I've always been known to lean a bit more to the left, as my Republican friends can attest.  But now we're really leaning to the left!  It seems that the rain has affected the wheels on the left side and they are sinking into the ground a bit more each day.  The right side has leveling blocks under the wheels, so they are not as affected.  We'd raise up the left side with the jacks if we had the use of them.  I'll be so happy when that's fixed!

Another thing I've noticed is how a person will watch whatever they can on television.  We are currently pulling in one channel here and it's really strange.  The news seems to be broadcast from India with lots of reports on what's happening in Bollywood.  And if that isn't odd enough, Left Brain has started to follow a series broadcast in Swedish with English subtitles.  He seems to be really getting into this and staying up late at night to follow the program.  I'm not saying he'll be fluent in Swedish by the time we leave Missouri, but he should be very handy the next time we shop at Ikea!

Today's line features all the techno geek things I've been waiting for!  Later this morning I will attend the "Staying on the Internet" seminar, followed by "computer safety and security" and this afternoon it's the Geeks on Tour presentation on smart phones.  Then I should be ready to make those decisions on the WiFi Ranger and perhaps it will answer our satellite questions.  Tonight's entertainment is the George Dyer show from Branson.  He is acclaimed to be one of the finest tenors in the world and this should be another excellent performance.

We had planned to stop in Branson on our way to Texas to claim our domicile but with the leveling jacks problem we may have to skip that.  Branson has so many things I love from the shopping outlet malls, the Butterfly Pavilion where you can walk among beautiful butterflies from around the world, not to mention all the incredible talent to see.  It's not just country music as many think, but you can find that also.  The food is inexpensive, the countryside beautiful.  

I'm hoping to visit the Cirque du Solei theater for a performance as I've never seen them yet.  Each time we go we try something new.  It's worth it just to visit the ladies room in Sochi Tabuchi's theater.  It is the most ornate bathroom you'll ever see.  I've not been in the men's room but I hear it features a full size pool table.  He is one of the best violin players you can ever hope to see and he always features young talent from around the world.

The thing I love the most about Branson is the family talent, many of the acts feature families and very young talent.  I remember a seven year old boy playing the fiddle that just blew me away!  And all the acts are clean, you will never hear any swearing or dirty jokes, so it's completely safe for any age to attend any show.  Okay, enough of my advertising for Branson...I got kind of excited there for a minute.  I just remember how I didn't want to go the first time because I don't care for country music and was so surprised by the variety of entertainment.

Well, it's time to go shopping again before the first seminar starts so I gotta go get ready for the day.

Long Live the Slightly Off Level Queen

Sensational Sunday

this photo has a frosted glass effect added

Left Brain and I have successfully graduated from Boot Camp and have learned so many new things, as well as formed many more new questions.  Today was a leisurely day, allowing us to sleep in a bit later than normal, followed by attending the Market.  Everything an RV'er could possibly want is located in this building...it took restraint but we stuck to our list and only drooled over some things.

We had the good fortune to find an RV Service center there as a vendor and we presented our problems with the jacks to her.  They are not familiar with fixing electric jacks as they deal with hydraulic jacks, but said if we were willing to be a guinea pig, they'd order the pins and take a crack at it.  New hydraulic brakes would run us about $4000 and might still be a necessity, but we'll give it one more try.  they are located about 20 miles from here, so we'll go there on Monday.

She also gave us a tip that when working around the transmitter to set the brakes NOT to have a cell phone anywhere near it, it can through it completely off.  Well, Left Brain wears his on his hip more consistently than John Wayne carried a gun, so that might be part of it.

If this fails, we plan to stop at a Fleetwood dealer in Springdale Arkansas to see if they can fix it.  Maybe I can check with them on the refrigerator.  I checked the website and it's possible ours is one of those that has a recall on it.  It would be great if I could get a repair or maybe a new fridge out of this!  I've renamed Norcold to Ne'ercold.

