Bringing in the holiday.

First off I hope everyone had a great Christmas and I am wishing you a Very Happy New Year. 

So Cindy and I kept a low profile Christmas while enjoying each others company. And for the first time in my life (that I can remember) we opened each others present on Christmas Afternoon. Quite frankly I think we both had forgotten.

So now the day after, we  made our way to a restaurant  we  found that serves the greatest food imaginable. Then right after that we waited in line to fill two propane tanks. The influx of RVs has already increased substantially.  

Once home I went to get my gloves to pull the tanks out of the truck box.  But started another project of installing a front basement LED strip light as there has never been a light there. Also relocated the 12 volt plug that had bounced loose from the original install. When I started cleaning up,and while putting my tools away I picked up my gloves again, which is what I had come to the basement for in the first place.

Focus and I have had problems before but this time the darn thing had completely escaped me for over three house. So as I put the tools back in the truck I also pulled the two, now full, propane tanks out of the truck box and installed the 30lb tank back into it compartment in the 5er and the smaller 20lb back in the crate where it belongs. 

After everything was cleaned up I refilled 4 of our small 1lb tanks for the Mr Heater Big Buddy we use to supplement our heating needs at night. Then as there was not a lot of daylight left to the day I went over to the neighbors to help him pair up a new doorbell he was having a few problems with. It was a much better option than working on the new faucets in both the bathroom sink and the tub. Did I mention I dislike plumbing with a……. Well you get the idea!

Always an adventure 

Mark 

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS.

After a nice Christmas dinner and dishes we opened our Christmas gifts and rested. This afternoon we sat outside and visited with some new friends from Canada, while sipping on pina colada's. A great day!

Knowing when to ask questions.

Ok today's post would not be possible if it were not for the many people throughout my life that have helped lift and support me. From friends and family, customers, acquaintance's,  and coworkers. The Good Lord has blessed me with a many gifts over my lifetime but the greatest gift he gave me was not only his Son but All of You as well. So please accept this Heart felt moment of Thank You All for your assistance because if it wasn’t for you all the Adventure my wife and I are enjoying now would not have been possible

Today was the first day of my running the Solar System on the new transfer switch I built. And all started out well, so after about a half hour of testing and checking the system Cindy and I headed out for some needed shopping.

We got home about an 1 1/2 hours later only to open the RV door and discover no power and a resounding beep telling us there was a problem. The system was suffering from an overload problem and put itself into auto shutdown mode. I turned off all circuits and began checking from the supply line on both sides (shore power and solar) to see what was wrong. After checking things out and knowing where the system was having problems I had to take a break to think through what I felt was a hint as to what was wrong. 

I kept running up to the same conclusion, I did not know. Now I pride myself on my ability to think through systems logically so this was really throwing me a curve. And as one always wants to look first at what was done last I will admit I thought that my new switch had somehow failed. 

You know a very wise man (Albert Einstein) once said "a wise man is one that  keeps asking questions". Well and my point of this writing you need someone to address the questions to.

I have had the privilege of knowing many tradesmen over the years and so I took the opportunity to call one of them to bounce my issue and findings off of him. Now he was busy at the time with a customer but he took the time to call me back as soon as he finished up. And after he and I had talked and retested the system with his guiding me through  the problem as well as the solution it presented itself.

And yes I was as I thought, out in what an instructor of mine once called “Left Field”. And thru the tutelage of the tradesman we not only resolved the issue but I was enlightened as to why the issue had occurred in the first place. 

A Big Thank You to Duane W. for all the help and time he spent with me over the phone resolving the issue. You didn’t know it but you just proved Einstein right!

Always an Adventure.

Mark

Lights lights lights

So yesterday besides taking some time out to talk smart with a few of the neighbors I installed a new front door light. This one puts out 400 lumen vs the 180 lumen I had converted the original light to. It also is a dual mode light in that it can be switched on and used as a standard front light. Or by switching it on-off-on it turns into a motions sensing security light. As with every project there was a few wrinkles but all in all the conversion went well. 

OK so here is what happens to a stick of 3/4 inch pvc and an extra outside solar security light some clamps and some velcro.

We have a table top grill, and often times at least lately, it is dark by the time we are ready to eat. So my Bride creates a fabulous meal on the grill while I hold a flashlight so she can see what she is doing.

Problem solved. (at least my end of it) I created this solar powered grill light with motion sensing auto turn on so now as she approaches the grill, with the yummys. the light comes on and will stay on for as long as she is standing by it. Also u do not need to plug it in nor do you need to replace the batteries as it is solar powered.

Both the solar panel and light are also adjustable. Always an Adventure. Mark

Friday isn't Friday without a trip to The Market Place

The Market Place is an open air market  down the road about half a mile or so from our home. It is about two city blocks big. And since it is only open Thursday through Sunday it is a very busy place. Today we went in the morning, after a quick stop at WM for some paper goods and a quick breakfast at McDonalds. I have not had a sausage cheese McMuffin in years, and I thought it was really good,  it hit the spot to fill the void.

Anyway, today, we purchased fresh veggies and some fruit along with some wiring items at good prices. The fruit and veggies are all fresh from the area. Sadly we don't always know when to stop buying until after we realize that the fridge at home only holds so much. hehe But on the happy note, it never goes to waste here. It's so nice having fresh from the field/garden produce in December. There is even live entertainment and food venders. You could really spend a long time here for food and fun.

Mark has some plumbing and electrical work to do now. That will keep him busy and happy. He likes to stay busy. I have cleaning to do on a daily basis, but then I'm fussy and don't like dirt or dust. hehe Why am I living in the desert then?  Because it's warmer here. :)

As some of you saw by Mark's facebook post, he has decided to fit in with a more western look hat and set his baseball cap aside now and then. Upon his insistence and a good price, I too now will sport a western cap on occasion. I'm not one to like anything other than my motorcycle helmet on my head, but the hat does keep the sun out of my eyes. That's the excuse I will use today anyway.

