On The Road Again & Again – yea..

It was a real nice visit with TS & Harrell.  We will be back! We departed about 8 AM today with 185 miles to go to Sonora Caverns. The morning felt like and looked like it was going to rain. It never did.  We paid $3.01 for diesel just west of the city of Sonora.  Yesterday near Livingston we paid $2.89.  Two weeks ago it was around $2.69.  We will get fuel near El Paso and then just again before California.  It’s $3.20 and really up from there.   Here at Sonora the campsites are $17.43 for 50 AMP & water.  They are adequate. Pictures will tell the rest of today. Pretty good day…….

 

   

 

  

NASCAR - go Tony.

See ya…….

Departure Day

We rolled out of the lot at 7:30 AM.  We weren’t in a hurry it just worked out that way. We stopped several times during our 250 mile trip today. No where special.

We did all types of road but no interstates. They all were pretty nice.  We did go on some back roads especially when we started getting close to our destination.  

Then we arrived at Tommie Sue and Harrell’s place and hooked up.

Ken & Jan Tilton came over to socialize.  Ken brought his new camera and had some questions for me about my large 500 mm lens.  We sat out on the porch and talked a lot about Alaska.   TS and Harrell were up there in 02 and Ken and Jan were up there in 09 when we were up there last.  We even ran across them while we were up there.

They fixed us dinner.  It was really nice to have someone else do all the fixins. I wonder where all the steak and & shrimp went to.

Look what Carol found when she went to get the ice cream.  Hey, they like ice cream too.  I had to carry Carol home in the dark. She refused to walk on the ground in the dark with these wild bugs around.

Tommie Sue was explaining all the things she can do with a quilt on a bed.  Whose was that underwear laying on the floor in the corner?

We fixed all the world problems past and present and went back to our rig for a restful evening.  Besides, they were out of wine……..

Tomorrow we head for Sonora Caverns.

See Ya…………

Here Today Gone Tomorrow

Got a call from Don & Sharon yesterday.  They should be rolling in here at Livingston about Sunday or so.  Let me see, we leave and they come in just afterwards.  What’s up with that?  Trying to give us another complex?

It’s 6:30 AM right now and it’s above 50 degrees outside, that’s good.  Still time to leave. 

We had Mom Hill over last night for dinner.  She wanted dark chicken so I cooked some light chicken on the grill and served it in the dark – thus dark chicken.  She says the dark chicken is more tender.  Hey, I can cook the tenderness out of any meat without even trying.

Today just the little things to take care of.  Wash the car, hook the car up later today, disconnect everything except the electrical, go thru the mobile and make sure nothing is left behind, do walk thru with the shed and the barn and lock them up, check underneath the rig and make sure we got our business '’stuff” and then set back and enjoy. 

Wayne is now our new model for the RV Driving School.    

He even showed some leg.  Talk about being white legged. 

 

Then he drifted away carrying his bag so dainty.

 

For lunch we went to the Chapter 10 luncheon at the Texas Re Pepper.  Their were over 50 attendees.  We enjoyed seeing everybody even though we didn’t get a chance to chat.  

Then later that day Dave and Brenda arrived in the park and visited us.  Brenda brought me some special pork butt rub I will have to try when we get back.

 

See ya……………..

Another 48 Degree Morning

At 7 AM I was going to got out and do the windows.  then I looked at the outside temperature gauge, 48 friggin degrees.  Nope, not yet, probably a little later. Where’s those eggs and taters?

My Pressure Pro Tire Monitoring system is going bananas because of the cold air.  I will have to readjust the tire sending do dads to the temporary cold weather.  Why is it temporary you ask.  Because we are leaving Saturday. It’s 1600 miles to Pomona and we are planning 5 nights 6 days on the road getting there. That’s not real fast for us at all, kinda slow.  One night at TS and Harrell's near San Antonio, one night at Sonora Caverns (see caverns), one night at Passport America Balmorhea, TX, one night at SKP park in Deming, NM, one night in Quartzsite in the desert.  Then drive into Pomona the next day from there. We set up our booth the day of arrival.  The next day the show opens and I start two seminars a day for ten days plus a booth.

