The High Points

Weirdly enough, this popped up on my phone early yesterday morning.  That's the same pickup truck pulling my first fifth wheel rig.  It had no storage room for anything and a bed that was like sleeping on concrete.  I think that was even before memory foam was invented.  That's the beautiful Chance rig in front of me.  We are parked in the horse barns at the Yuma Fairgrounds.  It was my first long trip with an RV.

Quite the difference in trailers between then and now.  I'm not sure why they build them so high in the sky, nowadays but here are the entry steps.  The top step is much wider than the other two making it much easier to unlock the door.  It will be even easier than that when I get my new keyless entry installed.  

The light underneath?  That helps keep the pack rats at bay at night.

I even have an array of lighting along the awning.  You know, the kind that everyone leaves on all night annoying everyone else in the campground?  

The fridge is plenty big, but the freezer, not so much.  At least half of it will be full of puppy food.  I figure I can always eat their beef roast if I get hungry enough.  It really does make great tacos!!

Someone might be able to help me here.  I spent all day going through SO MUCH STUFF from the other RV, trying to decide what I really need to keep.  My calves think I climbed Mount Whitney and are complaining loudly this morning.  SO MANY trips in and out, up and down those steps.  

That's when I opened THIS drawer just above the doggy bowl drawer.  What are you supposed to put in here?  Is this for canned food?  I've no clue.  Anyone have any ideas?

I think for the most part I have everything I need in the kitchen.  I've ended up with a big box of what-the-heck-am-I-going-to-do-with-this-stuff.  I'll sort through it later.  I also discovered I haven't much room in my truck for things like gloves, tire gauge, dog water bowls, extra keys, hitch lock and more.

The good news is I was able to get some sheets that actually FIT!  Still, making the bed was a pain.  I suppose it's easier when the mattress doesn't weigh a ton, but in this case it's so light, it slips around and was hard to get the corners on.  I need something underneath to keep it from moving so much.  The good news is I didn't bang my head NOT ONCE!!  

Here's the piece-de-resistance!!  THIS is my pantry.  An entire storage section from floor to ceiling almost 3 feet deep!!  This is where I'm trying to keep it to a minimum since this weight rests on the slide out.

Now the REALLY big challenge begins.  How much of what stuff to put in the much-smaller-than-the-previous bay up front.  Again, I don't want to add a lot of weight, but I've got extra electrical cords, water hoses, tool boxes, bins of cleaning materials, black tank chemicals, just about everything you can imagine.  I think I better designate an inside cupboard for some of this stuff.

Lastly the search is on for a generator since this kid cannot dry camp without a hair dryer and a parrot heater.  That means an inverter also, so I may just take Doug up on his generous offer.  I'm hoping to take her out for a maiden voyage the first of next week.

It Wasn't Pretty!!

Six hours after arriving at Lazy Days, I was finally home with my new house on wheels.   What a complete hassle the entire process was.  

Nancy:  Is everything complete?  Did you get everything on my list taken care of?

LazyD:    Oh yes ... it's all ready to go!!  Let's go do your paperwork.

Nancy:  I'd really like to check it out first.

They drove me out to the rig on the back lot.  That's funny, the door is open and someone is inside.  Why? Because absolutely NOTHING had been done.  Back to the office we went where I waited for an hour after calling my insurance agent.  No return call.

I finally called the insurance company directly and had them add it to my policy.  It didn't matter if the numbers were correct, I just needed it for the bank.  I'll make it right later.

I'm not even going to tell you about the paperwork signing, which ended up in a screaming match because they outright lied to me ... tried to pull a bait and switch.  I kid you not.  Today it will be all over the internet on every RV account I can find.  In the end it turned out okay, but there's nothing worse in the world than someone who tries to flim-flam downright CHEAT you into paying more.

Two hours later, because I had to wait for the "fixes" to be fixed ... but wait, they have to take their lunch hour first .... I was finally driving out of the lot.  It sure felt like there was a house behind me!!  I had forgotten over the years just how different this would feel going down the highway.

