Although we have owned a motorhome for over 12 years now, and have visited lots of different places, we haven't RV'd much in Maine. We camped in several places in Maine in our pop-up camper back when we did a fair bit of family camping, but we haven't seen much of Maine through the windshield of our motorhomes. We decided to change that a bit by loading up WTT and heading out for a Maine road trip yesterday.
Since we were on Day 1 of our short road trip we decided to start our day with a trip to the Kopper Kettle in town for a nice breakfast before finishing our loading and getting on the road at a leisurely 10 AM.
Our destination for yesterday was the easternmost point in the USA - Lubec, Maine. You can find Lubec by traveling north and east in Maine until right before the sign that says "Welcome To Canada." We started off heading north on I-295 and then I-95 until we reached Bangor - then we took an easterly heading towards Ellsworth before heading north again along Route 1 and 1A until right before we saw that aforementioned sign where we turned off and settled in here at Sunset Point RV Park - the Easternmost Campground in the USA.
Sunset Point is a very small campground with only about 20ish spots for RVs and another 10 or so tent sites -- but the setting is gorgeous. The campground sits on a point of land just south of Lubec on the edge of Johnson Bay -- facing west -- well placed for some beautiful views of the bay and some gorgeous sunsets.
This was our first drive of any significant distance since returning home from our 2016 winter trip and since getting our initial warranty repair items taken care of over the past few months. I am really happy to report that WTT ran great, all systems worked the way they were supposed to, and we arrived safe and sound here in Lubec after about 5 hours and 210 or so miles. The first 100 miles were along the interstate and were very smooth. The second hundred miles were along several of Maine's scenic byways offering plenty of opportunities to test WTT's air ride suspension.
This was also my first opportunity to drive WTT since modifying the braking system on our towed car (AKA "Toad"). You may recall that when we purchased WTT, I was somewhat concerned that since our Engine Exhaust Brake actuated WTT's brake lights - and since our Toad's braking system uses that brake light signal to actuate it's braking system - it would cause our Toad's brakes to operate much more frequently than necessary. My experience over the first 4,000 or so miles showed that indeed - the car brakes came on more than I liked. While doing a bit of research on this problem I came across what I thought was an elegant solution.
WTT's chassis builder (Freightliner) installs wiring and a connector under the dash meant for use with an aftermarket brake controller to actuate electric trailer brakes when towing a large trailer. After finding the connector under the dash I was able to confirm that the brake actuation signal meant for the brake controller used only the brake pedal for an input (and not the Engine Exhaust Brake) -- so there was my solution.
Step 1 was to install a wire jumper in that connector that would send that brake pedal input signal to the wire meant for the brake controller output. By doing this I would have a brake pedal signal sent all the way back to the 7 pin trailer towing connector on the back of WTT.
The next step required a minor bit of re-wiring to our towed car. My plan was to take that brake actuation signal from WTT's trailer connection and send it to the actuation inputs on the Toad's brake controller (Invisibrake by Roadmaster). I added a wire from the Toad's towing connector and ran it to the brake controller inputs. Now the car brakes would only actuate when that signal from WTT's brake pedal was activated (not from the brake lights).
I know it sounds complicated - but it was really pretty simple. Now things work the way I want them to:
When the motorhome is slowing down - either by actuation of the Engine Exhaust Brake or the regular Service Brakes - the motorhome brake lights and the towed car brake lights come on to warn following drivers. However, the car supplemental brake system only actuates when the motorhome Service Brakes are applied.
See - I am easy to please. Just make it work the way I want it -- and I'm happy!
We spent today playing lazy, relaxing tourist. After a late awakening (at least for me), we took our time getting ready to face the day, took a stroll around the RV Park,
and then finally decided to venture out for some lunch around 1 PM. We drove into quaint downtown Lubec and found Frank's Restaurant overlooking the harbor and international bridge leading to Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada. After an OK seafood lunch (although the crab stew was extremely good!!) we took a side trip to West Quoddy Head State Park on our way back. This location is the easternmost point of land in the US and has been home to a lighthouse since 1808. The present red and white stripped tower has been there since 1858.
We hope to do a bit more sightseeing tomorrow -- in spite of the forecast rain.
Until then -- here's some more sunset shots ... from Sunset Point.
Since WTT made it home a couple of weeks ago with repairs complete, and since it is the middle of summer in Maine, I figured it was time to start getting her ready for winter.
Getting our motorhome ready for winter means two things ... get the rig ready for winter storage (we may head south during the winter but we definitely don't leave before freezing weather arrives) and ... get the rig ready for winter travel.
