Very nice, Hina! I'm jealous of your organizational skills!!! Hubby is asleep beside me, so I didn't turn on the audio. It looks like you have a lovely little traveling companion Happy trails. Pat K

I'm so Happy you are almost ready to go again!!!!.......now we just need to get you over that mountain and east bound towards the Atlantic !!!




Everything happens for a reason....every breathe has a purpose!!
Life is good!!

Glad to hear things are progressing, totally understand the quicksand comment.

Hina: I had my husband watch your little video and he is wondering if that cubby where you have put the printer might get awfully hot if you travel with it like that. I can't remember if you were leaving it in place or putting it somewhere else. If you're leaving it in place, you might be able to add some insulating material to protect it. Also, I'm curious as to what "museum" was it putty is since I haven't heard of that before? Now, we did have an overhead cupboard open in an old Winnebago on a long trip and we had stored the Corelle there which fell and broke or should I say splintered in a zillion pieces or, at least that is how many I counted that I actually got picked out of the carpet. I did see that they sell what looks like spring rods you normally use for curtains to hold items back. Like you, we always rigged up most of our own "additions". Definitely looks like you are using the storage to the max.

Snow Gypsy, good thought about some insulation. The basket and printer can come right out, and I do have some scraps of foam from the bed I could put behind. Museum Putty is something they use in museums to stick down breakables, and it is common here in California in the earth quake supply section of a hardware store. Keeps things in place, but you can still pull them up, and it peels right off, no residue. It's white, plasticky, and is like $5 a pack, which can probably do the whole rig. I wouldn't use it on dinner dishes, though, since you use them all the time. I slip scraps of rubber shelf liner and dish towels between mine.

Thanks everyone for the compliments! All I have to say is, color coordination, and measurements! Go to Ross, Marshall's, Pier 1, and World Market with your tape measure, and take a little time getting some pretty, practical stuff!

I took the Fiesta into the shop for an oil change and safety check today, and the steering seemed loose, and sure enough, there is a worn out part. But the mechanic said it would only be a few hundred, not thousands. So, overall, it's A-OK. Psyching up to get going, and overcome the "powers that be" that seem to want to keep me here!

Hina: A better choice for insulation from the heat might be styrofoam, like from a box. I always save the stryofoam because it makes great inserts in cupboards to with the cutouts it generally has from whatever it packaged in its former life. I have a glass bowl that I like to use for everything and I found the perfect piece that fit in the cabinet with a circle cut out for the bowl. Glass isn't good in an RV but I'm not a fan of plastic.

We have used the Reflectix and the other brand which is better but I don't remember the name to line the windows in our pop-up and in our TT we had used it in cupboards, etc. because we always encounter "unseasonably" cold, hot, wet, icy for some reason. We have a hard time finding it locally since we live in the sticks! Thank goodness for the internet! If anyone isn't familiar with this, it is like those silver window sunshields they have for auto windows but comes in rolls and is very pliable, silver aluminum sandwich with bubble wrap in the center.

Well, a little bad news... I took the Fiesta to get the oil changed, and a general check up, and the steering seemed kinda loose. They checked it, and the "ball arms" (??) are worn out. They called with an estimate, $2,600.  

I did get the owner's manual, and it specifically says, no jack included, don't try changing the tire yourself. So the OnStar idea is still a go, along with the radio upgrade and back up camera, rough estimate of that, $2,000.

Good thing State Farm was generous, and I still have that much left over to work with!

Hina, just thought of something, the Power Steering Gear box could be a little lose needs adjusting, that will give you play in the steering, you said it only 14,000 miles on it, the steering would not wear out at 14,000 miles maybe at 140,000 some steering gear boxes can be adjusted, to hear that from a shop just makes me mad, I can't help it, I have worked on cars, trucks and race cars for a long time, let me know if you need more help.

 

                                   Lonney

Jane: Lonney is correct; with 14,000 miles; unless they drove through potholed streets or went 4-wheeling there is no way the ball joints would wear out; or an idler arm. I have worked on heavy trucks and buses since I was 19 yrs. old. Wish you were close i would check it for you!! Check a few more shops as their estimate is way over the top. Average labor shoulkd be no more then $100.00 per hour. A good shop should be able to do that job in less than 5 hours. Get the gearbox play checked first!!!

Jane, to give you an idea, most ball joints for a truck style chassis, Class A, C and every delivery truck you see, are in the $200 range each. They can be replaced in 3-4 hours per side including breaks for lunch, etc. The "Book" will allow them to bill 12 hours when it actually took 8.

OK, I had a mobile mechanic come out and look, and he thought their diagnosis was probably correct. I also called a dealership about parts pricing; the bell cranks would be $370 each X 2 = $740 + the lower ball joints and arms = $1,000+. The guy in the parts department confirmed the stock bell cranks wore out quickly (50,000 not 14,000! But sitting with dried out lubricant added to it) and the better quality ones would never wear out. So, at rates of $130 hour X 8+ hours = $1040, plus more than $1,000 in parts, plus an alignment, the $2,600 estimate seems accurate. I don't think I want to have a back yard mechanic do this, so, I'm glad State Farm was generous!

I certainly hope nothing else goes wrong for a while, and I hope I don't keep crashing into walls! (Already did that once this month!) Looking for a straight shot outa here!