There really wasn't too much movement, but I had my eyes glued on my gauges.  My truck hasn't worked this hard in eight years!!  I made the turn into my cul-de-sac and went as far forward as possible.  By the way, my truck actually is a short bed with a long-er box, so there's no problem about turning sharp.  Lucky for me!!  

Still, that first turn had to be a tight one, which of course is even harder to recover from.  It wasn't pretty as I zigzagged like a snake and had to constantly think about which way to turn the wheel, overcorrecting every time!  

By this time I was so stressed out my shoulders hurt.  I didn't think I would ever make it.  The camera helps, but truly, my mirrors are not big enough, and guys, you know how those brakes can grab!!  In the end I had to pull forward twice.  I'm hoping it goes a little better next time.

So the first big hurdle is that I will HAVE to have an inverter in order to charge my phone, computer and to keep my electric blanket going when not plugged in.  That means a generator to keep the batteries charged.  Solar may be down the road, but it's too expensive for me now.

I ended the day on an even lower note.  Before Patty and Dan came over to check her out, I decided to put sheets on the bed.  Funny, they sure don't seem to fit very well.  What's up with that???  I just couldn't get them on.  That's when I saw the tag.  FULL SIZE.   I would have laughed but I was too exhausted.  

Today will be a better day!!!

Let's Try That Again

 Here we go ... it's Monday and I'll soon be headed back to the RV dealer to smooth over the rough edges and pick up my rig.  Hopefully ... maybe .... we shall see.  I think I'm a little less overwhelmed this time and I'm definitely NOT hooking up until I find all the work has been completed.  

The biggest test is what time I can get the insurance binder.  I rather imagine they won't be happy that I'm not signing anything or giving them any money until it's completely ready to go.

I spent yesterday morning cooking up some delicious bland chicken for Mr. Cooper, adding in a little hamburger this time to see how that goes with his prime rib appetite.  Seems he's decided that pot roast tastes MUCH better.

Here's one of the videos I was finally able to download of a pretty spooky coyote.  Two things I've noticed.  There was not one single critter around during the four days of the full moon.  Weird, right?  AND they don't like wind so much because this was the only guy brave enough to be out and about.

Lucky for me, at noon the Chance house called an end round to get out of the house.  Any time I get a chance to ride in that limousine of a truck, I'm all for it.  We drove up to Parker Dam along a narrow winding (but at least paved) road.  There's a great little lake there, and I have lots of pictures, but all are still in my camera.

It wasn't long before the pavement turned to gravel for the next 20 miles?  I'm guessing because I'm not sure just how far we went, but it had some of the most amazing views as we climbed up the VERY steep side of the mountain.

For those that aren't familiar with big pickup trucks, unless you have weight in the back, they tend to spin their hind wheels a little.  The drop-offs on the passenger side were breath taking.  Literally!!  It sure got my mind off the RV stress.  I'll have pictures tomorrow as we drove up and over Montezuma Pass practically on top of the Mexico border.

My single Javelina friend came to visit again.  Sadly I had to cut this video down quite a bit.  I haven't figured out why Blogger thinks this one is way too big to upload when it's the exact same length as the coyote video.  

So that's all I have for today.  I made a list of things to double check on the Grand Design ... put the satellite dish up and make sure it works ... then make sure it stows properly.  Check out the camera.  Make sure my silicone disk is still on the trailer before I hook up, check for the spare tire .... and on and on.

Here's hoping today goes a little better and my insurance gal is not on vacation!!

Sometimes You Cheer, Sometimes You Cry

 I imagine you all know what happened from the title.  It was NOT my turn to cheer.  I was not able to bring my new baby home.  Here's how it went.

I was a nervous wreck all morning.  I had written down dozens of notes because up to this point I had not one piece of paper saying what it will cost and what I'm actually getting after several phone call negotiations.

I tried to stay busy concentrating on where Jonathan was going to ride ... in the trailer or in the truck.  He kept me occupied for a few minutes by attacking and chewing on his stick.  Rather hard to see, but he's holding it with his right foot claws while biting it's head off with his beak.  

