aztec7fan

Just wanted to add to the comments about staying at WalMarts and other free places. If we are traveling a long distance, we like to alternate between free parking and campgrounds with hookups. This cuts down on costs, and we have never felt threatened at any of these places. We like the convenience of being able to pull in at any time of the night, shut off the engine and go to bed, without having to find a campsite, hook up, and possibly wake other campers. If you stay at Flying J, find the area where the other RVs are, don't park with the trucks, since this will be noisy.

There are lots of ways to make this round trip. What routes are you considering? Are you going through Colorado to get to Grand Canyon, or taking far north/south routes? This would make a big difference as far as what sites to recommend.

As far as your water heater not having a bypass, I had the same problem on my first coach. I ended up having to pour in about 7 gallons of pink stuff into the clean water tank, pump it through the entire system, then I drained off the 6 gallons in the water heater. It splashed against the side, but I caught as much as I could with a funnel, and re-used it the following year.

Sometime in the early 1970s, my parents returned from Colorado to the East Coast to visit with family and to take care of unfinished business after our nine-month trip. Once we got there, my Aunt Cindy asked us to transport two horses to a show. So, my dad picked up a two-horse trailer. At the last minute, Aunt Cindy also asked us if we could pick up a pony they had just purchased in Chintogue at “Pony Penning Day.” My dad looked at the trailer and looked at the space in the front where tack and supplies usually go. Dad figured ponies were small and one would probably fit in this small space up front. He carefully cut an access door on the side and added additional hooks for tie-downs. Once we got to where we were to pick up the pony, Dad was unpleasantly surprised to find that the pony was much larger than he expected and it would not fit in the new space in the trailer! So we improvised. We built a ramp out of spare plywood and 2x4s to go up the steps to our motorhome. We threw down rain slickers, old blankets and hay on the floor in the back of the motorhome. With much pushing, shoving and cajoling from my dad and several other strong helpers, we got the pony into the back of the bus. From there, we drove to our next destination, which was an FMCA rally. We arrived late and found a spot to park for the night. My parents and I slept up front, but my sister slept in back with the pony. What other 9-year-old girl could brag that she slept with a pony! The next morning, we were all wakened with a loud whinny from the pony announcing that it was time to relieve himself. The rally attendees knew the Guenthers were truly crazy, seeing my dad shoveling manure out our back window!

We've had names for both our coaches. Our current one is called "Chuck" because the first time I drove it, my wife felt like she was going to throw up. Our previous coach was an Allegro Bay. One day when we were waiting for our coach to get some tires on it, the repair person came out and said, "Your Allegro is almost done." My cousin misunderstood him and leaned over to us and said, "He called your motorhome an eggroll!" From then on, it was called "The Eggroll."

Is it possible you have an air bubble on the oil sensor giving it a false reading of low oil? Try agitating the unit to get rid of any bubbles, and possibly removing and reinstalling the sensor.

2 wired in series, one wired in parallel = 12 volts.

Tom, we are the complete opposite. I rarely use the small 2-plug inverter I have wired into the batteries, and only use it occasionally to charge a laptop or use a hair dryer. I mostly utilize propane for the 'fridge and cooking and can usually go 3-4 days boondocking before I start to worry about the battery level. I have 3 6-volt deep cycle batteries in my system. Sure the kids miss the TV and the Xbox, but when boondocking, we are camping and have lots of other things to do outdoors. I've only used the generator about 20 hours in the last 4 years. Nothing wrong with either lifestyle, just different.

Have you tried this website: http://rvservicereviews.com/

I'm with Tom and Louise, we don't do much trip planning, but we do make some rough plans to make sure we have wnough time to complete the trip. This year we went from Denver to Los Angeles and back, and had 9 days to do it. We figured how far we would drive each day for about 300-400 miles each day and then made a guess where we would stop for the night. In the afternoon, we would see how our progress was, decide if we wanted to stay in an RV park or just boondock for the night and then check the internet for a likely place to stop. My only requirement is I try to return on a different route than I traveled to get to my destination. As far as keeping track of previous trips, we keep photos albums with pictures and brochures from amusement parks and attractions we have visited on the trip. I also have a large map posted on our living room wall with all trips we have ever taken traced on the roads, with notes showing what year we made that trip and the direction of the route taken.

Greg, for a place to park, check out "B &B mobile and RV park", near Longmont, co. I have very little info on this place, but they seem to cater to long-term residence. Im not sure about financing, because the banks may have a hard time financing a coach as old ad a '99, but good luck. Good to hear you will be doing most of your own maintenance. Read a lot, and try to find a club or online discussion group that deals specifically with the Daemon. Also, see if there is a different group that deals with the chassis and engine. If you ever want to get together for coffee, just write me. Chris

Looks like it gets lots of favorable reviews here: http://www.rvparkreviews.com/regions/Florida/Key_West.html

I think one thing to consider is that this RV safety article was written for all RVs. I personally think there is a big difference between leaving the propane on in a motor home versus a towable RV. If you have an LP leak in a towable, you may not know about it for miles and a catastrophic fire could occur, but in a motor home you are in the vehicle and can use your senses and monitors to find any leaks before larger problems can happen. I leave mine on, and will continue to do so.

I'm glad you made it over the pass ok. It really is quite a site to see, but its easier to traverse since they made it two lanes wide on both sides. The rains for this tome of year are unusual, but Colorado is getting our monsoon season late. CW McCall moved to Ouray, CO after the whole "Convoy" thing died out and became mayor.

Far be it for me to laugh at someone's misfortune, but imagine the call to the locksmith or roadside assistance: "um, there seems to be a problem here, I'm locked INSIDE my motorhome".