Stuck on Wednesday

One morning the Trailmaster asked, "What day is it?" A common enough question, especially for those of us who are retired and don't have to pay to much attention to what day it is.

According to the Day Clock it was Wednesday. but after checking the date/time on the computer we deduced it had been Wednesday for the last three days. 

Obviously we hadn't been too concerned! It is a slightly strange feeling, though, to discover you've not paid any attention at all to what day of the week it is for three days running. I guess we're finally getting into the retirement groove.

A fresh battery to the rescue! Now we're on track again.

The Day Clock really is a handy gadget, and one of the best retirement gifts either of us ever received. Most of the time we really don't care what time it is, but we do (obviously) tend to lose track of what day it is, so the clock keeps us oriented and on schedule. Can't miss our next reservation date you know!

It was rather ironic that the same day we discovered the clock was "stuck on Wednesday" one of our favorite bloggers had some thoughts on Hump Day himself. Check out Nick's blog post.

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]

Valley River Center, Eugene

 Blue herons and snowy egrets fishing in the pond, mallard ducks puddling about at the water's edge, laughing at each others jokes, Canadian geese flying overhead and calling out to the stragglers, a river otter fishing for his breakfast.

Does this sound like a nature preserve?

Well, it's actually the east leg of the Eugene bike path. It runs along the Willamette River and crosses the Delta ponds.

We're here for just a one night stop, waiting for our reservations to open up at the Armitage Park campground. It sounds a bit strange to some that we are "camped" on the back-side of a shopping mall, but really, the view is better than we've had in many RV parks, and you can't beat it for people watching.

Wild sweetpeas near the path

The bike trail is a wealth of sporting equipment of all kinds. There are bicycles, skateboards, scooters, walking poles, and backpacks of every shape and size.

The bike path is heavily used, by bicyclists as well as walkers, and it extends for a couple of miles in both directions from the mall, so offers a nice opportunity for a long walk,with a nice view, in a really safe environment. It's completely paved, so safe for those who have trouble with uneven ground.

River Otter

VRC allows two nights a month for RV parking, free of charge. All you have to do is register with the security staff who patrol the lots constantly.

East Lake, Oregon

After leaving Training Camp we stopped for one night at the Crook County RV Park, in Prineville. The stop was planned so we could stock up before heading south to East Lake, but it also provided an opportunity to repair our gas water heater that had decided to give up the ghost during Training Camp. It would ignite, but wouldn’t stay lit. While I caught up on the laundry Steve did some diagnostic work and eventually took the circuit control board to a shop and had it tested at High Desert RV. ‘Nice folks, and very helpful in running down the problem. The circuit board proved to be the culprit, so one new circuit board and $140 later we again had hot water. ‘Good thing, as the campground we’ll be staying in at East Lake doesn’t have electric or water service available.

Crook County RV park is nice. The spaces are generously log, but rather skimpy in the width. Each space has a little postage stamp size bit of grass and a picnic table. Fortunately the park wasn’t crowded, so they assigned everyone alternate spaces, making for a nice bit of elbow room.

This is posted “on the road”, as we’ll have no Internet service there unless we drive out away from the park. East Lake is in the Newberry National Volcanic Monument, and the campground is in a caldera (collapsed volcano), which really limits cell phone access. We’ll be here for 8 days, so plenty of time for R and R, and sightseeing too. Watch for reports!

Installing EDWIN - another RV remodeling adventure

No, we didn't put my father in the ol' RV.  . . . here's the story.

The one drawback to the floor plan of our Arctic Fox trailer is that there is limited ventilation in the bedroom. When we're out in really hot weather a little cross-ventilation would be nice. I once suggested putting a window in the wall next to the door. The Wagon Master (a.k.a. chief mechanic and RV maintenance guy) looked at me as if I'd finally go 'round the bend and informed me in no uncertain terms "We are NOT cutting a hole in the wall."

