Hi Everyone,
Again I am sorry for the late post, life has been very busy and a lot of personal stuff has been happening. So much so I’m not sure where to start. Spring has seen me wake up the RV, the cover is off and the batteries re-installed in the RV, and of course the beast has been awoken and test driven. As you may remember my Bedroom slide motor failed at the end of last year’s camping season. It failed once I had gotten home, it would not retract when I had finished cleaning the RV so I had to remove all of the bedding, mattress and gear under the bed before it would move enough that I could get it in with some help from me pulling the bed in. I ended up buying a new slide motor from REV Group the manufacturer of the Fleetwood Jamboree model and had it shipped from Elkhart Indiana. Boy was that an expensive part!! What with shipping, exchange rates and the cost of the part it all came out to about $2k for the motor. Ouch! I took the RV to Horton RV Services, they were a new shop I decided to use as my regular guy was very busy and could not fit me in, in the time I wanted. So Horton could and off I went.
It was exciting to go to Horton’s as it was the first time flat towing my Jeep TJ. Over the winter I have been busy buying all the gear including vehicle to be able to flat tow behind my RV. So what do I have you might ask? Well, first off, I have purchased a 1999 Jeep Wrangler TJ, this is a great Jeep and designed to flat tow very easily. I had to do some wiring to get the tow lights setup on it as an independent system, which is kinda, cool.. I also had to get a tow bar system for the Jeep too. So, there I purchased a used Sterling tow bar system that came off of a Jeep TJ. The system fit perfectly on the jeep, with one exception I had to get a plate custom made for the tow bar to be attached to the jeep. Once that plate was made and welded into place the Frame shop I used was able to bolt on the tow bar to the jeep without issue. Then it took me one day to complete the wiring on the Jeep and connect the tow bar from the RV to the Jeep and level it out. I must say that the trip to Horton’s was a perfect tow. This now opens up a whole new way to RV for me. Having the Jeep behind me allows me to move about and not be tied to the campsite.
Hortons was able to fix the slide within a week of dropping it off. The cost was a $1,100.00 but it was worth it to get the slide all fixed up. What did they do? Well, they removed all of the slide mechanism, cleaned it all up, re-greased everything then re-installed it all, re aligned the track and installed the new slide motor. The slide now works like it was brand new, and in a way I guess it is. I’m so happy with how it works now, it slides in and out so easily and now more noise or having to strong arm it in like I had to do at the end of last season.
The Itinerary for this year has changed a little bit in that I will not be traveling far a field this year, instead choosing to stay closer to home, with one exception the trip to castle Falls, I really want to go back to that area. May Long weekend was spent at Peter Lougheed Provincial Park and true to history it snowed. Yes, snowed. The first three days was nothing but snow and according to the park hosts we got 5” of the wet white stuff. It was so much snow that I had to keep knocking it off of my awning and canopy to prevent them from collapsing under the weight of the wet snow. Then on the third day the afternoon cleared up and the sun came out. Up went the temperature and the snow melted and the rest of the trip was under sunny skies. Oh Alberta your weather is so bizarre sometimes…
I am now two weeks out from heading to Castle Provincial park and this trip will be 10 days. I am really looking forward to going back to this area and exploring it with the Jeep TJ. Not being confined to the campsite will allow me to fully explore the area and other campgrounds.
A milestone was also celebrated this spring, my boy Finny turned four on March 28 and he and I celebrated with a nice long walk. We also celebrated two years together on May 28th, so its been exciting celebrating Finny’s milestones. He is doing well and has changed so much from the first day I met him. He is such a good dog now and is my best friend and goes everywhere I go. He has also had his medication reduced to half a pill every two days. So hopefully he will be off of the meds soon.
Well, that is the good news, now here is the bad news. After many years of being together I have decided to divorce Lorraine due to some personal issues that she has been unable to deal with but have had a huge impact on my life. I am not willing to put up with these issues anymore and have decided that we must part ways. So, April was very busy setting up Lorraine into her own apartment and dividing the house contents and buying new furniture for her and for me to replace the stuff she is taking. It has been a hard month for the both of us, but in the end, it will be better for the both of us I think… So, this year I will be flying solo on my camping trips, just me and Finny I think, unless someone comes into my life unexpectantly.
Well that is about it for now, I will do a complete write up of my Castle trip when I get home and I promise I will post it quickly and not let it sit for a couple of months.
I leave you all with a few pics I took while at Peter Lougheed.
I hope you all enjoy and forgive me for being tardy in posting.
Till next time
Happy Trails
The Glampur
