I decided that I needed to post something during this time just so I would have this period of time recorded somewhere. During this Coronavirus pandemic, everyone has been trying to keep themselves calmed and busy at the same time. I can see some good things coming out of this and I can see some bad things coming out of this. But, this post is about how I have been handling being quarantined.
I LOVE to cook. Now let me qualify that. I LOVE to cook when I have time, plenty of room, and I don't have to hand wash everything that I make dirty. OK. Living in a RV, I sometimes have the time. Depending on if Mr. W is hanging around the RV, I may have the room. Not having a dishwasher in my RV means hand washing is going to be involved. So, I thought what the heck. I have plenty of time. Mr. W had gone fishing, so I had some room. And, I can force myself to hand wash. I mean why not? The recipe said, "Easy with little clean-up". It's not like I had a whole lot of other things to do, right?
I had been really craving sweets, so, I decided to make brownies for me. I have been eating KETO for almost 2 years now. If you don't know what that is, it is basically I don't eat sugar or regular flour and barely any carbs. No box mixes for me. If I want "sweets", I have to make from scratch. No problem. After all, I LOVE to cook.
The recipe says preheat my oven and grease an 8x8 pan. I've been using the "throw away" aluminum pans to do almost all of my baking. I went to the cabinet where I keep those and what???? I did not have any aluminum "throw away" pans. Man, how did I forget to put those on my Kroger curbside pick up grocery list? Note to self: Add to Kroger list. Oh well. I have an 8x8 pan somewhere. Let's see, surely it is in the cabinet where I keep the cookie sheets..........nope. OK, well I know, it must be in the pantry with the mixing bowls. Huh, not there either. Surely in 400 sq. feet, I can find 1 stupid pan! Finally found it tucked away in a bin of things that are headed to storage because I don't use them enough to keep in the RV. I wonder how that happened.
Moving on, I greased the pan and set it aside. I then started gathering my ingredients for the brownies. Almond flour - check; Eggs - check; Cocoa - check; Baking powder - ? Do I have baking powder? Surely I do. Let's see, the baking soda is in the refrigerator. Not the same thing. The hunt begins. When was the last time I used baking powder? Do I even remember? After some digging in the pantry, ah-hah! There it is! I pull it out and ........."Best is used by September 2018 ". Is that going to make a difference? I tell myself, "who has ever heard of baking powder going bad?" and I open up the can. Note to self: Put baking powder on Kroger list. I'm secretly hoping that I don't end up with a science experiment for brownies. Don't they use baking powder in those science experiments?
As I continue on, I have to melt butter (dish 1). I have to combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl (dish 2). I have to put in 1/3 cup of this, 1/2 cup of that, 1/4 cup of whatever and different fractions of teaspoons and tablespoons of stuff (dish 3-10). Liquid ingredients go in another bowl and mix those together first (dish 11-13[mixer beaters]). Scraper for the bowl (dish 14). You see where this is going, right? I think at last count of everything, I was up to about 18 items that were going to have be hand washed. I swear I thought the recipe said "Easy with little clean-up".
I finally get everything mixed together, poured together and the beeper goes off that the oven is preheated. So, it is time to put the brownies in the oven and wait for them to bake so I can have something sweet and chocolate-y and warm and fresh and heavenly! I can taste them already.
I open the door to the oven to put in the pan. Somehow it has escaped me how full this pan really is. I'm going to have to move the pan really slowly and have a very steady hand not to spill any of the batter. Not to mention that I am baking in my convection oven which is also the microwave. So, I am having to reach UP to put the brownies in there. OK, I can do this. I slowly lift up the pan, get it almost in the oven..........Mr. W opens the door and says, "I'm back"! This, of course, startles me. I jerk. Hit my hand against the hot oven. And you guessed it. Dropped the entire pan on the counter of the RV and now had brownie batter running down the cabinets and all over the floor.
Have you seen the commercial where the wife and husband are outside; the wife is carrying a ladder and turns and the ladder goes through a plate glass window in their house. The husband is standing there watching and trying not to laugh; the wife turns and looks at him and he ducks his head and pretends like he had not seen anything? Well that commercial had just replayed in our RV.
Somehow, somewhere, I think there is a moral in this story. I haven't found it yet. It might have been in all those papertowels used to scoop up batter and thrown in the trash. I did find out that day that red wine, and plenty of it, is just as good as chocolate.
bar harbor
Showing posts with label full-timing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label full-timing. Show all posts
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Thursday, August 15, 2019
F-I-N-A-L-L-Y
Well, we are finally back on the road. The Texas heat has been brutal this summer. Or, maybe it is just because I haven't been in the Texas heat for an entire summer in several years. There are 3 couples traveling together and we will be meeting up with other couples later in the trip.
We left on Monday, spent the night in Little Rock. We stayed at the Downtown River RV park. It is just a concrete parking site, but it is right on the river and has full hook-ups. Barges come by and the bridges light up. You can see the skyline of downtown and can walk to restaurants. I always enjoy staying there.
The next night in Nashville. We stayed in a Corps of Engineer park, Seven Points. It is a beautiful park, BUT they absolutely, positively will not allow you to check-in before 3:00. I"m not talking about coming in at noon or 1:00. I mean five minutes until 3:00. Our friends arrived the day before and got here 15 minutes before 3:00. They, along with 10 other campers, were instructed to leave, drive back to the interstate and wait. So, we made sure we didn't arrive until 3:00. The weather forecast called for a severe thunderstorm in the area at guess what time???? You got it, 3:00. And, guess what happened when we arrived. Yep, the bottom fell out of the clouds and it was pouring, wind was blowing, and thunder and lightening was all around. The man at the check-in made a statement about the weather and having to hold an umbrella out his window and hold it so Mr. W could check in. That was Mr. W's opening for telling them what he thought about their strict check-in time. They are changing it next year. Some of the sites are easy to get in and some are definitely not big rig friendly. You can choose your site when you book. Mr. W looks on Google Earth to look for trees, size of pads, etc. So, even though the sites we chose were suppose to be big rig friendly, one was difficult.
Last night we arrived in Lexington, Kentucky. We are staying at the Kentucky Horse Farm in their campground area. We are going to The Ark Encounter today. This morning it is a cool 68 degrees and feels wonderful! This park is very nice. The sites are roomy. The pads aren't really long, but we fit on the asphalt and you can back far enough to keep your tires on the asphalt, even if your back jacks aren't. They have a very nice pool, a game room, a small store with tons of RV stuff and a laundry. They have 50 amp and water hook-ups, but no sewer. They do have 3 dump stations.
Our journeys are taking us to the Northeast this year. We've wanted to see the fall foliage and Niagara Falls, not to mention Bar Harbor, Cape Cod, Hershey (can you say chocolate?), baseball hall of fame,.............and the list goes on.
So, stay tuned and get ready for pictures! I'm going to go outside and enjoy this cooler weather.
We left on Monday, spent the night in Little Rock. We stayed at the Downtown River RV park. It is just a concrete parking site, but it is right on the river and has full hook-ups. Barges come by and the bridges light up. You can see the skyline of downtown and can walk to restaurants. I always enjoy staying there.
The next night in Nashville. We stayed in a Corps of Engineer park, Seven Points. It is a beautiful park, BUT they absolutely, positively will not allow you to check-in before 3:00. I"m not talking about coming in at noon or 1:00. I mean five minutes until 3:00. Our friends arrived the day before and got here 15 minutes before 3:00. They, along with 10 other campers, were instructed to leave, drive back to the interstate and wait. So, we made sure we didn't arrive until 3:00. The weather forecast called for a severe thunderstorm in the area at guess what time???? You got it, 3:00. And, guess what happened when we arrived. Yep, the bottom fell out of the clouds and it was pouring, wind was blowing, and thunder and lightening was all around. The man at the check-in made a statement about the weather and having to hold an umbrella out his window and hold it so Mr. W could check in. That was Mr. W's opening for telling them what he thought about their strict check-in time. They are changing it next year. Some of the sites are easy to get in and some are definitely not big rig friendly. You can choose your site when you book. Mr. W looks on Google Earth to look for trees, size of pads, etc. So, even though the sites we chose were suppose to be big rig friendly, one was difficult.
