Inside cleaning - the tanks, that is!

While we were at Palm Springs Thousand Trails, we decided to get our grey and black tanks cleaned. As I mentioned a few days ago (https://trekincartwrights.blogspot.com/2017/12/tank-measurements.html), we are thinking about getting a See Level tank monitoring system. We've found the prices online and figure we will price it at the RV Show in Quartzsite this month to see if we can get a better deal - if not, we can order it when we're in Yuma in February.

In preparation for that, it was recommended that we have our tanks cleaned, and the service recommended on the Wanderlodge Owner Group was All Pro Water Flow. Since the passage to our tanks is "unique" compared to other motorhomes, we decided to go with something that other owners had also used.

There was an ad in the Palm Springs materials that there was a local provider for All Pro Water Flow, so we called and arranged for Chic to come while we were there.

He added a connector to our sewer output and threaded a hose with a high powered sprayer into the tank. The tanks were empty as far as we could make them when he started, but he got a lot of "stuff" out - much of it white hard water scale from the hard water that we have experienced in various campgrounds around the country. He said that our tanks were actually pretty clean compared to some that he has dealt with - it seems that some people wait until their systems are completely out of service before calling him... not good!

This was the machine that took water in from the campground and sent out high pressure water into the tank. We can't remember the PSI that he told us, but he told Dwayne that the water would cut you if your skin were exposed to it. The tubing was wrapped with Kevlar.

I was just reading on their website (http://allprowaterflow.com/default.asp) and it indicates that the water pressure is 500-3000 psi.

A visit to "FrostFit"

Yesterday we had appointments for treatments that I had found on Groupon... a Whole Body Cryotherapy session for me, and a Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber treatment for Dwayne.

Dwayne has been interested in Hyperbaric Oxygen treatments for health for a long time. He even had a book about it when we were living in the house. He theorizes that the reason that folks lived so much longer before the flood could have been because the atmosphere was heavier (no rain, higher pressure, every breath would take in a greater concentration), the oxygen levels were possibly higher, so they breathed in more oxygen, and that may have enabled them to live longer.

When I saw the Groupon for a session available, I suggested that we should get it. At first he wasn't interested, but then I told him that I would try the Cryotherapy, so he agreed to do the Hyperbaric Oxygen treatment. (I gave him a choice of doing the Cryotherapy with me or the Hyperbaric Oxygen treatment, and he was quickly convinced of doing the Hyperbaric Oxygen instead of getting cold!)

Both of them have the potential benefit of helping with body aches and pains. http://frostfitlv.com/

This picture is of the flyer we picked up in the office. I did the "Arctic Chamber" and Dwayne did the "Hyperbaric Chamber".

When we got there, the young lady receptionist/operator suggested that Dwayne wait on beginning his treatment until I was done with mine since mine would only be a few minutes and he could watch what mine entailed - maybe in case he wanted to do it in the future!

Nitrogen is used to cool the air.

I had to wear a lightweight mask covering my mouth and nose, a headband covering my ears, gloves on my hands, tall socks up to my knees, and closed shoes on my feet. I kept on my own cotton camisole and cotton shorts (the robe came off while I was in the Cryotherapy machine). The machine is just behind me - the glass window allows you to see the foggy cold air inside it.

The operator asked me if I wanted to go with "Beginner", "Intermediate", or "Pro" level. Each step reduced the temperature and increased the time. I could elect to leave the machine at any point -- even if I picked one that would be a longer time. I asked, since this was my first time, if I should go with Beginner, and she recommended that I select Intermediate. She said that many people found that the Beginner level was too mild and didn't really feel like they had had the experience they expected. I can't recall the exact temperature that it got down to (minus 180 F or something like that) and the time for Intermediate was 2 minute 30 seconds. (Beginner was 2 minutes and Pro was 3 minutes.)

She put music on while I was in it - she said that most people enjoy dancing around while they are in the machine to pass the time and to avoid thinking about being cold! I did some Texas Two-stepping in the chamber to the C&W music that she put on for me!

While it definitely was cold, mostly only my skin got cold - toward the end I started feeling the cold in my knees (which react to cold weather too) - I think that may have been exacerbated because the shorts I had on were long and the socks were tall, so my knees were the only part of my legs which were not covered. I lasted the 2 minutes 30 seconds and felt fine.