The wind is wicked today so I have decided to put my penny pincher mentality to the side and turn the a/c on. The dirt is flying like a blizzard of snow. Even my mountains has disappeared behind a wall of dirt. The dirt in the wind is the worst part of living in the desert.  But the good things outweigh the bad. The temp today is already at 82º.  The heat doesn't last long this time of year. By 5:30 it will be pleasantly cooler.  We really love it here in Yuma, Arizona. Especially when we read what it is like in Minnesota right now.

Almost Christmas

More time has slipped past us. The days go by so quickly that most days we don’t know what day it really is at all. Yesterday when I looked at the calendar I couldn’t believe that Christmas is next weekend. Oh dear, where did the time go.  With no snow, which we do not miss, it doesn’t look like the Christmas’s of the past. Sand doesn’t resemble snow, trees are still green and the temps are much more pleasant here.

Because I just couldn’t stand giving up all my traditional Christmas frenzies, I had to do some cookie baking. The little toaster oven did so well for the teacakes and the peanut butter blossoms. The other day Mark lit the gas oven, for the first time, and I made spritz cookies. They looked nothing like my fancy ones that I made for years. This year I had to form the shapes with my hands and make just flat round ones. At least they will taste as good. The oven was tricky to figure out so a pan of cookies got, well, a tad on the too dark to eat side. hehe Maybe the next cookies, I make, will go more smoothly. But at least we have some Christmas cookies to enjoy.  We did put up some outside decorations on the front of the camper and some motion lighting on the side and up the big tree out in front of our camper. Inside I put up a little 18 inch tree and added battery LED lights and strung some garland and hung candy canes around some of the cupboard doors. So it does look a little like Christmas  at our home.

The park is having a parade of lights on Saturday. This is where the neighboring resorts and ours, decorate their golf carts with lights etc and have a parade around the parks. That should be fun to see. There will also be caroling one day this week and a walk around our park to see all the pretty Christmas lights and decorations. Christmas Eve there is a gathering for sharing and a pot luck Christmas Day dinner. Not sure we will participate in the meals, but you never know. We surprise ourselves sometimes.

On Sunday we went, with another couple from here, to Mexico. The small border town, Los Algodones, was just all Mexican shops that lined the street. From home made items to actual dentist, pharmacies, optometry, liquor stores, you name it, you could find anything you wanted, needed, and didn’t know you wanted. hehe We had a very fun time.  Not knowing what to expect I was rather nervous when we came to the border. Wow, fences and barbed wire, border patrol everywhere. It was an amazing sight for this small town Minnesotan to see. Getting into Mexico is a snap, but getting back into your own country of America, is another story. But they let us back in, and yes Mark was let back into the country too. hehe

We have been busy with doing things at the camper, shopping and laundry that sight seeing is slow in coming. But we have 3 more months to enjoy Yuma and all it has to offer. One day we are going to go to the old Yuma prison. I’m thinking that I better bring a long a hair pin just in case. hehe

Never a dull moment.

Ok yesterdays little conversation is going to revolve around Driving. More specifically my driving of course with my copilot wife beside me. So let's get started.

I would like everyone to know that my wife has the uncanny ability to read signs all of at least 20 feet in front of the vehicle. Now this would not be a problem if we were parked in some empty lot which there are a lot of down here. But when your in town driving a 1 ton extended cab long box dually at 45-50 miles per hour in 4 lanes traffic it doesn’t offer a whole lot of assistance to me, as pilot, to be 190 ft past the turn when she announces, Oh there is where we wanted to go.

Now you're probably thinking, well idiot why not use your phone or the GPS you bought for the trip. Well to be honest the GPS is grounded to the camper because it been naughty sending me on the last gravel road to nowhere while telling me I am going somewhere or told me something was just 3 miles away only after driving 6 miles for me to discover it thinks I am still in Flagstaff and not Yuma. So rather than drive the POS over with the truck my wife suggested giving it a time out. Yea this way I will eventually remount it in the truck and go thru this all over again. Yea Ok!

Ah and let's not forget the phone………. that at least 23% of the time it sends you in a loop back to the same road that is not completed. It is fun though as you get a chance to see where you want to go and then remember that old saying “you just can’t get there from here”! 

I am a little surprised at both my wife and the two golfers that were staring at me as I stopped at the entrance of some swanky golf course to (ready for this) “recalculate” my trip. Now this may come as much as a surprise to you as it did to me when my wife in response to the look the golfers were giving me, laughed saying, you really don’t look like a golfer. I mean really I got on my olive green cargo pants (if you have seen me in the last 5 years you know what they look like), a bright orange t-shirt, my new blue suspenders and my old man slip on shoes and she is telling me I don’t look the type. I was shocked especially as I was contemplating driving my dually across the course to the location that (you may have heard this one before) “You just can’t get there from here”.

Ok so all is well. I shut down everything electronic and using something Old School called Line of Sight turned the dually around in the golf course parking lot (more looks from golfers), drove back thru the car dealership lot again where several sale staff look at us in awe, crossed a busy 4 lane road at my wife suggestion and drove back to the turn I originally missed, Yea we made it to WALMART not the one that is only 2 miles away, but to this one that is 6 to 10 mile away depending on if you are following me or not.

As long as I am confessing I might as well mention a small little incident that happened yesterday while driving as well.

I have met a great guy from British Columbia called Norm whose motor coach is parked just across the street from us. Now Norm has been full time RVing for 6 years and he and I have been giving each other crap since we met. He is about 75 years old and the other day he was putting in an additional water hose inlet to connect to the tank flushing system. He was trying to figure out how to center the inlet with the other one next to it so he could drill the 3 inch hole. So I helped him dial it in while giving him crap about how long flat rate was on this job. I also told him he should hang up a sign that said RV and Tractor Repair. Now first off Norm’s rig is spotless diesel pusher that is in immaculate condition. So he is always putzing on it to keep it looking like new. And has more than enough money to hire anything he wants done to it he just likes to putz. 

