Today I gave it a go to winterize my 1992 Fleetwood Flair Motor Home.  Earlier in the week I spent part of a day trying to locate the hot water tank by-pass valves and I found one!  I was elated!  I knew it had to have one and sure enough I found it.

So, with 3 gallons of RV Antifreeze in my hands I attacked the job!  I knew it would not take all 3 gallons, but since I was walking all of the 50 feet to the coach I decided to take them.

In the past I would winterize by buying 8 gallons of rv anti freeze and filling the hot water tank with 6 of those gallons, finish off the winterizing and then draining the hot water tank rv anti freeze back into the bottles.  Yes, it would be diluted some, but it still would not freeze.  Each year I would buy 2 more gallons and so forth.

This year I was bound and determined to find the hot water tank by pass system and only need two gallons to do the job.

I was also going to make sure I made notes as to how I accomplished the task in case someone else in the future needs to do it.  I did not have any instructions when I bought the coach.  I guess the other owners must have either lived where it was not necessary to winterize or they hired it done.

So, to the outside rear of the coach I went.  Opened up the access door to the water pump and pulled my handy dandy homemade connector and hose from its hiding place.  Unscrewed the cap on the side of the water pump and installed the connector with the hose to it.  Turned the valve above the connection to point at the hose and stuck the other end of the hose into a bottle of rv anti freeze.  Oh, I got the step stool out from inside the coach to set the bottle of rv anti freeze on.

Inside the area close to the water pump are two valves.  One I have to turn in order to fill the fresh water holding tank and when done, I turn it the other way to drain the tank.  The other is positioned closer to the water pump and I have no real idea what it is supposed to do.

Today, I decided that the “unknown” valve must be to help facilitate winterizing and so I turned it across from what it was.  And then into the coach I went.  I was filled with joy knowing I was going to only use about 2 gallons of rv anti freeze and by pass the hot water tank.  Happy Guy was I!

Into the coach and under the drawers used to hold knives and folks and things I pulled out a box of whatever we were storing there and turned the valve!  Life is good.

I have an old milk jug I have cut a hole in the side of that allows me to place it over the tap faucet to keep water and stuff from splashing all over the inside of the coach.  I placed it over the kitchen sink faucet and turned on the cold water tap.  Then reached over and hit the pump switch.  I could hear it hissing and I waited patiently for the pink fluid to push out the water from the line.  It hissed.

It hissed some more but nothing was coming out.  I scratched my head and then turned off the pump and went outside to see what was going on.  The one gallon jug was empty and fluid was pouring onto the ground!  YIKES!  That valve I turned caused the fluid to pour straight out of the pump and onto the ground!  Why on earth do they have that valve in the first place?

I reached in and turned it back the way it was, which happened to be lengthwise to the coach.  I felt a tag on the valve and picked it up, it was in my own hand writing and it said “To send water forward into the coach”!  Oh my, I just wasted a gallon of rv anti freeze.

Well with two gallons still remaining I knew I could still get the job done.  Here is the configuration of the valves at the pump area.

Water Pump valve points toward hose, first valve points toward the front and back of the coach, second valve points across the coach.

I put a second gallon of rv anti freeze on the step and put the long plastic hose into it.

Back inside I went.  Ok, now it should pump rv anti freeze for me.  I hit the pump and sure enough water began coming out of the cold water tap at the kitchen, pretty soon it was solid pink and I shut off the pump and the cold water tap.  Back into the bathroom I went with the old milk jug.  Put it over the bathroom sink and turned on the cold water tap.  Reached into the hall and turned on the pump.  Water soon turned to pink and that was done.  Off went the pump and off went the cold water tap.  Next the shower head, same drill and then the toilet and hand wand.  All spewing solid pink fluid.

Now for the hot water lines.  Back to the kitchen, on went the old milk jug and on went the tap, on went the pump…nothing.  HMMM.  Must be out of juice at the pump.  Off went the pump and outside I went.  Sure enough the jug was almost empty.  I put the third jug on the stool and put in the tube.  Back inside I went.  On went the pump, it burped and then stopped.  HMMMM.  I turned on the cold water tap, the pump began going and out came pink.  Off went the cold water tap, the pump stopped immediately.

