RV torn!

First of all, a big welcome to JoJo!! http://momslittlerunaway.blogspot.com/  I'm very happy to see you here! I've been a follower of JoJo for quite some time, but I can't comment on her pages. JOJO, if you set your comments to allow name/url & anonymous, then I can comment. But again, I love following your blog!

Now for some disturbing news....MY RV TORE!!! LITERALLY!! Sooo....waaaaaaaaaahhhhh!! I have surgery scheduled for my foot on 11-16, yes, this Wednesday. So I did one final outing with Ellie, my RV this weekend. I still love taking her out, I still love living in her, but I'm not loving her latest booboo. :-(   OK, but before I get to that, yes, the new converter seems to work, BUT the battery was pretty much choked to near death by the old converter, sooo, need yet another new battery. Lets hope this will be it for awhile!
Now onto Ellie's booboo - it's ugly. It's nasty. It's definitely not pretty. I cried. Yes I did. I cried & felt like the world's elements are out to get me. After all, Hurricane Ike took my house, but I still had Ellie. Now somehow, the highway took a chunk out of her! :'''(   So here are a few photos, then I'll explain what happened.

I was driving back home on I-10, heading west, then I heard a sound that sounded a little loud, but sounded like I had once again, forgotten to take something off the counter, so it jumped off all by itself. So I keep driving, thinking nothing of it. I'll pick it up when I get back to my spot in the driveway. I get back, pull into my spot, get out to be sure that I'm not parked on top of my friends extension cord that they keep the pond pump running with. It's getting dark, something catches the corner of my eye. I look up & was shocked!! Then I freaked a little, cried a little, felt a bit defeated. So all I can guess is that I got hit by road debris or else the 2x4 that hit me a few months ago actually did do some damage other than put a dent in the support frame of the fiberglass. So bummer! Called the insurance company, they will be sending out an adjuster. In the meantime, I went out & found something to protect it with. Found a white vinyl table cloth, had white duct tape, so taped it down. Thought about doing something flashy, but really? I didn't need a big reminder of it with anything flashy! Then I felt the table cloth wasn't strong enough, so went to the store & got a clear plastic shower curtain liner & cut it to fit & taped as I went along. So now it's protected (hopefully) till repairs can happen. My surgery will keep me down for at least 2 weeks, so I wanted to be sure that the temp cover would suffice. But Bummer! I just have to tell myself it could have been worse...I also had to pick up a container of whoppers to make myself feel a bit better...something chocolate always helps a bit!

The tape isn't actually on the window, so I can still open & close the little window. I taped it on the center of the window frame.

I can't say that I slept well last night either. I kept thinking the wall was going to fall down & I was going to fall out of bed or something. This sucks.

I hope everyone is well. It's been a few days since I've posted & I've not had the time to get caught up on other blogs or even email yet. Sure wish I could have joined up in the WGS GTG too, but hopefully, I'll be able to see some of these wonderful women before they head back up north next spring. My next post may be from my couch & an air mattress as I won't be able to walk & won't be able to sleep in the overhead bed. I'll remain in my friends driveway & they will take care of my dogs & kitties while I recover.

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

PS, I also bought myself a snuggie while at the store. I needed a hug...now all I need is another cold front to be able to use it! It's soft & the store checker ..uh...kept petting it...hmmmm. At least it was still on the box & not on me!

RV is newly converted & a puppy dog owie

Welcome to Dear Miss Mermaid! http://dearmissmermaid.blogspot.com/   my latest blogger friend - she is an author & her latest book is titled Hurricanes & Hangovers - go check it out on her blog site! I believe she's a full time RVer & seems to be living a good life!

Now to the details, yes, my RV is indeed newly converted! And I had no idea on how badly she needed to be newly converted. Ok, so what I really mean is, that her old converter was dying & taking the RV coach batteries along with it! It turned into evil. It ate batteries. It became ravenous. It had no soul. I had NO idea on how bad those things can get when they turn evil! So yes, that's how I spent my day on 11-1-11...installing the new converter that I bought, what? A month ago? So I put all procrastination & fears aside & tackled the job. All by my lonesome I did it. Yep. Myself. Again. I've done nearly all the upgrades & maintenance things myself, except the installation of the new fridge & ladder a few months ago. I had an RV place do those. Then I fixed what they broke :-/    And I do pay someone to change Ellie's oil, but I change her genny oil myself. And now I'm thinking of changing her name to "White Trash" because I'm always doing something on her!! And she's big & white. And gettin' kinda old. Oh yea, back to the converter huh?

