Peculiar (Low 23 High 31 Snow ending, getting much colder)
Did we say Bob has a severe case of hitch itch :-)
He has been planning out our summer travels and also getting ahead of the game on the "Our Google Maps - Places to See and Eat" area of our blog. He has added California and Nevada, places that we will not see for at least another year.
Why go to all this work you say, well if all goes well he will convert the Google Maps into POI files for our Garmin. So not only will the info on all the sites he has collected over the years be available online for planning purposes we will be able to easily drive to these spots too.
Expect a future blog posting on his progress on converting these maps.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
We Are So DONE With Winter, Part 3
Winter has been a rollercoaster ride for us; from 60 degrees one day to freezing the next to an intermittent furnace problem fixed and then acting up again. The most annoying rollercoaster though has been the water hose that has frozen on a number of occasions.
After the disaster with the heated hose we went for awhile and all was good. We had a rollercoaster day yesterday with running water first thing then nothing. We feared that it was something we had done, either the heat taped hose or heat taped water faucet. We had an appointment so we had to leave. When we got home we checked the water hose and it was flexible enough to know it was not frozen. We went inside and still no water. We turned on the faucet a little later and it started dribbling and then more and then we had running water. A few minutes later the park custodian knocked on the door and said it was a city water problem.
We cannot tell you the relief we felt, we immediately felt it was something we had done but it turned out to be not our problem. This was the good part of the rollercoaster ride; the bad part was a few minutes later when we no longer had running water. Thinking it was city water again we had no worries, then the knock on the door and we were told our hose had burst.
The hose was not frozen but maybe not thick walled enough to handle the heated tape wrapped around it. So it was off to get a new fresh water hose and more duct tape since the last fiasco or two has depleted our supply. All we need now is a warm day to do the switch.
Have we told you we are so DONE with winter yet?
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
.
After the disaster with the heated hose we went for awhile and all was good. We had a rollercoaster day yesterday with running water first thing then nothing. We feared that it was something we had done, either the heat taped hose or heat taped water faucet. We had an appointment so we had to leave. When we got home we checked the water hose and it was flexible enough to know it was not frozen. We went inside and still no water. We turned on the faucet a little later and it started dribbling and then more and then we had running water. A few minutes later the park custodian knocked on the door and said it was a city water problem.
We cannot tell you the relief we felt, we immediately felt it was something we had done but it turned out to be not our problem. This was the good part of the rollercoaster ride; the bad part was a few minutes later when we no longer had running water. Thinking it was city water again we had no worries, then the knock on the door and we were told our hose had burst.
The hose was not frozen but maybe not thick walled enough to handle the heated tape wrapped around it. So it was off to get a new fresh water hose and more duct tape since the last fiasco or two has depleted our supply. All we need now is a warm day to do the switch.
Have we told you we are so DONE with winter yet?
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
We Have a Bad Case of "Hitch Itch" - We Made Our First Camping Reservation!
Peculiar MO (Low 11 Partly Sunny High 32)
Even though this has been a cold winter for most everyone except those in Florida, and even though we would be freezing our butts off in Goodyear Arizona (our usual winter location) right now, we still have a bad case of "hitch itch".
Here is a photo of the most recent snowstorm on Saturday, January 12th that contributes to our condition.
It was a weird couple of days. We got about 3" of snow the day after it was almost 60 degrees. Just a few miles north of us and there was no snow at all.
Bob has been obsessively going over our plans after we leave here. Since we are so close to our summer destination on the Upper Peninsula we are going to stay until early April. We will spend April and early May hopscotching around Iowa visiting relatives and friends. We even made our first reservation of the year near Pella Iowa for Tulip Time since that is a well attended event. This early in the camping year that is probably the only reservation we may need except for Memorial Day.
We plan to spend from just after Memorial Day to mid August in Houghton Michigan recuperating from our winter experience.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Even though this has been a cold winter for most everyone except those in Florida, and even though we would be freezing our butts off in Goodyear Arizona (our usual winter location) right now, we still have a bad case of "hitch itch".
Here is a photo of the most recent snowstorm on Saturday, January 12th that contributes to our condition.
It was a weird couple of days. We got about 3" of snow the day after it was almost 60 degrees. Just a few miles north of us and there was no snow at all.
Bob has been obsessively going over our plans after we leave here. Since we are so close to our summer destination on the Upper Peninsula we are going to stay until early April. We will spend April and early May hopscotching around Iowa visiting relatives and friends. We even made our first reservation of the year near Pella Iowa for Tulip Time since that is a well attended event. This early in the camping year that is probably the only reservation we may need except for Memorial Day.
We plan to spend from just after Memorial Day to mid August in Houghton Michigan recuperating from our winter experience.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Friday, January 4, 2013
We are so DONE With Winter, Part 2
Peculiar MO (Low 22 Plenty of Sunshine High 40)
We are so DONE with winter.
Returning recently from a day of shopping we got a call from the park that our hose had broke and was spraying water everywhere. When we replaced the heated water hose with one of our 25' water hoses with heat tape wrapped around and then covered with pipe foam insulation we knew it should have been a little longer. It had to be pulled to make the connection at the rig and it was rubbing up against our generator exhaust pipe. By the time we were almost finished we were so cold that we decided to wait a couple of days until it was in the 40s to add a short piece of hose to get it away from the exhaust pipe in case we needed to run the generator.