Parrots have very strong beaks and can take your finger off if they've a mind.  He will chew up this piece of dowel the size of the one he's standing on in about three days.  It's what keeps his beak short and strong so he can eat.

My first stop of the day was at PetCo for a small transport cage.  So far stuffing him in a dark cardboard box has not been his favorite mode of moving from the house to his cage in the motorhome.  

Since the 5th wheel will be much rougher riding, he can ride in this small cage up front on the driver's seat.  This way I can see when he gets stressed and stop for a break.  Don't tell him it's a ferret cage or I'll never hear the end of it.  It's the only suitable size I could find.

At long last it was time to head out for pick up of our new roving house.  They drove me to the back lot where it was plugged in with absolutely everything turned on that HAD an ON switch.  I backed right up, they moved the hitch up and slam bang, I was in business.  Oops ... I forgot to give them the disc to put on first.

All this time I'm thinking I have no paperwork.  Rather distracting that thought was.  In a flash, they were all gone as I waited for the guy who was going to give me the once over.  

I unhooked ... a confidence builder ... put the disc on, then hooked up again.  Okay, I got this!!  In no time the guy showed up and went through the list of instructions like lightning.  It's a good thing I already know a lot from the motorhome.

Two things I noticed however.  One, the back jacks when UP are still VERY close to the ground .... like 8" at the most, and I'm thinking more like 6.  That scares me if I'm going over a deep gutter or a rough road.  I guess time will tell.  The second, not really a big deal, but the fresh water tank dump valve is WAY underneath ... a long reach at best.  

Okay, three things.  I also now have a water heater to deal with.  When the time comes to drain it, I'll be asking for directions!!

We were almost done when I looked for the plug that will be going to my satellite dish.  I couldn't figure out how to hook it up.  He didn't know either, meaning I would have to bring the receiver and the rig back for someone to make the connection.

Things went downhill from there.  Uh oh ... the spare tire is missing.  I checked the tire dates and they were all manufactured after 9/20.  By the way, did they put the spray coating on the outside?  No one knew.  They did at least get the second battery installed.  Gosh ... the rear view camera seems to be missing also.  That's a $700 freebie to me that I certainly wasn't going to leave behind.  New sewer hose?  Nope.

Time to pay the piper as they rushed me off to the office.  This is exactly why I didn't want to do this late on a Saturday when everyone wanted to run home.  As I mentioned, all this time I had no paperwork.  The gal had me sign something about a warranty, but gave me nothing in return.

Everything came to a screeching halt when they asked me for my insurance binder.  I didn't have one.  I'm sorry they weren't happy about that, but apparently SOMEONE should have given me the bank information along with all my paperwork so I could get insurance.  

I did think about it and I emailed my broker.  She said just give her a call and she will write it immediately.  She doesn't answer the phone on Saturdays, meaning there's no insurance and no 5th wheel and I STILL don't know the actual final cost (although I have a good idea because you know, I'm an accountant).  Someone not only dropped the ball, but threw it completely out of the game.

I unhooked once again and dejectedly drove home.  I'm hoping they get their act together by Monday and I'll have some kind of paperwork in hand.  At this point all I have is a one year membership to Thousand Trails.  Oh BOY!!  You know how much I love them since everyone and their brother now has a membership with the purchase of THEIR RV to a company that provides no service and fewer than ever places to park ... but hey, it's FREE!!

My last thought for the day was:    Boy do I like that automatic leveling system!!!  And my two theatre seating chairs both warm up and vibrate!  WOOHOO!!

Today's The Day!!!

 Oh my goodness ..... I am SO tired after two nights of wreck-yard sleeping, or non-sleeping as the case was.  There's nothing like the kids and the wind waking you up every couple of hours.  I'm sure it's from being nervous about pulling a trailer after so many years.  It's one of those you are crazy ... you've done this all your life things.  Or maybe it's about the backing up my long driveway and then dog leg into the RV cover.  

