Harlingen, Texas – Day 20

The motorhome is parked at Tropic Winds RV Resort and is scheduled to be here until January 10th.

Yesterday Mary and I did some more cleaning of the motorhome. We even had both professionally washed and waxed. Finally the cleaning for now is essentially done. The road of life is a dusty one!

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…

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of Texas. 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

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

 

Harlingen, Texas – Day 3

Mary remains at home in California tending to medical and personal business issues. She has made her airline reservations to join me here at Harlingen, Texas on January 3, 2013.

The motorhome is parked at Tropic Winds RV Resort and is scheduled to be here until January 10th. While I await Mary’s arrival on the 3rd, I’ll be seeing some local attractions, performing repairs and preventative maintenance on both the motorhome and Bronco, plus thoroughly cleaning both vehicles.

A couple of weeks ago the electric door lock on the passenger’s door of the Bronco decided to stop working. Normally when that happens it means one of the two solenoids has become defective or the electrical contacts are dirty/corroded. So that’s where I started yesterday…

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…

I cleaned the electrical contacts, the door actuator still made noise but did not function, so that meant the problem was inside of the door. So, in I went to find the problem. I could not see it behind the door’s metal partition, but by feeling by hand I found the pin had come out of the hole on the  connector. Re-inserting the pin into the connector solved the problem. Start to finish, the entire job took about two hours…

During the day I also took some photos of the local rabbits. You can read about these Black-tailed Jackrabbits by clicking this link…

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/rabbit/

Enjoying rabbits in nature is another joy of the RVing lifestyle!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of Texas. 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

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 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:

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

San Angelo, Texas – Day 1

Mary remains at home in California tending to medical issues.

Yesterday I drove the motorhome the about 80 miles from Sweetwater to San Angelo, Texas.

The day started with a sliver moon over the sunrise. To see the moon you need to look closely at the top right-center…

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…

Upon arriving in San Angelo, I went to the Chevrolet dealer and got the motorhome an oil change and lube. Then to VFW Post #1815 where I expect to be for the next 3-4 days…

Here’s a look at San Angelo shortly after sunset from the back of the VFW overlooking the Concho River…

In the back room of the VFW, the Lone Star Cloggers were practicing. Beverly Grenda (in the green shirt) is the Director/Instructor. She started the group in 1997. Most of the gals have been dancing with this group for about nine years. They practice for two hours, two nights a week…

On the bottom of their shoes they wear double-plated steel jingle taps…

To see them strut their stuff, click this link…

I spent about a half-hour enjoying watching them dance to several tunes.

Finally, I always like to show the view from the dinette window…

While not a scenic view, it is very functional. First I’m on the east side of the building, so it blocks the cold winds. In addition, on the other side of the building is the railroad tracks, so the building blocks most of the noise.

I’ll start exploring San Angelo today.

Seeing clogging dancers practice is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

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 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:

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

An Early Morning Walk In The Desert…

I’m currently parked at Slab City, an old deserted military base deep in the deserts of Southeastern California. I’ve been here numerous times and have written many Blog entries about Slab City. If you want to see some of them…look in the past years archives in December. For a general understanding of Slab City…just enter those two words in your Internet Search Box and you’ll find several sites describing this most unusual place. I’m here to upgrade our solar system on the motorhome, for which I have an 8:30 AM appointment this morning.

While here I’m parked directly in front of my friend Leo’s motorhome. I thought you might enjoy to see some of the photos during our about 45 minute walk yesterday morning. As always, you may click on the photos to see them in an enlarged view and then click on them once again to see an even larger view.

About one-half hour before sunrise I stuck my head out of the driver’s side motorhome window and took this photo of Leo’s front yard under a full moon…

We left right at sunrise  and shortly thereafter cast long early morning shadows upon the desert floor…

Two of the motorhomes in the distance are ours…

Leo’s is center left and mine is center right in this zoom shot…

A graded road makes for easier walking…

Leo’s Doberman Deja’ can be seen in this photo of a gaily painted deserted military base water tank…

The Slabs has quite a nice pet cemetery…

A close-up of one of the graves…

Oh, I almost forgot to show you last night’s sunset…

And a few minutes later…

It’s really peaceful and quiet here miles away from any city. During the night one can only occasionally hear the long mournful sound of a diesel train passing about three miles away…and the beautiful sounds of the coyotes howling at the Moon!

And speaking of the Moon…how about a full Moon rising photo…

Now…that’s something to howl about!!!

