Let me introduce to everybody almost 1/2 of the Loosey Goosey Alaska 2017. They had a gathering at the Escapade today. We do have members out East and up North that just couldn’t make this loose gathering. We now have 22 rigs going to Alaska, very loose. I was sent this picture by Mark.
Carol & I will attend a dinner with these people come this Friday in Tucson, AZ.
Retirement can be quiet at times – yea!
See ya when we see ya…..
It’s not the greatest feeling not attending an Escapade that a lot of our friends are at. Let me search my memory cells – I think we’ve been at every Escapade since 2001. We started full timing in June 2000. For years they had two a year – one on the West coast and one on the East coast. We’ve made them all. Sometimes we were just attendees, then we were part of the staff, then we were vendors then back to staff. It was all fun being around friends. This is the first one that we will miss all of it. We will be there in the area Friday night to see some friends – yea. We will have to drive 475 miles to get there for a special dinner of Loosey Goosey members the same day we drive there. Not a good time to break down for sure… nah it won’t happen. We’re good to go.
I’ve read that the Escapade had Indian Tribal Dancers there opening day. I got had a secret admiration for that kind of stuff. My grandfather was 100% Cherokee. Maybe that’s why I like the open plains and the wilderness at the same time. Maybe I should do one of those DNA history search things.
I did nothing today except walk around the park twice. It was Carol’s first full day of line dancing. It’s nice that she has her favorite line dancing rallies that we can and do make.
Retirement is getting more involved in getting into trouble according to the wife.
See ya when we see ya… Friday?
I think I saw Carol once or twice today. Yes, Line Dancing is starting up. Think I will go lay down in a lower RV compartment and sleep until Friday.
Retirement is sleeping when you want or even if you need too.
See ya when we see ya…..
We get a call from Jean and Claudette. They wanted to see if we were available for lunch. Of course we were. About 2 hours later we met them at Applebee's in Hemet, CA. They drove their Slingshot down from their place in Joshua Tree. We visited them a couple of weeks ago so now they figured they would visit us and did. They have had this Slingshot a couple of years now. They’ve been all over the United States in it and then some. In 2011 they went to Alaska with us in their 40 foot See Ya motorhome which they still have too. When their not in their Slingshot they might be in their Artic Cat 4 wheeler side by side driving across some western states.
After lunch they followed us over to our camp site about 12 miles away. We talked and talked as friends do. It was nice to see them again. Not sure when we will see them again. Hopefully not too long…….
Just got the word from a friend who is at the Tucson Escapade. The Escapade people won’t or can’t let Carol & I come into the fairgrounds Friday and Saturday nights (paying). They’re other Escapees staying over those nights. Oh well, time does change things! I guess we will stay at??????
Retirement is being able to see friends more often unless it’s at the tale end of an Escapade.
See ya when we see ya.
We were up and out the door by 7:30 AM. We wanted breakfast over at Sun City just a few miles down the road.
We hit traffic. Drive in this mess everyday – no way! The breakfast was good in the small restaurant that we have ate at over the years. Not many changes in this Ma Pa type place.
Afterwards I went to the local barbershop that I’ve been using for many years when we are in the area. It’s short again. The haircut is off my list.
Carol went in the nearby Second Hand store to occupy herself while I was busy with the haircut.
Afterwards we went into Aldi (big grocery store) to see what was on sale. They had grapes for .89 cents a lb and canned tuna for .59 cents. I love both.
After lunch (BLT) back at the rig, Carol went line dancing for a few hours. I was left to get into trouble all by myself. I washed the bugs off the front of the rig. Their weren't many.
I don’t remember what we had for dinner. Bottom line it was good and I ate it.
Retirement is thinking out loud and not getting those looks – usually!
See ya when we see ya…….
The other day we decided to go to Julian, CA via back roads in the hills in the car. Sure am glad we were in the car because the road got small and a lot of sharp curves. We did a window tour of Temecula. A window tour is like a drive by. You just look thru the windshield as you go by.
Just another tourist town for sure. Bumper to bumper. A tour bus aggressively squeezed me out of my lane at the end of town. He was a very aggressive driver. I called his charter company and let them know about his driving. It probably wasn't the first time this driver endangered his passengers. His tactic of threating other drivers will catch up to him.
For you fans…..
Nice little metal replica…$30 bucks.
Next was a drive to Oakzanita Springs.
They had a major fire here back in 2003 or 2004 I think. It was a bad one.
Found some deer out in the grasslands
Then it was on to Interstate 8 to 15 and back home for us.
We had gone about 200 miles and was gone about 7 hours. It was nice to run thru the mountains even thought it was tiring.
The cat really missed us, right? She’s a little bit bigger than her house.
Retirement is the wife telling you what to do. Kinda like being at work and not getting paid.
See ya when we see ya……..