My purchase was a battery operated refrigerator fan that is supposed to help with the constant condensation and freezing up of the coils in the back.  This is where I miss the self-cleaning fridge back in the Big House as this requires a bit more diligence.  Oh well, it's not like I have a lot on my agenda...I guess I can work it in.

My second purchase was a RV holding tank vent that hopefully will eliminate some of the obnoxious gassy odor that seems to linger in there.  Hmmm, it does seem worse right after Left Brain has been visiting the reading room....I wonder if there is any correlation?  I hope to get more information during the seminar on how to control holding tank odors.  Now there's a seminar I never thought I'd be excited to attend!

We listened to a brief demo of the WiFi Ranger that can attach to the TV antennae to boost the WiFi capability and keep it as a non-public network.  Those run about $400 and we haven't yet decided on it but I think we're both leaning in the same direction on this one.

We ran back to the RV to jump in the car to seek out lunch and do some shopping for groceries and other sundry items.  But no!  The car would not start again.  The battery was once more dead and lifeless.  I noticed a pick up truck entering the campground and ran over to flag him down for help.  First he just waved back at me but I kept waving my arms over my head and he realized I wanted him to stop.  He agreed and drove over to our car and Left Brain had it hooked up in no time flat to jump the car.  Like I said before, he's getting really good at this.

We ran into Sedalia at noon searching for a couple of other items at the good old Wal-Mart and he observed that each and every entry port had a low clearance gate of 10' 6".  I'm guessing it's to keep out those RV'ers that like to camp in the Wal-Mart lot.  It was very interesting and now I'm curious.  I'll have to ask someone about that.

I found a level to keep inside the kitchen to check the level as that can throw off the refrigerator function.  Now there's something you don't have to worry about in a stick house!  I've always wondered if we were on the level, now I'll know.  Yeah, yeah....I can hear the snickering of those who know me already saying "she's always been a bubble off of plumb".

Then I found a lovely smoke alarm with a mute feature for use in the kitchen.  It helps keep the noise down when I cook.  I'll have him replace the current one with that and move the other one into the bedroom.  When Mac the Fire Guy gets to the Market on Monday we hope to pick up a couple of his fire extinguishers.

We had the opening ceremony for the formal Escapade this afternoon and it was a bit sobering as we had a silent prayer for a couple who were in an accident on their way here.  She's doing okay but he died in the crash.  They are anticipating between 600-700 at this rally and they are arriving in every possible kind of rig you can imagine.

The good news is that while waiting for the ceremony to start I had some down time and fiddled with my phone and I'm not sure what I did to it exactly, but it is once again working.  Now I don't have to try to find technical support to fix it and can just enjoy the seminar on android phones, internet and satellite services.  These are still some of our biggest questions - satellite TV and internet service.  It's hard to find something that is suitable for where ever you might go on the road.

We had an ice cream social after the ceremony which basically was being handed an ice cream bar on our way out of the building, but hey...ice cream is ice cream.  We didn't stay and be social, I wanted to get back to the RV and remove this stinking bra as soon as I could.  No Beth, this is not a "good" one.  I think it had been but it's been holding the bedroom TV in place while we were in transit and I think that may have killed any lift and separate it had left in it.



I wandered outside when I saw a couple of our neighbors visiting to get into the chat and the six of us decided to go to a Mexican restaurant for supper before the show.  We got back just in time to walk over to the theater for our presentation of Yakov Schmirnoff.  If you have never had a chance to see his talented comedian you need to check him out the next time you're near Branson.  He puts on an amazing show.  My ribs hurt from laughing so hard.  One of my favorite parts was a clip of a couple who had been married for 75 years and he asked the secret of their longevity.  This sweet little lady replied "never go to bed angry" and then quickly followed it up with "stay up and fight!".

Tomorrow should be another full day with more seminars and new things to learn so I'm going to sign off now.

Long Live the Queen

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