Kind of Like the Beach

Dec 11 - 13, 2017

Onward towards the sun...although we may have left the electricity a little too soon.  It was so cold for several days that even Bo wanted some lap time and Butch needed a blankie.  I was wearing two shirts, a hoodie and a fleece jacket while using my bathrobe and a flannel sheet as a lap cover.  Yes, that is bubble wrap around my cup and my stainless steel French Press was wrapped in towels.  Not so cold that the cats' water froze (which has happened) but cold enough to slow us down for a while.

This lovely place is Ruidosa Downs on the Billy the Kid Highway. Somewhere around here he is buried but the actual location isn't precisely known.  Instead, the town of Fort Sumner has a conveniently located grave in town that has nothing to do with The Kid, and another site in the Old Fort Sumner Cemetery that is probably close to where the grave is.

Next stop is Alamogordo and the White Sands National Monument that encloses a small section of the gypsum dunes in the Tularosa Basin.  There are several small hikes to interesting areas and one big one through some very large dunes.

The big hike through the Alkali Flats. I only went as far as the first hill to get some photos.  The distance is only about five miles but hiking in sand is a slow process and they suggest planning at least three hours to cover the route.

Niagara Is Worth a Second Visit

August 12 - 30, 2017

I spent more time camping in the woods a bit south of Utica in an area that seems to be mainly used by local folks as a picnic area.  I'm a happy introvert and empty campgrounds suit me well, plus the forest rangers always seem to check on lone campers and marvel over a single woman on her own in the trees.  The engine is still getting warm and the flatness between Utica and Niagara Falls is welcome.  I tend to stress when things aren't working correctly despite not panicking about it.

The other thing that needed to be dealt with was rabies vaccines for the cats.  Canada does not like the idea of people's pets infecting their critters (understandably) and will not let in pets without a rabies certificate.  Cool. $170 dollars and a couple pissed off cats and I'll be set, right?  Except that New York doesn't issue certificates for cats, only dogs.  Sigh.  Fortunately the receptionist was willing to work with me to create a document that looked official and had all of the required information on it.  Hopefully I won't have to haul the cats out at the border for an inspection.

Stopped at the Walmart instead of the casino to be close enough to the gym for a morning shower.  Thought I'd be somewhat clean for meeting the Canadians.  Thankfully I wasn't in a hurry because oddly, in a giant parking lot, people couldn't come up with a better place to park than right in front and behind me.

Clearly I wasn't going anywhere any time soon so I decide to check the muffler - one of my possible sources for an extra warm engine.  I grabbed the tailpipe to jiggle it and found the entire thing twisted in my hands. Welp . . . even if that wasn't the source of the problem it definitely needed to be addressed.  I looked for a national muffler shop in Niagara Falls but didn't find anything closer than Buffalo.  Oh well. The way to Toronto is mostly flat anyway. It can wait. 

I debating walking to the gym since it was only a mile away but dithered long enough that the guy sleeping in the van eventually left.  The folks in the big RV seemed to be planning a longer stay and were still there when I left around noon.  I only went as far as the casino anyway.  No point in hurrying since I wanted to take a stroll around Goat Island and hang out for the evening light show.

No, that isn't a picture of the light show because my camera doesn't do dark well. I also think the view would be much better from the Canadian side but I wasn't up for a walk across the bridge.

Wanting to get an early start across the bridge in the morning, and also getting cold from the spray and wind, I left before full dark and went 'home'.

Who Knew PA was so Amazing?

May 26 - 30, 2017

Driving out of DE and into PA was a gradual greening process with increasing trees and farmlands along the roads.  I pulled into WM and pulled up the National Parks website to plan my time.  Valley Forge is not from from Philadelphia and I gotta say, local residents are extremely lucky.  Not only is it free, the park is laced with hiking and biking trails that take you over historic sites and through some very pretty scenery.  It's very much like a huge city park, but with guys wearing odd clothing.  Again, I took no pics.  I need to avoid getting blase about seeing cool things.

Hopewell Furnace is another fun place to visit with restored buildings that tell the history of forging iron in PA.

Plus I got lost while driving and took a few side trips through farmland on small, windy roads over tiny bridges.

Found some "grown in Pennsylvania" apples from Yakima.

Another "Walmart adapts" sign.  Parking for those that arrive in a buggy (Amish country).

View from that same WM

Idea was good but the chips were nasty.  More like extra salty barbecue chips.