I’ve been working on our Alaska Marine Ferry schedule lately. Ahhh, just do it. Yes you can. Except you could spend a week in some places if your timing is off. The ships are reliable but they only arrive/depart certain places at certain times. Most ports have arrival/departures about 3-4 days a week. A few are only like Friday and Saturday each week. One is Sitka. We have to spend no less than 6 days there and that’s what we will do there. Most ports will be a four day stay. Another factor is the ship. There’s one that is a fast ship. Instead of taking the normal 16 hours at sea it takes like 10-12 hours. That’s what we’re gonna try and get hooked up with at certain ports. Most ships will take on the average about 4 hours between ports. Some shorter and a couple longer. No staying in your camper while at sea. We will not have reservations because it limits you on the length of stay. We might stay longer if we like it or stay shorter if we don’t. It’s not any cheaper either. Going up early in the season we shouldn’t have any big problems.
Our adventure via the boat will take approximately 29 days from Prince Rupert to Skagway. We are adding two islands that aren’t normally visited by all. They are Prince of Whales and Mitkoff islands. We will do some driving on these islands to the next port. Hey, it will be an adventure for sure. During our stays near these port cities we will do some boone docking and maybe a so called campground or two. I have a list of boone docking areas for each port. If we can’t find anything on our own so to speak, then we will check out my list. Then there is always the locals including the law to ask where to park it. Plus we will have the 110 Honda motorcycle we can ride short distances. We are planning to be in Skagway (Dyea NP) on Memorial Day (May 29). So if your in the area look us up. We’re in the camper with the ducks on the lid of the rear compartment if that makes sense.
Dave W. – you best get better real soon guy.
Like other Loosey Goosey 2017 members, we are talking about Alaska just about everyday one way or another. We won’t have our camper until about the end of this month. We’re in California and it’s setting in Texas under a roof waiting for our return. That’s a bummer.
The guy next to us has a 43-45 foot Winnebago Tour. He had it washed and waxed yesterday for a bit of money. Both his and our rig shine up real good. If you look at his wheels and our wheels you can see ours really out shine his like night and day difference. I’m badddddd and I know it……..
In the pass this park actually had a self vehicle wash. It was an old site that the park lets you wash your vehicles, usually cars & trucks. No cost. I will search it out. The car needs a touch up of where the automatic car wash missed last week. Update – park wash is closed for ever.
I got more info on our little trip down south in the car but I will wait till tomorrow or so.
Retirement is sometimes having too much time – nah….
See ya when we see ya…..
Yep, didn’t do anything really the last two days besides watching NASCAR.
Retirement is not really doing anything when you want.
See ya when we see ya….
We had about 50 miles to go today. We’re all clean and shiny and ready to go. We left about 10 AM for our ride down the hill into Banning foothills. Our campsite is down there somewhere. Here we go…
Carol opened here eyes when we got to the bottom via the road. No shortcuts today. The rig handled it very well. Exhaust brake on, RPMS kept at 2,500, hardly used the foot brake at all. that’s how it’s suppose to work and did.
Down in Banning that have some wall art. We got a few pictures.
Then we went on Interstate 10 for a few miles and got off onto route 79 in Beaumont. Another hill but nothing compared to morning wake up mountain.
Then we arrived at our membership park in Menifee, CA. The area is becoming an active area with new big shopping centers, eateries galore and a lot of traffic. The park is fine but when you leave it, it’s a friggin nightmare now with all the over crowded traffic and everyone wants to get where their going and fast. No thanks, not our thing.
Our site is big, level, FHU with 50 AMP. It’s free with our membership that we’ve had since 1999. The annual dues are now at about $500.
We went to PetSmart to get our kitty some special old cat food and her kitty litter . They had some kittys for adoption but we didn’t get any.
We then went to Aldi’s grocery store. Cheese blocks (16 oz) for $2.99, Thompson grapes .89 a lb, bananas .29 lb and plus we got a few other things like milk and bread. They had boneless, skinless chicken for $1.49 lb and some other meat specials, nope, we resisted.
For dinner we had left overs thrown together in one pan. It was interesting and edible. Our frig is big and bear compared to what it usually looks like. the same with the freezer and it’s down to about half. We are getting the frig ready to empty out in a few weeks or fit into the little camper frig/freezer. Oh yea, that’s called down sizing isn’t it? My weight is going up. What’s with that?
Oh, both the RV AC’s were running to cool the inside of the rig down. The front AC, the one that was replaced in Quartzsite in January, the drain is not working properly on it. It’s suppose to drain out the underneath of the rear of the rig. It’s not. It’s draining off the top of the roof where ever it wants. You know like they all use to do just a few years ago. Anyone familiar with the drainage of these new type systems? Let me know something would you?
Retirement is quitting one way of life and entering another.
See ya when we see ya……..
Yep, just setting around outside in the sunny cool day watching the birds hop around on the ground.