Turns out the hose had other ideas; with the weight of the water and the heat tape and all the duct tape around the pipe insulation the hose separated from the male connector. The good news is that meant all we needed was a hose mender and a 7 mile drive to Ace Hardware. The bad news is that Bob thought that both of the fresh water hoses that we had were 5/8" so we bought a 5/8" hose mender. Turns out the other hose was 1/2" so it was another 7 mile trip to the hardware store, two hardware stores this time since Ace did not have a hose mender for our sized hose.
After almost 30 miles and three hardware stores we mended the hose and added the short hose extender, wrapped it all it heat tape and then pipe insulation and duct tape.
Did we mention that we are so DONE with winter!!
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
We are so DONE with winter.
Returning recently from a day of shopping we got a call from the park that our hose had broke and was spraying water everywhere. When we replaced the heated water hose with one of our 25' water hoses with heat tape wrapped around and then covered with pipe foam insulation we knew it should have been a little longer. It had to be pulled to make the connection at the rig and it was rubbing up against our generator exhaust pipe. By the time we were almost finished we were so cold that we decided to wait a couple of days until it was in the 40s to add a short piece of hose to get it away from the exhaust pipe in case we needed to run the generator.
Turns out the hose had other ideas; with the weight of the water and the heat tape and all the duct tape around the pipe insulation the hose separated from the male connector. The good news is that meant all we needed was a hose mender and a 7 mile drive to Ace Hardware. The bad news is that Bob thought that both of the fresh water hoses that we had were 5/8" so we bought a 5/8" hose mender. Turns out the other hose was 1/2" so it was another 7 mile trip to the hardware store, two hardware stores this time since Ace did not have a hose mender for our sized hose.
After almost 30 miles and three hardware stores we mended the hose and added the short hose extender, wrapped it all it heat tape and then pipe insulation and duct tape.
Did we mention that we are so DONE with winter!!
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Friday, December 28, 2012
We are so DONE With Winter
Peculiar MO (Low 16 Mostly Cloudy and Cold High 33)
Once we moved the sensor for the heated water hose outside of the heated compartment the hose did not freeze. But we made a huge mistake, both Jo and I commented to people how good it was working on the same day. Well you know what happened, of course it froze that very night. We took showers in the morning and it was fine. We ran some errands and got home and washed our hands, did dishes, etc., and it was fine. About 9:30 p.m. it was froze.
Luckily we still had enough water in the freshwater tank so Bob could take a shower early the next morning before his second surgery. Why do these things always happen at the most inopportune time? After Jo got Bob home our good friend Jimmy came over and helped Jo troubleshoot the problem, pull up our gigantic trash can over the water faucet and disconnect the frozen hose. They then put heat tape around one of our water hoses and then pipe insulation around that and then the trash can back over the faucet. It was 16 overnight so we dripped the faucet and we had running water this morning, it felt so good.
Bob called Camping World and they are sending us a return label and once we can unthaw the hose and get it in a box we will send it back and get our money back. They must have heard this before because there was no questioning the return. While they were working on the hose yesterday our neighbor stopped by and told us his hose of the same brand also froze so he did the same thing a couple days ago. This makes it the third or fourth hose of the same brand in this park alone that has had this problem.
We are so DONE but we still have a long way to go!
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Once we moved the sensor for the heated water hose outside of the heated compartment the hose did not freeze. But we made a huge mistake, both Jo and I commented to people how good it was working on the same day. Well you know what happened, of course it froze that very night. We took showers in the morning and it was fine. We ran some errands and got home and washed our hands, did dishes, etc., and it was fine. About 9:30 p.m. it was froze.
Luckily we still had enough water in the freshwater tank so Bob could take a shower early the next morning before his second surgery. Why do these things always happen at the most inopportune time? After Jo got Bob home our good friend Jimmy came over and helped Jo troubleshoot the problem, pull up our gigantic trash can over the water faucet and disconnect the frozen hose. They then put heat tape around one of our water hoses and then pipe insulation around that and then the trash can back over the faucet. It was 16 overnight so we dripped the faucet and we had running water this morning, it felt so good.
Bob called Camping World and they are sending us a return label and once we can unthaw the hose and get it in a box we will send it back and get our money back. They must have heard this before because there was no questioning the return. While they were working on the hose yesterday our neighbor stopped by and told us his hose of the same brand also froze so he did the same thing a couple days ago. This makes it the third or fourth hose of the same brand in this park alone that has had this problem.
We are so DONE but we still have a long way to go!
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Yet Another Lesson Learned
Peculiar MO (Sunny Low 33 High 55)
Another winterizing lesson learned - this time on a frozen sewer hose. In addition to the tall water faucet at this park the sewer location is just barely downhill from our drain. Another complicating factor is that we are a greater distance from drain to sewer that would serve us best in the winter. We had to use two 10' sections of sewer hose. By taking off the clear adapter and the twist on waste valve blade assembly we got the drain as high as we could. Then by propping up the sewer hose support system with cement blocks and wood we were able to get the best drainage we could for this setup.
Turns out it was not good enough, there was still more than usual water left in the sewer hose. With those cold nights around 20 it froze. Luckily we did not have to dump at that time and could wait for it to thaw out. Bob researched what to do in this situation and found a great article on rv-forum on winter camping. The solution was to buy heat tape and wrap the sewer hose and then wrap with a water heater blanket cut to fit. The water heater blanket was selected since it had a vinyl backing which should prevent moisture problems. We just got some rain and the job held up real well.
