New Tab - Motorhome Upgrades & Repairs

Today's post is to let everyone know that I've added a new tab to my blog.
My Motorhome Upgrades & Repairs.

I thought perhaps this page could be useful to others. It's a page of what it suggests, upgrades & repairs. I've also added the urls to references I've put up there from my blog when I blogged about them so folks can find these items as well.

I've missed some things & as I think of them, I'll add them on.

The things I missed would be things like awning items, refinished items, stuff like that. I've not missed any of the mechanical issues.

I just want to be as honest as I possibly can so if others come across this page, it may be of some aid to them on their own issues.

Now for today. I got caught in my jammies!

Yikes!

Not that there's anything wrong with my jammies, but there's just something weird & vulnerable feeling about getting caught in them.

A male friend knocked at the door, I opened it, invited him in & rushed off to change my clothes!

We visited for awhile, then he left & I ran to the store to get some items.

I left my RV windows open to to try to keep it from getting over 100 in there since I have food items in there, fridge is still on, etc. I have it plugged in, but only to run the fridge, a couple of fans & keep the battery charged up. Once I empty the fridge, then I can shut down the battery.

So anyhow, at the store, I pay for my purchases & leave. As I'm walking through the parking lot, the skies break loose! I get my items into my van before it really pours.
The moment I get them in, put the cart where it belongs, I open my door to get inside & the skies break loose!

OK, so now I'm thinking, OH NO! RV windows are open!! At least I did close the vents & put the reflectix back up over them. But that was to help block the sun & heat. Whew!

It's absoutely pouring buckets. I'm rushing back to the RV hoping it's ok. I get halfway home & the black cloud that burst over the area I was in, hadn't burst in my area yet.

Whew.

I get my groceries in the RV, then the skies break loose!

How I got lucky twice is beyond me.

So I'm now inside of the RV, it's 96 in there, but the humidity is 55, so I was actually not too uncomfortable. BUT then I thought, hmmmmm....why not get more comfortable.

So I had a bowl of ice cream!

As you see, I am a clever survivor! :-)

Here is a photo of a Texas Lizard that I saw not too far from where I live.

What is a Texas Lizard? An alligator of course!

And look, it was a teen. How do I know that? Check out the beer it was trying to hide...

(that's how they cool off)

~As always, be kind to your pets, clean up after them on your travels & respect your neighbor~

Bang! Pop! Bang! Pop Pop..POP!

Those were the sounds of the morning. POP! BANG! POP! Yep, that's what woke me up this morning - Hail! A hail storm! And it lasted for quite awhile too. Thunder, lightning, rain, tornados & hail! And of course, the rocking that RV's do with the wind. Wild morning - yay, it's like going to the state fair! yay! ok, really? Ok, not yay. BUT yes, there IS a YAY & a YIPEE!!! Why? Because for whatever reason, the plastic stayed on the RV & no rain got in! so YAY! Of course, what was the first thing I did when I noticed the noise? Well the same thing anyone with a blog would do, I hunted for my video camera! And I took footage, even footage of the news. It rained sooo hard that water came into the RV. But NOT where the plastic is! It came where I'd least expect it to. It came in through the vent, yes, the covered vent that the kitchen vent hood blows out of. Yes, it does rain from the ground up if you must ask??(?) Obviously it does. My vent said so. So my favorite picture of Zeus (one of my saluki kids) got soaked! Boo, bad water! Actually, it was dripping off the mini blinds. Had I not noticed that, then the water may have sat around all day, all night...another all day? Who knows? Another leak, my big picture window by the sofa. I think I do need to change out the fat glazing bead as the kitchen window leaks around the fat stuff too. At least that's just two windows to address. The part where I redid the skinny glazing bead all is doing good. (yes, they are skinny & fat because I said so). After the hail subsided, my friend Judy went outside to clear the ditches & to assess the area. Their side yard flooded, down to their studio building. She went into the building & said there was a little water on the floor, but it wasn't bad. It didn't reach where I have my foam stored for now for the big overhead cushions - thank goodness!!! And the RV gods did look out for me today because they held that plastic down for me! Yay! I was certain it would be gone with the wind...but I'm afraid that could not have happened because I would not have been able to say "Frankly My Dear, I Don't Give A Damn". Oh yes, surely some bad words would have been said, but not that phrase! I won't say here what my words probably would have been or blogger would can me...for life. Really.
There was a tornado a mile down the road from us. That was probably about the time the RV was a'rockin'.  Wheeee, we're rockin'! <nervous grin>  Then I found out this evening that there was another tornado to the other mile to the right of me. The other one was to the left of me. Mr left Tornado lifted someone's paddle boat & shoved it nicely into a tall tree. Channel 2 news was there when we drove by it when we went out to run errands this afternoon. So no one told Mr right Tornado that Christmas is over & that paddle boats are NOT really ornaments! Mr right Tornado made a lady get all scared. She grabbed her dog & sat in her bath tub with it. She said her doors inside of her house were all creeking & making noises. That would be scary, but when done, no harm done to her or her little dog. But there was another Tornado by hwy 6 that did damages to a few homes. Fortunately, our tornados are more rare & aren't huge like midwest tornados are! But it still would scare me if one crossed my path! Or wiped out my path....yikes! Hurricanes, I know when they are coming. I can prepare. Tornados & fires, no warning, no time to react & prepare. So anyhow, after I've just bored ya'll to tears, or a long nap, here are two photos of the flooded side yard, which did recede well later in the day.
And here are two videos. During & then the aftermath. I sure AM GLAD that the plastic gods were here for me & kept that plastic down! Whew!!!

