Wrapping up at the Escapade

We are not your typical Escapade attendees, at least not anymore. We used to be, back when we still had a lot to learn. Neither of us attended any seminars this time around. I had hoped to go to Chris & Jim Guld's (GeeksOnTour) blogging seminar but ended up sticking around the rig while our new awnings were being put up.

But we did do one thing typical of most attendees - spend money! In our case, quite a bit of money. First was new awnings all the way around as well as new slide toppers. We also added two new window awnings over the garage windows, something Stu wished he had done originally.

We used the folks at Shade Pro RV Awnings (800-328-5100). Ken Thompson did an amazing job! Professional job and we are really pleased. Oh, and our original awnings were brown but had faded to a tacky green color. I love having the brown back!

The next was a tire pressure monitoring system. Based on personal recommendations and previous experience with the vendor we chose, Stu bought a Tire Traker system with sensors for each tire as well as an extender (due to our extreme length). Daryl & Cheri Lawrence know their stuff, stand behind it and encourage you to call anytime if you have issues. That's how they've taken care of our Progressive on-board EMS system, too.

We also had a tech out to get our automatic Directv (rooftop) dish working. We haven't been able to use it since we upgraded to the Genie last September. Poor Stu had to set up a portable dish at every stop. Now I have to remember to power it up and down. LOL!

The final expense was for a CCW (concealed carry weapon) class for Stu. All that is left for him to do is get his fingerprints taken and mail the application, photo (taken in the class), fingerprint card and money to the state of Florida for his non-resident CCW. When we get back to FL, he will do some shooting and purchase his handgun.

What else have we done? Well, we are getting ready for our fourth dinner out with friends. The first night, Monday, we ate with Bill & Dottie (Stu's old partner and his wife). We last saw them in Gettysburg for breakfast. We each drove an hour or so to Montpelier for dinner at Sarducci's. Great Italian restaurant and I got to take some nice flower photos.

We also had a peek-through view of the capital building.

Tuesday we went to dinner with friends Steve & Peri who we first met in Ecuador. They planned to stay forever but health issues forced them back to the US. They bought an RV and headed north to the Escapade, our gain. We had a great dinner chatting about everything, just getting to know each other better.

Then Wednesday we went Italian again, having dinner with our friends Charles & Chris Yust. Tonight we are back to Texas Roadhouse (steak is always good) with our good friends, Chris & Jim Guld.

We also got in a nice motorcycle ride on Sunday, a day off for me since I planned to write as much as possible during the week days. All I wanted was ice cream...and the GPS obliged, dumping us right at Ben & Jerry's. Yum!!!

We've attended one social gathering with the Full-Time Class of 2007. I first met these folks in 2007 at the Goshen, IN Escapade that year. We've decreased in numbers due to death, health and going off the road, but that hasn't slowed our enthusiasm when we're together (especially when food is involved).

No idea what Bridget & John Hatch were doing - playing hide & seek?

Co-director of the Escapades, Bob Pinner with Norah Glover on the right, enjoying the food.

Linda Fleeger addressing the group.

The weather has been good other than a big storm on Sunday late and another about an hour ago. Nice enough that I've been able to grab two nice sunset photos.

Today may be closing day here, but we're not done. Tomorrow we go on a HOP (Head Out Program). Our day will consist of maple syrup, cruising Lake Champlain and ice cream. Yum!! Saturday is our rest day before we head back to Twin Ells campground on Sunday.

Life is good!

Ciao for now!

Maintain, Fix and Repair

I am so lucky to have such a mechanically inclined husband - and he enjoys it! Earlier this month he replaced the fuel bowl drain valve on the diesel engine in our F250 pickup, Scooby.

Now he is working on getting the A/C fixed in our Freightliner (Freddie).

He changes the oil in all our vehicles, changes the brakes, and does basic maintenance and repair as well. He has done several on-the-road repairs that still stagger me to think about them. Tire changes on the 41' toy hauler, brakes lines and shackles, too. He's replaced belts on the Freightliner, taken care of fuel filter issues, too. There are many more things but my lazy brain just doesn't remember them all.

Then factor in all the carpentry work he has done - work on our shed and pavilion back in TN as well as outfitting our new cargo trailer for optimum storage.

Say, maybe I should have saved this for a Father's Day tribute. Oops!

Ciao for now!

Moving day and our annivesary

We've been in the same place since the middle of October, a VERY long time for us. A lot has happened with the rig. New jacks, new washer/dryer, some of the carpet pulled out, new refrigerator/freezer, and smaller things like changing out the bucket that stored our kitchen utensils.

But today was the big change, we moved on to our own lot here at Bee's RV Resort. It's tight with everything on it, next year we will store Freddie in their storage area. We also plan to extend the pavers from the middle bump-out (where the cargo trailer is right now) all the way to the street on both ends of the lot. That will also give us more space.

We were finally settled around 2:30 and had the Directv dish setup by 4:00. Time for a late lunch, early dinner. We watched a little TV and then it was time for dessert. We love that our freezer is cold enough for ice cream. Stu did up some Grands biscuits in our convection/microwave and we had sliced strawberries sitting in sugar for two days - lots of syrup. Yummy!

Here are a couple of photos....





Oh, and today (April 11th) is our 7th wedding anniversary. We both feel doubly blessed to have found each other. We will celebrate with dinner and a movie!

Ciao for now!

Hey man, we're COOL! New refrigerator...

First it was the COOL bedspread (which is working out EXTREMELY well - we both like it and I don't have to turn the night-time A/C down so low).

Now it's the COOL refrigerator/freezer! As many of you know, our nice 4-door Norcold refrigerator gave up the ghost. The ice maker leaked so bad, we disconnected it a couple years ago. Then the compressor went (not fun, ammonia smell - ugh! - and Stu was out of town in  Maryland).

