Catching Up....

Things are a bit hectic here but I know everyone is wondering what's up so here's the short version.

• Drove from White Sulfur Springs, MT to Colorado Springs, CO with only one teensy little defugalty. Hadn't towed in a while (almost 2 months) and forgot to turn off the key at night. Ended up in northern CO with a dead battery in the car. Got that taken care of at the Longmont Camping World where I stopped to get tire covers.
  
• Spent a quiet night in the campground, got gas, argued with the bottle of Sta-bil that didn't want to transfer to the gas tank, moved the RV to the storage lot.
  
• Unloaded the rest of the stuff out of the RV into daughter's car, stored my bicycle in the RV, then got the winterization done.
• Went to visit some old friends who stored my rifel & handgun and took possession of the spare set of keys (in case I need something shipped to me) and had a great lunch at a local Chinese restaurant (best Chinese food in years).
• Went to the airport to pick up the rental car (daughter took possession of my old car), found out their lot was off-site, finally got the car, headed to the hotel for a rest before dinner.
  
• Nice dinner with some other friends, almost closed the restaurant while we chatted (daughter & grandson there as well), headed back to the hotel to find about 30 kids in the lobby registering.
• Woke up realizing that 1) I had forgotten some food in the pantry and 2) the generator never got serviced. Called the RV folks to get the generator done and headed back to the storage lot. Had hoped to meet some friends in Colorado Springs but by the time this was all done it was too close to time to turn in the rental car (2pm deadline).
• Plane took off for Chicago on time, not full so I got to move to an empty seat with no one beside me. Flight attendant gave me the wrong gate, fortunately I checked the monitor. Walked - LONG walk - to the next concourse.
• Half hour late out of Chicago to Baltimore (BWI) and full...cramped flying but finished reading my book. Arrived close to on time, met Stu in the baggage claim.
  
• Since then it has been a whirlwind of sorting my stuff into his stuff, finding spots for everything, mailing another box of stuff back to my daughter, tossing a few things topped with meeting a TON of family & friends. Been eating out WAY too much. Tonight? Out to meet more friends for dinner....LOL!
• Tomorrow we load everything up and head to Gettysburg. We'll be meeting up with other retired firefighter friends for a weekend of fun as well as a lunch with some of my motorcycle friends on Sunday. Monday we move to a different park in Gettysburg and relax a bit before heading to Highland NY to meet with my late husband's youngest daughter & her family (Micki, Eric & the kids - Matthew, Abbi, Zoe & Luke). After that we'll wander somewhere in eastern PA till the 24th when we get the RV serviced in Pottstown, PA.
  
• Back to Stevensville where we have another motorcycle friend lunch in Prince Frederick on the 27th, will attend the Renaissance Faire on the 28th (something I've never done but always wanted to), do the Red Hats ride in honor of Fallen Firefighters on 10/4 and somewhere in the middle of all that have a homemade pizza night for the family (Stu makes it from scratch....).

I will blog when I can but for a while things will stay pretty hectic...as you can see! Having an absolute blast....LIFE IS GOOD!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna

Reading between the lines....

Since I have been staying too busy to quickly catch up my back travel blogs (will still do, promise!), I thought it was time to update everyone....at least those that haven't been reading between the lines.

You may remember my mentioning meeting Stu at the Escapade and doing some traveling together. Shortly after my workamping started, Stu headed east for the birth of his second grandbaby (born 8/7/08 & a beautiful baby girl). Being separated for a while was good for both of us, but it brought out the obvious. We wanted to continue our relationship to see where it goes.

So, once I am done workamping, I will put my RV in storage in Colorado Springs (reason being that 1) I have friends there who can retrieve & ship me anything I've forgotten and 2) it's an area we can see us visiting next summer), sell my car to my middle daughter and hop a flight to Baltimore.

Yup, we are officially a couple! We're both widowed so this is the start of a great new adventure for both of us. We've notified all our kids & other family as well as good friends. Everyone is anxious to meet the new person in our lives. This means we will be spending the fall in the east because that is where most of our family is located.

We will be traveling in Stu's 41' KZ Escalade toy hauler, pulled by a small Freightliner (no, I don't know any more details about the truck than that...LOL!) He rides a Harley-Davidson converted trike and I'm perfectly content on the back. We discussed my getting another bike but for many reasons I've decided that it's just not what I need or want right now.