To make it even better ..... OH GOODIE ..... I have to wait until 3:00 for my walk through.  Here's another good reason to be awake all night, they called to say the satellite dish was installed.  YAY!  I have the receiver here, but gee ... I wonder where the remote is?  Did I leave it in the motorhome or is it in the many piles of stuff in the garage?  Who knows.

To distract me a tad, I downloaded these images from yesterday.  It's just pure luck when you look out the window to see this and your camera is within arm's reach.   He's definitely a beauty and darker in color than most I've seen.

He heard the click of my camera with those big ears and looked up to see me snapping away.  Don't you just want to reach out and scratch his chin?  

A few more minutes of slurping away and we were again eye to eye as he licked his lips getting every drop of water.  What a beauty!!

Then there was this ..... a really big burp!!!  Hmmmm must have been that rabbit!  I laughed out loud.

Apparently that was insulting because he immediately turned tail and trotted off down the hill.   This was unusually early in the day, about 11:00 when he wandered by.  I'm blessed to see these critters.

It's going to be a long day as I scrounge through all the boxes to find the remote.  Then it's off to PetSmart to see if they might have a smaller travel cage for Jonathan.  It will be too rough a ride to leave him in the rig, so he will have to be on the front seat of the truck with me.  

Puppies are relegated to the large folded-down-seat back area with two new doggie beds.  Yes they are exactly the same so hopefully they don't fight over who gets which one.  In the meantime, I actually DID find two old heating pads I hope will work to keep Jonathan warm.  His 1200 watt ceramic heater will probably drain my batteries.  I'm hoping the 55 watt heating pads placed underneath the cage will work better.  

So what say you ladies and gentlemen .... generator or solar?  For sure, AGM batteries will be on my list in a few months, as well as a Progressive EMS system.  Why am I looking already?  Because I'm thinking a dry camping trip is in order ... kind of a shakedown cruise to see just how nervous I can really get!!!  

Pictures of the rig tomorrow.  I'm hoping I don't have to place an emergency call Dan to come and park the thing.

SHARK!!!!!

Now there's a word that will put fear into a scuba diver, or at least this one.  Just a note, the guy who sued everyone got nothing.  His insurance covered the medical bills and he had signed (like all of us) an air tight agreement that said neither we nor our families could sue for any reason, including death.  All of that made me extremely cognizant of the truth that everyone isn't meant for diving.  

Here's one huge piece of chicken I smoked in my handy dandy Masterbuilt.  It's SO much harder to use than my Bradley, in case you were in the market for one.  I finally got to taste test it yesterday.  YUM YUM!!

Back to diving .. as soon as that deep dive certification was under my belt, I headed off to Hawaii for two days of deep diving with a specialty dive shop.  

You can make several dives every day if you schedule them correctly, because with every dive, you get more and more nitrogen in your blood.  If you don't off-gas for a day or two in between, YOU will end up in that hyperbaric chamber.  

So our first dive was to 110 feet.  To make it even MORE exciting, I was dragging along all my underwater movie camera gear, which means I was only looking through the viewfinder.  You know that mirror on your truck that says "makes things look farther away"?  Well my lens made things look CLOSER.  

I panicked when I saw a moray eel come up out of his den into my face as I floated over him!  I'm pretty sure I screamed!  The Divemaster from the boat who is always in charge, came swimming over and patted me on the head.  Well that was embarrassing ... and from then on, I looked around more than I did at the camera lens.

And then IT HAPPENED!  I heard a horrible scream coming through the water.  Boy that will wake you up!!  SHARK!!!!!  Oh great ... just what I need to add to my lengthy list of underwater fears.  Sure enough there were three sharks swimming behind our group.  

The most amazing thing happened as I pointed the camera their direction.  In a flash they hit the coral and came up with two big fish to eat.  At least it wasn't one of us!  Later the crew said they have never EVER seen any sharks out there, let alone sharks FEEDING.  I sucked my tank dry in about three minutes and headed up to the boat.

Next up .... a night dive with the same Divemaster ... our third dive of the day.  Keep in mind I'm not even a Divemaster myself at this point.  We all had our underwater flashlights, but in 50 feet of water, the light doesn't go far.  

