Ivoryton, Connecticut – Day 7

The motorhome is parked at my son’s home where I’m expected to remain until July 17th.

Mary has finally returned to her home in California. She has a tentative return-to-me-date of July 16th.

For the short while I’ve been here, I’ve seen not a whole lot of my family as they are all so busy with their lives. Oh well, I’ll catch them as I can.

About six weeks back, I found myself in a very tight American Legion parking lot. Rather than unhook the Bronco I proceeded to make a very tight right-hand turn and here’s the result…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

As it turns out I haven’t ridden my bicycle since before our accident of may 27, 2012. Because of the accident, I no longer feel like trying to ride a bicycle so I had already decided to sell it this Summer. Guess I’ll have to ask a little less for it. 

My son has indicated an interest in it, although I don’t know when he’ll find time to ride it because he’s so busy. Once he commits he wants it, I’ll get a new wheel for it. If he decides he doesn’t want it, it will get sold on Graig’s List at a reduced price.

Enjoying visiting family is another joy of the full-timing lifestyle!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Connecticut. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…

http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

The Idea Didn’t Work Out…

I’ve been hauling around a bicycle on the back of my motorhome or towed Ford Bronco II for about ten years and I have never been happy with the storage arrangements. It’s such a hassle….the taking off and putting back-on process. It ends up being more work than enjoyment. And now that I have Mary in my life…I have two bicycles to deal with. Oh Joy!!!

Since I was so unhappy with the previous storage arrangement…I thought I’d try a new idea. When we were in Mendocino a couple of months ago, we parked behind a van than had a bicycle on a fold-down hitch. The owner seemed happy with the arrangement. Hmmm…so I decided to give the idea a try and ordered the parts.

Over the last several days I attempted to get the arrangement to work in a way that I could be happy with. This photo shows the fold-down hitch on the back of the Bronco with one bicycle attached…

That didn’t seem too bad.

Then I moved on to putting the two bikes on the rack…

In the photo all appears okay…but appearances are deceiving. In this mode the bikes are too close to one another and they didn’t mount properly. So I added the extension to be used in the four bike mounting mode. That set the bikes apart and they were mounted properly. The I put the cover over everything and evaluated the situation. The cover ended up big and awkward to handle…plus it blocked my rear vision from the drivers seat in addition to blocking the the rear tail and brake lights from behind. That’s not good…so the cover had to go.

With the two bikes on the four bike extension it put the outer bike way out there…so much so that when I tried to pull the rack back into the upright position and insert the holding pin by myself…it required a much too strenuous effort to accomplish. Realizing that sometimes when we are out and about shopping we sometimes open the rear lift door on the Bronco several times a day…I then knew this was not a good idea. So after several hours of messing around with this idea…I knew the fold-down hitch also had to go.

So now both bikes are now mounted on the back out the motorhome…the lesser all all evils…

I’d just as soon get rid of both bicycles for the little that we use them…but…Mary still insists she wants to ride a bicycle…so they remain.

So now I start the fun process of returning the items. The cover we bought from Amazon…no problem. In five minutes I had a prepaid return label and UPS will pickup the package at Mary’s doorstep on Monday.

The 26 pound bike rack was purchased from a different vendor and will prove to be somewhat more difficult to return. First of all…they are not open on the weekend…so I couldn’t communicate with them yesterday…got to wait until Monday. Then they charge a 20% re-stocking fee…we have to pay for the return shipping…about $20…got to get a return authorization number and arrange to get UPS to pick it up…yadda, yadda, yadda!!! This company needs to study how Amazon handles returns. I’ll never buy another item from the bike-rack vendor ever again. ‘Nuf said…the idea didn’t work out!

I was scheduled to depart for the south land Monday morning. Since I now have to wait until Monday to communicate with the bike-rack vendor and there’s a weather forecast for dense fog on Monday morning…I’ve been forced to delay my departure until Tuesday morning. Such is life!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

The First Step…

in the cleaning of the motorhome process happened yesterday…since it was raining when we arrived on Monday. That first step was to move the motorhome up close to Mary’s house to facilitate the unloading.

