So we are still losing a bit of coolant after the radiator swap. I think now it is the funky expansion tank that we have as now that the system is holding pressure it is leaking around the center radiator cap. Not sure why Mercedes designed it like this but I know they soon replaced the tank with a different one that, in my mind, makes sense. So, now we have a replacement tank on order from the UK. And, I finally found a Dometic support person that took a bit of time and effort and helped us out. Their normal response is to contact the Dometic center in your country, but after carefully explaining that the USA support center wanted nothing to do with the RTX2000 (and the UK support person directly tried with the USA support), UK stepped in. But of course Covid stops them from shipping directly from Europe to the USA. Never easy right? Luckily I found a UK service that will repost the package via DHL (actually not only the UK, I now have several personal addresses in other European countries). So a replacement PCB are on the way! The current plan is to meet up with both packages in Moab Utah, where we have an old sailing friend who happens to work for the US Forest Service so knows a lot of cool out of the way spots there.
And I have finally started to put in the onboard air system. The compressor is mounted, dash switch and relay in place. I have to wait now for a few items from Amazon (regulator and pressure switch), which strangely now requires more time for "Prime Shipping" than getting the expansion tank and PCB from Europe.
And now the travel update. Last night was another truly epic campsite on the north rim of the Grand Canyon, took about a 30 mile drive on dirt roads to get here but it was worth every minute. The dispersed sites are in Saddle National Wilderness and along with the sites there are hiking trails, today we will walk along the rim towards Grand Canyon National Park (which is closed due to Covid). All the canyon is park but in certain areas the plateau is either park, wilderness or American Indian reservation. Luckily most wilderness designated areas are still open as they are truly remote.
We also visited Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, which is about 30 miles as the crow flies north. It is home to the worlds longest slot canyon and is truly amazing. You can backpack thru but you need a lottery assigned permit for that, so we had to settle on a day hike, but we made it a long day so got to see heaps. It was on another 15 mile dirt access road, kind of why we really need to get the air system set so we can air back up after airing down.
One last thing, given our love of hiking and the size (and my lack of 4wd experience) of the truck the motorbike was a great idea. We are using it to get to rough trailheads and scouting out the road once it starts to get a bit dicey to make sure we can get the truck in safely. Can't now imagine doing a trip like this without one.