My PARTNER (you know, that husband) who was supposed to hang with me, took off on his own.  It was dark and cold and I had just about enough diving for one day.  I finally told the Divemaster I was low on air and needed to go find the boat.  He said NO.     WHAT????  

SHOW ME THE BOAT!!!!!  At last he relented and pointed.  I swam off, still not knowing where the heck my partner was.  The boat Captain told us there would be lights at 20 feet off each end of the boat.  Swim to the light and do a rest stop (to offload nitrogen from your blood) for a full ten minutes.

Luckily I found the first light and grabbed the line, holding on for dear life.  But WHERE is my diving buddy???  I got scared and finally headed to the second light at 20 feet ..... only it was at 6" on the back of the boat (they forgot to let it down), meaning I didn't stay underwater long enough.  My dive computer had me barely in the red.  

Suddenly my dive buddy tapped me on the shoulder, screaming at me because I went up too soon.  Apparently he was ABOVE me in the water and I never knew he was there.  We had to be monitored for the next two days.  That was the last of my Hawaii Diving adventures!!

Oh there's SO much more, but for now, here's my two latest purchases for my trailer.  This is a silicone ring so I don't have to grease the hitch ... a new invention since I had a fifth wheel last.

And of course a hitch lock to keep the honest people from stealing my rig.  If anyone has any other favorite gadgets, let me know.  I can use all the help I can get.

I spent much of the day fiddling with my game camera.  Apparently I deleted something important.  After 286 videos of the branches moving in the wind, it didn't want to record any more.  For two days I've gotten nothing.  I'm hoping I got it fixed ... this morning will tell the tale.

It's getting close to TRAILER day and I'm getting both nervous and EXCITED!

Can You Say Hyperbaric Chamber?

 This is Cooper and me after cleaning the house on Hump Day.  With the wind still blowing like Gale was trying to get somewhere fast, we pretty much stayed inside, except for the smoked chicken I was trying to cook.  It's funny how those recipes never turn out with the same results as when I cook something.

I know you're just on pins and needles waiting for that diving story, which as it turned out, was only the first of many.  I spent many an hour in the pool swimming laps with my snorkel and mask on.  It helped me to believe I could breathe under water and increased my stamina, which I was soon to need.  My diving career started when I was 49 years old.

The deep diving class ends with what else, a deep dive.  That means taking a dive boat out of Monterey Harbor and cruising over an hour to the OUTSIDE, as in the real ocean far from land (which scared me to death) to find water deep enough.  The weather was not cooperating and the waves were crazy high.

This image is a little exaggerated when it comes to going in the water, but it suffices.  We were told to hang on to the chain (anchored to the bottom) while descending very slowly.  I landed on top of a huge rock while everyone else ended up 20 feet further down on the bottom.  

I checked my computer ... it was NOT turned on.  So here's the thing.  Your computer is your life.  It tells you how much oxygen you have in your tank, what the pressure is, how long you've been down, etc. etc.  I clung to the chain like my life depended on it ..... and it did!

Since you can't talk under water (although now they have masks where you CAN talk) you gave hand signals.  This means I'm OK.  I was definitely NOT flashing this sign.  I was now scared to death with my computer not working.  The more scared you are, the more air you suck down.  I tried to be calm.  The instructor told me to stay put.

In a flash, I felt the chain running through my hands.  WHAT????  What's happening??  Of course my dive partner was nowhere to be seen.  I began a slow rise to the surface to find the boat was GONE!!!  I kid you not, stranded out in the middle of the ocean with waves crashing into you and NO BOAT!!  

I finally caught sight of a couple more divers bobbing around in the swells.   We tried to huddle together.  No one had any idea what just happened.  Suddenly there was another boat on the horizon coming towards us.  They threw out a long rope and told us to swim to them.  It took almost 45 minutes to get on the second boat.  By then we were all so exhausted we could barely climb the ladder.  

With the second boat overloaded with passengers, they could not go back to shore and risk a big fine.  We sat out there for 90 minutes freezing in the wind, waiting for our boat to return.  That of course meant another quarter mile swim because with the swells, they could not take any chances of the boats getting anywhere near each other.

