Friday, October 21, 2011

Getting ready for Mexico

Today I really finished the outside of the motorhome.



Yes, the outside is done. The whole thing is waxed with Mother's Carnauba Wax, and my arms are still sore from that. I did learn a thing or two about waxing large areas. I have an orbital buffer where you apply wax with a putty knife on the terry cloth cover and then apply that to the motorhome. Doing this leaves a lot of wax on the body and requires a LOT of work to get off. At Walmart, I noticed a package of microfiber bonnet for the buffer. The blurb on the front mentioned the microfiber makes putting the wax on and taking the wax off much easier. Well, I'm gullible, especially when they say it will make less work. IT WORKS!!! The microfiber bonnet puts the wax on much easier, more uniform, and lighter than the terry cloth. This makes it so much easier to buff out. There are areas that have to be done by hand, and I had been using a terry cloth applicator. I changed to a microfiber cloth folded over and it also worked very well.

The body is waxed, the wheels polished, the tires treated, and the TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System) has been re-installed. I had a little problem with some minor leakage on one wheel, but that's standard. That's why I install the sensors a week or more before I go.

The outside is my domain. The inside is Helen's domain and she has not done much yet. The reason she can sit back for a while is that she goes through the inside from one end to the other when we get home. When the motorhome is parked, it is spotless inside, except for those things that I get into when Helen's not looking.



When I opened the door this morning, Coco jumped right in and took her riding position right behind the middle of the dashboard. As we drive, she gazes out the front, resting her chin on the dash. Her head gets oh so heavy. We tend to think that she really doesn't see anything, but if we pass a farm with animals, her head turns to keep her eyes on the livestock. Jodie sleeps on the floor between the seats and we're not sure where Sandy is going to stay. If I remember correctly, she joined Jodie on the floor when we went to the east coast a year ago. I couple of days ago I wanted to move the camper. Coco and Sandy jumped right in. Jodie hid in the back yard. When I started the diesel, Sandy wanted out in the worst way. Fortunately it was a short trip to the other driveway.

I think we are starting to get the trip organized. Leave Nogales, Arizona on the 15th and head for Celestino's RV resort, where we'll spend a month. Around the 18th of December we will relocate to Hacienda Contreras where we will spend a week or more over Christmas and plan our next legs of the Mexican Adventure. This Hacienda is well recommended in RV.NET and Kevin and Ruth will be there. So we'll get to finally meet them.

Now it's time for a little R & R ( a short nap). All this work is not as easy at 68 as it was at 48.


By the way, because I was stupid and only washed the vertical parts of the RV, I had to was the top because it occurred to me that the first rain would wash all the crud down on my clean sides. It's a good thing I went up there. I found a few places that needed caulk and one puncture to the radius curve where the side and roof meet. I was up and down the ladder countless time and STILL didn't get hurt. There is an old Navy saying, "one hand for the Navy and one hand for yourself". I wasn't in the Navy. I throw the stuff up on the roof and then use TWO hands for myself. I was staying safe, Sam.

Later.

4 comments:

  1. nice looking rig you have there!.how big is it?..and what make and model?...love the shot of Cocoa waiting so patiently!!

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  2. Great to see you guys are almost ready to leave, we will be anxiously awaiting your posts. The rig looks great, in way I'm glad my trouble here is the floor and not the roof, not as far to fall.Glad to see you are being safe. Have a great week. Sam & Donna.....

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  3. Looks like things are coming together. Look forward to meeting you guys at Christmas.

    BTW, just wanted to mention that I can't read the last of each line at the beginning of your blog, it runs into the side and a word or two can't be seen.

    Kevin and Ruth
    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  4. Yep what Kevin said about lines running off.
    Rig looks great I'm sure you went to a lot of work....but remember karate kid "wax on wax off'
    so now you are also prepared for any 'bad guys' you meet :-)....Coco reminds of Riggs....gets in and ready to go...only thing is he whines for the 1st 30 or 40 miles before settling in and heaven forbid a motorcyle goes by.
    Give Helen a hug for me....and Ruth too when you see her...Kevin and Ruth are great people and you will really enjoy them....let us know when you get to the top of some of those so called hills.
    Donna W,

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