Boondock area near Sante Fe

While in Sante Fe we dumped at Sante Fe Skies Campground. Nice place and we may stay there someday.

But we may not. Because we found an awesome boon docking location near Sante Fe.


It was in the Caja Del Rio Plateau.

So how do you find this magical free campground that has easy access and yet is ever so close to Sante Fe? In Google map you type Headquarters well.

Why am I revealing this super secret dry camping area? Because if I don't record it I myself will forget how to find it. But I'm asking anyone who uses this tip to please pack out all your trash and then some. We also took other people's trash back out. Please don't use your generator for hours and ruin the experience for others.

The hiking in the area was very nice.

We also explored some of the national park forest service campgrounds.
Hyde Memorial State Park's RV campground looked like a commercial outfit with everyone lined up in a row on the road. It wasn't for us.

Black Canyon campground looked like it could be nice but it wasn't open for the season yet.

But then after 2 days boondocking we headed back home to sort out our shifting problem. As usual Colorado was very pretty.

Transmission stuck in 1st - ripped off by Hal Burns Truck in Sante Fe

We found the morning of Bottomless lakes that our transmission would not shift out of first. We called a couple of transmission shops in Roswell but they couldn't see us. We also found after we reversed and warmed up the engine things went back to normal. We called and found a truck shop in Sante Fe could see us. Hal Burns Trucks. Their reviews looked good but we found them to be the height of scam artists.

They charged over $1100 to change the transmission fluid when all it needed was a $35 sensor from an auto parts store. I had called a transmission shop in Sante Fe and described the problem. They said it was simple, a sensor or the fan clutch and Hal Burns would know what to do.  We got $400 back from the truck shop but are probably owed another $400.

They also did a terrible job. Did not flush the fluid through until it ran clear. Didn't know about a check valve on the coolant line and tried to blow it out and didn't put all the screws back in the transmission drain pan or tighten the ones they put back in properly.

Because they were so incompetent we ended up going home to research ourselves which is how we found out about the $35 speed sensor that we got from an auto parts store and installed ourselves. It fixed everything.

2nd Night Bottomless Lake NM

Bottomless Lake NM is pretty and the non-hook up campsites at what I think is the lower Lea campground are nicely spaced. Stickers were common and it was hard to walk the dog anywhere but the road.

The hook up ones look like a commercial RV park but we didn't look at them that closely.

I don't think we would stay here again but it isn't a bad choice if you want a natural campground near Roswell. If you don't mind dry camping I think the non-hook up sites are alot prettier. There is a fairly long trail that connects the two areas.

First trip of 2018 - Ojo Caliente

We took off on our first trip of 2018 and spent the first night at Ojo Caliente.
The drive was pretty. Snow was around, reminding us how early it was. We selected Ojo Caliente because it wasn't freezing there over night. It is a hot springs spa so we soaked in the water. The grounds are pretty and the camp ground is nice.

 

Spring updates 2018

We've been prepping for the season. Changes this year include:
- New tires - Hankook AH35. I kept the old spare because I bought a new AH11 for it last time and it has never been used.
- Alignment
- New skylight over shower (old one was cracked)
- New LED marker lights in back
- New under bumper LED lights in front
- New combo photoelectric fire alarm/CO detectors
- New ionized fire alarms (I keep both types in the RV because of how fast it burns up. We want the earliest possible warning.)
- Replaced one of the 3 fire extinguishers as it was showing low charge. We keep one in the back cabinet over the bed, one in the kitchen under the sink and one behind the drivers seat.
- Eternabonded all our tree kisses on the side of the RV.
- Dicored all the Eternabond roof seams.
- New 8 ft kayak that straps to the hitch mounted cargo carrier.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lifetime-Daylite-Kayak-with-Paddle-Fire-Red-90775/151801297?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227080456351&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=193149487140&wl4=pla-359946294647&wl5=9028725&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=151801297&wl13=&veh=sem#read-more


We have new interior LED lights but they are horribly blue/white. I want to find some that are more yellow looking.