I just came back from the stores.  Dog on where is the fuel shortage.  Fuel jumped up over 15 cents per gallon for diesel and gas this week.  I guess nobody important is watching the oil companies so they figure it’s O.K. to raise the prices a little.  Fast to raise and so slow to lower.  I will have to fill up when we leave and I will take about 75-80 gallons. Damn that’s 10 bucks increase on a tank or a breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Oh well, Cracker Barrel that’s one less meal there.  We’re trying to help the economy.

I did finally do the windows before the sun started to beat on them.  I also got some more do dads from Lowe’s to raise the mud flap up another half inch or so.  That I will do tomorrow.

Tomorrow will be our last get ready to depart day.

Here’s a blast from the past……….. 

See Ya……………..

Simple Day

Another simple day.  I went to Lowe’s and got a good deal on a garden wagon.  It was listed for $90. the girl asked if I wanted the assemble one or the box one.  I asked how much for each.  she said the assembled one was $10 less.  I said I would take that one.  Plus another 10 per cent for being a veteran.  They forgot to do it at the register so I will go back tomorrow and ask for it. I got it back and had to take it apart to get it to fit in the RV.  We will need it at the RVIA Pomona Show.  Carrying and putting up seminar/sound equipment everyday for 10 days gets old real quick when you have to carry it back and forth each day.  The wagon fits the bill.

This is part of the equipment plus the sound “stuff”.

While I was at Lowe’s I got some smaller do dads to raise the height of the mud flap on the RV. I raised it about a half of inch.  I would like to raise it about another half of inch which would be max height.  The closer to the ground the more gravel it will kick up on your tow behind.  Thus you raise it with do dads.  With Alaska in mind I decided to raise it now before I forget.

Next on the agenda wash to wash the rig.  So when the sun started to set down behind the trees which was about 5:30 PM I washed the rig.  Then I dried it as much as I could without jumping on a ladder.  It took about 2 hours.  I got another hour on the windows and water spots to clean.  Then I go for the wheels.  That will probably take another  hour plus some.  Plus I got to put some protective “stuff” on the Diamond Shield (front end). I just don’t get why everybody loves that stuff.  I think it’s a rip and a lot of extra time to keep it very clean.  Bugs ruin it pretty quick.  Kinda defeats the purpose of protecting the front end.  I would never buy it again and would prefer not to have it even if given free.  It’s just a hassle.

See Ya……………..

Reservations Already!

I just made reservations for January 3rd at Pilot Knob for 11 nights under the AOR system.  Why so far out?  They owe is 11 free nights is one reason and we want to make sure we get the exact dates we desire. There we take care of our medical/dental  “stuff” down at nearby Algodonus, Mexico.  You might or might not believe this but we have a schedule almost by everyday through 2011.  It’s in jello folks.  It’s to give us, an RVer, something to go by knowing it will change at any given time.  As dates get closer we firm them up.  Only 4 things  are set in concrete at this point for 2011 and they are – Jan & Feb warm area, Gypsy Journal (Mar), Carol’s Line Dancing Event (Mar),  April & May along west coast probably then the trip to Alaska (May-Aug), Escapade (Sep). Everything else can and will change but we need some direction now and this is it.

Cleaning House (RV) underneath.  We will be back from California in a month so we are taking “stuff” out that we won’t need.  When we come back to Livingston for Nov-Dec we will reorganize “stuff”.  It’s nice to be able to store “stuff” here at my Mom’s lot.  Ten years on the road and it really accumulates.  Now it can accumulate and lighten our load being in the Barn we had built when last here in March.

Our compartments are either empty or half full. 

