Accident at Ponderosa RV Resort - Lotus, CA - April 20, 2021

 We arrived at the Ponderosa RV Campground after a long travel day. I pulled up to the check-in area and the Ranger wasn't in the shack, so I called her. She said she was coming. While I sat there,

another car pulled up and wanted to exit the park. There wasn't room to get by me, so I pulled forward a little. And a little more...and a little more. Now I was sticking our in the lanes of travel. The car got by me. Then another car came around and wanted out too. I thought, Crap! I will just turn the corner and park in this nice wide area till the Ranger comes. 

As I puled forward, and gave it plenty of gas, cuz it was uphill, I heard a terrible crashing/crunching noise, and saw in my side mirror, that The RV just climbed a concrete barrier and crashed down from it. Uggg!!!

It is a wonder that the RV (and us) didn't tip over. Here is the concrete 'ramp' we went up.

Right away, I saw the damage to the driver side of the RV, below the slide.

The saw where the RV rose so high that the front cap dug into the side rails of my truck.

Then I saw where the wall came into contact with the back corner of the rig.

Needless to say, we were bummed to the max. Ugggg!

We did check in and proceeded to our site D19, and attempted to setup. I couldn't lower the tailgate! it was hosed up.

So we just opened the slides (thank goodness they worked fine) and hooked up power and water. Upon closer examination, we lost 2 tank drain valve handles too. One grey, and the black.

I contacted our insurance company, National General, and filed a claim on the RV and truck. I took lots of pictures of the damage and they will get back to me with a dollar amount. We plan to get it all fixed up while we are in Washington. Needless to say, we are speeding up out trip again. This is my first big accident in all my years of driving. I guess it is finally time to use my insurance.

The next day, I worked and worked to get our truck tailgate open. The passenger side rear fender was pushed out and the side rail was jacked up too. After removing some bolts, and a large screwdriver and sledgehammer, I got the tailgate open. Cool! Now I can unhook the RV and get it level. And fuel up the truck. 

I jerry-rigged a solution to close the tailgate for traveling. 

Oh well. What can I say. It could have been worse. We could have tipped over. We could have tore the plumbing out from under the rig. As it is, when the RV rocked back and forth so violently, many cabinets popped open, pictures came off the walls, broken cups and glasses all over. I had to fix trim on the slides and trim around the refrigerator. 

But we are resilient. God is good! and we carry on. Can't wait for the insurance company to let us know what the $$$$ is. This too shall pass.

Here we are, heading north to get fixed up.

The Fergs out .......

Soledad Canyon RV Resort - Acton, CA - April 19, 2021

 The 140 mile move from Palm Springs to Soledad Canyon was a nice easy drive.  We did 2 nights at Soledad Thousand Trails.

It was pretty windy one day, and we just dinked around the RV still cleaning out all the sand from the wind storm in Palm Springs. It is cooler now and enjoy seeing lots more trees and green bushes. We are slowly moving out of the desert area.

During our trip to Soledad TT, we got to use our TSD card again. This time it was at a Petro Truck center along Interstate 10 at Ontario, CA, The pump price was $3.02 and after fueling up, the pump reported a $87.54 sale. After the TSD discount, my bank account was just charged $76.53. Nice.

I received a call from my Step Brother's wife back in Wenatchee, WA. My Step Brother, Randi, had a brain tumor removed and is having a hard time. Going downhill fast. His birthday is May 2nd and we plan on being there for his birthday. So, we changed up our travel plans... a benefit of a fulltime RVer (plans in Jello), and will head toward Wenatchee, WA much sooner.

I decided to drive a longer day than we normally do. A 445 mile travel day, from Soledad TT to the Ponderosa RV Campground in Lotus, CA (by Placerville). It is a Thousand Trails campground that we stayed at several years ago. We opted to head north through Lancaster, Mojave, and down Tehachapi Pass toward Bakersfield and Interstate 5. A much nicer route instead of going up the Grapevine on I-5. 

