Camping Weekend with Dad P and Changing Bilstein to Koni Shocks on Motorhome

Saturday was a nice day for Steve and his dad... they went into Fond du Lac for a late breakfast and a little RV supply shopping at Merz RV.  While the guys were gone, I was settling down with my antique sockknitting machine and whipped out a few pairs before they got back. It was such a pleasant way to spend the morning.  Peaceful. Creative. and in a sense, Working.

On the way back to the campground, the guys stopped at this cute little meat market in Pipe, WI and picked up some big ole steaks.  Steve's brother Pete was coming out for dinner.  Of course they had to get out the cribbage board and cards for a while to do their male bonding thing....

And from this pic, I think you can tell who the winner was

(the family patriarch in GREEN) 

We had originally planned this weekend as a large Pfundtner Family Camp-Out on a group site at High Cliff State Park. It had been planned and reserved back in April or so.  But one by one, each part of the family backed out and soon it was only us and the patriarch, Pa Pfundtner (Or "Pops" as Pete calls him) left to actually go camping.  Our weather was hot and muggy all weekend.  In retrospect, I am glad we were here in the two electrical sites at Columbia Park instead so we could have the air conditioning on. It would have been an awful weekend at that group site with no hookups for the rest of the camping family. 

Being here at the lakeshore sites along Lake Winnebago, we could catch a breeze now and then. What a wonderful way for the guys to spend the afternoon.  It was pretty hot and muggy, but they hung outside and played their cards and enjoyed their time together.  I got the supper together with all the fixen's and Steveio manned the grill and put some corn on the cob to roast over the campfire. 

Yes, the blog is sometimes about FOOD....

We had a nice night and were grateful to have power hookups at the campground. We ran the air conditioners on the rig almost constantly, one or the other. Being only on a 30 amp hookup, so really can't run both at the same time.  It worked out well to run the front one when we were in the bedroom at night, and during the day to run the back one (with a fan setting on the bed to blow the cool air into the front).  

This morning I woke up and it was kinda cool out yet.  I mixed up one of these wonderful mixes from Krusteaz into a coffee cake and baked it in the convection oven (turning off the air conditioner first). Didn't want to trip any breakers. It was a fine treat with our morning coffee.  

I thought I should take a pic of the doggers, they were such patient and happy campers. It was very hot and muggy, so long walks with little ole Duke were out of the question.  They both spent a lot of the time inside of the motorhome.  It's really a Dogs' Life, eh?

Saying our goodbyes with Pa Pfundtner.... we packed up about noon, dumped our holding tanks and headed on home.

We found that on Saturday our other set of Koni shocks came for the motorhome.  The box was waiting for us in the front porch. These shocks were for the front.   A few weeks ago Steve ordered the back ones and he had put them on before I even had a chance to take a picture!  Imagine that!

We had Bilsteins on for 4 years but decided to put on Koni. We have a Magnum Velvetride torsilastic suspension.  

Ordered the front shocks from LTB Autosports Inc  part #881641SP3 http://ltbautosports.com/morvshab  

We ordered the the rears from RVchassiparts.com Part #: 881458SP2

He set the rig up on it's front jack to get a bit of clearance ... and it was MY job to turn the steering wheel from side to side.  He pulled out the air compressor and had out his air tools to do the job.

Since he put on "Never Seize"  four years ago when mounting the Bilsteins, it was a pretty easy job for him to take those nuts off and put on the new shocks.   Good thing he's a skinny guy!

 The old ones (Bilsteins) are blue and yellow.  

The Koni adjustable shocks are bright red. 

He had the passenger side done toot sweet, in ten minutes flat!  Then it was my turn to get back inside and turn the wheels all the way to the right. Some assistance, eh?  Then he was able to get into the driver's side of the rig to work on that one.

Then I got distracted by picking some of my ripe tomatoes! Wheeheeeee what a harvest for the weekend. I had just picked as many as I could on Friday.  Now today I got a bunch more.  I plan to get these canned up in the morning into a few quarts of stewed tomatoes. I do a few jars every other day or so until the frost comes. Aren't they just SO PRETTY????

