On 23 May @ 0630 I left Colorado Springs in the Stagecoach and headed south on I-25 towards Pueblo, CO to have the engine tweaked at Wagner, the nearest Cat authorized service center, Durango CO would be my destination when they were done. The last time they worked on it, it was adjusted too low resulting in poor performance and an apparent reduction in MPG. I told them I would be going over La Veta and Wolf Creek Passes so they said they'd turn it up a bit higher.

It was a bit weird going on a family trip and not having anyone with me in the coach. This was because it was the last day of school and the girls wouldn't be out until noon. If I waited for them, it would be 3-4PM before we got out of Wagner and then all of the Memorial Day traffic would be on us, putting us into Durango well after dark. Being practically brand new at travelling by coach, setting up in the dark doesn't interest me.

While they were working on the Stagecoach, I stayed busy trying to install a new toilet I bought the day before so time went by quickly. By the way, the dealership said putting the toilet in would be a snap, it wasn't. The plumbing would not hook up due to the different angles so it was eventually put back in the box and put inside one of the storage bays.

By 10AM, I was back on I-25 heading for the US-160 turn-off in Walsenburg that would take me west to Durango. The farther I drove, the uglier the skies to the southwest became. I found out there was a winter storm warning in effect along my route and I could see it might get a bit interesting, especially going over the two passes. There are a number of things I love about this Barth, one of them being its roadworthiness in crosswind situations. I was born and raised in Colorado and I can tell you there are areas where winter is always around the corner, Wolf Creek Pass is one of those locations where it snows every month of the year. Obviously, during the summer months, there won't be any accumulation but the accompanying temperatures can be a problem if you are riding a motorcycle and left the warmer areas wearing a tank top, shorts and tennis shoes. I only mention this because when I got into the weather, I saw this type of attire along US-160 where many motorcyclists had pulled over. Dressing like this on a motorcycle is never a good idea but when inclement weather is mixed in, it can certainly ruin the trip. I must say, I was dressed like this as well but I had cold weather gear in the closet whereas most motorcycles are lacking in that area.

As I headed west, I decided calling work might be a good idea to see what they were looking at on radar. The radar and road conditions report I got were not good and they (co-workers) suggested I turn around. Although I've been driving in the white stuff since I was 16 (this = a long time), I had never driven through it in a coach before and it is always worse on a mountain pass where 6-7% grades exist along with hairpin turns. But hey, I have a motel room a few yards away so I pressed on. The phone call letting me know my sister had turned around in her Jeep/Subaru (I don't know which) caused a bit of concern but I pressed on. A few minutes later I hit high wind; the worst of it was what I'd estimate to be in excess of 40 with gusts a bit over 50. The Stagecoach handled great although it was a bit disconcerting when I passed two 18 wheelers going the other way. To go from 50 mile an hour wind to 0 and back to 50 in little more than a second certainly got my attention.

A few minutes later, two things happened, 1. I hit the heavy snow and the wind shifted a bit more off my nose. 2. The wipers quit working due to the high wind. I pulled over and tried WD-40 on the wiper mechanism and that helped the driver side wiper a great deal. The passenger side just could not handle pushing against that much wind so it remained in the off position. I hit a lull in the storm as I came into a small town so I stopped and wiped the windshield dry and applied some Rain-X I had. This worked great until the rain turned back into snow but the left wiper was working fine so I kept going until I heard a loud racket coming from the roof. I thought the high wind was finally having its way with my A/C cover or something else up there was giving way and bouncing down the roof until it cleared. I looked out the mirror expecting to see something hitting the road behind only to see the noise was being caused by my driver side awnings extending fully and then collapsing back to the coach. Luckily, there wasn't much traffic coming from the other direction, a big truck could have "removed" the problem. I pulled over and realized there was nothing I could do about it. I realized the problem went away once I was below 45-50MPH so I got back on the highway and kept my speed down.

I finally made it over both passes, Wolf Creek got two feet of the white stuff but the plows were running so it was really never a factor except at one point and low speed took care of that. I made into my brothers ranch about 5PM and set up. My wife and daughters arrived about three hours later and my sister, she missed a great weekend!

