Monroe, Washington – Day 6 (GA626)

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 5,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.
Sadly Mary is struggling with health issues. To see the latest about her situation, click here

To view past blogs, scroll to the bottom of this page and use the menu.

I’m currently in my 24th year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click here

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The motorhome is parked in Thousand Trails RV Resort in Seaside, Oregon. I’m scheduled to depart here June 2nd.

 

 

Since my RVing life is changing (see above), I’m starting to re-visit previously visited places. So rather than constantly re-blogging past entries, I’ve decided to do something different.

  In 2011-2013, Mary and I did a 682 day, 12,679 miles in the motorhome and 8,000 miles in the Bronco, circumnavigation of the United States, which I called The Great Adventure. I called it so because other than my oldest granddaughter’s high school graduation in June in Connecticut, I didn’t know where we would be going or when we would be there!

So, unless I do something really different and unusual warranting a new blog entry, I’ll be posting entries from that trip.

This entry was posted September 30, 2013…

 

 

 

The motorhome is currently parked at Thousand Trails Thunderbird RV Resort in Monroe, Washington.

Yesterday the day started with some light rain. The Snohomish River level has risen noticeably from the last few days of rain…

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…

Despite the rain, my friend and mechanic called and said let’s get the tune-up on your Bronco done. We lucked out that the heavy rains came later in the day after we had finished…

The weather is supposed to clear starting on Thursday. I’m planning to leave here despite the forecast for rain showers on Wednesday. My current location is noted by the yellow dot…

It was chilly yesterday with the rain. High temperature was only 57 degrees.

Last night I watched another movie from the 1930’s. This time it was 1933 – Dracula starring Bela Lagosi. A classic!

Enjoying Thousand Trails RV Resorts is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE! MARY WROTE A MANY GREAT BLOGS…SO WHENEVER SHE PUBLISHED A BLOG POSTING THE SAME DAY THAT I DID…YOU WILL BE ABLE TO READ HER BLOG BY CLICKING THE BELOW LINK! DO IT NOW!

https://otrwjam.wordpress.com/2013/09/30/assisted-living-in-chico/

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Forecast for today is cloudy and 53 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

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

 

 

 

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity 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

 

“Let me recommend the best medicine in the world: a long journey, a mild season, through a pleasant country, in easy stages.” –James Madison

 

 

“Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all of one’s lifetime.” —Mark Twain

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

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.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2019

Frost On The Bronco…

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 4,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

I’m currently in my 21st year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here

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The motorhome is parked at Mary’s home in Murphys, California. I am scheduled to depart November 28th. While here, I’ll do cleaning, routine maintenance and minor repairs to both vehicles.

 

 

Today’s Subject…Frost On the Bronco…

 

 

Mary’s home is in the middle of a general area known as gold country, elevation 2,100 feet.

Yesterday morning I stepped outside at 8AM after our first 31 degree and below-freezing night and found a frost-coated Bronco. The warmer than usual weather ended a couple of days ago. 38 degrees last night.

Since 2009, I’ve visited Mary’s home this time of the year. As usual, I’ll enjoy Thanksgiving with her family. Not wanting to drive among heavy traffic during the holiday weekend, I leave on the following Monday…as I will do this year on Monday, November 28th…10 days from today. Time to head south and warmer temperatures!

 

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…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To read all about Murphys, click this link…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphys,_California

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the photos!

Yesterday was mostly sunny and 55 degrees. Forecast for today is mostly sunny and 66 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

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

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity 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

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

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.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 700 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://get.google.com/albumarchive/110455945462646142273?source=pwa

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet 2016

CRAZY DAY YESTERDAY.

I had intended to go to Modesto with Jim to have a muffler installed on his Bronco, do a bit of shopping and go out to lunch.  But, my contractor wanted me to pick a handicapped shower on-line, so I stayed home.  Anything I liked, like the one in this picture, didn’t fit the space well.

The ones that fit the space, were smaller than this, with no color border, very antiseptic and plain. I spent a lot of time and visited 25 websites and learned about ADA approved showers and the cheapest I could find was over $2,000 and ugly. Not the least bit of character like the one in this picture. No fun, but I’m determined that the future with the multiple amputees from the recent wars, is going to demand more handicapped rentals. And, as we age, we may need some assistance, too.

