May 21, 2012 - Day 9 East Moline, Iowa

This morning we went to the John Deere Harvester plant. They make combines. We saw lots of welders, some robotic welders, and other people doing their jobs making combines. The most interesting part was watching the parts go through the paint process. Here are huge combine chassis and harvesters being dipped into paint vats that are 16 feet deep and coming up green. It was interesting to watch, but a much slower production line that some other plants we’ve been to because of the size of the product. But it’s all American made. The...

May 20, 2012 - Day 8 La Clare, Iowa

May 20 – Day 8 La Clare, Iowa Today we explored La Clare, Iowa. It’s one of the riverside towns just up the river. We went to the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum. He was born here and so a favorite son of the town of La Clare. There are some exhibits about Buffalo Bill but mostly its town memorabilia. It’s one of those little local museums done by volunteers as a place to house “Aunt’s Susie’s stuff that we just can’t throw away now that she’s dead”. There are rocks, quilts, old toys, and yearbooks or class pictures every class of Le Clare High...

May 19, 2012 - Day 7 Quad Cities, Iowa

We spent the day exploring the Rock Island Arsenal. It’s on an island in the middle of the Mississippi River officially in Rock Island, Illinois and just a short drive across the bridge from Davenport. It’s a working army post so there is one gate at one end of the island and one gate at the other end. In between are rows of buildings that look like early 1900 office buildings or barracks. They are 3 stories of limestone rock with large window. Yes, some are offices, but most are really manufacturing plants for munitions and artillery in...

May 18, 2012 - Day 6 Travel Day

We drove through familiar areas along I-74. Where last year the corn was head high and the soybeans were 12” tall, this year the corn is maybe 6” tall and the soybean fields were still plowed dirt. But the big Illinois wind farm with100+ turbines was there with the turbines gently turning in the wind. Ah, renewable energy! We arrived at Davenport Interstate RV in the afternoon.

Apr 18, 2012 - Customizing the battery tray

After gutting the old battery tray and cut approx. 3X8-inch steel rectangle around a rust hole and replaced it with a piece cut from the ends of the tray. I did this to allow room for handles and better air circulation around the batteries. I welded 2, 3/4" angle iorn cross pieces front and back of cover along with steel plate and hinges. This set-up will protect batteries from any issues from the large fuse that can possibly blow to protect the batteries and inverter. This also will allow easy access to the battery master disconnect...

Apr 17, 2012 - Magnum install, The last chapter?

My Magnum install was basically put on hold during the winter here. We took on a work-camping job last fall which ended up putting the install on hold, as we had to focus on surviving an Iowa winter here. Throughout the winter, I was able to mount all the controls, routing wires and cable track enclosures. I have a battery on order, should be here in a week from Batteries Plus. I ordered 1, 200AH, 12V, AGM 8D Gel Deep Cycle, Werker battery. I am running on one battery for the RV right now and maintaining charge cycles manually with...

Dec 13, 2011 - Winterizing exterior grey and black water tanks

My waste discharge is located below the exterior holding tanks. Two and three inch pipes joining to the discharge valve coming from each tank. These lines are always full of liquid as valve is closed. Extreme freeze potential. I wrapped each line with a 6 foot heat tape, leaving controls and plug accessible to power. I then filled in the large gaps between pipes with cut pieces of 2 inch extruded Styrofoam. Using Great Stuff to fill in and protect the heat tape as well as enclose everything which can be shaped and then painted. I am...

Oct 25, 2011 - Winterizing freshwater holding tank

My freshwater holding tank and pump is under the bed in the rear. Using heat tape and high quality silicone caulk, "glued" the heat tape onto and around the lower half of freshwater tank. R-22 Encapsulated fiberglass insulation will surround the tank and pump. I've also mounted 2 compact fluorescent fixtures to heat the enclosure in sub zero temps. I've also installed a wireless on/off remote control in line for both of these, heat tape and light for ease of operation. I will be manually monitoring the enclosure temps with one of my...

Oct 8, 2011 - York,NE to Davenport,Iowa

Seven hours took us from York,NE to Davenport,Iowa. It was 415 miles and a long day. After a rainy departure the day turned sunny and bright. The golden yellow fall fields rolled endlessly on the prairie. The scenic old barns and farmhouses glistened in the sun while the ubiquitous John Deere harvested the fields. The clouds painted the blue skies and the smell of fall was in the air. We stayed at the Interstate RV Park and treated ourselves to dinner at The Shed-a noted farm style restaurant that is most popular in this area. Prime rib and...

Oct 5, 2011 - Inverter installation, the saga continues...

Routing new cables between the 2 RV house deep cycle batteries (lead acid) and the inverter today. 2 for the inverter, along with an isolated generator battery. This system allows multiple battery bank monitoring. Now I can easily finish this installation and start maintaining batteries for longer life with a good multi level and multiple input charging system. I know this system will pay for itself in the long run by extending the battery life alone. Magnum provides very good documentation for the installation and well worth every penny...

Sep 20, 2011 - Another Day - Another Park

We left the beautiful farm scene out our window behind us this morning and moved back across the Mississippi River into Iowa again. Today will be a short travel day, about 100 miles. John wanted to wait to get gas in Iowa because we had noticed the lower prices and sure enough, it was $3.59 when we stopped. Further down the road, we saw prices at $3.45. That is 30 cents cheaper than in Wisconsin. -- We followed along the Great River Road in Iowa all morning as it wound through gorgeous farm country. The colors of the golden corn fields and...

Sep 5, 2011 - A wonderful suprise!

Between Karen working a full time job and both working on the house, finishing stairs landscaping and working to exhaustion most days. All our hard work is paying off. We have moved everything out of RV storage and canceled it as we are to the point of no return.... During our stay here I met one of the nicest guys here right across from us who happened to be part of the current caretaker team, Kenny. Talking one day, stating the campground could use a guy with my skills and asked if we might be interested in workamping here, because we...