Another TSD card experience. At a TA truck stop along I-5, Pump said $82.93, and I was charged $74.04. It sure helps compensate for the crazy fuel prices in California.

We made good time, entered rush hour traffic in Sacramento, but it wasn't bad at all. We got to the campground just after 5 PM.

Our site.

BUT!!!!! When pulling into the campground after a long driving day, I had a bit of an accident! Uggg!!!!

Damage to the truck and 5th wheel!

I will do a separate post of all the damage pics after I talk to my insurance agent. Uggg!!!

The Fergs out .......

Palm Springs and TSD Fuel Card Savings - April 16, 2021

 We were just going to spend 3 nights at the Thousand trails park here in the Palm Springs area, but after an incredibly strong wind storm, we changed it up a little and extended our stay three more days. The winds were gusting over 50 mph and our slide toppers were going crazy. We had the Colibaba solution installed for the first night. That is a 1/1/4 inch PVC pipe down across the topper. But the next night was so bad, we pulled the slides in. I guess that's why RVer plans are written in jello. Easily changed. 

Our time here was spent at the park pool, and playing Pokemon Go at a few city parks in the area. Just a lot of relaxing time before the trip northward for the summer. After the storm was over, we spent a good amount of time cleaning the RV. Blowing sand gets in the most tiny openings.

On the way here, we finally got to use our TSD fuel card. The card gives you a great discount at the big truck stops like Flying J, Loves, T/A, Pilot, and the like. Not only do we get to fuel up in the truck lanes, which are nice and wide, but we scan our card at the pump and don't have to go inside. And the discount is nuts! 

We stopped at the last gas stop in Arizona so we could take advantage of cheaper diesel before we travel through California. The pump price was $3.02, which was pretty good, and with out TSD card, we ended up paying $2.82. That's a savings of $0.20 a gallon! Now in California, I can see, using the app, that I can fuel up down the road (Interstate 10), for $3.43 a gallon using the card. I really thought in California, I would be paying over 4 bucks a gallon. Definitely worth checking out.

We are heading out tomorrow. Planning for an easy 140 mile drive to Soledad Canyon Thousand Trails RV Resort. The temps there are in the mid 70's. Finally leaving the desert area. Looking forward to mountains, with lots of trees, and cooler weather.

The Fergs out .......

Last stop in Arizona, and Battle Born Batteries - April 12, 2021

 After our last week boondocking in Quartzsite, we packed up and made the 152 miles to the Mesa Spirit RV Resort in Mesa, AZ. We spent two weeks here. Our spot.

It was pretty hot and our close neighbors helped shade us. Good enough. It was a nice park.

While there, we watched our 2 grand daughters in Phoenix while our daughter and husband took a mini 4 day vacation to Las Vegas. And then spent Easter with them.

I also received my 3 Battle Born batteries while we were at their house. I spent a good half of a day installing them.

Before

Ready to work

A little work behind the breaker panel

This is to run the refrigerator and microwave on the inverter while driving.

There they are

Less space, and 193 pounds lighter.

putting it all back

done

One day, I killed the park power for a day and tested them out. Very happy with how they worked out. I took them down to 80 percent, and they were back to 100 percent before noon the next day. Cool!!

I had been noticing a severe wear pattern on the outside front truck tire. 

I went to 2 alignment shops first and my truck would not fit on their rack. I then took it to an alignment shop in Apache Junction. They had a RV rack.

It was off quite a bit, but they got it fixed up just fine. I also had to replace the tire with my spare. The spare was like new. Never used. But original. Dated 34th week of 2014. My other tires are 05 of 2018. Needless to say, I will be buying a new tire and the 'good' old one will again be my spare.

We enjoyed out last time this season with out daughter and family, the hot weather and trips to the park pool, but it was time to head northward.

April 11th, we packed it up and left Arizona. Our stop was the Palm Springs Thousand Trails in Palm Desert, CA, a 279 mile trip.

Amid the palm trees.

The Fergs out .......