  

I checked the water level in my six 6 volt batteries. Four on the right and two more or the left.  Then two more 12 volt starting batteries right behind the four on the right. The 6 volts took on some distilled water.  I run them half way maybe a little more between the plates and below the plastic ring from the top.  A lot of people run them at the bottom of the ring.  I have found that it gases to much and makes a mess.  I might check these babies about every 2-3 months.  No problems.  These are a little over a year old.  Our golf cart needed batteries last year and I couldn’t see putting 6 new batteries in a golf cart.  So, I put them in the rig and those 1 year old batteries in the rig became golf cart batteries.  duh….  the device in the middle compartment are the electronics for our hydraulic jacks.

Mark was invited over for dinner as well as Frank was.  Marlene has gone to visit relatives in California.  We talked and made plans for Boot Camp.  Boot Camp will be here next month and then one in Congress, AZ come early February.

 

There goes Frank off in the sunset to be seen again probably at Gillette, WY come September.

Bud & Cathie did a drive by.  I think they got a new vehicle.  We liked the 4 door jeep but didn’t care for the poor fuel mileage.  Bud & Cathie live around the corner.  Since we were here first we figured they moved close to us because they wanted to be near us.  Yea right!………smile………..

Tomorrow I think I will test the movie screen for visibility in bright light – well maybe poor light.  We will be in a tent in Pomona and will try to simulate that. Hope it works.

See ya………..

Getting Cold – Time To Leave….

I got up this morning at 4:15 AM.  Nothing real unusual about that for me.  This is when I work on “stuff” like the Escapees Boot Camp driving lessons scheduled for early November.  I work on schedules for going to Pomona later this week.  I also look at our Alaska schedule and just do some general dreaming.  I read Nick’s blog and do our own blog. Then about 5:30 AM or so if nothing got me interested I go back to bed for an hour or so.  This is pretty routine for me.

This morning when I got up I noticed it was a we bit chilly like in 48 degrees outside.  I turned on one of the heat pumps.  These things are great.  They do eat electricity but don’t smell and they aren’t as loud as the furnace heat.  We very very seldom run the furnace heat. I test them (2) ever so often and that’s about it.

Remember when we had steaks the other night and had left overs.  I fix my own breakfast of champions.

 

OK. I started out rewiring my CB radio this morning.  It’s a real nice radio with a 100 watt kicker.  Hey, if you are going to run with the big boys you got to sound like a big boy……….

The Freightliner dashboard electronics didn’t like my wiring into the ignition.  Every time I would talk on the CB the wipers would come on.  It was great in the rain. Then my brother in law the Freightliner mechanic said I better not talk on it no more until I rewired it.  So, I wired into the back of a 12V dash socket.  It seems to work OK.  The wipers don’t come on. Guess I will fined out down the road.  Since I was under the dash I removed the wiring for my Wilson Kick But Amp and all the wires that go with that.

Then I rolled up the cable from the Wilson Trucker Antennae and put that in an upper compartment. I then removed the aftermarket carpet around the doorway entrance. We were putting carpet on top of tile then carpets on it.  It just didn’t make sense. It goes in the “barn”. Since I got a lot of little tools out I thought I would go for it.  I took out the ice maker and installed a new one.  It was a little #%&*# but I finally got it out.  I guess I have to wait several hours to see if the new one works.  Left over “stuff” to put away with my other stuff to put away in the barn from my movie/seminar screen workings. It’s so nice to put “stuff” in a pile in the barn and say I will put the “stuff” away when I feel like it on another day.

It was a hard day for all.  This was the first time that these animals laid so close together.  I got a quick picture of them. Patches, the mostly black cat, is laying in the dog bed.

The ice maker did one dump so maybe I installed it right.

See ya…………

Sunday – Relax Like Any Other Day

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner is on my schedule for today with NASCAR and football in-between.  Hey, I did take a brake from that schedule and crawled underneath the coach.  I wanted to see if the engine was still leaking oil.  Evidently when the tech changed the bad fuel injector he got oil down the back side of the engine.    I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a real leak and the spoilage hadn’t increased and it hadn’t.  I will do a power wash on it later this week probably and get that oil/dirt off. 