Last night we arrived in Lexington, Kentucky. We are staying at the Kentucky Horse Farm in their campground area. We are going to The Ark Encounter today. This morning it is a cool 68 degrees and feels wonderful! This park is very nice. The sites are roomy. The pads aren't really long, but we fit on the asphalt and you can back far enough to keep your tires on the asphalt, even if your back jacks aren't. They have a very nice pool, a game room, a small store with tons of RV stuff and a laundry. They have 50 amp and water hook-ups, but no sewer. They do have 3 dump stations.
Our journeys are taking us to the Northeast this year. We've wanted to see the fall foliage and Niagara Falls, not to mention Bar Harbor, Cape Cod, Hershey (can you say chocolate?), baseball hall of fame,.............and the list goes on.
So, stay tuned and get ready for pictures! I'm going to go outside and enjoy this cooler weather.
Saturday, September 26, 2015
NORCOLD 4-DOOR REFRIGERATOR MODEL 1210
Did the title give it away? Yep, we are having refrigerator problems. We were suppose to have left for Branson via a 3-day stop in Arkansas on Monday, September 21st. If you remember, we had stayed with the grands while Son and DIL went on a cruise. We stayed at their home and put the 5W in storage. When we got back in the trailer, I turned the refrigerator on and the freezer immediately started cooling down. The refrigerator, not so much. The next morning the refrigerator still did not feel very cool.
Mr. W immediately started looking for a thermometer. Sure enough, the refrig was not cooling down past 45 degrees. Thank goodness I had not bought a lot of groceries. Fortunately, a guy, who owns a mobile RV repair service, had done some work on a friend's a/c and had done a good job. We got his name and number, gave him a call, and made an appointment for him to come to us and repair the refrig.
We had bought an extended warranty when we bought the 5W. Mr. W doesn't usually buy extended warranties but when a RV 2-way refrig goes out and has to be replaced, you are talking $4500. One refrig replacement more than pays for the extended warranty. Ed (the repairman) asked Mr. W if he had a warranty. When Mr. W told him that he had it through Cornerstone, Ed told him that he did business with them all the time, they were great to deal with, and he would handle turning in all the paperwork. Great!
Ed arrives and begins doing tests on several things. All of the readings were in the normal range. He opened up the outside door and found a couple of things. First of all, the manufacturer had built a "box" or panel in the back. The panel had fallen. That did 2 things.
1. Aluminum tape was holding it up and when it fell, the aluminum tape came off and stuck in one of the fans. The fan was not working. He took the tape off the fan and the fan immediately started working.
2. The panel that fell, fell on top of the "chimney" that allows air flow. There wasn't much room for air flow with the panel. So, he trimmed down the panel to make it smaller and he screwed it in so it wouldn't fall again.
He did say that the thermistor was reading in the acceptable range but on the high end. When he left, he told me that if I still felt like it wasn't cooling like it should in the next day or 2 to call him and he would mail us a thermistor and Mr. W could change it out. I am glad to say that the refrig is now at 37 degrees.
We felt like Ed did a good job. He came to us. Actually, he travels all through southeast Texas. He was very reasonable and seemed to be very knowledgeable. So, if you are anywhere in southeast Texas and need RV repair of any kind, call Ed.
Ed Martinez
Ed's RV Mobile Service
574-349-1988
Mr. W immediately started looking for a thermometer. Sure enough, the refrig was not cooling down past 45 degrees. Thank goodness I had not bought a lot of groceries. Fortunately, a guy, who owns a mobile RV repair service, had done some work on a friend's a/c and had done a good job. We got his name and number, gave him a call, and made an appointment for him to come to us and repair the refrig.
We had bought an extended warranty when we bought the 5W. Mr. W doesn't usually buy extended warranties but when a RV 2-way refrig goes out and has to be replaced, you are talking $4500. One refrig replacement more than pays for the extended warranty. Ed (the repairman) asked Mr. W if he had a warranty. When Mr. W told him that he had it through Cornerstone, Ed told him that he did business with them all the time, they were great to deal with, and he would handle turning in all the paperwork. Great!
Ed arrives and begins doing tests on several things. All of the readings were in the normal range. He opened up the outside door and found a couple of things. First of all, the manufacturer had built a "box" or panel in the back. The panel had fallen. That did 2 things.
1. Aluminum tape was holding it up and when it fell, the aluminum tape came off and stuck in one of the fans. The fan was not working. He took the tape off the fan and the fan immediately started working.
2. The panel that fell, fell on top of the "chimney" that allows air flow. There wasn't much room for air flow with the panel. So, he trimmed down the panel to make it smaller and he screwed it in so it wouldn't fall again.
He did say that the thermistor was reading in the acceptable range but on the high end. When he left, he told me that if I still felt like it wasn't cooling like it should in the next day or 2 to call him and he would mail us a thermistor and Mr. W could change it out. I am glad to say that the refrig is now at 37 degrees.
We felt like Ed did a good job. He came to us. Actually, he travels all through southeast Texas. He was very reasonable and seemed to be very knowledgeable. So, if you are anywhere in southeast Texas and need RV repair of any kind, call Ed.
Ed Martinez
Ed's RV Mobile Service
574-349-1988
Thursday, October 2, 2014
ON THE ROAD AGAIN.......FINALLY!
Today, I am officially on the road again! Woody (my 5W) was officially fixed and picked up this past weekend. If you remember, the blow out happened August 10th; the 5W fixed September 28th.........hmmmmm. Let's just say that for all their not following up and everything else they did wrong, Joel West RV did do a good job of actually fixing Woody. OK, I'm not going to say anymore about that.
Mr. W's uncle passed away and his funeral was Monday. Mr. W was a pall bearer. Tuesday, was a day of getting new tires for the truck, buying groceries, putting up laundry, cleaning Woody inside and out, etc. and Wednesday was pretty much more of the same. So, today I said good-bye to Texas for a couple of months.
I am heading back to Branson. Mr. W planned for us to spend the night somewhere in Arkansas and we happened upon a great place. There is a RV park right on the shore of the Arkansas River and it is right downtown North Little Rock. As you cross the bridge on I-30, going from Little Rock to North Little Rock, you can see the RV park. It is easy access on/off I-30 to the park which is an important thing when you are pulling a 38 ft. 5W.
There is a pedestrian bridge that crosses over the river. On the other side of the bridge is a beautiful park with 7 miles of hike/bike trails. The William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library is there also. The Verizon Arena is 1/2 mile from here and there is another pedestrian bridge about a 1/2 mile down that leads to a market and parts of downtown entertainment.
The name of the park is Downtown Riverside RV park. The cost is $23 a night with full hook-ups. That's a bargain. Another thing I like about this park, the bridges are lit at night. There's just something about that that I love.
A cold front came through this evening and the tornado siren went off. There aren't many chances of tornadoes in H-town. I'm not even sure there are tornado sirens in H-town! So, when they went off, I had no idea what to do or where to go. The news/weather did not interrupt regular scheduled programs airing on TV. Now, if a tornado was near, don't you think the local news station would interrupt the football game???? Well, that's what I thought so I didn't get in a hurry to do anything. Evidently most of the other RVers were thinking the same way as me! There were a lot of other people standing around outside wondering what to do. When the downpour of rain started, we all went back into our RVs
Needless to say, there is a lot to see and do if you stay here. I'm hoping the weather will hold out and I can stay a couple of days here on my way from Branson to Memphis in mid November. If you are in the area, this is a great place to spend the night.
Mr. W's uncle passed away and his funeral was Monday. Mr. W was a pall bearer. Tuesday, was a day of getting new tires for the truck, buying groceries, putting up laundry, cleaning Woody inside and out, etc. and Wednesday was pretty much more of the same. So, today I said good-bye to Texas for a couple of months.