Here are some photos of us, the trike and my new home...I promise some inside photos at a later date. It's really nice, lots of amenities.



So the next few weeks will continue to be busy as I get through the final sorting of stuff to stay and stuff to ship to Baltimore. I'm getting down to the wire, I will leave the campground the afternoon on September 2nd, make it as far as Reed Point, MT (where I have already stayed twice), then halfway to Colorado Springs on the 3rd, finishing the trip on the 4th.

In closing, here is a shot of the full moon over the campground that I took this week. It was the first time I had played with the shuttering settings and left it open too long so it almost looks like daylight....until you notice the lights that are lit around the campground. It was beautiful!!



Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna

Summer in Montana

Yeah, I know, I'm supposed to be blogging about the Escapade....but other than the photos I snapped last night around sunset, not much to blog right now. (Oh, I did snap photos of all the riders heading out on their motorcycle HOP yesterday....if anyone reads this and is one of them, let me know and I'll send you the original.)



My update is about my spending the summer in Montana. Well, it finally happened. I have secured my first real workamping job. [I was actually considered a workamper when I became an independent rep for SkyMed but that is something I can do anytime, anywhere.]

Anyway, I will be spending the summer in White Sulfur Springs, MT (about halfway between Yellowstone & Glacier). The work is part-time, four half days a week and mostly office work (bathroom cleaning is rotated along with 4 other folks). I'll also help out at campfires & ice cream socials.

The campground is small, 41 pull-through sites in a small town of about 900. Yes, I'll be over an hour from major shopping but everything I need is available in town (albeit at higher prices). I figure I'll stock up on non-perishables on the way there. They do have doctors in town as well as a small hospital...hopefully not something I will need. My Verizon cell should work but not the aircard but that will be okay since they provide Wi-Fi.

Oh, the campground is Conestoga Camground. I arrive by 7/15 and depart a week after Labor Day. Anyway, if anyone is going to be in the area...they are a Passport America park as well as RPI & C2C. Love to see ya visit what looks to be a great location for summer (average highs in the 80's, lows in the 40's) although I'm sure there will be days in the 90's.

This will give me a chance to get caught up on a lot of personal organization and paperwork, not have to pay for a campsite for 2 months and thus save a little. When I leave I will head to Denver for a LONG overdue visit with family.

I'm psyched!!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna

Thursday is history, Friday is the 13th...

What a busy two days this has been. Yesterday was the day I drove into Flagstaff to pick up my new bicycle. But since I was going "into the big city", I figured I'd get a little shopping done along the way. First stop was Walgreen's where I picked up a few items on sale, next stop was Target. Both were close to the bike shop and had been previously scoped out for location.

Needless to say, I spent too much money at Target but I did pick up some badly needed items as well as a few good things on sale. (Promise you won't tell, I picked up 6 new paperbacks - 4 of them were James Patterson's, love his style and a nice change from my normal romance stuff). As I was leaving Target I noticed a Great Clips in the strip mall across the street. Since I wanted to get the bike picked up, I figured I could come back after that.

So next stop was Single Track Bike Shop (no website, sorry - 575 W Riordan Rd, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, 928-773-1862) to pick up my bike. I wanted to see if they had a luggage rack that would work and they did. I added that and a kickstand (bikes don't seem to come with them anymore..what's up with that???).

The fun came when it was time to adjust the seat. Wait a minute....this is SOOOOO different from slinging my leg over my motorcycle seat. I felt so high up...seat crammed up my....well, you know. LOL! They almost raised it till I put the pedal at full down position and they saw my leg was straight. The tough thing was trying to sit on it while not moving....had to use one hand on the counter for balance. I figure it's been close to 40 years since I road a bicycle...I see another learning curve ahead. GULP! Maybe I will dig out my motorcycle armored clothes to wear those first couple of times....

Then I got to bat my baby blues and pull my "grandmother to 15" routine and get them to assemble the bike rack I had NOT bought from them (they didn't have it in stock or I would have). Of course talking motorcycles for 30 or so minutes with them (all under the age of 30 I would guess) probably helped more.... So they assembled and mounted the rack & accessories, showed me how to put the bike on it and off I went.

Next stop was Great Clips since it was around 4pm and I figured on a Thursday they might not be too busy to fit me in. I was right...got right in and the gal that cut my hair, Kelly, knew EXACTLY what I wanted, even without the photo I normally bring in (it was in the RV, of course). If I get back to this area next year, she'll be on my list!

