Griffin RVing: Manitou Springs Colorado

This is a small park with tight spots 20X45 which is pretty typical for this area around the Garden of the Gods. We chose this place because it is a smaller park with no pool ( no kids) and we can walk to the local public parks or to downtown Manitou Springs. Garden of the Gods is close enough that you can ride your bike if you want. We have an unusual site. There are sites all the way around the perimeter that people back into, we have a site that is in the middle of the campground such that we are parked "perpendicular" to everyone around the perimeter, so that there are not any RVs on either side of us.

The weather since we arrived in Colorado Springs has been very comfortable, we have only had a few days of 90 degree weather and that was with low humidity. At nite it cools off so typically we can turn off the air conditioner at night and just open the ceiling vents to bring in cooler air.

Since we moved to Manitou Springs 7/28, it is slightly cooler here since we are right at the base of the mountains. This is also "Monsoon" season here and for the last 4 nites we have had rain every evening starting around 6pm. Typically the rain is light but steady, havent had the strong winds like at the Foot of the Rockies, I think that is because the Foot of the Rockies is too exposed to winds from all directions. We seem to be a little protected from the winds in this park. Fortunately this place has a lot of gravel so we are not having to deal with the mud like we would have if we were staying at the Foot of the Rockies. Weather has been perfect for us, we can usually get by with running just one air conditioner during the day instead of 2 which is due to the weather and the location.

Oh and when we parked the motorhome and tried to put down the leveling jacks, they are really needed to level and stablize the motorhome so it doesnt rock from side to side when we walk around inside or if the wind is blowing, they would not go down. Using the troubleshooting guide it appears to be a shuttle valve which basically is supposed to allow the hydraulic fluid to flow in the right direction depending upon if we are raising or lowering the jacks has failed. Not something I can easily get to so I called a local RV Mobile Repair, Turbo's, and he came out and confirmed its the shuttle valve. This was on July 30. He called back today August 2 to say HWH doesnt have the part in stock and it will be 2 weeks. This is a small $55 part and they dont have any inventory! It is not unusual for this part to fail, so it is disappointing they dont have any inventory. Apparently HWH isnt building up their parts inventory, it must be due to the economy. So I called the motorhome manufacturer Tiffin and they had the part at a slightly higher price and will send it to me. Part is scheduled to be installed August 5 and hopefully nothing else is wrong with the leveling jack system. I have heard people on RV forums complaining about long lead times for parts from HWH, that is disappointing to hear. They are a major supplier of hydraulic leveling systems and slideout systems for the RV industry.

We were originally supposed to be in this site 4 nites but after looking at the other sites decided to stay here. Our leveling jacks are not working, to be fixed Aug 5, so leveling would be a problem. But this site works for us. We sit on the driver side outside in the shade of the motorhome.