Fulltimer’s Logic

It’s been raining here a lot.  It’s not raining over there.  We will go over there.  We hung a right and headed East towards the sun and warmer weather.  We weren’t suppose to meet anybody, no relatives, no waiting for RV service, no obligations, so what the hell – move.   We are still in Oregon but 30 miles from the Idaho state line.  It’s sunny and warmer.  We drove about 400 miles and are a rest area (MM 335 I-84)) which isn’t too bad.  We stopped about 4-5 PM. It’s off the beaten path, not too many trucks and we have our little area away from it all.  We got good cell service, MiFi and sat TV.  We even have a train that goes by ever so often.  We’re home.  Here are some pics along the way.  

Lunch time….  

And so on….

We don’t know where we are spending tomorrow night or the next three or so weeks.  We will check on a few places tomorrow morning.  We got a half a tank of water so that’s not a problem.  We are free to go where ever and we will….

See ya

Don’t Rain On My Parade

Yepper, it’s raining.  I know you get tired reading about the rain but that’s better setting here in it.  If it got any greener around here it would turn into money.  Thank goodness we don’t have any leaks in the Beast.  In that Tiffin we had it would have been another problem probably.

Carol & I, yes I said Carol and I are thinking about down sizing our home (RV).  Maybe between a 34 and 36 foot and probably a diesel.  If the gas models could get their honest carrying capacity over 2,500 lbs – maybe a gas.  We want to see the Winnebago’s Journey 36 and Tiffin’s FRED 33A.  YES, it’s Tiffin.  I think they were the floorplans.  Just looking….. It must be the rain…….

The rain stopped and the parade (2 hours) was on…free hot dogs and chips right behind us too..

The kids got tired of waiting so they just laid down.

And…they need to update their equipment…

Who should follow the horses…

Yepper, this place knows how to save money. Work them inmates with those shovels.   They were followed by police…..

Or maybe this purple guy

They had a cat for Carol

Big marching bands

This band everyone was over 60 years old.  I think they were followed by the rescue EMS truck.

Isn’t that interesting.  I didn’t think they knew I was here.

This dog isn’t getting enough sun light.

I think it’s a new style rain coat.

These gals had it together……WOW!

Oh yea…..they had a bunch of Corvettes too.

I know where the Escapee clowns went to…here!

Here’s a kid enjoying the parade.

You know it’s a parade if Mickey D is in it.

He will be back.  He enjoyed his first parade.  Good thing I can’t hear real good out of that right ear of mine.

See ya….

Water Water Stop the Rain

Wasn’t there a 60’s song about stop the rain or something?

Anyhow, I figured since we were Oregon I might as well work on the water regulator.  I could just cut a hole in the roof and let the water run down to the tanks.  Our fresh water tank would be filled all the time.  The sun was out for about 15 minutes today.  I sure don’t know why.  Maybe to show people what they are missing.  The cool weather is nice though.

My regulator gauges don’t work anymore.  I’ve had several different types of gauges/regulators and they all seem to screw up after a couple of years.  Now I just buy cheap ones (gauges) at Lowe’s for $10 and don’t worry about it.  The big device is a house adjustable regulator.  I’ve had it about 5 years now.  I farted with it today for a good hour testing it.  It needs to be taken a part and cleaned.  It’s not holding the water pressure very long.  I tested it and tested it so I know it’s the regulator.  I put the old standard metal non adjustable regulator on and tested it.  It holds at 45 psi like it should.  The adjustable one I set at 60 psi.

If everything was working here’s what it would look like.  I have a gauge after the adjustable one to make sure it’s doing what it’s suppose to.  I will take it part when we get to the other campground.  There’s no picnic table to set at here.

Art & Caroline came over and we had lunch at the Elks here.  I tried a meat loaf sandwich.  You know, once every 65 years is about it for having this sandwich for me.  I had to put ketchup on it to have flavor.  Or was that to cover it up?   I’m not sure.  I don’t recall ever putting ketchup on a sandwich before.  Anyhow, the conversations were really good.  Then they took us on a tour.  You know, Fred Meyer, Wal-Mart that kind of stuff.  We ended up at the Elks #336 in Salem.  We sat at the bar and had a couple of $1 draft beers.  That I like.  Next was a window tour of downtown Salem.  That was good.  Beer and riding in a car and I was falling asleep.  They took us back to our rig and I got my nap.  Thanks guys for the lunch and tour.  It was fun having you as our tour guides.

Tomorrow (Sat) is suppose to be the annual Iris Parade.  I think it’s Iris.  Some kind of flower parade.  Well, 70% chance of rain.  I don’t think the flowers will care.  It’s 7 AM right now (Sat) and it’s really pouring down hard.  If it was warm out I would go and wash the rig.  Yes, I’m one of those people.

See ya….

Nice Drive, Nice Park, Nice Day

We had a very nice drive of about 70 miles this morning.  I think we pulled out of the park about 9 AM and ended up on route 22 East.  It’s a nice road that follows a river for about 40 miles for us.  

Then the rain came.  Then the wipers stopped.  Then the engine stopped.  I got out and pulled on a wire harness to a fuse box near the engine.  That got the engine running. Then I went up front to another electrical box.  I pushed on all the fuses and such.  That got the wipers going.  Where back on the road.  this is not a new problem.  It’s been checked out by Spartan chassis, Newmar, and even Cummins.  They don’t know why.  At least I know how to fix it when does happen.  It’s been several months since it did it last. 

We went by a large heard of buffalo and this is the best shot I could get.

We got to the Elks in Keizer (NW Salem) and the rain had stopped for awhile.  It just sprinkled off and on the rest of the day.

They got 41 50 AMP sites (2 W/E only) and are FHU.  W/E sites are $14 and FHU $17.  Very nice Elk’s park.  Would stay again for sure.  Only about 6 or so rigs here.

See ya…….

It’s A Blah Day

Back to same ole, same ole - cloudy and cold (50s).  It rained last night and this morning the sun was not to be seen. 

The rear of the rig is parked on sand.  That means when ever it rains the sand splashes up on the body and the side radiator.  That’s not good at all.  So, I went out and rinsed off the sand in a light drizzle.  I will have to do it again at the dump station tomorrow.  It rained off and on most of the day.  Glad we had one day of sunshine the other day.

We stayed inside today and piddled around watching TV most of the time.  It didn’t rain hard enough to block the TV satellite especially since I polished the dome the other day.  Our entertainment of the day was this rabbit who decided to make our site his play area.  Our cat was going crazy watching it.

Tomorrow we have about a 70 mile run to the Elks in Keizer (Salem).  It was recommended by Art Fennell.  The roads will be back roads all the way there mostly alongside a river.  It should be pretty if the fog isn’t too thick.  We shall see.

See ya…

Full Timer’s Dreaming

I woke up to sunshine, dry and warm temperatures and a shiny rig and Jeep.  We have 50 AMP full hook up with a cement pad.  Carol had fixed me breakfast with taters and started a pot of hazelnut coffee.  Yes, I was dreaming.  It was cloudy, wet, cold, no breakfast and no coffee.  Oh well, I enjoyed the dream.  I’m starting to remember why we don’t come out to the NW coast in May.  A few more days and I should regain my memory fully.

We carry a small safe underneath.  It’s not used as a safe but rather a firebox.  We keep our important papers in it like marriage license, birth certificates, etc.  Of course Mac The Fire Guy says it’s worthless in a big fire.  With that in mind, I will try to remember to keep our fires small.  I had to get a document out of the safe.  It’s way back there.

I had to take “stuff” out. 

Well, I might as well take everything out.

If I got everything out then it’s time to rearrange.  We had gotten a lounge chair, a 2000 watt Honda generator and a 6 gallon gas tank for it.  Plus, it’s not raining.  All this new “stuff” had to find a home.  It did and the Jeep is empty again.

Later that evening it was time to pretend we were weekend RVers.  First we cooked our dinner on the barby.  Later we had no wind, firewood and a pit ay our site.

We made a nice fire with REAL wood.  

But there’s more!.  They got a heated indoor pool here.  Yepper, we went for it.  The pool was heated but not enough for us after awhile.  We then headed for the outside hot tube.  Now that was really heated.  When was the last time you cooked on a grill, had a camp fire, went swimming in a heated pool and then into a spa all in one evening?  The last time we did something similar to that was on the East Coast (Cape Hatteras) years ago.  We were with Carol’s brothers (& families) but we couldn’t remember when that was.  Was this all a dream again like this morning.

Gotta go back to sleep…see ya…..

KISS It…..

Who woke up the money hungry gas companies. Fuel was coming down in price, slow but coming down. Where I was going to get fuel next it jumped up 15 cents a gallon in less than two weeks. What's up with that? From here to Gillette, Wy it will now cost us an extra $50 in fuel. That does not mean we will change our travel plans. It means we will spend less money else where like eating out. Maybe boone dock a little more. Or waiting longer to get that "thing" for the RV. It's that simple! We won't let fuel prices change our travel plans. Just what we spend as tourists. A lot of full time RVers are tourists but professional tourists. Meaning we watch our pennies more than someone might on vacation for a week or two once a year or so. We're on vacation the whole year and it's great! So, a lot of us do watch our pennies but don't change our travel plans because of fuel prices alone. Keep it simple with out a lot of thought.  Keep it simple stupid method (KISS).  Weather will change our plans quicker than fuel prices going up. 

Speaking of weather.  Only in the 50’s this week and 40-70 per cent of rain everyday.  Our next stop will be In Salem and not whole bunch better there.  OK, I give up on keeping the Beast and the Jeep shiny for now.  Yes, it will be hard for me.

Today we got in the Jeep and went sight seeing.  I don’t think we’ve driven the Jeep in the rain.  In water yes but not rain.  We just found the inside cab night light didn’t work the other night when we drove it at night and opened the door and the inside stayed dark.  It took us a few nights to figure where that switch was.  I think we figured out all the switches now.  True this Jeep had only 3 options, AC, automatic & hard top, but it still has too many bells and whistles for us.  For instance it tells us how many miles we can go on the remaining fuel in the gas tank.  I just look at the fuel gauge…duh.  It tells us how many hours we have driven on the current gas tank.  I have no reason what so ever why I would need that.  The dash lights up and tells me if I’m in 4 wheel drive or not.  I just look at the floor lever that indicates 4 wheel drive next to it…duh.  I guess we are simple people and simple minded in a good way.  Keep it simple stupid (KISS) method.

Anyhow, enough moaning and groaning……I love these shots on the beach.  We were the only ones out there.  What does that mean? The tide was coming in.  Not a good time to get stuck.

We went north and it was foggy and wet most of the time.

I was given permission to cut the cheese here.

All my pictures inside turned orange for some reason.  Everything was pure white in the factory even the people.

 

See ya…..