It’s a lousy job…but someone’s got to do it! 

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:

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

5,844 Days Ago…

was December 22, 1995…the day I departed Olympia, Washington to begin my full-time RVing lifestyle. Today therefore marks the beginning of my 17th year.

Back in 1995 I was driving a Chevy Suburban and towing an 18 foot travel trailer. Here’s a photo taken while in Baja, California, Mexico in 1998. The film was developed in Mexico hence the spotty photo. As always you may click upon the photos to see an enlarged view…

In 1999 I bought a 1983, 23 foot Class A Suncrest Motorhome and a 1984 Ford Bronco II specifically to take to Central America. This photo was taken in 2004 during that trip…

I met Mary in 2008 and in 2009 we acquired our current motorhome and Ford Bronco II…

The last 16 years have been delightful. Here’s hoping I’ve got another 16 years of full-time RVing. It’s a lousy job,,,but someone’s got to do it! 

Now…you may be wondering how I came up with the number of days. Did I find an old bunch of calendars and count them all? Nope. If you want to know the number of days between two events, all you have to do is click this link…

http://www.timeanddate.com/date/duration.html

Isn’t the Internet wonderful?

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

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

The Toilet Of Tomorrow???

I’m going to ask Mary If she wants to order one of these for our motorhome…

http://rvtoilets.blogspot.com/2011/12/toilet-of-future-oh-my-goodness-and.html

Ooops…cancel that. Apparently they are not available for RV’s…yet. Whew! I guess Mary is just going to have to wait. 

What a world we live in!

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

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

Back to the Beginning…

Yesterday I drove the motorhome about 175 miles from Bakersfield to Riverside, California. I titled the Blog entry Back To The Beginning because Riverside is where our motorhome was manufactured in February, 2006. So after 36,383 miles the motorhome has revisited the city of its creation,

Riverside is not a normal port of call for me. It’s far too big city, noisy and lots of traffic for me. I’m not here to visit the Fleetwood factory which has since closed from when our motorhome was made. My normal route through this area on the way to Palm Desert is to skirt Riverside to the northeast by about 10 miles. I’m in Riverside because the dinette cushions in our motorhome were also manufactured here at Neff’s Upholstery. I’m scheduled to visit there this morning to get the foam replaced in the cushions on my side of the dinette. Mary says the cushions on her side are fine and do not need to be replaced. RV manufacturers to do use top grade foam and so after almost six years it’s time to replace mine.

The easiest route from Bakersfield to this area is over the Tehachapi Mountains. In the early morning fog I took this somewhat scenic view out of the passenger’s side windshield… (You can click on the photos to see an enlarged view.)

As you approach the summit one can see hundreds of wind generators atop of the ridges…

That’s because this area is famous for some rather substantial winds. Last March 8th Mary and I encountered the strongest winds I have ever encountered in all of my RVing years. Just north of the town of Mojave, within a 1/2 mile distance of each other, we saw three 18-wheelers on their sides! Here’s the link to Mary’s Blog of that event…

http://otrwjam.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/dangerous-wind-storm-mojave-to-tehachapi/

Here’s the link to the Blog that I wrote on that day…

http://otrwjam.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/a-most-unusual-rving-day/

Yesterday morning shortly after cresting the summit I turned on to California Highway 14 South and immediately felt the steady 30-40 mile an hour broadside winds hitting the passenger side of the motorhome. I hadn’t felt them previously because they were hitting me from behind in the form of tail winds.

Remembering what happened to our awning last time, when I reached Mojave a few miles later, I stopped to tie down my awning struts so that I would not have a repeat experience of March 8th. Here’s a photo of the tie-down that I applied to both awning struts…

Another thing that happens after cresting the summit is you notice an increase in the temperature. It was time to get in to my shorts and tee-shirt again!

Along the way to Riverside I experienced more wind-buffeting…so much so that I had to keep my speeds down to 45 miles per hour. I finally arrived at Riverside about 1:00 PM where I am parked at the Eagles Club #997…

Yesterday’s afternoon temperature was 75 degrees! It’s nice to feel warm again!

Fortunately it’s only about three blocks to Neff’s Upholstery which I’ll go to this morning. Unfortunately, the Eagles Club is located very near Interstate Highway 215 which is very noisy with heavy vehicle traffic. That combined with the wind buffeting during the night made for difficult sleep.

