Hit and Miss - Route Planning Ontario to Arizona

[bbandeddie]

T minus 4 days! OMG I have ants in my pants!
I'm trying to get a handle on Utah weather. What's southern Utah (Moab, SE corner) like in early March? What's SLC like the first week of March, generally? My wife has to fly back to Ontario for a couple weeks to present a bunch of quilting trunk shows and workshops and SLC provides nice direc flights and I was thinking of doing some Moab riding while she's gone? Doable? Or will everything be snowed in still?

[blkmagikca]

I'm leaving Ottawa this Friday and heading, for the 9th winter, to AS. I have a service appointment on Monday at JC, and from there to AS. The route will depend on the weather patterns, and I use Weather Underground for that purpose, avoiding snow and slippery roads. Like you bbandeddie, my wife prefers to fly down, and will do so later on.

Going with ATM batteries is a good solution. If your present charger/converter is a single stage one, you would be advised to replace it with a multi-stage one. For solar panels and related controllers, I would highly recommend Discount Solar in Quartzsite. They are very competent a deal fairly (prices are reasonable). I've had my solar system upgraded by them. Craig, the owner, is technically very competent.

[blkmagikca]

Arizona, not AS.

[bbandeddie]

Thanks blkmagikca
We’re stopping at can-an Sunday night for some quick punch list stuff on Monday. Then we’re headed to JC for a night or two - have a factory tour and try not to spend any money. If you’re there for a couple days perhaps we can meet up?
Jen will be travelling with me! Just in March she has a bunch of engagements previously committed to and has to come back for them.
Yes, I changed out the converter before our first camping trip. This week I installed trimetric monitor and bogart solar charge controller (the panels I don’t have yet but it’s ready) and a 300w Morningstar pure sine wave inverter for Jens fancy sewing machine.

[gator.bigfoot]

Originally Posted by bbandeddie

Of course, and not to high jack the discussion away from travel suggestions, our boondocking plans have been frustrated by the discovery that our batteries are totally wrecked (one cell took near 250ml of water, grrr, several don't even lift the hydrometer bulb) necessitating that I execute a power upgrade immediately.

You can replace the batteries with AGMs that don't require any maintenance. The Lifelines are excellent batteries that can be equalized. I just order them online and ship them to a hotel in the US that I plan to stay at (they are usually there in 3-4 days). They should just be a swap for what you have. Hopefully the charge controller you have is capable of equalization. If not I would replace it ahead of time.

[bbandeddie]

I put a pair of Crown1 6v AGM under the bed this past week. The converter/charger does a meaningless equalization of about 14.4v but the bogart solar controller does proper equalization so once the panels are acquired I’m set.

[blkmagikca]

AGM batteries do not need equalization. The settings on both my Xantrex SW3000 & Blue Sky controller default to no equalization for AGM batteries.

[gator.bigfoot]

Originally Posted by blkmagikca

AGM batteries do not need equalization. The settings on both my Xantrex SW3000 & Blue Sky controller default to no equalization for AGM batteries.

That's why I don't use products like that. Lifelines can be equalized and they should be for proper life expectancy.

[blkmagikca]

Lifelines are AGM's, as are Pearl River.

[gator.bigfoot]

Originally Posted by blkmagikca

Lifelines are AGM's, as are Pearl River.

Correct. But Lifeline AGMs can be equalized. I have always equalized them. My last set lasted 9 years and I still use them in my workshop, since I bought a new set for the trailer.

http://lifelinebatteries.com/2015/10...agm-batteries/

Anyway, we are off topic here.

Have you thought about route 66? Or going through Moab Utah? There are some great parks in Utah. Colorado also some great spots, although you are heading down in winter so that may not work.

[bbandeddie]

Originally Posted by gator.bigfoot

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Have you thought about route 66? Or going through Moab Utah? There are some great parks in Utah. Colorado also some great spots, although you are heading down in winter so that may not work.

Yes to Route 66 but we haven't looked at it very carefully yet. Moab? The bike is loaded in the trailer and ready to go. Okay, not completely ready, rear tire is worn out from this summer's riding and the front hub is starting to squeak, but I'm hoping for a bearing failure soon to justify new wheels (I'm glad Jen hasn't joined the forum)

Any thoughts on how best to tackle Route 66 and when Utah and Colorado become uninviting to trailer living?

[gator.bigfoot]

Originally Posted by bbandeddie

Any thoughts on how best to tackle Route 66 and when Utah and Colorado become uninviting to trailer living?

My experience is that after April it becomes unbearable without AC. As far as too cold, it would depend on how cold and how much snow. Some people camp all season in the snow, but it is not without it's issues. There a post on the here (http://www.airforums.com/forums/f459...yon-98031.html) about a couple that stayed the winter in the Grand Canyon. I don't think they will ever do it again. But very informative.

As far as how to tackle route 66, I think the internet is your friend. I've only been on a short piece of it.

[bbandeddie]

DRAT! Weather delay! Woke up this morning - our planned departure day to two inches of snow and snow squall warnings. Tomorrow not much better. Now waiting for Tuesday. Which means Wednesday for the work to be done at Can-Am and then border crossing on American thanksgiving. And this blows out our plan to have a tour at the mothership. So, right off the top, a lesson in travel. Don't bother with plans, they only go to poop as soon as the job starts. LOL

[blkmagikca]

bbandeddie -> Just pulled into JC. Currently 35F going down to 27F with a wicked wind. Hope to be on the road by Wednesday heading straight to AZ.

[bbandeddie]

We really blew it. We looked at the weather coming and said 'we should leave friday' but weren't quite ready.

[blkmagikca]

Left Ottawa Friday morning and got as far as Kitchener. Had dinner with friends & overnight on the street near their house. Saturday went to the Tilbury ONRoute. Hit the road this morning at 7:00 and arrived at JC before noon. Just got back from grocery shopping at Kroger in Sidney, because you can't bring most fruits veggies eggs meat into the US. My service appointment is tomorrow - 7:00am.

[blkmagikca]

BTW, traffic on the 401 from Ottawa to Toronto had delays - 2 accidents and down to 1 lane construction leading into Napanee. I took the 407 around TO - it's worth it to reduce stress. From TO to Kitchener, the 401 is a horrible mess with construction, not to mention hot shots in SUV's cutting off slower TV's pulling AS's.

[bbandeddie]

Yeah that section of 401 is brutal. We plan to take the backroads to London. Longer and slower but 401, yeah, awful.

[gator.bigfoot]

Originally Posted by bbandeddie

Yeah that section of 401 is brutal. We plan to take the backroads to London. Longer and slower but 401, yeah, awful.

It's not too bad on the other side of KW but Mississauga and Milton and the area in Cambridge is very bad. Don't forget that the I75 southbound is closed through Detroit. But I still find it faster to cross in Windsor (less border traffic) and just head up to the 94. Then down the 275 rather than cross in Sarnia. Just try to be on the I94 between 10 and 2, otherwise get ready for a lot of stop and go. Also be careful through Toledo. The road there has been under construction for at least 2 years and there are some really big bumps. Just go really slow and you'll be ok. Otherwise you will get a lot of sway and bounce. I was just down last week and it still isn't great through there.

[bbandeddie]

We were actually thinking of crossing at Sarnia and heading towards Flint rather than going through Detroit. Have you tried that route? (Edit: whoops, just re-read and see that you don't like the Sarnia crossing)