By the time I was done picking my tomatoes, 

he had the other side shock changed out. 

There... two new Konis installed. What a guy! 

DRIVER'S SIDE                                     PASSENGER SIDE 

Next up on our evening, a wheel restoration guy is stopping by. Not motorhome wheels, silly reader.... but SPINNING wheels.  He restored an old one for me and made up some new bobbins.  I will blog about that tomorrow.

Meeting other Safari Owners on the Road

Last weekend when we were heading up through Escanaba, MI for my newphew's wedding... we happened to stop at Walmart for a couple things before heading to Gladstone. We pulled in and saw another Safari Motorhome parked there!  We pulled in behind them and had two things to pick up in the store.  When we came back out, we saw the owners outside their rig, walking their dogs.

We introduced ourselves .... Their names are Lu and George and they are from Canada.

So we chatted for a bit... it's so nice to meet other Safari Owners around the country.  Our rigs are now approaching the 19 year mark, so they are considered "vintage" I should think!  haha  But we still see a lot of them on the road, going strong.

Soon we were showing the insides of each other's motorhomes, comparing dings and dents, and sharing stories of repairs.   Their large glassed in shower features an etching of a big lion...   and I especially liked the reflective grid over their florescent light fixture in the kitchen.  It was like little golden tubes of metallic plastic that diffused the light and made a pretty pattern. Very retro.

They had two dogs on board, as did we.... and we both remarked how nice it is to travel with the family pets inside and part of our lives.  We then examined our back custom painted murals that Safari's are famous for.

We told them somewhere on their mural is a small hidden animal.  The Dame brothers were artists who painted each mural at the factory as coaches were ordered.  Here is a website link to more info if you wish to read about them: http://www.arcatapet.net/travel/murals.cfm

(We couldn't locate their "hidden animal" but I am sure they will keep looking) 

Here is a photo of the back of our rig, with our tiny mouse highlighted ....

We had to say our goodbyes and get further on up the road to our nephew's wedding location in Gladstone.  So we exchanged emails and informed them about our Safari Group on Yahoo to join up and interact with other Safari Owners.  https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/SafariCoaches/


This weekend we have our rig parked at Columbia Park in Fond du Lac on the shores of Lake Winnebago. Our patriarch of the Pfundtner Family is here with us.... Steve's Dad, Paul.

He has a Rexhall RexAire motorhome ...  he pulled into the site next to us for the weekend.  I told him from the front of his rig reminds me of the little ladybug rides at the amusement park with the little antennas hanging down over their faces!  LOL

We were able to pull into our campsites so we face each other, and enjoy our sites by using the area in between our campers.  Soon our awnings were deployed and our lawn chairs placed outside. Let the weekend begin!

Last night after dinner, we set up the tv outside of the rig so we could watch the Packer Game.  From time to time the larger tv signal would cut out, so we had the smaller one next to it as "stand by" haha.  They are both the same brand of tv, but the smaller one we keep in the bedroom seems to pull in stations better.

The tv reception in this area is quite spotty, and it comes and goes.  We were pulling in signals from Green Bay which is 50+ miles away.  Not too bad for our tiny Jack King antenna on our rig.   At least we got to watch the game!

We had a few fellow campers who couldn't get the signal at all in their rigs, stop by to check the score or watch a few good plays.

Even though it was only a preseason game, we got to watch our favorite players in action, and see a few of the new guys putting on a good show.  The team roster final cuts are coming at the end of the month, and we want to see who stays and who goes. They won, over the Raiders, 31 to 21.

And this is how I enjoyed my Packer Game....

This morning is kinda cloudy and hazy, but it is going to be hot and humid again. We are happy to be camping with electrical hookups at this park.  We are able to use the air conditioning in the rig, especially later today.

Steve and Pa Pfundtner headed into Fond du Lac for a few items at the RV dealer and are going to do some RV maintenance this afternoon.    I think I am going to crank some socks.  Ahhh the camping weekend life!