Steve got up just as the coffee was ready and we enjoyed our usual start to the day...about an hour later, it was time to get our butts in gear. We are heading out today...looking forward to seeing Valley of Fire State Park! We have heard so much about it and seen pictures...stunning! It will be nice to see it for ourselves...more hiking is in store too!
It was about 9:30 when we hit the road, continuing south on highway 160...a long straight stretch to the mountains...
Las Vegas in the distance...
They really jazz up their cell towers down here...
We hit I-15 just south of Vegas...travelling north (hmmm...that seems wrong, we should be going south for the winter!)...well, actually northeast towards Valley of Fire. The Interstate goes right through Vegas...
After about 40 miles on I-15, we took exit 75 towards Valley of Fire State Park...
After a long straight stretch, we came to the windy, hilly part...
...and had quite a descent into the valley...
There is a $10 daily fee to enter this State Park, however, the fee is included in the cost of the nightly stay at the campground. The fellow at the booth took one look at us and asked if we had forgotten anything...haha!
The colour of the rock is beautiful...
These are called the Bee Hives...
There are two campgrounds, we entered the first, Atlatl Rock and spoke to the camp hosts. This was their first day at hosting so they weren't familiar with the campgrounds yet, however, she radioed the ranger to see what the best options would be for a rig our size. There is one section for RV's wanting electrical and water hookups...but for $30, we decided that a "regular" site would be fine for $20 (includes the $10 park entrance fee). We drove the loop (over a very washboardy road) and found site #13 which we liked, however, we had missed the sani-dump on our way in and we needed to fill up with fresh water, so we continued out of the campground to the dump. After talking to folks at the sani-dump, we decided to just stick with the site that we liked in Atlatl Rock. Some sites in the lower loop of Arch Rock Campground (just a little further along the road) could possibly work but since we had found one that could accommodate us, we decided to just stick with it
Once all backed in, leveled and unhitched, it was time to open the sliders. Well, the first three came out as usual but when the fourth one (the large dining slider) started to move, I heard a crunching sounds. Oh, oh...that doesn't sound good! The bolt (closest to the door) on the drive shaft had snapped. Thank goodness this had happened a couple of years ago when we were at Camping World and Steve was able to watch the repair tech fix it....so he knew what to do. The tech had also given him a spare bolt...bonus!
We ate lunch and then Steve got started on the repair.
This end of the slide is out 7 inches...
And this end of the slide is only out 2 inches...
So for those of you interested in how to fix this problem I will pass you on to Steve...
I am not very mechanically inclined so if I can do this anyone can :-)
The first thing you need is to have on hand a "spare" proper sized bolt and lock nut.
With a pair of vise grips wind the gear shaft in the direction you want to move your slide...in my case it was counter clockwise until I had moved the slide out 5 inches.
Measure the distance from the wall to the slide on both ends of your slide to make sure that they are the same distance.
Now for the tricky part..the outer (black) shaft bolt hole will no longer line up with the left gear shaft hole so have someone briefly power the slide in the direction you want the shaft to go to line up the holes. I had about a 1/4" to go and to my surprise powering the slide only moved this gear...not the slide...Whew!
Also in my case the black shaft had to be moved to the right a bit...this shaft moves back and forth over an inner shaft...with some coaxing with a screwdriver and hammer.
Once the holes are lined up make sure your measurements are still equal to each other.
Install the new bolt. (I had to force mine in with a hammer)
(Because this is the second time in two years the same bolt has broken I will be replacing it every year as preventative maintenance.)
With the new bolt in place, I put the slider out and a piece broke off from the topper...sheesh! This piece stops your slide topper from unfurling when travelling. Hmmm...guess we are going to have to deal with that as well...but that will be for another day!
With the slider fixed, we finished our usual set-up and then sat and relaxed in the shade outside. We had this little bunny (sitting on the firepit grate) join us. He was extremely friendly so I bet he has been fed. When I first saw him, he was standing on the mat outside the trailer door looking up at me.
Such a beautiful spot but the sun goes down behind the mountains early...
...it was just before 4:00 when it went down. It cooled down very quickly...we had to go and put our sweats on for warmth!
We are really looking forward to exploring the park tomorrow!
It was about 9:30 when we hit the road, continuing south on highway 160...a long straight stretch to the mountains...
