Saturday and Sunday

Saturday

While Dave was out cycling Friday, he noticed route indicators on the roads. I hopped on the Internet and found the Glassner Autumn Challenge, taking place today.  Although he did not pay the entry fee, he still rode the 30-mile route, as this is something he would have done anyway. The staging area was at a church about 3 miles from here.

Dave had a whale of a good time being amongst other cyclists of all skill levels. The photo above and the one below were snapped by him at the event.

The Caped Crusader (Batman) was handing out goodies to riders

Everyone was quite friendly and ride hosts insisted he partake of the sumptuous spread of fajitas following the ride. Yep, Dave scored big time!

What did I do while he was gone? I got my feet wet with my new virtual assistant job, taking advantage of the quiet time.

Our Maggie woke up at 6 AM with nausea which, along with another symptom, led us to believe she was experiencing a flare of the slight pancreatitis she was diagnosed with a couple of years ago. I immediately began her on the prescription medications I keep on hand for this. They absolutely alleviate the symptoms but make her a bit drowsy, although this is a good thing. Napping and being quiet is a benefit during these flares. I also held food except for the minimal amount needed to take the meds; this gives her gut a break. She was not appearing distressed or in any discomfort, but not 100% her usual bouncy, perky self. If you didn’t know better, you wouldn’t be able to tell anything was going on just being around her.

After a nice dinner of crab cakes and wild rice, we watched an incredibly bad horror movie in the evening. Dave has commented that we certainly have done well with meals. The only groceries we have needed have been staples such as bread, milk, etc. I’m glad I stocked up the freezer, fridge and pantry prior to embarking on our trip. There’s still several more meals to be had from our current provisions. We have not eaten one meal out so far. We didn’t have dinner at Stuckey’s the other day; I just got the pecan divinity and we ate dinner at home.

Sunday (today)

Maggie made it through the night without stirring, so she and I both had a good sleep. She has done well today and acting somewhat more like herself. She still is on her meds as a precaution to get her through this episode. I am hopeful we caught this early and that she will be able to travel Tuesday.

Dave took off on the bike again today, as the area here is excellent for cycling. In fact, he says it is even better than the Lancaster, PA area, which he really enjoyed. I did some more laundry, which  puts us in a good position in that regard for our departure Tuesday. Got a bit more work done, too!

After Dave’s return, we went the 10 miles north on I-65 to the actual town of Hope Hull and the Winn-Dixie market there for a few basics in the way of groceries. We then stopped at the Flying J near the park to fuel up the truck for Tuesday’s leg of our journey.

View of sunset this evening from our site

The roaming dog saga continues this evening. The total number of dogs that roam freely through this park (but do not actually belong here) has risen to 6, with the latest one being a very large brown dog that just showed up a few feet from us this evening as we were sitting out on our patio.

Earlier in the evening (before dark) I had just stepped out of our RV to take Maggie out – she was still just inside the door on her leash –and saw one of the big white dogs (which belong down the road apparently) just entering our site. It saw Maggie and Maggie saw it. I got back inside; thankfully, Maggs had not started down the steps yet.

Spooked the heck outta me, I tell ya. The best thing for Maggie during these health episodes is to not become excited. Good luck with that here. No wonder my stomach is rumbling, too. Walking her is stressful, especially at night, as there are no lights anywhere in this park. Flashlights and spray bottle at the ready, and we double-team walking her – one walking her and one on lookout.

Yesterday evening the cat was under our rig, sat up on its haunches and grabbed onto the rig’s underbelly with its from paws/claws. We were sitting out and shooed it away.

Management here is very nice and the park is well-maintained; however, the roaming critters are enough of an annoyance and issue that we would not return here except as an overnight stop. The fact that there are no lights in the park makes it a bit more dodgy when walking Maggie. We do have good flashlights as part of our “arsenal” in security work, and we have been using them. We also leave our porch light on at night and our driver side security light on all night.

The evening is moving along, so I’ll mosey out of here for now. Be safe out there, okay?

Thanks for stopping by!

We Really Should Get Out More or Perhaps Not . . .

We got away from the facility a bit after 11 AM yesterday morning.  I had told myself I’d be happy if we left by noon, so we were good.  Made through the toll plaza in PA just fine, no sweat.  Highlights – if that’s what you want to call ‘em – of our day.