Fast forward to Friday....no idea it was the 13th. Hard to keep track of things like dates...LOL! Today was photographer day....remember my mentioning the interview for S-Life, the new magazine for Suzuki owners. I have had headshots professionally done but never outside shots like this. Spent close to two hours...what an experience. He took shots with the bicycle and I, me in a chair with laptop all posed in front of the car with a little of the motorhome showing behind. Then we moved the car to down in front of the caboose motel rooms here the Canyon Motel & RV Park and he took another whole set there with me posing as the cheesy tourist. Too fun!!!

So it's now 2pm and I'm whipped....think I'll sit and read a bit before venturing into town to see the motorcycle rally. The event officially started today and I want to check out the vendors....looking for a little leather tool bag to hang on the front of my handlebars. Much cheaper than the ones from bike shops (and they tend to be too big or too small). The park has had at least 4 more rigs check in today with a variety of motorcycles & methods of hauling them.

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna

Wednesday Words

Been a quiet week for the most part. The park has been busier since Monday than it was all weekend. There are several RVs with motorcycles and when I took a quick trip into town I noticed several in front of the cabins here. In town the bikes were at all the hotels I passed...then I saw the sign. There is a bike rally this weekend....the roar and the rumble!

All my packages are here and tomorrow I pick up my new bicycle. I think my ankle is well enough to let me do a little riding....just hope my stamina will hold out. LOL! Reports to come...

The biggest news is my new adventure as an independent rep for SkyMed. I received my packet today and will start my training. I sincerely hope that anyone who might find a need for something like this or know someone that could use it, will send them to my website (photo to be added soon). And just a note...in September the rates will increase so now is the time to sign up!

Oh, one other piece of news. I am being interviewed for S-Life Magazine, a new publication for owners of Suzuki vehicles. I was contacted by the editor last week and we're doing email interviews. A freelance photographer is supposed to come up from Phoenix Friday afternoon to take a photo. Sure be interesting....I hope to get a PDF file of the article if it ever gets published.

I will be heading north next week, will be trying to get my air bag leak fixed as soon as possible. I don't need to be in Gillette, WY until June 25th so plenty of time. It's still snowing in many places on the way there but looking at the 15 day forecast for Gillette, it looks like it will be warming up. The big surprise is that there isn't going to be the heat wave I expected...and that's a good thing!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna

Sunday Sights and Friends

Perfect Sunday.....slept in till 8:30, not sure why since I was wide awake at 6:30. Closed my eyes and next thing I know, it's 8:30. Decided to splurge with a Big Breakfast at McD's since I've been good about NOT going there the last couple of days. Read for a bit while enjoying my coffee, did some people watching (one of my favorite pastimes), then headed off to check out the two spots on my boondocking list.

One, actually two, things I've discovered about boondocking - 1) most hard core boondockers don't want to share their best spots and 2) places listed as good boondocking spots may actually not be. Oh and 3) what is perfect for one boondocker may be the pits for another. LOL!

The first spot I wanted to check out was the closest in, less then 2 miles from McD's. I headed out and soon found my turn off. Drove to the end...other than a NFS campground (for pay), the rest was all private property. But the scenery sure was nice...



Okay, nice drive...turned around and headed back through town and south to Dogtown Reservoir. Some other Escapees Full-timing Class of 2007, Tony & Pamela, had sent me info on this area, supposedly several good boondocking spots. It was about 4 miles out of town and then a mile or two into the National Forest Service. I knew it was going to be good when I saw my favorite sign...14 day limit (camping).

I drove in around, up, down....had a blast and found a bunch of good spots. All had at least 2 bars EVDO cell phone reception so my AirCard should work just fine. I stopped and walked around several spots, enjoying the area and wishing I were parked there now. But I still have to get my mail so will move on Thursday.

A little before 2 pm I had plans to meet Tony & Pamela at the Pine Country Restaurant for some pie. We hadn't officially met even though we had been at a couple of the same events this year. GREAT folks...had a blast talking with them, we have so much in common. Doncha just love these smiling faces!?!



After I left the restaurant, I headed to Safeway to stock up on a few things. On the way there I saw a Can-Am Spyder sitting outside a restaurant. As I got closer, a lady rider walked out and got ready to leave. I put down the window and asked her if I could take a photo. She said, "Sure!", so here it is. I love these things...so different for a three wheel motorcycle.



