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.