Here's what happened.  One guy who probably should not have been doing a deep dive in the first place, got nitrogen narcosis.  He had too much nitrogen in his blood at depth, which gets worse the longer you are down.  It literally made him go crazy.  Our instructor grabbed him as he was swimming deeper instead of going UP, just as the guy ran out of air and began to haul him (kicking wildly) to the surface.  

When he DID run out of air, he grabbed the instructor's octo, causing the instructor to almost drown before he could find the second octo for himself.  At about 60 feet THEY BOTH ran out of air.  That resulted in a mad swim to the surface which could have easily cause the bends for both of them, from too much nitrogen in their blood.  You must ascend slowly to give the nitrogen time to get OUT of your blood.

This is why you need that computer.  It actually shows you just how much nitrogen you will have in your body depending on the depth and how much you breathe.  Cool, yes?

They threw the guy on the boat and it pulled anchor, leaving us all bobbing around alone in the ocean.

Luckily we all survived, including the guy with nitrogen narcosis after he spent the night in a hyperbaric chamber to take him back to the pressure at 100 feet and gradually work the nitrogen out of his blood.  Then he sued everyone!!!

Completely exhausted we all made it back to the dock and as you can imagine, we all kissed the ground when we arrived.  There's nothing like a scuba diving accident to put things in perspective.  That didn't stop me though, now I wanted to become an instructor.  I figured maybe, just maybe, I would gain enough confidence that I wouldn't be scared to death my next time out.

Oh yes ... turns out there would be several more incidences like that in my future ... I just didn't know it at the time.  Soon I would be regaled in every kind of life saving device you could possibly hang on my BCD.

In the meantime, here's my just cleaned coffee table after four more hours of wind.  Honest, I really did clean it!!!

Oh ... and those chicken breasts I was smoking?  The Chance family said they were terrific!!  I forgot about pictures, so maybe I'll get some today of the two stashed in my freezer.

Scuba Diving 101

 WHAT????  I can hear you now ... not really, but I'm sure that's what you said when you read Scuba Diving 101.  It was Tuesday.  There's not much going on around here on a Tuesday.   The wind blew so hard I had no intention of going outside, although I did trek out once to try and find my rubber mats.  One was at the bottom of the hill, the other stuck in a palo verde tree.

Cooper wasn't much help in the entertainment department, so I spent the good part of two hours vacuuming my house.  I know, shocker, right?  

Since that's not the least bit interesting to talk about, other than I now have to repair the plaster where I accidentally slammed the heavy vacuum into the wall, I'll tell you something else about me I bet you didn't know.  I'm a scuba diving instructor.  Did you see THAT coming?

Don't ask me why I chose it because I don't know.  My Mom, being the good Mom, put the fear of God into me when it came to water and oceans.  You will get drug out to sea and drown.  Maybe this was just to prove her wrong.  

I took lessons in a swimming pool with a brand new instructor from an accredited Padi Diving School.  Surprisingly, there is a LOT to learn, including all about the equipment because that's what's going to save your life when "IT" happens.  In my career, IT happened a lot and luckily I'm still here to talk about it.

This is your BCD ... buoyancy compensation device.  Valves put air in or dump air out of the vest to keep you from rushing to the surface, whereupon you will get nitrogen in your blood and die.  It's that simple.

I have to say it was a really big feat for me to actually breathe under water in the shallow end of the pool.  My brain kept saying you can't breathe under water and PANIC ... did you forget you were claustrophobic?  This regulator is what lets you breathe compressed air from the tank.  The first tank lasted about 15 minutes before I sucked it dry.  The good news was all I had to do was stand up.

You attend class after class, truthfully learning how to survive (and not drown) under any number of circumstances.  There wasn't much mention of the fish or sharks we would be swimming around with in Monterey where our final test would be taken.  If you survive Monterey diving, you can dive anywhere in the world with ease.

