Information overload!

Who would have thought that learning about all the innards of our RV would be so fascinating?  It's like taking an anatomy course on what we live in.  We're also learned about many of the dangers, complete with video and photos of mishaps.


Did you know that an entire RV can burn up in about seven minutes?  This was not a comforting thing to learn, but most of it is made of thin lightweight materials for logistical reasons, so it's pretty much kindling on wheels when you really think about it

Were you aware that if you run off the road into water and the electricity is shorted you can't open your windows or doors? I know when the vendor area opens up we will be among many of those in our class waiting to buy additional smoke alarms, fire extinguishers, hammers for breaking safety glass, etc.

Left Brain and I spent some time assessing our emergency plan if we needed to exit through the window in the bedrooms.  We know we'd fit through the larger one, it's just the maneuvering of the body to get out and drop to the ground.  The smaller windows...maybe.  Of course if the flames are licking at your butt that does create a real motivation to get out in any way possible.

We saw photos of RV's stuck under bridges that they learned (too late) were not high enough for them and videos of RV's on fire, tipping over while going down the road and taking out the roof area of the gas pumps.  Yikes!  And I thought I only had to worry about staying in my lane and on the road.  The following video is the same one we saw during our presentation.  I found it on You Tube to share with you.

Today's session taught me more about the miles and miles of wiring and tubing running in, around and through the RV.  This is one of the many reasons you can't just pound in a nail to hang up something - it would be real easy to nick a wire and cause a fire.  Thank goodness for command hooks - my new best friend.  I think Left Brain enjoys this part as I was known for leaving more holes in the wall from trying to find just the perfect spot to hang something than a woodpecker who's just gone off a diet.

And speaking of diets, we signed up for the Smart Weigh next Sunday to find out if we are overweight.  Well, we know WE'RE overweight, just not sure about the RV.  I'm sure that will be a sobering revelation and result in parting with some more of our "stuff".

That's it for now - we have a dinner provided for us tonight so I've only got time during this break to get this posted.  The good news is that my internet is good now, but the sad news is that my phone is not working properly.  But luckily I can probably get one of the Geeks on Tour to help me with it when the vendors start up on Sunday. 

It's always something.

Long Live the Queen

Sedalia Missouri - let the fun begin!

my bouquet from the previous campground

Being without internet for a couple of days feels awful.  I was like a drunk sizing up the cough syrup for a quick fix - there wasn't even a McDonald's nearby to run to.  This just won't do!

But, we are in Sedalia Missouri now and after parking the leveling Seymour (the RV's new name) we found out that Baxter's battery was dead.

napping on our bed - this was shortly before she left us

Yup, we named the car after our beloved cat of many years because she was black also.  

You knew her as "She Devil" but that was just the alias she traveled with.

 It just made sense and this way she continues to travel on with us in spirit. 

hummingbird from our last campground

It's getting very annoying to have to find someone to jump the car each time we tow it any distance.  

The nice man that jumped the car for us (he's getting really good with those cables) told Left Brain that you can buy a solar panel for the windshield and plug it into the car charger while it's being towed.  There's one vendor we'll be checking out soon!

I added a bunch of textures and filters to this
 one of the hummingbird flying to give it a dreamy feel

We'll also be checking into any one here that might be able to fix the jacks for us.  If not, Left Brain has a lead on a place just over the border into Arkansas that should work.  

We'll try fixing it once and if it continues to be a headache we may be looking at a major expense of replacing the jacks with a better system.

We will have wi-fi during our time here thanks to Wi-Fi Rangers - THANK YOU!  It's quick and reliable and feels so good to be able to finally write up my blog and post some photos.

It feels so good to be parked in among other RVs, everyone is so friendly.  I've already met a lady a couple RVs down with the sweetest little dogs.  

They just sold the house and started full-timing in July, we we have more experience than they do.  

They will be in our boot camp class also.

The welcome ceremony doesn't start until 3:00, so I have a glorious couple of hours to play on the internet before we head over for our first day of fun.

this photo has a watercolor filter applied

The only really odd feeling was when I realized that after this event is over we aren't going back home.  

We've always gone back home after a trip, but now we're like turtles and carry our home with us. 


It's a strange feeling...a good one, but strange.

There, I have a bunch of the photos finally posted that I wanted to share.  It is so good to have a fast connection again!

Long Live the Queen

Many lessons learned already

The connection is iffy and I'm going to try to get this to publish for an update to yesterdays posting....no photos....nothing fancy.

After waiting for two hours to have a mechanic look at our problem with the jacks all they could do at that moment was disconnect the wiring so we didn’t have to listen to alarm bells and warnings continuously.  So, at this point are jacks are being held hostage with straps and duct tape until we can find someplace to make the repairs on them. 