When designing the Forza model line the Winnebago folks did no favors to us that live in the cold weather zones and need to prepare our equipment for a subfreezing climate. The fresh water system standard equipment does not allow for adding RV antifreeze and no provision is provided for bypassing the hot water heater. The operations manual does provide instructions for blowing out the fresh water lines with air but I've never held much faith that doing this will eliminate all pockets of water. Since our previous Winne was built with a hot water heater bypass, a method to add antifreeze, and a method to isolate and drain the line going to the refrigerator ice maker - I figured these features would be a good addition for our new Forza.
Step 1 was to add a "3-way" diversion valve on the suction side of the fresh water pump. This valve allows the pump to take supply from the on-board fresh water tank under normal circumstances or to draw RV antifreeze from a jug to fill the fresh water system when preparing for winter storage. I used a 1/2" "Flair-it" valve purchased via Amazon for about $10. Installation took all of 15 minutes. Simply cut the flexible hose on the supply side of the pump with a knife, slide the threaded connectors supplied with the valve over the hose ends, push the hose onto the barbed ends of the valve, and tighten the threaded connectors by hand. Add a flexible piece of tubing to the third barbed connection end in the same manner and you now have an antifreeze suction hose when it's time to winterize.
Now that we have a way to add the antifreeze - we need to deal with that 10 gallon hot water heater. I suppose you could just add an additional 10 gallons of antifreeze when filling the system but that is rather expensive and wasteful. Thanks to some folks who had Winnebago add a hot water heater bypass feature to their Forza/Solei, and for their posting of pictures on various internet sites, I was able to copy the Winnebago post-manufacture solution. On my Forza (34T) the hot water heater is on the driver's side at the rear of the coach. The cold water supply line and hot water return line are routed through a boxed-in area under the bed -- offering a "sorta" convenient place to install the bypass system consisting of another 1/2" 3-way valve and 1/2" Tee.
Installation was a bit more difficult because you have to work in a somewhat cramped space -- but still not all that hard. Cut the 1/2" PEX supply and return lines at about the same place. Install the 3-way valve on the cold water supply line (I had to cut out about a 2 " section of the supply line to have enough space to install the valve). Install a stub section of 1/2" PEX coming off the third port on the 3-way valve and connect this to the middle port of the 1/2" Tee. Finish up the installation by connecting the previously cut sections of hot water return line to the Tee. When it's time to add antifreeze - the 3-way valve is operated to divert the antifreeze away from the hot water heater supply and over to the return line. A check valve in the return line at the water heater prevents antifreeze from entering the hot water heater from the return line. This part of the project took about an hour and cost about $15.
Now on to the ice maker.
When winterizing, some folks will operate the ice maker and allow RV antifreeze to enter the ice trays to protect the system from freezing. This will work and I've done it before on our previous motorhome (on accident). When un-winterizing you will need to throw away the first few batches of ice to get rid of the "pink stuff." I prefer to isolate the ice maker from the fresh water system and blow out the refrigerator ice maker supply line with air. The folks at Winnebago did supply a 1/8" drain line on the ice maker supply line but not an isolation valve. One trip to Home Depot to obtain a 1/8" brass valve with compression fittings ($10), about 15 minutes of work and now we can isolate the ice maker.
With cold weather storage modifications out of the way it was time to move on to cold weather travel issues.
On our previous motorhome the "wet bay" (area where the fresh water and waste water connections are located) was not heated by the on-board heating systems. Fresh water supply is usually not a problem as long as we have sufficient water in the fresh water tank since that area is heated - and we do carry a heated fresh water supply hose for the times when that might be handy - but we have had problems in the past with frozen waste water valves. Our solution in the past was to place a small (200 Watt) electric cube heater in the wet bay and connect to a power source by an extension cord. The wet bay in our new Forza is open to the heated area of the basement so I suspect we will not have a similar problem. However, just to be ready in case we do -- I installed a power outlet in the wet bay to make it easier to power a heater or anything else for that matter. Fortunately, Winnebago supplied a 120 Volt outlet on the opposite side of the basement area that was easy to tap into and even had a correct size opening for an outlet in the wet bay.
If providing heat to the wet bay was a good idea on Winnebago's part, then why did they decide to provide a 4 inch diameter hole in the floor to run a 5/8" or maybe 3/4" diameter hose? Not only did you just create a huge area for heat loss - you made it real easy for just about any critter to come visit! Once again, my old Winnebago provided a sliding cover for this opening that would seal up around the hose -- not so on the "new and improved" model. So once again - a simple and easy solution was needed. This is one of those times when not throwing something away came in handy. I happen to have a piece of polyethylene foam laying around that was easy to shape to fit the 4 inch hole -- and it already had a 3/4 inch hole in it! Once again -- necessity is the mother of invention.
So ---- now that I'm ready for winter .... I think we will do some summer camping. Time to head downeast.