Here is the entire length of the finished assembly (click on the link above for a better description and an in-progress version):
Here is a smaller view to show the finished assembly with lots of duct tape.
Our new winter checklist:
- sensor for heated water hose out in the elements; CHECK
- water faucet wrapped with heat tape and covered with pipe insulation and then an inverted trash can sprayed with foam insulation; CHECK
- sewer hose wrapped with heat tape and then wrapped with insulation; CHECK
We are hoping to NEVER need this checklist again! We are also hoping that this concludes all of our winterizing lessons learned. If it gets this cold after this winter wherever we are we are heading SOUTH!!
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Another winterizing lesson learned - this time on a frozen sewer hose. In addition to the tall water faucet at this park the sewer location is just barely downhill from our drain. Another complicating factor is that we are a greater distance from drain to sewer that would serve us best in the winter. We had to use two 10' sections of sewer hose. By taking off the clear adapter and the twist on waste valve blade assembly we got the drain as high as we could. Then by propping up the sewer hose support system with cement blocks and wood we were able to get the best drainage we could for this setup.
Turns out it was not good enough, there was still more than usual water left in the sewer hose. With those cold nights around 20 it froze. Luckily we did not have to dump at that time and could wait for it to thaw out. Bob researched what to do in this situation and found a great article on rv-forum on winter camping. The solution was to buy heat tape and wrap the sewer hose and then wrap with a water heater blanket cut to fit. The water heater blanket was selected since it had a vinyl backing which should prevent moisture problems. We just got some rain and the job held up real well.
Here is the entire length of the finished assembly (click on the link above for a better description and an in-progress version):
Here is a smaller view to show the finished assembly with lots of duct tape.
Our new winter checklist:
- sensor for heated water hose out in the elements; CHECK
- water faucet wrapped with heat tape and covered with pipe insulation and then an inverted trash can sprayed with foam insulation; CHECK
- sewer hose wrapped with heat tape and then wrapped with insulation; CHECK
We are hoping to NEVER need this checklist again! We are also hoping that this concludes all of our winterizing lessons learned. If it gets this cold after this winter wherever we are we are heading SOUTH!!
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Saturday, December 15, 2012
More Winterization - Overkill on a Big Trash Can
Peculiar MO (Mostly Cloudy Low 45 High 54)
After wrapping the water faucet with heat tape and then covering with pipe insulation and gorilla tape we took another step to make sure our water supply did not freeze. After consultation with the park owner and checking the internet we decided on an inverted trash can with the inside sprayed with foam insulation that would sit over the faucet.
This park has tall water faucets so we needed a big trash can. Wanting to go all the way to the ground we ended up with a huge trash can with wheels that took an awful lot of spray foam cans.
Here is what it looks like, it is almost as tall as the power box :-)
Told you it was overkill!!
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
After wrapping the water faucet with heat tape and then covering with pipe insulation and gorilla tape we took another step to make sure our water supply did not freeze. After consultation with the park owner and checking the internet we decided on an inverted trash can with the inside sprayed with foam insulation that would sit over the faucet.
This park has tall water faucets so we needed a big trash can. Wanting to go all the way to the ground we ended up with a huge trash can with wheels that took an awful lot of spray foam cans.
Here is what it looks like, it is almost as tall as the power box :-)
Told you it was overkill!!
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Friday, December 14, 2012
When All Else Fails
Peculiar MO (Sunny with increasing clouds High 52 Low 33)
You have heard the old saying, "when all else fails - read the directions", well for the most part that is how Bob lives his life. Recently we got a heated water hose for our winter stay in the Kansas City area. He connected it to both ends and plugged it in. Seeing the black tape by the end that hooked up to the water supply he thought the temperature sensor was there. Once the outside temperature got to 45 the heating begins until the water is 50. Bob also wrapped the water faucet with heat tape and pipe insulation. Here is what it looks like.
It was not below freezing for awhile but when it got into the low 20s the water hose froze. With help from the Carriage Yahoo Group members Bob came to know that the sensor was right next to the end of the hose that connects to the Cameo. We have a four season unit with heat for our tanks and water lines. With the outside temperature at 20 the compartment where the hose connects was a balmy 50 degrees which means the hose heating was never turned on.
The solution was to cut off a 4' section of a water hose and cover it with pipe insulation which put the temperature sensor out in the elements. Since then it has gotten down to 18 (the night the furnace died) and so far the heated hose is working.
Just another lesson learned on this incredible journey that we are on!
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
You have heard the old saying, "when all else fails - read the directions", well for the most part that is how Bob lives his life. Recently we got a heated water hose for our winter stay in the Kansas City area. He connected it to both ends and plugged it in. Seeing the black tape by the end that hooked up to the water supply he thought the temperature sensor was there. Once the outside temperature got to 45 the heating begins until the water is 50. Bob also wrapped the water faucet with heat tape and pipe insulation. Here is what it looks like.
It was not below freezing for awhile but when it got into the low 20s the water hose froze. With help from the Carriage Yahoo Group members Bob came to know that the sensor was right next to the end of the hose that connects to the Cameo. We have a four season unit with heat for our tanks and water lines. With the outside temperature at 20 the compartment where the hose connects was a balmy 50 degrees which means the hose heating was never turned on.