First lesson learned was to carry more water than we did.  We ran out quickly and after fixing up some supper we were not able to do the dishes.  I could live with this, but it also meant we couldn’t flush the toilet, wash hands, pretty much do anything that required water.  This is crucial when boon docking as you don’t have any facilities for electricity, water or sewer. 

And boon docking we were! Our first night on the road was spent at an Iowa Welcome center in amongst the truckers.  In hindsight we agreed we should have tried out the casino across the street, it may have been quieter.  So, that was the second lesson learned.  But, the 12 volt plug he arranged for using the CPAP with an inverter kept me running all night long, so that was a success. 

After arriving in Missouri we decided to park here about 50 miles north of our destination for a couple of days to rest up for the rally.  Since it was nice and quiet at the gas station where we dumped in another $225 worth of gas we unhooked the car.  And then we found the car would not start, so Left Brain had to circle the RV around to jump the batteries.  Not a problem, I knew where the cables were kept and he knows how to use them.  Got the car running and I led the way to the RV parking spot mentioned in our Escapee magazine. 

It’s just a little paved area near the city park but it has 50 amp electric, water and sewer for $20 a night.  I parked the car in front of the RV and shut it off to go make payment at the park office next door.  Ooops.  Apparently you need to let the car run for a long time when the batteries have run down.  Third lesson learned.  This was not long enough and it wouldn’t start again.  So, Left Brain dragged out the cables again and jumped it once more.  I then parked it off to the side and left it running until he declared it was fit to be turned off. 

In no time flat we had it leveled (he’s amazing at knowing exactly how many leveling blocks need to go where), sides out, and everything hooked up.  Since I wasn’t doing the full set up with arranging all my pretty things, he let me do the hook up of water, sewer and electric to learn how this is done.  I’m feeling pretty confident on this now. 

Supper was tomatoes, green peppers, summer sausage, chips…pretty much anything we could scavenge without having to go shopping.  There’s a Mexican restaurant across the street we’ll hit tomorrow sometime.  It feels so good to be lazy. 

Long Live the Queen of the Road

 

Sorry for the lack of photos - things have been busy and we've just been presented with our first difficult...er, I mean, opportunity for learning. You'll see....keep reading.

It’s been a busy couple of days.  On Sunday I went back to finish up my motorcycle training course.  Again the weather was perfect with blue skies and cooler temperatures.  Our classroom training involved a couple more video presentations with interactive communication.

We were presented with alternate situations and asked what we had observed and how we would proceed.  In the scenario where the biker is racing down the entry ramp into six lanes of very busy traffic I said that right after a change of underwear I would find an alternate route.

Then we were given information on fatal motorcycle crashes and asked to see what the main contributing factors.  I noticed right away that it appeared to be mostly men aged 30 through 60 involved in these crashes and they happened in the early morning hours.  I commented that I was pleased not to find any old women on scooters listed as fatalities.  The instructor then reminded us of a story he had presented earlier of a woman returning a library book at 10 mph in the daytime and how she hit the uneven edge of the new road construction and died.  This is why I have a kindle….returning those library books can be dangerous!

I came close to acing the written test with only one wrong and then we broke for lunch and our return to the dreaded closed course.  That afternoon we worked on making tight U-turns (think figure eights in a small 10 x 20 foot block), making sudden emergency stops and swerving to avoid obstacles.  This is a tough class but I’m glad for having taken it and believe it will make me a much better driver and learning things that just may save my life someday.  Let’s just say that I passed the course, it wasn’t pretty….but I managed to pass.

Fast forward to this morning.  We scurried about to prepare for our big departure, finishing up cleaning, packing the car, loading the scooter on the back of the car and the like.  The plan was for me to run into the DMV, show my paperwork and get my license and return to the parking lot where Left Brain will be waiting after dumping the tanks and filling up with propane.  There was nobody waiting for me in the lot to hook up the car.  Hmmm.  I went back to the campground and found him still in the same position.  This isn’t looking good.

It seems that although we were ready to leave, Seymour (the RV, See More….get it?) didn’t want to go anywhere.  Like a recalcitrant toddler, he had his jacks all firmly down into the dirt and wouldn’t retract them.  Who know he could be so stubborn?  After attempting several procedures to fix this, Left Brain finally lifted them manually and we strapped them into an upright position with our ratcheting straps.  Then it was off to the RV Center to see what repairs could be done.  This was in the wrong direction but hey, whatcha gonna do?

We limped into the RV center during lunch break and were told it would be 1:00 before the mechanics returned to look at it.  Since this was in familiar area I ran to Quiznos for sandwiches and returned with them to eat while we waited.  Then we were told at 1:00 it would at least another hour before we could have any one look at it.  So, I tossed the laundry in the back of the car and headed out to the laundry mat while Left Brain babysat Seymour.  Therefore, instead of being somewhere in Iowa heading towards the rally, I’m waiting for the washer to finish so I can dump stuff into the dryer.

