February 2017 – Benson
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| The view through the windshield never gets old |
As I said in the last issue we arrived with a list of things
we wanted to do to Ripley. Besides working on the problems that always seem to
crop up we had one big upgrade project that had been waiting until we arrived
here.
Remember when the washing machine flooded the coach? We both
decided then and there that it must go. We would never trust it again, and we
didn’t use it often enough to justify replacing it. Besides, the thought of
converting all that space into new storage was irresistible.
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| All the comforts of home |
We planned to tackle that project at the SKP Saguaro Co-op
for two reasons: First, Ed Woznicki would be in the park for a few days, giving
me confidence that we could get the washer out without damaging the woodwork. Once
we got it out of the cabinet we only had about two inches of clearance to move
it down the hallway to the door. The second reason was that the Co-op has a
fully equipped workshop with all the tools I’d need to built a set of drawers to
maximize the space in the cabinet.
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| I love it when a plan works |
Removing the washer proved to be problematic; it persistently
hung up on something when we tried to pull it out of the cabinet into the
hallway. We ended up reaching over it and blindly cutting the water hoses
because we couldn’t see, feel or think of anything else it could be. That
proved to be the key. After that the rest of the job was pleasantly undramatic.
In a few minutes we had the machine out of the coach and on the curb with a
“Free” sign on it. Four hours later it had disappeared. I am glad to say that
we didn’t put a single new scratch on the woodwork! Thanks, again, Ed!
After hours (literally) of measuring, sketching and contemplating
I decided to bite the bullet and build drawers to maximize the space and assure
good access to anything we stored there. I resisted the temptation to make the
whole thing a wine cabinet, but it was tough. We decide that our goal would be
to move the contents of three containers from the front under-floor storage bay
into the new space. The new drawers easily hold all of the pantry items, the bags
of dog food and the extra wine with space to spare. The three wine drawers hold
almost a case each! It’s great to finally have room to carry everything inside
the coach, essentially right in the kitchen.
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| About 7,000' |
We took Ripley to Tucson to have some
failing body paint fixed and decided to spend the night in a motel instead of
in the coach locked up in the body shop’s yard. It was my first night out of
the coach since we hit the road. Casting around for something to do, we decided
to check out Mount
Lemon
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| This was a great picture until Shroeder moved |
The ski area was closed for
the day, but the scenery certainly didn’t disappoint. We all had a great time
and got a welcome break in our usual routine. Ripley looks a lot better, too,
with his new paint.