We hit I-15 just south of Vegas...travelling north (hmmm...that seems wrong, we should be going south for the winter!)...well, actually northeast towards Valley of Fire. The Interstate goes right through Vegas...
After about 40 miles on I-15, we took exit 75 towards Valley of Fire State Park...
After a long straight stretch, we came to the windy, hilly part...
...and had quite a descent into the valley...
There is a $10 daily fee to enter this State Park, however, the fee is included in the cost of the nightly stay at the campground. The fellow at the booth took one look at us and asked if we had forgotten anything...haha!The colour of the rock is beautiful...
These are called the Bee Hives...
There are two campgrounds, we entered the first, Atlatl Rock and spoke to the camp hosts. This was their first day at hosting so they weren't familiar with the campgrounds yet, however, she radioed the ranger to see what the best options would be for a rig our size. There is one section for RV's wanting electrical and water hookups...but for $30, we decided that a "regular" site would be fine for $20 (includes the $10 park entrance fee). We drove the loop (over a very washboardy road) and found site #13 which we liked, however, we had missed the sani-dump on our way in and we needed to fill up with fresh water, so we continued out of the campground to the dump. After talking to folks at the sani-dump, we decided to just stick with the site that we liked in Atlatl Rock. Some sites in the lower loop of Arch Rock Campground (just a little further along the road) could possibly work but since we had found one that could accommodate us, we decided to just stick with it
Once all backed in, leveled and unhitched, it was time to open the sliders. Well, the first three came out as usual but when the fourth one (the large dining slider) started to move, I heard a crunching sounds. Oh, oh...that doesn't sound good! The bolt (closest to the door) on the drive shaft had snapped. Thank goodness this had happened a couple of years ago when we were at Camping World and Steve was able to watch the repair tech fix it....so he knew what to do. The tech had also given him a spare bolt...bonus!
We ate lunch and then Steve got started on the repair.This end of the slide is out 7 inches...
And this end of the slide is only out 2 inches...
So for those of you interested in how to fix this problem I will pass you on to Steve...
I am not very mechanically inclined so if I can do this anyone can :-)
The first thing you need is to have on hand a "spare" proper sized bolt and lock nut.
With a pair of vise grips wind the gear shaft in the direction you want to move your slide...in my case it was counter clockwise until I had moved the slide out 5 inches.
Measure the distance from the wall to the slide on both ends of your slide to make sure that they are the same distance.
Now for the tricky part..the outer (black) shaft bolt hole will no longer line up with the left gear shaft hole so have someone briefly power the slide in the direction you want the shaft to go to line up the holes. I had about a 1/4" to go and to my surprise powering the slide only moved this gear...not the slide...Whew!
Also in my case the black shaft had to be moved to the right a bit...this shaft moves back and forth over an inner shaft...with some coaxing with a screwdriver and hammer.
Once the holes are lined up make sure your measurements are still equal to each other.
Install the new bolt. (I had to force mine in with a hammer)
(Because this is the second time in two years the same bolt has broken I will be replacing it every year as preventative maintenance.)
With the new bolt in place, I put the slider out and a piece broke off from the topper...sheesh! This piece stops your slide topper from unfurling when travelling. Hmmm...guess we are going to have to deal with that as well...but that will be for another day!
With the slider fixed, we finished our usual set-up and then sat and relaxed in the shade outside. We had this little bunny (sitting on the firepit grate) join us. He was extremely friendly so I bet he has been fed. When I first saw him, he was standing on the mat outside the trailer door looking up at me.
Such a beautiful spot but the sun goes down behind the mountains early......it was just before 4:00 when it went down. It cooled down very quickly...we had to go and put our sweats on for warmth!
We are really looking forward to exploring the park tomorrow!
So glad the bolt repair went well:o)) What a beautiful spot you have there and the bunny in the fire pit is really funny!!
ReplyDeleteHi Steve...Red here. Glad you got the slide fixed. It can be a pain in an RV park.I usually have to go to the parts store at lest twice... LOL.
ReplyDeleteGreat looking park, we hope to go there in the near future.
Glad you were able to find a spot to fit all yourself into. It is a LONG drive back there to see if they have room. Can't wait for pictures of your exploring!!
ReplyDelete