Hankook AH35 8R19.5 tires instead of AH11 8R19.5

We haven't been able to find anything to buy in Denver that gets us more than we currently have in our Winnebago Brave. So we are replacing our 8 yr old Hankook AH11s. We have LOVED these tires. Ride very well. Held up well etc. So we wanted to buy the same model. But it appears they are discontinued in the 8R19.5 size. We are told the AH35s are the replacement. Trying to find the specs.

Spring maintenance has involved replacing the skylight over the shower that was cracked. Resealing the front marker lights which are leaking (again), and replacing the back marker lights with LEDs. Also dicored all the edges of the eternabond on the roof and inspected the seams.

Cost for 6 Hankook AH35s mounted and balanced = $1562 without tax, $1668.58 with tax. No alignment.
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The AH35s were horrible. We have them out for an alignment now since they vibrate all over the place and have a high pitched hum. Maybe we should have ordered AH11s on line?

Since there were no specs. on the Hankook web site for the AH35 I'm searching around to see what I can find.
So far I've come up with. These seem to be the same as the AH11s (from what I can remember).
Speed rating L = 75 mph
Load rating 124 = 3527 lbs
Ply rating F which is 12 ply

But it is noisier. 67dB for AH11s and 73dB for AH35s. Very disappointing.
"An increase of 3dB doubles the sound intensity but a 10dB increase is required before a sound is perceived to be twice as loud. Therefore a small increase in decibels represents a large increase in intensity. For example - 10dB is 10 times more intense than 1dB, while 20dB is 100 times more intense than 1dB."
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We just picked it up from the alignment and mechanical check-out.

The alignment was off.

Front Toe Initial Final
Left         -1/8   -1/32
Right       -1/8   -1/32
Total        -1/4   -1/16

Front Camber Initial Final
Left               +3/4  +5/8
Right             -1/2   -1/2

Caster  Initial     Final
Left      +4 5/8  +4 5/8
Right    +4 1/2  + 4 1/2

Kpi     Initial    Final
Left   +7 3/4  +7 3/4
Right +6 3/4  +6 3/4

Alignment cost $170
Mechanical check $300 
They added 1 QRT ATF Dextron Transmission Fluid so we may have a leak.
They said one of the lines was cut to the front airbag in the spring and replaced that. 
This one was odd because I would have though my husband would have noticed the line was cut when he filled them just prior to taking it over there. 
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In terms of how does it drive now? Better but not great. It may be that it will be better after we have it loaded with water and stuff. The tires seemed to hum a bit but then that stopped. However the engine was noticeably noisier. And when I got off the express way and braked there was a strong burning smell. Very worrisome. Then when I turned the engine off the temp went into the red zone. Is this normal?
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So the question is, did we get taken? With $300 in mechanical inspection at $100/hr what exactly did he do? We wanted to ask him but he had gone to the airport and there was very little detail on the receipt.

The big disappointment is when we went to put the air pressure sensor on the airbag that they worked on line there was no pressure. So we tried to pump it up. No air went in. So my husband crawled under and saw there was a fancy splice but that didn't help as there appears to be a leak now at the bag and a problem with the air valve on the front bumper. 
So post expensive mechanical inspection we have:
- an unexplained burning smell
- engine now is noisier
- air bag may be leaking and they didn't find it or tell us
- air fill valve may be faulty and they did not find, tell us, or replace
- doesn't drive that great
- Does the airbag not working make the alignment invalid?

- tire pressure in all tires lowered erratically? Don't know if they did this or it was us when we lowered it from the 100psi it was set to when they were installed  

Work done on 1994 Brave since we bought it - $15,011

Just for grins I decided to add up the service and improvements we've had done to the RV.

We bought the RV for $10,000 and have owned it for 8 years.  This doesn't include registration, initial sales tax or plates because I don't remember them.

Work my husband has done includes Eternabond ($500???), replacing the shower dome ($150), new toilet ($300), velvac mirrors ($250), doghouse soundproofing, digital radio, second back-up camera to have rear view mirror camera, Tire pressure monitor system TST507 with eight sensors ($549), maxair vent covers (3), oil changes, light change outs (LED interior, markers and headlights) etc. I'll just ball park all the stuff at $2.5K because it adds up fast.