We are bracing ourselves for the worst here.  We may have to wait for parts or adequate time for repairs.  It’s a bit awkward when you live in the rig you need fixed and perhaps we’ll end up “boondocking” at the service center.  Oh well.  The worst that happens is that we miss the beginning of the bootcamp.  But, now it’s time to toss the laundry into the dryer and see if I can send this with my phone as a hot spot.  Wish me luck!

Long Live the Queen of Jacks

Stat your engines!

Today was the first day of my future life as a biker mama.   Now that we are a one and a half car family I need to secure a motorcycle license to legally operate our bright blue scooter.  To accomplish this I signed up for a course through Safe Ride.

The classroom portion of this was held at Two Brothers Honda in Onalaska WI and led by a charming gentleman who has taught this course many times, so I was in good hands.

As I looked around the room and noticed all the other “kids” in my class wearing their Harley gear and with beards, bandanas and tough looking macho expressions I was feeling a bit out of place.  For some reason I felt like I should pull my hair up into a bun, don an apron and serve them milk and cookies.

One of my favorite moments in the classroom was when the cute little girl next to me was relating some experience she had “when she was much younger” and I wanted badly to ask what grade that had been in.  Come on, I mean I have jeans older than some of these kids.  Plus I was the only one wanting to ride a scooter.  My nickname thus became “Scooter” for the rest of the day.  I kind of liked that.

Before I knew it that part was done and we had time to grab some quick lunch and get to the church parking lot for the riding portion.  There were many assorted sizes and types of motorcycles to pick from and I immediately claimed the smallest and friendliest looking one of the bunch.  Oh, I had NO idea what I was in for.

During the part of this course I like to call “getting to know you…getting to know all about you…” I was warned by the instructor that this particular bike does not like to go back into neutral once it’s running. Oh goody!  But once I got used to this, it wasn’t too bad…until that fateful moment.

Those that know me understand that I’m somewhat stubborn.  Some would say bull-headed, but I like to think of it as persistent.  I can also be a tad competitive, especially when these young whippersnappers are eyeing me up as being eligible for the nursing home.  So I attempted to do what no one had been able to do before, slip that puppy back into neutral while running.

Well, apparently this was just too much for the bike to handle and it expressed its dismay by the shifting lever doing a half-gainer and landing on the concrete.  Oh oh.  I sure hope this isn’t one of those “you break it you buy it” kind of things.

I calmly motioned to the instructor…okay… okay….I waved my hands over my head wildly and kept pointing to the ground.  He walked over, took a look at it, tried to put it back on and watched it drop again to the ground.  Yup.  I killed it.  So, we got an impromptu break and while he wheeled the dead bike away I ran for the porta-potty.  There’s nothing like being a bike killer to make you have to go.

He returned with a large thing with big tires that looked more like a cross country dirt bike to me, but what do I know.  He did caution me that it might be a little high for me.  No kidding.  Please remember, I’m 61 years young and vertically impaired topping out at 5’3”.  But I was able to mount the bike and maintain an upright position with the use of my toes.

Had I ever wanted to incorporate ballet into biking, I would have to say I’d succeeded and continued the rest of the day “en pointe”.  It was also quite wide and I was having flashbacks of when I used to own a horse.  Surely this experience will make me far more limber and graceful as well as an experienced bike rider….should I survive the class.  The rest of the class went fairly well.  I managed not to fall off or hurt anyone else during the process.  By the end of the day I was able to actually say I knew how to ride a motorcycle….not pretty, but functionally.

Our last exercise was to start out from a stopped position and get up to 15 – 20 mph in a very short distance and then slam on the brakes (both of them) while clutching and downshifting….without falling over.  I’m thinking it might be easier just to run into the back of the car ahead of me.  But soon I was able to do this.  Thank goodness the rain has holding off.  I really didn’t want to try this while riding in the rain on wet pavement….which I was assured we would do.  They ride rain or shine.

Between each of the exercises we would dismount and remount.  So I figured I was really getting my money’s worth what with the ballet lessons, stretching exercise and strengthening of my thighs.  When it was time to go home I had to actually grab my left leg with my hands to assist it into the car.  Thank goodness I own an automatic and didn’t have to shift.

On the way home I stopped at Festival Foods to grab some rotisserie chicken and mashed potatoes because I sure as heck don’t have any energy left to cook anything.  It was while in the store that the heavens opened up and the rain came pouring down.  They have a wonderful policy at this store where the workers grab umbrellas and escort you out to the car.  I was such a frightful mess with sweaty clothes and helmet hair that I just said no thanks and entered the deluge.  It felt kind of good actually.

So now I’m back safely in the confines of my RV and for the first time really miss my old hot tub at the Big House.  My right foot has a cramp in it and my fingers are getting tired, so that is the end of this blog.  I still have another full day of fun packed adventure tomorrow.  Who knows?  Maybe they’ll let me jump over some ramps or something.

Long Live the Achy Queen