I am heading back to Branson. Mr. W planned for us to spend the night somewhere in Arkansas and we happened upon a great place. There is a RV park right on the shore of the Arkansas River and it is right downtown North Little Rock. As you cross the bridge on I-30, going from Little Rock to North Little Rock, you can see the RV park. It is easy access on/off I-30 to the park which is an important thing when you are pulling a 38 ft. 5W.
There is a pedestrian bridge that crosses over the river. On the other side of the bridge is a beautiful park with 7 miles of hike/bike trails. The William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library is there also. The Verizon Arena is 1/2 mile from here and there is another pedestrian bridge about a 1/2 mile down that leads to a market and parts of downtown entertainment.
The name of the park is Downtown Riverside RV park. The cost is $23 a night with full hook-ups. That's a bargain. Another thing I like about this park, the bridges are lit at night. There's just something about that that I love.
A cold front came through this evening and the tornado siren went off. There aren't many chances of tornadoes in H-town. I'm not even sure there are tornado sirens in H-town! So, when they went off, I had no idea what to do or where to go. The news/weather did not interrupt regular scheduled programs airing on TV. Now, if a tornado was near, don't you think the local news station would interrupt the football game???? Well, that's what I thought so I didn't get in a hurry to do anything. Evidently most of the other RVers were thinking the same way as me! There were a lot of other people standing around outside wondering what to do. When the downpour of rain started, we all went back into our RVs
Needless to say, there is a lot to see and do if you stay here. I'm hoping the weather will hold out and I can stay a couple of days here on my way from Branson to Memphis in mid November. If you are in the area, this is a great place to spend the night.
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| The pedestrian bridge right next door. |
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| The RV park |
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| The RV park from the pedestrian bridge |
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| William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library |
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| These flowers are all along the bridge and the butterfly was taking advantage of all the flowers. |
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| The pedestrian bridge at night |
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| Looking the other way from the RV park to downtown |
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| The walkway on the pedestrian bridge. |
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
WARNING!
WARNING! A full on, straight up rant is about to take place! You have been warned.
I am severely ticked off a the recreational vehicle industry right now. Let's review for those of you who are lagging behind in blog posts.
1. Had a blow out which did damage to the 5W
2. Insurance adjustor came out, assessed the damage, wrote up an estimate, but repair place JOEL WEST, in Livingston, TX, made us come in for him to look at anyway. This took place on a Friday. Rick, the guy handling our repair, told us, on that Friday, he would call the manufacturer and order the parts.
3. The following Wednesday, we went to JOEL WEST and asked if indeed the parts had been ordered. The girl handling this for Rick says, "Oh, come to think of it, that guy never sent me an email. I guess I need to email him tomorrow to see what is going on." DOES THE PHRASE 'FOLLOW UP' MEAN NOTHING! Good thing we went in to check or we would still be waiting for her to remember that she had not received an email.
4. Rick (repair guy - keep up) calls Mr. W and says that he can not order direct from the factory because of a crazy Texas law, so a dealership that sells Redwoods would have to order the parts and then ship them to him. He can't find anyone to that. I AM BEGINNING TO SEE WHY HE HAS NO FRIENDS IN TEXAS!
5. Mr. W calls the manufacturer who gives him the name and number of a dealership that will drop ship the parts to anyone, anywhere. Rick calls this person the Friday before Labor Day, August 29th. He then calls Mr. W back and says that the parts will be shipped that day and he should receive them 4 to 5 business days later.
6. Last Friday was 5 business days. Mr. W calls and asks about the parts. The above girl (which we now know is Susan) said the parts were still not in. Mr. W asked if we could go ahead and book Wednesday (tomorrow) to bring in the trailer to be fixed. She said she would but she also said that if the parts didn't come in by Wednesday, they wouldn't be able to fix it on Wednesday. REALLY??? WHO WOULD HAVE KNOWN?????
7. Today (Tuesday) Mr. W calls again. Susan says that she has a call into the dealership to check on the parts. She then proceeds to tell Mr. W that it kind of concerns her because she never got a confirmation number in a confirmation email. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? ANOTHER EMAIL THAT SHE DID NOT FOLLOW UP ON????
8. Susan calls back. The dealership's warehouse is very busy and way behind. They are filling orders placed on August 28th. They should be filling orders placed on August 29th in a day or 2. JUST PEACHY!
9. Susan tells Mr. W that she is going to call them back in 2 days to verify. Mr. W told her that she better call because he was going to call HER back in 2 days and he expected an update. GEEZ!
Remember when we had the broken shackle in Virginia Beach? The manufacturer was going to mail the shackle on the Friday before Memorial Day. We should have it by the following Tuesday. When Mr. W contacted him on Wednesday when we did not receive the part on Tuesday, IT HAD NEVER BEEN SHIPPED!
The RV industry doesn't have the first clue about customer service. Or, if they do, they don't care about customer service. Do NOT take your RV to JOEL WEST RV in Livingston, TX. They haven't even touched my RV yet, but I would never recommend them just by the way they have handled, or should I say NOT handled, this transaction from the beginning. I'll let you know when the parts are received.
I warned you.
I am severely ticked off a the recreational vehicle industry right now. Let's review for those of you who are lagging behind in blog posts.
1. Had a blow out which did damage to the 5W
2. Insurance adjustor came out, assessed the damage, wrote up an estimate, but repair place JOEL WEST, in Livingston, TX, made us come in for him to look at anyway. This took place on a Friday. Rick, the guy handling our repair, told us, on that Friday, he would call the manufacturer and order the parts.
3. The following Wednesday, we went to JOEL WEST and asked if indeed the parts had been ordered. The girl handling this for Rick says, "Oh, come to think of it, that guy never sent me an email. I guess I need to email him tomorrow to see what is going on." DOES THE PHRASE 'FOLLOW UP' MEAN NOTHING! Good thing we went in to check or we would still be waiting for her to remember that she had not received an email.
4. Rick (repair guy - keep up) calls Mr. W and says that he can not order direct from the factory because of a crazy Texas law, so a dealership that sells Redwoods would have to order the parts and then ship them to him. He can't find anyone to that. I AM BEGINNING TO SEE WHY HE HAS NO FRIENDS IN TEXAS!
5. Mr. W calls the manufacturer who gives him the name and number of a dealership that will drop ship the parts to anyone, anywhere. Rick calls this person the Friday before Labor Day, August 29th. He then calls Mr. W back and says that the parts will be shipped that day and he should receive them 4 to 5 business days later.
6. Last Friday was 5 business days. Mr. W calls and asks about the parts. The above girl (which we now know is Susan) said the parts were still not in. Mr. W asked if we could go ahead and book Wednesday (tomorrow) to bring in the trailer to be fixed. She said she would but she also said that if the parts didn't come in by Wednesday, they wouldn't be able to fix it on Wednesday. REALLY??? WHO WOULD HAVE KNOWN?????
7. Today (Tuesday) Mr. W calls again. Susan says that she has a call into the dealership to check on the parts. She then proceeds to tell Mr. W that it kind of concerns her because she never got a confirmation number in a confirmation email. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? ANOTHER EMAIL THAT SHE DID NOT FOLLOW UP ON????
8. Susan calls back. The dealership's warehouse is very busy and way behind. They are filling orders placed on August 28th. They should be filling orders placed on August 29th in a day or 2. JUST PEACHY!
9. Susan tells Mr. W that she is going to call them back in 2 days to verify. Mr. W told her that she better call because he was going to call HER back in 2 days and he expected an update. GEEZ!
Remember when we had the broken shackle in Virginia Beach? The manufacturer was going to mail the shackle on the Friday before Memorial Day. We should have it by the following Tuesday. When Mr. W contacted him on Wednesday when we did not receive the part on Tuesday, IT HAD NEVER BEEN SHIPPED!
The RV industry doesn't have the first clue about customer service. Or, if they do, they don't care about customer service. Do NOT take your RV to JOEL WEST RV in Livingston, TX. They haven't even touched my RV yet, but I would never recommend them just by the way they have handled, or should I say NOT handled, this transaction from the beginning. I'll let you know when the parts are received.
I warned you.