The solution was to cut off a 4' section of a water hose and cover it with pipe insulation which put the temperature sensor out in the elements. Since then it has gotten down to 18 (the night the furnace died) and so far the heated hose is working.
Just another lesson learned on this incredible journey that we are on!
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
What an Adventure
Peculiar MO (Sunshine High 48 Low 30)
What an adventure, or words to that effect :-), were spoken by Jo at 3:30 a.m. a couple of nights ago when it was 18 degrees outside and our furnace quit working in the middle of the night, it was 55 degrees inside which woke Bob up. We have had some intermittent problems with the furnace ever since we bought the Cameo in 2009. But it never failed while the service man was here, until now. We got out our electric heaters and survived the night.
Have to give props to A-Z Mobile RV Service, called them at 8a and by 11a they were knocking on our door. We have used them before while the Kansas City area and highly recommend them. Within a few minutes they diagnosed the problem as a bad control board and put on a new one. The control board was probably the cause of all our intermittent problems before but it would always start working once the service guy got here.
We are sure we will laugh about this sometime in the future, but for now :-(
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Low Sodium Diet
Peculiar MO (High 62 Mostly Clear Low 40)
Since we normally regale about food in our blog we thought we would share our experiences with a low sodium diet and eating out.
Bob was given instructions after his open heart surgery for his aortic valve replacement to go on a low sodium diet of less than 1500mg per day, with no more than 2000mg occasionally. Let's just say that has not been easy. The amount of sodium that is in prepared foods and served at restaurants is incredible, sometimes many times over your daily allotment. This is a brief summary of our low sodium diet adventures.
We first begin by recommending an android app that we have on Jo's Kindle Fire, Fast Food Nutrition, available on the Google Play Store here. We usually don't recommend apps that you have to pay for but for $2.99 you get detailed nutrition info for over 350 restaurants, not all of whom are fast food. It is easy to use and we could not have survived the low sodium diet without it.
As much as we like to eat out we at first had some trouble finding places that would accommodate a low sodium diet. With the help of the app we did find some surprising winners. First of all is the steakburger places like Freddy's, Steak and Shake and Winsteads, for those in the know you realize that a steakburger is much thinner than a regular hamburger. It is made from USDA Choice Steak a cut or two above your average hamburger. You can eat a double California steakburger with no cheese and sauce and split a small order of fries at Freddy's for just a little over 600mg of sodium. The key is to ask for no seasoning while the burger is made and no salt on the fries. This kind of advice is good at any restaurant to be honest.
Other winners include the lunch portion of the linguine marinara at Olive Garden, salmon or the small sirloin at Longhorns Steakhouse. You have to be careful with your side dishes as they can contain a lot of sodium too. Some winners at Longhorns include sweet potato at 0mg of sodium, loaded baked potato at 150mg. Bob had a meal with salmon and baked potato and sweet potato and it was 450mg of sodium. The mushroom and swiss single at Culvers and small fries was also surprising at just under 600mg of sodium. A build you own omelet at IHOP with egg substitute and just veggies and swiss cheese is also a good low sodium choice as is the Tri-Athlete egg white omelet at First Watch.
If you are wondering why the list includes only chain restaurants it is because it is easier to find sodium content than at your local mom and pop restaurant.
We also found a wide variety of sodium content on cheese, american cheese is one of the worst you can have for sodium content, cheddar is better but swiss is best, at least for the places we frequented.
Condiments are also high in sodium but we found a 0mg mustard (Westbrae Natural Stoneground No Salt Added) that is very good and a 0mg ketchup (Heinz No Salt Added) that is ok in sandwiches but leaves a little to be desired if by itself. We plan on using the mustard for a long time but will probably try to find a better ketchup alternative.
While cooking at home we have used a lot of Mrs. Dash, the table blend is a good variety, so good in fact that we carry one in Jo's purse to use in restaurants.
When we first started on the low sodium diet we were a little depressed. But once we had a lunch at Culvers and a breakfast at First Watch we really felt like we were eating a full meal and still watching Bob's sodium. We started eating more fish at home using Mrs. Dash and we found some Heart Healthy Pasta Sauce and Mixed Nuts.
Bob just got cleared by the Cardiologist to not go so crazy on sodium, but to still watch it, if that makes any sense. His blood pressure problems were not due to sodium. What that means is that KC barbeque is now an option, but not every day. We hope to take what we learned while cutting back on sodium to help us live a little healthier.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Since we normally regale about food in our blog we thought we would share our experiences with a low sodium diet and eating out.
Bob was given instructions after his open heart surgery for his aortic valve replacement to go on a low sodium diet of less than 1500mg per day, with no more than 2000mg occasionally. Let's just say that has not been easy. The amount of sodium that is in prepared foods and served at restaurants is incredible, sometimes many times over your daily allotment. This is a brief summary of our low sodium diet adventures.
We first begin by recommending an android app that we have on Jo's Kindle Fire, Fast Food Nutrition, available on the Google Play Store here. We usually don't recommend apps that you have to pay for but for $2.99 you get detailed nutrition info for over 350 restaurants, not all of whom are fast food. It is easy to use and we could not have survived the low sodium diet without it.