OK then . . .'not to be stymied in my search for fresh air, I hit the Internet and after searching several RV replacement window sites, I came up with the Atwood EDWIN - short for Entry Door WINdow.

This little treasure fits the existing door window opening and the window in it opens!! It was really easy to install (I can say that as I actually helped), and appears it will be trouble free. We'll see if it provides adequate air flow when were out on the road. We do leave the door open if it's really hot, but this should be a nice intermediate solution. We also have a foil blanket to Velcro over the window for light and heat control when we need it. Problem solved! 'Wish all our remodeling jobs were this simple! We're still waiting for parts and pieces for the solar project, when we've got all the materials we'll launch into that.

 After almost three months on the road we can now honestly say that the window was a good solution, but, we discovered after the first month that we needed to go a few steps further. First, the window glass is smoked, but not textured, so at night with inside lights on you can see into the bedroom, and because the foil blanket I mentioned covers the entire window, and the screen door blocks access to it from the inside, we decided we needed another "light control" solution. We went to a hardware store and bought some "privacy" window film and put that on the window, solving the privacy problem. Then, I made a curtain out of fabric heavy enough to block all the light. It pulls to the side during the day, so it doesn't hinder use of the door, and air can flow around and under it at night if we have it pulled all the way closed. It seems we now have all issues resolved.


When we visited the Northwood factory (see previous post) we inspected several new trailer models, and saw stacks of windows ready for installation - they all looked like the Edwin! Apparently the same company is supplying them now. The new version of our model does have a window in the bedroom, so the airflow is improved, but if you have an older 30U, or some other RV model that needs increased ventilation, this solution might work for you.

Moab, UT

We're camped just outside Moab, in the Goose Island campground on hwy. 128. With the back of our site right at the river's edge, and a towering sandstone cliff on the opposite shore, we've got the perfect place to relax and soak up the atmosphere.

As the crow flies, we're only about 200  miles from the multicolored wedding cake layers of Nine Mile Canyon, but here everything is red sandstone. And I do mean RED - the color is so intense that anything green seems even more so, and the result is some pretty breathtaking scenery.

We've scheduled four days here, filling in until our reservations at the next stop open up, and we are really enjoying the relaxing pace of staying put for a bit. It's a good chance to get caught up on reading, blogging and phone calls as we have really good connections at our site.

On the first full day here we went in to Moab and checked out the visitor's center, picked up a few publications and sort of got oriented to the area. Moab is an interesting town. Picture your standard ski resort, but substitute red sand and cliffs for the snow, and river rafting, jeeping and rock climbing for the skiing.... you pretty well have it. There's a pub or coffee shop on every corner, just about everybody sells souvenir T-shirts, and vehicles for rent? Just name it. If it floats or has tires, you can rent it here.

We spent the next day exploring Arches National Park, just a short hop up the road. The park isn't large compare to some. There's a driving tour up through the middle of the park with multiple short trails for exploring the actual named arches, and a few longer trails for those who want to push deeper into the desert.

Everywhere you look there's a new shape, new colors, and shadows shifting across the eroded surfaces. Such a wide expanse is really hard to capture in still photography.

The predominant material in the landscape here is sandstone. Each type of sandstone has a different way of weathering, so there are horizontal layers, arches, caves, and spires everywhere. The landscape is predominantly red sandstone, with a little pale cream colored sandstone thrown in for contrast. Here and there though, you'll see splashes of color, soft sedimentary layers that were once horizontal, but then became broken as the earth moved, tipped sideways, and then eroded to a colorful powdery splash in an otherwise red field.

Arches is a wonderful place to witness the powerful effects of geologic forces, and to think about the millions of years that have lapsed in the making of this landscape. Patches of "desert varnish", millions of years old, look black in one light, and then reflect the brilliant blue of the sky as the sun and shadows shift.

Though the geology of the area is what it's most famous for there's human history here too. Like this little cabin that was home for many years to a civil war veteran who moved to the area to take up ranching. The Ranch was settled in the late 1800's by John Wesley Wolfe and his son.

