Retirement & Life

“If the women don’t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.” ~Red Green

Living on the road is grand but not maintenance free. In this article I’m going to talk a bit about the small but constant stream of fixes that comes along with a home on wheels. In a previous blog (Murphy, Zen and the Art of Motorhome Maintenance, October 12, 2018) I spoke about the motorhome’s slide-out failing to retract on a travel day. The slide-out problem required immediate attention. Today I’ll talk about dealing with smaller repairs, those that don’t need to be fixed immediately. The kind of repairs that most people can handle on their own. Finding an RV repair shop every time something minor goes wrong would be expensive and impractical for a full-time RVer. A repair shop is not going to drop all of their current work so you can get the handle on your screen door fixed. Being handy is a requirement for farmers, landlords and certainly for people who live on the road.

Speaking of screen door repairs, a couple of days ago the screen door failed to stay closed by itself and the normally spring loaded handle flopped about loosely. The screen door handle has two major functions. It must open and latch the screen door when the cabin door is tethered to remain open and it must be able to hold the screen door snuggly to the cabin door when you want the two to travel together.

I don’t know much about RV door handles but figured that either a spring inside came loose or broke. Two screws held the plastic handle assembly together and once disassembled, I saw the two pieces of a broken spring. This tells me it’s non-repairable and parts are needed.

In years past, one might have been able to find the tiny replacement spring, the only broken component. Unfortunately that’s not the world that we live in today where we are forced to purchase the entire handle assembly. I went to Winnebago’s website, pulled up an online parts book and found the part I needed.

At this point, I could call Winnebago and order the part, but first I thought I’d try Amazon to see if they had a direct replacement. Amazon is fantastic, shipping is fast and I feel more certain that whatever I need will reach me on the road (more about ordering from Amazon in a future blog). Amazon had the direct replacement part so I was able to order it from them. That said, I’m not pleased that I need to purchase a $30 assembly just to get a replacement spring that’s smaller than a dime.

This screen door handle is just an example of the kinds of maintenance irritants one must deal with on the road. Yesterday, I also had to repair an air hose in the Sleep Number bed and replace a piece of trim molding that came loose. Driving one’s home on hundreds of miles of bumpy roads will shake and break a few things every so often. It’s the nature of the beast and one must simply accept it as a reasonable expectation when living this lifestyle.

Here are a few suggestions to consider when needing to make small repairs:

1. YouTube has videos that show you how to repair almost anything from the simple to the complex. This is the first place I go when I’m unsure of how to fix something.
2. Even if you’ve not done handiwork in the past, don’t be afraid to try your hand at something small just to get your feet wet. Build confidence in your abilities.
3. Don’t be afraid to phone a handy friend or someone that has more experience than you. Call the factory, your dealership or an RV repair shop to ask questions. Do this only after checking YouTube or doing some online investigation first. The investigation will better prepare you to speak intelligently with the person on the other end of your call. ‘Screen door latch’, for example, is a good term; ‘black thingy that holds the doors in’, is not.
4. Try to use direct replacement parts. This saves time in the long run. If I couldn’t have found a direct replacement I would have spent time looking at dozens of right-hand, screen door replacement handles (on the right side of door, from the inside looking out) and would have most likely had to drill new holes in the screen door, cabin door and even the door frame.
5. This is a tough one for me. Know your abilities and don’t get in over your head. My over-confidence has gotten me in a pickle every so often. Think about the consequences of failure. If I take apart a screen door and can’t get it back together it’s not a big deal. On the other hand, if I disassemble my power awning, I might find myself unable to move from my campsite until I get a professional to come out to my location and put it back together.

My wife DiAnne and I needed a few supplies today so we decided to take a late morning trip into WaKeeney, Kansas. It was about a 15-minute drive from our campsite at Cedar Bluff State Park.

WaKeeney was named after land speculators Albert Warren and James Keeney who surveyed the land in 1878 then established a colony there in 1879. The 1960 census recorded over 2800 people; but by 2010 the population had shrunk by about 1000 residents.

It was 11:30 so the first stop in town was for lunch at the Brazen Bull. The Works Burger that I ordered for lunch was really good but the Flame Roasted Stuffed Jalapenos appetizers were heaven!