• I prefer refueling at truck stops simply for ease of maneuvering the rig.  Dave really doesn’t like them.  Wanting to not drop us much below half a tank and liking to start the day with a full tank, we refueled twice.  First was a truck stop.  During that exercise, we exchanged a few words in tones of voices we rarely use with one another.  Towards the end of the day, we exited the interstate and followed the sign to a station that had diesel, this in an effort to oblige Dave.  Turns out it was a wee hole-in-the-wall convenience store, which would have been really fairly easy except . . . there was a vehicle blocking access to the diesel pump with owner nowhere in sight, getting our rig’s butt off the road put us at a tight angle for getting to the pump (eventually) and . . .  well, it was stressful for yours truly.  “Am I going to miss the flowerpot on your side?”  Dave afterwards said he’s okay with my pulling into truck stops from now on.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Hanging with the big dawgs at West Virginia rest stop

• Saw a fast-traveling car on the interstate in front of us pass an 18-wheeler on the shoulder.  Insane.  Scary.
• This is the first time we have carried cargo in the bed of the truck, including a plastic bag with chocks, etc.  I periodically scan the truck bed, rig sides, etc. in my mirrors.  At one point the bag started creeping up the side of the truck bed.  Yoinks!  “Umm . . . okay, the bag’s climbing out of the truck.”  We slowed down quite a bit with flashers on and then stopped as soon as we safely could exit for Dave to secure that puppy.  Amazing what wind can do, eh?
• Always before when traveling, we made sandwiches the night before and had them in the cooler of the truck for snacks.  Did we remember to do that this time?  Oh no, she says.  We had a few drinks and a bottle of peanuts.  As of this morning, we had gone a bit over 24 hours without eating. “Why?  What happened to dinner?”  See next bullet.
• After arriving at our site at this KOA last evening and setting up the rig, it was time to put out the slides.  Bedroom slide open.  Check.  First living room slide.   First living room slide.  Hello?  Motor running, but no movement.  Oh  crap.  Long story short, we sat outside at the picnic table until almost 10 PM, when it dawned on me, “Duh!  The slides can work independently.  Let’s see if the living room superslide will open.  At least we  can get to the kitchen and I can clean up the flour that’s everywhere.”  I hear you saying, “Flour?  Flour?  Everywhere?”  See next bullet.  Again.  Checked the outside slide control panel.  Oh.  Dear.  In my routine pre-trip safety checklist, I always turn off the slides at the control panel.  Oh.  My.  Yeah, well.  My bad.  Turned on the switches for those two slides and they opened.  “Better cancel that call to Good Sam Roadside Assistance . . .”
• You might be wondering about the flour by now.  In all our journeys with this rear kitchen, we have never had a cabinet  pop open.  On climbing over furniture to get to the kitchen last evening to get me a Dr.  Pepper and Dave a much-deserved beer, there’s this white stuff everywhere in the kitchen.  All cabinet doors closed.  Heck, looked like someone’s baking attempts went very much awry.  Or a cocaine party that was just way too wasteful.  After we got the slides open, I did a basic clean-up, leaving the details until this morning.

Site #20 at the Harrisonburg, VA KOA

• The couple across from us have two large dogs.  One wandered over into our site and started barking at us.  Skeered the bejesus outta me.  Black dog in the black night; hard to see until he is right there with ya and barks with a deep voice.  The guy came over and got him.  Heard them saying, “I thought you were watching him . . .”
• Said dogs are the only barkers in the entire park.  And their site is right across the drive from ours.  And their people are gone and the dogs have been vocalizing ever since.  Could be worse.  They could be constantly barking yappy small dogs . . .
• While in the office arranging to stay over tonight, the office cat got sick and started throwing up.  You guessed it.  Didn’t notice it had already done so right by the counter apparently during the time I stepped away from the counter and went back.  I stepped right in it.  Oh yay.  Cat vomit on my shoe.

Finished cleaning up the kitchen this morning.  We decided to stay an extra day here to rest from yesterday’s adventures.  Dave is out on a short bike ride, adding Virginia to his tally of states he has cycled.  Originally planning a one-night stay here, Dave hooked up our water and sewer this morning before heading out on the bike.  I figured I might as well do a couple of loads of laundry before it becomes a mountain.  Since our travel schedule has been severely modified, we may have only a one-night stopover right before getting to our work site in South Carolina.  Looks like we may have a two-night layover at our next stop tomorrow in Emporia,  Virginia due to possible bad weather Monday.

States traveled through yesterday:  New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia.

Total mileage:  290.1,  which is more than we usually do, but it worked out that way.  We survived and have shorter travel days ahead.  Hopefully,  they will be less eventful and less stressful, too.