Oh, funny thing happened at Safeway....Tony & Pamela were there, too. Got to meet their adorable pup, Jones. I got done before them and headed home. Saved almost $14 with my Safeway card...plus if I ever run into a Safeway with a gas station, I will get 10 cents off each gallon.

Another beautiful evening...snapped a couple of sunset photos to share. Great day!



Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna

What a great time!

Sorry for not blogging more...that's what happens when you meet up with a group of friends. In this case, not RVing friends but lady motorcycle friends. Every year the gals from AZ/UT host the Wild West Fest (WWF), formerly called Ravenfest. This year they held it in Williams so I could attend (this is my second one, the first was the year I toured on my motorcycle).

We had gals (and spouses) from CA, UT, NM, KS and AZ....there were three in the campground (including me), the rest were in the hotel (some lucky enough to get to sleep in one of the converted rail cars). Most rode, a couple drove (hard to ride with a 10 month old baby), all came for the fun & companionship.



I had met all but a couple of the gals & their spouses before, so it was great to see them again. Combine with meeting folks I've chatted with for 3-4 years as well as some guest invitees....toss in good food, great music, lots of tasty food & beverages of all types....you get the picture. What a great time!



But it wasn't all fun and games...I spent a good part of today trying to get rid of the motorcycle gear I won't be using. I did pretty well but still have 2 jackets, 3 pairs of boots, chaps, vest, electric gloves and a bunch of smaller stuff to get rid of. But at least I emptied one of the large rolling duffel bags (and got rid of it). LOL! If you look closely, you'll see two tables covered and three chair filled with what's left.



Since the front of my rig gets the afternoon sun, I decided to put the awning out. I carefully checked the forecast...7mph...no problem. So I get the awning out and within an hour a HUGE wind gust comes through and grabs the awning. I run outside and try to figure out what it did and what I need to do to fix it. My friend Sally comes over (her toy hauler is parked just down the hill from me) and between us we get it settled back in. I go back inside since the wind has disappeared as quickly as it came.

An hour later it starts to get windy again and after a few minutes, I figure I'd better pull it up...sun or no sun. I haven't had the awning down in months...since I was in Yuma actually. So I'm struggling to figure out what step I'm missing since it's not going up. An RVer across the way comes over to help and we do the missing step. Then we struggle with getting it to retract and Sally appears. She quickly gets it to retract (thank you!).

It goes up easily (nice when you do all the right things), BUT the wind moved it enough that the arms are now about 2" to one side and it won't snap together. I yank on my side and we feel it shift so we bring it back down so we can start it up again. About half way up the wind starts roaring again so there we stand, me on the back end of the RV on the top of a two-step stool, my neighbor on the front end and Sally in the middle....all holding on for dear life so the wind doesn't totally destroy the awning. Finally it passes, we get the awning up and I strap it down. Glad the cameras weren't anywhere near us! LOL!

Everyone is leaving tomorrow except me, most first thing in the morning. Will be a quiet afternoon while I pack everything up so I can leave for Camp Verde on Monday morning.

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna

The

Just a little ramblin'.....

While I took it a little easy today, I did accomplish some stuff but nothing major like yesterday. I plowed through paperwork looking for something specific....I found it but also found some things that need to get taken care of.

One was changing my emergency road service coverage. I have had RV Roadhelp since 2000 and have nothing but good to say about it. Over the years I've had a motorhome towed over 300 miles, a tire changed on my car and two tows for my motorcycle. Great service all times. So why change? Well, the industry has changed and there is now a service Coach Net that offers much more for the same money. Many times when you are broken down it's something minor that a mechanic can quickly fix. Getting back on the road without having to be towed someplace is good. There is a lot more but I don't want to sound like an infomercial. Anyway, the change is made with perfect timing since the old service was due to renew on April 11th.

I canceled several credit cards today or at least started the process to do so. Over the years it's always been easy to apply for a store credit card to get a discount on the first purchase. Figured it was time to cull those out. Since I was doing that, I took a look at what's out there for cash back reward credit cards and decided to move to one of those and cancel my other MC & Visa cards. With gas prices climbing higher and higher it makes sense to get something back for the money I spend. ;-)

I also continued my calls to motorcycle and trailer dealers. Nothing really popped up except a really nice gentleman from Big Tex Trailers here in Tucson offered to stop out to take a look at it from a personal basis. We talked price and he is going to get back to me tomorrow. Not holding out a lot of hope though...wish it were up north. Northern riders are much more apt to use & buy a trailer for their motorcycle. Sigh....