Now I will add in recurring cost: registration ($127/yr), insurance ($250/yr), dump card ($25/yr) storage (about $450/yr)= $852, oh heck lets call it $1K in carrying cost because I haven't added stuff like stabil, or the moisture absorbers, lysol spray, caulk etc.

To summarize:
$10,000 (cost) + $2500 (work by us) + $13,011 (work done by other) = $25,511
Yearly carrying cost = $1K* 8 years = $8,000
Total = $33,511 cost of ownership for 8 years

So costs to own RV over 8 years is about $4.5K per year. (I rounded up because I am surely forgetting some things)

Has it been worth it? Yes! We have gotten $4.5K value in fun vacations per year. (Note: this doesn't include gas, camping costs, food, supplies for the RV etc...) But there were 2 years we didn't use it so that ups it to $5500 per year. Now were getting close to 2 cruises per year. Was it worth it? Still yes because we got to take our dogs and visit fabulous national parks.

But, what would it have cost to rent an RV for the same number of vacation days? Current rental rates are $454/night for a 30ft class A in high season. $363 in shoulder season. Rental prep is $97/rental. $33,511/$454 = 73 nights in high season.  $33,511/$363 = 92 nights of rental in shoulder season. I ignored rental prep.

Did we do between 73 and 92 nights of camping? Yes! I estimate we camped for about 150 nights spread over 23 trips. If we were renting we would never have done all these trips and stayed at all the fabulous places we stayed. I counted 6 big trips of over 2 weeks each (basically 1 per year leaving out 2013 and 2017 when we didn't travel at all). But is the cost per night as good as a hotel? Not really. At $33,511/150 nights = $223 per night we could have stayed in some nice hotels but maybe not the expensive ones at the national parks. And probably overall for cheaper. But would we have ate out more and not done as much hiking? Yes. So we were probably healthier staying in the RV. But value wise hotels are better. My cost doesn't include camping cost, our time working on the RV, cleaning, prepping, winterizing, washing the linens etc. So overall hotels are a much better value.
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Work done by others. Below total is $13,011.

6/2/2016 $325.99
Complete Generator service

6/2/2016 $62.50
Replace kitchen faucet

5/7/2015 $470.97
Replace brake master cylinder

10/9/2014 $393.95
Replace Oxygen sensor, lube

6/26/2014 $1471.99
Converted dash air to R134A
New AC compressor, receiver driver, expansion valve, cooling fan clutch, Tube-o compression fittings (2), 90 degree fittin, ac flush solvent, R-134S refrigeratn, flouro dye kit, pag 46 oil
Repair cruise control vacuum line

12/4/12 $530.90
Replace brake master cylinder

8/22/2011 $161.90
Replace engine thermostat

7/21/2011 $577.47
Replace spark plugs (CR43TS, Spark plug wire set H/D), distribution rotor (RR250) and engine oil (10W30V)

7/8/2011 $557
Replace Fuel Pump, strainer, filter

8/19/2010  $120 
LP System test and clean

8/12/2010 $863.98
Replace water pump

8/6/2010 $1365
Replace left bedroom window crank
Install fantastic fans in bedroom and bathroom
Fix leaking grey water valve
Install back-up camera
Replace idler arms
Replace drag link
Replace tie rod ends

8/1/2010 $249
Progressive HW30C - 30 amp EMS w/Remote

7/23/2010 $1541
Change oil and oil filter
Replace all rubber fuel lines
Replace evac canister
Replace stabilizer shock/steering damper

7/6/2010 $260
Alignment
Replace starter

7/3/2010
Weight 4660lb steer, 8340lb drive

7/2/2010 $3860
Drain and fill brake fluid
Replace shocks with Bilstein comfort shocks
New tires - Hankook AH11 8R19.5
Alignment
Service generator and install new fuel pump
   - Replace fuel filter, oil filter, fuel pump, MX ROTELLAT15W40

6/21/2010
Airbag extension kit$100, inspection $95
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Previous Owner
Replace roof air conditioner Coleman Mach 3 $838.96 2/23/2009
Upgraded electrical system charger (ac/dc converter) $598.12 3/20/2008