Jim’s day was no fun, so I’m glad I didn’t go with him. He broke down on the road. A water hose got a hole in it and he was out of water. He thanked me for always keeping a big jug of water in the cars, (I always have a change of clothes and water in the Bronco, too.) “It saved my life”,  he told me. ” I made an emergency repair in the hose and used that water to get me to a place with a service station, and then a Napa Auto supply for a fix.”

He was late for Mitchell Muffler in Modesto.  Bobby Brown waited for him, the vet we met at the Defender Lodge. He left just before Jim arrived. He got the new muffler installed. It breathes easier, his mileage should improve and all the rattles and noise he was hearing is gone. The price was about $300 with taxes out the door, thank you Jeremiah.  And, Bobby Brown called him and asked him how he liked his service?  Terrific, in a word. Thanks Bobby.  What a crazy day for both of us.

I’m still working on the bathroom redesign. Managed to get out to do a little watering yesterday. And, I took pictures of some of the artwork on the walls at the Hospital and Defender Lodge when I was there. Got my art fix, and I’ll blog them tomorrow.

 

Bark River, Michigan – Day 4

The motorhome is parked in the yard of Mary’s old friend, Bernice, at Bark River, Michigan. We expect to depart here later this morning..

In yesterday’s Blog I mentioned my continuing problem with the electrical connection between the motorhome and the Bronco. While Mary went off in search of memories with her friend Bernice,  I attempted to rewire the connector on the umbilical cord and after several frustrating hours finally gave up with only partial success. So, with turn signals finally working and no left brake light on the Bronco we’ll head out this morning. Fortunately at our next planned destination of Iron Mountain, Michigan, there appears to be a shop there which hopefully can resolve the problem.

99% of the time when I set out to fix something it gets fixed. This is the 1% when its time to throw in the towel and turn to the pros. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do!

Being around a farm for the last four days has greatly increased my knowledge and made me more appreciative of this lifestyle. Like Casey Johnson in yesterday’s Blog said…”If you like long hours and little money, farming might be for you!”

A farm is also a great place to take photos. I’ve taken a lot more, but because we are once again bumping up against our gigabyte limit on our Internet service, today you only get to see twelve photos…

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…

Enjoying visiting old friends is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

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

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity 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.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

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

SPIFFY MOTOR HOME

Yesterday was supposed to be a cruise out to South Padre Island. We had an appointment to have the motor home and Bronco washed and waxed today.  The two guys knocked on the door after washing a motor home a couple lots over and offered to get it done yesterday before we headed out for the day. They finished and we decided the windows needed washing on the inside. Then we lubricated the window tracks, washed all the screens, and just kept digging. We put off South Padre Island for later today. The motor home looks spiffy inside and out.

But, the Seattle Post Intelligencer reported that Seattle had the highest viewership in America last night for the premiere of the third season of ‘Downton Abbey, as reported by public television station KCTS 9.

Boston loves ‘Downton Abbey’ second best.

Austin was third most enamored, and darn, they don’t even broadcast  PBS in Harlingen.

New York came in fourth (*sniff*), PBS reported in a press release.

I guess Downton Abbey has become a national obsession. I’m feeling so culturally deprived.

I finally finished a huge book I’d been reading, it seems forever, Life by Rolling Stone,  Keith Richards. Quite a life indeed.

And, I read this  marvelous sketch about RVing from Jim’s friend Bud Kuball  He addresses Jim as Marco and signs Edwuardo, the CB names they chose while traveling to Panama and back in 2004.

Marco:Skiing @ around the 10,000 foot level in the Rocky Mountain West
when the temperature gets down to a MINUS 30 at night & you’re in a
PROPERLY equipped motorhome with sufficient solar panels,6-volt
batteries,back-up generator,heated water system,frost-free
windows,satellite tv & enough propane to last 10 days WITHOUT
hookups–plus 4 wheel drive & 8 commercial snow tires on the ground
with a 9000 pound winch up front–now that’s RVing!! With the sun
turning the snowflakes into sparkling jewels during the day &
cross-country sking on the high plateaus of Grand Canyon, Zion & Grand
Teton National Parks under a FULL moon making the snowflakes glisten
like diamonds & listening to the mournful howl of a grey wolf —now
that’s one of the joys of a PART-TIME RV’R. Adios.Eduardo.

I love his description of snowflakes like diamonds under a full moon because I’ve experienced that including the mournful howl of a wolf. Bud is a world class adventurer and writes prolifically and well about his experiences all over the world. Most  are published in TWA Magazine. Bud is a former TWA pilot.

 

 

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