As much as we like to eat out we at first had some trouble finding places that would accommodate a low sodium diet. With the help of the app we did find some surprising winners. First of all is the steakburger places like Freddy's, Steak and Shake and Winsteads, for those in the know you realize that a steakburger is much thinner than a regular hamburger. It is made from USDA Choice Steak a cut or two above your average hamburger. You can eat a double California steakburger with no cheese and sauce and split a small order of fries at Freddy's for just a little over 600mg of sodium. The key is to ask for no seasoning while the burger is made and no salt on the fries. This kind of advice is good at any restaurant to be honest.
Other winners include the lunch portion of the linguine marinara at Olive Garden, salmon or the small sirloin at Longhorns Steakhouse. You have to be careful with your side dishes as they can contain a lot of sodium too. Some winners at Longhorns include sweet potato at 0mg of sodium, loaded baked potato at 150mg. Bob had a meal with salmon and baked potato and sweet potato and it was 450mg of sodium. The mushroom and swiss single at Culvers and small fries was also surprising at just under 600mg of sodium. A build you own omelet at IHOP with egg substitute and just veggies and swiss cheese is also a good low sodium choice as is the Tri-Athlete egg white omelet at First Watch.
If you are wondering why the list includes only chain restaurants it is because it is easier to find sodium content than at your local mom and pop restaurant.
We also found a wide variety of sodium content on cheese, american cheese is one of the worst you can have for sodium content, cheddar is better but swiss is best, at least for the places we frequented.
Condiments are also high in sodium but we found a 0mg mustard (Westbrae Natural Stoneground No Salt Added) that is very good and a 0mg ketchup (Heinz No Salt Added) that is ok in sandwiches but leaves a little to be desired if by itself. We plan on using the mustard for a long time but will probably try to find a better ketchup alternative.
While cooking at home we have used a lot of Mrs. Dash, the table blend is a good variety, so good in fact that we carry one in Jo's purse to use in restaurants.
When we first started on the low sodium diet we were a little depressed. But once we had a lunch at Culvers and a breakfast at First Watch we really felt like we were eating a full meal and still watching Bob's sodium. We started eating more fish at home using Mrs. Dash and we found some Heart Healthy Pasta Sauce and Mixed Nuts.
Bob just got cleared by the Cardiologist to not go so crazy on sodium, but to still watch it, if that makes any sense. His blood pressure problems were not due to sodium. What that means is that KC barbeque is now an option, but not every day. We hope to take what we learned while cutting back on sodium to help us live a little healthier.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Leased a Propane Tank
Peculiar MO (Brilliant sunshine and milder, High 52 Low 24)
Due to Bob's surgery he will not be able to lift our 30 gallon propane tanks and with Jo's back she would not be able either so we leased a 100 gallon propane tank.
It is full now and hooked up, all we have to do is monitor the gauge and when it gets close to 20% full the propane company will come and fill it back up. We are glad we got it done before Bob's surgery which was on Wednesday, October 17th.
While recovering we have had some interesting visitors to our backyard bird feeders. We think this is a downey woodpecker (waiting on Judy to confirm :-)
On a side note somewhat medically related, we got our insurance rates for next year and we thought rates would be going down but instead it went up 39%.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Due to Bob's surgery he will not be able to lift our 30 gallon propane tanks and with Jo's back she would not be able either so we leased a 100 gallon propane tank.
It is full now and hooked up, all we have to do is monitor the gauge and when it gets close to 20% full the propane company will come and fill it back up. We are glad we got it done before Bob's surgery which was on Wednesday, October 17th.
While recovering we have had some interesting visitors to our backyard bird feeders. We think this is a downey woodpecker (waiting on Judy to confirm :-)
On a side note somewhat medically related, we got our insurance rates for next year and we thought rates would be going down but instead it went up 39%.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Monday, November 12, 2012
Bob is Home From Surgery
After a successful aortic valve replacement Bob is now back living in the Carriage Cameo for his recuperation. He had a congenital heart defect of a two flap (bi-cuspid) Aorta valve instead of three (tri-cuspid). Eventually people with this condition require heart valve replacement surgery. Bob chose a tissue valve instead of an artificial one. He describes the surgery and recovery as being hit by a Ford F-350 and then the Carriage Cameo its towing and then being backed over :-)
With all this going on we are way behind in our email and blogging, both reading and publishing. We especially want to live vicariously through the lives of the snowbirds and Winter Texans since we will be spending the winter in the Kansas City area.
With walking, rehab, napping, etc it may take us time to catch up.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
With all this going on we are way behind in our email and blogging, both reading and publishing. We especially want to live vicariously through the lives of the snowbirds and Winter Texans since we will be spending the winter in the Kansas City area.
With walking, rehab, napping, etc it may take us time to catch up.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Full-timing With 3 Cats - Laundry Day
Peculiar MO (Partly Sunny and Colder High 52 Low 32)
Time to time we like to blog on our full-timing with 3 cats in 359 sq. ft. Today we deal with laundry day.
Believe it or not we put our cats to work. Recently Sandra was helping us with the laundry.
Here she is inspecting the washer dryer and making sure it was ready.
Here she is telling us everything is OK.
Cats are so inquisitive that whenever we open a cabinet or closet or the washer dryer they act like they have never been in there before, which in the case of the washer dryer was probably true. At least this is the first time we have documented it :-)
Full-timing with 3 cats is always an adventure!
