Oct 6, 2018
The last 2 days at McMinnville were overcast and drizzly. We'd squeezed as much summer out of Oregon as we could. It was time to start heading south. Our first stop was the Valley River Mall in Eugene, OR. Last June we learned they allowed RV's to stay in their rear parking lot for up to 2 nights for free, we planned to do some shopping in Eugene before moving on. Everything is very official. The security guards drive by and check you in with a little note indicating the day you'll leave. We found evidence of this practice going back to 2011. Unfortunately the security guard informed us they'd be terminating the program starting Jan. 2019. One (but not the only) reason was a few people abusing the PRIVELAGE!
Our main shopping objective was to buy Joan a new computer. Her 17" laptop, dating back to 2012, had become more of a liability than an asset with several system failures. Also, it's size was the "elephant in the room" in such a small living space. Well, after several stops at the usual electronics stores and some Internet research she selected a 14" laptop with a Microsoft i5 processer and a 256 Gb solid state disk drive. I'm pleased to report that Joan and her new computer (Hanna) are very happy together!
The next stop was Valley of the Rouge State Park near Medford, OR. We'd take care of our systems after 5 days of dry camping, do some laundry and cooking before moving on.
Campsite at Valley of the Rouge State Park. Fall colors.
Oct. 10
The plan is to head south into northern California, cross the mountains and check out the southern entrance to Lassen Volcanic Nat'l Park before continuing south along the eastern side of the Sierra-Nevada's. We've wanted to explore that area more after passing through on our way to Oregon a few years ago.
Mt. Shasta from I-5 heading south.
First stop in California, Antlers National Forest Service Campground at Lakehead, CA.
We only planned to stay here overnight. After setting up I noticed a little drip under the camper that shouldn't be there. I traced it to the water heater and eventually to the fitting on the hot water outlet pipe. It was just a small leak around the threads, no problem I'll just remove the fitting, put some more sealant on it and put it back in. Well... the fitting was plastic and as I was "unscrewing" it, it didn't feel right. Yep, you guessed it, it sheered off.
I removed the water heater from the camper and tried to remove the broken off part with various tools including a Dremel with tiny bits similar to dental tools, no luck. The plastic threads were some how fused to the aluminum tank. I later learned you never use steel or PLASTIC fittings on these aluminum tanks. With 20-20 hind sight I'd have tried some radiator patch epoxy from an auto parts store.
So, what started as a minor leak has turned into a new water heater. Oh well, it was a 9 year old water heater but it was working just fine. The installed price from various RV repair shops is about $1000. I found a new one online for $369 and feel pretty confident since I'd already removed the old one. We're shipping it to Lone Pine, CA, where we planned to spend some time anyway. In the mean time we'll heat water the old fashion way, on the stove.
We really liked Antler CG so we stayed 3 days while sorting out a plan for the water heater.
Day 2 at Antlers, about 5 hours of good solar per day
Lakeshore RV Park campground.
Making home made apple sauce with apples from Beaver Creek trees.
The lake in Lakehead, CA is Lake Shasta, drawn down for the winter.
Antler Campground is on the other side of I-5.
What was supposed to be an over night stop turned into 5 days at Lakehead, CA. C'est La Vie, when life serves up lemons, you make lemonade or in our case, apple sauce.
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