Tag Archives: ITASCA

Organizing for the Road

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Food & Dishes

As during our last trip, we’ve been concentrating on better organization in the Navion, inside and out. Some of the criteria we’ve developed are:

  • Is the item really necessary?
  • How often and when is the item likely to be needed?
  • Can the item be stored in way that makes it easy to access? Can the item’s location minimize kneeling, bending over and long reaches? Can supplies be stored in different containers?
  • Can storage be organized so that heavier items are lower and closer to the vehicle’s center?

The first thing we did was reduce the amount of clothing we take. Since we are going to both cool and warm climates, we began with layers. For example, I bought a couple of pair of casual outdoor pants at Cabela’s last trip that work well for this. We also left at home different colors of the same item (I know, glamping).

We also expanded the tools that work with our Ryobi 18V system. I added a drill to go with the two types of fans that help even when we’re connected to shore power.

All of the gear we will use in Arizona, and Navion equipment we might need went into the compartment underneath the slide, which requires a kneeler to access even when the slide is in. We have four watertight clear plastic bins that work exceptionally well for this. Before we left, I replaced the lifters on three compartments that didn’t open as high as they should.

Most things in boxes now go into plastic zip bags. The pod coffee maker went onto a small table to get it out of the way when using our small cooking area. We now use wooden trays at mealtime instead of the factory dining table (so much less bother, and they save our backs, too.)

Not to be last, but I now use some small carry-alls from Cabela’s to separately store the hand tools, electrical tools, and fasteners/adhesives. The bags expand and contract as necessary and squish into their spaces.

On the horizon are more opportunities to organize. I’ve never met a camp store I didn’t like!

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Quiet, at last

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Reading in the woods

From the banks of the Columbia to Curlew Lake, Chewelah, Missoula, and (finally) Placid Lake SP, Montana. Good road and great weather.

Along the top of Washington and Idaho we stopped to see sister Sally, and Terri (and Jim), the breeder of Jamie and Peaches. Sally brought us a most excellent lunch while we moochdocked near the city park.

Missoula has great vibes, despite the folks camping next to us at the KOA. The canines enjoyed the dog parks and we relaxed a bit. On our way out of town we stopped at Cabela’s for a wee bit of clothes and gear. We also stocked up on dark roast pods at City Brew.

We camped at Placid Lake last year and decided on four days this time. Large sites, quiet, the lake, and dog swimming. Also just one or two bars of mobile. Life is good.

Day 2 – Daroga State Park

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A 5 Star Park

After a stop at the Sprinter shop in Lynnwood for some needed scheduled maintenance, we detoured around the fire on US 2 and are camped in one of the nicest state parks we’ve ever seen. Wide sites, quiet and scenic.

We did some rearranging of the canine supplies after breakfast and a nice mile stroll to check out the beach. Peaches was really on point as we came closer to the water.

Organizing

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One of the major insights gained during our most recent trip is that we have stored gear, from sewer hoses to coffee makers, like we did in our 2006 View J. For those familiar with these Winnebago floor plans, our 1015 Navion V is laid out completely different.

Our first task was to develop a set of criteria to help us arrange things in a more efficient way. Our previous storage criteria was to 1) match the storage space with the shape of the gear and ignore convenience and 2) keep the weight down. We now have a lot more cargo carrying capacity (CCC) and more space. Now we have more gear and less patience with getting on our knees to retrieve that gear.

We first measured various openings and then set out to The Container Store at Southcenter. The staff was incredibly helpful and their Clear Weathertight Totes are exactly what we needed. They come in different sizes, we bought eight that will fit through the openings of all the exterior doors.

The Navion has an exterior compartment on the rear right side that has a seal and is apparently for wet items. I had stored the sewer hose and connections in here in a treated canvas bag, but the zipper broke and things were just not “tidy” enough.

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The new arrangement has all the sewer items in one box, along with the hose support, knee pad, and two 25′ water hoses water hoses. The water hoses are connected end to end, so no contamination. Everything gets rinsed when used and the seal on the container keeps any smell inside. I broke the hose support into two sections so it would fit. This also helps with the issue of the sewer outlet not being very high off the ground.

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The exterior compartment under the slide requires extreme yoga to access when the slide is out, so here is where we store little-used gear.

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These boxes contain an extra sewer kit (we’ve been camping where twenty feet was not long enough), emergency triangle and cone, and a heavy gauge 110V extension cord.