But now to the point I found a sign that said Garage and with Cindy’s help doctored the sign up to say Norm’s RV Garage and hung it on the front of his coach as a joke. Well to pay me back a day or two later he told me about a special RV shop that sold a polish cloth mounted on an extendable pole he had that I liked. He gave me some very general direction to the shops location although he could not remember the shops name.

Ok now the kicker, his direction take me 8 miles into downtown Yuma and I am talking Old Down Town. The 4 lane road with a turn lane center was all tore up and down to two lanes. There were orange cones up everywhere with a lot of side streets close off as well. I had thought I would for sure spot the RV shop only to come to the conclusion that Yuma has a population of 100,000 during the summer and grows to 250,000 during the winter months so there even in Down Town is a RV shop on every block.

Did I mention I drive a 1 ton, extended cab long box dually and am just barely squeaking by in all the traffic. Yes it was rush hour of course. Well after almost reaching the end of the road I did what needed to be done. Unable to turn with traffic and risk staying downtown all night waiting to get back across the road and rather than turn at the next street, crossing traffic that I would need to wait for for ever. I took the logical way out by zipping between a car and two cones turning into an empty lot, I am sure the look on both my and my wife face was priceless when we realize that after the apron and sidewalk the drop into the empty lot was at least 2 foot deep. So now stopped with my dually hanging into the oncoming traffic lane I did what every normal Minnesotan would do. After my wife said you can’t (I just love a challenge), I turned tight and started driving the dually down the sidewalk. The drivers in Yuma are so friendly that several honked their horn as they drove by and some even waved at me. Even more so when I decided to back out into traffic and head back to camp for a serious chat with my old buddy Norm. 

Moral of the story: if you going to be an idiot let people know by making sure you have an out of state plate and it doesn’t hurt to be driving something much bigger than they are. As always it's an Adventure!

December 3, 2016

It looks as though I need to get some more things written down here. We have been enjoying our stay at the Blue Sky RV Resort in Yuma. Every time we head out from our home, I still am in awe of the beauty that God has created in the mountains. In this area the mountains are called foothills. But being a Minnesota native, that is more used to grasslands and lakes, the foot hills are mountains to me.  One afternoon we got up close, as close as we could anyway, to the “foothills”. It was breathtaking to see, in person, what I have only seen in pictures. No picture compares to seeing them with the naked eye, up close and personal.

The closest I got to the mountains was when we were traveling through them to get to our resort. I was never so nervous in my life, with two exceptions. I know that I prayed the whole way through them and at times my eyes were closed tightly. It was tough seeing through my eyelids but I really didn’t mind missing the sight outside my window that went straight down the mountain side.  YIKES, too close for comfort for this ole gal. But what I did manage to see took my breath away. And Praise the Lord, my prayers were answered and we made it through the mountain roads safely. The good ole Ford dauly made it down as well as up  every time. If I listened closely enough I could hear the engine saying, I know I can, I know I can. :)  And it did. Mark's hands may never be the same as I know he was white knuckling the drive most of the way. But not once did he give me any indication that he was nervous. For that I am thankful. hehe

So far we have enjoyed dining at new places. Mark even tried, and loved frozen yogurt. We have been a good customer since. It shouldn’t have surprised me but there was even hot sauce to add to the frozen yogurt. Yes, hot sauce on every table everywhere, even the pizza place. Nope, we won’t be adding that to our meals anytime soon. Well I do like taco’s that are hot and spicy. Del  Taco’s is a great place to get the best taco’s we have ever had. And yes, we have eaten there twice.

Ok so you now we are enjoying all the food in the area. We also love to shop in all the new places as well as some familiar ones. Not one day goes by that we aren’t going somewhere to either eat or shop. And everywhere we turn is a view of “my mountains”.

The only negative thing that I can find, is that when the wind blows dirt is flying everywhere. Today the wind gusts are 30 mph and the dirt in the air is so thick I can hardly see the mountains. :( Back home we would be shoveling snow, here I sweep, vacuum and wipe everything down daily. But we are happy here and plan to return next fall. 

Ok tonight it’s story time so here goes. As most of you know today is my birthday and thanks to all the well wishers even though I had though the 3rd was tomorrow I was made aware of my error.

Now to the story. I have worked for many many years in the service industry and as such every once in awhile run across some more mature (Older) guy that would come in looking for some small oddball part that makes a larger part work. Almost inevitably I would try to help him but in my mind I was just thinking to myself “why not just replace the hole darn unit. Well guess what today is my birthday and I am the old guy in the RV Store looking for a small switch for a light that the replacement cost is about $12.95.

So where is the story you ask? I finally figured it out. The reason I was fixing the light instead of replacing it was A. I had all the time in the world to find and replace the switch to make the light work again. and B. Because I can diagnose the problem with the tools I have by keeping it simple with a cheap volt/ohm meter and a piece of 14 gauge wire. C. We are in a park that is just down from one of the largest RV Hardware stores in Yuma. They not only had the switch I needed they had to have at least 35 switches in their assortment. P/S they also had the complete light in both amber and clear  lens as well. Interesting they only had one each of the complete lights but several of each of the 35 switches on hand. This palace is amazing in the hardware they stock, absolutely amazing. 

We also picked up a shower head and hose assembly got 15% and free coffee and donuts. Not bad for a birthday. Plus for the first time in my life while doing plumbing I did not get WET. Amazing!

On another subject I also reset the stabilizers on the camper today as well as got a sand bath caused by being out in the desert in 35 mile winds. It really gets dusty here. When driving in it it’s like driving in a snow storm only it’s sand blowing. Trying to run the dually as little as possible in it so as not to get sand in the intake. 

Well that's it for now. This old man is going to take a break. 

Until next time, stay safe, warm, and God Bless.