I started with the first load of laundry. During this stop…essentially everything that can be…will get washed. As I mentioned yesterday…the road of life is a dusty and dirty one. Then the perishable foods, toiletries, computers, books, clothing, etc. Finally I emptied the refrigerator of all its contents. That’s my job for today…a thorough cleaning of the refrigerator. Mary is staying busy with her house stuff…catching up on mail, etc…

In other news…

If you have been following our blogs…you’ll remember that only nine days ago we documented a terrible tragedy of two women bicyclists being stuck by an automobile on a Oregon coast highway. This morning we received another nice Email from one of the them telling us she returned to Canada yesterday and the other one is expected to return to Canada today. Considering the circumstances…they are on the mend and appear to be in good spirits.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

A Sad Blog Today…

Yesterday we traveled the about 65 miles from Sixes to Brookings, Oregon. Along the way we came upon a sad happening. There was only one motorhome in front of us as we came to a stop. The event must have happened just a few seconds before our arrival. We discovered that two young women riding bicycles were apparently struck from behind by an auto. You may click on the photos to enlarge them…

In this photo this bike ended up on the right side of the road. The woman was thrown down the embankment to the right…

The other bike ended up on the left side of the road…

and the woman ended up in the middle of the road. The car that struck the women is parked along the right side of the road…and directly to the right of the car…the driver is approaching the scene…

We assisted as much as we could. Both women were still alive after we were allowed to move on once medical assistance arrived about twenty minutes later. I’ve been on the road for many years and have many miles accumulated. Fortunately this type of event has been a rare occurrence for me to witness.

The road today was perhaps the most scenic that we have seen on the Oregon coast. Since I do the driving…Mary gets to take most of the photos. These two were taken during our stop for lunch about 1:30 PM…

We are hoping that both women will survive with major complications.

We were supposed to spend the night at the VFW in Brookings…however their parking lot was quite small. The Masonic Lodge…a short distance away was kind enough to let us spend the night there.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Another “Human-Powered” RV On The Market…

Here’s another unusual RV story…

http://weirdrvs.rvtravel.com/2011/09/another-human-powered-rv-on-market.html

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

A Long-Time Friend Visits…

Yesterday my friend of 60 years, Al Penta, stopped by the motorhome for a visit. I’m at the Thousand Trails RV Resort in Monroe, Washington and he lives on a peaceful 5 acre property overlooking the Skykomish River. It’s only a couple of miles from my campground and a place where he has lived for 30+ years. He came by bicycle…his favorite mode a transportation. In the below photo, he’s entering the motorhome…

The black patch-like device near his left eye is actually a rear-view mirror that attaches to his glasses so he can see vehicles approaching from the rear. The small black antenna on the left shoulder attaches to a radio device that allows him to talk with other bikers riding with him. Did I tell you he’s been an avid bicyclist for many years? He’s 70 years old and in great condition. Prior to retirement 5 years ago, he walked a mailman’s route for 30 years.

Al and I met in the 5th grade at the Liberty Grade School in Revere, Massachusetts in 1950. It’s no longer there…the land is now a condo parking lot.

We were both in the U.S. Navy…on different ships. In 1960 our ships were operating together and we pulled liberty together in San Juan, Puerto Rico. After that, we lost track of each other for 20 years.

In 1980, I moved to Washington State for employment reasons. I needed to hire some specialized skills, so I flew back to New England. Having a few extra minutes, I drove through our old neighborhood and saw an older woman sweeping leaves in the driveway of Al’s house.  I stopped and re-introduced myself to his mother and she told me he was living in Washington State.  She gave me his address and telephone number and upon return to Washington State, I contacted Al. We were just 100 miles apart! We got re-acquainted and our friendship continues to this day. I was quite the coincidence that we both ended up in Washington State, 3,000 miles from our childhood days.

16 years ago when I retired and sold my home, I went to the Department of Licensing to change the address on my driver’s license and vehicle registrations. All I had was a post office box address… I no longer had a house. I was told…”No post office addresses allowed…you’ve got to have a physical address!”  “But, I don’t have one”…I said. “Use a friend’s address”…I was told. Graciously Al has allowed me to use his home address and today, 16 years later…it still appears on my driver’s license and vehicle registration.

We get together every time I return to this area. One of the primary joys of the full-time RVing lifestyle is to visit with old friends. It’s always fun to reminisce about the last 60 years and yesterday we did more of that!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:

http://lulu.com/panamaorbust

NOT RECOMMENDED

I got these pictures from an email. Now, tell me, would you driver your family over this OMIGOD bridge?

I think Jim and I should haul one of these behind the motor home in case we have a fight. I can send him to the “doghouse” for the night.

I’m glad Jim is a do-it-yourself kind of guy. Hey, when you are in a fix, just fix it yourself.

Do you think the Highway Patrol would stop this load as unsafe? How did that guy get on top of that load of papers anyway?

When I look at these, I wonder what happens if the cow decides to move. It doesn’t look like it’s tied down, nor comfortable.

If the sheep bolts….? There is two of them. That guy has to be strong.

This is what used to happen here before we had OSHA. (Occupational safety laws.)

Gotta get that refrigerator home somehow.

Can’t we get one more person on?  Of course, I’m poking fun, but, its truly innovative how these people from poorer countries manage to make the most of their resources. Not safe, nor recommended, but admirable even so. Especially the loads the Chinese manage on bikes. Incredible.

Load hauling at its most economic