I figured there must be another valve somewhere to the hot water tank.  I turned off the pump and started to search for a second valve to the hot water tank.  Pulling everything out from under the sink and the two drawers that hold knives and forks etc. I followed the hot water line as far as I could see it.  Nothing.  Now what?  I started reaching in behind the paneling and suddenly I could feel another valve.  This valve is located above the “easy” one to find.

I say to myself, this is a valve I need to turn, but how on earth do I get to it?  Soon I discovered the small panel under the sink was only held in place with velcro.  I removed the panel.  Access to the hot water temperature adjustment!  But not to the valve, unless I reach across, which is doable, but the valve is on the other side of the pipe.  I think again to myself, well, if this panel is removable, I wonder if the one in the little spice drawer is removable.  I pry at the top with my stubby fingers and pop!  Off it comes!

From this “opening” I can see the top of the valve that needs to be closed.  It has not been moved in a very long time and took me a bit with my handy dandy Gerber to get it to move and close.  Now things are really looking up.

Back to the pump, it’s on and water begins to pour out of the kitchen hot water tap almost immediately.  Soon it’s pink and off goes the pump and into the bathroom I go.  Bathroom sink done.  Shower head is last, sphushhhhhh, sphushhhhhh…..no fluid!  Off goes the pump.  Back outside I go.

Sure enough gallon number 3 is empty.  Dang, so close!

So, into the garage I go to see if by chance there is more rv anti freeze!  YES!  Behind the jug of windshield washer fluid is a half filled jug of rv anti freeze.  I’m a Happy Boy!  I’m a Happy Boy (sounds like a song doesn’t it?) and I was a happy boy indeed.  Now I can get the job done!

And so it went, I finished the job and that will be it until next Spring.

Here is the valve locations on the inside of the coach:

Notice the removable panels.

When I was done, I opened up both of the valves to the hot water tank and some fluid sprayed into the tank.  No big deal as it drained right out the outside drain hole.

So here is the whole story in a nutshell:

Set everything up before turning on the pump.  Start pump and turn on one faucet at a time until pink fluid comes out.  Flush toilet and turn on hand wand until pink comes out.  Make sure drains in sinks and shower get pink fluid into them.  two gallons will do the job, if you follow these steps!  Trust the Butt!

Additional Information:  The Low Point Drain valves for this 1992 Fleetwood Flair Motor Home are located behind the panel in the door opening under the fridge.  You have to lay down and work with one hand to unscrew the panel, but you can do it!

Bears Butt

Sept. 12, 2012

I had no idea there were soooo very many spammers and phishers out there in web land.  Thanks to the Weasel, I have to approve any comments that are made to my posts.  I’ll guarantee you one thing for sure, tomorrow I will have a minimum of 5 comments to this posting and they will say something like this:

“I’m so glad I post did find.  This is such information valuable to me.  Keep up the posting and to rid yourself of excess fat…..”

OR

“Glad I found you post, such good information, I bookmark for sure and all friends do to, but I have problem with rss feed so please email me at my posting address.  Keep up the good information posts”.

OR

“My friend told me about how well you write all of this valuable information may I use it on my blog site at “some site name”, I write paper and need this valuable information would you please give me your phone number so we can talk sometime soon.  This is such good site”.

WOW!  Can you believe such bologna?  For all the phishers and spammers out there…PLEASE TAKE A HIKE!  It will do you good, and maybe you will fall down and break a few fingers and be unable to type such foolishness.

I have my anti hacker, anti phisher, anti spammer knobs turned up on full and your system will go down very soon and cost you your home and apartment and hovel and bike and shoes and socks to get a new one.  Enjoy!

There!  My rant is over.

Bears Butt

Sept. 11, 2012

Sometimes I question the intelligence of some people.