The weather was really nice today, cooler than the last two weeks and little wind. Well, until about 2-3:00 that is....the clouds rolled in and the wind REALLY blew for a bit. It cooled down enough that I started closing windows....of course not before a fine layer of grit was deposited on everything. Of course once the weather tantrum was over it got hot again...LOL!

You know I love blogs....otherwise I wouldn't be following over 170 of them. All kinds - computer, photography, crafts, motorcycles, RVing, living green and more. As I've said before, this wouldn't be possible without Google reader to track & show me only the ones with new updates. I'm always adding new ones that I find by reading my current list....and yes, sometimes one will be removed.

Recently I found a couple of great new blogs, Colored outside the lines and Fulltiming Roadrunners. Both these ladies do some unbelievable beading... Sandy, Colored outside the lines, loves hummingbirds and does some beautiful native-looking necklaces. Judy, Fulltiming Roadrunners, makes beaded Bonzai type trees as well as jewelry. I saw this gorgeous bracelet in her blog and had to email her about it. Long story short, she's made one for me in the colors I asked for...it's perfect.



Well, it would have been perfect if I had asked for a magnet style clasp BEFORE she started. But nice lady that she is, she said she'd put that one into her stock and build one with the clasp I needed (arthritis). She also tossed together a little frog pendant that I plan to use on my key chain. He's so cute....she can make earrings for me, too, if I want them. Since I have NO talent when it comes to crafty stuff, I really appreciate it when I find someone that does. My friends Ellie & Karon do, just to name a couple, even if they don't advertise it much.



Anyway, if anyone is interested in the daisy bracelet, 7" for smaller wrists, drop me a not and I'll put you in touch with Judy. (And remind me that I don't need one of those gorgeous trees...I really don't, I'm getting rid of stuff....LOL!)

Lastly, I made a couple of minor changes to my blog....most to do with the comment section. Previously a pop-up window was opened for the comments but I found that was awkward if you wanted to read the posted comments so I changed it to open a new tab/window. I also added a little note above the comment form and I changed the description for the comment link.

I also expanded the Google ads at the bottom of each post. Like many folks, I try to supplement my income in any way I can...stretching that dollar. Hard in a fifty dollar world....LOL! So if you see something of interest in one of the Google boxes, check it out. If you don't, then don't...it's as easy as that!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna

Can you find me now?

If you have been following my blog, you remember my post about passing out and hitting my head one night while sick. Several folks made comments about setting up a way to have others local to you check in on you, nightly/daily check-in phone calls, etc.

None of these are perfect...if you like to boondock in the middle of nowhere, there isn't someone you can ask to check on you. And if you're a solo lady, that in of itself is a bit scary (asking someone you don't know....). A daily check-in by phone can be difficult as well...you might be out of cell phone range is the first problem. The second is inconveniencing someone on a daily basis.

In one of my favorite motorcycle forums they have been discussing Personal Locator Beacon solutions.

"The PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) is a pocket-sized emergency 406MHz beacon, a scaled down version of the EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) and ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) that boaters and pilots, respectively, have had available to them for years."
~ Landfall Navigation

These items were brought up in a boondocking session I attended at RV Life on Wheels recently. While a nice option, they are pricey...VERY pricey at $500-700 although there are no annual fees.

Recently some new products have come into the marketplace. One is the TracMe Beacon, only $99 and again, no annual fees. Note that this is not satellite communication and it does not automatically start a search & rescue operation. Not does it allow you to notify someone that you are okay. But it is one newer solution to be considered.

The new product now being discussed in The Motorcycle Tourer's Forum is the SPOT Satellite Messenger. Priced at $170 by the manufacturer, it is in the affordable range. (The cheapest price I found was at Amazon.com, at under $135.) There is an annual fee of $99 for the basic services with a couple of upgrade options. But for the $99 you get a lot...

• ALERT 9-1-1:
  Dispatch emergency responders to your exact location. Unlimited usage included.
• CHECK IN:
  Let contacts know where you are and that you’re okay. Unlimited usage included.
• ASK FOR HELP:
  Request help from friends and family at your exact location. Unlimited usage included.
  

