Getting Ready for Summer RV Trip – Part 1

A 25-year-old RV like our 2001 SeaView requires a fair amount of yearly maintenance, especially in preparation for long trips. So there are several things that need to be done before we leave in May . . .

WATER HEATER CLEANING

Though our hot water heater works, it leaves a sooty deposit on the side of our motorhome.

This soot is caused by a poorly adjusted gas flame. To fix this, soot must be removed from the heat channel on the water heater. Then adjustment of the water heater gas flame (not shown).

GENERATOR TUNE UP

We’re mightily impressed that our 25-year-old Generac Q55 generator is still running . . . even if it occasionally gets rough. Lately, our Generac only ran for a few minutes before it stopped in a cloud of white smoke.

We thought that generator’s carburetor could use a cleaning. So . . .

Our 2026 RV Trip

Here’s our route:

Unlike all are other trips, we have NOT make definite plans for the way back. However, we’re considering several routes . . .

Millerton Lake Campground

Earlier this month we had our last camping trip of the year. We had hoped for cooler weather in November, but the temps were in the 80s. I think we’re finally realizing that California weather, even in the Sierra foothills, is not the same as Wisconsin weather. It’s just warmer here.

Another Winegard Travler

Recently completed adding our third Winegard Travler satellite dish onto the roof of our RV.

We’ve had one on each of our two other motorhomes . . .

However, unlike the previous two times, this time we purchased a used Winegard Travler from eBay for $450. The eBay Travler kinda-sorta worked. The motor that turns the Travler around – the azimuth motor – was misbehaving. Sometimes it moved the dish back and forth in a single location over and over. So instead of ordering a replacement motor, we drove up north 300 miles to just south of Redding to pick up a free Winegard Travler:

From the looks of it the free Travler had been sitting around in a barn for a few years. After getting it home, we discovered the insides of the dish were very corroded, and, of course, it didn’t work at all.

So instead of using the azimuth motor from the free dish, a new azimuth motor was ordered and installed in the eBay Travler:

. . . and it finally worked:

Then came some necessary wiring updates to our RV’s entertainment center (we had all the parts from our last Travler install) . . .

Finally, the Winegard Travler was installed on our SeaView’s roof . . .

We’ll see if it’s waterproof after tomorrow’s rain.

Barrett Cove Campground – Fall 2025

We figured October would be cooler than the our last visit in Spring when the temps were in the 90s.

Not quite. Temperatures during our 3-day stay were in the 80s which made hiking problematic.

Once again hardly anyone else was camping in the park. We counted three campers, including us.

We wanted to see if Lucy was a water dog so we took her to a nearby wading pool. She loved it. In fact, the first thing Lucy did was to lay down in the water . . . sorry, missed that in the following video.

Finally, our continuing lake level photos (click on photo to increase its size) . . .