We were screwed!

A week or so ago, when Michael was trying to find the source of our water leak, he had the cover off the wheel well and as we two DIY dummies were peering into the dark abyss, I noticed a screw sticking out of the tread of the rear outside dually. Michael turned on the tire pressure monitors and saw that the air was slowly seeping out of that tire. After a search online and a call to Sonrise RV in Escondido, we were given the name of Golden State Tire, just a mile down the road from us. So this morning we were up at the crack of mid-morning and pulled the Seneca out. What a fantastic company! They had the wheel off and tire repaired in about 30 minutes. We got the bill for an amazing $21.27, which will be paid for us by our tire warranty company. Happy Day!

The Culprit!

Wheel removed. Inside dually wheel visible

Alphonso removing the tire

Are we ready yet?

Back home, set up again and time for a bit of a spring clean inside and walkabout with chats with our neighbours. Before we went to Palm Springs for the week, I had made a comment that we had not met any of our neighbours around us. On returning from PS we were moved to a new site and what a change! What lovely neighbours we have! We met John and Nancy at the Christmas cocktail hour, they are not parked near us, but we consider them neighbours. Then I met Pam and Steve from Custer, South Dakota, who were in the process of moving up to Nob Hill (my name for our upper level because this where all the big rigs are parked). They are now 2 sites away from us in their lovely Allegro RED motorhome, and then we met Randy and Sandy from Oregon, who are across the road from us in their Montana Fifth Wheel. 

This afternoon I spent a while chatting to Pam and Steve and it turns out that Pam is also a Registered Nurse. We just talked and talked. I feel as if I have known her for ever. What joy life can bring! I love this lifestyle where we can meet such lovely people from all over the US and Canada.

This n That

I think the whole world has gone mad! getting to V's home, some 9 miles away, is almost impossible. It took us almost 45 minutes the other day. The roads are jammed, no matter what time of the day. We have taken to looking for back roads. Hopefully this is a sign that the recession is grinding to an end as people are spending, spending, spending. How many are buying American?? I wonder.

Our trip here gave us a few challenges, one being the terrible road in Alabama where our Brake Buddy broke and just kept self initiating. We only discovered this after driving a few miles with the car brakes on. Anyway, as soon as we got here we UPSed it to the manufacturer in Kansas, dreading the repair bill to come. Well, the BB was returned to us, repaired at no cost! What a relief. Then one of our Tire Pressure Monitors on the car stopped working. We sent it back to TST and it, too was returned to us at no cost. Whew. We do still have to get the car brakes attended to as they got so hot that the front discs warped.

Brake Buddy fixed, tire pressure monitor fixed, water leaks fixed. Life is feeling a lot less stressful! Until last night that is, at about midnight, we were wakened by the sound of automatic gunfire! Then a helicopter circling overhead. Some of the other RVers also heard it. It was not in the RV Resort, where we feel very safe, but outside somewhere in the surrounding area. Escondido is a high crime area. This morning I took my walk in the park behind us and there were a few homeless people still sleeping on the grass, but they were alive and there was no evidence of any crime having happened up there.

Look closely at these two palm trees. What do you see?

A close up of the tree on the right. It's not a real tree! It's a cell phone tower!

Our new site at Escondido RV Resort.

The back of the Seneca. Satellite receiver at the top of the ladder.

We are having a quiet day at home, Michael is attending to some maintenance  outside and I am pottering around inside. There are some occasional rain showers and it is dull and overcast.

Leaks, leaks and more leaks!!! Long post.

Ever since we bought this RV, just over a year ago, we have experienced leaks and plumbing issues. When we first bought it there was a bad leak under the kitchen sink. We found a loose connection going to the taps so that was an easy fix. At the same time there appeared to be a leak around the sink drain, again an easy fix with some plumber's putty.

Then we removed the large CRT TV from the front entertainment center and discovered evidence of a leak in the cab over area. We took it back to Owasco where we bought the RV, and they re caulked the front end.

We did not use the RV for a few months from December to April, so had no issues during that time. Once we got back to Ontario and moved into it again, we found water coming out from under the divider wall between the kitchen and the bathroom. Back to Owasco who tore out the pantry and the divider wall. They said they fixed a cracked pipe inside the wall. Luckily this was "repaired" under our extended warranty with a deductible of only $50.

Intermittently we still found water oozing out from under the divider wall, which we mopped up. At the same time we heard a funny noise coming from the black tank flush, so back to Owasco and another $50. They tore out the vanity and replaced the flusher valve.

Then we found a leak under the vanity and still saw the intermittent leak. The vanity leak was easily repaired. The technician at Owasco had forgotten to tighten the drain under the basin. We now had to leave on our trip to California, so did not have time to get the leak under the dividing wall looked at.

