Started this blog to record preparations for first major trip I've taken in the GMC, that being a 3+wk trip through Utah, Arizona, and Colorado. ==================== 04-01 Making a list of things that have to happen before departure. See link to Departure Checklist below. ----- 04/22 Back on track after 10 days of family business. Had scheduled stay at Mesa Verde for 5/11 & 12 but need to move it out. Will pick up G&C in SLC on the 9th? They'll caravan with us to Moab. They're living in SLC, and being the out-doorsy types, they've spent a lot of time at Moab. They're telling us that it's changed a lot in the years they've been visiting. The story is that ATV's and mountain bikes have inundated the area. Updated Departure checklist. ----- 04/23 Most of day spent on other stuff. Sold my house in SE Portland last year and I'm trying to find a piece of property to move to that is big enough for the coach and a shop. The stuff of dreams. Moved campground reservation at Mesa Verde to the 19th & 20th. Updated plan dates. ----- 04/30 Lots of progess. More things keep getting added to the list! ----- 05/02 Checked tightness of lug nuts. Glad I did. Found probably 10 that took something, maybe 2 that took a lot, like 1-3 flats. Checked Pax header bolts and found front one took a little, maybe 1 flat. ----- 05/07 First leg successful. Coach ran fine. Had WUD running, showed 6.2 mpg from Portland to Pendleton, worse than I'd hoped, especially running on 92 octane eth-free ga$. Filled with regular in Pendleton and got 7.2 mpg from Deadman Pass to Cascade. At Cascade doing other stuff and last minute prep for departure for SLC Fri morning 5/8. ----- 05/08 Left earlyish and arrived SLC after midnight Sat night 5/9, as I recall... ----- 05/09 Left earlyish from SLC, uneventful trip to Moab. The Green Girl is running fine, though not pushing it, either. ----- 05/10 ... edited to here ... 8pm Parked in Monitor & Merimac viewpoint just outside Canyonlands Nat'l Park near Moab, Utah. Drive from Cascade to SLC last night successful w no issues. Getting almost 8mpg based on actual gallons at the pump, though WUD still showing about 1 mpg lower. ----- 5/11 Parked at Gold Bar campground on Colorado near Corona Arch. Hiked up to the arch, and really it is as impressive as the Delicate Arch. Plus, if you're fit and agile and don't mind a little rock climbing, you can actually get on top of it. Great dinner last night at Blue Pig in Moab. Hiked up to Delicate Arch at Arches. 1.5+ mi hike, but worth it. We could have gone up to the viewpoint, but decided to hike clear up to the actual arch. Well worth it. ----- 5/12 Drove in last night and camped at Onion Creek. Great, almost empty campground. Rode bikes up the dirt road for awhile today, but it was noonish and too hot for me so we came back. Sitting in the coach talking, reading, just enjoying being here. We did take a walk out into the desert a bit. Always just amazing that there is such vibrant plant life, not to mention rabbits and chipmunks and lizards, in such a relatively barren place. The chipmunks (presumably) got into the coach last night and chewed into some plastic bags of cereal. I heard them and got up and opened the cabinet and otherwise kept them from getting really comfortable, but didn't sleep very well as a result. Tried to put the awning up, and saw that it had torn in a couple of places since last used (unknown years ago...), and a gust of wind came along and the whole thing ripped. Will be shopping for a new awning upon return. ----- 5/13 Broke camp at Onion Creek and drove up to Fisher Towers. Road was good, though fairly loose gravel, and in one steep spot I had to get a significant run to make it to the top, in spite of new LSD, though to be honest probably could not have made it at all without it. Problem was that the road was so washboarded that it shook things up to go that fast on it. Still, we made it. Hiked a couple of hours up towards the towers and took lots of pictures. Incredible beauty. Left there and came back into Moab for shopping and dumping and connecting to web for some business and catchup on email, then drove up to I70 and down to 24 and down to Goblin Valley State Park. Never been there before, and though it had some unique cabanas and was very nice, it didn't really appeal to me, and was full anyway, so we drove up a side road and found a wide spot and parked. Great to have a self contained vehicle! Took lots of pictures at Goblin Valley. Just fantastic vistas. Stay tuned for when I get the photos uploaded. ----- 5/15 Drove in to Bryce last night and even had vacancies in the campground. Yay. Woke up this morning to about an inch of fresh show. LOL. We'll be cruising through the canyon here for photos then drive to Zion for same late today. Not sure where we'll stay tonight. [Drove through Zion 5/15] ----- 05/17 The drive from Bryce to Zion was a bit hairy at the start, as snow was falling heavily and the road was covered. Didn't have any idea when we started what the weather pattern was going to do through