This is an "after" picture of my legs and feet - note that my feet turned blue and got hairy! No... those are the slippers I selected to wear during the session - they had all sorts of neat looking slippers to wear!

Unfortunately, as I was preparing to go into the Cryotherapy session, I gave Dwayne the key to the locker where my clothes and phone were, and then he was in the Hyperbaric Chamber before I realized that, and so I could not get to my things until after his hour in the Hyperbaric Chamber was done!

I took this picture after Dwayne's session in the Hyperbaric Chamber was completed. During the time that it was pressurized, it was a taut capsule-like container. Dwayne could see out a small window above him and he said it was quite comfortable inside. He had his phone in there with him and could call the operator if he had any concerns or wanted to get out early. 

I got to talk with the receptionist/operator lady quite a bit while Dwayne's treatment was going on (since I had no glasses, phone, other clothes to put on, etc.!). I asked whether Frost Fit was a franchise and she told me no, that this center had been open since April of 2017, and it was opened by the doctor in the office next door. (I hadn't checked before, but I just looked on Google Maps and it appears to be Nevada Spine and Disc Health and Wellness (chiropractor).)

She told me that the "Cryo Penguin" service, which applies super cold just to a particular area of the body with pain, is what she would recommend as the preferred treatment for pain, rather than either of the two treatments we signed up for. She said that the Hyperbaric Chamber can help with pain, but it generally takes many sessions.

She also indicated that the Arctic Chamber that they have, which is a full body treatment with 100% breathable air, is unique to their center in this area. Most of the Cryotherapy places have your head and neck out of the chamber because the gas around your body is nitrogen - not breathable. This machine uses nitrogen to super-cool breathable air, so you are not in contact with nitrogen during the treatment. This is important to know because there was a death in a Cryotherapy place here in Las Vegas a couple of years ago. The operator stayed after the center was closed to give herself a session in the Cryotherapy machine - no one was there with her. Somehow, she asphyxiated from breathing air without enough oxygen in it - whether she leaned down into the air that was nearly all nitrogen or whether the machine malfunctioned, there does not seem to be consensus. (If I had known about all of this before going there, I probably would not have done it!!!)

We both survived our treatments - I think Dwayne enjoyed his more than I enjoyed mine, but I enjoyed learning about something new! Dwayne said that he felt really good right as we were leaving, but within an hour or so his back pain was about the same as it had been.

Outside cleaning

When we got to the Las Vegas Thousand Trails, there was a fellow, Joey, cleaning the exterior of the 5th wheel next to us. We were impressed by the thoroughness of the job he was doing, and so asked if he would clean Miss Doozie. He gave us a price that we were happy with, and he was able to start on it today.

Joey started with washing Miss Doozie this morning. He was working on that when we left for a couple of appointments and errands this morning.

Joey's information on his trailer.

While we were out, we got the Jeep washed too - we first stopped at a self-service wash, which is what Dwayne prefers to use, but it did not seem to be working. There was another car wash that was an automated one just down the street, but their lit up message sign indicated that they were closed for maintenance. We stopped to get gas at the station next door to the car wash, and as we were leaving, I noticed a pickup truck leaving from the car wash that looked clean and was dripping, so we decided to drive over to see if we could get the Jeep washed. We were able to go in... but the system stopped when we were about 1/4 of the way through. Nothing happened for about 20-30 seconds (I took this picture during that time), and then it started back up... I don't know whether they were really doing maintenance or whether they were having problems, but it all worked out.

Joey was buffing the outside by the time we got back - this was when he was pretty nearly completed....

Miss Doozie looks GREAT!

Year-Beginning Thoughts

I saw these posted on the Wanderlodge Owner's Group (WOG - online forum for owners of the type of motorhome we have) and thought y'all might enjoy them:

I had amnesia once -- or twice.
***** 
Protons have mass? I didn't even know they were Catholic. 
***** 
I am neither for nor against apathy. 
***** 
If the world were a logical place, men would be the ones who ride horses sidesaddle. 
***** 
They told me I was gullible and I believed them. 
***** 
Teach a child to be polite and courteous in the home, and when he grows up, he'll never be able to merge his car onto the freeway. 
****** 
Experience is the thing you have left when everything else is gone. 
***** 
One nice thing about egotists ...
they don't talk about other people. 
***** 
My weight is perfect for my height ... which varies. 
***** 
I used to be indecisive. Now, I'm not sure. 
***** 
The cost of living hasn't affected its popularity. 
***** 
How can there be self-help groups? 
***** 
Show me a man with both feet firmly on the ground, and I'll show you a man who can't get his pants off. 
***** 
Is it just me, or do buffalo wings taste like chicken?