John moved west from Ohio looking for a drier climate, hoping it would improve the leg injury he received in the Civil War. John choose a tract of 100 acres of land along Salt Wash for its water and grassland - enough for a few cattle.

Wolfe ranch is certainly a modest abode compared to what we call a ranch nowadays. Just behind the cabin is a little panel of petroglyphs, a link to an even older human history.

Though the scenery in the park is breathtaking, I have to confess we couldn't resist doing a bit of people watching.

On the one hand, I'm really glad people are attending our National Parks. There are people here from all over the world, enjoying a landscape that is really unique.  On the other hand, there are so many of them!!! I felt like we were in Disneyland! There are huge tour buses, large rental RVs, vans and cars everywhere. The parking lots at all the trail heads were usually overflowing. The shot at left shows only part of the parking lot at Pine Tree Arch. Parked cars and tour buses lined the road on the other side too. And I've never seen so many shiny aluminum, collapsible hiking sticks, so many brand new back packs, serious hiking boots, and big floppy hats, all the correct equipment for "hiking" on trails that have been so carefully manicured you could easily take a stroller or wheel chair down 80% of them. I wish I had stock in L.L. Bean!

We did enjoy the day, in spite of the crowds. The landforms here are fantastic, and with the shifting light, they keep changing so there's always something new to see.

The days have been reaching 100 degrees or better, so we finally called it a day and retired under the tree at the back of our campsite with a cold one. It's refreshing to watch the rafts go by, and the boulder across the river from us makes just enough noise in the flow of the water to sound like a small, and very cool, waterfall.

Our next adventure was a drive upriver to check out the other BLM campgrounds. They are all more suited for tents and really small RVs, and none have the degree of shade we have here, thanks to the tall cliff at the back of our site, so we decided we did well to select this site, the first we came across.
We also checked out the one campground in Arches, and it's nice, but small - small spaces, tight curves, and no shade at all. All the spaces are reservable and it usually fills up fast. 

A little further upriver we came upon the restored historic Dewey Bridge. They've restored the top part, but not the roadbed. . . probably afraid it will be too hard to keep people off, or not within the budget.

We had read in one of the travel brochures about a western movie museum at a lodge upriver so targeted that as a stop.

The museum is housed in the Red Cliffs Lodge, which is an absolutely beautiful place to spend a few days. They have several cabins, all situated right on the river with private views, as well as hotel type accommodations. A vineyard and winery is also attached to the lodge property, and they have a huge horseback riding stable. They have a full schedule of activities available for guests, and one of them is the movie museum.

The museum includes displays on many of the films made in the area, westerns as well as others. There are set models, costumes, props, some old ranching items, and a lot of art work pertaining to the films. As fans of the old westerns, we thoroughly enjoyed it. It's worth a trip to the lodge even if you aren't staying there. We were a bit early, but they have a restaurant too, so perhaps a good place for lunch!

We headed out late yesterday to see if we could locate some of the sites listed in a self-guided rock art brochure. The heat cut our trip short, but we did find a few. Here's my favorite. That must have been one enormous bear!

After four days here we've had a real chance to observe the campground and the area. We've met some nice folks, neighboring campers, like the young woman who is a professional photographer (here's her site) and some I'd rather do without.... like those cute little mice that have been running around our site. They are so brave they don't even wait for sundown! Molly finds chasing them quite entertaining, but she's slowed down a bit and I don't think there's much chance of her catching one. Other wildlife here include less objectionable wild turkeys, birds and chipmunks. A cute brown weasel met us the day we pulled in, but we haven't seen him since. 'Guess he's bashful, or doesn't trust Molly!

It's been hot, hot, hot here so rather than cooking in the house we've taken to cooking everything on the Weber Baby-Q. It's been a sort of challenge figuring out the timing and all the other strategies of cooking by a new method, but so far, so good! We've done pot roast, a loaf of bread, baked potatoes and crispy chicken... all with success, and a relatively cool RV!