Now we are in California and we have to find the source of this water. With the help of the wonderful community on the Kodiak Chassis RV forum on Yahoo, we gradually went through steps to eliminate all possible sources. This included removing an outside fender and the wheel well to investigate the bottom of the shower (we had determined that we got the leak every time we showered).  No leak under the shower, which was below floor level anyway. So back inside and the bottom of the pantry was removed. The floor was soaking wet. There is also an access panel behind one of the drawers in the pantry to get to the back of the shower faucets. No apparent leak there either.

We went through a series of "tests" on the shower itself.

Michael blocked the shower drain and sprayed water over the shower enclosure. No leak.
Then he opened the shower drain and allowed the water in the shower to drain out. No leak.
Then he had a shower. Leak.
What had we done differently? We had turned on the hot water heater! Now we were getting somewhere. The leak was intermittent because it only happened when we had the hot water heater on, and we only put the hot water heater on when we shower.

OK! So now where was the leak occurring. I had the idea to put my little point and click camera inside the opening at the bottom of the pantry and video tape was going on in there. On watching the video we saw water dripping off the hot water pipe feeding the shower faucet. Michael traced the water up the pipe and then we looked inside the access area higher up in the pantry and it was wet! The winged flange/nut was loose. A simple turn of the screw to tighten it up and VOILA! the water stopped dripping. Hooray! The end of our leaking problems.....or so we thought.

Access area in the pantry for getting to the back of the shower faucets

This morning the hot water heater was turned on for morning showers and drip, drip, drip. OH NO! This time inside the vanity cupboard. Again the hot water pipe up at the faucet end. The winged nut up at the top of the pipe was loose.

Catching the water from inside the vanity

Winged nuts underneath the vanity basin

That was tightened up and no more leak. We are now praying that all leaks have been addressed. We now know more than we ever thought we would about the plumbing in a Jayco Seneca 35GS!! Hoping that this is the end of the problems, however we will continue to monitor and tighten as needed. One of the people on the forum has advised us to check the fittings in the kitchen slide every so often as they may to loose when the slide is deployed. Good tip!

Our week in Palm Springs

Here we are, back again at Escondido RV Resort after a wonderful week at Palm Springs Oasis RV Park, which is actually in Cathedral City.

Snow on the mountains around Palm Springs

We took our American Mom with us and she had a ball. I now know the exact location of every Thrift, Resale and Consignment store in the Coachella Valley! V is truly the shopping queen of California. She came home with several great outfits that she got for next to nothing! 

V. enjoying the ride from the dinette

Wind turbines in the Coachella Valley

Snow on the mountain tops

The RV Resort was OK, small but sparkling clean. Two pools and a hot tub. It is in a wonderful location with great access to Hwy 111 and close to the best shopping areas. Our view from the motorhome was of the mountains near Palm Springs, including Mt San Jacinto. Lovely to see "our" mountain every morning as we had breakfast.

Our breakfast view

Concrete pads

Lots of empty sites

One of two heated pools

Our site was close to the pools, clubhouse and showers 

Our site at the end of a road. Great views!

There we are in the distance

We saw Hugo in 3D at the IMAX. A brilliant movie and well worth seeing.  and ate out at La Casita on Tuesday, so got a Fiesta platter for $12, which we shared between the 3 of us. Fantastic value! I would recommend this restaurant to anyone in the area. The margaritas are the best and half price if you go at happy hour, and Tuesdays is when you get the special deals on the Fiesta platter and the fajitas.

On Saturday we went to the College of the Desert Street Fair to just look for a couple of things for V, but she was unable to find what she wanted, then carried on to the town of La Quinta, where we chanced upon an art fair and walked through the museum. A late lunch at Shield's Date Gardens where they have the best date milk shakes. Bought some fantastic Medjool dates.

Art fair in Old Town La Quinta

Interesting entrance to a pub in the courtyard, La Quinta

Pretty buildings in Old Town La Quinta

V. going into the La Quinta Museum

The original RV!

Beautiful mural inside the museum

Entrance to the Shield's store

Huge sign for Shield'

On Sunday we went to the Tamale Festival which was being held in Indio.  It is one of the 10 best food festivals in the USA. Great day out, with a real taste of Mexico, with dancers, singers and lots of tamales. I am not sure that I would go out of my way to get a tamale, but it was interesting nonetheless.

There were lineups at most food booths

Hmmm, I think someone had a few too many tamales!

Guys on stilts

Did you know there is a machine that can tell if you are going to heaven or not?

As well as Tamales and other Mexican food, you could buy , jewelry, dream catchers and just about anything else.

All in all, I would say the week was a fantastic success and I know that V enjoyed it.

America's Largest Nomadic Tribe!

This is what it is all about!
BBC Segment