rsbilledwards

Well, I am new to this, no beans? I grew up in Oregon and all the chili I had growing up had beans. Since when no beans? I thought chili was supposed to give you gas and no beans = no gas. I never had gas but I know a lot who did. What is the filler that gives it body, tomatoes cook down, onions cook down, seasoning have no bulk, and the meat, just meat, no beans? Something is a miss or am I just missing something...Gotta go to the chili cook off to see what gives. By the way you are right on the Fritos they ruin anything except a few by themselves. Bill Edwards

Do they carry such a warranty at all? I do not know. Bill Edwards

Carl, I said that just to get a response. I do not know much at all about Texas and was in East Texas as a kid in the service visiting family friends only once. Thanks for the tank info I will look in a few minutes. i'm getting the vacuum to clean up my mess. Bill Edwardsi

J, Did you buy the tripod or make it? I too have a Dutch oven I tote around. Used to pack it into the back country with burros. It has satisfied many a hungry Boy Scout. One of my favorites, simple and easy...Campbell soup even portions no additional water Cream of mushroom and French onion, chicken thighs (for me) wrapped in Canadian bacon and a serious dollop of sour cream, and what ever seasoning you like. Let the charcoal do the rest...there will not be any left over! My tank is not that big, half maybe. Gads 65 gallons, they thought you were going on a voyage! I think I will google All Clad Bill

Herman, It is ok, I got it, he is still learning or did not get to bed early last night. J, Yes we are a coming. I do like chili! Will put it on the list. Janet is working on the route now. I just received a noet from a friend about a Speedster car show in Ohio first weekend in October I think and then there is the coach show in Hershey, PA. A lot to plug in. I am on the coach, basement and water bay are back together except for grey tank. I needed out of there yesterday so tore up the hall closet, insulated it, reinstalled the fake cedar paneling and then put real cedar on top. Looks great, smells even better according to Janet!! I still have a few days before the sniffer works. I took the dash out so I could add a Pyrometer and now I can't find the long harness so it will have to wait until it comes out of hiding. You know these things are important in the mountains. I ought to be working on the cabin but at the moment...this is more interesting. I think it is now time to do the power wash of the engine compartment so I can get the batteries/ electrical back in the coach and air it up. I still need to do a radiator coolant flush but not while this thing is sitting on the ground. I am going to pull the Pressure washer and use the framework for the 2 extra batteries. It is my guess that the thing is new and was never used, just dusty, dirty. The line going forward and back are not big, but are heavily reinforced, with crimped fittings. Hopefully I can use them as air lines for general purpose. If 1/4 inch they will work, 3/8 would be better. Once aired up I can open the slide, pull the refrigerator and route the remote wiring for the solar to the basement, the surge protector wiring the other direction and the solar monitor/controller. I put the latter two on the same panel above the entry door along with all the OEM stuff. The only way out is through the frige cavity. While the frige is out I will add a couple fans and give it a cleaning. Once back in place, Janet can begin loading this thing up. I think as she does this I will weigh it all. Does any one have an idea what a 35 gallon propane tank weighs empty? Joe you said you were going to drop yours or had? More on this later, I have enough to do today. By all means Joe put Colorado on the list. It is a pretty spectacular state, particularly for you all in the East that have not seen real mountains., just ask Carl. There are a lot of lunatic Texans up here and I am still trying to determine why. Maybe because it looks like a pancake down there except for East Texas. Have a great day! Bill Edwards

Carl, I am the luckiest guy in the world, married 44 years and she still lets me think I have my way...no just kidding, she is a great gal. It does not happen often but when she gets mad I pay attention! Bill

This thread just gave me another idea for the Panther. This coach cargo bay is very different and there is less of it since it is a side radiator coach. It lost two bays space as a result. It is a side entry so the door and stairs take up space. It has a Hurricane heat set up and that took a hole narrow bay. They did not use the rt front corner for anything, naughta, ,nothing zipo. It is huge. It is large enough to put my 200 pound +- tool box on a set of slides. Fab up a frame, make a door with the hinge that is already there, a couple pieces from a wrecked coach at Colaws and I am in business. It will counter act the weight on the other side of the brakes, steering gear and associated stuff. The gen set is in the middle. Better balance is key!! Bill Edwards

J, Only if you forgot to turn it off and at this stage in life a good possibility. Yes second one cute The more I have thought about it good place for the batteries. Yup Boys will be boys...Janet just smiled...Hummm Bill

You guys are killin me. I have looked at the induction cook top and it's size is perfect to fit the Gagganau (sp) 2 burner recess in the Panther. I do not have to modify anything except make the hole bigger and set it in and plug it in. I checked last night. After that goes no need for the propane tank either and now there is a Traeger pellet Grill/smoker for we that like to cook. Good thing this coach has a lot of solar because I do not like firing that gen set either. I like quiet and peaceful on the road. What do you suppose a 35 gallon full propane tank weighs? Joe, at you altitude how fast will a pot of water boil. I am trying to access how much power is used by one of these cook tops.

