San Simon Valley, AZ January 2013

This is the San Simon Valley in SE Arizona. We discover the joy of taking our Sprinter to remote places. A little dirt road in a way-out-there piece of desert launches us into a sea of sand and creosote bush.

 
We end up for the night with the winter sun fast drifting west. Cliff-faced sky islands are on every horizon with a robin-egg-blue shell of the sky over head. Sweet nowhere.

We're always looking for scenic and less traveled roads for biking. AZ 266 delivered a great 50 miler with good pavement, about 10 cars in 3 hours, and a fine, long climb to Stockton Pass. The highway twists and turns from east/west through the Pinaleno Mts. in the Coronado National Forest. Mt Graham is the highest peak.

Wait up Jim!

After a day of biking it's time for a cup of tea.

The end of our day in the desert offers this sky scape. There's no wind, no sound of insect or bird. Just the slow, silent dance of color. Soon we'll close up and tuck ourselves in for the night.

Till next time.
Jackie 

How I Winterized my SMB Sprinter

How I Winterized my SMB Sprinter
Wow, this fall was great. The warmer-than-usual temperatures were perfect for road bicycling and camping in our new SMB Sprinter.
Finally, in early December, the bill came due and temperatures began to get below freezing at night.
We like to take the Sprinter out at random intervals, one to two weeks apart. Camping in cold temperatures at night was possible and by then we had experienced temperatures in the low 20 F range with no problem. Bringing the van home after one such trip lead to the question of winterizing. Since I wanted to be able to just get in and go we first tried a 120 volt heater left on inside. We found that while this worked well enough, the economy of keeping the van heated to 50 F was not appealing.
So, next I tried draining all of the water out by gravity. First I removed the water heater anode and opened the "low point drain". I also removed my water filters and blew the city inlet out with 40 psi air. This worked fairly well except for a low spot that had been built in to the plumbing.

This picture was taken during the fabrication of the SMB Sprinter. I found that both the hot and cold water lines running from the water heater to the galley on the opposite side of the van were required to pass by the shower. This necessitated that they be routed at floor level (also a concern due to insulation) in order to get by the shower. Since the taps on the water heater are elevated, this resulted in a low spot that just would not drain out by gravity.



This would have been a good spot to build in a low point drain, but it had not been done. So, for the next few weeks I installed a 100 watt light bulb in the area of the low spot and all was well.
Now it was mid-December and really getting cold at night. We were anticipating not using the van for time periods of up to three weeks. I had always told my RV customers that the only way to fully insure that their RV would be protected from freezing would be to pump in RV antifreeze. This method displaces all water that remains in the system after draining and insures that the delicate water pump is fully protected. So I acted on my own advice and proceeded to winterize with antifreeze.
RV antifreeze is non-toxic, protects down to -50 F, and dyed pink so that you can see it in action. There has been some discussion on the SMB forum that the antifreeze leaves a taste and many prefer to use cheap vodka instead!
I decided to use the antifreeze by sucking it into the system at the pump, thus allowing me to remove and bypass the city water filter using air pressure to evacuate to the fresh water tank so that no antifreeze would be introduced there.


So looking at the way the pump was installed I saw that I had a problem.
The pump had been installed up under the galley sink on the right hand side. Not a bad location and much easier to get to than some that I have seen. Yet it had been installed with the inlet side toward the back of the cabinet with the filter bowl up. I had discovered during my attempt at draining for winterization that an air bubble would get trapped in the bowl causing the pump to starve.
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Pump Installation from the side
It was difficult to reach around to the inlet side of the pump in order to install a suction tube, but not impossible. I was able to winterize the van once this way but knew that something better could be done.

Pump installation from the front.
My solution to this problem was to turn the pump upside down. I was able to use the same mounting holes and it also resulted in the inlet filter bowl being correctly oriented.
I will admit that the plumbing is a little "awkward" but the result is effective. I can now easily remove the inlet hose and connect a suction tube for the antifreeze.


It takes less than 30 seconds to pump antifreeze into the system and uses less than a half-gallon, including a cup in each trap. De-winterizing should be simple with a city water hook-up and I may be able to re-use the antifreeze.

Now I can sleep without worry when the nighttime temperatures dip into the low teens.
Ready for the next outing...
JIM

Santa Catalina Mountains, Tucson, AZ. Dec. 2012

If you visit Tucson take some time for this grand mountain. The rugged Santa Catalinas that dominate the northern Tucson skyline are an inviting place to hike in the winter.

We stayed 2 nights at the Catalina State Park where there are several trails into the mountains. There was a dusting of snow on the peaks and it rained a little during our first night.

Shifting clouds spotlighted the lower peaks as we prepared for a day of hiking on the Romero Canyon Trail. It's 6 miles from the trail head to Romero Pass, an elevation gain of 3,300 ft.

Light & shadow, desert & snow. The sun light edged its way under the clouds that veil the summit.

 Old Man Saguaro.

A fine 1-mile, multi-use trail goes from the campground to the trail head for Romero Canyon where the ascent begins. This is the boundary for the Coronado National Forest where the trail becomes steep, rocky and for foot travel only. Dogs are not allowed as it is home to Desert Bighorn.

A walk among giants. These minor peaks are spectacular in their own right. The Catalinas are a giant granite dome with Mount Lemmon as its summit of 9,157 ft.

The previous day we saw the Hobbit in 3-D. The rock giants would be doing battle in this place.

 A miracle in the desert. Recent rains channel into boisterous waterfalls that fill the deserts silent cathedral.