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Time to time we like to blog on our full-timing with 3 cats in 359 sq. ft. Today we deal with laundry day.
Believe it or not we put our cats to work. Recently Sandra was helping us with the laundry.
Here she is inspecting the washer dryer and making sure it was ready.
Here she is telling us everything is OK.
Cats are so inquisitive that whenever we open a cabinet or closet or the washer dryer they act like they have never been in there before, which in the case of the washer dryer was probably true. At least this is the first time we have documented it :-)
Full-timing with 3 cats is always an adventure!
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Not Going to be Snowbirds This Winter
Peculiar MO (Conditions HIGH 66 Thunderstorms late LOW 52)
We are going to be birds in the snow :-(
It is both a good thing and a bad thing to see Doctors. The bad thing is that they may find something wrong; the good thing is that this time it can be fixed. Bob saw a couple of Doctors while we are in the Kansas City area and will now have two surgeries. With the recovery times we will be spending the entire winter in the Kansas City area.
With the first surgery in mid-October we are now concentrating on getting our fresh water hose winterized, looking to rent a large propane tank since Bob will be unable to lift the 30 pound tanks into place, and other things so Jo will only have to worry about being Bob's caregiver.
So we probably will not be blogging much for a while although we do plan on trying to read the many blogs we follow. We will appreciate all your prayers while Bob is recuperating..
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
We are going to be birds in the snow :-(
It is both a good thing and a bad thing to see Doctors. The bad thing is that they may find something wrong; the good thing is that this time it can be fixed. Bob saw a couple of Doctors while we are in the Kansas City area and will now have two surgeries. With the recovery times we will be spending the entire winter in the Kansas City area.
With the first surgery in mid-October we are now concentrating on getting our fresh water hose winterized, looking to rent a large propane tank since Bob will be unable to lift the 30 pound tanks into place, and other things so Jo will only have to worry about being Bob's caregiver.
So we probably will not be blogging much for a while although we do plan on trying to read the many blogs we follow. We will appreciate all your prayers while Bob is recuperating..
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Friday, September 21, 2012
Not a Success Story on New Cat Litter
Peculiar MO (Partly Sunny High 79 Low 53)
Since we are in the Kansas City area which we lived in for so many years we have a lot to do while in the area like Doctor's appointments and meeting family and friends. This is one of the very few times where we have to break out our calendars so we don't schedule things on top of each other. So our blogging will be light for the next few weeks.
We generally like to give tips on gadgets that make our full-timing lifestyle more fun like the Oxygenics Body Spa showerhead that we did recently. Now we want to tell about a product testing that did not go well, Cat's Pride Fresh and Light Cat Litter.
We are always on the look for a better cat litter and we thought we had a winner. We saw it featured on "Must Love Cats" on Animal Planet and decided to give it a try. Fresh and Light is dust free which is a big plus when living in a small fifth wheel. It is also lighter than other cat litters. The same size box of other cat litters is about 28 pounds and it is 20 pound for Fresh and Light, which is also a big plus.
So far so good but here is where our results did not match tightly controlled testing. On the show they show how it clumped better and had better odor control. Without the dust when the urine is right up against the box the litter does not clump as good as other litters. This might contribute to the biggest downfall of the litter, odor control. Because it was so light and dust free we tried real hard to like this litter but finally gave up and switched back to our old standby, Scoop Away Multi-Cat. We read the labels and it is supposed to be 99.9% dust free while the others said 99.3% or 99.6% dust free, not 100% dust free but pretty darn good and the odor control is MUCH better. We already have noticed a difference and are glad we switched back.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Since we are in the Kansas City area which we lived in for so many years we have a lot to do while in the area like Doctor's appointments and meeting family and friends. This is one of the very few times where we have to break out our calendars so we don't schedule things on top of each other. So our blogging will be light for the next few weeks.
We generally like to give tips on gadgets that make our full-timing lifestyle more fun like the Oxygenics Body Spa showerhead that we did recently. Now we want to tell about a product testing that did not go well, Cat's Pride Fresh and Light Cat Litter.
We are always on the look for a better cat litter and we thought we had a winner. We saw it featured on "Must Love Cats" on Animal Planet and decided to give it a try. Fresh and Light is dust free which is a big plus when living in a small fifth wheel. It is also lighter than other cat litters. The same size box of other cat litters is about 28 pounds and it is 20 pound for Fresh and Light, which is also a big plus.
So far so good but here is where our results did not match tightly controlled testing. On the show they show how it clumped better and had better odor control. Without the dust when the urine is right up against the box the litter does not clump as good as other litters. This might contribute to the biggest downfall of the litter, odor control. Because it was so light and dust free we tried real hard to like this litter but finally gave up and switched back to our old standby, Scoop Away Multi-Cat. We read the labels and it is supposed to be 99.9% dust free while the others said 99.3% or 99.6% dust free, not 100% dust free but pretty darn good and the odor control is MUCH better. We already have noticed a difference and are glad we switched back.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Friday, September 14, 2012
On the Move Again - to Peculiar MO
Peculiar MO (Partly Sunny and Warmer High 72 Low 49)
Yes, that is really the name of the town :-)
We drove through rain on part of our drive from Viking Lake State Park to Peculiar MO. The main difference we did notice though was that it was a lot cooler than we expected, it was 55 degrees when we were setting up. It was warmer than that earlier in the day when we were leaving Viking Lake State Park. It was about 190 miles and this is the route we took.