Looks like a great setup! Bill Edwards

And the answer is, Carl you ended up being the closest without saying; an on board Pressure Washer!!. Who woulda thunk. I sat down this evening while the DNC was on and looked carefully at the Owners Manual. Near the very back is a reference to the PANTHER and the CONTINENTAL as being equipped with a pressure washer and out lets being at thus and such and they are there as indicated. Great I guess I am not sure I need this gizmo. I already have a commercial sized one that will blow this thing apart. I do not have the hose and wand. I would rather have an additional set of batteries and the location is perfect, 30 inches as the crow flies from the others. I do not have to build/fabricate a means to support them. I think I will just turn the ports into air out lets. Thanks for all the interest to determine what it was and some imaginative out of the box thinking. Don't let it go to your head Carl! Bill Edwards

See all the questions...same here. Thought it would be a simple answer. So now I have to get the power back in the coach and fire it up for air and to crawl around and figure it out. BennieH, Yes that is why we think diaphragm, pump and water pressure back into system so maybe less running of the water pump. The thing that throws that off is the 110 power unless that is if no coach air. I can't smell yet. There are two packs in my nose and hard to sleep breathing through my mouth, kinda dry but slept like a rock last night. Sinuses are supposed to be full of air and mine were full but not air. It has become a real problem over the last couple years. A lot of hacking and phlegm drip. You know the pin sticking you in the back of the throat thing. That has been much worse over time than this minor discomfort of a plugged nose for a few days. This has been a seasonal thing for decades, just gotten worse over time. Doc says the change will be amazing and I will not have to eat Chlor tabs like candy to keep the drainage at bay... Bill Edwards

Yes Thank you J Bill

Bill, Yes, soon enough, I have had it sitting in one spot with the basement torn apart repairing a sewer leak and as a result replacing all the carpet including the side walls. I can't leave things well enough alone so made countless improvements by organizing wiring, plumbing and the removal of 20 fee of PEX, I do not know how many feet of useless wire. This thing must have been built on a Monday after a hard weekend because everything is just chaos. I have moved the inverter, transfer switch, added a hard wired surge protector with a remote, moved the utility tank module board all to a serviceable location on the ceiling between the chassis rails. I re-plumbed the black water tank so as to prevent another freeze fracture and moved the basement heater to a less intrusive location off the cargo bay floor. Then the poor ole thing needs a bath before I can show it off, I have scrubbed the roof white and have a bucket of Son Shield to lay down. It is an elastomeric roofing re-surfacer with the 3M ceramic ball insulation in it. It is supposed to be very good and then I can install the solar system and hit the road. The rest I will do in Arizona this winter hoping it is warmer than last year. Thank you for the interest! Bill Edwards

No Rich, it has only one water PEX line in and air sourced from the main tank that also feeds something going left. The air lines are high pressure and crimped fittings. It does have 110 to it and a switch on the bed box rt side but no relay is visible. I don't have power on the coach as yet with all the electrical I have been moving and removing. I took all batteries out and disconnected the solar. Subsequently it is down on the stops and difficult to crawl around under. It is pretty dusty/dirty not greasy and needs a washing so a picture that would explain can be taken. Batteries are going back in pretty soon now so I can open the slide and remove the fridg for the solar install. I have looked up the cavity and do not see any thing out of the normal for these coaches and see nothing like a fire suppression head from above either. Thanks Bill Edwards

Carl, 13 last year was rough as a cobb, terrible. We had friends down that way from Oregon and it was 30 and 40 MPH for miles. That road takes a real beating from oil rigs and the elements. Bill

J You want a picture and you want me to figure out how to up load it to this system...This is the perfect day! I had an out patient surgery yesterday to clean out my Sinuses and I am supposed to take it easy. So OK. I have been procrastinating on this for months... Carl, I don't think so no additional lines going anywhere and it is factory installed. The engine bay is about the size of a LARGE hot tub. Bill

In this recently purchased 1999 Safari Continental 455 Panther, there is a framed box on the engine compartment side wall under the bed. In the box is a yellow spray canister. It has one PEX water hose to it from the water bay. It has chassis air to it. It has a label on it that says "Treat this unit like a gun." It also has a 120-volt wire to it's location. One of the more illustrious forum members stopped by a couple days ago and I showed him the setup. He believed it was a pressurized reservoir for the water system so the water pump did not cycle every time a little bit of water was used. It makes complete sense. Has anyone else seen this setup?