I’m going to chill on the daybed with Maggie now.  Oh yeah, Maggie was her usual trouper self.  She was so excited, she couldn’t bring herself to focus on that pre-departure pee and tugged me straight to the truck!  In her crate in the truck (except for periodic walks) until almost 10 PM last night, she uttered nary a whimper and was in no distress.  We couldn’t ask for a better full-timing doggie!

One of the many KOA chickens here, this one visiting us at our site this morning.

Thanks for stopping by!

We’re Short . . .

 

One week tomorrow and we should be rolling through the gate headed south.  Well, actually west and then south.   I am both excited and a wee bit apprehensive. 

I keep going over in my mind what else I can cull from what is in our RV.  We have more stuff (there’s that word again . . . “stuff,” which means everything from clothes to houseplants, to small dorm-size refrigerator . . . such a catch-all word, “stuff.)  On the lighter side (pun intended), during our time here we have disposed of things here such as satellite dish and its accoutrements, sleeper sofa (with weight of 250 pounds per its specs; it was one heavy piece of furniture, I tell ya), one bicycle, articles of clothing (added some though, like insulated overalls and heavier jackets due to the harsh winters here), and so on. 

Again, I’m glad we upgraded from E-rated tires to a G-rated set, and I’m going nowhere near a CAT scale on this trip!

When we were actively traveling back in 2010/2011, we weighed in about 500 pounds under our max.  Dave says I’m obsessed with the rig’s weight, but I just want us to make this trip safely.

Funny . . . here I am a girl concerned about weight and it’s not my personal weight but that of my RV and truck combo.  Ha!  I am so my father’s daughter.

Hoping the Appalachian and Shenandoah Mountains will be kind to us.  Hoping my Dad will watch over us from that big campground in the sky . . .

Reviewing our route and its stages today, I realized I miscalculated the mileage of our first day out.  I thought it was right around 200 miles. 

Well . . .

It is actually about 280.  Ruh-roh.  I remembered that I was unable to find a campground close to the interstate at about 200 miles when planning the route, the first being a ways on down the road a bit.  Hence, the 280-odd miles for that stage. 

We also have one toll plaza to go through just as we enter Pennsylvania.  Well, I had to get us through it coming here, so I can get us through going out.  Nice and slow.  I’ll just use the far right-hand lane like the “big dogs” (semis) do.

It’s gonna be a long first day back in the saddle for this gal.  No big deal, I guess.  We’ll just take our time as usual.  I stop about every 1.5 hours to take a break, and we’ll be stopping perhaps more frequently to check the torque on the RV wheels, since we just put new tires on.  If we land safe and sound, I’ll be happy.  I bet I’ll sleep well that night.

June 2013, “exercising” the rig – Yep, I tow that baby

The most mileage we have done in one day was back in 2010, heading into Cherokee, NC, and that ended up being 350+.  It was dark by the time we hit mountains in the area, my first experience in mountains, and tunnels.  Oh yeah.  Tunnels after dark.  Oh boy.  Trippy.

The good news is our first day will be the longest in mileage, and there are only two more travel days until we get a nice layover in South Carolina prior to arriving at the facility and going on duty.  I have built some flexibility to our travel schedule in case we want to stay an extra night between here and South Carolina to rest or in case of nasty weather.

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There was activity here today with company folks on-site, so I didn’t get a whole lot done.  Did manage to stow a few more things in the rig, so I am making progress. 

Our last weekend here is coming up, and we plan on having as many campfires as we can squeeze in.  With that in mind, Dave got busy this morning and split some wood.

Does my Scotsman rock or what?

I’d like to fire up the grill at least one day over the weekend, too.  We’ll see how that goes in between working on preparing us for departure.  Of course, my meal planning is thrown back a day; today’s cooking plans where dust in the wind due to the activity here. 

My goal is to complete all my preparation tasks (excluding the absolute last-minute things) no later than Monday, so I have a couple of days to chill out and rest a bit.  I’m getting there. 

We’ll hitch up on Wednesday and Dave will disconnect our sewer and water connections, leaving us connected to shore power only.  This will leave less to do the next day before rolling out of here.

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Guess I’d better wrap this up and think about heading to bed soon.  Catch ya later!

Thanks for stopping by!

Nice Weekend and We’re Going to be Invaded!