OK, so I'll try to keep it basic here. Here is a pic of the old evil one:

Original to the RV, which is a 1996 model.

And this is where she lived, under my dinette bench beside my fridge.

And here is the new Angel!

xoxoxoxo to her!! My RV coaches heart or would that be heart valve? Who cares, she works!

She is an Inteli-Power 9100 for a 30amp RV. I've replaced with the same amp as the old converter was. The 9100 series also has an optional Inteli-Wizard that has a computer chip in it that tells the converter what phases of operation the coach batteries need. My coach only runs on one 12 volt battery, so it's a pretty simple operation for a small RV. I felt that the Inteli-Wizard was a necessary item to go along with the new converter. If you get the 9200 series of that brand, then it already will have the wizard built into it. Here is a description of what the 9100 is:

Model: PD9130 Output: 13.6 VDC, 30 Amps Input: 105-130 VAC, 500 Watts Size: 4.5H x 7L x 7.25W Weight: 4 lbs.

http://www.bestconverter.com/Inteli-Power-PD9130A_p_11.html
And follow this link to read up on the Inteli-Wizard:
http://www.bestconverter.com/Charge-Wizard-Flooded-AGM_p_15.html

Installation really wasn't all that difficult.
1. Shut off your coach battery power
2. Disconnect battery terminals
3. Shut off main breaker at breaker box
4. Unplug RV from shore power  -- You want to be sure that all electrical currents are OFF!

OK, now pay attention to your cables. Not a difficult job though. Be sure you know what your grounding wire is on the old converter. Be sure that you know what the hot & cold (or negative & positive) cables are. It still wasn't a difficult chore. Understand where these go on the new converter before you start to install.

Now that your power is OFF, you did turn everything off, right?
1. Unplug old converter.
2. Unbolt old converter (mine was screwed down to wood)
3. Disconnect grounding wire.
4. Disconnect hot & cold wires.
5.Pull out old converter. Put aside. I vacuumed out the area after taking the old converter out as it was pretty dirty. No one really cleans those areas often do they? Oh & then you also have to remember that your power is off, so you'll have to run an extension cord from somewhere else to get power for your shop vac or whatever you use to vacuum with.


6. Place new converter in old converters place. Do NOT bolt down yet, save that for last.
7. Attach grounding wire. Easy, just screw the grounding screw on top of wires when you push them through the hole.
8. Attach positive wire -- in my case, the red cable. Same way as you do the grounding wire.
9. Attach negative wire -- in my case, white cable. Same way as you did the positive wire.
Pretty simple because new converter box states where to put them.
10. Decide where you want to place your inteli-wizard before you attach it to the converter. I placed mine on the outside of my dinette where I can view it, but where it's located as not to annoy me with the green blinking lights.
11. Attach inteli-wizard to converter.
****This converter has a 30amp fuse. IF you install things incorrectly, the fuse will promptly blow as to protect your converter & 12 amp system. So be sure to have an extra just in case. But if you follow instructions, you should not have a problem.
12. Plug new converter into electrical socket.

