- Joined
- Jul 27, 2019
- Messages
- 11,582
- Location
- Midlothian, VA
- RV Year
- 2017
- RV Make
- Newmar
- RV Model
- Ventana 4037
- RV Length
- 40' 10"
- Chassis
- Freightliner XCR
- Engine
- Cummins 400 HP
- TOW/TOAD
- 2017 Chevy Colorado
- Fulltimer
- No
I'm home and yes, it feels great to be home. This was the most exhausting trip I've had, I'm not sure why other than the coach kept me pretty busy. Departed July 1st and it was a multi-faceted trip starting with my annual July 4th at Virginia Beach (won't be doing that again) then to Newmar which was a trying time where I almost canceled the trip and returned home. I damaged my new 40 inch Ultra-wide monitor as I move it to my bed during travel and caught the frig door handle. Luckily I learned LG repairs them at respectable costs so I sent it off for repair for $400 and it's working great as it was shipped home and I just set it up again. I had other issues, some I caused, Newmar fixed, it was a trying time for my RV travels, leaving it at that!
I then went west to EAA AirVenture "Oshkosh" for an amazing week and cool temps which was rare, first airshow as an aircraft owner, was a lot of fun. I then journeyed westbound through South Dakota enjoying 8.4 billion motorcycles and probably made the evening news trying to go through one of their events after missing a sign I'm sure had to be there that said Neal turn here!
The main goal of the trip was an exploration of Colorado. Ft. Collins, Denver, Granby, Breckenridge, canceled Ouray due to an engine derate from a clogged DPF filter, then to Pagosa Springs. I drove to Ouray which was great as fall colors was beginning.
After CO it was the slow walk east bound to time it into Gaffney for my annual chassis service and I was able to squeeze into some availability at the amazing Deer Springs place you may have heard of around here. Absolutely amazing stay there, could not have asked for better.
Leaving Deer Springs something wasn't quite right with my #2 air tank and as I think @Rich W. had I was getting popoffs about every 3-5 minutes. A little unnerving driving through the hilly Smoky mountains as my air would go down to 100 psi then go back to pop off and repeated constantly for most of the trip. Gaffney found a few fittings and sections of air hose to replace and while it's better, it's still not quite right, or I'm super OCD on watching the tank pressure right now as it fluctuated during travel from around 110 to 130'ish. Hopefully it will hold up until next years' visit for another look.
Today was a state inspection and then putting the coach in storage, AGAIN I failed state inspection because I FAILED to check the coach like two years ago and had a failed marker light on top front cap. Thankfully I have spares and got it changed out and they signed me off. I actually considered not even getting a state inspection and not sure I will in the future. My only concern is as I've seen only in North Carolina where cops seem to check trucks for papers or whatever, if they did that in VA and found me without an inspection sticker it could be trouble. But with most travel outside of VA I'm not sure it's worth getting inspections, however, I would never have known the light was not working as it's not something I check other than when at Newmar and they are taking the coach in during dark mornings and I can see the lights and pay attention. I emailed Newmar parts today for more orange markers for front top, red markers for rear top, and a spare side marker for my spares kit.
Unloading an apartment is no fun but it's done and it's time to relax and get back to work. 4 months, 5K miles logged for this one. I'm expecting much less RV travel next year as of this writing due to other things I have to sort out (my plane) but we'll see. I expect to go to the EAA AirVenture airshow again and then to Newmar next November for retail work, Gaffney to follow that, and we'll see how I feel when I catch my breath after enjoying holidays at home.
P.S. I enjoyed some earlier travel in the year to Hilton Head and Savannah but these two trips round out my 2022.
I then went west to EAA AirVenture "Oshkosh" for an amazing week and cool temps which was rare, first airshow as an aircraft owner, was a lot of fun. I then journeyed westbound through South Dakota enjoying 8.4 billion motorcycles and probably made the evening news trying to go through one of their events after missing a sign I'm sure had to be there that said Neal turn here!
The main goal of the trip was an exploration of Colorado. Ft. Collins, Denver, Granby, Breckenridge, canceled Ouray due to an engine derate from a clogged DPF filter, then to Pagosa Springs. I drove to Ouray which was great as fall colors was beginning.
After CO it was the slow walk east bound to time it into Gaffney for my annual chassis service and I was able to squeeze into some availability at the amazing Deer Springs place you may have heard of around here. Absolutely amazing stay there, could not have asked for better.
Leaving Deer Springs something wasn't quite right with my #2 air tank and as I think @Rich W. had I was getting popoffs about every 3-5 minutes. A little unnerving driving through the hilly Smoky mountains as my air would go down to 100 psi then go back to pop off and repeated constantly for most of the trip. Gaffney found a few fittings and sections of air hose to replace and while it's better, it's still not quite right, or I'm super OCD on watching the tank pressure right now as it fluctuated during travel from around 110 to 130'ish. Hopefully it will hold up until next years' visit for another look.
Today was a state inspection and then putting the coach in storage, AGAIN I failed state inspection because I FAILED to check the coach like two years ago and had a failed marker light on top front cap. Thankfully I have spares and got it changed out and they signed me off. I actually considered not even getting a state inspection and not sure I will in the future. My only concern is as I've seen only in North Carolina where cops seem to check trucks for papers or whatever, if they did that in VA and found me without an inspection sticker it could be trouble. But with most travel outside of VA I'm not sure it's worth getting inspections, however, I would never have known the light was not working as it's not something I check other than when at Newmar and they are taking the coach in during dark mornings and I can see the lights and pay attention. I emailed Newmar parts today for more orange markers for front top, red markers for rear top, and a spare side marker for my spares kit.
Unloading an apartment is no fun but it's done and it's time to relax and get back to work. 4 months, 5K miles logged for this one. I'm expecting much less RV travel next year as of this writing due to other things I have to sort out (my plane) but we'll see. I expect to go to the EAA AirVenture airshow again and then to Newmar next November for retail work, Gaffney to follow that, and we'll see how I feel when I catch my breath after enjoying holidays at home.
P.S. I enjoyed some earlier travel in the year to Hilton Head and Savannah but these two trips round out my 2022.