 

I took Truck out for a nice spin yesterday up, my destination being the Weis market down Highway 22 near Bethlehem, PA.  Yep, I traveled to another state!  It’s the market I like going to now and then to see different items and get things we can’t find locally.  It’s about 20 miles from here and makes for a nice run for Truck and me, too.  Since Truck doesn’t get highway miles often, it gives it a bit of a workout.  Finished at Weis, I stopped in at a Wegman’s market which I pass on the way to Weis.  Wow, Wegman’s is huge and includes a catering service, gargantuan deli, place where you can get hot sandwiches, etc., lots of natural foods and what seemed like a really large selection of Kosher items.  I just wandered around, wide-eyed.  On the return route home, I also popped into another market in Easton, PA, another one I pass on the way to Weis.  Just wanted to check it out.  The smallest of the three, it had an old-fashioned flavor to it but was still clean and the employees friendly.  Had a nice outing and we are stocked up on provisions again.  I’ll be cooking this week, starting today.

During the extreme cold temperatures (single digits and subzero), our fridge went haywire and stopped working, so I had turned it off for a few days while we were in deep-freeze.  It did this for about 24 hours last year and when we encountered really cold weather in Missouri back in 2010.  About a month ago, I purchased a dorm-sized fridge just for such occasions (and overflow) and put it in my office in the office trailer.  It being small, we weren’t able stock up as usual; the freezer section is really just a “token” freezer and not meant for long-term storage. 

Combine that with running off our fresh tank and therefore keeping water usage to an absolute minimum, I have not been cooking as usual.  I’m ready to get back to some “real” meals.

The mercury reached 52F here yesterday with glorious sunshine.  What a relief.  Today is not quite as warm and a bit cloudy, but it still feels delicious outside.  We do, however, have the possibility of a snowstorm Wednesday/Thursday, but are hopeful it will be minimal and that it will be the last.  We still have snow on the ground here, but it is slowly melting and we see patches of actual ground in places.  Yay!  The geese and deer are also pleased about this.  I can sort of see the top of the picnic table.  Yep, we’re making progress.

My annual CT scan is scheduled for early April with an appointment to see my surgeon about a week following the scan to get the results.  Although I don’t anticipate any issues, I still get the “heebie-jeebies” when this time rolls around.  It’s just a natural feeling that happens, so I’m just recognizing it for what it is and rolling along.  What will be, will be.  I will, however, be glad when it’s done and dusted and I can move on with the rest of the year.

The weekend after my surgeon appointment, we will be invaded!  The property owners have rented out the property to Military Simulation Airsoft Training and Operations.  Yeah, I didn’t know what that was, either.  Think paintball wars only with biodegradable pellets instead of paint and on an apparently much higher level of technical sophistication.  Essentially it’s staged combat, with the scenario here being radioactive, chemical and biological warfare/terrorism.  Apparently folks pay money (quite a bit, I would think) to participate in these events.  Ours will be a two-day weekend affair with possibly 400 warriors (Patriots and Freedom Fighters) converging on the property.  Apparently they also film the events, using this in developing video games, etc. 

No live ammo, no knives, no physical combat.   Apparently their rules of conduct are very strict and they mean business.  Just lots of guys (and gals??) dressed in military garb, film crews, support crews . . . wow, I say.

I’m torn between “Oh. My. God.” and “Wow!  Cool!”  My initial thoughts are “where is everybody gonna park,” “they darn well better not leave litter everywhere,” and “where is everyone going to sleep?  Hotels?  Are they going to pitch tent barracks on the property??” “Will there be military trucks and choppers?”  “Does Bruce Willis attend these sort of events?”  Teeheee!!  (I’ve heard celebrities have been known to participate.)

No, I definitely won’t be having all 400+ people sign in.  Well, if Bruce Willis showed up, I’d have to present the sign-in sheet to him.  Ha!

Okay, I’m being silly.

The company has rented out several of their properties to MSATO, with the first one being this weekend.  We’ll know more what to expect after this first one is over and as we get closer to our date.

Should be interesting, at the least.  Better make sure we’re stocked up on stuff and don’t have to go anywhere that weekend.  And that my camera batteries are recharged.

No, we certainly can’t say our life here is boring.

I heard Woodpecker throughout the day yesterday and a Mourning Dove sat on one of the wires and “coo-coo’ed” in the afternoon, so Spring is coming! 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Wearin’ a Skirt

 

No, not me and not even Dave!  Our fifth wheel is, though.  Dave put the finishing touches on the skirting around our rig Friday.  He had started the project about a week earlier, getting 3.5 sides done in one day.  He ran out of daylight at that point and then it was snowing, raining, sleeting or too extremely cold out until this past Friday. 

 

 

 

 

We can already tell the difference inside the rig.  The floors are no longer chilly; in fact, the bathroom floor is deliciously warm when stepping out of the shower!  This was the first year he has done this and, while he did a great job, he says there are some things he would do differently.