2.2 miles up the trail a high desert valley opens to a chain of pools and falls. Beautiful. Would be delightful on a hot summer day but no one will take a plunge today.

 Double waterfalls into an over-your-head plunge pool.

 Near noon in the upper canyon and the higher peaks begin to shed their veil.

By afternoon the snowy peaks are revealed. What a grand place to be at this moment.

Our camp site at Catalina State Park and another great adventure in the Sprinter.

'Till next time.
Jackie

How our Sprinter got its name

Traveling down the road listening to an old favorite CD, "Isle of View", by Jimmie Spheeris. . . this song came on, "I am the Mercury". It became the name of our Sprinter. Just like the song and album cover, our Mercury always takes us some place else.

Jimmie Spheeris isn't as well known as he probably should be but he's being rediscovered. He died tragically on July 4th, 1983, hit on his motorcycle by a drunk driver. His music lives on; great voice, songwriter & musician.

If you have never heard him, google Jimmie Spheeris and listen to some of the selections: "I am the Mercury", "The Nest", and "Come Back". "Isle of View" will be a great addition to your collection. He has several other albums that you can sample and there are videos and a memorial gallery.

The record album cover for "Isle of View" is a surreal etching of a knight riding a griffin hovering above a forest floor next to a fast-flowing river.  On the CD they couldn't put the entire image so you only get the figure and not the environment he rides in, which is a shame. I managed to scan about 2/3rds of the album cover which is a bit worn.
May all your travels take you "some place else".
Jackie

Cochise Stronghold, Arizona, November 2012

 

 

Fall is a perfect time to visit Cochise Stronghold in southeast Arizona. Temps were in the 70's and perfect for hiking. Summer temps will be over 100.

This mountain range fortress was home and protection for the great Apache leader and his people.

  Our Sprinter fit nicely into the small sites. Each site had a paved picnic area, charcoal grill & fire pit. There is a vault toilet but no water or other services. The Coronado National Forest has done a fine job creating this primitive campground.

.The shade trees are all oaks with resident flocks of Acorn Woodpeckers, a very chatty group and well dressed in their formal attire.

This monument is a dedication to Cochise and the 5 mile trail named for him that goes up and over the range. It's a 10 mile round trip hike. There is also a history walk with kiosks of information about the Apache and early settlers and a nature walk with plant descriptions.

 Here we are at the divide at the top of the range. This is the 3-mile point from the campground. It's 2 miles down the west side so the trail is steeper. It's a wonderful day hike with incredible views of the ragged peaks.

The mountain range of Cochise Stronghold is called the Dragoons after the mounted Calvary.

The rocks take many shapes. Here are the Apaches on migration, men, women & children.

Here is the old man of the mountain. He always looks west waiting for the sun to set.

Here is Rockfeller Dome, like a great whale breaching the waves, it rises above the range. Can't see it? Then you'll have to go and see for yourself how powerful this place is. 

On our 2nd day hike we climbed the steep trail that rock climbers use to get to the base of Rockfeller Dome. The trail is rocky and takes some route finding. 

More rocks on the way to the big one.

 Rockfeller Dome eclipses the sun.

 Here we are at the base of Rockfeller. This is the end of the trail for us. From this point it is straight up. We could see the protection the rock climbers put in the rock that marks the climbing routes.

On the hike down 3 spiny lizards come out to sun. They are the guardians of sacred places.

Thanks for checking in with us. 'till next time.
Jackie, the hiking woman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Design is featured on Sportsmobile.com!

Back when I was designing the Mercury, I studied every page and every photo on Sportsmobile.com.  Reading descriptions of other people's designs and "reading between the lines" by referring to actual photo's of their build gave me a lot of ideas.  The photos helped me visualize my design.
We received word recently that our build was featured on Sportsmobile.com.

so...
Enter www.sportsmobile.com
          Hover over the "SPRINTER" pull down menu,
                   Hover over "DYO Examples and Beds,
                            Click on "DYO 7 Bunks and Platform Beds
                                   Scroll down to the bottom of the page
                                           Click on "Examples EB Sprinter  Platform Bed

And there we are!

Or if your not interested in anything else on the site just click on this link:



http://www.sportsmobile.com/2_sr_exp_bunks7.html

When we took delivery of our van they pulled it out into the street and took several pictures.  We are pleased that they will be used to allow other prospective owners to learn from our efforts.  I can't say enough good things about Sportsmobile and the Design Your Own process.

See you down the road...JIM

Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area - November 2012

 The Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area protects this desert jewel for wildlife and migatory birds while offering recreation activities like camping, hunting, mountain biking, hiking, river rafting and wildlife viewing. Large mammals include mountain lion and desert bighorn.

Late fall is the perfect time to visit. The temps were in the 70's with nights in the 40's. Summer temps will be in the 100's.
The road into the Gila Box from Safford is graded gravel.

A shady day-use picnic area was along the river. The Watchable Wildlife Area had a nice paved universal trail to a viewing deck.

The Sprinter finds a berth at Riverview Campground. Each campsite had a covered picnic table, fire pit, charcoal grill and view of the river. No services. There was a men & womens vault toilet at the registration kiosk.

 A river. A desert. Two opposite ecological systems. There is an easy 3-mile scenic hiking trail that circles the campground with contrasting views of the lush Gila River and rugged desert mountains.
We also went mountain biking. The roads are really rocky with some steep hill climbs. My eyeballs were vibrating.

The desert hills take on a blush in the western sun.  Soon the coyotes will begin to sing and we say good night to a good day. This area is worth a visit. We stayed 2 days.

'Till our next adventure. Jackie