On to Milton Freewater…

Spent a month and a week in Pahrump and didn’t do much of anything. I did work on my Blue Ox Aventa II tow bar and got that back into better condition. It needed some maintenance and I purchased the kits to do that. New rubber boots and new nylon washers along with plastic insert lock nuts. Anyway, link is above if you’d like to read about it.

The rest of the time in Pahrump, I just mostly lazed around but I did work on my sticking pantry shelves. Turned out the one I use the most is getting harder and harder to open or close but can’t be removed! I can unlatch the latches for removal but it won’t pull out all the way even after that. I did lube the second pull out pantry shelf and it’s nice and smooth now. I’ll get to working on the problematic shelf here soon. Don’t want to jerk it out in case there’s a ball bearing jamming the slides as those rails are impossible to find in that length and jerking/forcing the pantry out may damage the slide rails.

Then I removed the louvered double doors in the toilet closet that cover several shelves. That is the space where the optional washer/dryer goes if the RV is ordered with one. I like having the shelves so haven’t bothered buying the machine. The doors have drooped over the years and so they wouldn’t latch closed because they have drooped down to far to engage the latching devices. After removing them, I used carpenters glue on the exposed edge where the louver slats were pulling away from the frame along the hinge side, rubber hammered the pieces together and let it dry. Reinstalled and now it latches fine so that the contents of the shelves don’t end up on the floor when driving. I still have several other projects in the RV like these that I haven’t gotten to yet. One big problem is the HWH 325 hydraulic living room slide. Over the last several months, maybe over 2 years of occasional use, the slide has gotten slower and slower when I try to retract it for travel. Keep reading for a solution later.

Anyway, near the end of my months stay, my daughter contacted me and let me know that the VA had sent me a very large check. Turned out that they had approved my disability claim for my hearing loss at 100%. That meant a monthly stipend and they back date it to when I initially filed. So a large check. That was something that I wouldn’t want her to sign for me and deposit in my CU as a ‘deposit only’ as the CU would take (they told us) over a month to clear it without my signature. Sooooooo, that meant I’d be heading back to Milton Freewater sooner by a couple weeks. I ended up leaving 2 days before my paid month was up and did not extend like I’d planned. But as it turned out, the weather up north was not bad. Google search shows no snow on the roads in Austin, Nevada either so I could take that route saving time and fuel.  But the first days travel in mostly flat low valleys, did have some predicted rain. Sunshine and above freezing temps at the overnight stops for each of the 3 days it normally takes me to travel from Pahrump to Milton. Here’s the map of the route.

And here we goooooooo!!!!

Had some rain that started just as I left Pahrump. But 90 minutes later, I passed through Beatty and it’s already clearing up. Forecast for Pahrump was rain all day. I was able to get above (north of) the weather system as I traveled.

And soon passing through Beatty and this never built casino first constructed by some rich guy who thought he could ignore the BLM laws and just put up whatever he wanted. The property was being developed for a casino and the guy didn’t check with BLM or the natives whose property he invaded. He was ordered to stop building. He forked around and found out.

Across the street is one of my happy places to stop for nuts and sugar free candies. Didn’t stop this trip.

A bit cloudy but there is some blue sky peeking through as I got further north of Beatty.

It was a nice drive and I wasn’t in all that much of a hurry as I’d scouted the route and the weather was favorable for the entire journey, though a bit chilly at night. Above freezing though so I didn’t need to take winter precautions.

After passing through Goldfield and than Tonopah, I head up into the mountains to Austin, NV. The hills outside of Austin are pretty steep and it’s a relief finally passing through town. There is a 7% down grade section that’s long and all twisty/turny with steep down cuts overlooking the town. And here’s a few shots of Austin.

Just a couple miles past Austin the road drops back down into a valley. The weather was being kind this 5th of May as often I delay my trip until the 15th of May to avoid snow on the ground here. Which happens early in May quite often. Then I arrive at Battle Mountain, NV, one hours drive from Winnemucca. There’s a nice newer pull through RV park in Battle, the Clark RV Park ($40/nite) which is just a block from a Maverik station. Pulled in, got my diesel and than pulled into the RV park for the night. I had considered staying at the Model T casino in Winnemucca but that would have added an hour extra to the days travel and I felt a bit tired.

Next day, it’s off to John Day, Oregon. I can make that hop in one go, it’s around 6 hours away. I stay at the Clark County RV park and this year it’s $45/night. A bit steep but the pull though sites, the 50 amp, water and sewer make it one of my favorite spots to stay. Oh, and the Outpost Pizza & Grill Pub is where I have their meatloaf dinners. Yum. John Day is the home of a famous Chinese healer, Kam Wa Chung, who helped so many people back when there was no doctor or apothecary in the area, that when the US changed the laws to disallow Chinese from living in the US, the entire town and region protected him from deportation as long as they could. I’ve visited the museum and his apothecary business and read the testimonials from his patients and came away very impressed with his skills. If you get the chance to drive though that area, try to visit the museum. If you want to make it a destination, note that the county RV park is often reserved spots for mostly the weekends, so you should make a reservation weeks in advance. Or try your luck arriving Monday thru Wednesday. Get to late in the week, all the spots are reserved. I always try to arrive between Sunday evening and Wednesday evening. I’ve never had to keep traveling but I have had to shorten my stay from a couple or few days, to one.

After spending the night in John Day, it’s a short hop to Milton Freewater. I enjoy the travel on the lightly traveled forest roads heading north from town, here next to the John Day river.

And then it drops into the foot hills and 2 hours later I’m in Milton Freewater.

You can see where my windshield did battle with some bugs and they lost. This shot is of the Walla Walla Valley. Milton Freewater is at the base of this hill and a bit beyond.

And that’s where I am now. Was able to park in my favorite spot in a part of this park that is going to be changed to a manufactured home site sometime in the next few years. All parked and set up, went to visit my daughter at work, got the check and it’s now nestled in my account at the credit union. Yea! The CU told me it’ll be a week before I can withdraw from it but it’s better than having it sitting in the CU for a month awaiting approval or on my daughters kitchen counter waiting for me.

And my son came to the park to visit and I explained the problem with my slide not coming in as readily as it’s supposed to. He crawled under the slide into areas I’m not physically able to reach, and spotted that the nylon slides are dry. And a bit dirty. So he grabbed my Silicon Lube spray and went to town. And for the first time in 2 years the slide didn’t hesitate…just pulled right in. He has suggested graphite and I contacted an HWH tech I know and he said that HWH doesn’t have any recommendation for lubricant for those slides so we’re just going to put the graphite on there. The slides are 23 years old now but I’m hoping for another 10 years at least. Maybe the graphite will help with that.

Nice leisurely drive this spring. There was one short section where I needed to get my dash A/C running too. So I enjoyed rain, steep mountains, strong winds, nice forests, and high temperatures. This trip had it all.

Thanks for reading!