A coffee aficionados, we needed a taller and convenient place for the coffee makers. Under the kitchen sink is ideal for us. The Black & Decker machine is used in the mornings when we leave as we can make a pot of half-caf in the thermal carafe that lasts until lunch. On the left is our drip coffee maker for boondocking (using the stove) and the pod machine is used when we stay more than one night as we have slightly different tastes in the boldness of the roast. Mark us down as addicts.

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More on the interior next time. Comments and pictures about what you’ve done are most welcome!

Winnebago Quality

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Yesterday we finally got our 2015 Navion V delivered back to us by the Winnebago dealer after three weeks in the shop, ending what has been a discouraging series of quality issues we didn’t expect from Winnebago. The experience has left us hesitant to recommend either the brand or the service department at Roy Robinson RV in Marysville even though the Navion is a dream to drive and we look forward to many more years of RV travel.

Here is the list and how each item was resolved (in no particular order of importance):

1. Gray water system would not drain totally, leaving a couple of cups of water to drain on the ground the next time the drain cover was removed. Winnebago P1000103said this was by design (!) and Roy Robinson said they’d not heard of this happening before. As a temporary fix I replace the cover with one that had a
hose connection, emptying the gray water into the sewer hose when hooking up. When we got back from our trip, Roy Robinson added an additional gate valve. The tech said he’d had to do this many times.

2. Slide out support for the king bed was too small for the side support tracks, causing the slide to collapse when weight was on it. I added thick felt dots on both support sides and consider this done.
3. The power roof vent repeatedly blew the fuse for it’s circuit. The two roof fans and the HVAC thermostat are on this circuit, so I put a piece of black tape over the switch. KIMBROUGH RO 36007105 001We ordered the power vent as Sherry couldn’t reach the manual vent in our 06 View J. It took three trips to the dealer, each time to discover the problem hadn’t been fixed. The last time it took from Sep 19 to Oct 10 to troubleshoot the problem. Three times we were told it was a pinched wire. Twice the repair was deemed as completed only it wasn’t. Here is the result.
4. The door that opens to the LP tank was missing the rear striker plate. Took two tries at this. Now that the door latches on both ends, the fit with the body trim and forward door isn’t right. I’m just going to not latch the rear end and ponder a trip to a local RV shop.
5. The AC outlet near the coach door was noticeably crooked. I fixed this.
6. The AC outlet under the thermostat was not secured to the wall. It was not installed properly. I fixed this.
7. The remote door lock remote (and the dash button) stopped working the passenger and coach doors after about a week into our first trip. I’m kind of tired of relating the story line here, but it went from initially being a “blame game” to “the owner needs to solve the problem”. Armed with that status, the Tacoma Mercedes provided me with a tech sheet on the Signal Actuation Module (SAM) and Winnebago factory provided me with the instructions on how the dealer was supposed to replace the coach door lock wiring. Lynnwood Mercedes finally replaced the SAM module after two visits and Roy Robinson RV replaced the wiring harness during one of our many visits. The result is that the passenger door works remotely and coach door works remotely – but only with the engine running. I do not have any confidence that further dealer troubleshooting will solve the problem.

My primary gripe with item number 7 was the lack of coordination, the “not me” description of the problem by Winnebago and placing leg work of the solution on the owner.

8. Dust got in the cockpit connection box for the steer by wire circuit. This caused an unholy number of warning lights and much consternation west of Douglas WY. Mercedes dealer in Salem OR gets five stars for suggesting a can of compressed air and blowing it out. Have not had a problem since.
9. The storage doors were not adjusted properly when we picked it up, causing marks above the doors. Dealer adjusted the doors, I’ll try to rub out the marks.

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10. The electrical switches by the door and driver side bed were unmarked. I labeled them using white on black tape from my Brother label maker.
11. The lighting bar above the galley came loose and dropped down. Roy Robinson glued it back in place.
12. Many of the cabinet doors, the kitchen and closet doors were not aligned properly. Roy Robinson fixed these, though some of the overhead doors still need my adjustment. One of the overhead doors was warped on delivery and was replaced.

We were also very disappointed while on the road to the East Coast at the repair time responses by both Winnebago and Mercedes. With the exception of Mercedes Salem, response involved a week or more just to be diagnosed. My dentist, doctor and barber can do better than this.

OK, I’m done now and we’re now trying to get on the road. Now we’re not just a little hesitant to turn our rig over the the dealer again. Hopefully some hot springs time in British Columbia and then south to Valley of the Sun in November will smooth things over again. On the road again!