I NEED A CIGARETTE!!!

 AND I'M OFF!!  It was a busy morning as I quickly packed just a few things, including Cooper and Jonathan.  It's my own fault ... I was SURE I was leaving on Thursday morning for my reservation at the Moss Landing KOA over on the coast.  When I checked my phone, I did a double take.  The reservation started TODAY.  

Well that's not good because I just put in an order for a remote temperature gauge so I would know if Cooper and Jonathan were ok when I was out of the rig.  Big mistake Nancy, because it's being delivered on this day, and I won't be here.  RATS!

I started up the fridge and threw stuff in.  Not much mind you, because my plan was to stop and get clam chowder on the way.  

Time to take off ... and this is what I see.  I knew I didn't have time to throw my bike on, but no problem, I can walk.  Oh there was a problem anyway ... the rack covers the backup sensors ... and they are angry!!  That thing yelled at me like crazy, just getting out of the back yard ... and I was going FORWARD.  

I got on Facebook and asked for a fix.  It's simple they said ... either hit the P button (I've never seen a P button anywhere on my dashboard) or disconnect the switches.  Big sigh!  Maybe later.

50 miles out of town I got the message ... your package has been delivered.  I called the best neighbor in the world and she ran over to grab it.  This is an expensive box full of kitty house and temperature gauge.

On we went, me staying under the speed limit for a nice relaxing drive.  I made my usual stop in Castroville for clam chowder, along with an order of fish and chips.  My parking spot was not to be had, so I landed in back of the restaurant with very little space to maneuver.  Too bad for me, just as I was walking in to the restaurant, two ladies ordered $200 worth of food.  The wait would be long for anything other than chowder.  

Everything went crazy on the way out because the backup alarms caused havoc once again.  It's a good thing I can still see the camera image.

You have arrived at your destination.  Anyone who has been around the coast much, knows the twin towers of the electric plant.  

Here's the thing ... I bet no one knows just how noisy they are in the wee hours of the morning.  No problem for me, I'm up, but boy are they LOUD!

The sites are nice ... paved ... wide apart ... but the whole thing is quite small.  The best part, you are surrounded by fishing boats, places to eat and you can walk to the ocean.  The camp hosts are two very young people who booked me in before giving me the bad news.

It seems they have decided to dredge the harbor under the boats, that is MAYBE 150 feet from the park.  Want MORE bad news?  They will be working day and night until mid December.  I see lots of Advil PM in my future.  Truly, they are the quietest right now.

Hooking up wasn't too bad, except for the Open Ground error on my EMS system.  Nope ... not plugging into that.  I got out my 50 amp connection and tested it.  Whew ... no error messages.  I didn't want to tell the camp hosts about their problem, because they always say you are wrong.  

The satellite dish was its usual PIA self.  It took three times of resetting and waiting for it to finally reach into space and grab my television programs.  Please PLEASE work!

I will say this for "camping".  Every time I go out, I have to relearn everything.  Where to stand, how to move around, where everything lives, where to plug in all these cords!!  It was all made worse by deciding where Mr. Jonathan would live for three days.  The chair wasn't working because he needed the heating pad, so on to the counter he went, taking up valuable real estate.  

I finally gave up and ate a good portion of my chowder while cooking some pasta for Cooper.  

This is just a test.  Surprisingly ... he ate it, if just the tip was dipped in fish soup.  This may be the solution to too much meat.  I've tried rice before and he refuses to eat it.

Next problem please ... the heater.  After buying a new mini heater for the rig, I saw a program on how they are so dangerous in an RV.  The plugs in most, if not all RV's, are cheap plastic.  If you run your 1500 watt heat constantly, those plugs can heat up and catch fire.  They showed it happening.  Well darn ... that was my plan to keep Jonathan warm along with a heating pad.

Everyone knows just how noisy heaters can be in rigs ... and mine is no exception because the rig is so small.  I guess I will use it anyway, coupled with MORE Advil PM.  

I hit the button to hear lots of popping and cracking.  I quickly turned it off.  This is getting just too stressful.  I tried it again.  Please PLEASE work!   Nothing.  I need a cigarette!!!  

No I don't smoke ... haven't for 60 years, but it sure sounded good at this moment!!

At long last after four tries, I have heat ... noisy heat, but heat nonetheless.  That's when it started raining.  Mother Nature just thought it wasn't noisy ENOUGH!  All night long as I got up and down to turn the heat up, it rained.  I'm sure I got two hours of sleep however, so that will do me for awhile.

I guess it's going to be an INSIDE day as rain is falling once again.  Maybe Cooper and I will get out for a walk around the park.  There are lots of pups here and he seems very excited to check out all the smells.  That makes Mom happy.  And yes, Jonathan is still alive!!!  YAY!!!