While DiAnne went to Hometown Bakery, I ventured in to Keyser Hardware. They didn’t have the key blanks in stock to make a duplicate set for the motorhome, but I found some friendly folks and the 3M Command Hooks that I needed for the shower. I met DiAnne outside of the bakery/coffee-house. She had bought some homemade bread, sweet rolls and Bierocks for dinner tonight. DiAnne told me that the gal who owns the place drove a truck prior to opening the bakery. I didn’t get the owner’s name but as we were about to get in the car to leave, she came out with a bag of donuts for us. She was closing for the day and thought we’d enjoy them. Very nice lady! I truly admire all of those individualists who own/operate businesses in small towns and have to compete with franchises and corporate giants. You’re a breath of fresh air in a cookie-cutter world!

Next, it was off to find groceries, but first I snapped a few pictures along main street. Above is the Trego County Courthouse. Below, the drinking fountain on the sidewalk as one approaches the courthouse.

Above: WaKeeney City Hall. Below: Close up of the Victory Bell.

The last stop in Downtown WaKeeney was Heartland Foods. Inside this store were some of the friendliest folks on earth as well as the finest looking cuts of T-Bone Steak I’d ever seen. The only thing I couldn’t find in town was bait for my trip to the Cedar Bluff Reservoir this coming weekend.

On the trip home I stopped along State Highway 147 to take a few more photos. Above is the attractive Swedish Luthern (that’s the spelling above the door) Emmanuel Church, Trego County, 1902. I peeked through the windows to see old-fashioned wooden pews and a simple alter. Pictured below is the outhouse behind the church. It appears to no longer be in use so I assume the members decided to install indoor plumbing at one point.

Above: Seems as though every farmer’s field in this area has at least one oil well pumping 24-hours a day. Below: Finally found some bait at Sport Haven near the entrance to Cedar Bluff State Park. The charismatic woman behind the counter charmed me into buying Haagen-Dazs ice-cream bars when she spoke those alluring words, “Buy one, hun and the second is just a buck”.

It was a fine day to go into WaKeeney and be an explorer. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and tomorrow promises to be another beautiful day for me to try my hand at fishing again. I’m told there are monster catfish in that reservoir and I’m a gonna get me one!

Smartphone mapping apps are an enormous help when traveling from one campground to another. Typically when using this tool to plan a trip I get one or two alternate routes that will take a little longer to reach your destination but allow you to see more of America. Primary routes rely heavily on the Interstate System whereas the alternate routes use US and State Highways, oftentimes leading you through the downtown of cities you might never have heard of before. Stopping at a local restaurant or coffee house gives the traveler an unequaled opportunity to get their finger on the pulse of small town America.

Luverne, MN is a charming town that sits near the junction of Interstate 90 and US Highway 75. My wife DiAnne and I stopped for lunch there at the Highway 75 Diner. The best part of the stop for me was being able to tune in to the conversations around me. There was talk of the wet weather and the status of their Cardinals (the Luverne High School football team) but I didn’t hear a single political conversation. Discussions of politics and religion would have sullied the ‘Minnesota nice’ vibe that was happening at this place.

If you’re going to order the special, come hungry. Today’s special at the diner was Swedish Meatballs over mashed potatoes.

With bellies full we headed south toward our next destination. Upon arriving at Iowa’s Lewis and Clark State Park we discovered there was no WiFi or cell service. The following day Di and I found a great little coffee shop with WiFi in Onawa. The Carrier Coffee & Tea Company was a cozy, quasi-artsy little place just off main street. I ordered a Pumpkin Spice Latte (yes, a bit cliche) and didn’t know if I would receive something delightful or something that tasted as if brewed with some sort of tree bark blend.

I openly admit to being a bit of a coffee snob but this place didn’t disappoint. Barista McKenna (the young lady in the photo above) created an exceptional latte for me. DiAnne and I stayed there a while enjoying our drinks, a connection to the Internet and eavesdropping on the locals coming in for their morning caffeine fix. I left with a large chocolate chip cookie that I ate later in the day while fishing.

On the trip from Iowa’s Lewis and Clark State Park to Clinton State Park near Lawrence, Kansas we found ourselves traveling once again along US Highway 75. We opted for lunch at a local restaurant call the Buzz Cafe and Oxen House in Sabetha, Kansas. This time I order the special; beef and noodles over mashed potatoes and there was plenty of it.

I had food leftover that I wanted to take with me back to the motorhome for Lily, Buddy and Sophie (the furry kids who seem to think I’m the greatest hunter/gatherer that has ever existed). That’s when DiAnne and I met Nellie, a charming woman clearing tables who recently lost her pooch. When she found out that we had dogs waiting for us back at the motorhome, she asked us to wait while she went back into the kitchen and prepared a bag of dog treats to-go. After she returned to our table, we spent another 15-20 minutes chatting with Nellie about dogs, our retirement adventure and how she ended up in Sabetha.

Sometimes when I hear friends say that they’ve gotten from point A to point B in record time, I just smile. I used to be that guy who wanted to spend sunup to sunset driving in order get to my next location so I could ‘relax’. Now I’m getting better at enjoying the journey and relaxing along the way. I’ve found that everyplace I stop there are people with a story that they want to tell. My advice to travelers is to slow down, spend a few bucks at local eateries and share some stories with the good folks you encounter along the way.

The better part of Saturday was spent sitting alongside the shore of Blue Lake in Lewis and Clark State Park, Iowa.  I had my Mitchell rod & reel combination (a gift I received for my 10-Year Mayo Clinic service anniversary), some very large wiggly night crawlers and a beautiful fall day in front of me. Fishing is one of my favorite pastimes; unfortunately today I “got skunked”.

My Grandpa Mueller taught me how to fish when I was just a little squirt. He also taught me the phrase “got skunked”, although he didn’t get skunked very often. Grandpa was a river fisherman and there were three spots around Winona, Minnesota that were his favorites. Number one on the list was across the main channel the Mississippi on the far side of the old John A. Latsch wagon bridge. If the fish weren’t hitting there, we’d go to the deserted Burlington Northern train station on the Wisconsin side, walk north on the tracks and fish just past the first trestle. Another spot was just south of the Black Horse Tavern on US 61 although I suspect that location was reserved for days when he wanted to stop afterwards and have a highball. We never caught many fish there.

Today I still fish the same way my grandfather taught me. When I’m fishing the bottom, I use a 3-way swivel. When I stick myself in the finger with a hook I say “oucha” just like my Grandpa did. I sure miss that man and would give anything to be fishing alongside of him for just one more hour.

DiAnne and I bought our 3-day, non-resident fishing licenses at the Onawa, Iowa Shopko. We carried out an extended conversation with the Shopko cashier who had to manually enter all of the information from our Minnesota drivers licenses into the Iowa DNR system. At one point she looked over her glasses at us and stated, “You know, most people from here go to Minnesota to fish.” The cost of the non-resident license was $17.50 and after the first two days I have a total of zero fish. A pessimist would say that’s not a good value. I look at it a bit differently. I’ve already got at least 10 hours of fishing in with one more day to go. The cost per hour is astoundingly low.

One variation of Murphy’s Law states, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong at the worst possible time”. One of the worst times to experience a problem with a motorhome is on a travel day. Yesterday morning after putting pictures, guitars, and other loose items in place for safe travel it was time to bring in the three slides on the motorhome and leave Split Rock Creek State Park (near Pipestone, Minnesota). The passenger side slides for the living room and bedroom retracted without issue, but the massive 25-foot long slide that runs from just behind the driver’s seat to the end of the bedroom failed.

Drama and the use of f-bombs were not going to help things, even though I’m quite proficient in those areas. In order for me to be successful at problem solving, I need to first remind myself to remain calm. Believe me; I was in a hurry to leave. It was rainy, cold and windy the entire time in the park and there were fish to be caught at the next destination. The first thing I did was to brew a cup of coffee, butter a slice of Thia Carlson’s homemade banana bread and spend some time reading the Winnebago/Itasca owner’s manual.

