It's Time!

I started the month off with an eye appointment that took much longer than I anticipated followed by a dentist appointment in the afternoon. I had planned to eat lunch between appts. But there was no time for that so it was a day of fasting for me. Didn't hurt anything!

Larry had an appointment for his Apple computer and ended up having to leave it for a few days. He used the PC he bought at Christmas so he wasn't totally deprived. I made an appointment with my primary care doctor at the request of the eye doctor just to be sure of an issue and all the tests came back OK. Both doctors wanted to see me again in three months but that isn't happening so I will go back to both in November when we return to Phoenix.

Our granddaughter, Cerét and her baby, Calvin, came for a visit and we had a lovely visit for three hours. He is a real sweety and Cerét is a wonderful caring mother.

Cerét and Calvin

Great-grandma and Calvin

Calvin, Great Aunt Dawn and Great Grandma Ellen

After eight years, Larry finally decided to put the air tabs on the MH. He put them on the trailer when he first bought them in 2009 and since then has procrastinated about putting them on the MH. It will be interesting to see if they make a difference in mileage and if they do, how much did we lose by not having them installed?

Larry measuring for the air tabs

Putting the air tabs on the back of the MH

Finished on the passenger side

While putting items away in the shed, getting ready to leave, Larry discovered our big oscillating fan and brought it inside to blow the cold air into the bathroom where the temperature probe is located since the living room was a 'cool' 73º when the thermostat was set at 83º. Only he didn't think about how it would blow and it blew all the toilet paper off the roll all around the bathroom! He wouldn't let me take a picture of it in the bathroom but I did manage to get one when he was trying to roll it back up.

Rolling the TP back on the roll

The culprit

We left early by one day and stopped in Avondale for the night to miss the Phoenix morning traffic. We did that last year and it worked well so did it again this year.

We arrived in Palm Springs at 12 :45 PM today (May 1) and can report the air tabs work!  It was quite windy with a head wind and they helped keep the MH on the road and there was less motion when trucks passed.  Time will tell if they help with the mileage.

Busy, busy

Larry has been busy, busy, busy getting everything ready to go. He was concerned about the hard downshift we experienced coming to Phoenix from Oregon so he took the driveshaft out of the MH to have it checked out by Precision Driveline.

Driveshaft out of the MH

It weighs 60 lbs but he was smart and used ropes to hold it to both get it out and put it back it. It was a job he did not really want to do as the under side of the MH is filthy after 15 years of driving grime and he had very little working space but he got it done and feels so much better knowing it is OK. He had new U joints put in but it was not bent which he thought it might be. He also greased the coach with his new grease gun and said it was a joy because it worked so well. He is always glad when the annual grease job is done.  Larry finally got around to cutting the extra off the added drainpipe under the new driveway from last year.  He had to actually get inside the pipe to cut it off! 

Larry cutting the drainpipe

The end product. Amazing how many rocks were inside!

Since the driveshaft is finished Larry has been re-wiring the electric so he won't have extension cords running across the patio. He is putting outlets on both sides of the patio so next year he will have electric for his planned projects.

On the 18^th we went to see the movie “I Can Only Imagine” after church. It is a great movie and I highly recommend it!

March 23 I met with our old friend, Sharon, who we haven't seen in seven years, in Scottsdale at a Chick-Fil-A, about 20 miles away for both of us as she lives in east Mesa. We had a nice two hour lunch catching up on family. One funny thing is her granddaughter is a senior at U of A and works with my cousin Alfred. What a small world we live in!

We ended the month celebrating our grandson Colby's birthday by going to Red Robin just down the road and then returning to the house for cake and ice cream. We usually play games but instead we just talked about what was happening in each other's lives so it was a good evening.

Dawn, Colby and Krista at Red Robin

Vince and Dawn

Us at Red Robin

Bethany and Ellen

Krista and Colby back at the house for birthday cake and ice cream

Marching on

We went to our first INTRO FMCA rally in Tucson the first week of February.  The weather was wonderful and we had a good time, meeting people God wanted us to meet  We replaced our day/night window blinds with ShadePro Legacy blinds the last day.  I was so impressed with them I called to see if the company sells just the fabric as I wanted to replace the windshield  privacy shades when we are parked.  They do not, so my next step was the nearby commercial fabric shop.  The Legacy blinds are solar with 95%UV protection but the best I could find was 85% UV protection but it was on sale at 50% off.  I ended up making shades for all our windows that were not covered by the Legacy blinds and I’m thrilled with them!  We also replaced our broken flagpole while we were in Tucson.

Ua at the Tucson INTRO Rally

One of the nightly get togethers at the Tucson Rally

Our new flagpole

We continue to play Mexican Train each Friday night and Vince often wins but Larry won a game last Friday so he was feeling great.

Our insurance renews in March so we both took the on line defensive driving course to save $200 on our insurance over the next three years.

Larry has put up two solar powered security light and now is working on putting electric under the  patio to the other side by the wall.  When we laid out the patio he put a pipe under the patio just for that purpose. 

One security light on the east wall

The other security light on the Man Cave so I can see to read the electric meter at night

Burying the electric

All done with the sewer re-attached over the electric cable

On the other side of the patio where the light fixture will go

We went out to dinner at Chili’s with our neighbors, Randy and Isabelle and had an enjoyable evening.  We are hoping to see them again this summer when they visit OR in their new 5th wheel.

We continue to prepare for our departure in two months now.  The weather is again turning nice.  I cannot complain though, as we have had a mild winter.

Up, Up, and Away!

I went walking on January 4 and found a Fed-Ex truck stuck in the wash south of us.  We were expecting a package so I asked if he had it.  He did and said he had never been on this route before and ours was the last delivery.  It took over an hour to get him out!

Fed-EX truck stuck in the wash

The Fed-Ex truck finally pulled out of the wash

We celebrated Dawn's birthday on January 6 at Sweet Tomatoes.  We had a good time but it was really cold inside.

Bethany, Krista and Colby at Sweet Tomatoes

Dawn opening one of her gifts

We had a package delivered to our old address so that gave us an excuse to to visit former neighbors and pick some grapefruit.  Always nice to see old friends and have fresh fruit!

The weather has been so nice we have ridden the bike to church several times.  I actually missed riding the bike.

Dawn, Vince and their family went to Disney World for their anniversary and Larry took them to the airport at 7 AM (no room for me in the truck).  A week later we picked them up at the airport.  I drove Colby's car to the airport so they could just drive home since they live on the south side of town.  We 'cat sat' while they were gone.

We've been going weekly to the chiropractor to help Larry get straighten around.  After eight months with our adjustable bed, he has finally found the "sweet spot" and is now sleeping thru the night without moving around and even better, "NO PAIN".  PTL!

The 'biggie' for the month was a hot air balloon ride to celebrate my 'big' birthday.  It was awesome!!  We were in the air over an hour and soared to 7800 ft.  We could see the San Fransisco Peaks and the Mogollon Rim.  We also saw a wild burro and her baby.  It definitely was the highlight of the year.

Our balloon taken from a nearby balloon

Getting our balloon 'ready'

In the balloon basket before we took off

The other balloon coming in to land

My birthday ice cream at Red Lobster

Happy New Year 2018!

Larry started December off with an appointment at BMW for his bike. Then he started focusing on getting the RV gates done before Christmas. His friend, Jay came over two different days and Vince helped out one day also. They had the frames of the big gates hung by December 9^th and Larry and I finally finished putting the panels up Dec 20. Larry still has a little to do to finish the walk gate to make it secure but for all practical purposes the gates are finished and I think they look great.

Using the port-a-crane to hang the gate frames

Two gates hung

All the gates finished

I had a Shooter's World shop on December 18^th and as always it was a fun day. Larry wanted to rent a gun that he thought he wanted to buy but he is so glad he rented it first as it was nothing like he thought it would be. A big relief to me that he won't be buying another gun anytime soon. (I hope!)

December 21 Larry had his annual checkup at the VA and had a very nice temporary doctor until they can find one to fill the shoes of his last primary care physician. He had a good report from his blood work and based on his complaints, they lowered his meds for his thyroid. He is feeling much better on the lower dosage.

December 22 I woke up to an odd sound and figured it must be hot air balloons once again. I went outside and there were five of them, three landing quite close to us. It is always fun to see them. Maybe someday I will get a ride in one.

Showing all five balloons

The three balloons that landed near us

We had a wonderful Christmas at Dawn and Vince's with lots of good food, fun playing games (Taboo and Cranium) and some great gifts. I received what I wanted, a FitBit and also a really nice silver band that I didn't ask for. Larry received all the items on his 'wish' list and promptly disappeared to try them out! We didn't get home until nearly 1 AM.

Our Christmas table

The Christmas tree with purple lights

Dawn and Vince preparing food

Krista, Colby and Bethany showing off their Christmas gift, 

 

a trip to Disney World

Vince and Larry  at Christmas

Tuesday evening December 26 we traveled to Avondale to Cummins for an appointment for our Jake brake problem and water leak problem. Both issues involved a lot of intense labor and we stayed in the customer lounge until 11 PM Wednesday night and 10 PM Thursday night. The mechanics work from 6 AM -11 PM in two different shifts and we were able to stay in their parking lot hooked to 50 amp electric. Friday December 29 after determining Cummins could do no more for us we went to Allison to have the transmission checked out. We finally returned 'home' around 3 PM on Friday and I promptly headed out for my BK shop. We still managed to play Train that evening with Dawn and Vince.

We stayed home to bring in the New Year and watched the ball down in NYC at 10 PM our time. All the folks looked really cold as the temperature was 10º.   So glad we weren't there!  A nearby neighbor spends a lot of money on fireworks each New Year's Eve and set off around 30 really lovely ones, my favorite being a purple and gold one. Then another neighbor set off several, sounded like grenades, the last being at 12:36 AM that shook the windows. He did that last year too. Glad New Year's comes just once a year!

Today is a beautiful day with clear blue skies and 72º temperature, what a great way to start 2018!

Where's winter?

On November 6 we visited friends Tom and Adele who are visiting from Alaska. They wanted our 'expert' opinion on a 1996 Foretravel motorhome they are thinking about purchasing. We spent the afternoon with them and when it came time to leave the bike started and then instantly quit. We ended up having it towed to BMW and Tom and Adele took us home. Since we had only the bike this summer and the nearest BMW dealer is in Eugene 125 miles away we are so grateful that didn't happen this summer!   BMW was unable to look at it until four days later and it was the battery. They also replaced the starter button that had been sticking and we are waiting on a navigation button release that is not working.

The evening of November 14 we took the MH to Gilbert to have our two inverters refurbished. We spent the night in their parking lot so everything would be ready to go first thing the next morning. We learned the two inverters were not 'talking' to each other as we had believed since they were installed 14 years ago which is what Monaco told us at the time. Fortunately Larry has always reprogrammed both of them separately. He did learn we are suppose to reset them every two months, something we have not done in the past so we feel fortunate they are still in good working condition. Because they were in such good shape, our bill was $900 less than we expected which is a BIG PTL!

Larry has been working on getting the RV gates built and both the metal and panels have been delivered.  Larry's friend, Jay, helped him weld the frames of the big gates (there are actually three gates, two big ones and a smaller walk in gate) together on November 18 and that evening we went to the Harvest Dinner at church. It was a great meal and we met some nice folks who normally attend the first service on Sundays so they were 'new' to us (we attend the second service).

Where walk in gate goes

Harvest dinner at church with 'new' friends

Walk in gate (not finished yet)

I ended up going to the chiropractor on the 20^th at 9 AM as I was in a lot of pain since late Thursday evening. Larry was so tired from the weekend he didn't even know I was gone.

I did another meal shop at the nearby Denny's for lunch on the 21^st. We made a big circle with 10 stops along the way and got a lot accomplished. It always feels good when things go right and you get everything you wanted done. With the exception that the main thing I wanted to get at Costco I forgot! We made a stop at a different Costco after church on Sunday so I now have that item.

Our yummy dessert from my shop at Denny's

We had a great Thanksgiving Day with our daughter and grandkids spending 11 hours with them! We didn't get home until 1 AM on Friday as we played Mexican Train with seven of us, so different than just the four of us for Fridays nights.

Thanksgiving Day with Bethany and Larry  with 'snacks'

Our delicious bacon wrapped turkey

Colby carving the turkey with Dawn making the gravy in the background

The beautiful Thanksgiving table

When I was walking on November 25 I ran into an old customer that I have not seen in 15 years. We had a great visit and plan on getting together again in the near future. She and her husband live about ½ mile from where we are. Something similar happened when we were staying on Charleston several years ago. It is always fun to run into former acquaintances, much like the RV lifestyle where that happens a lot where you see someone you met in another state several years before.

The weather has been really nice but we have had no rain and the coldest it has gone down to at night is 55º.  Hard to believe this is December!