Originally Posted 10/27/2012
As always, this day’s episode is a mixture of uh-oh and wow. The wow is that I went to the restaurant I overnighted at and had a breakfast of diced hame in scrambled eggs, hash browns, a biscuit and gravy, and coffee. Very well prepared, and very nice people, too. Drove the 25 remaining miles to the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Quartzsite La Posa West LTVA desert dispersed camping site, paid my $180 to park here until April 15, dumped the waste tanks, filled the fresh water tank, and settled into a decent spot. They say it gets obnoxiously crowded by mid-January, but that’s then and this is now. My nearest neighbor is at least a football field away. I picked a location that would let me easily bike to town just north of here on the other side of I-10, so I won’t have to crank up the truck for every little thing I might need. As I type this, the cabin temperature is 75 degrees, and there isn’t a cloud in the sky.
The other great news is that while there isn’t a cellular data signal to be had for love or money 10 miles east of here, this area itself has a strong 3G signal. That means I can do my thing on this blog at will (a very big point for me), email, the whole enchilada.
Working on the solar controllers will be the first thing I work on. I’ll need electrical power. Second thing I’ll need to do is well, remember the RV place in Huntley that lubed the bearings and said everything looked kosher? When I pulled in, I noticed a quiet squeaking 
that I couldn’t identify. When I found my place and parked to chock the wheels, I noticed that one wheel looked askew and the plastic hub cover was gone. The outer wheel bearing had collapsed and lost its rollers. How long ago? I can’t say. A remnant of the hub cover had melted from the heat. The fact that I made it here without something catching fire or falling off is a blessing. You can call it lucky, if you prefer.
I’ll need considerably more blessing to get the hub off the axle stub with all the remaining bearing bits, particularly the inner race on the stub itself. Fortunately for me, if I succeed, there’s a truck and trailer repair place 20 miles away in Blythe, CA that can get the bearing set for me if they don’t already stock it. All they need to be able to do is read the number on the bearing. I’m not real enthusiastic about the idea of pulling the trailer itself there, even though that would be the easiest and fastest solution. That’s when YouTube-worthy events happen. We’ll see how the disassembly goes. Good thing I have the primary tools I’ll need, a jackstand, plus a still-in-the-box scissors jack.
Also I just noticed that one corner of the thick masonite sheet serving as the decorative facing on the main refrigerator door has pulled away and refuses to stay back in its proper position. What’s up with that? Darned if I know. Everything else is lined up and looks fine. No, it’s not all the beer bottles in the door shelves.
See what fun camping in a travel trailer can be? Always something to do, and always something to learn! The view out the dining window is pretty relaxing, though.
The view out the dining window is pretty relaxing.
The Enterprise, with power module detached for Shuttle Mode. Hard to believe that someone felt that painting a large “Q” on the mountain in the background was a good idea.
The naughty bearing. Notice that the decorative plastic hub cover is gone because it melted and separated – there’s nothing nearby to break it off.
Both wheels are up on boards to level the trailer. I did leave the bad wheel lower to hopefully ease jacking and disassembly later.
And the refrigerator’s decorative panel vibrated out of position. If this helps insolation and so puts the beer in jeopardy, THIS repair will become priority one…
Strolling Amok 