View Larger Map
Our usual back-in site was not available, with the rain the folks there decided to stay a day longer, so we are in a pull through. We have family and friends and Doctors to see while we are in the area so we will be here about a month. There are old standby food places to eat at along with a few new places we have to try.
We did enjoy Viking Lake State Park. The RV sites are on a cove off of the main lake and are nice. There are a limited number of full hookup sites and only a few of those are reservable but coming mid week after Labor Day and having Jo's cousin pay for the first night helped us get a good site. There are trails around the lake and it is a nice quiet park.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Yes, that is really the name of the town :-)
We drove through rain on part of our drive from Viking Lake State Park to Peculiar MO. The main difference we did notice though was that it was a lot cooler than we expected, it was 55 degrees when we were setting up. It was warmer than that earlier in the day when we were leaving Viking Lake State Park. It was about 190 miles and this is the route we took.
View Larger Map
Our usual back-in site was not available, with the rain the folks there decided to stay a day longer, so we are in a pull through. We have family and friends and Doctors to see while we are in the area so we will be here about a month. There are old standby food places to eat at along with a few new places we have to try.
We did enjoy Viking Lake State Park. The RV sites are on a cove off of the main lake and are nice. There are a limited number of full hookup sites and only a few of those are reservable but coming mid week after Labor Day and having Jo's cousin pay for the first night helped us get a good site. There are trails around the lake and it is a nice quiet park.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
On the Move Again - to Viking Lake State Park, Stanton, Iowa
Viking Lake State Park, Stanton IA (Rain in the Area High 83 Low 50)
After a jam packed few days visiting Bob's family and friends we left yesterday, September 11th, and headed to Viking Lake State Park near Stanton IA to visit Jo's Aunt and cousins. We got off to a bit of a bumpy spot as our TPMS system notified us that one of the truck tires was at its lower warning level. So Bob got out our CO2 tank and filled up the tire. Of course the tire gauge had settled down to the bottom of the storage container so he had to pull everything out and then put it all back together. With the tire now in the safe range for travel we headed out. Jo's cousin Denny and his wife Peg were camping at the park so it was nice to see them as we pulled into the State Park. It was about 125 miles, here is the route we took.
View Larger Map
We certainly did jam a lot of activity into our short stop in central Iowa. We of course ate at some great places; pumpkin pancakes at the Drake Diner, burgers at the Zombie Burger (recommended by Bob's niece), great pasta and smoked pork chop at Irina's Restaurant, Salvadoran food at El Buen Gusto in Perry IA, and a great buffet at a nearby Pizza Ranch. We tried to go to Saraj for Bosnian food but it is closed on Mondays. On the sports front Bob was able to get the two games we were interested in. We were glad that we got the Iowa State win over Iowa but could have missed the Chiefs debacle against the Falcons. The next time we visit the area we are going to stay longer so we don't have to jam everything into a few days.
We will be just as busy the next few days as we have a short time here also but that will be fine as we are looking forward to seeing everyone here. We were able to position the Cameo on our campsite here so that the roof mounted satellite dish would work. The SatFinder app on Bob's phone really helped in our pulling forward and backing up the Cameo to get just the right spot.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
After a jam packed few days visiting Bob's family and friends we left yesterday, September 11th, and headed to Viking Lake State Park near Stanton IA to visit Jo's Aunt and cousins. We got off to a bit of a bumpy spot as our TPMS system notified us that one of the truck tires was at its lower warning level. So Bob got out our CO2 tank and filled up the tire. Of course the tire gauge had settled down to the bottom of the storage container so he had to pull everything out and then put it all back together. With the tire now in the safe range for travel we headed out. Jo's cousin Denny and his wife Peg were camping at the park so it was nice to see them as we pulled into the State Park. It was about 125 miles, here is the route we took.
View Larger Map
We certainly did jam a lot of activity into our short stop in central Iowa. We of course ate at some great places; pumpkin pancakes at the Drake Diner, burgers at the Zombie Burger (recommended by Bob's niece), great pasta and smoked pork chop at Irina's Restaurant, Salvadoran food at El Buen Gusto in Perry IA, and a great buffet at a nearby Pizza Ranch. We tried to go to Saraj for Bosnian food but it is closed on Mondays. On the sports front Bob was able to get the two games we were interested in. We were glad that we got the Iowa State win over Iowa but could have missed the Chiefs debacle against the Falcons. The next time we visit the area we are going to stay longer so we don't have to jam everything into a few days.
We will be just as busy the next few days as we have a short time here also but that will be fine as we are looking forward to seeing everyone here. We were able to position the Cameo on our campsite here so that the roof mounted satellite dish would work. The SatFinder app on Bob's phone really helped in our pulling forward and backing up the Cameo to get just the right spot.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Saturday, September 8, 2012
On The Move Again - to Des Moines IA area
Altoona IA (Pleasant and Warmer High 78 Low 46)
We left yesterday, Friday September 7th, and drove to Adventureland Campground at the Adventureland Park in the Des Moines area. It was about 230 miles but it was mostly interstate which helps on what is becoming one of our longer trips. We like to keep them under 200 miles but we have family and friends to see in the area so we went a little further.