the morning, nor what the elevation was for the road ahead, so we pulled into a rest area and luckily had cell/internet service to check on things. It appeared we were already near the top of the pass, and the storm was rapidly (supposedly) turning to rain, and truckers and lots of RV's were headed up, warming a couple of tire tracks through the snow on the road, so we headed up. Not a problem as it turned out. Reached the summit and the road was snowless soon after. Parked at Zion and did the shuttle through the canyon. Got out and hiked up to the Emerald Pools. Truly it is almost more beautiful than Bryce. Not as fantastic perhaps, but more green and lush with the Virgin River running through it. ----- 05/18 Left Bryce and drove a bit out of the way to go through Monument Valley. Also very impressive. We just stayed on the highway, so probably didn't see all of the rock monuments, but what we saw were stunning. Drove in to Bluff, UT and stayed in an RV park for the night. Real Showers! ----- ..... ..... ..... ----- 06/14 When you lose the discipline of updating the blog, as events of the trip take on a life of their own, a life that doesn't include documentation, there can be gaps in the recollection. That said, I'll do my best to reconstruct trip events beyond last recorded 5/18 LOL 5/18 mon McAbery stayed night there ----- 5/19 tue drove to MV stayed night there ----- 5/20 wed MV spent night side street moab ----- 5/21 thu shopping in Moab SLC thu night ----- 5/22 fri drove to boise parked GMC, drove to Cascade spent the night at Cascade ----- 5/23 Sat Ginger drove me back to Boise to retrieve the GMC and I proceeded to Portland, arriving after midnight Sat night ----- ----- 06/14 Anyway, been here in Vancouver/Portland since the 24th (22 days), doing ... First order of business was to replace the Pax exh header gasket. Exhaust leak noise was evident and increasing throughout the trip. Seemed to be coming from both sides. No option. Got Remflex gaskets from Applied. Everything was going fine until I broke off the rear bolt. Left 1/4" protruding. Struggled for days/weeks to remedy that, trying different methods, ... finally taking Hupy's advice to drill it out as if tapping to that size, ie. 3/8, and run a tap into it, which will take out remaining broken bits. Definitely necessary to do a lot of mini back & forth when running the tap, but it worked marvelously. Had lots of cleaning/scraping/sanding of seal surfaces to get them smooth. I see that the last time I did them, from the top, I left a lot of crap. Definitely better to pull the front wheel and liner and be able to SEE and not just Feel what you're doing. Sheesh. One project done, or at least for the moment, though I still need to re-torque just one time per Hupy, and then do the Drx. ... Replaced Drx mid shock that had come loose at the top (bolt & hardware gone). Local AutoZone prescribed Gabriel G63366 to match what I had on there (don't remember where I got them - Applied?). But first delivery from the AutoZ warehouse had a bottom attachment sleeve about 5/16", and I needed 9/16". Sent them back, got another delivery, this one correct. WTF? "Mis-boxed"? Whatever. Installed carefully. But here's the deal: *** Bottom line is that I will check shock bolt tightness on a regular PM schedule until this is resolved.*** This is the second time this shock has come loose. Both times were after trips over significantly bumpy roads, first time at Olallie, this time at Fisher Tower. Entirely possible, or course, that I didn't sufficiently torque, or that I used wrong hardware, when I did the replacement after Olallie. But of course the first failure didn't have my non-mechanic hands on it, except at the steering wheel. ... My GF, when driving her car following me down the road, says the body looks tweaked on the frame. Gonna have to test that with me following and her driving the GMC. But if the GMC has gotten whacked in the side somehow, resulting misalignment might explain the shocks coming loose. ... Been mounting the BlueSea panels in refrig wall above cabinet. Had to relocate the OEM Onan starter panel. ... Posted another two pages of pix from SW trip - Fisher Tower & Goblin Valley. ... Don't believe I've mentioned that the speedo/odo stopped working on the return trip. Did manage to save GPS location, so should be able to reconstruct actual mileage, meanwhile another item on the todo list. ----- 06/15 Posted Bryce Canyon pictures ... Checked torque on Pax exh header bolts, after driving it a couple of days ago. Not sure, as torque wrench might have been constrained on header, but it seemed as if rear bolt took a flat of turn. Not good. ----- 06/16 Jacked up Drx and started removing exh header to do gasket on that side. One muffler bolt resisting. Using PB. Used PB on exh header bolts before removing - not gonna repeat the broken bolt! All came off easily. Remflex gasket had clear blow-out in middle web. ... Posted Zion pictures. Really I think Zion is the most beautiful part of the trip. --------- eof --------------