Because We Can

It rained during most of the night, it rained most of the day, and it seemed like everyone in the park stayed inside their RV's. Almost everyone that is, with the exception of she who enjoys washing the coach windows. Actually it wasn't just that the windows needed washing, it also gave her a chance to try out the new to her rain coat she got at the Unclaimed Baggage Center. And as luck would have it, no sooner did she go outside than it really started raining hard, giving that rain coat a very good test. Either that rain coat was working like a charm or it was letting so much water in that her brain was turning to mush, because once she was done with the front window, she tackled the side windows, ending up doing all of them. Lest you wonder why I wasn't out there helping her and making sure my new to me rain coat functioned properly, somebody had to bite the bullet and stay inside to take photos of what was taking place outside. It was a tough job, but I did my be...

We each went our own way today, Linda doing crafts at the clubhouse, and she will certainly talk about her sewing adventures on her blog. As for me, I was into fixing a few things, one of which was to adjust the MCD shade over the door. A quick Google, a few turns of a knob on the shade, and it was as good as new. Then it was on to replacing the wayward MotoSat fan. Some time ago, when we had stopped at Pat and Sharon's during our trip across Ohio, Pat had given me a heavy duty fan to replace the one that was going bad. That old fan had finally surpassed the going bad, and had settled firmly into the realm of, is bad. So today it was into the trash with the old and into the cabinet with the new. It took a while to figure out where and how to best mount it, but with a little help from Gorilla Tape, it was soon secured in place and cooling far beyond expectations. It was better than a problem solver, it is problem preventer, and it doesn't get better than that. Thanks, Pat!!...

Short drive today. Short post today. The drive was just over 50 miles but it wasn't without its moments. For example, can't say I was too fond of being in the middle lane of three lanes at a stoplight, all three lanes behind us being full of traffic. The bad part was the sign showing the road we wanted to take was a turn to the right, the road the GPS was telling us to take was to the left, and traffic was only letting us go straight ahead. It took a few blocks, a few turns in what passes for downtown Pensacola, and we were at least headed in the right direction, even if it wasn't on the right road. Such is Life. All good things must get better, or at least something like that, meaning that we did make it to the SKP park in Summerdale where we will be spending Thanksgiving week. Temperatures in the 80's, a nice shady tree to eat under, Life is indeed good. And to make it even better, it is my favorite times of the year, meaning there are Christmas movies to watc...

It was warm, but rainy day in northern Alabama today, with just boring domestic stuff happening. Just the routine living of the routine Life of people who live in an RV. Much of that routine of the day centered around preparing for where we will be and what we will be doing for the next 5 days. There were lists to make and double check, plus nagging little problems to take care of, none of which were very exciting, but all of which were deemed necessary by she who deems such things. Since we don't plan to be near shopping for some time, it was also necessary to stock up on those things that we just can't do without. That meant a trip out in the rain, which allowed Linda to test out her new raincoat. As luck would have it, it immediately stopped raining so she still doesn't know how it will work. As you can see, she who deems tomatoes to be an essential daily food, had deemed it necessary to make sure there was an ample supply on board. Food, it was big food day...

It used to be called antifreeze, at least when I was growing up. Now it is referred to as coolant, and the price is much higher. The Explorer has a tendency to consume quantities of "coolant", and this is my low cost answer to that problem. One can buy premixed 50/50 coolant, or one can buy coolant and distilled water and make their own 50/50 blend. The thrifty part of me comes to the fore here, and between the distilled water and the coolant, the two gallons save us a good bit of money. No real reason to do it other than habit, but as you know, habits die hard. And as long as the Explorer lasts until we can junk it and and buy a new Jeep Wrangler, all will be well. Linda, bless her heart, is an Appalachian hill girl, meaning that she has a different outlook on Life than many people. Maybe I should say it is definitely different than her husband, who is also known as yours truly. She's a do it now, take no prisoners person. I, on the other hand, will get to it som...

We have been in Fort Payne for three days now, yet had not once set foot in town. That ended today as I got my fill of the history of the north end of Fort Payne, while Linda spent an equal amount of time shopping. Maybe I should back up a bit, she didn't spend her time shopping, she spent her time buying. And when I finally found her, all she could do was give me what she had picked out to hold for her while she searched for even more items to buy. She'd started at the Salvation Army Thrift Store, and to be clear, no one has ever accused her of being a spend thrift, and eventually she gravitated to Hammers, where I finally found her. And it was when it came time to leave that is when we ran into the not Bob, Bob, the Bob who was not created equal. We were the next in line at a very long register line while the call went out, "Bob, I need help at the registers." It wasn't long before smiling Bob appeared, clad in a University of Alabama shirt and exhibiting...

Darn, I don't like these clocks going back an hour here, and an hour there. Like in a daylight Savings Time change here, and a time zone change there. Unfortunately, or possibly fortunately, this morning there was something to interfere with my early morning escapades. Note the temperature in the above photo. What in the world are we doing in a place where the thermometer almost dips into the teens? We know the coach really does not like low temperatures and it has many ways of displaying its displeasure. The jacks down alarm sounds as we drive off, the ABS light comes on, the Alt Charge light and warning sound, for example. This morning I first noticed the system heat, the heater that is supposed to keep the wet bay above freezing, wasn't working. Then it happened, I opened the refrigerator door and and our Norcold was once again Notcold. Notcold that is in the sense of the green light being out, and in not currently operating. Today's early morning hours were spent...

It is true that we do not like to travel great distances any given day, but that doesn't mean we don't so it. Right now we are in the process of fleeing the cold weather of the north, at least the north as we view it, and heading towards the warm south. Our travels have been accompanied with many snowbirds on the roads, and it comforting knowing that our assessment of what is cold weather is correct. This morning we were on the road right at 7 o'clock and our route would have us traveling through Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama to our destination. Or stated another way, from fog to rain. Our first stop this morning was at the south end of Wytheville, where there was a Flying J. After our trip on empty to fill up with diesel the other day, it is going to be a while before that happens again. The Flying J along I-81 on the south side of Wytheville has an easily accessible RV island. It wasn't until we were starting to fill our tank that I remembered why ...