Carl, True, but in this case, it did not go anywhere. In this case the miles were put on it early and the wife developed MS I believe and could not stand to ride in it. The fact that it sat in a warehouse many years and only went some short distances when used and did not jeopardize anyone. If you were to have looked at the tires you would never guess. The coach only had 11,781 on it when I looked at/picked it up it in April and 113 hours on the Onan 7500. It was a Barn Find!!! I will offer more details when I get a blog going and that, is going to be a real Hoot. To put you at ease the first thing I told the RV dealer was that it was not going to go to Colorado on that rubber which I had not seen. He told my boots on the ground he was not going to make a deal. When I called him, he had had a bit of time to think about it. When I said, meet me half way he said OK. I sent a bank check for the coach less the tires and batteries. He split the cost of the tires and allowed the batteries, all of them. The tire deal had already been made and paid for. I took the 3 year old batteries to the CARQUEST dealer and he warrantied the whole bunch. I sold the deep cycle little car/house batteries and kept the big chassis batteries to put in the Feather Lite trailer with the solar charging panel from the coach. I took the money from the little batteries and added some and bought Crown 260s for the coach. The tires he kept, except for one that I made him give me as a spare. He was not happy about that, as he wanted to put them on another coach that had more checks in it than US Bank and Wells Fargo combined. I was only able to do that by virtue of the education I have received from all of you on this forum over the last several years. Thank you all!! Bill Edwards

J, Likely this will be the shorter route, at least to Craig. However a much prettier drive by large margin would be 131 to 134 same kind of road to 40 bigger road, over to Walden, Colorado. The road is not marked on my map but is same as you have been on. It is not off the beaten trail. Then tke take 125 out of Walden north. Where 125 becomes 230 (northeast) and 127 (northwest) go northwest on 230 to Riverside where it ends and becomes Wyoming 130 North. 130 will then take you to I 80 and Walcott. It is easier here just head West 18 miles and you will find Rawlins, Wyoming and US 287 to your destination. This is not off the top of my head, trust me it is from a rand M map in front of me!!! I will add that there has been a big fire up Walden way so I would check with the Colorado State Patrol before heading that way. You know as you go along and are past one segment of the destination put the next little part in the GPS, and so forth. It makes it pretty bullet proof getting where you would like to be. Have a great drive. Best Bill Edwards

J, 131 is also a good road though it is a narrower and more hilly more as it is up a big valley, largely hay and cattle farming. Going that way you can spend some time in Steamboat Springs, one of Colorado's Premiere Ski areas. Lots of great eateries and art and sculpture sources.

Jenanne, Use your original post to continue questioning. It will be a tread for it all to tie together. Where are yo starting from? Are you south of Colorado entering where?

Jenanne, Call the Chamber of Commerce in (Craig Google it) or the police department for the info. Last year it was terrible, rough and slow. Toad would take a beating!!! If it has been repaved it is a GREAT road and fast if in a PORSCHE. There is nothing out there except grasslands and cattle, it is pretty dry particularly as you approach Wyoming, drier, with prong horn sightings possible. One of the sights you should see, it has been years since we have been up that way, is BROOKS LAKE LODGE just north of Dubois. It is a lodge, built then in the wilderness by Morton of Morton salt fame. It is huge no it is enormous. It sits on the tundra on rock piers. In the spring, the water just flows steady from beneath it. If memory serves me correctly the fireplace in the dining room will take a 6 or 8 foot log. The back drop behind it, are the Teton Mountains, spectacular, you bet!!!, It is also on the National Historic Registry. I would google it too, to see if the road was traversable with a coach or call to find out. Back when were there it certainly was not! It has been one of the high lights of may years of traveling the West. My guess, yes and it is probably much more commercialized than when we were there. It is on the list to go back for sure Have fun! Bill Edwards..

On the SR-71, some were based in Atsugi, Japan circa. 1966-68. Leaving on surveillance they turned off all lights on the base prior to opening hanger doors, less than five minutes later back on and gone. Only thing you saw ( if lucky) was a long flame. Restricted viewing a long way away, basically were told to stay inside and out of sight. There is one on a pedestal at the Air and space museum in Huntsville, Alabama just out of reach and another, one of the original Skunk Works planes in Birmingham, Alabama. Very special aircraft!! Bill Edwards

Carl, You got up to early. Bill