There are a few more shots of Arches National Park and environs in the album. 

Road Tripin' Music

We've logged about 1,295 as of lunchtime today.... lots of miles and lots of big rigs. We just heard this on the radio and couldn't resist sharing it!  Check this out on YouTube:  There's a Diesel on My Tail

Drop us a comment and tell us what you think of the song!

Just in case you didn't catch all those lyrics. . . .

Del Reeves - Diesel On My Tail lyrics

I just pulled onto the highway in my little foreign car
Well it's rainin' and the road is really bad
Never saw that big ole diesel but I heard him hit the air
I got a feeling that I might have made him mad

There's a diesel on my tail a making ninety miles an hour
And my reflection in my mirror is mighty pale
I can hear St Peter calling I can almost smell the flowers
Can this compact take the impact there's a diesel on my tail

Well he closed the gap between us pushed the pedal on the floor
He's makin' ninety in that big ole diesel truck
Hear the names he's callin' me above the engine's roar
And the words won't be found in Webster's book

There's a diesel on my tail...

Well I'm huffin' and a puffin' as I try to make the grade
And I wish I had some pedals on this car
Then I'm slippin' and a slidin' and afraid to touch the brake
For this doodle bug could never stand the jar

There's a diesel on my tail...

Well I'm slippin' and a slidin' tryin' to hold it in the road
And I tell you I just got to win this race
While I'm tremblin' and a shakin' he's a pourin' on the coal
So close that I can steal his licence plate

There's a diesel on my tail...

RV Remodeling

When we bought our Arctic Fox 30U back in 2003 we knew we would be using it for our travels after retirement, so we planned for flexibility.  One decision intended to increase flexibility was selecting the free-standing table and chairs in the dinette area, rather than the fixed benches and table. Though we used the table and chairs for camping trips for several years, they really weren't comfortable or particularly convenient.

Our first move after retirement was to remove the dining table and chairs and move the sleeper sofa forward into that space. The new arrangement allows for more room to walk around the sofa when it's pulled out to make a bed. We often have someone staying with us, so the additional foot room around both sides is nice.

Molly in her favorite corner

In the space previously occupied by the sofa, we installed a bookcase. The cabinet was assembled of 3 sections of off-the-shelf, upper kitchen cabinets from the local home builders store. The two end sections hold books, maps, craft supplies and whatever else we can fit in. The center is situated over an outside hatch, so the boxed-in bottom section opens to the outside, and the top is fitted with a shelf that has a slight lip to keep things from shifting and hitting the cabinet doors. The shelf is lined with light weight carpet to minimize wear on the contents. We use that space to store small kitchen appliances like the toaster and coffeemaker. The cabinet is attached  to the floor with long screws.               

Steve put molding around the top and extended it 1/2" above the top of the cabinet. This creates enough of a gallery railing effect to keep small items like a tissue box or pencils from flying off when we move. The doors are closed with strong magnet catches, and we've added pulls that match the other cabinetry.

Early on we got rid of the two stuffed chairs that came with the rig. They were horribly uncomfortable! We replaced them with two leather office chairs which we find very comfortable as they are adjustable and easily swivel to allow viewing out the window or watching TV without having to move the chair. One chair is arranged in front of the book case and the other at the back end of the trailer, where the chairs are originally shown in the floor plan.

As a temporary arrangement last summer the space by the door was filled with a folding table to hold the printer and other electronics.  It also made for good storage under the table for larger items like a laundry basket, camera case, etc.

After six months on the road we decided we were really happy with the changes made so far, but thought we'd like a real cabinet next to the door rather than the table we'd been using. So, again using kitchen cabinets from the hardware store, we assembled a unit that we think will meet our needs. 