OK, do not bolt the converter down yet. You want to be sure it's working first.
Place terminals back on coach battery. Turn battery switch back on. Plug RV back into shore power again. Turn power in breaker box back on again. If light is green & glowing on the inteli-wizard, Congratulations! Job almost finished & you now have a working converter again! Yay! Now bolt the converter down & be proud of yourself! Yay! Now go turn on every single light in your RV because they will be nice & BRIGHT!!! I always thought that 12volt RV lights were just dull. Little did I know that I had a bad converter all the years I owned my RV!

  ~~~ Click on photos for larger images if needed~~~

OK, now for some pictures of some of what I was talking about:

See the small flat head screw above? That has holes on either side of it, take out screw & that's where the grounding wire goes. You HAVE to have it grounded!

On this side, you can see where the red + POS & the -NEG ports are. Simply place your positive & negative wires into the appropriate ports & screw back down. The screws are hex screws in those & located in channels above the openings. Easy Peasy! If you look beside teh positive port (real hard) you can kind of see the fuse (a small green sliver under that gray cord). The gray cord is attached to the inteli-wizard that plugs & then screws down to the port above the fuse.

What the charge wizard looks like mounted under my dinette seat area.

And if this hasn't been boring enough, heres a 20 min video (if you are ever interested in installing one yourself...but it didn't get edited down to a lesser time due to the lack of time on my part)

OK, now for a little dog time. I went Lure Coursing again this weekend, taking out one of my girls, Birdie. But unfortunately, Birdie got hurt today :-((( She was running really hard, took a tumble, slid, rolled, slid some more, got up & finished her run! Came in on the bag even, then came to me when I called her. But she was sore & I knew it. I put her cool coat back on her ( a terry cloth coat that was wet down with water to cool her off), then walked her back to the van. We soon left after, but she's pretty sore. Poor baby. She got pretty bruised & I can only relate this to when I fell out of my overhead bed one day after a nap! That HURT! For days! OWIE! Never do that!!!! I woke up groggy & stepped out of bed & thump - BAM! Ouch! I've been in car accidents that hurt less. In my groggy mind, I thought I was simply getting out of a regular bed. Don't even know why I thought that as I've been living in the RV for quite some time. Duh. Again, never do that! owwwwwwwwww.  
Back to the coursing thing. It's held at a cool ranch that has RV parking & lots of horses. Even saw a lady riding a mule & she let me take a picture of her & her mule. Wow, what a sweet animal. I'll do a post on the ranch, some dogs coursing & horse riders on a later blog. I've taken up enough of your time this evening. Hope everyone has had a good day. I've gotta go hug & care for Birdie some more. Poor baby.

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

Computer cleaning & animal rescue

Good Morning Everyone

Morning sun coming in through the mini blinds - gotta love it!

The african violets don't complain about that morning sun..

Welcome to my new blogger friends - Bhounds www.bhounds.blogspot.com  He has currently started a new blog (not new to blogs though) in his search for the RV that is right for him & his one bloodhound & 2 basset hounds. Any advice you have, toss him a bone! He's interested in a ClassC & traveling with his 3 companions.
Welcome to Rick & Paulette  rickpaulettervjournal.blogspot.com   From what I hear, Rick is quite the guru for blogger problems & is willing to share any of his experiences. Paulette seems to be quite the cook - ohhhh, the photos of that lasagna the other day - yummy! They also have two little furrmeisters of the barking variety, Rylie & Molly. They travel in a lovely 5ver.
Welcome to Sara  www.rvingsolo.blogspot.com  Sara is currently in the process of trying to sell her home & is interested in purchasing a ClassC Lazy Daze motorhome. Those rigs are really nice, I like the ones with the rear living area & the panaromic views. Good luck with your search Sara!
Welcome to Donna K  www.therapytravels.blogspot.com
They also have a Lazy Daze & I'm looking forward to taking the time to read through their blog when I get some time to do so.

****ON a side note, I still can't place comments on some bloggers pages :-(((  So if you don't use the pop up kind of comment or if you don't have your embedded comment page set for name/url & anonymous, then I can't leave comments. For some reason, google & blogger don't recognize my account...I hate that, but don't know how to resolve the issue.

~*~*~*~

This morning, I decided to clean my laptop computer. The fan is making a lot of noise in it. So I got my small shop vac out of the back of my van, got the micro mini cleaning tools I picked up a few weeks ago that are for the small shop vac. Took the laptop outside & went to work cleaning it. First I blew out the fan vent with the shop vac (I'm too cheap to buy canned air). Then I used the sucking side of the shop vac & attached the necessary tools to the hose to do some vacuuming of the keyboard & vent areas. I also have kitties & their hair unfortunately finds it's way into the computer. Downside is, my fan is still making more noise than I'd like to hear. Guess I'll be taking it to my friends that work on my computers & have them take the laptop apart to see if there's hair or something wrapped on the fan blades. Or maybe the fan itself needs replaced?

There are 6 tools in the kit. 2 of them aren't shown in this picture, but you can see them in the photo below. The adaptor that fits over the hose & an angled brush.