Now I can't put Feather out in the kennel because if she peed in it, wouldn't that like peeing in a pool?

This video below is what it's like inside of the RV during such a storm. Take note of the plastic! Yay!


This is the outside area awhile after the storm.





I'm very, very, very, very, very grateful that Ellie, the RV is ok after her bath by nature. Actually, she's wearing a bit of nature now due to the bath...pine needles anyone? Can't they be used for some kind of craft? No? Oh well, ok, Ellie will proudly wear them then. (Don't tell her Christmas is over, in fact, she's still wearing her inside decs).

Just saw something funny in a movie on tv. A silly comedy with Jamie Lee Curtis. She mentioned to one of the characters something about that character's...um, character about her marrying her own brother. That character said "But he's not my brother. I mean, he was, but he's not now. He's my husband!" teehee, struck me funny.

~As always, be kind to your pets, clean up after them on your travels & respect your neighbor~

Black Cloud - go away!

OK as I mentioned yesterday, I put heavy duty plastic over my overhead front area. I asked for opinions on what I should do & I truly appreciate the advice that was given me. One of my fears of using a strong kind of bonding tape is that it could potentially tear the rubber roof. Actually, I was afraid that duct tape could do that too, until I discovered it did not want to stick well! Plus I was not able to go out this morning to try to find anything stronger than duct tape. But I decided that maybe it would be a good idea to get my roof cleaner, fresh tape, a spray bottle of water to clean the roof cleaner off with, a roll of paper towels & a towel to clean up the rubber roof along the tape line with. It was dark when I secured it last night, so I did not get a chance to properly clean that area of the rubber roof. Sooo, I have my supplies together, I go out to the dog yard & put my dogs back in the inside kennel. Then before I got back outside, as I was ON the way outside, the skies broke loose!!! ARGH!! It rained enough to saturate everything, but I AM happy to say that the plastic did the job. Sun is out now, so I'm hoping the roof will dry long enough for me to make another attempt at getting back up there. If I were an American Indian, I'm pretty sure my name would be Black Cloud! Now I want to know how to send Murphy with his naughty law & his black cloud out of my life! Thank goodness for the heavy 4mil plastic sheeting. I'm also glad I bought two sheets at the store as I needed both of them. Almost bought one big sheet, but wasn't sure about the size, so opted to get two smaller ones instead & that seems to be working ok. At least they aren't dark & depressing like a dark tarp might be.

So here are some photos that I took a short while ago: Click on any photos for larger images.

Ellie likes her cab windows covered with the bonnet, although you really can't see that well in the photo. She also likes to wear her slippers when she's parked. (but not when she's driving!)