This means you can easily use it to notify family/friends that you are okay. Run into a problem, then you can ask for help via the SPOT Messenger. And in an emergency you can send a message to the control center who can notify your emergency contacts for you.

It's not perfect...like any satellite solution it needs a clear line of sight for the best signal. It can take up to 20 minutes to lock onto the signal. Too many trees or other obstructions and the signal may not go out. But if you have been using the CHECK IN feature, then your last location sent is available as a starting point.

Here are some reviews I found, Lets Go Mobile and Wild Snow, as well as a good FAQ page on the emergency service. One of the motorcyclists has sent check in updates to his blog! I really like this product and think it will only get better. I think I see one in my near future....

UPDATE 5/12/08: I have purchased a SPOT Messenger - see the link in the sidebar or click HERE for the best price including Priority Mail shipping.

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna

Bikeless in Arizona

Yup, the deed is done! Squirt is on the way to his new home in New Mexico, owned by a new lady rider who fell in love with him. I have cash in hand and will be looking at a car tomorrow (which may or may not be THE one).

So to backtrack a bit...about 3pm I arrived at Tra-Tel RV Park on the west side of Tucson. Got checked in, paid for a week and headed towards my site, following the owner. Suddenly he signaled me to stop, headed back to the office and asked me to wait. Long story short, one of the instructors hadn't left yet and he was in the spot that would be mine. Seems as though he thought he wasn't leaving until Saturday. They asked if I would mind parking in the overflow...not a problem. That gave me power if I felt like running A/C and I still had plenty of water. As I settled in, the instructor (who I had met earlier in the day), called to apologize about the mix-up. I told him it wasn't an issue and to not worry about it.

I settled in for the night, watched some TV, read some emails & forums and headed to bed. A good night's sleep and I rolled out out bed ready for the day....but what a day it turned into! It started slowly with my taking advantage of my close proximity to the laundry room, stripped the bed and read while I waited.

I read for a bit and then the phone rang. It was a lady who had talked to the local BMW dealer and had been referred to me about my bike. They were on their way down from Phoenix and were only about 15 minutes from me. They both took a test drive, I dug out my gear and managed to sell not only the bike but two jackets and one pair of pants. Still have several pairs of boots and probably some other stuff, like the custom seat, but it was a start!

They headed out to the bank to get the money for a deposit so I would hold it for a week. I was on the phone when they called and let me know they were at the bank and would be back shortly. Well, instead of putting down a deposit they decided to just pay it all and save themselves a trip. We unloaded Squirt and I watched him head off into the sunset, lots of new adventures in his future.

I then started getting the RV ready to move to my spot, pretty wiped out from unloading, reloading the bike & all the "stuff" in the trailer. Fortunately the folks buying the bike did all the final unloading & reloading the trailer...very nice folks! The phone call I had been on earlier was the lady selling the Suzuki Grand Vitara that I'm interested in. I was supposed to call her yesterday afternoon and just ran out of time and obviously was too busy this morning to think of it. Anyway, they will be bringing it by sometime tomorrow....keep your fingers crossed that it works out. If so, I could have a car....of course then I'll have to get it set up for towing. And more importantly, I still have to get the trailer sold. Kind of difficult to tow both it and a car. LOL!

Besides working on the car & trailer issue, I intend to spend some time culling out "stuff", as I said yesterday. Some stuff will get set aside to sell online, some will get taken to Good Will (or something similar...once I have a car) and some will get donated to the community room here at the park. Got a lot of weight to lose.....ruthless I intend to be....

Everyone keeps asking me where I am going after this and I truthfully have no plans. I may go out the the BLM area here and do some boondocking, I may head northerly a little, or westerly a little....taking it one day at a time! I am making great strides in my quest of a Type Z personality....long ways from my 60 years of Type A life. I think I might be at about a B- now....LOL!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna

Tucson RV Life on Wheels

Busy, busy, busy...have barely had time to read emails, never mind replying to them and needless to say, the blog has been at the bottom of the priority list. Several things to catch up on:

Garmin Nuvi GPS updates
- Garmin is snail mailing me software for routing on the computer....FREE. Now why didn't they just put it in the box? (Thank you to those who helped me find out about this.)
- When following a route it will display my current speed if I go to an alternate screen. Aggravating but at least it's there.
- Still haven't found elevation (grrrrrr) or direction. Wouldn't you think any GPS would show you what direction you are heading? BIG aggravation

Missing Mail
Well, the package DID show up in Bouse on Monday. But the Postmistress was out till Wednesday and she was the only one who could authorize a one-time mail forwarding. Called on Wed and she was out till Thursday. Called today and she promised to get the package on it's way to Tra-Tel RV Park where I will be staying until at least the package arrives.