I love my little shop vac! I wish I had room in the RV to store it, but I don't, so I keep it in my van. I use it a lot in the RV though, for one, I use it to blow out the a/c a few times a year. I take off the inside cover & blow out the a/c from the inside as it accumulates a lot of dust. Makes the RV messy though, so do this before cleaning!

~*~*~*~

And now how I spent my day yesterday. As I've mentioned before, I have a little foster dog, a Chiweenie (Chihuahua X Doxie mix). He's part of a rescue group BCB Animal Rescue. I named him Carlos & saved him off the streets. Found his home, but they refused him so I took him in & put him through the program.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/BCB-Animal-Rescue-Inc/109091552518293

I'm also one of the moderators for the BCB rescue page for facebook, so I have lots of photos to edit from yesterday to put into an album on the site.

Here are a couple of the photos from yesterday:

This is Blue, enjoying some attention. Blue is a siberian husky mix. He has pretty blue eyes & is marked nicely as well.

This is Anna, one of the rescuers giving one of the kittens a kiss & a hug.

Some of the visitors that come in either come to adopt or just to come say hi to the rescues.

Either way, we appreciate them all. Visitors help with socialization & all these animals don't go off to a shelter, rather they go back to our homes as our fosters till they get adopted. PetSmart is kind enough to allow us to meet there on a weekly basis. They also allow us to place some of the kitties into their adoption area for weekly viewing. We do not do same day rescue as applications need to be filled out & resources need to be checked before any adoptions can be cleared. Placing these souls to go into permanent safe homes is our goal. I actually foster Carlos in my RV, so it can be done if anyone is interested in fostering pets for your local rescue group. However, sometimes, you will have to foster for long periods of time, so be prepared for that as well if this is in your interest to do so.

This is Carlos on one of my trips that we took down to the bay. He loves to travel & loves people & kids. He likes other dogs too, but gets a little rough when he plays with them.

This is Copper, one of my rescue kitties. Copper went into a great home! They adore him & carry a cell phone full of photos of him ;-)

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



"Chirp-Chirp-Chirp" & DIY mosquito repellent!

Hello Everyone, hope ya'll are well & living a great life!

I ran errands this afternoon & when I got back, I heard, "Chirp-Chirp-Chirp"! Dang! Coach battery? Look at the wall sensor & it's blinking! ARGH! Noooo, not my battery!! It's not that old! Bought a new a few months ago, but haven't replaced my converter yet. Please, I'm not done procrastinating yet. I can't possibly install the new converter yet! I've only had it for about 2 weeks now! Give me a break. Battery, do NOT die. Do NOT let that old converter cook you - you hear me?? OK, so I can't get the grounding screw on the new converter to budge. Funny how they tell you not to torque those screws down tight, yet they did! Humpf! Sooo, the chirping continues, the sensor continues to flash. I shut battery off & back on to see that that helps. Nope, still chirping. I turn my engine on in Ellie & that corrects the sensor. It quits blinking. Whew!! Silence....chirp...chirp...chirp! On no, again!? 
Sensor is not blinking anymore. Hmmm, what is that annoying chirp? "Chirp, Chirp, Chirp"! ARGH, go away chirpey! Then I stand under the chirping & realize it's my smoke alarm - needs new battery. So I disrobed it, took out old battery & scolded it. Left it sitting naked. It shall just sit there all naked like till I feel like going & getting another battery out of the cabinet - so there! At least I know to change out my battery every halloween when everyone else is changing theirs out...oh I forget. What date is it that we're all supposed to conform to? Can't remember, so I'll just be a rebel. Btw, the sensor was blinking because I opened up windows & the door, so the breezes blowing through cornfused it to pieces. It's located by my big picture window by the sofa.

This is installed on the ceiling of course, but I'm going to show the world of it in all it's nakedness just to embarass it so maybe it'll choose not to worry me again! So there. :-p

Soooo, a new discovery! Make your own mosquito repellent! No need to smell like a chemical plant anymore! Cool discovery by me....ok, by me by google that is. No one likes the smell of those canned deet products. No one likes the feel of those canned deet products. Bounce fabric sheets did not work for me. Skin so soft didn't work for me, only made me feel like a good old fashioned oil field. But this worked for me!! I don't know how long it lasts on the skin as far as repelling the little vampirish blood suckers, but it worked for the short test period!

Take an empty container, I had an almost empty lotion container that I used to fill with my favorite facial lotion. Grab a container of regular good old fashioned lotion & a bottle of essential oils. I had lavender on hand, so used it. They say citronella, lemon, etc work too, but I had lavender. Pour a bit of the lotion in the container, drip a few drops of essential oil into it & stir to mix. Then slather a small amount on your skin. Go outside & feed the mosquitos. I just put it on my arms first to test. They left my arms alone, but quickly attacked my legs. So I put it on my legs & they left me aloners! YAY!!! Little blood suckers goners! Probably headed for a big fat juicy neighbor instead

:-)))