The top extends beyond the base on one end to create a little cubbyhole for the oil heater we carry and a small box fan. The center section has a cabinet and drawer, and the right side has three drawers.

The two cabinet sections are base kitchen cabinets, with the toe-kick removed. The assembly was a bit too tall for our taste with that toe space at the bottom, as it blocked off too much of the window at the back, so dropping the height down by about 4 inches worked well.

The nest of wires for the printer, computer, phone antenna etc.
that always made such a disorganized tangle will now be neatly contained in the wiring grommets on the top and bottom/side of the cabinet. The cabinet section on the lower left has a power strip attached inside that many of the electronics will be connected to, and it plugs in to the outlet in the side wall, through one of the grommets, where the heater and fan are stored.

Just as with the bookcase, the molding was installed so as to create a bit of a lip around the edge. The top is covered with vinyl flooring squares that match the kitchen counter pretty well. Formica has gotten terribly expensive and we couldn't find a source for a small piece. It didn't make sense to by a large sheet for a small surface. The vinyl tiles were a buck a piece, and quite durable.  The drawers and door are secured with heavy duty magnet catches, pulls to match the rest of the cabinets have been attached, and now the whole assembly looks like it came with the rig! We're looking forward to trying it out when we hit the road in a few weeks.

Next project: new solar panels on the roof - stay tuned!

Driving Ms. Daphne

We are at our home in Central Texas and have pretty much unloaded the truck and trailer. I thought I would give my take on the overall adventure and mention the pluses and minuses of our six months on the road.


We left June 6 and returned on December 2, 2010. We traveled 11,537 miles, burned 1017 gallons of diesel and averaged 11.3 mpg on the trip. We camped in primarily state and county parks in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Oregon. We spent a few nights in federal parks, private parks and Elks Clubs in our travels. We were fortunate to be able to spend some nights with friends parking on their property. We averaged $490 per month for camping or $17.00 a night. We spent an estimated $3500 for fuel.


Camping fee's were varied and seemed to get more expensive as we went west. The lowest state park fee was $14.00 a night and the highest was $28.00 which was charged in both Idaho and Washington. These were full hook up sites. We paid a low of $8.00 in a BLM campgroud in Oregon. Overall, most state parks were nice but Oregon had the best parks on the trip. We did not stay in a California state park on the trip so can't comment on that system. One of our favorite parks was Armitage Park in Eugene, OR. We stayed there several times this while attending National-Championship-Bound Oregon Duck football games early in the season.


We had no problems with the truck ( a 2003 Chev. Silverado Duramax Diesel.) It pulled our 2003 Arctic Fox 30 U well. I had to replace the toilet in the trailer as the flush cables broke. The front jack shear pin broke and I repaired that. Everything else worked with no problem.


In accessing the equipment used on this trip we found that having AC was nice while in the South West, the Olympia Wave gas heater coupled with an electric oil heater worked well for those chilly nights without and with hookups. The Vu Qube 1000 Sat. antenna performed flawlessly and the Dometic 3 way cooler worked well after we got used to it (I figure we saved about $600.00 for ice purchases since we acquired the unit in July.) The unit was around $400.00. The Dometic/Sea Land residential type bathroom throne is a nice upgrade. I used a Delorme Topo navigation system with a small Dell laptop and maintained communications with a Verizon Cell phones and Broadband Card with Cradlepoint 1000 router and Cyfre amplifier. One of the biggest problems was a switch from Dish Sat. to Direct TV. It is a very long story but has turned out OK in the end. When I compare the two services there isn't much different.


My power system consists of a Progressive Dynamics converter w/ charge wizard when hooked up. I have a 100 watt solar panel and a 2400watt Yamaha Generator for off-grid camping. We currently have 4 Group 27 12v batteries monitored by a TriMetric 2020 and have a 1500 watt inverter. We are definitely going to upgrade the solar system this winter and access our battery condition. I will build a 180 watt portable panel system and replace the batteries with 6 volt batteries.


It was a great trip where we maintained connections with family and friends and reconnected with other friends we haven't seen since junior high school.

"Driving Ms. Daphne, the 2010 Edition" was great start to "living the dream".

Valley River Center, Eugene, Oregon

Now this is the life!!.... parked in the back lot of Valley River Center.... I'm not kidding! It sounds a little strange I'm sure, to say that parking one's RV in a shopping mall parking lot is a good deal, but look at the facts:
1. We have more "privacy" (space to ourselves) here than in many private RV parks;
2. We are right on the Willamette River, with plenty of walking paths leading to the Owen Memorial Rose Garden and other beautiful locations, and a range of natural wildlife areas only a few feet away;
3. Security is constantly checking the area so it's safe;
4. Best of all.... it's free!

OK, so we are "boon-docking" - I can live without water and electricity for a day or two. We charged up and filled up before we arrived here so we don't miss the services. As it turns out, "2" is the magic number. Management of the Valley River shopping center allows RVer's to stay 2 nights out of 30 in their back lot, along the river, for no charge. Security will check you in and provide you with the very reasonable guidelines.

This is a great place to stop if you need to catch up on a few city chores - banking and shopping and the like. The mall has several of the major department stores and nice restaurants, and you are within easy driving distance of the Hult Center and museums if you want to take advantage of those cultural opportunities. We had decided our "to do" list was long enough that we needed to get back to civilization sooner than we had originally planned, and our reservation at Armitage, the county park we have stayed at before, doesn't start until Tuesday, so this is a stop-gap. You can't beat the scenery or the price! The walk/bike trail system is extensive here in Eugene, and runs along both sides of the Willamette, so there are plenty of opportunities for birdwatching or just plain stretching the muscles.

Interesting trivia: Valley River Center is actually a pretty cool location. It was used as the primary location for shooting the film How to Beat the High Co$t of Living in 1980. Eugene and environs have been used as locations for a lot of other films too, including the now world-famous Animal House, some of which was filmed in Cottage Grove, where we used to live, and on the University of Oregon campus.  

Check out the album for a leisurely walk along the river.

Wax your 'Qube!

While Steve stayed in camp and attempted to track all (aprox.35) college football games on Saturday (he actually watched parts of 6) I went to visit my sister and help her build a fire ring in her backyard. We were both fairly successful (Ducks won  43- 23 over Washington State) and we got the fire ring finished. Best of all, the worst of the rain held off until late afternoon. A good thing too! as it turns out the VuQube, our satellite receiver, doesn't cotton much to rain. Steve had noticed a bit of a problem early in the day and started researching the reception problems he was having - suggestions such as coating the covering with WD-40 and waxing came up, so he tried them. The WD-40 worked until the rain got heavier and then it was a lost cause. Amazing to me, the auto wax route worked - I didn't think the wax would adhere to a wet surface but after two trips up to the roof to wax the " 'qube" the reception was markedly improved. Just another of those little details we learn along the way!

It rained pretty heavily during the night. Sitting on the sofa having morning coffee I heard what sounded like a waterfall outside, so lifted the shade to check out what was making the noise as I knew there was no waterfall there..... there were 20 mallards having the time of their lives muddling in all the little mini lakes in the area. The must have had a dandy earthworm breakfast! It drizzled off and on all day, so we didn't get too adventuresome, just venturing out enough to take Molly for a few short walks. The sun sort of peaked out in the afternoon, but of course today, as we are leaving, the sky is bright blue and sunny!

We really enjoyed our time at Vasa Park, and it's a good thing we didn't plan this trip later as they close October 15. The only two negative points we'd list for the park, from our perspective, is the extremely limited area for dog exercise (it's across the very busy street) and that same busy streed coupled with a sharp curve makes getting in and out of the park with the rig a bit of a challenge. I stood on the median with the radio to assure an all clear before Steve pulled out which seemed to work pretty well. Today we head southeast, to Yakima, where we'll hang out for a few days and explore the surrounding area.