Stopped for a few days in Las Vegas

We enjoyed the warm weather in southern California and would have enjoyed staying longer, but couldn't get reservations at the Thousand Trails campgrounds there. We had previously booked 11 days at the Las Vegas campground, and arrived here yesterday, Tuesday, 1/2.

The campground is not right on the "strip" (which is fine with us) but the sites are very tight...

We were able to get a site at the end of a row which will make it easy to get out when we're ready to leave (we will drive just right down the road in front of the rig). The truck right in front of Miss Doozie is our neighbor's (the 5th wheel) - he could not park in front of his rig because he was having the exterior cleaned and the cleaning guy had his equipment parked in front. The Jee-rage fits beside Miss Doozie and the road. Folks who have slides (that make their rigs wider) have a bit more problem with the space here than we do. Our problem is more the length of our rig and a place to park the Jee-rage.

We had tried getting into another site toward the middle of the row, and we were able to get in, but it was so narrow that there was really no room to park the Jeep, and there wasn't much room in front to park the Jeep either. The sites seem to vary a lot in their width - when we were shoe-horning Miss Doozie into the previous site, we noted that the site next to us was MUCH wider, and that the current occupant's check-out date was 1/3. We were planning to move one site over if we stayed in that previous site, but instead found this end site which is working well for us.

So far we've noticed it is a little cooler here than Palm Desert, and it seems to be a lot less dusty! I'm looking forward to getting the inside of the bus dusted/vacuumed/cleaned while we're here. From here, we'll go to Quartzsite, which, although it is also a desert environment, also does not seem to be as dusty as we found Palm Desert to be.

Overnight in Bullhead City, AZ

We opted to leave Palm Springs a day early to time our arrival at the Las Vegas Thousand Trails for earlier in the day. The distance between the two RV parks was estimated at 280 miles - about 4.5 hours if we were traveling at highway speeds for cars (65-70) while we are supposed to go 55 MPH because we are "towing" (California). Since Thousand Trails campgrounds are "first come, first served", there is an advantage to arriving earlier in the day, so we left Palm Springs on New Year's Day and with the plan to arrive at the Las Vegas campground on 1/2.

After checking fuel prices, we had planned to stop for diesel at Sam's Club in Bullhead City, AZ, and then drive on to overnight at a rest area near Cal-Nev-Ari, NV. We had checked the satellite view of the Sam's Club and it appeared that we would be able to get in/out with Miss Doozie and the Jeep towing without a problem. Unfortunately, we did not consider that Sam's would be closed on New Year's Day. When I was doing some last minute checking in the morning as we were leaving Palm Springs, I discovered that fact - bummer!

We decided to go ahead and get to Bullhead City and hope to overnight at the Walmart. We called the Walmart, and they indicated it was fine with them for us to spend the night in their parking lot, that there was a town ordinance prohibiting it... but that RVs frequently stayed and never had a problem. We decided to risk it and stay at the Walmart overnight - getting some shopping done too.

Miss Doozie and the Jee-rage in the Walmart lot in Bullhead City, AZ

No one disturbed us through the night, there were no signs indicating an ordinance against overnight parking, and at least one other motorhome also spent the night.

Catching up on pictures

We're preparing to leave the Palm Springs RV park and I have a number of pictures that I haven't shared... so this is a random selection...

I posted a few days ago about talking to a guy who had quite the Christmas display at his truck camper (http://trekincartwrights.blogspot.com/2017/12/whats-that-in-sky.html) - I went back by after the judging and their display had won first place!

Sunset on 12/23

Sunset on 12/24

Dwayne made a Tomato and Brie Tart on Boxing day...

It was yummy!

We have been enjoying bright blue skies and low winds. Even with the low winds, we have dust on EVERYTHING in the bus... it seems counterproductive to clean as the layer of dust will just be back in a couple of hours!