Pesky Leaks

Posted on November 28, 2020 by Waldo

I’ve been living with an intermittent coolant leak for a couple years now. Just waiting for the right time to BLOW all the coolant out on a big hill, YIKES!

Big ole crack in the aluminum part which holds the plastic tank onto the radiator core

So, now that I have some free time and some helpers I decided to tackle those pesky leaks and skip over the part where I’m stranded on the side of the road waiting all day for a tow truck. My friends and I managed to replace the radiator, water pump, fan clutch, and fan belt in about half-a-day. I decided to replace all the mission-critical stuff behind the radiator because it’s just so easy when the radiator is out and so hard when it’s not

And the propane hoses stared leaking just a week before the regulator died.

Out with the leaky, in with the new (again)

The propane regulator is the second one of that brand to die and all the hoses (4 of them) ended their lives with a leak. Thanks China

I bought what I hope is a better regulator and hoses from PPL motorhomes. Time will tell. I set it up the same way as I did them before without the double bend in the hose.

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Panaca to Valley of Fire State Park, NV

Posted on November 13, 2020 by Waldo

Slot Canyon in Valley of Fire State Park

Old man winter has booted me out of Nevada. Just too much arctic cold!!!

So now we’re heading south to 70*F country. We stopped at Valley of fire to see the slot canyon and we saw it. Done.

Valley of fire is like a miniature Arches Nat’l Park just a few miles north of Lost Wages NV. Also very close to California judging by all the CA license plates. The campgrounds were mostly full when we arrived at noon. There were a few spots left until about 2. Popular place

Valley of Fire to Somewhere in the desert south of Kingman, AZ

Down the paved trail to an overnight camp spot an hour south of Kingman. We camped among the saguaro cacti and it was only about freezing come the dawn

Cacti camp to Oracle AZ

More pave eastbound across Phoenix. Seventy miles of city-driving. Yuck

Now we can sit at friends place and get some projects done! YaY!

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Escalante to Panaca, NV

Posted on November 7, 2020 by Waldo

Got Rain?

The Escalante River failing to get to my pant cuffs

The Escalante River in Escalante is not even deep enough to get my socks wet! To be fair we’re only 15 miles from its beginning and it’s November. Even so, the west needs rain!

A few weeks ago friends and I were looking at a map of the western US and wondering where it still rains. Turns out not many places are without a drought

I also looked up the average annual rainfall in the US and it looks a bit like the drought map. If I want wet socks I’m going to have to move out of the desert

Cathedral Gorge State Park, Nevada

Slot Canyons in Cathedral Gorge State Park, NV

What a delightful surprise this place is. Plenty of slot canyons, cute little campground, and sand. Again with the sand. It was discovered by settlers in the late 1800’s along with the mining boom and became one of Nevada’s first state parks in the mid 1930’s. The campground has electric hook-ups and Verizon wireless service. Nice

So many slot canyons within walking distance of the camp spots

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Fruita to Escalante, UT

Posted on November 1, 2020 by Waldo

I-70 west from Fruita is the same as it always is. We turned onto Utah Hwy 24 West of Green River like all the peeps going to Powell but at Hanksville we struck out west to Swing Arm City OHV area where we ate dinner and watched the sun set.

Next morning we took on the wyndy blacktop through Capitol Reef N.P. and on to the Dixie National Forest. From UT 24 we jumped onto UT 12 and it got twisty and wyndy! This road would be SO much fun on a motorcycle! After 3.5 hours of slow climbs and descents we rolled into the Utah State Park in Escalante.

The park is small, the spaces are small, and the visitor center is just a wood-framed skeleton. Looks like it will be done for the 2021 summer season.

One of the boys is white with orange spots and I’ve always wondered what background that would be camo on. Now I know!

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Ask Mike Moore

Wandering ~ Pondering ~ Wondering

Monthly Archives: November 2020

Pesky Leaks

Panaca to Valley of Fire State Park, NV

Escalante to Panaca, NV

Fruita to Escalante, UT