The week of Mark's maintenance so far

As it has been a while since I posted last, this writing will include several things that I have been keeping myself busy with over the course of the last few weeks. As I write this something a good friend and well versed individual once told me is “rv’s are not meant for full time living”. He is right in part as if you are to take on such an adventure be prepared for some repair time spent on the rig keeping it in order. Now with that said what have I been up to now that we are as I call it “Stationary”.

One of my tasks has been to start a reassessment of how to lock down the many cabinets and doors in the rv. As you may have read we suffered a minor setback upon arrival here in Yuma. We found that several cabinet doors had come open during this leg of the trip dumping contents onto the floor, a door that separates the living room from the bedroom had come loose pulling out several screws and bending the roller assembly. A couple of drawers came loose causing damage to them and it seems I also managed to put a dent in the dually’s box rail as well by the center rail tie down.

How did this happen and even more importantly, what have I as a newbie learned from the experience. Making tight turns on uneven ground are a huge no-no causing the clearance between the hitch pin box and the trucks box side to become not existent. Hence the dent and the kind of rocking of the rv to have magically jared every thing open.

Ok as I am not about to attempt to repair the truck box I will concentrate on securing and repairing cabinets and doors.

First off I removed the sliding door between the living room and bedroom loft as it had not been secured enough from the factory and the sliding mounts to the door had come loose and banged around and had gotten bent. I pulled off the attaching brackets and using two pair of pliers managed to straighten both to their correct configuration. Next I moved the brackets to new locations because the screws had come loose. Then I pre-drilled pilot holes then fastened them back to the door using the new screws. Then with the help of my wife we reinstalled the door on its track and then adjusted it for movement and alignment along the sides.

The draw bottoms that came loose were held together with small brads which pulled out. Now I am not going to mention that they are possibly over weighted with content. We are living full time and so are carrying everything we need. I had some small screws with shoulders that I predrilled into the drawer bottoms and now have the bottoms screwed down making a much better hold and support. (special note here I plan on doing this to all the drawers in the cabinets) 

One of the cabinets has pull out drawers and both were sprung during the issues above. I straightened the slides on one and used the same screws to repair the bottom of the drawer as well as adding screws to front of the drawers facing. I also plan on doing this to the other as well.

Cindy and I have spent some time in rv stores (a lot of them here) looking at better ways to secure the cabinets for travel. There are several solutions out there but most quite frankly are no better than what is on them now. Cindy did find some positive outside cabinet door locks that she feels will work well, but we still need a good solution for the draws and sliding door. 

We have also looked at every stop for a manual electrical transfer switch to replace the auto switch I have had problems with but it seems no one stocks them. So as long as we now have a mail service one was ordered and should be here in a few days.

Our latest adventure has given us a chance to become intimately familiar with the supply side of the rv’s propane distribution system. As you may or may not know just as the rv has two electrical systems (in my case three counting the solar). It has redundant heating, (furnace and hot water) and cooling, (refrigerator) systems running on ether electric or propane. 

Before we left we noticed that the connecting hoses to the twin propane tanks on board were very stiff so we replaced them with new ones. At first all was working well but then things started going down hill as it was noticed that it seemed harder and harder to get the fuel to switch from tank to tank as time has gone on. 

Redundancy is a very important part of rving as mentioned above we also have multiple ways of heating the rv and for good reason as you will find out by reading this next section.

Late in the day before Thanksgiving one of my propane tanks ran out and when I went to manual switch the supply over to the other tank fuel at the regulator propane refused to flow form the known full spare tank. After some trial and error I swapped it out with another tank (I keep a total of 100 lb. of propane when all the tanks are full) and at first it seemed to work. Then later that night disaster hit and the fuel delivery system shut down completely again. We do have a heating backup system and as it was late and Thanksgiving was the next day I had to piece meal my time working on the problem. And to add just a little more adventure to my dilemma the system worked periodically and then would not. I pulled up a plethora of knowledge on the internet and began learning about the components of the system. 

On a side note, I learned that even the caps that screw to the valve on the propane tank have safety valves in them. And that the regulator brings down the liquid propane pressure from a high of between 100 to 250 psi (depending on application) down to 10 psi, has a valve specific mounting orientation and a moister release system built into its body.

Ok well after chasing this all down and finding at best it was only working some of the time I proceeded to remove all the hoses and valves and start over from scratch. What was found after doing this was that condensation had caused the cross over pipe leading from the spare tank to the regulator to plug with a calcium build up. This had contaminated not only the hoses but also the regulator and safety valves thru out the system. 

First thing needed was to find a way to blow the calcium contamination out the supply pipe. Now I have a small compressor for tires but it does not have a revisor tank to build up air pressure in. So by rigging a temp hose from my truck spare tire to one side of the line and using my finger to block off the other side it build up pressure and then releasing my fingers caused a flow of high pressure to escape which eventually cleared the line.

Then the propane regulator was replaced with an auto switching unit (yea! no more getting up in the middle of the night to change supply tanks), as well as all the hoses and safety valves in the system. We now have a higher efficiency burning stove as well as furnace. And did I mention I no longer need to get up in the middle of the night to switch over the tanks as the auto switch takes care of that task now as well.

As the manual electric transfer switch has gotten here today I took the time to set up and test out my three systems before installing the new switch. All of which, shore power, generator and solar worked well. So now with a little revamping the auto switch will be replaced with the manual one and the electrical systems should be working as expected.

One more quick note before I sign off. The things I write about may sound overwhelming to some but are really nothing more than expected maintenance with an rv being used for full time living and travel. We have met multiple neighbors while camping with new rigs that have had major problems and they have just left the rv lot so I consider my self blessed that I have 1. and older rig and 2. as few and simple to solve problems that we have had. 