I wasn't the least bit confident I would survive the four dives that would certify me as a scuba diver.  The water is freezing cold ... like 40's and 50's ... you can't see much due to the sand from the wave action and THEN you are required to take your mask off and put it back on ... you know, in case your really bad partner knocks it off your face.  

Did I mention you have to have a partner to dive?  Never dive alone.  You should always be within 3 feet of your partner.  I'm pretty sure my husband's goal was to drown me for my life insurance.  Maybe I watch too much TV.  

I passed the written exam and all four dives by the skin of my teeth, but was so claustrophobic to go under water in the cold and dark that I wasn't a very good diving partner.  I tended to swim around on TOP of the water.  The only way to get better (you know how stubborn I am) was to go back and take every class they offered.  In no time I felt great ... in the pool.

The next big test would be a dive to 100 feet ... a deep water certification.  On several occasions I panicked, and I was only driving down the highway trying to imagine just how deep 100 feet was.  Twice that telephone pole ... okay, that's not too bad.  

Well ..... the day finally came and everything that could possibly go wrong, DID.  I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.  Let's just say I'm lucky to be alive.

In the meantime, here's the latest from Hello Fresh.  I signed back up with them for a couple of months to see if their menu was any better.  This company sends everything in brown paper bags.

Meal ONE.  Shrimp and spaghetti with a kick.  There was one lone hot pepper in there and directions said to slice HALF of it up very thin.  They forgot to tell me to wear rubber gloves.  It was VERY tasty, super simple to make and had a little kick to it.  

Little did I know that KICK would not wash off my hands no matter how many dishes I washed nor how much soap I used.  Twenty four hours later I happened to scratch my eye.  Man oh man that hurt!!!  I couldn't open my eye for 30 minutes!!  

I'll be eating this for breakfast, lunch and dinner for two days, that's how much it made.  Anyway, the house is now clean and I'm on to sorting through all that CRAP, I mean good stuff I took out of the other motorhome.  I'm pretty sure it's not going to fit in the new rig.

Just When You Think You're Cool ......

 I had one objective yesterday.  To make sure my hitch was fifth-wheel worthy and the electrical hookup was working.  There are actually TWO plugs on my truck, but I want to use the one inside the bed.  I also headed out to ... da da dahhhhh ... Camping World ... to pick up a silicone plate so I don't have to deal with gobs of grease, and a hitch lock, not that they work but at least they slow down the crook trying to steal my trailer.  

Alas, they were closed so I ordered everything online.  

Next up I met my guy Zack over at LazyDays to double check on the hitch.  He measured with his outstretched arms and gave me an UH OH look.  Nooooooo ... I do NOT want to purchase a new whoopdi doo sliding rail hitch for beaucoup bucks.  

It happened my trailer was in the bay behind us, so he drove my truck over to double check.  The good news is this!!  This year they are building these trailers with a swinging hitch that pivots further back, or something like that.  End result, my hitch should be fine.  SHOULD be.  We shall see.

As to the wiring, I still have absolutely NO idea if it's going to work.  I'm hoping to find a trailer place where I can have it checked.

On the way home, I stopped in for fuel.  One of the best things I did when I got my truck was put a 50 gallon tank on board, not in the bed but underneath.  So I'm at the service station fueling up and my favorite song comes on the radio.  

I slam banged the nozzle, jumped in and I was off with the music blasting away (I turned it up LOUD) and my window open, bopping to the beat as I drove down the freeway feeling pretty cool about my new trailer.  

That's when it happened .... I looked in the rear view mirror.  I drive with my mirrors by the way.  When you're a race car driver going to Yosemite, you make darn sure NO ONE is following you who might give you a whopping big ticket.

Guess I wasn't so cool after all.  There was my fuel door wide open.  When the pump stopped at $75 I went to get another credit card, but the tank was full enough I just jumped in and took off.  How embarrassing to stop on the side of the freeway and fix it.  I went into Grandma mode, turned the music off and silently drove home.

Lunch was almost the last of the Every Plate meals.  I'm a little behind since having all that lovely brisket to eat.  It's surprising to me how so little can taste so good.  Mayo, dijon and some quickly browned onions make up a sauce that goes perfectly with a grilled onion burger.  The whole thing took only 30 minutes to prepare.  The only problem is this is WAY too much food for me.

Especially since I had already whipped up my homemade shells and cheese with a big pile of chopped brisket mixed in for good measure.  MY OH MY ... this was good.  It's my new breakfast go to!!

One last RV find was this new keyless entry lock.  It's supposed to be the bees knees and easy to install.  Maybe for some handy guy, but I'm not so sure for me.  I'm leaving a window unlocked for the first month after installation to be sure it all works as advertised.  I do NOT want to get locked out.

The rest of the day I worked on this quilt.  As much as I love the pattern, I've never sewed, ironed and cut so much in my life.  This is like making three quilts at once!!  Six squares are done ... only 42 to go!!  I'm pretty sure this will be my new trailer bedspread.

In the meantime, I'm battening everything down and trying not to blow away.  The Vail gale has arrived in force for the next week.  20-25 mph winds blew all night, keeping me awake with every bang, wondering what fell down.  This morning I'll try to locate my two heavy rubber pads I bought to park the rig on.  I'm sure they are out there in the desert somewhere!!

Guess Who Came To Dinner!!

Feels like 33 ..... and it IS.  What ever happened to the lovely Arizona weather we have grown accustomed to?  The low this morning is supposed to be 31, which might have led to the nighttime happenings on my patio.   You just never know what you will find when you wake up at 4:30.

As you can imagine, all of these guys are welcome at my house any time.   Luckily I spotted these two as I was heading to the back yard.  She's looking at me as I try to stealthily sneak past the glass door to grab my camera.  They were certainly drinking their fill.

The third one wandered up to the second smaller water station and drained it dry.  All of these girls were in great shape and looking their Sunday best.

Suddenly a FOURTH came up to the fence and hopped over into my yard.  Well that's a first for me!!  She made a beeline for my rose bushes.  One bush has died, I imagine from lack of sustenance and too much cold.  I had just fertilized them a month ago and they were finally growing beautiful little leaves instead of dead branches.

She picked off every little morsel.  Yes I could have scared them away, but you know I would rather have the deer than the rose bushes.  I let her browse.

That's when I spotted another little head reaching over the wall on the left.  Pretty soon THREE of them were chowing down.  

So much for my rose bushes!!  I suppose they needed to be pruned anyway!!

Suddenly she turned and jumped back over the fence.  Although they did take a gander at the other plants in the yard, the roses were the only suitable snack.

Once outside the fence, they all crowded around the far wall to gather the last few bits of leaves.  Apparently those taste better than the palo verde trees.  They hung around for about an hour before wandering off down the hill.  They made my day.

Yes I did take half the brisket to the Chance house, even though it turned out half the size of the original piece.  Dan's declaration that it was pretty tasty was a nice compliment for my first try.  Next time I'll grab the WHOLE brisket and set it up for an all-nighter.  Maybe I should try a smaller one again, since those big boys can cost over 50 buckaroos.  I'd hate to ruin all those dollars.  Weird, right?  The worst cuts of meat are now the most expensive?

So this morning, bright and early, I opened the door for the puppies and discovered THIS mess, right on my patio up against the house.  This would be an uninvited guest, and I would have given anything to see exactly WHO it was.

After some investigation, I think SOMEONE (could be coyote or more likely bobcat) caught a dove on the lawn.  I've never imagined ANYTHING coming into the yard except snakes and I had been told, deer.  Once it was caught, they carried it right up next to the house underneath a table two feet from my back door and chowed down.  Poor dove.

There was nothing left but two big piles of feathers.  In the interest of your breakfast, I didn't take a picture of the bad parts.  It's fascinating what goes on when you are asleep at night.  Nice of him/her to leave me this big mess to clean up before the puppies suck feathers up their noses.

This morning I'm off to LazyDays to hopefully have them check my electrical hookup for the trailer.  I'm getting both excited and nervous at the same time.  It's going to be a long week!!