Sunday, August 31, 2014
FOLLOW UP ON TRAILER WOES
Here's the update on the trailer woes:
Mr. W took the blow-out tire and the flat tire to the nearest Goodyear store in the Woodlands. He got 2 of the new "G" load range tires. The manager at the Goodyear store told him that Goodyear will pay us in full for the replacement tire for the blow-out tire (even though it is a bigger, more expensive tire) and he gave Mr. W an $86 credit toward the replacement of the flat tire.
Mr. W came back, put those 2 new tires on and then took off the other 2 tires, which once you took them off, you could see both had the belt separating on them, and took them to the same Goodyear store the next day and got the other 2 bigger load range tires. He again received an $86 credit toward those tires.
I sent the paperwork into Goodyear that they require to pay on a damage claim. One of the requirements was to send the blown out tire back to the Goodyear claims department in Ohio. You were to do this through a Goodyear dealer. The store in the Woodlands will do that.
One thing I found interesting is the manager at the Goodyear store was upset that Mr. W had gotten the insurance company involved. Excuse me? He told Mr. W that he should not have contacted the insurance company and that Goodyear would have paid for everything. How was I suppose to know this? Was it written on the Goodyear tire along with the size of tire and air pressure for the tire? "For blowouts with damage call 1-800-Goodyear?" I'm sorry, but Goodyear is not the first person I thought to call when my trailer is damaged. Now granted, Mr. W had planned on calling them to discuss these tires and what had happened. But my insurance company is the one that said that Goodyear would probably pay our deductible if we would file a claim with them. The insurance company is dealing with them on reimbursing them for the pay out on the damage but in the mean time, my 5W is getting fixed. So, if you have Goodyear tires on your RV and you have a blowout that causes damage, you CAN call Goodyear to report the damage, file a claim with them, send in the forms, pictures, and repair estimates and wait 4 to 6 weeks for them to review your claim and decide whether they are going to pay out on the claim. To some of you, it would be worth it to do that, to some it wouldn't. Just sayin'........
I asked the claim adjuster if Goodyear reimburses them, would it not show up as a "ding" on our insurance next year. He said that it would show up as a claim but it would show that there was "0" pay out and should not affect our rates. If anyone reading this is in the insurance business, you can please let me know if that is true.
Let's move on to the next thing.
Mr. W had taken Woody (the 5W) to a RV repair place in Livingston, TX. It is Joel West RV Supply and Repair. Let me back up a minute. Our Blackwood 5W is made by Redwood. Redwood only made them during a period of 1 1/2 years. Redwood use to have its own factory. Now, all the Redwood products are made at the Crossroads factory. Crossroads/Redwood are owned by Thor. Are you confused yet? Mr. W had called the factory to see if we could bring it in for repair which they said no. Texas now has a state law that says if you don't sell the brand of RV, you can't call and get parts from the factory. You have to go through a dealer that does sell that product. So, in other words, Joel West could only get parts to fix my trailer if they could get a dealer that sells Crossroads/Redwoods/Thor to order them from the factory, receive the parts and then ship the parts to them. Guess what? They told us that they couldn't find a dealer willing to do that. What? Do you not have any friends in the state of Texas????
SOOOOO, Mr. W gets on the phone, calls the factory again and talks with the guy who helped us with the broken shackle. He gives Mr. W the name of a dealer and the name of the supplies manager and tells Mr. W to have Joel West call this dealer. Joel West calls the dealer and presto..........the parts will be at Joel West next week sometime. Hopefully, Woody will be repaired the first part of the following week. If so, we will get to stay on schedule for our fall trips.
Also, Mr. W found where the leak was for the ice maker, was able to fix it, and now there are no more leaks. He got under the 5W and examined the underbelly and everything seems to be OK with whatever happened under there from the leak. You can tell that I don't know a lot of details about that. I am taking his word for it.
Wednesday, my car, that had the crunched trunk should be repaired and ready for pick up.
New tires - check
Reimbursement for new tires - check
Goodyear claim - check
Parts and schedule for RV repair - check
Car repair - check
Ice maker repaired - check
Life is becoming carefree again. (Sigh!)
Mr. W took the blow-out tire and the flat tire to the nearest Goodyear store in the Woodlands. He got 2 of the new "G" load range tires. The manager at the Goodyear store told him that Goodyear will pay us in full for the replacement tire for the blow-out tire (even though it is a bigger, more expensive tire) and he gave Mr. W an $86 credit toward the replacement of the flat tire.
Mr. W came back, put those 2 new tires on and then took off the other 2 tires, which once you took them off, you could see both had the belt separating on them, and took them to the same Goodyear store the next day and got the other 2 bigger load range tires. He again received an $86 credit toward those tires.
I sent the paperwork into Goodyear that they require to pay on a damage claim. One of the requirements was to send the blown out tire back to the Goodyear claims department in Ohio. You were to do this through a Goodyear dealer. The store in the Woodlands will do that.
One thing I found interesting is the manager at the Goodyear store was upset that Mr. W had gotten the insurance company involved. Excuse me? He told Mr. W that he should not have contacted the insurance company and that Goodyear would have paid for everything. How was I suppose to know this? Was it written on the Goodyear tire along with the size of tire and air pressure for the tire? "For blowouts with damage call 1-800-Goodyear?" I'm sorry, but Goodyear is not the first person I thought to call when my trailer is damaged. Now granted, Mr. W had planned on calling them to discuss these tires and what had happened. But my insurance company is the one that said that Goodyear would probably pay our deductible if we would file a claim with them. The insurance company is dealing with them on reimbursing them for the pay out on the damage but in the mean time, my 5W is getting fixed. So, if you have Goodyear tires on your RV and you have a blowout that causes damage, you CAN call Goodyear to report the damage, file a claim with them, send in the forms, pictures, and repair estimates and wait 4 to 6 weeks for them to review your claim and decide whether they are going to pay out on the claim. To some of you, it would be worth it to do that, to some it wouldn't. Just sayin'........
I asked the claim adjuster if Goodyear reimburses them, would it not show up as a "ding" on our insurance next year. He said that it would show up as a claim but it would show that there was "0" pay out and should not affect our rates. If anyone reading this is in the insurance business, you can please let me know if that is true.
Let's move on to the next thing.
Mr. W had taken Woody (the 5W) to a RV repair place in Livingston, TX. It is Joel West RV Supply and Repair. Let me back up a minute. Our Blackwood 5W is made by Redwood. Redwood only made them during a period of 1 1/2 years. Redwood use to have its own factory. Now, all the Redwood products are made at the Crossroads factory. Crossroads/Redwood are owned by Thor. Are you confused yet? Mr. W had called the factory to see if we could bring it in for repair which they said no. Texas now has a state law that says if you don't sell the brand of RV, you can't call and get parts from the factory. You have to go through a dealer that does sell that product. So, in other words, Joel West could only get parts to fix my trailer if they could get a dealer that sells Crossroads/Redwoods/Thor to order them from the factory, receive the parts and then ship the parts to them. Guess what? They told us that they couldn't find a dealer willing to do that. What? Do you not have any friends in the state of Texas????
SOOOOO, Mr. W gets on the phone, calls the factory again and talks with the guy who helped us with the broken shackle. He gives Mr. W the name of a dealer and the name of the supplies manager and tells Mr. W to have Joel West call this dealer. Joel West calls the dealer and presto..........the parts will be at Joel West next week sometime. Hopefully, Woody will be repaired the first part of the following week. If so, we will get to stay on schedule for our fall trips.
Also, Mr. W found where the leak was for the ice maker, was able to fix it, and now there are no more leaks. He got under the 5W and examined the underbelly and everything seems to be OK with whatever happened under there from the leak. You can tell that I don't know a lot of details about that. I am taking his word for it.
Wednesday, my car, that had the crunched trunk should be repaired and ready for pick up.
New tires - check
Reimbursement for new tires - check
Goodyear claim - check
Parts and schedule for RV repair - check
Car repair - check
Ice maker repaired - check
Life is becoming carefree again. (Sigh!)