Changing horses in the middle of a stream

What a project - not changing horses, but changing satellite systems - it feels like changing horses though.

Our previous provider (Dish Network) had suddenly decided to stop providing many of the channels we like, no change in the monthly charges of course, so we voted with our $$ and went elsewhere. After several convoluted telephone conversations with Direct TV our tech department (that would be Steve) made the decision to shift to that system. Unfortunately, they don't seem to get the drift that RV folk don't always have a shipping address - and they weren't about to help solve the problem. So, while I was doing the laundry he drove over to see an RV installation company and picked up the hardware there. Once in hand, it seemed like it would be the proverbial piece of cake to get up and going.

With cardboard boxes and packing parts everywhere in our little space the process began of getting the system set up - it didn't go quite as quickly as he planned (does anything?) We had project stacked on top of project as we shifted around the livingroom to work on the set up, fix supper, and accommodate my current sewing project. It was rather comical at one point, resembling a small bomb having been exploded in the rig!  After taking most of the day for set up and recovery we thought it was a good idea to spend an additional day here making sure everything works correctly and getting ourselves organized so we can leave at a reasonable time tomorrow. So far we're happy with the new system, but as soon as I get the remote away from him I anticipate there will be a learning curve figuring out the new system. Gotta keep up with that technology!

Rodents!@#@#!! and Payette Lake, Idaho

Not only have we had to battle the mouse issue, but now we have squirrels to contend with!

We're staying here at Payette Lake in Idaho, in Ponderosa State Park. It's a nice campground, with large spaces and lots of trees, shrubs and wildflowers, and we have water and power so we can get the batteries all recharged. It was a sign of things to come however, that while we were backing into our space we got a royal chewing out.

The Douglas squirrel who lives here in space 100 does not like visitors, and he's proceeded to remind us of that every time we go out the door. I've never heard such screeching and screaming from a critter, and now he's trying to carve himself a home in the underside of the RV! There are chunks of underliner all over the place, and he's still screaming at us! Local wildlife seems to be the highlight of this campground.

This morning a young red fox (coyote?) was basking in the sun in the vacant camp site across the road. He up and left when everyone started looking at him, but he didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry. In the afternoon we drove the "scenic loop" to get a different perspective on the lake. This is a natural lake, not a man-made reservoir, and very pretty.

Other than wildlife-watching, we've been pretty busy hanging out with Dale's friends and family, who are renting a condo on the other side of the lake. The kids are all having a great time with the jet skis. Payette Lake isn't crowded at all, compared to other lakes we've been to, so it's a lot safer for the jet skis and boats towing skiers.



In the evening we enjoyed a couple of our host's super Piña Coladas, then went out for a leisurely boat ride just at sunset last night. The evening light reflecting off the boat's wake was lovely, as was the peach colored sunset.What an enjoyable evening!

Chris shared his recipe with us, so check it out on our recipe blog. 
His wife Maria also shared her recipe for the wonderful eggplant Parmesan she made. That's on the Cookhouse blog too.

The closest town is McCall, which is clearly a tourist town - lots of galleries, boutiques and ice cream shops.The most outstanding feature we noticed was their pedestrian safety system. There are racks of bright  red flags at each corner and pedestrians are supposed to pick one up and wave it as they cross the street.

Leave it to my rabble-rousing husband to lean out the truck window and comment to three young men carrying flags "Where I come from we get five extra points for everyone we take out who's carrying a flag!". Sheesh - I can't take him anywhere!

We woke up this morning to rain, and the above mentioned rodent attacking our rig, so dealing with that is the next challenge. There's some helpful info in this article, Tips from eHow for protecting your RV from rodents. We've looked into repellent systems that require power but not only are they not particularly effective, we don't really need another drain on the power system, so we'll try all the tips in the article and see if we can prevent future problems.
Follow this link to see more photos from the lake.