So I wanted to pass this tip along. If ya'll try it, report back with how it works for you. I think it's a neato idea! Course, like I said, I only stayed out for a few mins, so don't know how long the effectiveness really is. Worth a try though!

Lotion, lavender oil, container & plastic spoon for mixing.

Close up of lavender oil.

Good luck with your own recipies, but don't eat it!!! Just wear it :-)  

I'm not sure how this will work for pets though. Not so sure how safe it is to slather essential oils all over them. I've used lavender oil on my dogs to calm them down, but that was just a little on the tips of their ears & a slight rub on the muzzle. So be sure it's safe before you use on any animals. Oh & in the past, I've told folks to use bounce sheets on dogs if they get nervous in storms. Now I REGRET telling people that because last week, I found that there are toxins in bounce, so PLEASE DO NOT USE ON PETS!

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

WalMart Camping Video & a MOST AMAZING Hawk video

Welcome Carla, my latest blogger friend. (I like saying that better than follower). I don't see a blog page for you, so if you blog, I'll be happy to share your link :-)

I saw a WalMart commercial on tv a short while ago that involved two RVers in the parking lot. One was buying supplies, then met with another out in the lot. So there ya go, as we already knew, WalMart IS RV friendly! I found this camping video though that I thought was pretty funny - another WalMart commercial of campers that bought camping supplies from their store.




And now for something totally AMAZING!!! WOW! Have you ever heard of parahawking? It's sooo cool. Great videography too!  Again, WOW!!



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

Weather or not & a nice win!

Hi all, hope everything is well for everyone. So, not sure what's up with the weather? Whether or not if it's going to change? Last week started out chilly, which was loverly for a change. Then each day, it's warmed a bit more & more. Right now at 4:50pm, it's 85, not too bad, humidity at 50 something %. But I got tired of melting due to humidity, so I just finally broke down & turned my a/c back on for a bit. The mosquitos are ready to carry us away though? Wow, where did they come from??? No rain for days now, actually, maybe a week & half ago? or more? Now those pesky biting mosquitos? And biting flies! Ugh. Glad I turned on the a/c for awhile!

Took one of the salukis out for lure coursing this weekend, she kicked butt & won breed today! Yay Birdie! Thank you Birdie! Good girl Birdie! Now she's resting & I'm glad to be back at the RV safe from those biting things outside! I coursed her where they have hook ups for RV's, but the roads getting there are sooo rough that I think it's best not to take the motorhome there. I might find my cabinets on my sofa & floor! Yikes, that road is rough. And you have to drive past cattle that may be standing on the road. Blocking it & you just have to wait till they decide to move out of the way. It's a ranch, next time I go out there, I should take pics of the horses that people board & ride there.

Anyhow, not really much else happening. It did look like rain earlier & I was afraid it would rain because I went off, leaving the vents all open & the windows all open on the RV! I don't have vent covers, so that would not have been pleasant to come back to.

OK, before I decided to close today's blog, I decided to go out, take pics of Birdie's ribbons & of course, of her too! Again, good girl Birdie!!

Todays Saluki score sheet

Birdies ribbons. Today was only her 3rd run ever. So far, she's gained two Best of Breed wins! One with ASFA, one with AKC. Way to go Tweeters!! (you can't tell I'm proud can you?)

And here is the sweet girl herself

I also have a coursing video to share of a Borzoi run, but it took me forever just to be able to get pics up, so I'll share the video at a later time.

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

Power washing the RV & gone to the birds

Hello everyone, hope ya'll are having a great day!
WELCOME to my new blogger friends, Kenny & Angela's Adventure  http://rvlifeisgoodtoday.blogspot.com/  They have a goal towards fulltiming - I wish them luck towards that goal! I think it's a great lifestyle! They also have two big dogs that get to go along with them on their current travels, lucky dogs! And WELCOME to Cyndi & Stumpy! Stumpy is a very lucky dog that Cyndi adopted after Stumpy was in several homes, after being found as a stray starving with her mother & littermates. She appears to be a Australian Cattle Dog, or perhaps mix. Big cutie! Cyndi has a ClassC RV named Theo that she hopes to get out with soon. Cyndi & Stumpy hope to go fulltiming sometime next year, I wish the best for them as well. Cyndi is having blogger troubles, so she's in the process of moving her blog. www.rvlyeverafter.blogspot.com

Now onto Power Washing the RV:

Do you power wash or wash your RV in a different manner? I'm just wondering how most folks clean their RV's. I power washed mine once, but didn't feel comfortable with doing that. It really didn't get it clean as it still needed scrubbed with soap & I was afraid water would work it's way into crevices around windows, edges & such from the power that power washers give out. So I decided that power washing wasn't for my Ellie (RV), that I'd just continue washing her with a car wash brush on an extension pole, a bucket of water & RV wash that's specified for fiberglass washes. When I first bought her, I had no clue on how to wash her. The first few times, I used a sponge mop! That was a lot of work! Then I tried the power washing, but like I said, wasn't comfortable with that. Then I got a car wash brush & that works great! Waxing the thing is another story though -  That's real work!