Ok so back to retirement. It a good thing I am so I can keep up. Mark Benton

One week

We have been in our winter home for a week now and don't regret our decision to stay. It's pretty quiet and everyone is so nice and so friendly. The weather is better than we ever expected too. Lows in the mid 50's and highs in the mid to upper 70's and NO humidity. The dirt level around here drives me nuts, but then I didn't have all that far to go anyway. Hush, no comments on that one.

Today I got a haircut at the salon here in the resort. The stylist knew just what I wanted and I got a great cut. So I will go back to her while we are here. Lola will get groomed on Friday. I hope she gets a good cut too. With shorter hair we are hoping that she won't pick up so much dirt.

We are enjoying checking out the various stores around the area and have found some great places to eat as well. Red Lobster being on the top of that list. hehe The grocery stores are very few in this area, but am sure closer to Yuma there will be a much better selection. Not that we need anything out of the ordinary. But I really really need to find some Beau Monde that I use in my veggie dip. The only place in Hutch that I found it was in Cashwise. It was spendy but boy I would pay more just to have some now. I wish I had known I was so low, I would've stocked up before we left. :(

It's so relaxing around here that I think Mark should have his naps perfected soon. But to be sure he still is practising several times a day. It's hard getting used to retirement after working for 55+ years. But he LOVES not going to work every day. I'm still getting used to that. LOL

This Thanksgiving will be the first in many years that I won't be rushing around making a feast. We will take part in the Thanksgiving potluck here at the resort. Everyone brings a dish and the resort supplies the turkeys. I will greatly miss MY dressing and MY gravy. I won't eat any others. Yep, I'm that picky. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday too. Christmas Day I will be making turkey and all the trimmings if I have to borrow room in someone else's RV. hehe Not sure what I'll do with the leftovers, but I will worry about that when the time comes. :)

We won't be missing out on Christmas cookies. With help from Mark the cookies will get made. They just won't be as fancy as other years and the batches will be much much smaller. This should be interesting.

Friday, November 18, 2016

Today we made a big decision, we decided to stay at this RV resort for 4 months. We like the location, the atmosphere here and all the amenities. Plus it's way less rent than we paid for the apartment. The neighbors are  respectful of everyone's privacy, quiet, and yet are very friendly. Our lot has nice shade and just over all quite comfortable and nice. I hope we will be happy here for the winter.

Lola got her second bath today.  She has decided that laying in the dirt will do since there is no grass anywhere. We do need to find a groomer and get her a shorter hair cut. Gee, I wish, Dana, our special groomer was here. I'm nervous letting someone else cut Lola's hair. Almost as bad as someone besides Kimmy cut mine. Gesh the burdens we must bare. LOL

November 16, 2016

We made it to our next campgrounds after 6 hours of driving. We did stop several times to get out and stretch and get fuel. A surprise was waiting inside the camper when we landed and I entered to start setting up..... Somehow cupboard doors that had no way of opening opened. There were cans and broken items all over the kitchen. The slides had to be partially moved to close the doors again. That is why we have no idea how they opened in the first place. Because of that it took me much longer to get the inside ready. Mark finished the outside way before me this time. At the next trip to town we will be purchasing some kinder locks for ALL cupboards and drawers. Hopefully that will prevent the mess to happen again.

Bright sunshine, 61 and coolish in here too. I left all the windows and vents open last night since it was still quite warm in here. I don’t think I’ll do that tonight. hehe

This park has no wi fi except in two locations in the park. Mark bought a months worth of internet so we can take care of personal matters. It’s not a matter of wanting internet, we need internet.  We now have an address for a month too. And will set up a mailbox today at the office. When we checked in they were not very informative about anything, just handed us a brochure and showed us to our site. Not at all like the others we stayed at and this one is HUGE. There are many many full time residents and people that come back year after year. At least they were all friendly people that we met, and it is a very nice park. Mark will also have to check at the office how to get tv at our unit. Again they told us nothing, but they smiled. :)

LaCinda & Mark Benton

Blue Sky Rv Resort

10247 S Frontage Rd
Lot #40

 Yuma, AZ 85365

We have been following the Minnesota weather and are smiling that the snow will miss us this year. We do however have a lot of dust to deal with. Which means that Lola needs another bath and I need to keep dusting and vacuuming. Oh my how awful. hehe

November 15, 2016

A four day stay at a KOA campgrounds in Apache Junction, Arizona is coming to an end. Originally we only planned to stay for two days to get some rest. But after trying to find someplace else to camp and stay for a month we had to extend our stay. Being new to this whole full time RV living we learned that you can’t always fly by the seat of your pants and have no plans. When heading south reservations are needed just as the brochures state. Thank goodness we have what is needed to do drydock camping as well. After searching and calling we found a hopefully, nice place in Yuma, Arizona. From the sounds of it, it is quite the resort with some fine amenities. We shall see. 

Tomorrow morning we will break camp and head out on a 200 mile trek  to Yuma, Arizona. We have had good weather here and hope that it will be just as nice in Yuma. Sitting outside in 86º weather is not something we did in Minnesota. The drier air makes the temperature much easier to tolerate.

Last night we pulled the awning down and today we enjoyed sitting in it’s shade. But after looking at it most of the day, Mark decided to wash it before rolling it back up. Even with limited supplies the awning looks a lot better. Of course it took some time to get it rolled up right since it has not been used by us much at all. We kind of forgot how to get the job done. hehe The weather we had before leaving on our southern trip was not the best so we only used it once. The wind would have ripped the awning apart most of the Minnesota summer we had this year.

This time our home will be parked for a month. If we like what we see when we get to the campgrounds it could be our landing for two to three months. That would mean we could have our mail forwarded to us. As we leave I’ll wave good-bye to Suspicion Mountain or as I have called it, My Mountain.

November 13, 2016

Here we are in Apache Junction AZ. We finally found our warmer weather. hehe And this is the view from our camper door this morning....

This morning I'll be going to church on tv again today. The churches here are far from all of the campgrounds and we can’t remember where WE are half the time to begin to remember where we saw the last church. Today sometime we will set a route and call ahead for a one month stay. All done rushing to get where it’s warm, we are there. Just not sure where we will set up for a longer stay just yet. Then we can do some sight seeing. Towing the RV makes that difficult to do, to say the least. Even getting gas is difficult. Not all stations are set up for a rig to pull through unless you have diesel like the semi’s do. Our truck runs on gas.

We are enjoying our travels and  will like it much better once we can set up camp on a more permanent basis. Like a month or a couple weeks at a time. Tearing down and setting up all the time is wearing on us. We have met some couples that have been doing the full time RVing for years.They all sold more of their stuff than we did too. And each year they clear more out of their storage. hehe For us this first year is a learning curve and have been told that the first year is the hardest. We knew that going in, but have been reassured that the second year is better. hehe Each time we go out we learn something, And that we need to write things down. LOL

The mountains have been way more than I ever expected. OMG, what a  wondrous sight of what God created. Some times they look like just a back drop from a movie, they are so surreal. Driving through them wasn’t as scary, for me, as I thought it would be. Mark was white knuckleing it but he never showed it once. My mouth was hanging open in awe the whole time. I just couldn’t take pictures fast enough either. The phone that Mark got me before we left was not working very well, so he got me a fabulous new one at Verizon in Flagstaff for my birthday. And it has a wonderful camera on it. We may get the extra camera attachment too. But I’m kind of frugal and don’t want to spend the money. But then again, what we have been seeing I really want to save in a picture. Anyway back to the scenery. Everywhere you turn your head you see mountains. I don’t think I could ever get sick of that sight.

Oklahoma was just a short go through at the panhandle. The roads were terrible so we were glad the time there was short. Kansas was very pretty and the people were so nice and friendly. Texas was just cattle and feedlots and miles of that or miles of nothing. hehe New Mexico was filthy, we will not return to visit or stay. Arizona is a place that I could stay. Love all of it, but wouldn’t love it in the summer, on this side of the mountains. Then it is too hot. This week will be the last of the HOT weather, then it will be more to our liking, in the mid to low 70’s for a high and 40’s at night. Some days of course will be warmer. I see that snow is in the forecast for Minnesota at the end of the week. 

 Mark has some things to fix on the camper before we can boondock for a longer period of time, and we need to make a WM run. We looked on line last night and found one to be only a mile or two away. :) Then back here to sit and do nothing. :) Mark said he loves not knowing what day of the week it is, setting the alarm clock or going to work. hehehe Good thing I brought a calendar to keep track or what day of the week it is. hehe

November 9, 2016

November 9, 2016.

After spending the night at another WM in New Mexico, we had a great breakfast at a Dennys just down the parking lot. The breakfast was thanks to a gift certificate from a wonderful coworker of Marks. And the breakfast was fabulous. We needed a good substantial breakfast since supper was so minimal. 

My eyes got wider and wider the closer or further we got into Arizona. I could see mountains on the horizon and my mouth dropped and eyes were all over. Good thing I wasn’t driving or we could have had a BIG problem. To me it was mountains all over the place but to the natives there they were just hills. I was in awe of all of what I saw. Well, that was  with the exception of the abandoned homes littered all over the place.  The closer we got to Holbrook the more monotonous the scenery became. But I was tired of riding in the truck by then too.

Oh my goodness how could I forget a harrowing experience that we had. Well it was for me anyway. Coming out Albuquerque going through some mountains, the road changed to one lane because of, get this, bridge work. So here we are stopped on a bridge in the mountains!!!  Two places I don’t like being. My heart and stomach were pounding like a room full of bass drums. To me it seemed like hours, but in reality it went smoothly and didn’t take much longer than about 20 minutes. Too much excitement, we needed a place for the night.

We found a very nice Good Sam’s campgrounds, OK RV Campgrounds, in Holbrook, Arizona, for us to call home for a good rest. The sites were all pull through much to Marks delight. It was quiet, had free wifi, cable tv, showers, laundry and complimentary coffee and rolls in the morning at the office. We highly recommend this campgrounds to everyone.

After setting up we collapsed onto our chairs. Mark took a short much needed nap after the hard work of setting us up for the night. It took some work for him to get us hooked up to the cable for tv, but he is good at that sort of thing so we had more than two channels for a change.  Lola was so happy to be home in her bed, that as soon as I put it on the floor she was in it right away. 

This may all sound rather boring and mundane but our days are mostly on the road right now, trying to get to warmer weather. We are enjoying each day so to us it is exciting and a new experience that we will never forget.

We decided to stay another night here for some extra down time. We went up to the office and had coffee and a muffin before tackling the laundry. Yep, the maid decided not to come with us on our journey so I have to do it all…… yet.  There were 8 machines so the three loads were done in no time at all. Mark made today a “Lola day” so he spent time walking and playing with her. She has been such a wonderful traveler. So content in the backseat sleeping until she decides she wants a pet or a hug. 

Tomorrow we will be hitting the road again, working our way to Mesa Arizona. Yes, I know that we had said Utah. But being retired and on no time frame, we can change our minds as often as we like.

November 8, 2016

November 8, 2016

After a much needed cup of coffee, it was time to tear down and head down the road once again. Our stay at the Star RV campgrounds was nice and quiet so we got some sleep and the rest we needed. It’s hard to sleep well at night with so much on our minds about what is around the next bend.

The roads out of Texas were as good as going into that state. New Mexico proved to have good roads again. The change of scenery is amazing. Each state really does have their own topography. The wayside rests were a real nightmare in NM and not a place that we frequented. But the landscape was breathtaking at times. We did have to overlook all the deserted homesites that were everywhere so see the real beauty. Some you had no idea if anyone was living in them until you saw a person or horse in front of the hobble. Green? Nothing but evergreens were green the whole way from Texas through New Mexico and into Arizona, which is where we are now. But then with the summers they have and the type of soil I shouldn’t have expected lush grassland.

Monday, November 7, 2016

Monday, November 7, 2016.

The time change off of daylight saving time is really taking it’s toll on us weary travelers. Add the miles of driving and sitting in the truck when we are not used to that and you have two people that are mighty tired. But we are enjoying our trek together.

This morning it started out gray and gloomy but in an hour the sun was shining brightly and it looks like it could be a very nice day. The wind is a bit brisk and really blowing across the land. Good thing we are not driving anywhere today.

A trip to the grocery store for some veggies, milk and eggs today. There was only one grocery store and not much else in the town of Stratford, TX. The meat looked great and the prices were so good that if I had room the freezer, it would be filled with t-bone steaks. It was on sale and a really good price We drove around to see what else was in town and what we saw was a lot of deserted buildings. There really wasn't much but we did find a post office and two banks and a liquor store. hehe

The rest of the afternoon was  laid back and it felt good to not be bouncing around in the truck. Although the roads in Texas were good. The evening was just as quiet and restful. Not many channels to pull in so tv left a lot to be desired.

Tomorrow we head on down the road again, with hopefully some nice scenery this time. 

Sunday, November 6, 2016

Sunday November 6, 2016

Last night we found a Walmart in Dodge City and called it a day. We did ask if we could stay and were told that most park on the south side of the lot but we parked on the north where there were less trucks.  Woke up to sunshine and headed through the parking lot to a gas station for coffee. For some reason we didn’t have enough power to run the coffee pot. Mark will be looking into the transfer switch we we take a longer stay down the road. Anyway the coffee was hot and strong enough to put hair on anyones chest. My goodness everyone down here likes strong thick coffee, but me.

As soon as we got out of Kansas and into Oklahoma the roads turned from good to horrible.  As we later learned all roads in OK are that way. The truck and camper were bounced all over the road. Not to mention how hard Mark had to work to keep the truck and camper on the right side of the road. We stopped many times on our way out of OK to give our bodies and the machinery a rest. Lola was as glad as we were to get out of the truck. The way side rests were as bad as the roads. They have just dilapidated tables with part of a roof on them. No trash cans or toilet. So there was garbage all over the area. But at least we could pull over and stretch our legs. It’s nice having your bathroom with you along the way. :) Feedlots were the only sites to be seen. And some of them stretched as far as the eyes could see. Amazing!!!!!!!

It was a long nasty ride the short distance we had to travel in Oklahoma but we made it unscathed. As soon as we crossed the state line to Texas, the roads instantly turned to great roads. Long long straight roads were very tiring and finding a place to park for the night was next to impossible. Finally we came across the town of Stratford in Texas and there was a unattended RV park with all the hook ups we needed. Finally some rest for Mark and his tired arms and back. We could almost hear the truck sigh in relief. So we let out the slides, put down the stabilizers and settled in for the night. Finally, too, we had a nice meal in our home on wheels. No eating out which was nice, except for all the dishes the meal created. hehe But Mark being the great husband that he is, still helped with the clean up and dishes, before falling asleep in the chair. He deserved that rest too.

Marks additions to the trip to far.

So it has been a while since I checked in and left some notes. Funny thing solar works great but it does need sun to get it all fired up soooooo guess what? Its been raining and overcast for over a week and as such our onboard needs sucked the battery bank down too low to use the inverter (12volt to 120volt) so we have been relying solely on the onboard 12 volt systems.

Someone may say I know he said he packed a generator and I did, but without unhitching the camper from the truck it is inaccessable at this time. (Note to self replan storage of generator). But now that we are at a campground and the sun is shining again the battery bank once again is fully charged.

On another note to self “Never Ever” go into a metro Kansas City downtown during rush hour in the rain pulling a 5er. There is room for me and all the rest of the cars and trucks but not truck and 5er and all the rest of the other cars and trucks. What an education I got attempting that poor decission. Almost as stressful as on the next day when I turned to soon and ended up in a very very SMALL PARKING LOT of a financial institute. Trust me when I say I had some Divine Help getting out of that tight spot.

Ok so now what have I been doing to the 5er lately. Well we had a little poo tank issue. Before it was resolved I had opened up the belly of the 5er alone to make sure the drain valve was functioning correctly. If you have been following along then you know that our problem was not the valve (thank God) but our own omission of preparation for use. Today I got a chance to finish closing up the opening with screws and duct tap. Yea I pulled a Red Green trick I know but it worked and I also used some spray foam for the final gaps.Also because of my hast in closing the slid outs while preparing to leave our over night Boon docking location (this time a Walmart)

 I got a chance today to put back on the wheel molding trim that broke because I closed the slide with one of the spare tires we carry in the way………. Oops but really not big deal a strategically placed screw and washer, some tie straps (Lincoln would be proud) and some clear silicone caulking and not to brag but it is in better shape than it was before I screwed it up!

I also got a the time to replace both gas lines that attach the propane tanks to the 5er. They were not leaking but had grown stiff with age and were hard to line up when connecting the line to the propane tank. It really takes on a higher priority after a 1:30 in the morning in the rain and you're attempting to connect the lines on the new tank because the furnace ran out of fuel. But as everything becomes an adventure this gave me a chance to browse thru a local True Value hardware store looking for gas thread tape. Man what a store (thought I died and went to heaven) I could have stayed there all day.

But one quick question? How and why would you pay $279.00 for a Yeti lunch container. One of those lunch bag sized soft sided ones. Man if I had one of those I could not afford to fill it. Really I am sure they have there purpose but are they in that much demand? Why?

Ok it has been a great couple of days laying back and collecting Gov. Pay hehehe. Tomorrow we hit the road again and the adventure continues. Mark

What are the size of the squirrels in Kansas??

We found these lieing next to a small oak tree on our site at the Owl's Nest campground.

Day 3 November 3, 2016

This morning, Nov. 3rd we woke up to a flat tire on the camper. So we called our Good Sams club and someone came and changed the tire for us. That was nice to have. The man that changed the tire said it looked more like it was just out of air. He was a very nice guy and finished the job quickly. He also told us how to get to the campgrounds we were heading for. A quick coffee and breakfast flatbread at Subway and we were on our way.

We are now at the Owl Nest campgrounds in Junction City, Kansas. Very nice lady held the spot for us. She felt so bad that we had issues on our first trip to Kansas. The site we got was a drive through so we didn’t even have to back the camper into the spot. The campgrounds is a bit too close to the highway so it’s noisey, but ear plugs work well for sleeping. Mark even wore them last night and he slept better. He won’t laugh at me and my earplugs again. LOL It’s a nice little campgrounds with all that we need to enjoy our two day stay.

A couple bonuses to this nice little campgrounds is that it has free wifi, and 50 amp service. Which means I don't have to unplug one small appliance to use another. Wow, I like being spoiled.

 It is nice and sunny and now it’s 72º with a nice breeze. Love the sun and being able to open all the windows in the camper for a change. Last night it only got down to 49º, which is what it was this morning, and the people here thought it was cold. hehe 
 Tonight we are going out for supper to someplace where we can sit and relax. 

Day 2 November 2, 2016

The next morning, Nov.2nd, it was overcast and cool, which is what we were used to by now. So we tore down and headed out of Iowa. But not before having a great cup of coffee and some sustenance. 

Getting tired by the time we got to Kansas City Missouri we looked for a WM. OMG, that is not a place to be during rush hour. It was so bad we couldn’t even begin to look for a place to stay. The constant rain was no help at all.

We did, however, find a small Walmart to pull into and see how to get out of that city. Oh, When we got into the WM parking lot, I took Lola for a walk and we noticed there was hail all over. God saved us from that hail that could have destroyed our solar panels. The grass was white with hail!!! There was a slight break in the rain and we found our road to leave the city never to return. hehe 

The rain continued to follow us all night long.  When we came upon a large parking lot along side of a Walmart, we parked it for the night. We put on way too many miles in one day. Even poor little Lola was feeling lousy from that long ride. A conclusion was made that that will NOT happen again. We are in no hurry so quit hurrying. 

Day one, November 1, 2016

Before we could leave our Hutchinson campsite we had issues with changing the fridge over to propane. After many attempts we finally called the place where we bought it and it was a simple little turn of a nut and we had propane to the fridge. The tear down was finally done in sunshine. Guess the sun was happy to see us leave. 

The roads and traffic were good until we hit Iowa. From there to here in Kansas we found that their highway crews has no idea how to transition from road to bridge or bridge to road. The poor truck and trailer were in a constant battle with every bridge and road transition. So I sent a huge Kudos to the Minnesota road construction crews. Go to the southern states and show them how things should be done!!!

We spent our first night in Dows Iowa at a BP truck stop. The people there were so very nice and friendly. The highlight of that stop was that they had a Godfathers pizza spot there. So we had our first Godfathers pizza in years!!!!! OMG, we inhaled, or at least I inhaled the wonderful pizza. We asked if we could park in the back. The attendant was happy to offer any assistance and even showed us the lounge, laundry, and all their amenities of the truck stop. WOW, amazing kindness. So we back into a spot and hunkered down for the night.

I forgot to mention a little cafe that we stopped at for lunch. It was called Dinky Cafe and it was that, very dinky, aka tiny. The board of health would have had a field day. The prices were very reasonable but I doubt we will ever go there again. Now we just laugh about the place. ;)

Farewell hugs and well wishes

This was the last weekend in Minnesota. It seems like a year since we started the process for living in our RV and traveling and here it is, two days away from hitting the road. The weekend held tearful and joyful celebrations with friends each day. Marks last day at work was, as he put it, a freeing experience. With well wishes said and hugs all around we are leaving Minnesota for warmer weather and loads of new adventures.

Every day of living in our RV for the past month there has been something to learn about a whole different life style. Water conservation, power usage, propane levels, internet and phone are just a few of the challenges that we had to learn to deal with. It is eye opening how much we take all of these things for granted when living in a stick and brick home. Think about it a minute, do you stop and think about turning the microwave off before turning on the vacuum or how long you take a shower? These are just two things that we have to think of on a daily basis. All of this is doable if you just think before going forward. And it makes you appreciate everything you have.

So far the weather on Tuesday looks like it will be a nice day for tearing down and heading out. This will be the first tear down that we may not have to do in windy, wet, cold weather. PTL! Each tear down and set up has been cold and miserable, but we “weathered” through it each time. Nice weather would be a real blessing. And leaving the cold weather will be an added blessing. 

Final week in the cold.

Good morning. This is the first day of Marks last week at work. We have moved to our new temporary spot at our dear friends in Silver Lake. Their kindness has touched our hearts deeply.

This week will go as slow for me as it will for Mark. I think I am more anxious for his retirement than he is, if that is possible. It will also be a busy week of getting all the bugs worked out and the things that need to be done, but had to wait until the last minute.

We had a bit of a sticky glitch when tearing down at the campgrounds in Hutch, but we got through it unscathed. And it taught us a very important lesson. What was the problem and the lesson learned? Well, lets just say you really do need to make sure you put 5 gallons of water into the black tank after it has been dumped. Taking the RV for a little jaunt "loosened" things up. ;) And we could finish our tear down.

The trip to SL went well as did the set up. But boy was it a tiring job. It wa so cold and windy and that didn't help one little bit. Each time should get easier as we learn from each and every move. Or more muscles will get strengthened. We lost a lot of muscle tone living in "the home" with nothing to do.

The cold windy weather yesterday was a repeat of the rotten weather we had when we set up at the campgrounds. Next year we will be out of the cold before it starts! :)

We would like to thank all of you for your prayers and encouragement for our new venture. It means alot to both of us. God bless.