After finishing my business at Neff’s Upholstery I had planned to drive the about 75 miles to Palm Desert and into Thousand Trails. Unfortunately…today’s weather forecast is predicting steady 40-50 mile per hour winds with gusts to 70 and perhaps 80 miles per hour! I’ll just have to monitor the situation before I decide what to do. I may just have to spend another night in Riverside until the winds are predicted to dissipate on Friday. It’s all a part of the great RVing lifestyle!

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

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

Our New Bike Rack And Cover Arrived…

late yesterday afternoon.

Both Mary and I have bicycles. I’ve long been dissatisfied with the bring-along storage arrangements. One was a hook-like hanger which attached to a rung on the ladder on the back of the motorhome. In general…it was a real pain in the butt both attaching and removing the bikes. Primarily because of the difficult-to-use securing device meant to keep the bikes from jumping off of the hanger on bumpy roads. That it did…but it also made it a pain to take the bike off for use in a timely manner. it was a real hassle!

The other bike rack we have attaches to the spare tire hanging off the back of our towed Ford Bronco II. This rack had trouble with the weight of the two bikes and wasn’t terribly stable.

So…we decided to try something new. A fold-down rack that attaches to the hitch receiver of the Bronco. Here’s the box it came in…

My primary concern with this rack is that it would work on the Bronco because of the rear-mounted spare tire. So…because it was cold outside…I used Mary’s living room to do a basic-assemble. That is…fit the pieces together without tightening the bolts.

I then took it out to the Bronco for a test fit. It’s going to fit…just missing the rear-mounted spare tire. If it wasn’t going to fit…that meant boxing the thing back up and returning it to the vendor. But…since it did fit…I brought the rack back into the house and tightened all the bolts. The fold-down action works by pulling the pin with the round finger-hole attachment. Today I’ll put it back on the Bronco with a bike attached and adjust the fold-down adjustment bolt which sets the degree of fold-down so that the bikes do not lay on the ground when you pull the pin.

As I have mentioned in numerous previous Blog entries…the road of life is a dusty and dirty one. The bicycles hanging on the back of either the motorhome or Bronco get very dirty. So to counter that element…we also bought a cover to put over the bikes. Here’s the box…

Hopefully this cover will help keep the bicycles cleaner. We’ll soon know if this new arrangement is going to work.

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

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

The Beautiful 70 Degree Days Have Departed…

Since our arrival at Mary’s home on October 10th…the weather has been delightful. Essentially sunny days in the mid 70′s, sunny with a gentle breeze. Perfect for doing a thorough cleaning job on the motorhome and Bronco. But alas…the nice weather appears to be gone for this year. Yesterday managed to only make it to 60 degrees with rain during the night. 33 degrees this morning at 5:00 AM…with a wind chill factor making it feel like 29 degrees. Forecast high for today is 49 and cloudy with showers around. Forecast for the next several days is for low 50′s…partly sunny/cloudy. 24 days until I depart for the sunny and warmer south land.

Yesterday was kind of an odds and end day. With the major cleaning of the motorhome finally completed…I move the motorhome away from the house to its normal parking spot…

Once there…I decided to have a good lock around on the inside of the engine compartment…

I wanted to make sure everything in there looked okay…

Other than being a little dusty/dirty…everything appeared fine.

Mary and I then made the bed . Afterwards I got familiar with our new flat screen HDTV and remote…making sure it was functioning properly. Helped Mary move something things. Did some computer work and read. Kind of a funky/lazy day to match the weather.

I’m still dealing with a very itchy palm on my right hand…apparently from several spider bites I got about four days ago. No matter what I put on them…they itch doesn’t retreat for long before it returns.

Our current plans call for me to depart November 28th. Mary will met me in Phoenix, AZ on January 10th. We plan to spend most of 2012 exploring New Mexico.

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

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

Good Info Even If You Are Not An RVer…

Fire in an RV is bad news. I came across this yesterday and thought it important. You may want to read through the comments…
ttp://rvnow.rvtravel.com/2010/04/handling-kitchen-oil-fire-in-your-rv.html

In other news…

Mary’s cousin Gary from the Los Angeles area is visiting, The three of us went to her younger brother’s and girlfriend’s home in Burson where we were joined by Mary’s older sister, older brother and her youngest son. It was a mini family re-union of sorts. We enjoyed a nice meal and conversation. It gave me a day off from my cleaning the motorhome and Bronco chores. 25 days until my departure.

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

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