Bo has decided that with all the driving his best bet is to start eating when I sit in the driver's seat and stuff as much in as possible before the vehicle starts.  Poor starvling.

Oh My God!! Ticks!!!!

May 17 - 20, 2017

The E.A. Vaughn Wildlife Management Area seemed like a reasonable place to chill for a few days while another blast of hot weather blew through.  It turned out to be less than ideal, partly due to the parking area being several yards from the trees, and partly because - dear god - we are in tick country.

When I pulled in there was a pickup parked with two guys doing something to a dog.  I immediately offered the use of my 'cat repair kit' but they said they were only removing ticks from the dog after a walk.  Eww. Thanks for the warning.  I immediately consulted Google and discovered that wearing light colored clothing and using DEET were an excellent deterrent.  Uh huh.

The next morning I went for a walk.  I was hoping the cooler air would deter ticks along with my long pants over knee-length socks and tucked into a second pair of ankle socks.  I sprayed my shoes, socks and pants with Off, and rubbed my DIY bug repellent over the rest of my skin.  I even tucked the repellent wipes into my hair before setting off to check out the hunting area.

It was a pleasant walk through knee-high grass although this part of the world seems to have flies that bite you.  FLIES!!  Shouldn't they be munching on deer poop or something?  Blah.

Got back after about an hour and found ticks all over my pants, socks and shoes.  So much for DEET.

I disrobed outside, carefully stepping into my sandals as I removed each tennis shoe and hung the clothes on the mirrors.  One site I had visited mentioned vinegar as a tick deterrent so I sprayed that on the pants, socks and shoes and left them to dry.

And then I didn't walk in the grass again.

Despite all this, I still managed to get four ticks on me and one on the cat. Eww eww eww eww.  I know there's some prescribed method for removing those suckers properly, but I went for the 'scream and tug' method.  Highly effective.

I'm thinking the ticks were so abundant that even stepping onto the mown area they got on my shoes and made their way into the camper.  Ewwwwwwww.

It also got much hotter than predicted.  The cats were miserable.

Bo gets patted down with water when it gets really warm.  There was a slight breeze coming in the door and I augmented it with a battery powered fan.

Even Butch, who glories in being toasty, was limp.

The fun part about staying here was watching the hunters.  They'd arrive early decked out in camouflage to trek back into the grass and wait for the turkeys.  A few hours later they'd trek back, climb into their pickups and go home.  Shortly after that the turkeys would come into the camping area to eat all those yummy ticks stalking unwary rvers. 

Sorry for the blur - it's the zoom on my phone.

Hot weather is over! Time for another beach!

On the Atlantic

April 18-26, 2017

I thought I wanted to see Myrtle Beach and dip my toes into the Atlantic there, but when I arrived I discovered that it consists of a whole lot of buildings and roads.  I suppose I could have wandered the beach and found some nicer places bu the drizzly weather and my own lassitude combined to convince me that lounging was a better use of my time.  I parked on the edge of the WM lot next to a pond to give the cats something to look at.  Butch enjoyed the live theatre.

I had been wanting a box to hold the crap I use often that spends most of its time sitting on the couch-bench.  I selected one sturdy enough for Butch to use as a seat to allow him to look out the window without meerkatting.

Bo, on the other hand, doesn't quite fit...

After staying a couple days I drove up the coast to discover that Myrtle Beach appears to be the mini-golf capital of the south.  Every block sported one or two giant structures spouting 7-eleven-slurpee-blue water over plastic cliffs.  Weird that people would live on a beach and yet want to spend time playing miniature golf.

Traveled all the way to North Carolina before finding another place to wait out a stretch of hot weather

Running from the Cold

January 2 - 5, 2017

After a scary storm at the lake (semis were blown over closer to Fort Worth) and a look at the weather forecast I decided it was time to head south.  We had had several days of 15 degree nights while in Fort Worth and it isn't any fun at all. And we were plugged in.  Even with the electric heater I used 1/2 a tank of propane running the furnace to try to keep everything from freezing.  It didn't work and the water heater froze but thawed with no leaks so it's all good.

The cats were done with the lake after all the wind and rain.

Ever hopeful we headed towards Waco.  My only plan was 'go south.  avoid cities' which makes planning pretty easy.  Mostly it was a series of small town Walmarts but not bad.  The cold weather caught us a bit south of Austin and we shivered through a couple of freezing nights.  Still happy I didn't have any leaks, I turned on the water pump to do some dishes and suddenly wasn't happy anymore.  No water came out.  Actually water did come out but it came out underneath the camper.  Not good.

I spent some time thinking about what to do while driving to Victoria.  Victoria is big enough to have hardware stores and an RV repair shop.  Rather than give up and drive to a repair place I decided to try and figure it out.

Only leaks when the water pump is run. Dry under the sink - not the pump.  Follow the lines.  Under the sink all looks good, check the next compartment.  Yeah, that one is wet.  We start here.

The lines were all covered with insulating wrap so I pulled that off to check them.  Turns out they are all carefully labeled.  Damn.  Always buy an RV from a compulsive person.  Started feeling the lines from the wall that connects to the sink and kept going until I discovered that one corner had popped out of its connector.

That's it.  No cracks, just a Herculean effort required to get the hose back into the corner connector.  I couldn't get it in perfectly and I wonder if the previous owner couldn't either and that's why it separated.  

I patted the area as dry as I could and stuffed a bucket of drying crystals into the compartment.  I also tossed out about 15 pounds of wood pieces that had been used for leveling.

While in the big city I hoofed it to Home Depot to get some weather stripping.  The door is a little warped and I can see daylight through the bottom when it's closed.  Actually the door is irrelevant because of the frig:

Remember this picture?  That's daylight coming in through the vents that were needed for the propane frig.  The one that fit completely into the space and sealed off all the drafts.  Now it's like a wind tunnel When the wind is from that side.  I'll need to do something about this at some point.

Texas Parks

December 22 - January 1, 2017

South of Fort Worth the Brazos River widens into Granbury Lake.  Around the shores are several parks that allow free camping for a week or so.  I chose one at random and settled in.

The area is nice, if lacking trees (there were a few).  The park was across a large field from houses and busier than I would have expected for winter.  The cats went out a few times and Bo plunked himself near the shore and stared at the water for the longest time.  I can't image what was going through his head.  Butch, of course, raced into the field to hunt critters.

After Christmas I went farther down the Brazos to Steele Creek Park on Lake Whitney.  Much more isolated and I pulled into one of the two campsites with trees.  Lots of them.  After checking out the area I decided it was safe for the cats.  The first day was fine - they stayed close and played in the trees where I could keep an eye on them.  But being good is not Butch's style so after that they went across the street where the grass was higher and the woods more prevalent.

I went across the street to make sure it was okay and heard a growl.  Listening carefully I realized it was Bo, and then I realized it was coming from inside a culvert.

Seriously?  Who's cats are stupid enough to go inside a dark culvert?  Mine, apparently.  After calling him a couple times I raced back to the camper to get a flashlight hoping it wasn't anything worse than a skunk in there with him.  As I was crossing back over the street, Bo came running across.  I grabbed him to check his face and paws for injuries.  Nothing.  Phew.  Curious about what was in the culvert I put my flashlights down at one end and went to the other to see if I could see anything.  What I saw was Butch running out.  Seriously?  Both of them were that dumb?  Whatever.

Almost There

I did short hops for the next few days on my way to Fort Worth.  Traveling the interstate wasn't quite as much fun as doing small towns but I was more confident about finding places to stop.  And I needed that confidence because the transmission was starting to complain a lot when it got hot and a slight roughness that I'd noticed going up to Carlsbad was becoming noticeably worse.  I was hoping it had something to do with spark plugs rather than the cylinder, but I know nothing about engines and I didn't know if this was an intelligent thought - or just a hopeful one.

Around the 15th of November I called my SIL to ask about arrival timing.  She said the next day would be fine so I settled in at the truck stop and made plans to stop a a store for provisions before heading up to the house.

In the morning I opened my frig to get breakfast and discovered that the inside was less than cold.  It was decidedly warm, actually.  My 31 year old refrigerator had decided to retire in Texas.

Well then.  With nothing else to delay me, assuming neither the transmission nor the engine would give out before the last 100 miles I set out for the big city.

I spent several days hanging out with my SIL before my brother and dad arrived and I spent the next several days not worrying about anything.  We had a lovely Thanksgiving and then I set about addressing the assorted issues that had come up.

Turns out that Walmart has vendors that sell through their site (like Amazon) so I found  good price on a refrigerator through a small company in Florida and ordered it.

Transmission was a little more annoying to deal with but I (well, my SIL, called their Toyota guy and he recommended a tranny person.  Who would be back after a holiday break.  At least there's a plan.