Summer 2019 - Printable Version

Summer 2019 - Printable Version

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+--- Thread: Summer 2019 (/showthread.php?tid=5118)

Summer 2019 - Floridian - 08-07-2019

This year we decided to go ahead and use our month long vacation again and go on the Newell and explore the places we've always wanted explore.

I really wanted to go to Moab Utah but wasn't too sure about that. We left Sarasota at the end of June and started driving on I-75 north. By the time we got to I-10 I decided to go left and started driving West so Utah it is!

On every state we crossed we spent a couple of days (Texas was the longest and we spent days in Arlington and Amarillo, never thought that Amarillo was going to be so nice!) after leaving Amarillo we had some comments from people that the road getting to Monument Valley, AZ was not in really good shape and we were concerned about that, it was really late at night by the time we go to KOA at Monument Valley, AZ. No problems whatsoever with the roads.

We stopped the RV and did the checkin, got the paperwork from the front office and we started driving to our spot, it was pitch dark, no moon light outside, after we settled we stepped outside and we were in awe with what we saw, I don't remember seeing so many stars on the sky, we were even able to see the milky way with our naked eyes! it was something that needs to be lived to absolutely understand the beauty of it. Really really amazing. Monument Valley in itself was spectacular for us, we really loved it.

After spending 5 days there we continue our journey to Moab, UT another amazing place that I'm so happy to have visited. We went to several state parks there and they are really amazing. One we really loved was Canyonlands National Park and Island in the Sky. The drive in between Monument Valley and Moab got me a little bit scared because there was a 10% incline at one point (just a mile I think it was) but it wasn't a problem.

When we were in Moab, UT we decided to go to Denver, CO and spent some time in Aspen as well, lovely little town, must be amazing at winter. We went on our toad to Denver, CO as I was really nervous about I-70 and the long descents got me really concerned as I don't think I've been to anything like that before. While I'm glad I went to my SUV now I'm really curious to drive the coach thru I-70 now, I don't think that with my one stage Jake brake I can't pull it off, on regular descends I need to apply the brake every now and then because the coach gains speed and goes above the RPM I feel comfortable with (2000).

Beautiful scenery on I-70 in between Moab and Denver, highly recommended.

On our way back we stopped pretty much at the same spots that we used getting there but we took our time to make it last as much as possible. Visited the Sandia Peaks on Albuquerque, beautiful views from up there! We also spent 3 days a week after the 'tornado' hit New Orleans but everything was perfectly fine. Loved the food and music there, but by the 3rd day I was ready to leave.

The coach was AMAZING! the more I drive it, the more I love it.

I decided to balance the drive tires because of a little vibration I was experiencing on the back of the coach (I've found it because the microwave was vibrating and causing noise) so I stopped at a Love's in Alexandria, LA and they tried to remove the nuts from driving tire and tighten the nut instead of removing it and they broke it off. Wasn't happy because they said that it was like that when I got there but I have been driving at 70Mph before I got there so there was no chance that by me pulling the nut cap caused the nut breaking off from the wheel.

In the end after leaving New Orleans I stopped at another Love's and installed Centramatics to avoid balancing my wheels in the future, and I have to say that I should've done this as soon as I got the coach, it is probably known for some of you but to me was a complete revelation, no more vibration and the tires for some reason are even cooler now so pretty happy with this things.

All in all we did around 5000 miles on the coach and 2500 on the SUV. We all loved the drive and the places we visited.

Can't wait for next year! I started dreaming about driving north on I-95 and then crossing to Canada to drive all the way to the East coast and then down to San Diego and head back home. I'll prepare 2/3 months for next year and see if I can do that in that amount of time. One can only dream!

I wanted to post some pictures but they are in a format I don't know (HEIC) so will need to find out what is going on with that.

Found how to convert the photos.

RE: Summer 2019 - Fulltiming - 08-07-2019

For those still wondering, http://osxdaily.com/2017/09/29/change-iphone-camera-default-image-format-jpeg-heif/ you will find out how to download the photos in jpg format (about the middle of the article).

Looks like you saw some of the majesty of this great country. Glad you had the experience. Hopefully it will continue to make you want to visit areas you haven't been before in the future. It always has for us.

RE: Summer 2019 - Floridian - 08-07-2019

Thanks Michael! I've found this article after I posted it https://www.howtogeek.com/398927/how-to-convert-heic-images-to-jpg-on-a-mac-the-easy-way/ but changing how the phone takes the pictures is a better idea, I didn't knew my phone was using the HEIC format now.

RE: Summer 2019 - folivier - 08-07-2019

Glad you've seen a part of our beautiful country, there's still so much out there!
BTW on your coach aren't the driver side wheels left hand thread studs?

RE: Summer 2019 - Tf175 - 08-08-2019

Great trip ! Thanks for sharing.
Forest is correct , your driver's side lugs are left hand threads . Wheels likely stud piloted . Guys removing wheel put massive torque on that lug to break it .
Chris

RE: Summer 2019 - Floridian - 08-08-2019

I’m not sure which way they should turn but I do know that the person working on it didn’t even knew there were 2 pieces on that wheel, the outer nut and the inner one. Still need to get to a tire shop so they can get the remove the remaining piece of nut that is there.

There is SO much more to see, after 4 weeks out there traveling it felt like we just started and we didn’t eant to come back. One weird feeling we have (positive for us!) is that we never miss home when we are out there because we always come back to our travel home and we have everything we need/want, our espresso machine, our bbq grill, our beds, etc. so is not like we miss really anything when we come back. The other weird feeling is when we come back to the house EVERY space feels ginormous! ?