Norcold 1210

We planned to have it fixed but after talking to several friends, we opted to install a residential unit instead. We were very fortunate to have Protech RV loan us a small fridge until ours new one was up and running. We bought a Samsung RF18, meaning we went from 12.1 cu ft to 18 cu ft!

The little borrowed fridge under our TV, beside our old fridge (waiting for removal)

Why? Better insulation, more efficient, more storage, longer lasting, lower price than a new RV propane/electric refrigerator. We had been worried about boondocking, but for now, the only real need to do that is for 2-3 nights while running from south to north and vice versa. Everyone that has a residential unit told us it stayed quite cold for up to eight hours of no power. We're keeping our fingers crossed!

Amazingly, Stu managed to get our old fridge out. First removing the doors, bins, etc, then undoing all the screws holding it in and finally using some wood to slide it down onto on old beach towel. He dragged it to the door where, between us, we managed to slide it outside using wood planks on our steps. Phew!

The changeover required the drawer underneath the old refrigerator be removed as well as a little side molding. The new unit was taller than the old one. Once installed, it also required bracing under the front because it stuck out a bit further, even though we got a counter depth unit (24"). We still need to stain the wood we jammed in underneath (screwed once it was wrenched up high enough to let the unit slide).

Taking out the drawer

All cleaned up and waiting for new fridge.
Lower vent/access panel covered with bubble wrap.

The only other somewhat major issue was getting the fridge delivered INSIDE our rig. We bought it at Home Depot and they called the delivery company who assured us that 1) they could bring it inside our RV and 2) they would have the doors off (to fit through our door). Three hours after dropping it in our campsite, another crew finally appeared to bring it inside. Stu ended up taking the doors off. Oh, and we paid $15 to have them them haul the old fridge away (well worth it).

Waiting for crew from Home Depot to carry it inside.

Stu took the doors off and put them on our new COOL bedspread.

Here are a few more key photos of the delivery and Stu's installation - you can see them all in our SmugMug album.

He also created a wooden, felt covered lock to keep the doors from opening when we are moving. Others use velcro on the fridge doors and soft ties attached to the sides (for the freezer). We will see how this works. We already had the scrap wood or it would have been wider. That maybe our weak point. We used self-sticking felt on it.

Here is a peek inside the fridge (more than enough room - oh, and we saved a couple of bins from the old fridge to use. They work great. The big one holds all our yogurt and the smaller one (our old ice maker tray), holds bottles of beer. Important since we now have glass shelves.

The freezer has a top sliding drawer where the ice maker is located (we will never use all this ice!). I also use a large reusable shopping bag to keep the veggies and meats separate. I have another in case I decide to put the meat in one, but for now, this works. And yes, it keeps ice cream - so hard that we have to put it in the fridge for an hour or so before dishing it out!

Ciao for now!

Getting old....

Not us, well yes, us too, but our rig is what I was referring to. Stu and his late wife, Lin, bought the RV in 2007 before heading out full-time. In the last eight years, it has seen a lot of use and been driven over a lot of miles.

That means things start to degrade - this is our home and the only time it was unused daily was during our time in Ecuador.

Last year we replaced the very old double reclining loveseat with a new one from La-Z-Boy. We pulled out the strip of carpeting that run from just under the slide into part of the main walkway through the rig. Unfortunately, the vinyl flooring (you know, that old stuff we called linoleum) wasn't cut evenly. So until we replace that (and hopefully the carpet on the slide-out), we have an unsightly main living area floor. LOL!

The first major thing this year was replacing the stack washer/dryer. The dryer had been serviced a couple of times under our extended warranty and it was probably repairable but with the amount of use (and the bounce down the road factor), we opted to replace it. Needless to say, it made sense to replace the washer at the same time. Otherwise, I was sure it would die within 90 days of installing the new dryer.

Then there was the surprise repair, I won't go back into the gory details, just suffice it to say we needed to replace both front jacks and the motors. If you haven't followed us, you can read all about it here and see the fix here.

Now we are working on all the little things: re-screening the front door, replacing the outside dryer vent, fixing the Fantastic Vent fan motor, recaulking the kitchen sink, getting the new pop-in/pop-out Fantastic Vent screens, and that sort of thing. The things you need to keep up with, just like in a sticks and bricks home.

I follow several Facebook groups about redoing/redecorating/recycling your RV. Some are things I would never consider doing, others are things I wish I could do, and then there are the really clever things that I hope to do. Not everyone is full-timing, some aren't even traveling and they tend to decorate strictly for their functionality. We have to consider weight (would love to get a build-in desk/dining table combo but concerned about the weight in our main slide) as well as functionality (would be much nicer than the side turned dining table, next to a wooden two drawer file cabinet with our printer on top, next to my portable computer desk and would have built-in storage). If you are just living in your rig and not moving, you don't have to think about how you will anchor things when going down the road.

I was sent a link to a great article this morning and thought it was quite appropriate to share it here. It's written in three parts, each about renovating one part of your rig. There are great links on how to actually accomplish the renovations as well. Too much to absorb in one reading, I hope you will save the link and visit it as needed. Thank you, George, for sending it to me!

The Ultimate RV Remodel:
26 Changes That Will Rock Your Ride

The closing to the article says it all:

"After all that, you’ve practically got a brand new RV on your hands. Don’t let it sit in the driveway. Get out there and see our great country. That’s the beauty of RVing—going where your heart takes you and seeing the incredible landscapes of America. You’ve invested in your RV. Now enjoy it!"

Our next project? Refurbishing our porcelain toilet that isn't flushing properly. I'll be booking a hotel room. LOL!


Ciao for now!