Inverter/Generator/Air Conditioner issue
Not sure where I left this in the blog...I learned on a very hot day while outside Yuma that my A/C would no longer run on the generator. I also had three complete shut-downs when running the microwave at night with the generator on. Discount Solar tweaked the inverter settings, raising the high incoming voltage limit from 130 to 135 (maximum for safe usage). I haven't had a change to test it out yet since I've hardly been in my rig all week.

They also tried to troubleshoot the A/C issue and ended up deciding that it was an A/C problem. I needed a new relay or maybe the thermostat was bad. Fast forward to my 2 nights in the Gila Bend campground. Plug into shore power and just for the heck of it, I try the A/C. Works just fine....not a blip. Hmmmm.....

So I arrive at Pima Community College for the RV Life on Wheels conference (after fighting Sheila who kept insisting that I needed to get back on I-10 which was impossible due to construction). I was early so people were only trickling in, other than the instructors who were already here. Met with my friends and got to talking about the issue. They informed me that Greg Holder of AM Solar (who is the most highly recommended solar person I know of, from multiple sources) was here from his home in OR and suggested I talk to him.

Turned out that he was parked just across from me but with all the hullabaloo going on around me, tons of old friends coming by and new folks introducing themselves mixed in with registration and orientation, I didn't get a chance to talk to him until after his Boondocking Class on Tuesday. He thought it was one of two things....the easy fix would be if my inverter was set too high for the low voltage side and that when my A/C kicked in, the generator power dropped low enough to kick off the inverter.

So he told me I needed to check the setting....brave soul that I am (NOT), I dug out the book and actually managed to get to the place in the menu to read all the settings. Turns out that it could only be set down by 5 points...and after trying the A/C with the generator again, no go. With the inverter running, it worked.

This means that there should have been a sub-panel installed that would isolate the A/C from the inverter. About a $500 item at initial install time....much more expensive to go back and retro. But he said that it wouldn't hurt the inverter to have it enabled along with the generator and since the generator would be charging the batteries, it shouldn't hurt them to run this way. We agreed that I would try it for a couple of months (hoping to NOT need the generator for A/C for a while though) and if I felt it was a problem, I'd schedule an appointment for late summer/early fall to get it retro-fitted.

Needless to say, I will be sending a letter to Discount Solar. I feel this should have been done or at a minimum I should have been offered the option to have it done and the reasons behind it fully explained to me.

Bike Issues
Once again, something new jumps up and bites me in the a$$. Jeesh....just before Nick & Terry stopped by to say hi, I had opened up the trailer and peeked in to be sure all was okay. Well it wasn't.....the bolts holding the chock to the floor had vibrated completed out and the chock was loose. The bike was leaning to the left with only the tie-downs holding it. Nick & Terry helped me unload the trailer, back up the bike so I could put the chock back together, get it strapped down again and reload the trailer.

I have been thinking for some time whether to keep the bike or move to a car. This was kind of the clincher. Looking back over the last 5 months, I have done almost no sightseeing. It has been too much of a hassle to unload/reload the bike for short stops, weather also makes a difference and I have had help with the loading/unloading every time and STILL had problems.

Factor in that I've never truly bonded with the BMW.....don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful bike and it rides really well. But I guess I'm a cruiser (read...HARLEY) gal at heart. Now, if there was any way to keep a bike AND get a 'toad', I would do so. But financially it's not going to happen. I need the funds from the sale of the trailer & bike to pay for a car.

So today I listed the bike and trailer in the Tucson Craigslist and I will stick around to sell them. This weekend I will be looking at a 2000 Suzuki Grand Vitara, loaded. It used to be a toad and needs a good home. The price is right as are the options so if it's in good condition and runs well, I may be able to offer that good home. LOL!

Tomorrow I will post about the conference itself....it has been wonderful. In the meantime, our last night here the sky EXPLODED with color to the west and the full moon shone to the east. Here are a few shots to enjoy.



Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna