#53 – Coveys Great Adventure - January 2019 – Benson AZ

January 2019 – Benson AZ

1/2/19: Sunny Arizona

Last summer our number finally came up. After three and a half years on the Hot List, we finally worked our way down to a low enough position to successfully select a lot at the SKP Saguaro Co-op. Faithful readers may recall that we have spent two or three months here every winter since 2015. We joined the Hot List that winter and waited impatiently while those ahead of us became lot holders, joined the Co-op and dropped off the list so we could move up. In July, based on a short description and a couple of pictures we “bid” on lot 19 and were the lowest Hot List number: lot 19 was ours as soon as the check cleared.

When we pulled into Benson on December 31 the office was closed until January 2, so we backed the coach onto OUR new lot and peered anxiously through the windows to see what we had done. The outside is great. It has been freshly painted and the roof is just four years old. The windows are also new, nice vinyl thermopane units. The slider work ok but is pretty dated. We’ll replace it at some point but for now I’m
going to try to find new rollers for it.

When the office opened and we got the keys, the interior was a bit of a letdown. It needs more work than we expected, not because it is in bad shape, but because it wasn’t finished very carefully. The carpentry is solid but the craftsmanship is kind of slapdash, to put it kindly. Lots of refinishing, replacing trim, adding base boards, paint, probably wall paper, certainly carpet, etc. I am finding that my enthusiasm for this kind of work has waned a little, but none of it has
to be done tomorrow, or even this year so we’ll get to it as we can.

 We love the lot. High on our “wants” list was a full concrete pad to park the coach on, and a paved walkway to the street so that the dogs didn’t have to walk on the gravel all the time. The lot has both and it’s in good shape, or will be when I patch the corner I drove the coach over. We also wanted a covered patio area and it has a small one that has some view.

This park is arranged in terraces and we wanted a rim lot. This one is on the top row on the highest level in the park with an expansive view across the San Pedro Valley to the east to the Dragoon Mountains. The setting sun shinning on the mountains is spectacular, and the play of  light across the valley is fascinating at all times. Now, if it will just warm up and stop blowing, maybe we can enjoy it!

Sunsets are pretty awesome

On of the reasons that we aren’t enthusiastically jumping into casita updates is that coach problems persist. Despite the efforts of two seemingly competent shops the rear suspension is not right. I don’t have a plan yet on how to next attack that, but it is really bugging me. Then the Aqua Hot heating system is acting up again, a problem I am really tired of dealing with. I’ll work on it when the weather is warmer, so if parts are needed we can live without it for a few days.

We start the engine about once a week to refill the air tanks (never have found that leak) and got a serious scare. The turbo boost pressure read zero. Revving the engine didn’t move the gauge. Dollar signs started flying through my head as I tried to figure out what was going on. The engine sounded completely normal. How could a turbo go bad while the engine wasn’t running? No one I talked to in the park had any suggestions. One guy very generously disconnected his engine management system and brought it over to see if that would tell us anything. It did, but we didn’t understand it at the time. I spent

RV'ing is great

hours on the internet and on the phone with Ed Woznicki trying to understand what was going on. We finally concluded that we were stuck and it was time to call a pro. Tucson Truck Service sent one of their mobile rigs out with a computer full of Cummins diagnostic software. After reading all the data exam and an exhaustive physical exam and test drive the conclusion was…no problem. I guess the hundreds of times I’ve started this coach I never looked at the boost gauge while in neutral. I watch it all the time when moving, but never noted that it doesn’t move when the engine has no load on it, even when revved up. The turbo only operates when a load is placed on the engine. An expensive lesson, but worth every penny for the peace of mind. It wore me out, though.

And, as I write this, the front slide started to leak again last night. At least I’m pretty sure what that is and how to fix it.  

Rereading that sounds very negative. All that notwithstanding, we are really happy to be back in the Co-op, especially as official lot holders. We’ve made several friends over the years and it was great to reconnect with them. We do look forward to seeing them and bringing each other up to date on what we have been doing for nine months since we last were together.

As I have described before, “Co-op” means that everyone volunteers to share all of the work needed to keep a place like this running smoothly. Think of it like a small town. There are groups and committees that take care of the extensive common areas throughout the park, maintain the structures and infrastructure, review architectural requests for modifications to casitas, plan entertainment, help take care of folks when they get sick, plan and run a very busy entertainment schedule, write bylaws, install, maintain and troubleshoot a good wifi system, operate the office, run two private tv channels, plan budgets and run community charity events (the Co-op is the largest charitable contributor in the town). We both jumped right into the thick of it: I rejoined the Landscape and Facilities groups, and Kayeanne started back up with Bingo, Helping Hands, Beading and Polymer Clay. Kayeanne is now one of the regular callers at Bingo, and I got talked into managing disposing of all the brush and cactus waste that we generate. All in all, we certainly don’t get bored.

Desert sunrise. Thanks, Ellen

Despite all the other distractions, we are beginning to fix up the casita. For this year, we’ve decided to replace the interior trim, add baseboards, refinish and paint the ceiling, wallpaper the living room and replace the carpet. There are other changes we are talking about, but we’ll wait a year or two to see if we really want to move walls, replace doors and other “stuff”. We’ll see how far we get this season.

More soon,

Bob