I got back on my Sunday schedule.

See ya…………

Tire, Screen & Friends

Today was pretty good.  I went to Tractor supply and bought a tire ($50) for the golf cart.  then went and had it mounted for $5 at a tire place.  Frank & Marlene were there getting tires for their trailer.  It cost them a lot more than $50 for their tires.  I went back to the lot and installed the tire on the golf cart.  The cart rode straight and no more wiggle.

Then I completed my portable Seminar/Movie Screen.  PVC pipe, movie screen material ($) and no glue. Not bad for a rookie.  Frank did help me with some ideas.  I plan to use this in a tent outside in the day time at the RVIA Pomona Show in a few weeks.  I really want to give a power point presentation both on RV driving and preparing for Alaska. It’s not as good if done with erase board which I have done the past several years. I do two seminars a day for 10 days.  I really enjoy doing them and meeting new people. Plus we have a booth.  We walk to the show each day about a 100 yards.  The RVIA folks provide us a campsite at the KOA next door.

Tonight we had steak.  I flamed broiled them pretty fast but left them on just a little too long. They ranged from medium rare to medium.  Hey, they were good and we haven’t had any steak for a long time.  That’s Carol’s on the left.  These were Ribeye and NY Strip. 

I guess Frank and Marlene smelled them so they came over. 

Then we had a drive by visitor.  Bruce came over near the end of dinner.  We gave him table scraps which he enjoyed tremendously being single again.

We fixed the world problems again and said “See Ya” again.

See Ya…………………

Friday Thank Goodness? Why?

To a full timer it really don’t matter most of the time.  It does if we are in need of repair or traveling. Repair shop on a Friday could mean a quick job.  Traveling on Friday is traveling with heavy traffic.  Also, it means that the weekenders will be rolling in all hours of the night in a lot campgrounds.  Been there – done that. Some parks have late arrival rules but most don’t.  Then there’s the guy that comes in about 11 PM or so and let’s his diesel run for 15+ minutes.  I usually go out and ask them if they have a problem.  If not I ask them to please shut it down.  It’s really only happened a few times over many years.  Most realize that it’s late.

We drove 65 miles each way to see the lawyer.  15 minutes in his office, less than 1 minute with him, about 10 minutes with his secretary and that was mostly waiting for a signed copy. Then I was given a DMV form to fill out and take to DMV to put Mom Hill’s car in a trust. So be it.

Here’s a little (very) town on the way back to Livingston. We dropped off some outgoing mail.

 

Back at the lot I decided to see why our golf cart wiggled going down the road.  Frank Hinman came over to help. We borrowed a jack from Wayne and went to town removing the troubled wheel.  The inside of the tire had ballooned and was rubbing thus the wiggled.  Now to find a tire and get it changed. Another thing for tomorrow.

 

Then me and Frank worked on the Movie Screen.  Two great minds figured it out with some innovative thinking and that’s all that counts since no one else was around to say otherwise.  It’s still going thru some growing pains. Another thing for tomorrow.

 

Denny Orr called me.  Susie and him will be here in Livingston for Boot Camp (very early Nov) after the Texas Tri-Chapter Rally (late Oct).  We would have really liked to have gone to that rally but we will be in California. That rally is going to be a blast!

Talking again with the dealer who has that Safari Cheetah.  It has an 07 Cat engine, 08 chassis and 09 box on it.  You can’t say Monaco put this one out real fast on the assembly line.  Things were slowing down a lot for Monaco about that time. I think there is still one worker in a bay who fell asleep putting it together. The price is right but the trade in is killing us.  If you want our 08 Phaeton call/email real quick – it’s cheap for an 08….

Here’s my cactus garden. I like all the little guys hanging around.  Carol doesn’t.

Here’s Carol’s garden.

Mine is very low maintenance because Carol does the maintaining.

See ya……………