~~~~~~

Today has seemed to have gone to the birds! I was busy editing a video of the house bird of my friend's Macaw, then I got a call from my friend.

My friend:  Are you busy? I need bird help

Me: what?

My friend: I need help, a cardinal is loose in my kitchen!

Me: OK, I'll be right in!

I rushed into the house, sure enough there is a female cardinal at the screen in the kitchen window, trying to get out. My friend was trying to pop out the screen. I said, I'll get a towel. She looked at me like I was crazy. And again stated we needed to get the screen out. I said, no, let me get her with a towel. I wrapped the towel around this poor panicked bird & carried her bundled outside. My friend followed me & their cat ran away thinking, uh oh, I seem to be in trouble! Heehee, I just wanted to release the bird away from the cat! So took it over to a tree, opened the towel & the poor thing flew off immediately! My biggest fear was that it would have a heart attack, it's heart was beating so strongly & quickly! My friend asked me how I knew to do that. I told her I used to have parakeets & that's how you needed to catch them if they were out & in a panic. I'm glad all went well & that we were able to catch & release her without harm!

Now onto some bird talk - a short video of my friends Macaw, Nikki Bird,  barking & saying HI!

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

Missing the bay

Birdie & Roper at the bay in April 2011

We want to go back down to the bay!

But we can't right now...too many commitments for now to make the trip, which sadly is only about 70 miles from where I am now. Bummer. I want to watch the pelicans & other seabirds. I want to watch the little quaker parrots. I want to ride my bike around the area, do a little bbq while there. Cook & eat seafood. Take long walks with the dogs. One day, I hope to buy some land down there for my little retreat place on earth.

This is what I had to leave two years ago. Today marks the anniversary of that day. Not all anniversaries are good ones. My goal is to get back to the area once I get my surgery out of the way & my life back in order again.

You never know how life's changes & natural disasters can change your life. In my case, it was a hurricane, Hurricane Ike. It has changed my life, a life I will get back someday, but better. It didn't take away my life, nor spirit. Still & always will be grateful that I bought my RV for just such things!

I've managed to keep myself strong through this. The tragedies of life can take your breath away. It can break one's spirit. It can mess with one's mind, but one has to remember that there are others that are far worse off. I've not lost a loved one, I'm not dealing with any life threatening illnesses. Thanks to my RV, myself & my pets still have a place to lay our heads at night. I'm very grateful & lucky to have good friends that extended open arms in my time of such need. I had to leave my home a year after Ike as it was no longer inhabitable. I am a fairly private person though, so details will be left off of this post & only have been shared with a few friends & of course, family of a very trying year....

I actually didn't know this post was going to go this way. I considered rewriting it & had planned on talking about something more RV related instead. Or just deleting the post all together. But in order to face up to it, I'm going to leave this post up instead.