The control panel for the defective slide has a blinking LED to let the operator know that the slide is in an error state. This particular slide has been balky since getting the motorhome, but after several attempts I was always able to retract it. Like the toothache that goes away at the dentist office, the slide always worked fine whenever the dealer was contacted. After reading the owner’s manual I learned that the number blinks on the slide control panel was a code for troubleshooting. Mine was blinking four times which, according to the owner’s manual indicated a blown fuse, bad connection or a defective motor. A quick check at the breaker box confirmed that the fuses were good.

This mega slide requires two motors, one at the front the other at the rear and it was the front motor that wasn’t retracting. The motor was easily accessible underneath the massive arm that supports the weight of the slide. With the help of my trusty Maglite, I did a visual inspection.  I didn’t see any disconnected wires, loose bolts or physical obstructions that would keep the motor from turning. I do know a little about electrical systems and motors. Motors don’t typically have intermittent problems so I suspected a bad connection. I wiggled the 2-pin connector to the motor, went inside to the control panel and the slide retracted without issue. It was a simple, albeit temporary fix. I’ll take the time to clean the connector properly when the weather is better.

There is a certain satisfaction that comes from being able to maintain your own rig and there are four principles in problem solving that can apply to almost any situation. In the 1945 book “How to Solve It” by George Polya, he suggests these steps to solve any problem:

1. Understand the problem (get enough information to design a plan).
2. Make a plan (eliminate possibilities, use reasoning, be creative).
3. Carry out the plan (use patience and persistence).
4. Look back at your work (could it have been done better).

Polya wrote his book specifically for mathematics students, yet his generic problem solving principles can be applied to motorhome maintenance and even relationship issues.

Today, I’ll apply Polya’s approach to fishing since I arrived at Lewis & Clark State Park, Onawa, Iowa a bit later than expected. The lake is beautiful and the motorhome is right next to it.

Early in 2017, my wife DiAnne and I decided to forego our annual vacation to the Caribbean and spend the money instead on a used Class A motorhome. Both of us were 62 years old at the time and were contemplating taking an early retirement to become fulltime RVers. In my 20-year career as an IT Professional at Mayo Clinic, I saved diligently and invested well enough to retire a little early. The question was could DiAnne and I live together along with our three small dogs in the relatively close confines of a motorhome?

Throughout the year, we camped locally and fixed up the newly acquired 1999 Tiffin Allegro learning the nuances of RVing which included motorhome maintenance and minor repairs. Our plan was to take the Allegro south from Minnesota to Arizona during the coldest part of the 2017-18 winter and enjoy a warmer January than what we had become accustomed to. I was still working and when I requested five consecutive weeks time off, my boss grew worried and suggested I work a couple of days a week remotely. I said “sure” then upped my request from 5 to 6 weeks.

Di and I buttoned up our home on Apple Ridge Boulevard and left Rochester several days before Christmas. Our plan was to drive south, catch Historic Route 66 in Missouri and follow the route westward with a Volkswagen Beetle in tow. The trip was a fantastic experience with only a few minor inconveniences along the way. I believe that the effort spent getting the motorhome and tow dolly into top-notch shape prior to the journey was the key to a relatively trouble-free experience.

The two of us took in many tourist attractions along the way and stayed mostly at state parks. It was surprising to see how sparsely populated the parks were considering the sites were often lower priced and roomier than nearby commercial campgrounds.

One of the lessons we learned was not to try to put on too many miles a day; to enjoy the journey as well as the destination. Too many hours spent on the road makes one weary and cranky. The trip ended back in Minnesota at the end of January and by February, I was back in my office firming up July 27, 2018 as my retirement date.

I retired from Mayo Clinic at the end of July, sold the home on Apple Ridge at the end of August and upgraded to a 2012 Itasca SunCruiser in September. Downsizing from a three bedroom home to a motorhome was a challenge, but fortunately for me I place a higher value on memories and experiences rather than trinkets, toys and mementos. That said, I’m carrying along four guitars (I downsized to get to four) and a small PA system. I’ve been a gigging musician continuously since the 1960s and don’t plan to give that up anytime soon.

This blog will focus on fulltime RVing in retirement with occasional nods into cooking, fishing and music as well as other things that I am passionate about. Thanks for taking the time to read this and I’d appreciate any feedback that you may have for me.