The Barth seemed to feel right at home. One of the neat things about my brothers’ ranch is that it used to be a stage stop in the 1800s. Although the buildings are long gone, the well is completely in tact. This had nothing to do in selecting the nickname for this coach but now it is a bit more special.

We spent the weekend at the ranch and left Monday afternoon for Pagosa Springs. Sorry, the Stagecoach went into storage for the week. We got home on Friday evening and the only glitch was a lack of power when plugging into shore power (his barn). I checked it before departure and again after getting home where it worked perfectly. We were forced to use the generator since temps were still in the low 30s at night. It was a great weekend; we were there for our nephews’ high school graduation. One of the highlights was when, due to the number of people there, upon entering the Stagecoach; you could typically find 10-15 people sitting around talking. No, I don't have seating for that many, at the moment, I can handle 10, 11 when I'm done. Two were standing in the galley, two of the daughters were sitting on laps and one sitting on the ottoman, the rest were seated as designed. His house was busting at the seams and there were a number of older people in there that were having a hard time with all the commotion. As a result, it spilled over to the Stagecoach. I don't know why but I really enjoyed seeing my brother entertain his friends in my coach.

quote:

Originally posted by towerguy:
I don't know why but I really enjoyed seeing my brother entertain his friends in my coach.

Because you're a class act.

Did you find what caused the problem with the awning? I carry "Extra Heavy Duty" zip ties for issues like this - I would highly recommend everyone carry these in your Barth for those "Little Problems"

Patio awnings open because the roller latch is not in the right position, is weak or fails. Zip ties on the arms will will not help, as the roller can unfurl with the arms tight together and tight up against the coach. The present owner of one of my previous SOBs had that happen to him, believing that my cautions were typical bill h overkill.

The newer A&E patio awnings have an improved latch mechanism that has no reported failures. It can be identified by the loud ratchet clicks heard as the awning goes up and down. Older A&E awnings can be retrofitted with this new end cap assembly.

If that is not an option, there are several good commercial devices on the market, and several home-made ideas out there.

A compact barrel bolt lock can be attached to the upper arm so the pin goes into a hole in the roller. The screw eye is an addition that allows the awning rod to operate the bolt.



A hole can be drilled in the outside of the roller at the end, and a hook, spring and cable can be attached farther down on the arm to prevent unrolling. The S hook on the end of the cable hooks (under spring tension) on the hole in the foot of the arm. A smaller version of this secures my window awnings.





Be sure to use a strong spring with this. One fellow copied this design, but used a bungee that he thought was strong enough. Alas, it was not.

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The awning pull down rod can be stuck in the roller groove and secured to the arm to prevent unrolling. This is a little dodgy, as it depends on everything rolling up exactly the same each time. I find that hot desert summer and freezing winter conditions make things vary a little for this method to do well for our particular awning.

The springs might be a bit weak but they seem just right when pulling them down. The only awning that has a lock mechanism is the large one on curbside. The other three are spring loaded and were not a problem in the last windstorm I was in. I'm hoping it was a result of highway speed coupled with stronger wind off the nose. I have a feeling they might have done this even when they were new.

We have even had our window awnings opened by high winds while parked. Our window awnings are not metal-wrapped, so we secure them with the hook-and-spring method described a coupla posts ago.

If your window awnings are metal-wrapped here is a good way to secure them:

http://www.zipdeeinc.com/diagram_awningtravellatch.htm


They have two sizes, one for patio awnings, and one for window awnings. They are nice people, and will deal direct.

Thanks Bill! I went to the site and saw a part that looks exactly like something I have in a plastic bag in the coach. My thinking is someone purchased this kit and never installed it. I have metal encased Zip Dee awnings and I believe they are original.

I have that ZipDee lock on my porch awning, and bought them for the window awnings but never put them on. What you described was the street side window awnings swinging out. Maybe the spring is not tight enough; mine are really tightly held in the closed position.

All my awnings have little hooks that swing into an eye on the coach side - this keeps 'em from unfurling, although I'd guess the springs are strong enough to hold normally. Only the large curbside awning has uplocks.