Here is the route we took
View Larger Map
Our old friend our roof mounted satellite dish played a part in selecting our park, actually changing it at the last minute. Our two other options in the metro area, Walnut Woods State Park and Cuttys Resort (where we stayed at last year), both have significant trees making satellite reception difficult. Bob has a football game Saturday (Iowa State) and we both have Sunday (Kansas City Chiefs) that were not going to be on local stations. We were assured that they had spots that the dish would work and when we arrived the dish setup with no problem so we are happy campers, so to speak. It was raining and windy with temps in the high 50s when we setup so we setup in record time.
The DVR programs are set and we are ready to enjoy a few days in the Des Moines area, now if our teams can win it will be even better.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
We left yesterday, Friday September 7th, and drove to Adventureland Campground at the Adventureland Park in the Des Moines area. It was about 230 miles but it was mostly interstate which helps on what is becoming one of our longer trips. We like to keep them under 200 miles but we have family and friends to see in the area so we went a little further.
Here is the route we took
View Larger Map
Our old friend our roof mounted satellite dish played a part in selecting our park, actually changing it at the last minute. Our two other options in the metro area, Walnut Woods State Park and Cuttys Resort (where we stayed at last year), both have significant trees making satellite reception difficult. Bob has a football game Saturday (Iowa State) and we both have Sunday (Kansas City Chiefs) that were not going to be on local stations. We were assured that they had spots that the dish would work and when we arrived the dish setup with no problem so we are happy campers, so to speak. It was raining and windy with temps in the high 50s when we setup so we setup in record time.
The DVR programs are set and we are ready to enjoy a few days in the Des Moines area, now if our teams can win it will be even better.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Friday, September 7, 2012
Added More Maps
Prior Lake MN (Rain, Clouds Breaking, Not as Warm High 67 Low 42)
We realized that we still had some Maps to add to our blog gadget on the left side of our blog. Somehow we had created these Maps but failed to list them. So today we added Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, New Mexico and South Dakota. Here is the map for Iowa since that is where we are heading next.
Map Channels
The "Enter a Location" search in the upper right will let you zoom to a particular area. There is a scroll bar next to the list so you can scroll down and see the entire list for the state. Bob did these maps to get around the 200 marker limit for Google Maps. Check out MapChannels.com for more information.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
We realized that we still had some Maps to add to our blog gadget on the left side of our blog. Somehow we had created these Maps but failed to list them. So today we added Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, New Mexico and South Dakota. Here is the map for Iowa since that is where we are heading next.
Map Channels
The "Enter a Location" search in the upper right will let you zoom to a particular area. There is a scroll bar next to the list so you can scroll down and see the entire list for the state. Bob did these maps to get around the 200 marker limit for Google Maps. Check out MapChannels.com for more information.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Too Hot For Anything But Movies
Prior Lake MN (Partly Sunny and Pleasant High 79 Low 52)
With temps in the high 80s and humid we decided the last couple of days to go to a movie. The first one we saw was "The Bourne Legacy".
Carrying on the Jason Bourne story but without Jason Bourne. The mad scientists are at it again and this time it is Aaron Cross played by Jeremy Renner that is the guinea pig. The good about this movie is that there are some characters from the Jason Bourne trilogy that are mentioned so you have some familiarity with the storyline. Plus this is an action movie so there is a lot of chases and fights. The stunt sliding down between two walls close together was pretty neat. We really like Rachel Weisz and Jeremy Renner so that helped too.
The bad is that it took a while to get going at the beginning and it lagged a little in the middle, probably about 15 minutes too long of a movie. In our 5 star Netflix-type ranking we give it 3 stars - Liked It. Not as good as any of the Jason Bourne trilogy but still a good movie and it was air conditioned and the popcorn was good.
Next we saw "Hope Springs" with Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep.
A heartfelt story of an old married couple seeking therapy from a counselor played by Steve Carrell. We laughed, we cried and we smiled throughout the movie so it touched us. There were a couple scenes that made us uncomfortable but all in all a good movie. In our Netflix-type ranking we give it 4 stars - Really Liked It.
Looks like the heat wave has broke here which must mean it is time to move to where it is hotter :-(
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
With temps in the high 80s and humid we decided the last couple of days to go to a movie. The first one we saw was "The Bourne Legacy".
Carrying on the Jason Bourne story but without Jason Bourne. The mad scientists are at it again and this time it is Aaron Cross played by Jeremy Renner that is the guinea pig. The good about this movie is that there are some characters from the Jason Bourne trilogy that are mentioned so you have some familiarity with the storyline. Plus this is an action movie so there is a lot of chases and fights. The stunt sliding down between two walls close together was pretty neat. We really like Rachel Weisz and Jeremy Renner so that helped too.
The bad is that it took a while to get going at the beginning and it lagged a little in the middle, probably about 15 minutes too long of a movie. In our 5 star Netflix-type ranking we give it 3 stars - Liked It. Not as good as any of the Jason Bourne trilogy but still a good movie and it was air conditioned and the popcorn was good.
Next we saw "Hope Springs" with Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep.
A heartfelt story of an old married couple seeking therapy from a counselor played by Steve Carrell. We laughed, we cried and we smiled throughout the movie so it touched us. There were a couple scenes that made us uncomfortable but all in all a good movie. In our Netflix-type ranking we give it 4 stars - Really Liked It.
Looks like the heat wave has broke here which must mean it is time to move to where it is hotter :-(
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
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