I put a little water in our fresh water tank. Then I disconnected the hose from the water spigot. Then I emptied our tanks and put away our sewer pipe. We usually do this the day before we leave and just leave the electric hooked up. One less thing to do in the morning especially when it’s nippy in the early morning (7-8 AM). During the day itself I put away our grill, chairs, and rugs. Again, less I have to do in the AM. Carol gets things done inside the RV to be road ready and I do the outside. After more than 16 years of doing this quite often, we have gotten it pretty well down. We both can hook up the car. Whoever hooks it up the other person checks it. Since we are not in a pull thru we will hook it up tomorrow morning.
The day was spent watching the birds, squirrels, and one gopher that was on a mission to tunnel all over this site. I guess you say he was as busy as a beaver.
Oh yea, I shined the wheels on the other side of the RV also. The rig looks real good with those shiny wheels. Now not to hit any rain for the next 2 1/2 weeks.
Retirement is having time to do those little jobs.
See ya when we see ya…….
Yep, we get these days sometime. It’s when you just set back and let the rest of the world go bye. Nothing happening of great importance. Nothing I have to do or should do that I will do or even can do. That’s a mouth full.
I thought I would tinker with the RV door clicker. It doesn't lock the door anymore. We got two clickers so it probably isn’t the battery. Neither one works. So next was to take apart the little door plungers on the frame of the chassis/door. Yep, one out of six was loose. So I bent the wire holder and put it back together. Yep, our door clickers now work.
Next was to shine my wheels. It’s been over a year since they were really done right. I’ve washed them but haven’t shined then at all until now. I forgot how tiring my fingers get shining these wheels. Plus, I’m setting on a little stool. Each one takes about a half an hour. I did the two on the passenger side. The other two probably tomorrow.
While I was doing this I got an offer of some help. I declined.
Last year here or maybe it was two years ago, I had one of these little guys attack my shoe. One problem. My foot was in it. These little guys are aggressive. I think it’s a gopher but not sure.
We had somebody walk by with their terrier type dog in tow. Well, Carol was walking our cat on a leash. The cat, Rainbow, went for the dog. It was funny as hell. The little dog wanted to say hello but Rainbow wanted a little more. They never really met but it was funny to watch a cat on a leash go after a dog.
Carol was busy cleaning the inside of the windows since the RV wash guys cleaned the outside. Damn, you can actually see thru the windows.
We had a leaking spigot back on our lot in Livingston. In two months it got pretty rough.
Jim Koca, our neighbor, replaced the spigot. Thanks Jim.
Seems like the main turn off is leaking and our spigot was leaking also. The leak caused a 1,200 gallon water bill leak last month. Our spigot really needed to be fixed and Jim fixed it. When we get back to Livingston we will let the water company know about their bad turn off valve. We won’t let them know now because we have a lock on it and don’t won’t them to cut it. It’s temporary fixed.
I cooked hot dogs on the grill. Isn’t that what RVers have for lunch who live in their RV? We have a daughter-in-law, red head, who actually thought that. She’s up to speed now. Lisa Koca, full timer-red head, doesn’t even know she has a stove in their RV. Right Jim? They eat out a lot.
Speaking of Lisa & Jim, they are going to Alaska this year as part of the Loosey Goosey 2017 group. We have 22 rigs in our group now. No, we won’t travel together like a caravan. We will leave the lower 48 states and go into Canada at different times. Some will travel in real small groups for awhile and split off and might travel with other people for a short time. Traveling with other rigs continually for 3-5 months just don’t work out in the long run normally. We have a member, Dave Wilson, who is in the hospital right now. We want your experience of Alaska. I think he’s staying longer in the hospital to play with the nurses. Do what the doctors say. Get well guy. Our prayers go out for you at this time of need.
Retirement is being relaxed when you want too.
See ya when we see ya.
The RV wash guys (3) were here at our site at 8 AM. They had shorts on and it was 41 degrees outside. They were gone by 9 AM and so was my $80+. They did a fair job at best. I would try someone else next time. Oh well, I didn’t have to do it and besides the park don’t let anybody wash their own rigs. Then we moved to another RV site far away from our very inconsiderate neighbors. While we were setting up in our new site a coyote ran across a few sites from us. OK, I think we are in the right site/area now. 
Here’s our front view…there’s a big creek running there in front of us. We are not under the trees but real close to them. No problem for the sat dish.
Here’s a view from our site.
Carol even got to walk the kitty cat.
The rest of the day was quiet. I think we had 5 or 6 vehicles come by us and 4 of them were park workers.
We got a debt card in the mail from our bank. We also got an envelope with a PIN number. It said it was for the check card. That didn’t seem right that one said debit card and the other said credit card. With a bank I don’t want to assume anything. I called them. They said they hadn’t updated the PIN number paperwork to reflect it saying debit card vice credit card. Now that’s the kind of stuff that needs to corrected before they send it out. Oh well, blah, blah, blah.
Retirement is not worrying about what the bosses at work might think.
See ya when we see ya……………