Saturday, August 23, 2014
TRAILER WOES
Life is pretty simple living in your RV. Mr. W and I have gone along for a little over a year with a pretty carefree existence. So, I guess the moon and the planets or stars or whatever have decided to align themselves to make our carefree existence be not so carefree.
I had decided to leave my car in our storage spot at Marina Village while I went to the hill country. The storage area is secured with a card access gate. The gate was being repaired when I got ready to leave. Since I was only going to be gone for 5 days, I asked the guard if I could leave my car parked in the community center parking lot and not worry one of the park hosts by making him go the storage lot, interrupt the repairs, and physically opening the gate so I could get in. She said no problem.
Saturday, while I was in the hill country, I get a call from the guard. One of the park hosts had backed into my car with his tail gate down and crunched my trunk on my car. Accidents happen. No big deal. He has insurance. I'll take care of it when I get back the next day.
So, Sunday we head back to the Marina Village. On our way back to the lake, we had to travel through Bryan/College Station. We had stopped at a red light on Highway 30 and had just taken off when we heard a loud pop. I looked in the side mirror and saw a piece of tire rubber flying off. Mr. W immediately pulled over but we had damage. Fortunately we were only going about 40mph.
Fortunately, we have Coach Net and in 108 degree heat, a roadside assistance guy came out, changed our tire and got us back on the road in about an hour and a half. Thursday (the first available appointment), we had both insurance adjusters come out. They actually got here around the same time. Both guys wrote up estimates, found all the parts that they felt would be needed, gave us a copy, and sent the repair shops an emailed copy.
Evidently, things are done a lot differently these days with repairs than it was many years ago. Both repair shops told us that we would have to make an appointment to bring the vehicle (car/trailer) in. A representative from the shop would have to inspect the damage, determine what parts to order, and THEN we could book an appointment to bring the vehicle back for the actual work to begin. This appointment to have the vehicle looked at were each a week away because that was the first available appointment for this. Each one of these initial visits lasted 5 minutes for the car and 15 minutes for the trailer. I then booked an appointment to take the car in 10 days after the 5 minute appointment and because I live in the trailer, I won't be able to book the actual repair appointment for the trailer until they receive the parts from the manufacturer. The guy told us that the earliest he would receive the parts from the manufacturer would be 2 weeks. Geez!
Did I mention that the trailer repair place is in Livingston, TX? Marina Village (the lake) is about 35/40 miles away. Mr. W and I make the trip to Livingston and as we are pulling back into Marina Village, Mr. W notices that we are having ANOTHER flat on one of our tires. He tries airing the tire up and can hear the leak. He starts rubbing his hand around the tire to see if he can feel a nail or something and something cuts his finger. It is the steel belt coming out of that tire. It is lucky for us that we had not had another blow out!
I have Goodyear Marathon tires on our 5W. It came from the factory with those tires. They are load range E/10 ply tires. They are less than 2 years old. If you have an RV, especially a larger RV, I'm sure you have heard the horror stories about RV tires. Almost all of the load range E and less RV tires are made in China. Yes, even our Goodyear Marathons. Hello??? Does anyone NOT see the problem here?
After the blowout, Mr. W had contacted Goodyear because the tires have a 6 year warranty. We had heard that Goodyear was good about standing behind the tires. They gave us a claim number and told us to send the tire back through a Goodyear dealer in our area. Our insurance guy also told us that Goodyear would probably end up paying our deductible too. We'll see. Of course, now we are going to have to file another claim on another tire and send it back. Mr. W has also decided to replace all 4 tires with the Goodyear load range G tires. Just to give you an idea, the E tires are around $130 a tire. The G tires are around $350 a tire. Big difference. I cannot believe that the insurance companies have not started putting pressure on the RV manufacturers and the tire companies to stop putting these cheap, obviously poorly made, Chinese tires on these RVs. The insurance companies are paying out the yazoo to fix these things. Of course, we are ultimately paying higher insurance rates because of the claims. I'll get off my soap box now.
You would think that would be the end of this saga, but unfortunately, it's not.
Mr. W and I started noticing a small amount of water on the floor around the island. I thought at first that it was from washing dishes, the floor mat holding water, etc. Well, it's not. Woody (our 5W) has a leak. When Mr. W started investigating that, he crawled under the trailer and noticed the underbelly was drooping quite a bit. This morning, he pushed on it and water came out. Great. We have an ice maker which I love. But, the line to the ice maker comes out of the island through the sub-floor and floor and goes to the refrigerator. This line is just a plastic tube and it is down where the slide goes in an out. Mr. W thinks the tube got a hole in it from the slide. Another repair. Woody has a bumper-to-bumper 2 year warranty from the manufacturer. That is up in November. I did buy an extended warranty through another company but this needs to be fixed through warranty work. I'm thinking my plans for the fall may be changing. At least no one has been injured and the damage could have been a lot worse.
I'll let you know what happens with Goodyear.
I had decided to leave my car in our storage spot at Marina Village while I went to the hill country. The storage area is secured with a card access gate. The gate was being repaired when I got ready to leave. Since I was only going to be gone for 5 days, I asked the guard if I could leave my car parked in the community center parking lot and not worry one of the park hosts by making him go the storage lot, interrupt the repairs, and physically opening the gate so I could get in. She said no problem.
Saturday, while I was in the hill country, I get a call from the guard. One of the park hosts had backed into my car with his tail gate down and crunched my trunk on my car. Accidents happen. No big deal. He has insurance. I'll take care of it when I get back the next day.
So, Sunday we head back to the Marina Village. On our way back to the lake, we had to travel through Bryan/College Station. We had stopped at a red light on Highway 30 and had just taken off when we heard a loud pop. I looked in the side mirror and saw a piece of tire rubber flying off. Mr. W immediately pulled over but we had damage. Fortunately we were only going about 40mph.
Fortunately, we have Coach Net and in 108 degree heat, a roadside assistance guy came out, changed our tire and got us back on the road in about an hour and a half. Thursday (the first available appointment), we had both insurance adjusters come out. They actually got here around the same time. Both guys wrote up estimates, found all the parts that they felt would be needed, gave us a copy, and sent the repair shops an emailed copy.
Evidently, things are done a lot differently these days with repairs than it was many years ago. Both repair shops told us that we would have to make an appointment to bring the vehicle (car/trailer) in. A representative from the shop would have to inspect the damage, determine what parts to order, and THEN we could book an appointment to bring the vehicle back for the actual work to begin. This appointment to have the vehicle looked at were each a week away because that was the first available appointment for this. Each one of these initial visits lasted 5 minutes for the car and 15 minutes for the trailer. I then booked an appointment to take the car in 10 days after the 5 minute appointment and because I live in the trailer, I won't be able to book the actual repair appointment for the trailer until they receive the parts from the manufacturer. The guy told us that the earliest he would receive the parts from the manufacturer would be 2 weeks. Geez!
Did I mention that the trailer repair place is in Livingston, TX? Marina Village (the lake) is about 35/40 miles away. Mr. W and I make the trip to Livingston and as we are pulling back into Marina Village, Mr. W notices that we are having ANOTHER flat on one of our tires. He tries airing the tire up and can hear the leak. He starts rubbing his hand around the tire to see if he can feel a nail or something and something cuts his finger. It is the steel belt coming out of that tire. It is lucky for us that we had not had another blow out!
I have Goodyear Marathon tires on our 5W. It came from the factory with those tires. They are load range E/10 ply tires. They are less than 2 years old. If you have an RV, especially a larger RV, I'm sure you have heard the horror stories about RV tires. Almost all of the load range E and less RV tires are made in China. Yes, even our Goodyear Marathons. Hello??? Does anyone NOT see the problem here?
