, there is a lot of beauty and nice people there. You could certainly be in a worse place.