High above the sleepy little town in which I live are three peaks that extend skyward and offer a spectacular view of the Wasatch Front mountains.  And in my opinion the view is the prettiest along the front.

Mountain Above Willard

The three highest points are called different things by different people, some call them the three sisters, but I call them North Peak, Middle Peak and South Peak.  Middle Peak has a flag pole on it and the flag waves beautifully in the breezes.  High winds up there have been known to topple the flag pole and rip the flag to tiny pieces.  What I’m saying is, even with all its beauty, it can be perilous to journey up there.  Even in good weather like we had yesterday.

The South Peak was yesterdays focus of an attempt to rescue two stranded hikers.  Why they were out on the edge of that peak is a mystery to me as there is no trail down off the face of it and only if you were a daring rock climber dude should you venture out to the edge as it is as close to vertical as rock edges can get without being vertical.

This is the view of a portion of that peak from above.

Just the edge showing of the South Peak

It looks from here to be an easy decent down to it and a quick look over the edge to get that breathtaking view of the town and land below.  Let’s go Joe, it’ll only take an hour.

After just 30 minutes of hiking we are almost to the peak.

South Peak

Isn’t that a pretty view of the peak Joe?

A mountain goat running down the backside of the peak

WOW!  Look Joe, a mountain goat is running down the backside of the peak.  Let’s go get a closer look!

Sure enough Joe and his buddy continue toward the backside of that peak and then climb up the edge you see in this picture.  Once on top the view is quite a bit like this one off the Middle Peak.

Middle Peak with the flag flying!

View from Middle Peak

Now, for those of you reading this and thinking it would not be so scary to be up there you might want to think again.  The South Peak is higher than Middle Peak, and in my mind it’s steeper.  And looking at this view down toward Willard, it is almost vertical.  South Peak is even more vertical.

This is a picture of the North side of South Peak and it looks like you could traverse that edge pretty easily, but again, one slip and you are going down!

North side of South Peak

No, that’s not Joe in the picture, that is my son Mitch, but you are looking at the North side of South Peak in the background.  The South side is almost a mirror image of this side, trust me.

Well Joe and his buddy did in fact climb up to the top of that peak yesterday and then Joe slipped and fell breaking both of his legs!  Now what?  Oh heck that’s an easy one, call 911 and everything will be better soon.

And that is what they did.  They were in a very ugly position high up on that mountain and Joe is down with two broken legs and his buddy needs to take care of him.  And in came life flight to the rescue.

Trying to find a landing place but unable

Several passes around the peak, Life Flight finally decided (wisely I might add) that is was not safe to land anywhere up there.  And so they dropped off water and other supplies to help the two spend the night.  Give Joe some morphine and tie him down so he won’t fall off the cliff and we will see you in the morning.

Leaving the scene

And so, it is now up to the Search and Rescue people to risk their lives to go and get Joe and his buddy off of a cliff they had no business being on the first place.  I feel a bit sorry that Joe broke his legs, I hate to see anyone in pain, but I also think it’s absolutely stupid for someone to put not only their own lives in a perilous spot, but to drag others into it as well.

I herald the bravery and dedication of the Search and Rescue people, the Life Flight pilots and crew, the volunteer fire departments and the police.  What a wonderful bunch of dedicated people we have at our finger tips.  We can be as stupid as we want and when we get in trouble, we can always count on them to save us.

Joe and Buddy…I’ll bet you will not do this stupid thing again….Please leave these mountain peaks to these guys!

Goat can be seen in Cabelas Store in Lehi!

Bears Butt

Sept. 9, 2012

It was such a beautiful early Fall day today and instead of doing what I really need to do, I called up the Weasel and he and I took a short trip to the Perry, Utah Gun Range.

In an earlier post on this site I told you about their hours etc.  It is a brand spanking new gun range in Northern Utah and is something we have been needing for a very long time!  Thanks to folks like the Friends of the NRA (Cache), the National NRA, private local companies etc. the range has been partially completed and is up and running on Saturdays only right now.

We talked with a couple of the range masters today and they told us that a cover for the cement range is due to be installed beginning next week and should be done in a week or so.  It will be very nice when that gets done.

So, where is this range?

Turn West off of highway 89-91 at 3000 South, Go west on this street for about 3 blocks (to the stop sign) and then turn right on 1200 West, you are only going to travel about 1/4 of a block before you turn left on 2950 South.  Follow 2950 until you pass under the interstate and then make another left turn, about 1/2 a block later you will turn right and be on the road that takes you to the gun range.

Heck…here is a picture to help you:

West on 3000 South, Right on 1200 W, Left on 2950 South, Left after the interstate underpass, Right on the road to the range.

As you enter the range area there is a warning sign telling you about shooting and fun stuff like that and the view looks like this:

So far they only have cement down where the shooting platform is and it is nice and wide.  They currently have six shooting tables, but have five more being made to place between each of the ones they have up now.

End of range looking South

End of range looking North

All of this cement will be covered with an awning in a couple of weeks but as for today, it was very pleasant to be sitting in the sunshine.

Again, talking with the range masters, they are currently only open on Saturdays and open the range at 10 a.m. and they shut the range down every 30 minutes for people to set up new targets.  You can plan your day around that.  The range is closed at 2 p.m.  The days and times will change as more interest is shown in using the facility.

Currently the range has four basic distances at which to shoot.

Plinking and 50 yard distances:

Swinging plinking targets and the 50 yard range

Range distances of 100 yards and 150 yards

100 and 150 yards

And the farthest today is 200 yards.  Believe me, when they said it was 200 yards I about crapped!  It looks like 300 yards and I would have lost a six pack of Oly on that one.

200 yards

As time goes on, they plan on removing that big berm you see beyond the 200 yard range and will open things up to 1,000 yards!  That will be a fun deal to watch someone shoot.  No way in heck could I ever hit a target out that far.  I have doubts about the 200 yard distance right now.

At any rate, there you have it and it will be a great addition to our area in the shooting sport world!

Get on out there and support it.  Let’s make them all know we need it open more hours than the four currently being done.

Bears Butt

Sept. 8, 2012

IN A COMMENT BELOW THIS STORY:

The range master for this range has indicated the range is now open from 9-5 on Saturdays and Sundays!  And you can go to Perry cities web page at perrycity.org to see current pictures of the range and see upcoming events!  I thank him greatly for this information!  I wonder how he found this site?

Today’s bizzare holiday is “National Neither Rain Nor Snow” day!  The local forecast calls for clear today, but in my search for where it might rain or snow I found something that is really amazing to me!

A website specifically dedicated to “snow” and it covers the entire world.  Of course its main aim is on ski resorts, but their forecast folks don’t let the rest of the world go either.

Now, my question is just how accurate are these guys!

If you look at their maps, you can see that they are predicting snow in the Bear Lake Area of Utah (North East part of the state) for this Sunday, Sept 9, 2012!  SNOW?  It’s only Sept. 7 today.  Do we ever get snow this early in the year?  Have the hummingbirds been telling us this all along? (read earlier posts)

And then they say there will be snow in the Evanston Wyoming area, plus the Uintah mountains and of course our hunting area on Monday, Tuesday and into Wednesday, next week.  HMMMMM.

Check it out:  http://www.snow-forecast.com/maps/static/mont/full

Bears Butt

Sept. 7, 2012

Magpie was kind enough to call me and ask me to post up the following information.  Thanks Magpie!

2012 Deer hunting information:

After the big game drawing in Utah there were 682 remaining archery deer tags and 339 remaining muzzleloader tags for Unit 2.  These tags became available for over the counter purchase on July 19th.

The Utah DWR has recently announced there are still 296 archery tags available for unit 2, but no word on how many of the muzzleloader tags are still left.

BUT, beginning Sept. 17th, any unsold archery tags will automatically convert to muzzleloader tags.  There is a better than good chance there will be some of those tags left that will convert.  SO, if you did not draw a muzzy tag and wish to do so, you need to get ready to purchase one beginning at 8 a.m. on Sept 17th.

Another note:  All unsold muzzy tags automatically convert to general rifle deer tags on October 9th for those who wish to purchase one at that time for the general rifle season.

Since Utah’s deer hunt areas have been split up into 30 different units, not every unit had left over tags after the drawing.

Good luck to all!

Bears Butt

Sept. 5, 2012

Today’s special holiday should not be difficult for most to accomplish.  It seems that most peoples attitudes are “I’ll get there when I get there”.  And so, with that, today is,  “National Be Late for Something” day!

For those of you who are planning on attending a great party tonight, you might not want to be too late, as the ice might melt and you will have to consume warm drinks.

If you have a doctors appointment, you might not want to be late for that either, because just like going to doctors offices everywhere, you get there on time, sign in, wait and wait and finally get called back to a waiting room (imagine a waiting room after waiting in a room for a long time), where you wait some more until the doc finally comes in to see you.

In these cases, if you are late for your appointment, you will be put on a back burner until the next late person arrives, when your appointment will be put into their time slot.  I’d try and get there early and not support today’s important holiday.

Bill, if you are reading this, you might not want to be late for your plane ride back home….just sayin.

So, how in the heck can you enjoy todays Be Late for Something day?

That is actually harder to decide than most things.  Most people have scheduled things they feel important enough to make an appointment for and don’t really want to miss that appointment.  Hair cuts, lawyer visits, bank appointments, weddings, funerals (of friends of course), fishing or hunting times, surgeries, dates with very special friends…the list goes on and on.

AH HA!  I have it, but for most of you it’s too late because you are already there.  WORK!  Be late to go into work!  The boss has to excuse you doesn’t he/she?  After all this is a NATIONAL HOLIDAY for heaven sakes!

I wish you the best with that one, but it is the only one I can see being late for.

Enjoy your day!

Bears Butt

Sept. 5, 2012

Early this afternoon Sherry and I are heading for rendezvous.  It’s the Willow Creek Free Trappers 29th annual rendezvous and this year, like last, will be held on the banks of the Willow Creek, from which our clubs name is derived.

The Booshway and Segundo (Weasel and Hot Spark) are promising a very good rendezvous and last evening, while helping to set up the range and hawk blocks I saw where there are a TON of prizes for the raffle.  Including several of No Grimaces’ chain saw bears!

It’s going to be a great time for sure.

Camps are filling up fast but as far as I can count there is still a lot of room for more in the meadow between the creeks.  I’m guessing about 70% of the people coming to rendezvous have put their camps up and are just waiting until they get off work for the week to come in a play.

The weather looks very promising to be a bit cooler than the past couple of days and there is a slight (30%) chance of rain.  We could actually use a little rain.

We need for the raccoons and skunks to stay on their side of the creeks and not raid our camp while we sleep.  I hear that Sir Butt may be in attendance and also I promised I would reveal the rest of my “chant” song.  I hope to get some of the young people visiting the camp to help me, because just like Sir Butt, Bears Butt can not carry a tune in a bucket.  My whole goal with this chant is to firmly plant it into everyone’s head so that it is the only “song” they can think about all weekend long.  I get big old grins everytime I think about it.  🙂

29 years of rendezvous is a long time and the size of the group is growing continually.  I love it and everyone seems to really have a good time.  There is something for everyone here and I hope that if you can’t come this year that you will make it a scheduled stop in your plans for next year, our 30th annual and that will be a very special one.

ROOONNNNNDDDDDEEEEEVVVVVOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Bears Butt

August 30, 2012

I hate the thought of having a hook deeply planted into my skin or finger or anywhere, but if you fish long enough, you or someone you are with is going to have it happen.

Here is what is touted as a painless way to remove a hook stuck in your skin.

Good luck with that one!

Bears Butt

August 29, 2012

This was an email from one of my cousins: