No travel today!

Let's see, do we tow the Camry?  No, Camrys or for that matter, no other Toyota with an automatic transmission can be towed with all 4 wheels on the ground.  They are either dollied or trailered.  Otherwise the tranny is toast.

We are towing a two wheel utility trailer, that has my Suzuki Burgman motor scooter in it.  Oh and a lot of other things that we like to take with us during the winter. We have considered a compound tow dolly, that has the rails for the cycle in front of the car, but that adds a lot of weight, that is beyond the capacity of this front engine diesel.  So Loyce drives and follows.

We have two way radios between the coach and the car, so we are in constant contact, and make the decisions to pull over and the like by the radio.  The draw backs to this arrangement are, the cost of the gas for the car, but the coach would burn more diesel pulling the car.  And the fact that we can not spell each other from the driving task as we are both driving all the time.  And it also puts mileage on the Camry's clock.  It does get more than 30 mpg, but then again, I have never calculated exactly how well it does.

So we try not to go over 300 or so miles in a day.  But we have violated this at times, because we drove 500 on our way back from Red Bay, Al last spring.  I think we were both in a toot to get home after spending 10 days at the factory.  Seemed like 10 weeks in a dusty parking lot.

Today we decided to take the day off.  Loyce has picked up a nasty cold from the grandkids, whom she couldn't leave alone as we celebrated Thanksgiving.  Now she is paying the price, so we decided to just stay here in OK City.

Our friend the Jet Stream is really playing havoc again!

Mid afternoon, we drove downtown here in OK City.  We drove past the Federal Building Memorial, and found that the West side of the building is closed to traffic.  They are enhancing the West entrance to the empty chair display and reworking the streets.  We were only able to see the work from about a block away, and parking is still an issue, as it has been.

The East side street is also undergoing renovations, and is down to one lane, with no parking except for the tour bus loading and unloading area.  Again, the buses are not able to park there.  The people in attendance seem to be coming from the Museum area on the Northwest corner.  All of the gifts that were left by people are now gone from the street.  I read somewhere that they were packed up and will become part of the permanent display once it is completed.

We also drove around Bricktown for a while, but did not stop and partake of any of the restaurants.  Loyce is on her diet, and I can't eat rich stuff anymore, so we just looked around.  There was absolutely no one on the river walk or the pontoon boats.

In deciding to stay today, we found that they were predicting snow showers in the afternoon for the Amarillo area, and we both decided that we did not need to experience the snow.  But we do plan to head out that way in the morning.

It is supposed to freeze hard here tonight, at 26 degrees.  I will have to go remove the water hose before we go to bed, as we do not want things to freeze up, and slow us up in the AM.  I am placing a light bulb in the water locker under the rig, to keep the pipes above freezing.

If we do make it to Amarillo tomorrow, it is to be even colder there tomorrow night, possibly in the teens, and the wind continues.  Waiting until Thanksgiving is over to head out is obviously not a good plan.  At least this year anyway.

Retired Rod

We left!

We didn't look at the weather report any more.  If we wait for it to be favorable, we could wait all winter!  So about 10 AM we threw the rest of our stuff in the door of the motorhome, on the bed and couch.  On the floor and anywhere else that was flat and wouldn't fall.

We headed out of town by driving the two miles South of our house that goes directly to the country.  Then on the country roads we intersected with the Interstate headed South.  By about 11, the wind began to come up on our nose.

We made the corner at Emporia and headed South to Wichita.  Stopping  at a rest area pavilion in the middle of the toll road, I was amazed by the force of the wind.  It must have been blowing 40 mph.  The rig rocked and rolled, and it was parked at the diesel pump!

We pressed on into the wind and barely made 60 miles an hour.  We could have gone faster, but that would have required the pedal on the floor, so we just took it easier.  We made good time, until we got to the end of the toll road at the Kansas, Oklahoma state line.  Traffic was backed up 4 miles going thru the toll booths.  We barely made 10 miles an hour for that 4 mile stretch.

It gets dark really early now, so by 5:30 we were looking for the RV park.  We stayed here on our way home from Arizona last spring, and it was stored in our GPS.    Where is here, you ask?   We are in North Oklahoma City, at the Twin Fountains RV Resort.  This is right on the corner of two Interstates.  I 35 and I 44.  The park is really nice, with blacktop  roads and concrete pull thru sites.  The rest is grassy and landscaped.  I used the Good Sam card for the 10 percent discount and it was about $35.

So we have lots of highway noise, and it is dark so we can not see the ambiance, but the nice street lights have us comfy when we are outside.  Well except for the wind which is still out of the South at 16 with gusts to 28.  But we have the jacks down now, so we are not rocking and rolling as much so all is well.

We used a lot more fuel today that we normally do, but I never calculate fuel mileage, since it will get what it will get, and I can't change that at all.  I just fill it up and move on.  But when battling the wind, you can see the fuel gauge move right before your eyes.

Perhaps I will have to look at the weather tomorrow, and decide if we are proceeding West or staying here for a couple of days.  Who knows?

Biscuit traveled with Loyce in the Camry, and traveled well.  She has played here in the motorhome all night since we stopped.  She doesn't seem to be upset with the change from home at all.  She still has her crate, which is her special dog house with the towel over it, and that is all it takes to make her happy.

I see it is still 51 degrees outside, so the wind is only cold not unbearable.  Hope the wind dies before the cold comes racing in.

Retired Rod

Weather problems!

Now here is the problem, why Al is freezing his behind way down on the Mexican border, and the Dallas Fort Worth crowd is whining about frost on the lawns.  It seems the jet stream has divided itself and has a nasty Southern flow across the North part of Mexico.

This thing is trouble for the next several days.  See it split and even go over Florida, before heading back North.  Gonna be some major league bitching here in the near future.

We want to leave, but it is actually colder South of us than it is here in Kansas!  So what should we do?  They are forecasting single digit cold West of Albuquerque along I 40 in the middle of next week.  We have a reservation in Mesa!  Don't ya just hate reservations?  Why do we all feel like we have to march to some imaginary drummer?

We will have to wash out the antifreeze in order to live in the rig at some point!  Maybe the light bulb in the water locker trick will have to come into play, but if we get to single digits like the prediction, I'm not sure that even that will do any good.

Meanwhile we are getting closer, that is if we don't kill each other in the loading process!  We have to get out of here sometime, or the really bad snowy stuff will catch us soon.
--------------------------
Biscuit dog, hasn't figured out what is going on, as she had to go over to the Vet again today.  She is on the last of her antibiotics for the kennel cough, and seems to be mostly over that.  But it was time for the next round of puppy shots, and that includes the doggie flue shot.  H3N8  influenza.  Loyce said she really cried when she got that one.  Aww, I'm glad I wasn't there.

So this afternoon, she has been sleeping off the effects of the shots in a mostly lethargic stupor.  She is in her crate with the door closed and she hasn't even objected much.

I read that this doggie flue is mostly transmitted from contact with other dogs at dog parks and common potty areas like at the RV park where we are going.  When you have 200 dogs going to the same square block as a dog walk.  We might just pass on that area for a while when we get there.

But anyway she senses that something is up, as we are not in the normal routine of drinking coffee and going shopping.  Actually, I am thinking normal might mean going to the Doctor's office around here.  We both wonder how she will adapt to traveling and sleeping in the motorhome.  We may have a rather sleepless night, on the first night out!

Who knows about all this stuff?  Time will tell though!

Retired Rod

Packing stuff!

Well no kicking back here!  I went over and brought the motor home over so I could do a lot of stuff on it again today.  It was in the early 20's outside this morning, and the RV was really cold when I got it out of the storage lot.

The dash heater ran on the way back here, but didn't do much good since it is only 4 miles to the house.  Once here, the work outside began, and I'm not sure what all I did, but I never quit all day.  I did go get more clothes to put in and worked on sealing up a hole in the firewall under the drivers dash.

The coach must have had its Sirius radio system added after the rest of the equipment was already installed.  Someone had just knocked out the foam plugs that fill the firewall hole where the wires were fished thru.  In the summer, it was obvious that we had a big leak of fresh air under the dash somewhere, since the AC would never really be able to help when it was over 90.

But the other day when I was driving it back to the storage lot and it was about freezing outside, I could see my own breath in the driver's seat.  I traced the cold air to under the dash and got to poking around, and found the wire hole.  It wasn't all that big and did have some foam in it, but I could still see daylight out thru the firewall.

I bought a can of Great Stuff,  which is like a can of whipping cream that you put on your pie at Christmas.  It has a straw like trigger, and makes a really big mess, if you aren't careful.  I just gave the hole a couple of shots of foam and backed off.  It kind of ran down the inside some, but it expands quickly.

It felt much warmer as I drove the rig back to the storage lot tonight.  But perhaps that is just my imagination.  But the draft seemed to be gone.

Oh, and I did remember to put the satellite box back in the rig.  But promptly forgot the remote.  I was sitting here looking right at it and all at once it dawned on me that without that remote the satellite box would be about worthless!

We'll have to get the rig back over here in the morning, as Loyce has all of her stuff to get packed as well.

Retired Rod

Beef!

Excuse me, I'm busy cleaning thee Au jus off of my glasses!  I meant to take a picture of the roast as it was on the spit, but before I got the camera out, it was all carved up by my sons.

They were taking big chunks of the meat and dipping it into the previously mentioned Au Jus that they had made in a big cast iron skillet.  They were cooking the rarer pieces to a more done condition, in case the person requesting the cut didn't like it quite so rare.

Mine was just cursory dipped, in order to get some more juice, but not allowed to linger enough to diminish the pink goodness.  They had a big bowl of Horsey sour cream on the center of the table, and some folks had brought cups of the Au Jus to the table with them.  Loyce's fresh rolls were dipped into the hot Au Jus as well.

There were the six of us and the five kids, under 8 years old, and we dispatched all eleven pounds of the roast, well except for the bones.  And we had all the traditional side dishes too.  Corn Casserole, and fresh green bean and cheese casserole.  A big crock pot of mashed potatoes, and another of white gravy.  I mixed in some Au jus to go along with it.

Well that's enough about that!

I'm sitting here stuffed to the gills, as I ate way too much for my recently resected insides.   I really didn't go way overboard, but still I'm not used to that much yet.  We then settled to the living room for the football game and the kids played noisily.

Chris gave me his I phone, and I got to playing the game Angry Birds!  I read on the internet, that they have sold 10 million copies of this little game for the phone.  At 99 cents a pop.  Wow, not a bad gig!

Later Loyce gave the kids some of their Christmas presents, as we will be gone for that Holiday, and she wanted them to be able to open some stuff right now.  They happily obliged.

So Thanksgiving is over here, and we are back home without the big mess that was left over at Ben and Danielle's.  All I can say is thanks a bunch, as we are trying to get ready to scoot out of here.

Tomorrow is the big shopping spree day!  And I think I will go out and ...............      HIDE   somewhere!

Retired Rod

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

                                

                                         HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

We will be with our family all day today, so there will just be the usual football watching and food eating that we all do every year.

Ben has plans to rotisserie a beef rib roast instead of the traditional turkey!  That will be some good eating, and the turkey just puts me to sleep in the afternoon anyway.

So I will gather up the Diabetes Medicines, so I can take extra when I violate the no sugar deal with some serious pumpkin pie, and head on over for my fixins!

We didn't do much here today, except Loyce got busy cooking her contribution to the meal.  She always makes the rolls from scratch and she was baking those darned old pies all afternoon.

I had to leave for a while and go get a salad at Wendy's.  It was chicken even, and I never can eat chicken, but thats better than snitching pieces of pie!

So have a Happy Thanksgiving at your house and we'll do the same!

And for my Canadian friends, how come you all seem to be down here by Thanksgiving time?  That wouldn't be so you can celebrate the big dinner deal twice, now would it?

Retired Rod

Out and about on my birthday!

Today was a lot colder day here than yesterday!  I not sure it was ever up to 50.  More like the early 40's, so I stayed inside most of the day.  Just content to do my internet reading time, and leave off a bunch of comments on other folks blogs.  Do you ever wonder if they actually go back and read all that stuff?

I was tickled to see that Gypsy was united with her new Lance truck camper over in Western Arizona.  I think she spent the first night in it, so life is all new again for her as she sorts thru living in a tight space.  But it has to be way better than the tents she claims to like when primitive camping.  Good luck with the new camper!

And my friend Rick is up in Vancouver Island freezing his buns off in the snow!  Looks cold Rick!!  And he is talking about going on a weekend test run in the cold to see if all systems are still go in the new Heartland.  My guess is that he will know for sure after spending some time at freezing outside.

I did head out to the local Lowes store where I purchased a little 3.6 volt Black and Decker drill screw driver.  It is just a little thing with the 1/4 inch six sided chuck to hold a bit.  But it was really cute so it became my birthday present to me.  I have it charging here by my chair.  It had Lithium batteries in it so I am hopeful that it will last longer than the older drills did.  I do know it will hold a charge longer than the ni cad batteries and is small and will fit in the motorhome drawer easily.

Loyce bought me a new political book, and since this is not a political blog, I will refrain from saying what it is.  I'm sure I will offend half of my readers, since I have folks on both sides of the aisle, and I want to remain friends with all of you!

Then I  went over to Home Depot, where I found a remnant of vinyl flooring that was 4 1/2 ft wide by the 12 foot roll.  It was still marked at full retail, so I had to find the manager and ask for a remnant price.  They had it marked at 6.79 a yard for the 6 yard piece.  $42.  So I offered her $20.  Oh man! You would have thought I offended her aging mother!  We went back and forth, and I finally said I would go put it back in the shelf where I got it.  That did finally get her down to $4.25 a yard, and she would go no lower.  So I gave up and bought it.

I need this flooring to protect the wood floors here in our kitchen from little Biscuit.  She is not even close to potty trained!  And we just cannot watch her every moment.  Seems she is chewing on something, or has just peed on something, every time we turn around.  But this is raising a baby puppy, and we knew what we were signing up for when we got her.  Well at least I did.  I think Loyce was just in love with her.  And still is for that matter!

We have made tentative plans to leave at the end of the thanksgiving holiday now, but I am not sure when that will be exactly.  But just confirming that we are headed out is enough of a birthday present for me for today.  We will have to see how far I can ride with the sore stomach, in the big motor home.  I am hopeful that it will be a smother ride than the smaller car or pickup truck rides that have been rough on me for the last several weeks.

But we are going, no matter how darned long it takes to get there!!!

Retired Rod

Roof Repair, and the License Bureau

This was a busy day!  I was dozed off upstairs, after spending the early hours awake, when I should have been sleeping.  I do that a lot.  Wake up before its time and then fall asleep when its time to get up.  The joys of being old!

The roofer was here and wanted to talk to me.  Our roof has had a leak for the last several years.  Not enough to really be bad, but still it has wrecked a part of the ceiling in Loyce's craft bed room.  So at her insistence, the  the fellow was here to look it over and fix it.  I don't do roofs anymore, so what ever he said about it is fine with me.

He worked for about 2 hours and charged us an arm and two legs!  Something about a minimum charge, but again I don't do roofs anymore!

Once he was gone, I went over to get a simple license tag for the trailer under the Jet Ski.  Its a three year tag, but needs to be purchased in Missouri.  But that is only about 15 miles away.  Once I got there, the lady wouldn't sell me the tag, because the Property Tax Receipt was for a 1995 trailer, and the registration was for a 1996 trailer.  Now how many Tags have I purchased for this trailer?  Nobody has ever cared before!  Still no go.  This particular clerk got up on the wrong side of life and simply would not license anything with the county charging taxes on a wrong year trailer.

So I drove back empty handed.  Later I called the Miller county court house, and they seemed incredulous that this was even a problem.  The valuation would be no different, the clerk there explained.  And I said I understood, but that with the problem the folks in Belton would not issue anything.  So the gal in Miller county said she would fix the records, and mail me a corrected receipt.  Which I could then use to go get the tag.  Of course this will have to be done in March or April.

After that we went and brought home the motorhome, and began to load up some stuff.  My son Ben came over and helped load the recliner that I changed the base on last week, since I am still not supposed to lift anything over a paper weight.  On the way back to storage, I filled up the diesel tank for $75, from us driving around town.  My water in fuel light is still out from last summer and the fuel additive.  We did change the filters with the service two weeks ago, so we have our fingers crossed that the water in the bottom of the tank will go on thru as we use it up next week.

It was very dark when I got back home with the pickup.  We are closer to being loaded, but most of the stuff will be last minute things that we use every day.

Oh, by the way, I see that when you read this it will be my birthday tomorrow!  But we have nothing planned, since I really can't go eat much in the way of restaurant food yet.  Maybe a big bowl of sugar free Ice Cream.  You know the stuff that tastes kind of like Styrofoam! LOL

Retired Rod

Brunch at the kids house.

Today was the big family Sunday brunch over at my younger son's house.  Ben and Danielle had the honor of cleaning up so we could all come over and mess it all up again.  But we had quiche and cheesy potatoes along with sausage patties at about 11:30.  So it wasn't officially lunch time, but darned close.

We watched the KC Chiefs and the Arizona Cardinals play on the TV, and the Chiefs are doing much better this year so that was nice.  But since we spend our time in Arizona in the winters, I have torn emotions, wanting the Cards to do well too.  After all they did come from St Louis originally as well.

This afternoon I went over and hooked up the trailer out of the storage lot that it is parked in.  I towed it back to the house here and backed it into the driveway.  We have a steep hill out front, so it has to be blocked fairly well, but my friend Larry up in Greenfield Iowa made a long pipe that goes into the wheels just for this occasion. Effectively the wheels cannot turn with the pipe between them and wedged up against the frame.

The motor scooter was under its cover, and I didn't take it off.  It should be fine under there.  I loaded Loyce's bicycle and tied it off to the side wall so it can't get over on the scooter, and some of the other items we normally take.  It was in the 70's here this afternoon, and the windy conditions slacked off for a while in the afternoon, so that makes for a nice day to do these things.

Tonight we are watching the TV and reading blogs, so that ends our adventures here.

At least we didn't have any snow like our friends up in Vancouver Island!!!!

Retired Rod

Hanging out on Saturday and more Football.

Biscuit got us up at 7 again, as she can't make it any longer in her crate.  We have decided that she must get used to sleeping in the crate.  Even if it kills her and us too.  But we have also taken the crate up and put it in our bedroom, so she feels like she is close to us.

This works sort of.  As long as she can see and smell her momma.  Doesn't matter one darned bit if I am there at all.  But momma!  Well she knows who bought her!

She has also come down with the kennel cough.  She was only there for two days, for lands sakes, but that was enough to get it.  So today Loyce took her over to the Vet again.  This time the pet store is paying for the medicine and the Doctor bill.

So we have listened to the doggie hack and sniffle all day long, and even though you aren't supposed to get what the dog has, you can't help but wonder.

My older son and his daughter Clair came over during the middle of the afternoon, to play with Biscuit, and the dog almost attacked Clair.  She licked almost all of Clair from head to foot and wouldn't leave her alone.  Biscuit really likes kids, well since she is a kid herself.  Claire giggled and giggled!

And then that brought the Hawkeye game onto the TV so that anchored me for the rest of the afternoon.  I'm not sure why I watched, as I knew we had about zero chance of winning, since we have not won over Ohio State in something like the last 12 years.  And of course they won in the last few minutes after we had led the game for the entire time.  They have to win, Trussel will beat them if they lose.

I decided long ago, that I will not be bummed out for losing to Ohio State!  Its only one game, and we play them awfully close most of the time.

It was fairly warm here today, and the sun was out most of the day, but the high 50's does not constitute a day outside at the park.  We are told that we will have temps in the teens by Thanksgiving.  I can't wait!

Retired Rod

Biscuit Pictures

What do you mean, I'm innocent of everything!  I didn't make that spot on the carpet, honest!

Well once in a while I like to chew on my toys, maybe a little bit.

And then when I want to be loose, I pull on the rope tied to the cabinets, and pull, and pull!  Well you know I finally give up on it.  Until I forget, and start all over again.

But I am being a really good doggie, and going potty outside when they take me out there.  I have gone both ways all day, and mom gives me a treat for doing it.

I sat in dad's lap for most of the evening, and even went to sleep for a while.  That is after I chewed his clothes and suspenders and the computer wires and his beard.  But he doesn't mind!  Biscuit

We are just hanging out here in KC making plans for the Thanksgiving holiday.  I went over and got a haircut mid morning and hung around the shop for a while as we were all teasing each other and having fun.

I grabbed a chicken salad and a junior cheese burger at Wendy's and that was about our entire day.  

It has been going well below freezing for the last several nights here in KC, and I am really glad that the motorhome has the pink stuff in its pipes.  Today it was sunny in the afternoon and warmed up to about 60 during the day, and it is to be warmer for the weekend, but by the first of next week the warm is gone, and we are to be in the teens by thanksgiving.   If it stays that cold when we finally leave here, we won't be able to put water in the rig until we reach warmer climates.  I wonder how that will work out?

Most of the RV parks are closed for the season here in the Midwest, so we will have to check out where we can go that will be open.  Planning will need to be done in order to make a departure this late.

Perhaps we will just stay at a nice warm Hotel for the first night out.  We did that four years ago when we left after new years for Texas.  It was in the teens when we stopped in Oklahoma for the first night, and we opted for the Motel.

 Retired Rod

Winterizing the sprinkler system

No snow, thankfully!  But it remained cool all day. Overcast until mid afternoon, so I hung tight to the house.  Well actually I was waiting, for the sprinkler service, that was to arrive sometime between 1 and 5 PM.  By three thirty, I called!

The lady called it a window appointment!  I guess the window is the one to five bit, but I was miffed by then and didn't ask.  She said the driver would call when he was coming.  So I went over to Wendy's, but went thru the drive in.  And just as I was getting the sack, the phone rang!  Wouldn't you know it?  But I still beat him to the house.

He was a good fellow and went thru the process rather quickly, but had done so many this season, that he was really quick at each task.  He secured things so I can just turn the water back on in the spring and see if anything is broken then.  Many of these folks will leave it in such a manner that you have to have them come and turn it back on.  That way they can collect another $75 in the spring too.  He said they have way too much fertilizer business in the spring and would just as soon we could do it by ourselves.  Well OK then!

Tonight we reached a week, that we have had Biscuit living here at our house.  She has forgotten that she ever lived anywhere else by now.  Oh to be a puppy and have so few problems.  Food bowel is always full, and the water dish is filled up by mom!  The bed is soft, and the house is warm!  I wonder what she will think as we transition to the RV.

She has spent more of her time in the crate this week, and we reached a milestone tonight, as she actually went outside and did a number 2 in the back yard.  We had the potty part down fairly well as long as we remember to get her outside every two hours, but the other part had alluded us.

But perhaps we will get this potty thing down in just a few weeks.  She is smart, but I just don't know how to explain it to her! LOL.  She had to have her rambunctious time tonight where she ran all over the place at high speed. Round and round the island in the kitchen, as fast as possible.  Energy!!!

If only I could drain off some of that, but then I weigh considerably more than 5 pounds too!

Retired Rod

Hanging by the Fire

Energy!  Biscuit is full of it!  We are sitting in my recliner, where the computer screen is on the end table!  She is on my lap, and wound up like a top.  She is biting my ear, then crawling all over me, licking my face, chewing on my socks, its never ending!

We are couped up here in the house as it got seriously colder here during the day.  It started overcast and threatening rain, but still somewhat warm.  Like the 50s.  That was not to last, as grayer and rain preceded the big cool down.

Outside it is still raining and 39.  I heard the dreaded "S" word before morning.  I hope that turns out to be wrong!  Tonight is a beside the fire place kid of night to be sure.

Suddenly, like turning off a switch, Biscuit just crashed.  Put her head down in my lap and dozed off.  Gone to the world.  Puppy time is playtime until we run down like a big windup clock.  The floor over by her crate looks like we have a two year old living here, with chew toys and puppy chow crumbles spread all over the place.

Loyce is hanging out working on one of her never ending fleece and yarn projects, and I am reading blogs. It is supposed to warm up later in the week, but tomorrow is already Thursday, so perhaps it will be warmer by the weekend.

Maybe some TV, but we  have never been big TV folks, so that is not a big deal on my list.  Perhaps just dream about traveling to the Southwest.  Maybe review my lists of things to take with me!  Yawn.......

Retired Rod

More Puppy, and a new RV Site!

Boring day back in KC!  We are waiting for the holiday, but had Biscuit to entertain us during the day.  She did well during the night, but had mommy up at about 7 AM.  That is probably good for us all.

I started on the reservations at the Arizona RV park as soon as it was 8 AM out there.  But that must have been too early, as I was dumped into the voice mail, where I was promised they would call right back.  Ya right.  After a couple of hours, they hadn't returned my call, so Loyce got into the act.

She called up and stayed on the line until someone picked up.  She explained our new baby and immediately learned that we had violated the rules for our reserved site.  Well He!! we knew that!  She got put on hold for a while when a second lady finally picked up.

They must have been discussing where to put us, or to send us packing as this is our first year there.  But in the end, they offered a site right inside the front gate, but over one row closer to the noisy highway.  Well what are you going to do?  Of course we took it.  This is no where near the nice private street site up in the back of the park that we had reserved, but then at least we are not on the main drive into the park with all the traffic.  All be it, only one row off of it.

We at least we will know to reserve a pet site next year!  Assuming we decide to go back.  This will be our third year in a row in Arizona.  We may as well buy a house there and get it over!

With that handled, it was time to take Biscuit for her Vet appointment.  She gets a free exam, but that only hooks you into using the Vet attached to the pet shop.  And of course there are all the rest of the puppy worming and shots to be completed, so this is becoming an annuity due, for the folks that sell these little critters.   But we love her, remember!  They explained how the Vet goes over and examines all the dogs as they arrive from the puppy mill breeders, and will not accept many of the dogs that are offered.  This keeps us customers protected from bad dogs.  A sales job I am sure!

I went out late in the day and bought a remnant of vinyl flooring to put down under her crate, so when we have accidents, the wood floor isn't in danger.  And you know we will have lots of accidents.

So our life is still all controlled by a little 5 pound puppy, and her needs.

Tomorrow I have more tests scheduled over at the local medical facility, and may not make it to the blog tomorrow night.  So don't be alarmed, when I fail to show.  I'll catch up later.

Retired Rod

Back from the Lake

Biscuit slept most of the night in her laundry basket next to our bed.  She was awake at about 5 AM, and somehow made it into the big bed, but Loyce said she wasn't at fault!  Huh!  How could that be?

Well anyway I woke up with her laying almost on top of my chest.  She was snoring!  Well so much for any hope of using the crate that we bought!  It won't be up to me, LOL.

We worked on cleaning up the Lake house, as we hadn't been there for about 8 weeks.  Much of the work surrounded the fall leaves and cleaning up remaining dishes and laundry from prior visits.  Not that anything was left dirty, as it wasn't, but we go thru and rewash stuff that was done in a hurry.

Biscuit played in the kitchen running back and forth chasing her ball and the pink Kong toy with its odd shaped round balls.  The kong goes all different ways when batted due to its shape, and dogs of all ages go nuts over them.  If your dog doesn't have one, get one!  They will love you for it.  It is also hard rubber, and mostly indestructable.   The picture is the bigger red one for larger dogs, but is identical except for size.



She also took issue with the door stop inside that back door.  It is one of those spring type stops that can be batted and it makes a "boiiiing" sound as it comes back straight.  Once she realized that she could whack it one and it would make that sound, thats all we heard.  And then she would bark at it, and run around and do it again.  She got down on all fours with her belly on the floor and stalked it like it was alive!  Just too funny!

We left kind of late and got back way after dark, since it gets dark so quickly now, and Biscuit slept most of the way.  That may not bode too well for sleeping tonight.  We shall see!

Retired Rod

Biscuit, our new addition

Our new gal moved right in and took over immediately!  She was not happy with her new crate, and became quite vocal about it at 2AM.  Loyce had said no way was she going to bed with us!  Yea right!

She is a puppy and very restless!  Drove us crazy, but wasn't whining any more.

Her first night at our house was probably traumatic for her.  In the morning on Wednesday she was happily at her Iowa puppy mill, not knowing what was to happen next.  By mid morning she was whisked away on a road trip with a broker to the Ritzy part of KC, Leawood!  And to a pet store, yuck!

She was placed in a cage with another little pup that she had never met before, and it had bright lights on top so she could be seen from the other side of the wall.  After spending Wednesday, and Thursday nights at the pet store, a strange lady comes and takes her home!

Then she gets crated in a brand new crate that doesn't even smell like a dog yet, and the lights all turned out in the house.  Once she woke back up at 2, she put up the fuss.  Wouldn't you!  Where the heck am I?  Where did my Boston Terrier buddy go?  I only knew him for a couple of days, and now I am all by myself.  Where are my brothers and sisters?

But today had another big adventure, as we left in the car and headed to Lake Ozark.  Little Biscuit rode in her new mom's arms most of the way, as we didn't bring the great big crate.  We will have to get a smaller travel crate that is fiberglass, but we are overwhelmed with purchases for her in the last 24 hours.

We are here checking out the house and its winter provisions as we are not sure when we will get back to make sure everything is OK in the future.  I had the heat on and the water turned completely off, so all was well when we got here.

And we found the new Kawasaki Jet Ski in the garage just like the man at the marina said he would do.  It was on our trailer, after he modified the winch to make it the newer style.  We asked that the battery be left dry, so it will be new when we rig it next spring.  For now we rolled it back into the corner so we could get the car in.  Loyce did most of the rolling, as I am not quite ready to handle 800 pounds yet.  We just skidded the tongue on the concrete.

Once we button this place up a little better tomorrow, we will return to KC.  Meanwhile, I think little Biscuit is becoming more accustomed to her new parents.  She ate most of her food tonight, and drank a lot of water that will come back out before morning.

She is sleeping in a big laundry basket with her fuzzy bed pad in it, and has her stuffed lamb to cuddle with.  She is on the floor right next to mom, so maybe she won't whine all night!!

Biscuit

My name is Biscuit!  I am a Cavachon, which is a mix of a Bichon and a King Charles Spaniel.  I came to live here today, when my new mom picked me out at the Pet Store!  I know she shouldn't be buying me from a pet store because they are bad breeders and all that, but I am only 9 weeks old and was only at the store for a couple of weeks.

Tonight I think I am sort of lost, because my owners didn't buy any of my buddies, and I am all alone for the first time in my life.

I will also cause all kinds of trouble for my new owners, as they have a non pet reservation at the RV park, which will be immediate trouble!  Maybe I'll have to hide away!  These and many other issues will need to be solved in the near future!

Perhaps we will lose our deposit, and we will have  to go to the old park, who knows?  Loyce just fell in love!

Retired Rod

Grand Daughter and a Chair Base

Today was a little different, as we did have our youngest grand daughter here from late morning until after supper tonight.  She is such a happy child, and never fusses, except when gramma puts her down for a nap!

Boy, she can then raise the roof!  She is in a strange bedroom and I think that frightens her.  And she can wrap gramma around her little finger too.  Put up a fuss and gramma comes!

She did sleep for the longest time, once she settled, and that was my cue to slip out of here.  I went to Nebraska Furniture Mart.  They are from Omaha, but have a huge store out West of town by the Nascar track.  They have put all the other furniture stores here in town, out of business.

I was looking for a swivel base for one of our recliners.  We have a Euro chair that came with the motor home, and it is fine for a couple of week trip, but it doesn't rock, or recline, or swivel.  Well it kind of reclines, as you can turn the knobs lose and tilt yourself back some.  It also has a separate foot stool  that is tilted at an angle that does not match my legs.

Since we plan to be gone for months not weeks, I remove the Euro Chair and trade it for the smallest recliner here from the house.  That recliner does not have the swivel base, which made it hard to deal with in the smaller confines of the motorhome.

So that is why I went to Nebraska Furniture Mart.  I took the model number of the chair, and the salesman looked it up and sold me the swivel base to match.  $89.  Plus the sales tax.  So I found myself sitting in the pickup lanes outside of the warehouse.

They have about 10 lanes that go past the warehouse doors, and cars and trucks are lined up 20 deep in each line.  Patients Rod, cool your jets!  They will get to you in due time.  But it began to rain more heavily, and I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel.  But alas, there was the guy with my box, and it fit in the back seat!

Once back here, I began to install the base.  It is a tedious job, as there are springs in the rocker part, that must be stretched with a bar in order to put the screws in.  They don't just line up.  And to make things a tad more proprietary, they use Torx head screws.  A T25 which is more of an unusual size.  But I had one in a set that I bought last year.  Then the big round base goes on with a T30.  I found that in a different set that was hiding down in the basement tool box.

Loyce helped me get the initial screws back into the base spring as we only had four hands between us and needed six.  The grand daughter was still asleep upstairs at the time.

So after about 4 hours of total time, the chair is sitting here ready to be traded for its counter part in the motorhome.  Whew, another odd job off the list for travel to Arizona!  That's only 16 days away!

Retired Rod

Happy Veterans Day!

We have all participated in the service of our countries whether we are actual members of the armed forces, past members, or just civilians that have had to live thru the tough times.  During times of war and strife, we each have to modify our activities, purchases and taxes to provide for the war effort!

May we somehow learn as peoples of the earth, not to fight with each other!  Whether political, religious, or tribal customs, our differences are not so great that we can't become tolerant of our neighbors!  The practice of feeding our young people into a war machine to appease these intolerances before they are old enough to understand why, seems barbarous!

Just my take on things as a former military man.  Your opinion may vary!

Retired Rod

Slooooow!

We spent the morning going to more Doctor's appointments, and I am really tired of the medical stuff, so that is the end of comments about that.

Once back home, it was a slow day as I prepared some for heading out, and Loyce did her craft stuff in her craft room upstairs.  The computer was in my face for most of the afternoon.  And yes it put me to sleep for a short nap.

I was over at Wal Mart for some groceries and at Wendy's for a Chicken nugget lunch, and that is about all that today amounted to.

I think tomorrow we are baby sitting for a while, so perhaps it won't be sooooooooo quiet around here.

Retired Rod

Motorhome service complete/ Working with Direct TV

I was just reading the comments from yesterday, and the discussion of Minus 40 verses Plus 40.  I think that JB was talking Celsius, in that plus 40 is somewhere like 104 F. And that that would be impossible for Alberta.  Where as I believe Rick was referring to 40 F for the mean winter temperature out on Vancouver Island. Guys you can correct me if I am wrong.  The one thing I think they both would have in common, is that if they would visit here in KC during the July and August heat wave, they might well melt, because we do see that 40 C or 104 F quite often.  You both have an open invitation for a back yard bar b que next summer, but I am not responsible for heat stroke emergencies! LOL

With that in mind, we had a very nice day here today, except it was a tad windy as the Southern winds blew in with warm weather.  Officially we saw 72 F this afternoon with bright sunshine.  And I think JB was driving thru Western Kansas, and probably enjoyed this nice weather as well.

By mid morning, I received the call that the motorhome service was complete.  I was in the middle of hanging some small blinds over the front door side windows so that had to be completed before I could leave.  But once done, Loyce took me to the Freightliner shop.  The bill was $263.  That included 17 quarts of oil and the oil filter, and one of the two fuel filters.  I provided the other filter, as I carry it in the coach. They went thru everything that needed serviced and assured me that I was good to go for departure to Arizona.

I also purchased a second primary fuel filter and water separator to have in the compartments of the coach.  This filter has the clear water separator threaded on the bottom.  It is a separate piece and is not replaced every time with the filter, but that makes the filter a proprietary piece.  Bad fuel with junk in it ends up in this filter first, so having one could save my bacon.  The other filter is available at most auto parts stores and particularly NAPA stores, so that one isn't as critical.

So for about $285 I was out the door.  Will I change the oil myself next year?  I guess time will answer that one, but I'm sure I have found my diesel shop here in South KC.

The remaining part of the afternoon was spent trying to get my Direct TV receiver re authorized.  Since we were here at home with the coach, I scanned the sky for the satellite with the King Dome and locked on the receiver.  As is usually the case when we haven't used the system for a period of time, the receiver went into a full reprogram mode.   It downloaded a bunch of new software and took what seemed like forever to reprogram itself.

Once I had waited for about 30 minutes, the system came up and declared that I had no subscription.  The satellite companies send authorization codes about every two or three weeks to foil the folks that have unauthorized receivers.  Since the motorhome's receiver was not powered up and locked onto the satellite, it had missed these authorizations.

You can go onto the internet at direct tv's web site, and resend the codes yourself, if you enter the error message in their search engine.  That will bring up the proper page.  But the rub was that I sent it several times, but could not get it to record in the receiver.  I was frustrated!

Finally I brought the receiver into the house and hooked it to the dish on the side of the house.  Once I had the transponders and the computer and internet hooked up in the same room, I was able to see it all at once and got it authorized.  I'm not sure what I did different, but it worked this time.

I made the decision to leave the receiver here in the house until we get ready to leave.  That way it will be powered up and connected to a dish at all times.  It shouldn't miss any authorization codes and I will not have this frustration again as we transition to our home on rolling wheels.  Remind me to take the receiver with me, as we leave.  Please!

This whole process causes untold grief for folks that are mobile with their systems.  I can't help but wonder if they chase away more folks that pay for services, than they foil would be service pirates!

But then again, I am aware that most pirates steal Dish Network signals and not Direct TV, as its security is much tougher to compromise.

I was worn out and sore on my front side after all of that, so tonight has been computer time to give myself some respite.

Retired Rod

Servicing the Motor Home

Will the clock please click forward!  Every time I look at the clock, it is way earlier than I think it is.  Not that that is bad, but I'm all messed up with it.

I went over and traded the pickup truck for the motorhome in the storage lot.  The little F150 looks so wrong parked on the double long parking space for the motorhome, but I can only drive one at a  time.  And as usual, when I parked to do the gate combination to get out of the lot, a whole bunch of water started running out of the tank drain in the back of the coach.

Remember, I thought I had winterized the rig, pumping out each line with the pink stuff from the bottle into the water pump.  But for the fresh water tank, all you can do is open the drain and let it run out.  We have fresh water listed as 84 gallons, with 10 of that in the water heater, so the actual fresh tank is over 70.  I'm not sure how much of that is usable, since the pickup must be above the bottom of the tank.

But when parked in an upward to the front position, and tilted toward the drivers side, water comes running out the drain.  This drain has been open for 6 weeks.  I sat there for as long as I could to let it run, but a bunch of folks decided they wanted out and lined up behind me forcing me from the spot.

When I got back home with the rig, I parked in the middle of the cul de sac down in the end, and sat there as another gush of water came.  I was right in front of the storm sewer, so I let it run as long as I could, that is until the grumpy neighbor just had to back out of her garage with her Cadillac SUV.  She just glared at me!!  Reminded me of the movie Christmas Vacation where Clark was draining his Black Water down the storm sewer and declared "Sh*tters full!"  That still busts me up every time I see it.

She was for sure, that I was dumping sewer water on the street in front of her house!!!!  Glare Glare!!!!

Of course the angle in front of my house is not steep enough to get the water out.  I went around the block and came back and parked on the incline again.  Again I got a lot more out.  Thinking about this for a while, leads me to the conclusion that the water pipes are empty between the tank and the low point drain in the back, as it is, well,  the low point!  But that the tank must have some water that remains below the hole cut in the side of the tank pipe.  They are plumbed into the side of the tank, not the bottom.

Will this small amount of water hurt anything if it freezes?  It can't be more than a gallon or two, in a 70 gallon tank.  It should have plenty of air space to expand upwards, but could it push a side out?  I don't know.  I'm sure this will work on me, and if it gets really cold, like in the low 20's, I'll be over there dumping pink stuff into the fresh tank.

Mid afternoon, I decided that our propane tank that was half full needed topped off.  It holds 30 gallons.  But remember that you can only fill a LP tank to 80 percent, so only 24 gallons are usable.  The other 6 must remain as head space.

The gauge reads all 30 gallons and is never full, so when it says half, it means you have 15 gallons left.  Looking on the internet for a propane refill station here in fashionable Overland Park netted zero for dealers. But over in the oldest part of Olathe, there was a rental place, that advertised propane.  And advertised RV refill as well.  Well OK then!

So I drove there, thru the city streets but since I am at home I knew how to find the address without going in circles.  I pulled up in front of the bottle refill station on the side driveway, and a fellow came right out of the service area.  He didn't say much, but had the hose hooked up and pumped in 10 gallons.  Claimed it was over the 80 percent a little but that it would be alright.  That cost  $40, with the sales tax on it.  But just like that I was serviced.  On the way out, I drove around the building and came back to the street without backing up.   I've found my new propane dealer!  Even if it is $3.75 a gallon.

From there it was over to the Freightliner dealer.  And the MH was dropped off for its service appointment in the morning.  Loyce came after me.  Oh, and the basic service for the oil change is $240.  I didn't ask if that included the oil and filters, since I'm sure it doesn't.  He!! its only money, easy come easy go!  Ya, right......

Retired Rod

My internal clock!

My watch says 10:30, my mind says its time to go to bed!  I just hate these time changes, because it messes up my internal mind clock so bad.  How do we get so set in our ways?

We didn't do too much here today, as Loyce went on a long walk and I putzed around the house.  She has been into walking almost 3 miles, and that is way farther than I can make in my current condition.  I tried to watch the football games, but lost interest.  And finally settled for computer time and internet surfing.

So the car never was started, and I never left the house.  My kind of a Sunday!  Sorry it isn't more interesting to write about, but some days are just like that.

Retired Rod

Football and a Water Filter Hunt!

I didn't even watch the Hawkeyes today.  I knew after the big win over Michigan State last week, they would be oh so flat!  And yes they were.  Indiana had us beat fair and square, but then we got a final touchdown to go ahead in the last few minutes.

They roared back and thought they had the wining score at the end of the game, but the receiver dropped the ball as he fell to the ground.  No score!  I'm not going to say Iowa won, but rather Indiana beat themselves, and we were the recipient of the good fortune.    Iowa is now 7 - 2.  With 3 games left.

I went out in search of a water filter for the filter cannister in the motorhome.  It is slightly bigger than the normal filter that is available at the big box stores.  I drove all over, and never found the right one.  I didn't want to buy the slightly smaller one as it seems to be,  well,  less of a filter.  Maybe I will have to call Red Bay and ask what the brand is, and where to get it.  But of course they will want to sell it to me.

That passed the rest of the afternoon after the football games. That is until we headed over to my son Chris' house to have a birthday supper for Loyce, in honor of her birthday.  So non stop conversation and more football on TV, where we cried as Missouri lost their game rather handily.

Turn your watches back tonight, as tomorrow is standard time.  That will be confusing for the first week as we get used to it.  And me, I have to go thru the watch collection and turn them all back.  That will keep me busy for a while tomorrow!

Retired Rod

Winterizing an RV

We seem to do this every year!  That is wait until it is the last minute until a freeze strikes!  And then go out and reluctantly winterize  my oldest son's travel trailer!

They never want the camping season to end, so even though it will be way too cold tonight to leave it with water in it, reluctantly we have this boy's day out.  Today was that day, as last night was about 30 degrees, and tonight it is to be in the high twenties.

We met at about 10 AM, and I had gone over to the motor home and retrieved the water pump hose that came with the Tiffin.  Also I grabbed the 1 1/16 deep socket that is used to pull the water heater plug.  We stopped at the Olathe Ford RV dealership south of Gardner, Ks for some mouse packets, that I didn't write down the name of.  But they are a repellent that stink and the mice can't stand.

It was after 11 AM when we arrived at the storage farm just outside of the entrance to Pamona State Park.  An industrious farmer has transformed his ground into a golf course and a big storage area for campers and boats.  The place is packed with rigs of all ages.  They even have a little restaurant in the building for the golf pro shop.  Things were rather subdued at 40 degrees outside.

We were able to winterize the travel trailer quite quickly with the water pump hose.  You remove the fresh water  tank hose from the inlet of the water pump and replace it with the short winterizer hose.  The loose end goes into the jug of the pink stuff.  The water pump pulls the pink antifreeze into the lines.  We made sure it came out of every faucet and the toilet.

We had bypassed the water heater and drained it when we first arrived, and just like that we were done.  In the past we had filled the fresh water tank with 4 gallons of the pink antifreeze and then pumped it into the system.  Today the tank was empty when we got there and it remained empty.  We used less than a gallon of antifreeze and had the lines filled.  All because we had this little three foot hose to go on the water pump.

They have made these kits to go on the water pumps for years, with a valve and the pickup hose that is installed and left permanently, but the temporary hose was included with the Tiffin motorhome, and I had never thought of it before.  Cheap and works!

We spent the rest of our time on the little speed boat that my son keeps in one of the buildings.  It has quick water drains on it so it drains quickly as well.  That was mostly putting covers on and taking out batteries.

So I got to spend the day with my son Chris, and we made sure things will not be wrecked next spring.  This is our third year for this event with his current camper.  Time flies!

I didn't do as well riding in the pickup on our bouncy interstate as I had hoped. The expansion joints caused the truck to do the rhythmic thumpa, thumpa, and before long my incision was going nuts.  I suffered thru the 25 miles on I 35 each way, but I'm not ready for prime time travel quite yet!  If I was in the motor home, I think it would have been better, as it is heavy enough to not bounce with the crack heaves.  But I am not ready to head out for Arizona this week anyway.

But it was a day that I didn't have to sit here in the house and look out the windows, so who's complaining?

Retired Rod

Sunny but Windy and a Watch arrives!

When you have parked in the house all day, what can you talk about?  The weather!!!  So it was barely 55 degrees here today.  But as is almost always the case here in Kansas the sun came out all day!  We did have some clouds in the afternoon, but the weather forecasters only called them Few, as opposed to Scattered, which must mean more.

The wind didn't know it was sunny and 55 however, as we had gusts from the North at 35 mph.  It really felt as though we were in the winter pattern.  After the turn of November, it is really the start of winter.

I have a bad habit of collecting watches, and I never need another one because I have too many already, but that doesn't stop me from ordering another.  So on Sunday, I did just that, ordered another.  By Tuesday I had the tracking number with an estimated delivery of Friday.  But just for the heck of it, I checked the FedEx tracking again today, and voila its out for delivery!  The problem was, that it required a signature or it went back in the truck.

So, I was stuck here until three in the afternoon waiting for the FedEx ground truck.  The watch  was in Memphis, Tn yesterday morning, and after departure only took an hour before it was scanned again in KC.  Not exactly ground!  But what's wrong with that.  It just messes up your planning a bit.

Since it was so cold outside as I was sitting waiting for the truck, I went back over to the motorhome and retrieved my winter shoes, from under the driver's seat.  Never enough bins in the MH.  That was about it for my day here.

Retired Rod

At last some RV activity!

This afternoon, I went over to our local Freightliner dealership to check on an appointment for an oil change for the motorhome.  I did this work last year, before we headed out in late October.  But with the surgery and recuperation time, I think it would be wise if I wasn't  laying on my back trying to reach up into a diesel engine changing an oil filter.

Since it is not optional, I didn't even ask the price for the work.  Perhaps once I take it there next week, I will inquire, but there is nothing that I can do about it, even if it is way too high!  They seem to know what needs checked and the fellow was nice enough to let me bring it in early and they will keep it in their fenced lot overnight.

So with that done, I went over to the storage lot to make sure that it will start.  Wouldn't that be bad, if it wouldn't go when it needed to be over there for an appointment.  It hasn't been started since mid September, and I would have to look back in the blog to see what day we washed it and drove it back to storage.

It did fire right up, and the generator started as well.  But once the main engine is running, I think the genny gets power from it, so starting the second engine is not much of a stretch.  Perhaps I should do that in the other order, allowing the generator to charge the truck batteries, but have never had advice on that matter.

I was happy to report that my mouse traps did not have a single customer.  They were still set in their armed position, and had not been messed with.  So so far so good on the critter report.  It has been really close to freezing here at night, so if we were going to get them, they would have already moved in.  But I left the traps armed just the same.

After allowing the engines to run for 30 minutes, I shut it all down and locked stuff back up.  I try to let it run every 30 days, but this time it has been more like 55 days or so.  I was over there when I put the mouse traps in, but didn't think I could sit in the seat to start the engine that time.

I am amazingly much better now, as the seat and climbing into the side door was no problem at all.  I still have a bunch of gas and bloating pain as the night comes along, but the incision pain is not as sharp now.  Every day is slow, but I am coming along. Yea!

I went to our discount grocery store here in the Midwest, Aldi.  They are a German company and have stores here in the Midwest.  They only take cash and Debit cards.  So after picking out about $15 worth of stuff, I checked out.

Of course they wouldn't take my Debit card.  Declined!  I tried twice, before handing over the cash.  The bank is right across the street, so I drove right over and asked why!  Well they couldn't see that there was ever a request for a transaction from Aldi.  Ya gota love discount stores!

So that is the excitement for today.  But it does relieve me to have the appointment for the service on the motorhome, by a real franchised Freightliner dealer.  Now to go rob a bank to pay for it!

Retired Rod

Election Night

I am sitting here watching the election returns tonight.  The big news is that we will now change to another make up of government here in the US.  But with the House of Reps being Republican, and the Senate being Democrat, and a Democratic president, I think we will now have gridlock, and nothing will be accomplished.

Folks will more than likely forget in two years (2012) that they went for the conservatives in 2010, and we will not get much change then either.  In other words, Obama could still be reelected with an opposing congress, so I do not look for a bunch of big changes in policies anytime in the future.

So that is all I'm going to say about that since this is not a political blog, and I realize that I have readers on both sides of the fence.


We sat here and had a leisurely breakfast, and talked of plans to load the motorhome.   We cast some thought about the new RV park that we selected last year.  I think I have explained that we are going to the Valle del Oro RV resort in the very Eastern part of Mesa.  This is right on the intersection of US 60 and the 202 freeway.

These are both 4 lane interstate like highways.  There will be a bunch more traffic noise.  It is a much newer park, and is 1,800 sites.  But that makes it a small city in itself.  We will have our same lot that we had last year for all intents, even though in the different park.  Our lot last year, however, was almost all concrete, as it was an old park model spot.  Where as this year it is mostly a gravel spot.  It only has a small patio of concrete outside the rig door.

We will park the coach on the gravel, but also the car will park on gravel as well.  Last year we had a concrete driveway. And some landscaping. 

So why make this change?  Mainly it is because the Mesa Spirit park is 50 blocks West of the new location, and closer to the run down center of the old town.  The neighborhoods are more inside the redline areas of town.  We are beginning to not feel as safe in the old park as we have before.

Last year for the first time, the park did not have security on the front gate at all during the night, and we saw several instances where we had undesirables driving thru casing belongings that were unsecured at the wee hours of the day.  This is not worth a couple of hundred bucks a month in saved rent.  Or a concrete driveway either.

We tend to be night owls, walking around the park, after others have gone to bed.  So if we encounter cars that do not have US origin license plates  (other than Canadians LOL), driving around at 11 PM, or 1AM  its time to move on!

Arizona is trying desperately to get a hold of the crime problems in its major cities, and has voted for Sheriff Joe Arpia over and over, but here I go getting political again.  But we think this move to the newest part of the trailer villages part of town is in our best interest.  There are newer parts of town than where we are going, but they don't allow us trailer folks around there!

There are a lot more organized activities in this new park as well, but we are mostly loner folks that do not get really involved with our neighbors.  We are very gracious and congenial, but to date have not been involved to the point of sharing meals and such.  We won't go hide in the boondock desert, but we won't be over to see what's for dinner at the neighbor's either.

Now one of the things that I will be involved with, is the Country Store that they have on Thursdays.  They were on Fridays at Mesa Spirit.  This is the flea market in the community center.  It is a very big deal in Del Oro, with about 4 times the vendors.  We will only be about three miles from the Mesa Swap meet which runs Friday, thru Sunday, and I am told that many of the Thursday vendors come from there.  I have had a good time with these in past years.  Loyce tends to hang back from these events, so we will see if this attracts her.

Well I'm rattling on here, and have probably bored you to death, so lets quit right here, as I watch Harry Reid point at me with his index finger, in order to drive home the point that he was re elected to be the Senate majority leader!

Perhaps I need to turn off the election coverage!!!

Retired Rod

Medical again

We spent the day with medical stuff again today!  I thought we did that last week!  Oh, we did!

This morning Loyce went in for treatments on her legs, and I was just the driver.  I sat for several hours in the waiting room, but managed to be there for her.

Then in the afternoon, I went in to see yet another specialist for more, Ahem!  personal type problems.  Damn its hard to be an old male!  That ended up with a CAT scan of my mid section mid afternoon.

They wanted me to lay down on my belly face down in the machine!   On a brand new incision?  Yes!  I don't think so!!!!!

So they had to do what they had to do, and I got the he!! out of there.  Didn't get home until the evening drive time, so I ended up battling the morning traffic up the Interstate to get Loyce to her appointment, and then battling the 5 PM traffic back home.

I was killed, but spent most of the day away from home which is a vast improvement from sitting around the house.  Now as long as these tests don't end up with some nasty drawn out care plan........

Will we ever get on the road to the Southwest?????


Retired Rod

Trick or Treat

Tonight was trick or treat night here at Grandma's house!  This is the night that all of the kids come over and go trick or treating here in our neighborhood.

We had the evening meal her with big treat pudding deserts with lots of whipped cream on top!  And big candy treats too.     Ooooo!

Well I helped somewhat, by going over to Wal Mart and picking up the forgotten stuff to save the day at the last minute.

At the chance of really making my DL's mad, I am going to post a couple of pictures that were taken on the fly tonight.  Sorry in advance girls.

Getting them to stand still when there are 5 of them running around here was a really big challenge, but then they aren't all that scary anyway.    Perhaps just cute!

Grandpa's biased don't you think?

Retired Rod