Tuesday night will be the first time we’ll dip down into single digits overnight since the skirting was put in place, and I’m curious if our pipes will freeze (again).

On to a totally different topic, seems like the past couple of months I’ve noticed that my fingers seem to type a totally different word from the one I’m intending to type.  Like above – I meant to type “overnight,” but when I first typed it, it came out “overhead.”  Sheesh.  That is so not me.  Seriously.  I was a medical transcriptionist for years, and a darn fine one to boot.  Those types of errors just didn’t happen.

Perhaps I’m just thinking too fast for the fingers to catch up.  My keyboard is also kinda slowing down; perhaps it’s time for a new one.  Perhaps I’m just not vested in what I’m typing.  I dunno.

We’ve enjoyed a quiet weekend.  We recently had a two-month stretch of something happening here every single weekend, so quiet is good for a change.  On Saturday after it stopped snowing, I took our truck over to the grocery store in PA I like to visit every few weeks.  They have things I can’t find locally and different items, plus it’s a nice cruise on the highway for the truck . . . and me.  Hmmm . . . guess I didn’t take the truck to the store; it actually took me, and it didn’t go into the store.  <giggle>

Had a deer snort at me one evening last week.  Stepped outside not realizing about four or five of them were fairly close and couldn’t see them clearly in the dark.  “Snort!” and away they sprinted through the shadows.  I think we surprised one another.  Well, that’s another first!

Changed out a light switch for our 12-volt living room lights today.  It didn’t take long, as I had done that a while back in our bathroom.  Waterproofed a pair of boots and then worked my virtual assistant job a while this afternoon.  Made hamburgers and fries for dinner and here I am!  Think I’ll just kick back the rest of the evening.  Monday will be here soon, and I have a feeling it might be one of our busier weeks around here!

Thanks for stopping by!

Went Looking at New Rigs Today . . .

 

Well, at least I got your attention!

Looking at the Class A’s and 5th wheels on the lot of Harold’s RV Center was just a bit of fun after making my intended purchase.  These were mainly Heartland 5th wheels and they sure were pretty; however, all the ones I looked at had significantly lower cargo capacity than our Montana (not very enticing for a full-timer) and some of the interior workmanship was not of the same quality as our beloved Montana home.  I still prefer our rear kitchen with the oven positioned so I can get in front of it and to each side; this makes lighting it and putting things in/taking things out so much easier.  I, however, really, really liked the bathroom in one of them.  It had one door only, the one in the hallway, and no sliding door to the bedroom.  There was ample cabinet storage and . . . a virtually full-sized tub with shower.  Oh my!  Wouldn’t that be grand?

The tradeoff to that, I suppose, was less room in the bedroom and no bedside night-stand shelves. 

I also noticed that the bedroom slide appeared to be a cable slide.

There was one floor plan that did sort of appeal to me, but . . .

Nope, I’ll keep our Montana and be very content with our sturdy, comfy, cozy home, thanks.

Now what did I go to Harold’s for in the first place? 

Not long ago we had a recurring issue with the bathroom rocker switch for the 12-volt lights.  When pressing the switch on, there would be a 1-2 second delay in the lights coming on and, after being on for a while, the switch would become pretty darn warm.  We changed out the switch and that solved the problem.

The switch to the 12-volt lights in the living room had been doing the same thing for a couple of weeks, and we stopped using those lights.  Harold’s had the switches in stock, so I drove the 24 miles there today to pick up some spares in both black and white colors.

I also got three new step covers; they’ll stay in their packaging until next Spring.  We have step covers on right now that have seen better days but remove them completely during Winter because of ice and snow.  No sense in putting on the new ones now with Winter coming soon.

It sure was fun looking at the different rigs today.  I was so like a kid in a candy store!  Or like Dave in a bike shop!  Haha!

What I really enjoyed today was the drive.  Just me, the truck and great road tunes.  It was a beautiful day and I had some bonding time with the faithful Ford beast.  I’ve got an appointment next week to take that steed in to the dealership for an oil change. Man, I love that truck.

Did I mention Harold’s is over in Pennsylvania?  Whoohoo!  I went to a whole ‘nuther state today!  Marveled at how the terrain could change quite a bit in such a short distance.  Hey, I got to look at something other than trees!  Sweet.

I’m visiting with you while basking in the glow of one of my Happy Lights from Verilux.

 

Wow!  That was fast!  I ordered them Friday and they arrived today.  The recommended usage time is 1-2 hours each day, and that can be broken up into increments.  I’ll keep you posted on whether it seems to help during the dark and bleak days of Winter.

Thanks for stopping by!