More like home every day.

Little Cool today in Yuma @ 57º. Wind picked up out of the wsw and blowing pretty good.When Cindy  was outside with a t-shirt, hooded sweatshirt, flannel shirt and her hood tied under her chin, she was  cold. Here in Yuma with the north wind blowing 61 degrees is cold to her!!

Put in a utility cabinet for  Cindy  by the rear door on the porch and so had to relocate the rear entry door light. Turned it into my new bench light, works well.

Also installed some accent lighting along the roofline. Just tempted it in will put more conduit up and then pull wires.

Want to run another switch to control the accent lights when I pull the wires.

Got the sun shade from the 5er up today on the the PM (Park Model). Covers about 2/3 of the porch nicely.

Its starting to feel like home.

It's Always an Adventure.

It all takes time

Setting up a new home no matter how large or small, it all takes time. It doesn't all have to be done at once. But it would be nice if I could wiggle my nose like Samantha on Bewitched, and it would all be done. The biggest project was fixing a broken drain pipe under the bathtub and connecting our RV water softener to our new home. As Mark said, it was a wet, job, but it was also a lot of work for him.  Setting up his tools and such in a small shed and the two cabinets was another task which took some real planning. And he got it done. Those, like the kitchen cupboards, will be changed around numerous times until we get them just the way we want them.

We share the load, it's not all him or all me. He takes care of all the things I can't do and I take care of the inside chores that I can do. It was challenging to put everything from the 5er, which was 36 feet long, into a park model that is only 30 feet long. The 5er is wall to wall cupboards for storage. The park model is set up with less storage because, for the most part, it is only lived in for 3 to 6 months out of a year in Yuma. But with a little imagination and will, I got our things put away.

Yesterday Mark made my kitchen storage challenge easier. We went into town and got a standing cabinet and put it on the porch for my less used items. That will help me out a lot now and when we get our things from MN. I will now have more room for "MY" tools.  I love to cook and bake so I have a lot of tools even after selling many items.

This morning we enjoyed the last of the cinnamon caramel rolls that I made, two days ago, with our morning coffee. Having a larger fridge I can now make home made pizza again too. Something that we have always enjoyed on the working  late Friday nights. But have not had the room to do so in the 5er. Don't get me wrong, I loved living in our 5er and traveling. But it's nice having a stationery place to call home too. We can still travel just not 12 months out of the year.

Lola has adapted well to the new home. But has picked up a bug and has an off digestive system right now. I inquired at the office if  the dog area was ever sanitized. Until I hear, and know for a fact, that it is, she will not be going back to that area. Every other place we stayed at, had the designated dog area sanitized each day and sometimes several times a day. Lola had never gotten sick until now. Otherwise the park is a nice place to live.

Setting up insurance has been a pain in the butt. MN is so much more resident friendly when it comes to the cost of insurance. That being said, I am having to do much more shopping around. Our insurance agents in Hutch have been the best to work with over the years and hate to say good bye to them. They are still helping me with what to look for. Yes, paperwork is one of my jobs, and I hate it, but it has to be done. Our supplemental health insurance also had to be changed. Another hair pulling job that I have the honor of doing. Plumbing looks like a walk in the park to me compared to this. Sorry honey, I know it's really very hard work and I know we appreciate what each other does. We are a good team.

All that being said, Lola has now risen and wants to do out. She has such a tough job. hehe So I had better get dressed and get on with my day in Yuma, AZ

Mark the plumber

Ok I have not posted as to what I have been up to. One of the (Big) reasons is it has included plumbing a job I absolutely despise. So did I get wet you ask? Absolutely. Always do!

I am beginning to think that's why I took those swimmer life saving classes back in school. It was my survival instinct taking over knowing I would be confronted with plumbing tasks from time to time.

You got to love it. Today while on my back under the Park Model tighting up a water line fitting on a manifold I am building for the water softener.

I am with one hand holding on to what I think is the valve as I on the other side of the manifold tighten the line fitting. BOOSH! I was wrong the valve was actually a plastic 1/2" water line fitting and when it snapped it was under a full 60psi of water pressure.

Guess which direction it was pointed at. Yep the fat old fart lying on his back looking ever so slightly like a turtle. Then those same survival skills came back and saved me once again.

See I have put on a couple of pounds which turns out is a good thing as it kept me from jumping up and bumping my head while I was getting soaked.

But it is all worth it as my bride just got out of the shower and was very happy to have soft water again.

It's Always an Adventure

Little by little

Things are starting to come together. Little by little we are organizing and adding our own touches to our new home. There are times I wish I could push out a wall or two but with some creative ideas I can make room for more. hehe Which I will have to do once we get our things out of storage.

Last night it got quite chilly outside. I woke up cold and achey around 6:45. When I got up to see what the temp was I found that it was 45º outside and only 60 inside. So I turned the furnace on. Lola was all curled up a ball and I could almost see my fish shivering in his bowl. Those who live in the north, are just laughing at me, how would you feel if your furnace didn't work some night? We have gotten spoiled, very used to not being in the cold northern weather. And I might add, loving it too. We don't miss the cold, snow, humidity, tornado threat or the mosquitoes and bugs.

The doors to the outside are always open for easy access to the large porch. No need to close them since there are no bugs flying in and out. Oh once in a great while you will get a fly that stole it's way on someones camper, but that's about it. Ground critters such as termites are an issue, which is why we have the outside of our home sprayed once a year. Tada, problem solved. Having the doors open makes that large porch really feel like a bonus room. Lola loves to lie on the porch and watch the people walk by.

Yesterday we went to get some things at WM. I drove this time to get used to going there from a different direction than I was used to. Mark bought some white paint and when we got home he painted the cabinets on the porch. They look like new now. I continued on with making a small space hold all the kitchen stuff more efficiently. At times I thought it was a losing battle.

Today I hope to go and look for a taller toilet. The one in here must have come from an elementary school, it's soooo low. Mark is going to talk to a neighbor and see how he connected his RV softener to his park model. If Mark does that with ours, it will save us a nice chunk of cash. I am sick of taking a hard water shower. I just never feel clean and the soap doesn't lather or come out of my hair. The RV softener will work until we feel we can get a home softener or the little one conks out.  Why spend money if we don't have to?

Each day it feels more and more like home. Lola seems content too and loves not walking on all the stones like at the other parks we stayed at and the dog walk is nice and big with lots of sniffs to check out. Sand is easier on her paws so she even runs more. :) The roads are nicely tared in the park and the our front and back area's have, what we call, shit bricks down. The only rock we have now is our driveway.  I will be anxious to get my desk, curio, some of my decorations, pictures and kitchen tools here. Then it will really look like home. Full but home.

All done

 Yesterday Mark took off the solar panels, batteries, and all the wiring from the 5er. James and Bill helped him with that. Thank God for their help. He also sealed all the holes from the mounting brackets to secure the roof from any water damage. The solar panels went into James' truck since there was no room for them in our truck when hauling the 5er to the lot. Once the rv was in the lot James brought the panels to our new home and Mark locked them up here for later use. While Mark was working his butt off with all of this, I was at home trying to make the cupboards less dangerous. I don't like things messy or falling out on my head when I open the cupboard doors. I had more storage in the RV than I do here. So it is taking some creative packing to get everything in the cupboards.  The floors got vacuumed and scrubbed, and Miss Lola got to go for a nice long walk also.

 Well the 5er is now in a consignment lot, right in the front as you enter the lot. A quick sale would be nice.  We had great times and a lot of memories in the RV. It was our home for over a year. Someday we plan on doing some more traveling but not in that grand of a scale.

We are all in our new home and now I have the honors, ha ha, of changing all the addresser, insurance, etc. I hate that job, but it has to be done. And in a new state it's a lot more involved than just moving to a new address in the same state. I'm learning things I really didn't want to know.

It feels like home here, and the neighbors are very nice. Lola is still a bit confused as to what is going on in her world. But we think that now that we won't be running back and forth she will settle in soon. Lola really likes that our bed is low enough for her to jump onto when we aren't home. So we need to do better at remembering to close the doors to the bedroom. The 30 foot covered porch is a great space that we will make good use of many days. Around here it's like having a 4 season porch that is open all year round. I can see myself making my cards, crocheting, painting rocks or just taking a break on a nice day. Mark will be putting our little tv out there for his viewing pleasure and being on his computer enjoying the nice weather.

There are things that we are working on to make better use of our smaller spaces. That will take some time to sort through. And we need to leave room for the stuff in storage that we plan bringing here someday.

Today I have 4 large loads of laundry and, I know this sounds weird, but I am looking forward to hanging the laundry on the clotheslines to dry. I haven't been able to do that for 5 years. Nothing I like better than crawling into bed on fresh line dried sheets. Hehehe, I'm looking forward to going to bed tonight. And yes, that means ironing again too. No, I don't mind ironing as long as I can watch tv while ironing. I am so old school.

Next month when our friends leave to go back to their home state will feel odd that we too won't be hitting the road as well. But new adventures lie ahead. Like learning to cope with the extreme heat. A lady that lives in the park said she lives her year round and said if we can survive a Minnesota winter we can handle an Arizona summer. You just stay indoors. hehehe

Final

This morning we handled all the paperwork and received the title on our new home. So I guess we are now officially Yumanites. hehe The previous owner came with to change the title, Metro medic, and to change over the insurance to us. We will change our drivers license when they come due, later this year. The plates on the truck are paid for until February so we will hold on that too.

To celebrate we went to Red Lobster for lunch. It could be detrimental to our health and pocket book that Red Lobster is only about 10 to 12 miles from here. hehehe Fact is there are many many great places to eat here in Yuma. If you want to know of a good one just ask us, we probably know where you should go.

After coming home, a friend, that Mark worked with at the car dealership, came to visit. He lives in Yuma half of the year in a park just down the road. It was so nice to see him and great that he came to visit. Our first visitor!

We took a call today from Cookie one of the sales staff we had talked to about putting our 5er on consignment. Later this afternoon I met him at the 5er to show him what we had. The inspection went well enough that he called his boss to work out a time for him to also come look at it, tomorrow. We will know more after he looks at it but it is sounding like something they would be interested in having on their lot.

Cindy can now breathe a sigh of relief as all the paperwork (she and John the previous owner  took care of) work is done, the new home's title is in our names, the insurance coverage is on and we even have protection for emergency services.

Oh and Lincoln when you read this your name is on the title as well so you can now say you have a winter home in the sunniest city in the USA!

Bathroom, kitchen and dining room.

Today we finished moving everything from the RV to our new home in Yuma, AZ. It was bittersweet walking out of the RV and leaving it primarily empty.  The next step is to clean it well and put it up for sale. 

 Here are pictures of the rooms that I've finished setting up in our new home. The cupboards will be a constant battle of what will go where. Mark is already complaining about where to find what since it's been moved so many times. hehehehe Hey, I'm not sure where everything is either. So for awhile it will be a real challenge to find what we want. Ater more of our things from storage come here, it will really be a challenge to find room for it all.

Two unfinished rooms in our new abode.

The bedroom and living room are not quite done. I'm waiting to get some things from storage to finish the rooms.

February 8, 2018

A chilly morning for AZ. Sunny and a low of 47. We don't get up early enough to see that, so it was 57º when we got out of bed. But I left some windows open last night and it was a bit brisk inside when we got up. Even Lola got up early for a change. Although once we were up and she gave us each her morning breath kiss, she went back to bed. She is snoring away right beside me.

Yesterday we got more stuff moved out of the RV. That seems to be all that we have time to do lately. But we only have a few more days to get the RV out of the park and into storage. Today we should have everything out of the inside, but Mark still has to go through the basement.

We looked and priced storage sheds, since the one here is quite small and we have more stuff in storage back in MN to make room for. We did manage to find a couple more metal shelves for the deep and wide kitchen cupboards and a towel rack for the bathroom.

Around 4 my stomach was having a hissy fit. I hadn't eaten anything but one piece of toast all day. So we stopped at the Golden Corral and indulged my growling tummy. There were a lot of people that must of had tummy trouble too because even at 4 the place was very busy.

After everything was unloaded, unpacked and put away from today's packing, it was time to sit back and relax the night away. Aaahhh, my power lift chair was calling my name. But the darn thing was only teasing me. The transformer went out so no comfy sitting for me. Luckily Mark found a new part on Amazon and it will be here on Saturday sometime. That seems like an eternity away to my aching back.

No nice chair to sit in and my back was so sore, I decided that a nice hot shower was in order. Mark said the water pressure here is great so the shower would feel really good. Turning on the shower it really blasted and the hot water felt great. But after less than 10 minutes I had no hot water. What the heck!!!!!!!!! Jumping out of the shower spitting mad, I toweled off and found my jammies. Turning on the tv I found nothing worth my time to watch. Geesh what a night. Time for a whisky water on ice, or two, or three......

All ready to crawl in bed and reached to turn off the light on the ceiling fan and the light pull cord would not work. Mark likes the fan on low at night to circulate the air. He breathes  better and then I sleep better. hehehe So much for the fan tonight. This was not a night that I wish to have again anytime ever again.

As always, it's an adventure. Not always a wanted adventure but an adventure nonetheless. hehehe

First things first.

Anyone who has a beloved pet understands that their needs, or at least to the pet, come first. Well we needed to make sure that Lola was safe in our new home. So the very first thing that was done was to make the 30 plus porch Lola safe. We purchased latis and two baby gates. Mark turned the porch into an attractive Lola proof space. She now can go in one door and out the other with ease. We do need to learn to close the gate more often. Lola loves to visit with people and a few times she managed to do just that when the gate got left open.

At the apartment and the RV I had a coffee theme going that I bought from a close friend. Since I really loved that, I wanted it in our new home as well. The curtains were almost new and purchased for the RV. They fit into our new home so I used them here. Here is one area that is done. It's above the kitchen sink.

                      As I finish with my "decorating" I will add more pictures.

We still have a couple small loads at the RV to move and then I can clean the RV and it will be going up for sale.  There is also a storage unit that we need to get loaded up into a large trailer and moved to AZ. Many items in there will be sold, donated and rehomed elsewhere. We can only keep so much. But our motorcycles will not be sold. We are looking forward to riding them year round.

Lola thought we should keep this blue chair but mom and dad took it to a charity. She will have to settle for her new bed.

                                                 
                                                 Our dining area. 

Before we moved into our home in Yuma

Just another day in paradise.

We have been so busy with the move to our new home that I did not get a chance to share what a Great
Day I had on Sunday!

#1 Oops
So it started out at 4:56am when I got up to use the bathroom and heard the familiar sound of the alarm on the fridge which tells me that it is out of propane. Ok so I have to go out to turn the regulator to the other tank, no big deal except as I come down the stairs to shut off the alarm I pass the front door and feel a cool 54 degree breeze against my bare skin. Oops, as closer inspection revealed, we had left the door wide open all night. So our new furnace had been blasting away all night attempting to do what the sun does in Yuma during the day. You might say we were heating the foothills one BTU at a time.

#2 Oops
Once up for the day we were going to start loading for the move so I went to reposition the truck to make it easier to load. Well if you have not seen our truck, it is a Super Cab Dually LONG BOX which like the description says makes it quite long! I must have forgotten this point as while backing up I ran right into the left leg of the awning and bent it to the point it now resembles a pretzel.

#3 Oops
So we take several loads over to our new domicile and while waiting for my bride to empty the tote and two egg crates I am looking out the open sliding glass door. When she says she is ready I start to walk out the door ahead of her. It wasn't until the screen door, now completely bent and knocked out of the track that I noticed it was closed.

(On a side note the previous owner had made a point of telling me how meticulously he had maintained the door to keep it worked so well) Remind me to thank him again!

#4 Oops
We have been hauling stuff all day and now need to stop at Walmart for some supplies. I mention to Cindy how hungary I am and she tells me there is a McDonalds inside this Walmart and we might as well take a break and eat. Now I am not a big fan of McDonalds but am famished so her idea strikes me as a great one. Wrong, as once inside and approaching the McDonald entrance ,they choose to close their gate. Now this is mid afternoon, what is going on? They ran out of FRIES. Really? Run out of Fries and you descde to shut down the Store?

#5 Oops
The Walmart is packed and we picked up enough stuff that Cindy did not want to go thru the self checkout so we get in line at one of the 4 out ot 20+ checkouts that are open. One of the ladys ahead of us had severel liters of pop, so she, because of there weight and not having a cart had them on the floor and was pushing them inch by inch with her foot, ahead as the line slowly moved forward.

#6 Oops
We get thru the line and are headed out of the store when we notice that McDonalds has reopened.(sill no fries) And as the old saying goes "Any Port in a Storm" we go in for something to eat. No big deal except because of a new rule you need to leave your cart in the waste disposal area. Right, like I am going to leave my cart full of supplies unattended so I can enter their dining area. Their food in NOT that Good!

It's Always an Adventure!

New residence.

February 1, 2018

There were good intentions on my mind to write in the blog every day. But some days get so full I forget or just don’t have the time. This time I have a very good excuse.

Early this week we started driving around to look at other RV parks for next winter. Some of them were nice but the RV were packed in like sardines. Others were way out of our price range and some were less then what would call an rv resort. But there was one park that we drove through and saw a park model for sale at a price we liked. Neighbors saw as looking at it and said they would get the owner and we could look inside. Very friendly. The owner was a super nice guy and explained everything and let us look as long as we wanted to.  After going through the home and site we said we would call him in a day or two.

After praying for guidance we called John back and asked if we could look through the place again and do some measuring. He met us there in a very short time. After discussing and the deal he presented us with, we decided to make our permanent home in the Yuma foothills.

We plan on selling our large Montana RV and truck and downsize to smaller units. See, we don’t want to give up seeing more of the country or going back to MN to visit family and friends. But since we now have a more permanent dwelling we don’t need such a big rig to call home.