A new leak discovered. This is one of my kitchen windows. I think the glazing bead needs replaced. I replaced all the slimmer glazing beading a few months back, but not the fatter size. So as a temporary measure, I just taped my white duct tape along the bottom of the window. I'll ask the repairman if the glazing bead needs replaced or if I need to do anything else when I take it over for an estimate on the overhead cab repairs. I caulked around all the windows & the frame of the RV last spring, but this water was going in under the glass where the window opens up. You can see where the rain water drips above on the black rim, right onto the glass. Always something!! I keep telling myself it's still cheaper than a house.....right???

Uh oh...now it's getting windy======I give up!!

~As always, be kind to your pets, clean up after them on your travels & respect your neighbor~

Yikes, potential rain!

It's so nice to be by myself for a change. Of course, I'm still dog sitting, but I spent the day out in the RV for the most part. Warm & sunny day. Unbelievable day in fact! I even had my entry door open with the screen door closed, it was that nice! T'shirt & jeans kinda day. Loved it! Hey Russ, here's the sun I promised you the other day! It just took me a few days to get around to taking a picture.

And here is last night's moon shot. I took some others with the clouds around the moon, but since I wasn't using a tripod, they are no good. I'm surprised this one turned out.

So what did I do with my day other than take care of dogs? I made bracelets! I've finally had the time to make a few! They still need a little finishing up, but I have to go get some supplies to finish them with.

This one I made man sized. I've not done any mens yet till now, but then, these are all the first bracelets I've had time to actually sit down & do.

Then I thought I'd better check the weather after I put everything up. It was so beautiful today that I expected it to stay this way through the weekend. Was told it was to rain on Monday. Well, I'm glad I checked because weather report said rain late tonight & thunder storms tomorrow! Oh yikes! Not good for my overhead cab! So I rushed off to WalMart to buy a tarp. The one I have isn't big enough. Well, they only had 2 sizes, small & humungous! Oh that won't do, plus the huge one was rather expensive. So I went to the paint dept & bought the thick mil type of plastic sheeting & more duct tape. Guess what? Duct tape doesn't stick well to rubber roofs. :-(   Houston, we have a problem. And I had to get on the roof twice because I had no help & had one of the sheets turned the wrong way. Oy! That's a Texas Oy ya'll. I had no choice but to try to tape it to the roof anyhow. Wish me luck that we don't get winds. If we do, then I'm pretty sure it'll just simply blow off! This is not fun....in fact, it sucks. I called an RV place today that advertised that they did fix-it work, but I guess they were closed. The phone rang for awhile, then I got an answering machine. So I'll call again on Monday. This sucks. I guess I'd better go grab my trusty little shop vac out of the back of my van before the evening is over.

Have a good evening & enjoy those games if you watch them!

~As always, be kind to your pets, clean up after them on your travels & respect your neighbor~

Not a good kind of water :-( & other things

Welcome to new blogger friends! I welcomed Duck Bob the other day & he does indeed have a blog:
www.duckbobduck.com   His blog has cute little rubber Duckies that get spotted all over the place - you can even upload pics of your own little rubber duckies. Check out his blog, it's really cute! Thanks for bringing the url to my attention. Quack on!

Welcome to T (Just call me T). It appears that he is in the works of creating his blog, so I hope he'll share the url when he's ready. T is a transplanted Okie, now residing in Wa state. He sold his ClassA RV & is currently looking for a ClassC. He hopes to launch a fulltiming lifestyle around May/June of 2012 - Good luck T. Let us know when you get that blog up & running!

Welcome to bsg. I don't see a blog url for you, so if you have one, please share it & I'll be happy to log it here. Glad to have you along!

Welcome to Jim & Sandy of Where Are The Dixons Today! I'm sure many of you already know them & I'm happy to have them along!  www.wherearethedixonstoday.blogspot.com   they also have two adorable little Doxies that get to travel along with them.

As promised, the two things I was to do today was share a photo of Feather & add DuckBob's url here, so the url is done, now for a photo of Feather for Jim & Sandy.

"Feather"  SCOA National SBIS Ch ReignBeaus Feather In Her Cap, JC

To Jim & Sandie, I show & breed Saluki dogs. I don't breed often though, & only when I want to keep my line going & want a new puppy to show. First & foremost, they are my buds, my companions & my life. For me, they are never just dogs. Each one has their own unique character, which I love about them!

OK, now for the not so pleasant stuff. Remember a few weeks back, I blogged about the damages to the passenger cabover side to my RV? Well, we got rain. Lots of rain. And the rain found it's way in! If I had not planned on washing my bedding, it may have gone un noticed even longer than it did! I've not been sleeping in my overhead bed partly due to my surgery & mostly due to the damages. It just kind of freaks me out right now. I tried to sleep up there two nights, but wasn't comfortable with it. So I told myself I was being silly, that I should sleep up there. So I decided to freshen up the bedding. Stripped off the comforter, started to take the sheets off & noticed something WET! Oh, not only wet, but SOAKING WET!! Crap. I'll spare you the details of the insurance company right now, but we're pending. Now this comes up in the meantime. I sure hope they'll come through & cover this. Camping World says yes, this is due to road debris hitting me while I was driving on my way home. Now I have to wait till Tuesday to get hold of anyone about the rain damages. The entire deck is soaked where the bed area is. Unfortunately, when I took off the soaked & holding water (!) cushions, the decking had been soaking up water for awhile & now is totally ruined. I don't even have the heart to edit the photos for sharing right now. So I'll only share the ones of the cushions while they were still covered with a sheet. The sheet tells the story of how wet that deck got. I discovered this yesterday & there is still water draining out onto a towel this evening from that area. This is not good! This is my house. I am really bummed. I lost my real house to Hurricane Ike & I don't want to lose my little house now too. I have to have faith that things WILL GET BETTER SOON!!! Enough is enough!

Side of cushion bedding soaked. When I lifted this to take it out, water POURED out of it!!! I had to quickly grab it & toss it out my door, Oh but wait, not so easy. It got stuck, pouring water out everywhere!

You can see along the wall, how wet the edges are.

Definitely not a good thing. I got the cushions outside, stripped the covers off & put the padding inside to dry out. Fortunately, my friend has a studio & allowed me to put the cushions in there to dry out. Sun would be good, but it's decided to go into hiding for now..

So on another note, this is what I saw the other day in town. There were two of these big Lincoln Continentals. The other was white, but this one was more interesting of the two. Too bad all I had was my cell phone to shoot with. I could have gotten detailed shots with my real camera, but I don't tag it along everywhere as it's a big camera.

Subject change again - more on my recovery. I finally started physical therapy this week & I'm excited about it. Why? Because it means that I am FINALLY MOVING FORWARD! YAY!

So I took pics of the office building where my docs office resides. I like the reflections that are in the windows. Apparently when you are inside, you see the parking lot. When outside, you can see it twice! The real parking lot & the window images of the parking lot!

I like the angle of this last shot. These were shot from my cell phone, so really, not too bad.

And across the parking lot is the Channel 2 News Station. Again, taken by cell phone...but shhhh, don't tell them. These are shots of her, ahem... "southern side"..

Above these two cars, you can see the "Chopper Pad". One day while there, they were taking off, but I could not get the phone's video camera working in time to catch it.

~As always, be kind to your pets, clean up after them on your travels & respect your neighbor~

Rain, rain, finally RAIN!

Well let's hope that our drought season has finally come to an end! Rain today, beautiful wet rain, thunder, the works! But in Texas, we sooo badly need it. This is our first really real rain that has lasted for more than an hour since last February! And it's very calming while sitting in the RV listening to it gently pop onto the RV roof. I didn't think I'd have any RV tips today, but here's one...never leave roof vents open during rains if you do not have the weather resistant type of hoods over your vents ;-)

So other than the rains, not much going on today. I've been going through my videos & photos today. I made a huge mistake on videoing (is that a word?) a lot of my RV fix ups from last spring. I was hoping to edit them & get them online, but I didn't realize I shot them in the tiny format for usage of little smaller sized vids. Bummer! So while still trying to figure how I'm going to remedy that, I will upload this video shot in the same format of a darling little foal here to see how it looks online.

Yesterday was spent with BCB rescue day at PetSmart with my little rescue Chiweenie, Carlos. Carlos loves going there! He loves the people & other animals there. He had a great time playing with a tinier version of a Chi mix. Too bad I didn't have a camera along for a photo op!

Here is a photo of the party boy, Carlos!

I hope everyone is having a great day. I'll end this post with a beautiful red/purple sunset shot.

As always, be kind to your pets, clean up after them on your travels & respect your neighbor.

Toodles!