CC is on the prowl for 2015

CC is back on the prowl. After an anguishing winter we finally got her uncovered & on the road.

Winter lasted forever. Once a month I uncovered the back of CC & climbed inside & started the Diesel engine & the generator. You’re supposed to do that to keep her healthy.

When we were at the RV show in St. Louis, Rita signed us up to win two motorized bicycles. But we didn't win them. Instead, we won a free weekend trip to Lost Valley Lake RV Resort out in mid-Missouri. We decided to try & get her de-winterized & go!

So last weekend we took off the ADCO cover & wrestled it into a trash can for storage. Well that was the plan. I saw a YouTube video that suggested that, but the freaking cover is so big it could fill two trash cans. We got a storage bag over it & in the garage good enough to keep it nice until next winter.

Then we got inside CC, opened her up, cleaned her up, flushed the water system of antifreeze then sanitized the water lines & tank. I swept her out & started moving stuff back into her.

Thursday I had a 3 o'clock appointment at Freightliner in Troy for an oil change & lube. Unfortunately the guy who set it all up was new & goofed up some details. I got in eventually, and the process began. The engine has three filters & holds 8 1/2 gallons of motor oil. I had them change the oil in the generator too. Three more filters & two more gallons of oil. Part of the problem is they didn't have the right filters for the generator, it's a big one. (10 kW). I had almost a 2 hour delay waiting for the filter.

A nice thing was the comments from the service writer & the mechanic. Both commented on how Country Coach upgraded all the engine features, she should be a work horse. Plus she was in real good condition.

Anyway, all done at about 9 pm. Here is the tough part, $465 for an oil change. Wow!

Got her home & Rita helped me park her in the dark. 

Friday, we finished carrying everything back out so we now have the pantry & fridge restocked. We left home around 3 pm for Lost Valley Lake (LVL). Bad part of the trip is it rained the whole way, including when we got here.

We got checked in & escorted to our spot, a pull thru on top of a mountain. Nice site, but they re-graveled all the roads so they are sloppy. CC & Rita's car are FILTHY! All I did was plug her in and we headed out for a fish dinner at the lodge. It rained all night, so we packed it in.

Over the winter we changed from Direct TV to Dish.  After I figured out how to get the old box out of the cabinet & the new one in we only got half the channels.  I quick call to TracStar, the company that makes the roof satellite dish, I found out we needed a software update.  I got the software update device in the mail from TracStar right before we left so we decided to try installing it while in the boonies.  Opening the access panel & the gazillion wires was spooky, but with Rita helping me, everything went well. (Not the norm for me, usually if it can go wrong it does). After all updated, I called tech support thru TracStar & after a few lost/dropped calls we got it working.  Now it works perfect, the system switches satellites as needed and we have HD TV while camping. Can you say roughing it???

Saturday morning we did the tour of the grounds. It was ok.  It took 90 minutes like they said. No hard sell at all. When we said no they gave us a free real nice Coleman cooler and said see ya. Resort is nice but we don't feel like being "owners".

Our stomachs were starting to grumble.  So we headed into the bustling town of Rosebud, 409 people, for a nice diner for lunch. We found Kline’s. It was nice, I think half of the town was there for lunch.

After lunch we came back to LVL & CC got a much needed bath. 

Now I'm plopped down in front of a campfire getting ready to BBQ some ribs.

Tomorrow we pack up & head to Union, Missouri to drop CC off at 3R RV to get the AquaHot tuned up & some other RV things tweaked. We are getting there on Sunday when they are closed.  The owners gave us the gate access code & we are going to let ourselves in & boondock in the parking lot.  Then she should be already for 2015!!!!!!!