First Day of Spring 2014

Today is the first day of spring 2014 and it's going to be a beautiful day.  We started in the 30's this morning and will probably see more of those this month but hopefully the winter stuff (snow and ice) is over.  Our days are warmer and mostly in the 50s and 60s.  Now we pray for lots and lots of rain as we are way behind - AGAIN.  The lake we spend time on is 6' down so dangerous to even get out on.

John and I celebrated 23 years of marriage on March 9th.  As I reflect back on everything we have done it seems like we have been married much longer.  We have taken some awesome trips and had lots of wonderful experiences.  

Last weekend we had planned to get back to our place at Cedar Blue but found out the owner of the RV park we live in purchased two very small morkie puppies and was going to have them shipped.  Well there was no way we could let those puppies get shipped so we made a road trip to Missouri to pick them up.  It turned out we were headed to the area my parents had retired to so I was anxious to see the area since it had been 10 years since our last visit.  Wow, the road system had changed when we arrived.  There is a nice major highway through the area now which speeds up getting around I'm sure.  We drove by my parent's old home (pictured in blog) and were pleased to see it had not been torn down and replaced.  In fact the new owners have made some nice changes to the home.  They enclosed the garage and replaced the deck with a nice new one with pretty trim.  They also put in a screened porch under the deck.  The property was well taken care of.

We spent the night in a hotel in Lebanon, Missouri and picked up the puppies the next morning and oh my were they adorable.  They were 2 lbs each of fluff.  They had had a bath so smelled really sweet but let me tell you, the time we arrived home they smelled sweet but not a good kind.  Those little girls pooped their way home!  They traveled so well though.  The only time we heard from them was when they pooped and wanted their crate cleaned out.  Their names are Heidi and Bonnie and are just little sweethearts.  Our girls sniffed them out and then didn't seem much interested in them.  It may be their little size.  The little girls just wanted to play with our girls but our girls didn't know what to do with them.  Hopefully when the pups grow a bit they can start to play together.  

Today I'm just sticking around the RV doing laundry and enjoying the pretty day - although it will be windy.  Tomorrow morning we head back to Cedar Blue for the weekend.  Looking forward to the weekend even if it will be on the cool side and may be wet.  Next weekend my sisters and brother-in-laws arrive for a short visit.  We are all gathering at a local hotel where we have lots of space to visit and plan to do some sightseeing.  Can't wait.  April also brings John's 60th birthday and he wants to stay at a hotel with the girls.  I also am planning a party for him.  Toward the end of the month we are going to house and pet sit for our friend, Priscilla for a week while she visits family in California.  So a busy April.  Nothing much planned then until this Fall.

Having Fun Today

Today is March 1, 2014 and it seems that it is going to come in like a lion starting tonight.  Just when we thought maybe winter was over -- and it's been a winter with bitterly cold temps this year -- here it comes again.  We have enjoyed some nice warm, sunny days but tomorrow and Monday our highs will only be in the 20s with snow, sleet and ice.  YUK!  We have been so pleased with how well our motorhome has handled this cold weather keeping us comfortable.  The only thing that froze up was our ice maker and we solved that by putting a very small low wattage lamp in where the pipes are. They are totally accessible from a panel on the outside of the coach.  Recently we think we have had a problem with our large external propane tank.  We have noticed that our regulator has iced over and propane is being vented from it.  This regulator is one the propane tank in our motorhome and is setup so we can easily switch between the onboard tank and the external tank as well as disconnect from the external tank since we frequently hit the road.  There has also been oil in the line coming from the external tank.  Nobody seems to be able to help us so we have added an additional regulator at the external tank as well.  Only time will tell but we went through last night with no problems.  Tomorrow will be the test.  It may be that with the varying temps and humidity that all this is normal and nothing is actually wrong.  The heater and stove burners never quit working but I have to say seeing that regulator iced over and smelling propane is a bit disconcerting.  This is our third winter and we have never had this problem but this winter has been the coldest and with really wild temperature swings.  I think once we have five years under our belt we will be absolute pros at this full-time lifestyle.  

This past week we had a combo washer/dryer installed in our RV and today is our first day to give it a run.  It is absolutely awesome!  After going to the laundromat for 2.5 years this is really a treat for me.   Yes - it does it all in one machine and it has all the fancy settings.  Additionally it senses how much water it needs.  The instructions suggest that you shake out the clothes before the dry cycle starts so they don't wrinkle from the spin cycle.  It's extremely quiet.  They suggest we use the laundry soap made by the same company as it has less foam and is specially designed for this type of machine.  I only use 1-2 tablespoons of the powder so one box will last me about 100 loads and it only cost about $18.00.  I have to use liquid softener and again only 2 tablespoons so that won't cost much either.  Our first load was interesting though.  During the rinse and spin cycles water started coming up one of the bathroom sinks and the kitchen sink.  So much so we had to scoop it out and dump it.  Even when it went to the dry load the water just sat there in the sinks.  Hmmmm -- so John went out and opened up the gray tank value to dump the tank and whoooosh -- out the water went immediately.  There must be something about the air flow/vacuum.  The second load went just fine with that tank opened up.  Otherwise this thing is operating like a dream.  I will just need to get used to what settings and how much dry time I need.  It's a 110 volt and not 220 like the home models so drying takes a bit longer.  The loads are smaller than what you do at home as well so I may have to run it it 5 times a week but that's no big deal when I don't have to go out to do laundry.

On an entirely new topic, recently I came across a recipe for dog biscuits that sounded good and was really simple.  Buying dog treats gets expensive and you have to be so careful to make sure they are made in the USA or they may have deadly chemicals in them.  Also, Bailey is so picky.  So my quest was to find doggy-related cookie cutters so I could hopefully make fun snacks they like.  We stopped at Bed Bath and Beyond and they didn't carry any.  Then into Petsmart and Hobby Lobby and both were out of them.  While getting groceries at our little Walmart today there they were.  They were bone, paw and dog shaped.  So I whipped up a batch and the girls loved them.  They are somewhat soft and made from whole wheat, oats, eggs, pumpkin and peanut butter.  Although they take 30 minutes to bake and the recipe makes a bunch it is totally worth it not to have to pay for store bought treats.  These are healthy and made in my kitchen.  The cutters make big biscuits for our little girls so they can easily be cut up into much smaller pieces.  

We have also decided to start grooming the girls ourselves.  It is so expensive when you have two that need grooming every 5 weeks or so.  That's about $30+ a dog plus a tip and when we are on the road full-time we won't have the ability to choose the same groomer so you never know what your dog will look like when you pick them up.  One of the tables in the RV is just the right height for this so I have ordered a grooming arm that will clamp onto it so I can put a loop around the girls' necks to keep them still.  I have the clippers, scissors, brush and comb so I should be set.  I have downloaded some training videos and watched several online for doing their faces.  I'm sure I will make mistakes but hopefully in time will have a good handle on this project.  I'm sure there will be tales to tell initially.    

Well that's enough for today.  Getting ready to batten down the hatches for this next winter storm and pray this is the last one.  

A Bitterly Cold February 2014

Well 2013 has come and gone and I have not blogged in some time.  We have not been anywhere in the RV since Thanksgiving but hope to head back to our little piece of heaven in Sulphur on Valentines Day.  This winter has been a cold one for most of the country and we have not been left out.  This week has been the worst since the bad ice storm earlier this winter.  It started on Sunday with a snow storm and somehow I had to get John to the airport.  He is spending this week in Las Vegas for an education fair with his company.  His flight wasn't scheduled until 1:30 pm but the snow was coming down and we had several miles and lots of big hills to get up and down.  So about 8:15 am we headed out as he had agreed to just wait it out at the airport so I could hopefully get home before it got worse.  Yes, you would think what's the problem -- you have a 4-wheel drive jeep!  Well that jeep is in the garage for repairs.  It seemed to be having electrical or alternator problems so it could have left me stranded in the middle of a highway so we had to drop it off for repairs knowing we wouldn't see it for several days.


About 1 1/2 hours or more later I made it home safe and sound and John's flight took off safely at 1:30 pm.  That little Ford Focus with its anti-slip feature was like a little tank getting around.  The visibility was only about a car length and the roads had not been touched so I was very happy to get home and stay put for the day. 


We have had several more storms predicted for the week so I rearranged my work schedule to try and get my work days in between storms.  Monday the weather was fine so I worked all day.  Tuesday I planned to stay settled in at home for the next big snow but woke up to find out the snow had gone north of us and dumped a bunch on the northern part of the State.  The girls and I played at home for the day and then I joined some friends in their brand new home for some beef stew that evening.  They finally got to move back into their new home after rebuilding from the May 20th tornado.  The home is beautiful.


Wednesday we had another day without weather so off to work I went and then out to dinner with a dear friend for burgers.  I really enjoy spending time with her.  We can talk about anything.  Today we are snuggled in at home again waking up to a couple of inches of snow on the ground and, other than having to go grocery shopping and the vet hopefully tomorrow, we plan to stay put until John gets back home. 


Needless to say throughout all this the temps have been insanely cold.  We have had highs about 15 degrees for two days now with some wind chills anywhere from the actual temp to -5 degrees.  Takes your breath away. 


I actually made a hotel reservation for John for Saturday at the airport hotel in case he does arrive home on time and I can't get to him as there had been more snow predicted for that day.  Today, however, it appears we may have sunshine and 40 degrees on Saturday!!  But alas, that only lasts a day and more snow and cold temps predicted for Monday and Tuesday.  It's looking like more normal temps for the end of next week so we might actually get to travel south to Lake Arbuckle for the weekend.


Well that's enough for now.  Back to working on a jigsaw puzzle and maybe some baking.  I just thank the Lord for keeping our pipes thawed and taking us through this bitterly cold weather safely.  John did teach me how to winterize our RV if the heater went out but the Lord is taking care of me.

The Ice Storm on the First Day of Winter 2013

Winter came in like a lion on December 21, 2013.  The rain came down and down and down and froze all over the trees.  Although it was pretty and didn't have a huge affect on the roads (except bridges and overpasses) it was horrible for the trees.  In the RV park we stay in near Blanchard, OK it devastated probably 80% of them.  So very sad.  The good news is that it doesn't appear that any of the RVs

or vehicles were harmed.  The few vehicles that had tree limbs come down on them, had them come down softly rather than cracking and falling several feet.  

The owner of the park told me that she has seen it worse one time and that was about 2006 or 2007 and that the trees actually recovered.  It just takes so long.

I assume we will see and hear lots of chain saws once the ice has melted.  Most will have to be cut way back if not all the way to the trunk. There are a few that will have to be sawed down completely.  

When the storm started it dawned on us that we had not topped off our gas tank in the RV the last time we were on the road and we only had 1/4 tank of gas in it.  Ugh!  The generator will not run with only 1/4 of a tank and if the power goes out we are in a bit of a jam.  We certainly did not want to have to winterize the RV in the dark and freezing temps and have to find a place to go until the power came back on.  So off to Walmart John went to get some gas cans and gas.  He arrived home safely with 15 gallons of gas if we needed it.  We then found out from the park owner that they typically do not lose power in the park in ice storms and that she had lots of gas for us to use if needed.  She has it for all their heavy equipment they use in the park.  In the end the power only blipped off and on twice and for a very short time so all was good and we didn't need to fire up the generator.  

I wonder what is in store for us the rest of the winter.  Hopefully not more ice storms.  Snow is not a problem but I sure hope the ice and these bitter cold temps we have been experiencing are over.  Looking forward to sun the rest of this week and warmer temps.  They are predicting 60 degrees in a few days.  Awesome.  

Winter Has Arrived on December 5, 2013

Well winter has arrived with brute force on December 5, 2013.  This is our 3rd winter in our motorhome and I think this one is going to be the hardest so far.  Winter for the last 2 years wasn't bad -- very little ice or snow.  I'm not sure that will be the case this time around.  An arctic blast has blanketed a huge part of the country and we will not see anything above freezing for a week.  This is the coldest we have seen here in 30 years.  Our days are going to be in the low 20s and our nights as low as single digits.  I'm very happy we live in kind of a deep hole between two major roads so we are protected from the wind.  While others are seeing 15 mph or more we are well under 10 mph so wind chill isn't much of a factor here like in the city or up on the hills.  


Yesterday we saw some freezing rain and mostly sleet but this morning woke up to 1-2" of snow and it is still lightly snowing. It's very pretty and about 20 degrees.  We are having to put sweaters and winter coats on the dogs to take them outside.

This week we are dog sitting for some friends who are on a cruise in the western Caribbean.  Boy are they in for a shock when they arrive home Sunday!!  So we have 3 dogs to get ready to walk each time they need to go out but they seem to like playing in the snow.  

Life in a motorhome in this type of weather can be interesting.  Since this is the coldest we have ever experienced it makes me a bit nervous but so far so good.  We are under a metal cover that has metal walls around it on the bottom as well so we are a bit more protected than the others in the park.  We have a thermostatically controlled heated hose hooked up so we don't have to wrap our hose.  Where we connect to the water is in a hole in the ground that is quite deep with a cover on top of it and that seems to work well keeping that part from freezing up as well.  We are leaving all the lights on in our storage bays to give it all a bit more heat underneath and we have central heat that heats up where all the water pipes are underneath.  Where we hook up the hose to the coach is behind a bay door and when you open that up and feel the area with your hand it all seems to be warm as well.  So hopefully we should be good to go with the pipes not freezing up.

Inside we are needing to keep all the night shades pulled down to help hold the heat in a bit better since our windows are single pane which is a bit of a downer.  I love light and want to be able to see the snow but it just makes it harder to heat.  We finally broke down and are running a space heater at the front of the coach where it is the draftiest.  So all that is left is putting on some extra clothes and watching the level of the propane tank.  We have a wonderful guy that delivers propane directly to us once a week but I'm sure he would come on an off day if we were running out.

For all of you that are experiencing this very cold weather, stay warm and safe.

The Cold Nights Have Arrived

We are having a magnificent Fall season this year.  I love the cooler temps.  The days are warm enough not to need a coat and the evenings and nights are crisp - sweatshirt weather.  John and I have taken so many walks with the dogs enjoying the outdoors.  This week the temps are now taking a bit of a bigger dive and we have had a couple of nights below freezing so winter is coming.

The first weekend in November we were able to drive down the Talimena scenic drive from Talihina, Oklahoma to Mena, Arkansas and it delivered!  The colors were amazing.  After arriving in Mena we traveled up to Fort Smith which was also very pretty and spent the night there before heading home the following morning. 

The thermostatically controlled heated hose is plugged in, the blankets and warm jackets are out and ready to use and the propane tank is full so we are ready for the winter to come. Our last two winters in the RV have been pretty mild with respect to snow and ice - not like the winter we had 13" of snow on Christmas Eve!  We were still in our house then.  Everybody is saying we are supposed to have a hard winter so we may get a taste of some significant snow and ice this year.  At least we are parked under a metal cover so that should protect us a bit from it piling up on top of our coach. 

We are in the process of downsizing some of our vehicles and things.  We have had two cars where we live in Newcastle and another vehicle at our lot near Lake Arbuckle that we use to get around down there and it tows our boat and waverunner.  This past week we traded one of our cars off for a Jeep Wrangler and hopefully have a buyer for our vehicle at our lake lot.  Now all we need are buyers for our motorcycle and our car and bike hauler that we use behind our RV.  So the jeep will replace our motorcycle -- we can take the top off and have 4 wheels under us instead of 2.  It will be nice to be down to two vehicles.  We can tow the jeep behind the RV with all 4 wheels on the ground which will be much easier than loading it on a trailer. 

John has Thanksgiving off so we are hoping the weather is good enough for us to travel to our lake lot in Sulphur and spend the holiday there.  I hope all of you have had a wonderful Fall season as well. 

Our Fall Vacation

Our fall vacation was kind of a staycation.  We and the girls spent a week at our lot in Cedar Blue near Lake Arbuckle (Sulphur, OK).  It was an absolutely gorgeous week.  Temps were in the 60s to 70s during the day and sunny with lows in the 40s and 50s at night.  We enjoyed the outdoors for hours each day and the girls just ran and wrestled with each other.  They slept like logs at night.

We got some projects done.  We cleaned out our storage shed and filled up the back of the SUV with lots of trash.  Wow, you can actually move around in the shed now and find things!  I painted the trim on it as well.  John setup a new more permanent system for running our sewer hose from the RV so he doesn't have to crawl under it anymore.  The boat went to the shop for a tune-up and winterizing and we cleaned up the lot and restacked the wood pile.  John finished up the projects by winterizing the waverunner.  The projects kept us from sitting on our blessed assurances too much! 

On Wednesday we took the girls with us to Pauls Valley and met John's sister, Jo Ann, at Wacker Park in where we ate lunch and enjoyed visiting for a couple of hours.  They have a pretty rose garden there and the smell of the roses was really nice.  On Thursday we drove to Gordonville, TX to check out the Cedar Mills Marina and Resort on Lake Texoma as a possible place to vacation next year.  After our big spree this year to Yellowstone, the Black Hills and the Badlands for two weeks we decided to find a nice RV park on a lake close by where we could easily drive the motorhome and a separate vehicle to pull the waverunner.  This place was very nice and had a small RV park with all the sites near the waters edge.  It's only about 75 miles south of us at Cedar Blue and it will be nice to enjoy the evenings by the water.  We plan to head that way in late June.  They have cabins so friends and family are more than welcome to join us!! 

Each evening this week we took the girls for a walk after dinner before the sun set and then enjoyed a campfire.  John and the girls laid in the hammock beside the fire while I bundled up with a blanket in a comfy chair next to it.   

On Saturday much needed rain came down. Poor little April she doesn't like storms and gets so nervous.  So a dose of Benadryl and snuggled in Daddy's lap made for a peaceful afternoon for her.  Our motorhome has a built-in unit on the dash that has the radio, camera screen, weather radio, etc.  Every time we have any weather that can set off a weather radio that unit just comes on automatically and the weather radio starts broadcasting for wherever we are.  It's wonderful and creepy at the same time that it can just come on automatically. 

Saturday afternoon we tried out the cafe at the Chickasaw Cultural Center in Sulphur for lunch.  The prices were good as was the food.  The cafe has huge windows all around it that look out onto the beautiful grounds.  You can access the grounds and the cafe without having to pay any admission fees.  It's a very peaceful place to visit and the museum is very well done.  You should plan at least 3-4 hours if you visit the museum.  Lots to see.

We finally had to break out the winter jackets for ourselves and the girls Saturday night.  By early evening it was already down to the upper 40's once it got dark.  I love this time of year!

Sunday was another beautiful day and after church we finished up the rest of our projects and got to enjoy the afternoon.  We have decided to sell our motorcycle and SUV and get a used Jeep Wrangler.  So we cleaned up the SUV and took pictures so we could post them online.  The jeep will be safer than the motorcycle and we can still have fun with it, especially with the top off.  When we travel we plan to pull the jeep and hopefully find a good buy on a 3-wheel scooter as backup transportation/2nd vehicle if needed.      

On Monday vacation came to an end and we had to head back to the city.  It's a rare occasion that we actually stay close to home for a week's vacation but it was great and very restful.  Much more so than traveling around the country.