LIVE'N ON THE COAST - 2014]

I have been completely derelict in my blogging for several months. Actually about a year. A lot has happened as you might guess, so I'm going to split this up into sveral parts. Yeah, I'm lazy and don't want to write the whole thing at once. We lived for three months at the Half Moon Bay RV Park in - you guessed it - Half Moon Bay, California - population 12,013. 
The park is a very laid back place compared to some we contacted. There's a limited number of RV parks in the San Francisco area and many have rules that exclude any RV older than 10 years. I tried to explain that the bus is essentially brand new - even emailed pictures. In the end, this was the best park we could've picked along the coast. When you enter the park you're greeted by a vintage Airstream which serves as the park hangout/lounge.

                                                                         

They put us on the busiest corner of the in the park. We think it was to add to the motif. So, we saw all the comings and goings in the park. Every now and then somebody would stop by to check out the bus. We had great neighbors and staff. The park is a little over a mile from tow
n and a quarter mile from the beach. It's usually a 20 minute drive on Highway 92 to the kids. I say usually, because on a nice weekend that same drive can take up to two hours. There are only three ways to get to Half Moon Bay - Highway 1 North, Highway 1 South, and Highway 92 from San Mateo. It's essential that you check traffic on the Google Maps app before getting on 92.  

   

With the park's relaxed rules, I was able to work on the bus the whole time we were there. The first project was to rewire the cooling fans on the radiator. As you may recall the fan thermostats could not take the heat and their circuit boards fried. I'd made a temporary fix on the way out, but I needed a permanent fix. I wired an available switch on the driver's console to a starter solenoid back in the engine bay. I needed a reliable 40 amps continuous back there. I added a solenoid to feed 4 awg wire to a fuse block and then 8 awg to each of four radiator fans. While I was on a wiring binge I installed new 4/0 cable on all the house batteries. I read an article on the best way to wire the house batteries. I had them wired in parallel in a daisy chain. I rewired them to a central lug bar with even length connections and then to the inverter. Now all batteries have the same charging and discharging amps rather than the closer ones giving and getting more of the load and charging respectively.
Other improvements included refinishing the entry steps, adding an outside outlet, and some interior painting. 

This is what living on the coast is like.

We were able to take the bus to The Pacific Coast Dream Machines event. A combination custom car, motorcycle, airplane, stationary engine, and anything else powered by an engine show. A taste of Dream Machines:

B-25

My California girls

One of five P-51's

                                                                                                                       
We headed home the end of April, stopping 4 days at Yellowstone. Hung out with all the wolf watchers that assemble every spring to.... watch wolves, and bears, and bison, and elk, and all sorts of wildlife right from the road!

 Next, The Summer of 2015.