Anytime disastrous events happen in our lives, we must dig into our souls & realize that life has lessons to teach us. If you can still come out of events with your health, then you are still steps ahead! Perhaps even to go on to build a better life. I must remember that I do actually have a better life already..it's just not where I want my life to be right now. Only I can change that. Well, actually, I'm kind of waiting for a doctor to change it first with ankle repair surgery

;-)

Take care everyone. Hug & appreciate your family & friends in this day...take the time to make that phone call. Take the time to make that visit. Take the time to get back in touch with what you need out of life for yourself.

xoxo

Things I love & bomb that RV!

ihop, while you are just laying there, sit on seat & turn the key. Put in gear & start mowing please.

Huh? Who is she talking to, surely not me!

Hi everyone, hope all are doing well. OK, so maybe the title is a bit misleading, I really don't love bombs. Just thought I'd talk about bombing your RV. No, no, no..again, not real bombs! (although there are those times..) I'm talking bug bombs! For those skeery kinda bugs that love to come in & bug you. Ants, water bugs (ok, so they are just roaches on steriods), spiders ---eeeeks, spiders!!! I had them so bad that I got the creepy crawlies every time I'd turn around! Actually, the last couple of nights, I've been expecting to see at least one running over my ceilings just to scare me (they love to do that), but so far, I've not seen one in months since I last bombed the RV! Yay! :-)  I had to bomb the RV twice because ants, not only tame ants, but FIRE ants got into my bed area! Youch. First night, I got bitten, I thought what? Got bitten again? what? what? (btw, if you hit a wrong key & accidentially erase a post, like I just did, hit ctrl & z at the same time to get it back). Then I pulled a couple of ants off of me. OK, this is WAR! Next day, I got a package of bombs & bombed the RV. Well, because I was soooo anxious to get this done, I did not bother to strip my bed & take the memory foam topper off. I just put a sheet over it all & bombs away! Well....that kinda didn't work. Next night, those angry little mobsters ate me alive! OK, so now it's WAR WAR! Not just WAR! Stripped off the bedding, took down the memory foam, then bombed the RV again. That did the trick. Now I had a bunch of little ant cadavers to deal with. Yuck. One of my favorite things is my little black & decker shop vac. Got that little red friend out & sucked them up, cleaned RV back up, put bedding back down & my world was once again at peace.
Steps to bomb an RV:
1. Turn propane off
2. Take battery out of smoke alarm (that's the step I sometimes forget to do).
3. Shut everything down.
4. Turn battery switch to off.
5. Open cabinet doors & such so fumes can do their job.
6. Make sure all windows & vents are closed. (yep, forgot to close a vent once too)
7. Make sure bathroom door is open too.
8. Unplug RV if you are connected to shore power just to be sure all sensors & phantom draws are off.
9. Follow instructions on the bomb can.
10. Wait appropriate time as stated on can, then open RV back up & air it out by opening windows & vents. Then in a little while, you can once again enjoy your bug free RV!
***OH & if you have Pets, please don't leave the water or food out while bombing! Put food up, dump water & either put bowls away or wash once bombing is done***

OK, now for things I love:

Wildflowers

The bay in San Leon, TX. This was taken from Latitudes RV park in San Leon, TX.

Some day, I want to buy some land there & make myself a nice little spot for me, my RV & my little critter family.

My puppy dogs, even when they watch a fish jump, then try to act like one themselves..

My kitties. Lucy, up close & personal.

Texas Hill Country - view from Natural Bridge Caverns

Smurfing my RV! actually, I was caulking it, I love working on my RV!

And CAMPING!!! The fun part of RVing is, you can choose your landscape. I love the Texas Hill country, but haven't really taken Ellie, my RV there to camp yet. I love state parks with natural environments & I love camping down by the water as well. But not on the beach it'self. I don't really love the sand in my RV & all over me...yuck.

Spillway Park in San Leon, TX   -- no camping there, it's just a daily activity park

Eagle's Point RV park in San Leon, TX

Have a safe & wonderful day everyone!

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

Is Ice cream like alcohol? RV Awning ideas - use your noodle, not your noggin

Good day everyone - I wonder....is ice cream like alcohol? Is it ok to eat it before noon? hmmm??
So long as I don't use tequilla or rum as a topper maybe? Ah pooey, I could not resist. I had a bowl at 10:45 because I read someone else's blog that said they had ice cream in their freezer, so I could not resist mine!! I'm weak...no picture either unless you want a picture of an empty dirty bowl that had ice cream in it.

