Hubby just reported "the ol' thermometer says 106, and that's not a radio station", so I guess it's a good time to kick back in the house, enjoy the A/C and do a bit of updating.

We're trying to get ready for departure, which will be sometime early in July if things go as planned. The weather lately makes it hard to get the outside tasks done, so we're progressing rather slowly (that's our story and we're sticking to it!).

A friend commented one time that she just assumed it took us a couple of days to get things ready and packed when we hit the road for the summer. I wish! Heck, I can't pack that quickly for a three day plane trip! We've always got things to repair, or improve, kitchen staples to refill, groceries to buy and load in, and then there's always the unnecessary crafty project of some kind that I'm determined to do, even though it isn't strictly necessary.

This year the essential repair was the forward spring that broke just as we were leaving Balmorhea State Park back in mid May. We had moved the short distance from our site over to the dump station when, in his customary walk-around, Steve noticed some unusual wear on the trailer's front tire sidewall.  Upon inspection he discovered the front spring had broken two leaves, allowing the fender well to drop. It was rubbing on the side of the tire and had done noticeable damage in only a few feet of travel.  It's a little unnerving to think about what the results might have been if that had happened at a high speed.

As a temporary fix to get us home Steve put a wooden block between the axle and the trailer. We certainly couldn't rely on that solution forever, so he found these heavy rubber axle bumpers that mount on the axle and will hopefully serve the same purpose should we ever break another spring.

The parts arrived the other day and after completing the installation Steve said the project went better than he'd expected, so in consideration of the wear and tear all the springs have had over the years, he ordered another spring for the other side and replaced that one too.

He did most of the work lying on his back in the gravel, under a metal roof, in a thunderstorm, with Shiner either breathing in his ear or laying on his tools - does he know how to have fun or what!

He's also done some general reorganization for the cargo spaces, and some repairs to the cargo box on the back so he's almost done with his to-do list.

My crafty project for this season was targeted at getting rid of the peeling wallpaper border. When we bought our Arctic Fox 30U, back in 2003, it had a wallpaper border all the way around the main living area. It's pressure sensitive sticky back promptly curled up and let go of the wall in the Nevada heat on that 4th of July trip. So, I put up a regular paper border, one that's attached with a water based paste. That survived pretty well, but now, nine years later, it was beginning to curl up at the corners and was driving me crazy.

The vinyl surface walls in an RV do present a particular challenge as not much wants to stick to them. My current solution is a stenciled design. Using a couple of purchased stencils and craft paints I applied a subtle leafy vine along the long side of the slideout, and two birds (colored to resemble the Texas scissor-tailed flycatcher) near the windows on each side of the slide. I dare this wall treatment to fall off!


I also remodeled a couple of foil window shades to fit our living space windows. These are the same kind you buy for autos, cut down to fit exactly so they can be tucked behind the shade during hot sunny days.
We find it makes a huge difference in being able to keep the inside cool when it's over 95 outside. The shades are already accordion folded, so are easy to tuck beside the sofa out of the way when we don't need them. We now have a foil blind to fit every window, so we're ready for that southwest desert sun!

Housekeeping is pretty much the same in an RV as at home. In spite of routine cleaning sometimes you need to dismantle an area and start over with everything clean and new. This year I talked myself into tackling the spice collection.

We like to cook, and we like spicy foods, so we carry a lot of spices for both baking and BBQ. Between road dust and humidity, the RV life is kind of hard on them. So, completely cleaning out and starting over seemed like a good plan. It only took most of a day (but I was able to stay inside where it's cool!)

We keep most of the spices in a nifty hanging rack that holds 12 different spices without taking up any shelf space. (You can find one like this by doing a web search on "select a spice carousel" - there are several, at varying prices.) I think this is one of the best inventions I've seen for organizing a small RV kitchen. It's taken all these years of bouncing down the road with no ill effects, too!

Remaining to-do's: reattaching our plexiglass storm window on the front door, steam cleaning the carpet, and installing the new sound system. So that my friends is why it takes us so long to get ready to travel.

After all that is completed we can start with the basic food and clothes packing! Yes, it's work, and maybe it would be easier if we did it full-time and didn't have the house to worry about too, but we do enjoy both. It's no more work than playing tennis as far as I'm concerned!
[Reminder: you can click on any of the photos for a larger version]

LaGrande, Oregon

We planned a stop in the little eastern Oregon town of LaGrande to get some repair work done on our Arctic Fox at the Northwood factory. Our rock cover on the front window has been a problem for awhile now, and we've patched it a couple of times, so we decided it was time to move on to a new one.The factory recommended nearby Eagles Hot Lake RV Park as a good place to stay as it's really close to the factory. It turned out to be a great recommendation. We had no idea what else was around the RV park, so we were in for a pleasant surprise.


The park itself is very picturesque, nestled in at the foot of Craig Mountain  with the old Oregon Trail running behind it and Ladd Marsh Wildlife Refuge  right across the road. The trees in the park aren't very big yet, but the spaces are generous, grassy, and everything is well maintained. Ladd Marsh offers a wealth of wildlife viewing - over 200 species of birds in addition to the occasional deer and elk. There's a creek running right through the park, a pool and spa, and a laundry room. The real treat however is  Hot Lake Springs, spa and bead and breakfast, that is located right next door. This establishment has quite a history.

From pioneer days, when the trail ran along the base of the mountain and travelers stopped here at the trading post, to the 1900's when a luxury spa and sanatorium (hospital) was established, to the current incarnation as bed and breakfast/art gallery/history center.

The draw of the property way back into Indian days was the hot lake waters which were believed to have healing properties. The area was considered "tribe neutral" because of of this special attribute, so even warring tribes could meet here on peaceful terms.Today, the hot waters are piped into soaking tubs in the spring house.

In 2003 Manuel family purchased the property and began restoring it. It was in terrible shape after many years of neglect. Renovations have taken years - they have been open for guests since 2010, but just held their grand opening in early August of this year.

They moved their bronze sculpture foundry business and gallery here from Joseph, and are now in the process of providing space the their gallery for other artists. There's a little gift shop and antique shop in addition to the gallery, so shoppers will be delighted with the range of choices.

Many of David Manuel's amazing sculptures are situated around the grounds, and smaller versions of many of them are available in the gallery.

For a small fee you can tour the grounds, view the beautifully appointed guest rooms, and experience two floors of Native American artifacts, artwork, military and pioneer history. The entire facility is an experience, as there are little cabinets and show cases tucked in every lounge area and available corner, all filled with various antiques and collectables. We spent a little more than two hours there. They have a restaurant too, so it would be easy to make a day of it.

We dropped off the rig at the factory at 7 A.M. With time on our hands until the repair was finished we asked about a good place for breakfast. The Flying J truck stop was suggested, with the caveat "I hope you're really hungry".... it was a good suggestion, as the food was great and plenty of it. Not just fried eggs and ham either - I had crepes with berry sauce - delightful!

Our appointment at the factory went well. The new rock cover's design is a big improvement over the old one, and they managed to find one with graphics similar to those on the trailer itself. We also learned the secret to removing the window screens so we can thoroughly clean the windows, and obtained their expert advice on a few other questions. 'Nice folks, and very helpful! We were back on the road with our repaired rig by 10:30 A.M.

For more views of the Hot Lake Springs facility and grounds check out the album.

Next stop - Pendleton, Oregon.