After the blowout, Mr. W had contacted Goodyear because the tires have a 6 year warranty. We had heard that Goodyear was good about standing behind the tires. They gave us a claim number and told us to send the tire back through a Goodyear dealer in our area. Our insurance guy also told us that Goodyear would probably end up paying our deductible too. We'll see. Of course, now we are going to have to file another claim on another tire and send it back. Mr. W has also decided to replace all 4 tires with the Goodyear load range G tires. Just to give you an idea, the E tires are around $130 a tire. The G tires are around $350 a tire. Big difference. I cannot believe that the insurance companies have not started putting pressure on the RV manufacturers and the tire companies to stop putting these cheap, obviously poorly made, Chinese tires on these RVs. The insurance companies are paying out the yazoo to fix these things. Of course, we are ultimately paying higher insurance rates because of the claims. I'll get off my soap box now.
You would think that would be the end of this saga, but unfortunately, it's not.
Mr. W and I started noticing a small amount of water on the floor around the island. I thought at first that it was from washing dishes, the floor mat holding water, etc. Well, it's not. Woody (our 5W) has a leak. When Mr. W started investigating that, he crawled under the trailer and noticed the underbelly was drooping quite a bit. This morning, he pushed on it and water came out. Great. We have an ice maker which I love. But, the line to the ice maker comes out of the island through the sub-floor and floor and goes to the refrigerator. This line is just a plastic tube and it is down where the slide goes in an out. Mr. W thinks the tube got a hole in it from the slide. Another repair. Woody has a bumper-to-bumper 2 year warranty from the manufacturer. That is up in November. I did buy an extended warranty through another company but this needs to be fixed through warranty work. I'm thinking my plans for the fall may be changing. At least no one has been injured and the damage could have been a lot worse.
I'll let you know what happens with Goodyear.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
UPDATE ON TRAILER PROBLEM CAUSES CHANGE IN PLANS
In a previous post, I told you about the problem we are having with our 5W. The shackle broke that holds the spring. The 5W is under warranty so Mr. W called the manufacturer, who called the manufacturer of the chassis. Friday, the manufacturer (Redwood) called and said the chassis people (Lippert) were going to 2 day overnight the part. With Monday being a holiday, we should receive it Tuesday. We had reservations for the Outer Banks and needed to leave Wednesday. This state park has a check out time of 3:00. So far, so good.
Tuesday morning, Mr. W emails Redwood and asks if he can get a tracking number to check on the part and see when the expected delivery time was. Redwood emails back with an email from Lippert attached. The part did not get shipped. What the ???????? Lippert now says they will ship the part and send it overnight instead of 2-day overnight. Mr. W wants a tracking number before the end of the day. Can you tell he and I are getting irritated?
Here is the dilemma. I cannot drive the 5W anywhere until this is fixed because the axle could just roll on out of there. The state park says I can stay until Friday but I have to leave Friday because they are already booked up for this weekend. Today is Wednesday? Yikes!
So, yesterday, Mr. W spent most of the day trying to change reservations, cancelling reservations, and booking new reservations. Of course, he didn't want to book for Friday or Saturday until he knew for sure about the part and the welder to attach the part. Once the part actually does arrive and the welder can give me a day/time that he can fix it, then Mr. W will look for another park to accommodate us until Sunday.
I had reservations for a Coast to Coast park on the Outer Banks to arrive today and leave next Wednesday. I now have reservations at a Good Neighbor park from Sunday to Wednesday on the Sound which is somewhere around Wilmington/Newport, North Carolina. It looks like we won't make the Outer Banks this trip. The logistics and reservations and timing just didn't work out now. Dang it! Oh well, next time.
Late yesterday afternoon, Mr. W finally got the tracking number. The part is scheduled to be delivered today. Let's hope the welder can come either today if the part gets here early enough or tomorrow if it doesn't. My next concern, let's hope it is the right part!
For those of you reading this from the RV rally, situations like this is probably one reason why Howard and Linda don't make reservations. However, even when something like this comes up, Mr. W and I would still rather have reservations and move/change them than not having any at all. We both are planners and organizers and probably won't ever reach a point where we can go off out into the wild blue yonder not having a plan of where we will be staying. This just works for us.
I'm at least thankful that the 5W is under warranty so it is covered. However, I will have to pay the welder, send the receipt to Redwood and get reimbursed. If I had waited until Lippert could send someone to fix it, it would have been some time next week. I guess there are trade offs in everything.
I will let you know how this all works out. Keep your fingers crossed!
Tuesday morning, Mr. W emails Redwood and asks if he can get a tracking number to check on the part and see when the expected delivery time was. Redwood emails back with an email from Lippert attached. The part did not get shipped. What the ???????? Lippert now says they will ship the part and send it overnight instead of 2-day overnight. Mr. W wants a tracking number before the end of the day. Can you tell he and I are getting irritated?
Here is the dilemma. I cannot drive the 5W anywhere until this is fixed because the axle could just roll on out of there. The state park says I can stay until Friday but I have to leave Friday because they are already booked up for this weekend. Today is Wednesday? Yikes!
So, yesterday, Mr. W spent most of the day trying to change reservations, cancelling reservations, and booking new reservations. Of course, he didn't want to book for Friday or Saturday until he knew for sure about the part and the welder to attach the part. Once the part actually does arrive and the welder can give me a day/time that he can fix it, then Mr. W will look for another park to accommodate us until Sunday.
I had reservations for a Coast to Coast park on the Outer Banks to arrive today and leave next Wednesday. I now have reservations at a Good Neighbor park from Sunday to Wednesday on the Sound which is somewhere around Wilmington/Newport, North Carolina. It looks like we won't make the Outer Banks this trip. The logistics and reservations and timing just didn't work out now. Dang it! Oh well, next time.
Late yesterday afternoon, Mr. W finally got the tracking number. The part is scheduled to be delivered today. Let's hope the welder can come either today if the part gets here early enough or tomorrow if it doesn't. My next concern, let's hope it is the right part!
For those of you reading this from the RV rally, situations like this is probably one reason why Howard and Linda don't make reservations. However, even when something like this comes up, Mr. W and I would still rather have reservations and move/change them than not having any at all. We both are planners and organizers and probably won't ever reach a point where we can go off out into the wild blue yonder not having a plan of where we will be staying. This just works for us.
I'm at least thankful that the 5W is under warranty so it is covered. However, I will have to pay the welder, send the receipt to Redwood and get reimbursed. If I had waited until Lippert could send someone to fix it, it would have been some time next week. I guess there are trade offs in everything.
I will let you know how this all works out. Keep your fingers crossed!
Sunday, May 25, 2014
IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS
This post is about those everyday things we take for granted when we live in a "sticks and bricks" (that's what the full-timing community calls a regular house) and then presents a challenge when you live in a RV and travel around a lot. What am I suppose to do about my hair????
To help you understand my dilemma, my hair is a big part of my identity. When I was employed, my hair ALWAYS looked good. I kept up with trendy hair styles, the color was always fresh, I never went too long between cuts, and every hair was in place when I left the house. Not that I had a real "styled" look; because I am more of a messy, kind of sassy hair girl. And, for those of you that don't know me, I don't have a very good self image of myself. However, my hair is one of the few things that I really like about myself. (I know, I need help.) Thus, the importance of a good haircut.
I really like the stylist who does my hair. I've given up or cut down the frequency of most of what I considered "luxuries" since I retired. She was not one of them. I discussed with her about my travel plans and that I would be gone for 3 1/2 months. Her advice to me was that when I saw someone's hair that I liked, ask them who/where they had their hair done. Then, make an appointment. Sounds logical, right? So, I'm good to go.
When we were at the RV rally, one of the couples we met said that he cut her hair and she cut his. Are you kidding me? Mr. W will never get near my hair with a pair of scissors.
I have short hair and therefore need haircuts more often than if it were long. The last hair cut I had was the middle of March. Time for the next haircut passed around the end of April. This is now the end of May. My hair was a mess!
At the same time, Mr. W needed a haircut. Now here's the difference between men and women in my generation as it relates to haircuts. Mr. W was looking for the cheapest place to get a haircut. He did not care what kind of place it was (regular barber shop vs. salon) and he didn't care who cut his hair. He just wanted it to be cheap. So, after calling several places and stopping and asking several places the price of their men's haircuts, he finally found a barber shop that only charged $10. With no thought at all, he walked right in and sat right down in the chair ready for his haircut. Never would I be able to do that.
About the end of April, I start looking at every woman I ran into and checking out their haircuts. I don't know if I was hanging out in all the wrong places or what, but I did not see one woman that I liked her hair! Can this be? I go through 2 towns/areas in North Carolina and 1 town/area in Virginia, nothing. So, we get to Virginia Beach and at this point, I'm desperate. I find about 5 different hairstyles that should be easy to take care of. I finally make a decision about what I want but after 2 days in Virginia Beach, still no one to ask. So, I spent most of one evening/night and next morning researching hair salons at Virginia Beach. I read reviews from customers, studied their web sites, read everything I could about their stylists and their training and was praying for some divine revelation about a hair salon. (I told you that I needed help!)
The salon I decided on allowed you to make appointments online. I scheduled an appointment for that evening. So the worry and anxiety began. What if I got there and I didn't like the way the salon looked? What if I got there and I didn't like the look of the stylist? What if I got there and I didn't like the haircuts being given to clients there at that time? What if........
So, time comes to head to the salon. I have my picture of the style I decided on and I have my courage up after many pep talks from me to me. We get there and as I get out of the truck, I look at Mr. W and say, "It'll grow out, right?" He replies, "Right. It will be OK." I sound like I'm going in for surgery! They are cutting my hair, not my body! I am a sick woman!
Fortunately, the stylist was very nice and took a lot of time listening to me and asking me a lot of questions as we went through the haircut process. When I left there, my haircut wasn't exactly what I wanted, but close enough. I actually did some more cutting on it the next day that made me feel even better about it. So, I'm feeling good about myself and my hair. Life is good again!
Of course, I will probably need another haircut before I return to H-town. Oh great. Now I'm going to have to put myself through this ordeal again! Well, I just won't think about that now. Hopefully, South Carolina will have someone that I run into that I like their hair. Who knew that being retired and full time RVing was going to be so difficult and stressful? :)
To help you understand my dilemma, my hair is a big part of my identity. When I was employed, my hair ALWAYS looked good. I kept up with trendy hair styles, the color was always fresh, I never went too long between cuts, and every hair was in place when I left the house. Not that I had a real "styled" look; because I am more of a messy, kind of sassy hair girl. And, for those of you that don't know me, I don't have a very good self image of myself. However, my hair is one of the few things that I really like about myself. (I know, I need help.) Thus, the importance of a good haircut.
I really like the stylist who does my hair. I've given up or cut down the frequency of most of what I considered "luxuries" since I retired. She was not one of them. I discussed with her about my travel plans and that I would be gone for 3 1/2 months. Her advice to me was that when I saw someone's hair that I liked, ask them who/where they had their hair done. Then, make an appointment. Sounds logical, right? So, I'm good to go.
When we were at the RV rally, one of the couples we met said that he cut her hair and she cut his. Are you kidding me? Mr. W will never get near my hair with a pair of scissors.
I have short hair and therefore need haircuts more often than if it were long. The last hair cut I had was the middle of March. Time for the next haircut passed around the end of April. This is now the end of May. My hair was a mess!
At the same time, Mr. W needed a haircut. Now here's the difference between men and women in my generation as it relates to haircuts. Mr. W was looking for the cheapest place to get a haircut. He did not care what kind of place it was (regular barber shop vs. salon) and he didn't care who cut his hair. He just wanted it to be cheap. So, after calling several places and stopping and asking several places the price of their men's haircuts, he finally found a barber shop that only charged $10. With no thought at all, he walked right in and sat right down in the chair ready for his haircut. Never would I be able to do that.
About the end of April, I start looking at every woman I ran into and checking out their haircuts. I don't know if I was hanging out in all the wrong places or what, but I did not see one woman that I liked her hair! Can this be? I go through 2 towns/areas in North Carolina and 1 town/area in Virginia, nothing. So, we get to Virginia Beach and at this point, I'm desperate. I find about 5 different hairstyles that should be easy to take care of. I finally make a decision about what I want but after 2 days in Virginia Beach, still no one to ask. So, I spent most of one evening/night and next morning researching hair salons at Virginia Beach. I read reviews from customers, studied their web sites, read everything I could about their stylists and their training and was praying for some divine revelation about a hair salon. (I told you that I needed help!)
The salon I decided on allowed you to make appointments online. I scheduled an appointment for that evening. So the worry and anxiety began. What if I got there and I didn't like the way the salon looked? What if I got there and I didn't like the look of the stylist? What if I got there and I didn't like the haircuts being given to clients there at that time? What if........
So, time comes to head to the salon. I have my picture of the style I decided on and I have my courage up after many pep talks from me to me. We get there and as I get out of the truck, I look at Mr. W and say, "It'll grow out, right?" He replies, "Right. It will be OK." I sound like I'm going in for surgery! They are cutting my hair, not my body! I am a sick woman!
Fortunately, the stylist was very nice and took a lot of time listening to me and asking me a lot of questions as we went through the haircut process. When I left there, my haircut wasn't exactly what I wanted, but close enough. I actually did some more cutting on it the next day that made me feel even better about it. So, I'm feeling good about myself and my hair. Life is good again!
Of course, I will probably need another haircut before I return to H-town. Oh great. Now I'm going to have to put myself through this ordeal again! Well, I just won't think about that now. Hopefully, South Carolina will have someone that I run into that I like their hair. Who knew that being retired and full time RVing was going to be so difficult and stressful? :)
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
MOTHER'S DAY
Sunday was Mother's Day. I know I usually write my blog about my travels, but this post is going to be about Mother's Day. It will contain some very personal things about me and you are going to have to indulge me on that. I promise to get back on travels for the next post.
There are many emotions tied to this day. Not just for me but for many. Some have lost their moms, some have lost children, some long to be moms and it hasn't happened, and some are doing this thing called raising children by themselves. To all of you, special thoughts and prayers go out to you. Now, back to the story.
When we started on this journey of full-time RVing, the only reservation I had was being away from my kids and grandkids. I love them tremendously and love being around them. My grandkids love me and at least right now, love me being around. I did not want to lose that relationship. But, I went ahead and took off on this journey.
So, along comes the first Mother's Day away. Mr. W brings me coffee in bed. Check. Then Daughter posts the sweetest thing on Facebook.
"Y'all. I have the best mom in the world. She is fun, she is encouraging, I can talk to her about anything, she seeks out time with me and her grand babies, she is generous with her attention, she is adventurous (except with food )... this is a picture from when she flew to India to spend a few weeks with us right after Hazel was born. I love you Mom!! I praise God for blessing me with a mom that made Him a priority in parenting wisdom."
So, I get teary eyed and choked up but I'm going to make it through. Then, DIL sends me three little video clips from Boy-child, Girl-child, and Squeaky. Each one of the kids tell me why they love me. Sweetest clips ever! OK, now I'm feeling tear drops sliding down my face, but I'm blinking really fast and trying not to look at Mr. W. (I tried to post those little videos but for some reason they wouldn't post.)
Next, we had decided to visit one of the local churches so I'm getting dressed. I then decide that a string of pearls that I just inherited from Memaw (Mr. W's mom who just passed away in February) would be the perfect thing with my outfit. (Southern girls think pearls go with anything.) So I put them on and show Mr. W, who is looking a bit sad at the mention of his mom, and you guessed it, I start out and out crying. Y'all, I don't cry pretty. Never have and I guess never will.
So, Mr. W decides that maybe if he makes me feel like I'm in Texas, I won't be sad. Good idea.
After church, Mr. W turns on some Texas music. (Those that don't know, yes, we Texans even have our own music. It's musicians that are very well known and make a nice living just playing and recording in Texas.) He then fries up some white bass he caught in a Texas lake. (I very rarely eat anything fried because I'm trying to eat healthier, but desperate times call for desperate measures.) He fries up some potatoes with onions and just to say he cooked something healthy, he steamed some cauliflower too. (I won't mention that the cauliflower had cheese sauce all over it.)
A little later, Mr. W asks me if I want to ride into Maggie Valley and look for dessert. Maybe get an ice cream. I'm game, so off we go. We pull into one of the only little shopping strips that is open because we see a sign for ice cream. I go in to order ice cream and guess what???? It is Blue Bell ice cream. Guess where Blue Bell ice cream is made..........you got it, Texas! I'm now smiling and thinking that today is a good day.
I close by saying that I hope every mom out there had a great day. Being a mother is the most important "job" you will ever hold. If your mom is still alive, tell her you love her every time you talk to her.
There are many emotions tied to this day. Not just for me but for many. Some have lost their moms, some have lost children, some long to be moms and it hasn't happened, and some are doing this thing called raising children by themselves. To all of you, special thoughts and prayers go out to you. Now, back to the story.
When we started on this journey of full-time RVing, the only reservation I had was being away from my kids and grandkids. I love them tremendously and love being around them. My grandkids love me and at least right now, love me being around. I did not want to lose that relationship. But, I went ahead and took off on this journey.
So, along comes the first Mother's Day away. Mr. W brings me coffee in bed. Check. Then Daughter posts the sweetest thing on Facebook.
"Y'all. I have the best mom in the world. She is fun, she is encouraging, I can talk to her about anything, she seeks out time with me and her grand babies, she is generous with her attention, she is adventurous (except with food )... this is a picture from when she flew to India to spend a few weeks with us right after Hazel was born. I love you Mom!! I praise God for blessing me with a mom that made Him a priority in parenting wisdom."
So, I get teary eyed and choked up but I'm going to make it through. Then, DIL sends me three little video clips from Boy-child, Girl-child, and Squeaky. Each one of the kids tell me why they love me. Sweetest clips ever! OK, now I'm feeling tear drops sliding down my face, but I'm blinking really fast and trying not to look at Mr. W. (I tried to post those little videos but for some reason they wouldn't post.)
Next, we had decided to visit one of the local churches so I'm getting dressed. I then decide that a string of pearls that I just inherited from Memaw (Mr. W's mom who just passed away in February) would be the perfect thing with my outfit. (Southern girls think pearls go with anything.) So I put them on and show Mr. W, who is looking a bit sad at the mention of his mom, and you guessed it, I start out and out crying. Y'all, I don't cry pretty. Never have and I guess never will.
So, Mr. W decides that maybe if he makes me feel like I'm in Texas, I won't be sad. Good idea.
After church, Mr. W turns on some Texas music. (Those that don't know, yes, we Texans even have our own music. It's musicians that are very well known and make a nice living just playing and recording in Texas.) He then fries up some white bass he caught in a Texas lake. (I very rarely eat anything fried because I'm trying to eat healthier, but desperate times call for desperate measures.) He fries up some potatoes with onions and just to say he cooked something healthy, he steamed some cauliflower too. (I won't mention that the cauliflower had cheese sauce all over it.)
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| Tough place to have to cook don't you think? |
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| Yum, yum, yum! |
Sunday, May 4, 2014
RV RALLY
This past week, we have been at an RV rally. Mr. W has been following a blog of a couple who have been full time RVing for about 9 years. He found their blog on the internet about a year after they started. The title of their blog is RV-Dreams. Back in July, when we first started this journey, we saw that they were hosting a RV rally in Sevierville, TN this spring and decided that we wanted to attend. It sounded like fun. We had never been to a rally before. We were going to gather with others who had the same interest as we did in full time RVing and spend the week together. Believe me, when a bunch of RVers get together, there is always fun!
So, Mr. W started planning the trip. For those that don't know, Mr. W can plan a trip to death! I could never do the researching, planning, routing, researching again, re-planning, re-routing, repeat (you get the idea) as he does. I guess that's why we travel so well together. :) Of course, when he gets through with all of it, you have a great trip to look forward to. Anyway, this rally was the reason we decided to head to the east on our first trip.
So, we arrive in Sevierville, TN on Monday. Registration for the rally was Tuesday afternoon and a catered dinner was that night. There were 175 people registered to attend this rally. Wow! The impressive thing is, Monday evening, Howard and Linda (the hosts) invited everyone who had arrive one day early to come to their site and meet others who had arrived early. They had gone by each person's site to welcome them and invite them to this gathering. There were about 100 people there that evening. Howard went around and introduced everyone, by name, without us wearing name tags, and in most cases, he had just met us a couple of hours before for a very brief few minutes. I was pretty impressed.
Each day started with seminars on different aspects of RVing and full timing. We had a break for a lunch and then finished up the afternoon with more seminars. Most evenings had catered dinners and fun things. Bill, who we met the first night and who is a "veteran of this rally", suggested we sit at a different each day so we could meet new people. We took his advice and we met some great people.
Just to give you an idea of some of our activities, we had "Share your RV gadgets" night. There is no perfect RV so there is always some give and take in things you end up with in your RV. So, when you give up something, you find a way to compensate or make do and it was fun seeing what gadgets people either bought or made to compensate in their RV.
We had pot luck dinner one evening. Some of these people can cook! There was our Kentucky Derby party. We watched the race, had a hat contest, and had our own race with our own blow up stick horses (don't ask), along with a DJ and a dance afterward. There was an Open House and people opened their RVs for everyone to walk through and ask questions. I volunteered to open my RV and of course this Texas girl had to show her "Personalized Texas Edition" to all the non-Texans! Actually, some even liked it....
I even learned how to braid a T-shirt!
It will suffice to say that mornings were early and nights were late and I was dog tired today! But it was fun. I hated to see some of the special people I had met leave. But, I'm hoping that our paths cross again in all of our journeys
Tomorrow, Mr. W and I will be back to doing sightseeing in the area. We will be visiting the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I haven't been here since I was about 7 years old. Mr. W has never been. So, stay tuned for some great pics!
So, Mr. W started planning the trip. For those that don't know, Mr. W can plan a trip to death! I could never do the researching, planning, routing, researching again, re-planning, re-routing, repeat (you get the idea) as he does. I guess that's why we travel so well together. :) Of course, when he gets through with all of it, you have a great trip to look forward to. Anyway, this rally was the reason we decided to head to the east on our first trip.
So, we arrive in Sevierville, TN on Monday. Registration for the rally was Tuesday afternoon and a catered dinner was that night. There were 175 people registered to attend this rally. Wow! The impressive thing is, Monday evening, Howard and Linda (the hosts) invited everyone who had arrive one day early to come to their site and meet others who had arrived early. They had gone by each person's site to welcome them and invite them to this gathering. There were about 100 people there that evening. Howard went around and introduced everyone, by name, without us wearing name tags, and in most cases, he had just met us a couple of hours before for a very brief few minutes. I was pretty impressed.
 |
| Meet Howard and Linda, our hosts Can you tell Howard is a little more subdued and Linda is not? :) |
Each day started with seminars on different aspects of RVing and full timing. We had a break for a lunch and then finished up the afternoon with more seminars. Most evenings had catered dinners and fun things. Bill, who we met the first night and who is a "veteran of this rally", suggested we sit at a different each day so we could meet new people. We took his advice and we met some great people.
Just to give you an idea of some of our activities, we had "Share your RV gadgets" night. There is no perfect RV so there is always some give and take in things you end up with in your RV. So, when you give up something, you find a way to compensate or make do and it was fun seeing what gadgets people either bought or made to compensate in their RV.
We had pot luck dinner one evening. Some of these people can cook! There was our Kentucky Derby party. We watched the race, had a hat contest, and had our own race with our own blow up stick horses (don't ask), along with a DJ and a dance afterward. There was an Open House and people opened their RVs for everyone to walk through and ask questions. I volunteered to open my RV and of course this Texas girl had to show her "Personalized Texas Edition" to all the non-Texans! Actually, some even liked it....
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| Bill and Nancy in their Kentucky Derby hats. |
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| Winner for most glamorous hat |
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| Winners for best couples hats |
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| Some of the dancing going on. |
I even learned how to braid a T-shirt!
Tomorrow, Mr. W and I will be back to doing sightseeing in the area. We will be visiting the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I haven't been here since I was about 7 years old. Mr. W has never been. So, stay tuned for some great pics!
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