Replacing the Caulking on the Coach Roof -- lots of fun!

We have owned our Winnebago Tour about two and a half years and a routine maintenance item is to check the roof seam sealant for integrity. Over time, the sealant begins to pull away from the sidewall seam as you can see from the small crack above.

The best way to inspect this seam is to climb onto the roof and very carefully, bend over and try to gently push the roof inward. If you can push the roof in a bit and you see a small crack appear (usually on the outside of the roof) as you can see under my fingers above, then re-sealing is needed. Oh joy!!

Rick decided to do it right and first had to cut out the failed sealer with a razor knife. I first gently cut alongside the roof several times, deepening the cut each time. Then, I cut along the outside of the seam in the same manner. Since there are 40' of roof seam on each side of the roof, this was not a small project.

Here, you can see the ribbon of failed sealer as I cut it out. I was pleased to see the sealant come out of the joint fairly cleanly and was ready to replace it with new sealant.

The tools of the trade! Now that the tedious sealant removal has been completed (hurray!), I was ready to re-seal it. I used RV Pro-Flex sealant from Geocel which I have used before in similar applications with great success.

Here, you can see the new sealant after it has been applied (top of photo). I used the caulking gun to apply the sealant, then a wet finger to tool and smooth the sealant to form a nice, smooth seal. Once the sealant cures, it forms a strong, but flexible, seal and should last for many years. That is great, since I do not look forward to doing this job again in the near future!

3 Year Anniversary of the Auction of all our "Stuff" to go fulltime!

How do you get rid of 30 year's worth of "stuff" and still get some value for it? We pondered this issue in the early summer of 2007 as we made the decision to try the fulltime RV lifestyle. We considered the yard sale approach, but had never felt we received a fair return for the effort of putting it on. So, we decided to investigate an auction. We contacted a respected. local auction house (Bessman Auctions) and discussed the process. We decided to give it a try and set Sept. 14, 2007 as the big day. Of course, this meant that our summer would be spent preparing, and cleaning, items then moving them into the garage to be ready for the auction. This is what took the vast majority of time, but really paid off. As you can see, the garage was packed as the auction day approached!

We decided to offer everything -- from this pair of old ice skates to Rick's very nice wood-working machines. Of course, the auctioneer advertised all of these items (at our expense) for a few weeks in advance and we hoped for good weather for the auction.

Sept. 14 dawned clear, but cold! In fact, note the frost on the roof of the green house above (not too surprising in South Dakota where we lived in the fall)! Starting at 6:30am, the auction team showed up to start moving items onto the lawn in "lots" -- each of which was auctioned individually. We ended up with auction "lots" being staged everywhere on the lawn -- in fact, there were several hundred lots. Some consisted of a few glasses and plates in a cardboard box. Other lots might be a large TV or a dresser.

Here you can see a small part of the auction items. We started auctioning at 10:00am, and continued full speed (with two auctioneers) until about 3:00 pm. Wow -- what a day!
We were fortunate to have hundreds of bidders, due to the excellent advertising done by the auction house. This shows a small group of the folks as we were getting ready to auction our living room leather furniture (which sold very well!).

Cody was wondering what was going on, but Orinda assured him he was NOT on the auction list!

The auction house covered all the bases and all we did was watch. They registered all the bidders, collected the money and even would have handled any bad checks (there were none). We received a complete tally of items, lot prices and buyers at the end of the day. A couple days later, we received a check and we were done.

Here, one of the auctioneers is selling a small stool -- he is a real pro and completed this item in about a minute. The best part of the auction was that everyone took their purchase with them and at the end of the day -- all the stuff was gone!!

Here you can see some of Rick's wood working tools. These sold very well and made Rick feel much better about selling them. Some items sold for less than we expected, but others sold for much more. Overall, we cleared about 20% more than we hoped for and were very pleased with the results.

An interesting aside -- after 3 years, we have realized we have not missed our stuff at all. Amazing!

The Richard Franklin Pettigrew House and Museum in Sioux Falls

This beautiful house was built in 1889 in the growing city of Sioux Falls, SD and became the home of South Dakota Senator Richard Pettigrew in 1911. Pettigrew was a very interesting person and was a leader in the early Territory of Dakota and the creation of the new state of South Dakota in 1889.

Pettigrew frist came to Sioux Falls in 1869 at which time there were very few people in the upcoming town. He sensed the potential of the state and city and worked successfully to promote it and the state. Not surprisingly, he was a leader in the territorial legislature and later, in the US Senate.

Upon his death in 1926, he donated this remarkable house and his extensive collection of archeological artifacts he had collected during his life. Today, you can tour this period house for free -- and it is well worth it!

Here is one of Pettigrew's acquisitions -- a prayer rock. The Prayer Rock was carved to depict different items -- in this case the outline of a hand.

The hand imprint shown in the rock looked like it was there and the rock was poured around it. However, it was actually carved long ago. This rock was found about 17 miles from Sioux Falls and moved to this site by Senator Pettigrew.

Pettigrew also collected a large grouping of petrified wood and used some of it in a remodeling of his home. You can see the petrified wood on the right side of the house -- it looks like circular rocks. Shortly after he completed this, the collection of petrified wood was made illegal.

Here, Orinda pauses near the back entrance to the house and examines more of the petrified wood. The house is in magnificent condition and unfortunately, photography indoors is not permitted. Still, it was very well worth the time to tour the house and see the many items that the Senator owned and see what life was like (very nice, actually!) in the early 1900's in Sioux Falls.

The Sioux Falls Courthouse Museum

It was a cool, windy day today and we decided to do some exploring in Sioux Falls. First, we stopped by the actual Falls which is very close to Main Street. The flow over the falls seemed about normal now and was much lower than a few weeks ago as you can see here:

You can see that there is much more water coming over the falls in this shot -- about 5 weeks ago.

Located a short ways from the Falls, is the Courthouse Museum. This was the actual Courthouse for Sioux Falls for about 70 years and was built in about 1890. Notice the rock used in the walls -- this was quarried from the Falls area, as were many of the buildings in this area.

As we walking toward the entrance of the Courthouse, we saw this interesting plaque. Apparently, Thomas Egan was convicted of murdering his wife and hanged, although he protested his innocence. Some 45 years later, his step daughter confessed on her deathbed to killing her mother in a rage and framing Egan. Interestingly, when Egan was hung, it took three times for the hangman to get it right. The first time, the rope broke, the second, a Deputy got in the way, but finally they succeeded in hanging an innocent man.

There are many interesting displays inside the museum that are changed periodically. Naturally, the impact of corn on the area has been profound and we learned that corn shucking contests were very big in the late 1930's. In fact, in 1938, 130,000 people came to watch the "World Series" of Corn husking at a farm just outside of Sioux Falls. Note the hat advertising this event in the photo above.

We also enjoyed the "underwear" display! Orinda is showing all the women's under garments that she is very glad she does not have to wear! There were hoop skirts, corsets and all kinds of items that Rick thought looked like torture.

We also liked the display on the Drive-ins of Sioux Falls. In the 1960's there were many of these in the area -- must have been like American Graffiti!

Look closely at the tree next to Orinda. Notice the steel I-beam that is THROUGH the tree! This beam came from a bridge in Sioux Falls that was destroyed by a strong tornado and while airborne, flew through the tree! WOW!

Finally, most folks likely do not know that the birth of the modern hot air balloon occurred in Sioux Falls at Raven Industries. This display was quite fitting and interesting as it showed the development of the hot air balloon in the 60's and the great improvements since then. Rick and Orinda are ready to go!

This free museum is well worth a stop when you are in the Sioux Falls area.

Downtown Sioux Falls -- Full of Surprises

Sioux Falls, SD, was still the frontier in 1856 when it was established. The hardy folks at the settlement were raided by the powerful Sioux tribe in 1858 and as you might expect, there was differing opinons regarding the question -- should we stay and fight or get out of here! The upshot of the discussion was the construction of Fort Sod -- literally a fort about 80' square made out of sod (since there were very few trees or lumber available). This was the start of the city we now know as Sioux Falls.

Amazingly, just about 75 years after the Sioux battles, Sioux Falls was one of the first cities with a radio station in the USA. In fact, WFAT was one of the 30 stations nationally that broadcast a version of the 1922 World Series!

Sioux Falls was the site of another interesting historical fact courtesy of the infamous John Dillinger when his gang robbed the Security National Bank on this site in 1934. Apparently, they burst into the bank with Thompson machine guns. robbed the bank of $49,000 dollars (a LOT in 1934) and made their get-away. They had gang members in the street shooting machine guns to keep police and the public at bay. WOW!

Today, things are much calmer in Sioux Falls. Indeed, Phillips Avenue in downtown has been transformed into a beautiful mall-like street full of interesting shops and places to explore.

There are many beautiful pieces of sculpture that make up the "sculpture walk" along the street. We certainly enjoyed strolling along looking at the shops and sculptures on the sidewalks.

Here, you can get an idea of the area and of the sculpture. There are many places to sit and spots to eat as you watch the folks walk by. Makes for a great spectator sport!

There is even a low-cost trolly that runs through the downtown area and connects the mall area with the Sioux River Falls park. There is a great way to explore the city and the surrounding area.

Finally, I was very impressed with this interesting cloud formation. We didn't have any rain or bad weather, but these clouds seemed very low and somewhat threatening. A couple hours later, it was clear and beautiful. A typical day on the northern plains.

The Day/Night blinds Frustrate Rick for the Last Time!

Our coach came equipped with the common "Day/Night" shades that are made of fabric and a heavy cardboard type material. The shades certainly serve there purpose, but have a real tendency to break the internal strings that control them. Rick has become pretty good at re-stringing these, but it is certainly a pain and they tend to be frustrating to use. These shades have been removed and ready to go into storage.

As a result, when another blind jammed and needed to be re-built, Rick decided to investigate alternatives. A trip to the local Lowe's store uncovered these Levolor "Cut to fit" pleated blinds which were available in a tan color and in a room darkening variety. We decided to get a couple and see how they worked.

We took our measurements to Lowe's and they were able to cut the length of the blind to our exact size (and at no extra cost). These blinds use a very smooth, cordless lift system that is a vast improvement over the original Day/Night shades. Not only do they work well, but they were very easy to install!

To operate them, we just pull them down as normal and they move down very smoothly with little effort. To lift them up, simply press the button shown above and they gently retract. Wow -- this is great! One hand operation is very easy to do and it is great to easily lift the shades up and down.

The final benefit from the shades is that they provide excellent insulation against heat and the sun. We were amazed at the difference between these shades and the originals in keeping heat out of the coach. The cost of the blinds varied by size, but a 30" wide by 72" long cost about $45 -- not bad at all.

All in all, a very worth while upgrade!

Fixing the Splendide Washer Door Handle

We were doing some routine laundry the other day when Orinda tried to open the door and the handle came off in her hand. Unfortunately, this was the second time this had occurred with Rick fixing the handle with super glue the first time (it held for 6 months). As can be seen above, when the handle breaks off, it is almost impossible to open the door (careful application of a screwdriver will pry it open). While a new handle is available (about $40 plus shipping), Rick wondered if he could come up with a fix.

Rick decided to try another approach this time and tried his handy-dandy epoxy putty. This two part epoxy comes in a roll and you just cut off a small amount and mix it by hand, then apply it. It sets up in about 20 minutes.

Rick filled in the broken area as can be seen above with the epoxy and let it harden. Once the epoxy hardened, I drilled a hole for the metal pin which provides the pivot for the door handle and spring.

The next step was to break out the trusty Dremel Tool and machine out the excess epoxy so that the metal catch could be positioned inside the handle. This actually went very well and while I had to do soem trial fittings, only took about 15 minutes.

Here is the repaired door handle with the metal catch in place. There is a spring that fits around the catch that will make it "snap" into place when the door is closed.

Another view of the repaired handle. It seems to be much stronger now and Rick is hopeful this will take care of the issue permanently.

Success! The handle is now re-assembled and the washer works great! I did have to make one final touch up grinding on the handle to make sure the washer door sensor engaged and the washer started correctly. Now, things are working great!