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Well, we've survived being parked in California for almost a month. We did take a short (3000 mile) trip to Austin, TX and back to take care of some lingering business stuff. OH, we also took a trip to San Diego and back so I guess we haven't been parked for a month. Is it obvious we like to travel?
We took the Phaeton in to the local CAT dealer in response to a letter we received from CAT. There was some sort of problem with the fuel system that causes hard starting and possible rough running. Well, we have experienced hard starting, if the coach has sat overnight, since we took delivery. After having the coach for a week we still have hard starting. Since we had to leave for Austin we could not leave it any longer and will return later to have that problem fixed. They did find the beginnings of oil and dirt plugging the charge air cooler so we had them extend the oil blow by hose beyond our mud flap and since the radiator was already removed they steam cleaned the radiator and charge air cooler.
While on the way to Austin we stayed at the Beaudry RV Resort in Tucson, AZ. This resort, while priced on the high side we did not feel like you where getting ripped off (much). It is a very nice park, has a good on site restaurant, friendly people and was very clean. The banner on this page was taken the morning we where leaving.
We spent about ten days on the road during our trip to Austin. We took care of our business in Austin, traveled up to McKinney near Dallas to close out our Apartment mistake and do the final walk through. We then came back to California.
When we arrived in California we spent one night at the Huntington by the Sea RV Resort. I felt the name was a stretch of someone's imagination. While clean it is basically a large asphalt parking lot with strips painted on. It's location directly across the Pacific Coast Highway from the beach is offset by the HUGH power plant directly next to it. At the time we stayed here they where the winners for most expensive RV park we had been in, $60.00 a night. I can stay at a Walmart parking lot for allot less and not have a power plant across the street. I got to add, the guy who checked us in was a riot and had a great sense of humor. Needless to say, we only stayed here one night.
My younger sister Darcie had been fighting cancer for over five years and had been admitted to the hospital before we left for Texas. When we returned she had taken a bad turn so we set up in the hospital parking lot and dry camped for a couple of weeks. We where able to sit for seven days before having to go dump our tanks and fill our water. We ran the generator about three hours each morning to keep our batteries charged. It was nice having our home so close, our family was able to rest and we where able to have someone with her 24 hours a day.
While in the hospital Darcie was very close to death before she pulled off a miracle and recovered to the point where she was transferred to a nursing home for a week or so before going home. She is an amazingly strong person.
Joan's younger brother JD has always wanted to live near the ocean. When we all lived in Denver, CO he spent each vacation for a couple of years traveling to different coastal cities. He checked out NY City, Miami, Seattle, San Francisco and finally San Diego. Shortly after his trip to San Diego he packed up and moved west. We traveled down to see JD and Becky for a couple of days. We stayed at a top rated (can you say expensive) RV park called Chula Vista RV Resort and Marina. We have been on the road since May and have probably stayed at 150 different RV parks during that time. This park was the first one to charge us extra for our two cats even though they NEVER leave the coach. I guess $54.00 a night after discounts is not enough.
During our visit JD and Becky took us site seeing around San Diego. We happened to visit during Fleet Week so there was allot to see. They had a re-enactment of the landing of Cabrillo who discovered the San Diego harbor. We watched it from Cabrillo Monument where we had a very nice view of the harbor and the tall ship as it came in. The Cabrillo Monument had several displays set up just for this celebration. We also drove out to Point Loma and walked around in the tide pools.