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Welcome Karen & Al -- http://florida-georgiacamping.blogspot.com/  Karen, like me is a big animal & nature lover. I had fun exploring through her site yesteray. They also have a little piece of heaven in Georgia. Check them out! Also welcome Texas Yellow Rose! Their site is http://phoenixonceagain.blogspot.com/   It appears that they are doing the workcamping thing, which is what I'd like to do someday. I will also be spending some time on their site later today as well. :-)

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I have this sitting on my step stool that I use to get in & out of my RV with. I find this stool more stable to use than my RV steps are, so I use it instead. I think I might get some spray paint today though & refinish it. I love this stool & can't find them anymore! But I guess my friends 17 year old cat likes it too...I'm trapped! I can't leave the RV now! I mean, what kind of mean spirit makes a 17 year old cat move?

Old Tony woke up when I grabbed the camera. He only wants attention, so he's recently started to come over to sit or sleep on my step stool.

OK, now for the use of a noodle rather than using your head. Or is that using your head to save it? Something like that...And no, I don't mean squishy cooked noodles, nor raw. I mean the kind that kids use to bop each other with in the pool..or sometimes out of the pool too.

Take one of those noodles, they are very easy to cut with a knife. So cut to the length you want & just slice down the side of the cut piece. Then slip it where you need it for your height & needs of your awning arms so you don't knock your noggin every time you pass under the darn thing!

I just realized I need to cut another piece for the other side. Don't know why I didn't do that in the first place. Guess I didn't hit my head hard enough? Or maybe too hard??

 A view of the noodles being used on the free side (yep, that's right, I won't charge you anything if you approach that side of the RV). And a noodle to protect my entry door & the awning arm.

**And now for another important item for the awning. If anything, this is the MOST Important thing you can use! **

!!!An Awning Saver!!!

I chose this kind because it was easy to install. No drilling or anything. It simply attaches by screwing pieces into themselves to fit over the awning arm & the roll bar thing.

Why is this so important? A lot of folks seem to think that if they strap down their awning arms that the awning can not become undone. But what really happens is the spring mechanism inside of your roll bar can unspring, thus the roll bar rolls loose & the awning unfurls. Then you totally lose your awning, as it rips & shreds while driving. It can be hazardous to driving & other traffic. It can also cause some pretty good damages to the sides of your RV, not to mention that it can destroy a very expensive awning.

I can not find the site where I got my awning saver from. When I do, I'll be happy to share it. In the meantime, I found a site where someone has in detail of how they made one themselves. But with theirs, there is drilling involved. I'll keep looking for the awning saver that I got.

Here is the site that I found in the meantime:

http://www.softcom.net/users/gldcricket/AwningSaver.htm

**unfortunately, I googled for the awning saver I have. I guess they are no longer in business. Their site no longer exists. So I'd suggest googling awning locks & choose from what's out there now or create a lock like from the above url**

Another thing I use on my awning is a deflapper device. It helps hold the awning fabric stable from wind gusts & such. Of course, if it's windy, then be safe & just roll your awning up to spare it from damages. I chose this one because it was wider than most. I kind of felt it would cause less damages to the fabric..but that is just my personal feeling. I got this one in an RV store, but you can find them online as well.

This just snaps on with the big black latches on the white plastic part. Then it has velcro strips that you just wrap around the awning arms & velcro down. Easy as pie to use. BUT you have to remember to take them off before you roll up the awning. I've forgotten to do that many times ;-)

Last awning tip of the day is always tilt your awning when in use. That way, if it rains, it rolls off to one side, same for dew & such. I tilted mine a bit more than I usually do because when I rolled it out, it was wet. I wanted the water to run off quickly & dry faster. It's best to roll up your awning dry, but not always possible to do that. So when I roll it up wet, I open it later in better weather to dry.

One of my future projects is to strip off all the cracked decals that wrap around my RV! I fear that's going to be a big job. But then, probably not any worse then when I recaulked the entire rig this spring.

OK, Tony is calling me for attention. I'll give him a few mins of attention & get on with my day. Hope ya'll have a wonderful day & that I've not bored you to death!

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