Saturday, August 20, 2016


Our month at River Rim in Crooked River Ranch went way too quickly. The kids' coach has a few new modifications that turned out pretty well.  Below you can see the fold out bed and pillows that Joani and Katie spent a lot of time on.  The matching curtains were attached to the bottom of the new bookshelves (which will be painted or stained to match someday).  They may need a way to secure the shelf contents when they are traveling so there will probably be some bungees added.  A pull-out frame for the couch/bed is still in the conceptual phase so that will have to wait until we meet up again on the Oregon coast in another few weeks.






Their cat took the modifications in stride sleeping through most of the noise and casually checking things later at his own pace.


Moving day was just about getting over the mountains to Eugene for a few days before heading to the American Coach Association National Rally in Canyonville, OR.  Highway 126 took us through the McKenzie Pass.  The pass was not that high (approximately 4,500 ft), but I clearly have more to learn about managing engine temperature.  I slowed down and downshifted to keep the RPM near 2,000.  The outdoor temperature was in the high 90's so we had the dash A/C on which added too much of a load on the engine.  All of a sudden we got to hear the bone-jarring alarm scream at us until we could turn out and let things cool down.  After 20 minutes we continued (without A/C) and had no further problems.  It was only 137.3 miles (79,408.3 total), but it took longer than usual because of the climbing.

Joani had us overnight at the Valley River Center Mall (we stayed here once before a few years ago.)  They allow free boondocking for two nights in their large parking lot that adjoins the river trail system. Unfortunately, Eugene's high temperature hit 104 for the day and did not cool off until late.

With the combination of alarms, traffic and the heat, I was not able to really relax like a retired person should, but with the help of our battery powered fan, we were able to put this travel day behind us and sleep.

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