A little Amazon shopping fun.....

Yes, we love our Amazon Prime and it's especially handy when we aren't super close to any major shopping areas. Thought I'd share a couple of things we've bought recently that we really like and find valuable (at least to us).

We have several odd sized, different material shopping bags but we tend to not take them into the stores with us. For the most part, they get used when we go to Sam's Club. Tired of wasting all the plastic, we looked for a set up bags that met several criteria. First, the material had to be sturdy and the quality first rate. Second, they should have flat bottoms. Third, they needed to be the same. Fourth, short handles. Fifth, not too big (or they'd be overloaded and I wouldn't be able to carry them). And sixth, a nicety but not a must, they should come in some sort of convenient carry case.

Not easy, is it...but I found a set that looked they hit all points and I ordered them. BagPodz! When they arrived, I was even more impressed with the quality and convenience. This set comes with either 5 or 10 bags. Since we tend to shop less frequently, I opted for the ten bag set (currently not available, keep checking) in the bright blue (they come in four colors). I had a chance to use them this week and LOVE THEM! Here is my shopping cart with 6-8 (can't remember exactly) and not all of them are filled full. (Note, they are about the size of a traditional plastic shopping bag but hold MUCH more weight.)

BagPodz @Amazon

Next up is something I never considered until hurting my knee this past week. Walking the dogs several times a day, initially I carried nothing with me. Most days I wear leggings and without pockets, hard to bring even a phone with two dogs. But after getting injured, I realized I needed to always have my phone with me. After several searches, I found the perfect wallet, Running Buddy.

Finally, remember the chewed up dog bed? Well, the price has gone up a lot on the same one, so I found another brand and ordered it. So far, so good! Good inside or outside a crate, I suspect the other crate will get a matching one soon and the old one will go in the back of the car. The only downside, no color choice. But hey, the #2doods don't complain!

Ciao for now!

A little organization

Everyone knows how much we buy via Amazon Prime but it's not always the best price. For example, I wanted some mesh metal magazine organizers for the pantry. We keep several flavors and strengths of K-cups on hand for our coffee maker. Multiple boxes stacked haphazardly was not the best solution. I thought this might work out better.

I started looking for them and discovered Target had them at half the price of anywhere else, including the office supply stores. I ordered four and loved them once I got them set up. They worked out well!

In fact, so well, when I found a perfume I was looking for cheaper at Target than anywhere else online, I ordered two more. When they arrived, I reorganized the pantry, pulling out multiple items to take to a local shelter, things no longer on our diets.

Then I added the two additional organizers which let me load one with DECAF coffee on the lower shelf. I love it!

So, what do you think of my new shirt? LOL! Kind of fits, doesn't it.

Speaking of diets....I'm happy. Now within 2.5# of my next goal. Of course once that's met, I set a new goal of 5# less. All in all, my final goal by the end of this year is 12.5# less than where I am now. I think that's quite doable! My bust has lost size so the comparison isn't as dramatic, but I'm happy! I've gone from tight size 14 pants to loose size 12 and sometimes even a size 10 pant.

Ciao for now!

Widgets, Gadgets & Organization

Hello, my name is Donna and I am addicted to gadgets. LOL! It used to be high-tech gadgets...I was always a first adopter of new technology. As I've posted before, I've lost my technological edge.

No, nowadays it's the simple things that catch my eye. Things that make the RV life easier or help me stay organized. I no longer get all the catalogs but I remember the names: Harriet Carter, Lillian Vernon, Walter Drake, Dr. Leonard's, Vermont Country Store and Carol Wright's Gifts to name a few. They're all online now and I find myself perusing their new arrivals, clearance and sale pages WAY too often. LOL!

So here, in no particular order, are some things I have found. Some I bought and use, some I plan to buy, some I just thought might interest other RVers.

The first little gadget is a set of two ice cube trays that I found at Miles Kimball...I wanted covered ones to help contain water spills until they freeze. I love these! Unfortunately they are no longer available but I found some larger ones here and here. Here is the photo from Miles Kimball followed by a photo of my freezer. You can see one tray in the center top - just fits in depth and perfect for one person who doesn't use a LOT of ice but would like to have some on hand. EDIT 4/18/08: These little covered ice cube trays are back!





Now a little organizational tip. I was constantly fighting things falling out of my freezer...being a solo I break up packages into smaller ones and the plastic bags are, well, slippery. I know you can buy refrigerator bars to help keep things in place but they are a pain in the neck. Often they pop out when you least expect it and in my case, that can be dangerous. My freezer is over my head. I had read a blog about using plastic storage containers and thought that was a great idea. So I measured my space and figured out what combination of sizes I needed to look for in plastic bins.

While in Quartzsite, I lucked out in a dollar store. I had bought these bins before, they're often used to store CD's. Four of them fit perfectly (and the lids are stored away with my spare plastic shoeboxes). No more bags falling on my head when I open the door! They were about $2.50 each, if I remember correctly.

The next item is a larger purchase, dollar-wise, but it has worked out so well that I plan to get a second one. It's a solar light from Harriet Carter. It's lightweight, plastic and meant to be mounted on a wall or a post. BUT, it sits just fine on a table which is where I have it. You saw it along with my rechargeable lantern and my heavier metal-glass solar lantern that I've had since I started out (actually, I started out with two but one fell on the ground when I opened a bin and it shattered).



I plan to order another because the light from this is amazing! It only needs a couple of hours a day to charge and it puts out a nice bright light for hours. I'll use it as a backup inside when I'm boondocking. One thing I really like about it is that it has an off-auto switch so you can turn it off when not in use, saving the battery power (I have no idea how long they last but would rather not find out. LOL!)

The next item is one I have used since Mike & I first went RVing...later they were utilized in the back of our cars. I stared with two black ones, found two heavier duty multi-colored ones at Big Lots, one of which was eventually broken. Oh, what am I talking about? Sorry...folding crates! Lightweight and easy to store...great for laundry, groceries, inside storage bays, "stuff" stored when you move, etc. They come in several sizes and colors....I am order one more multi-colored one from the same manufacturer as my other one. Here is one source, here is another and one more here.

Another item that I bought and have used a couple of times is a set of covers for a picnic table and two benches. They are made for a standard size table/benches and have elastic edging but since not all tables/benches are standard, it's good to have some extra clips to hold them in place. Harriet Carter and Dr. Leonard's both have them on sale and an up-scale version is offered at Camping World.

As always, check prices in more than one place as well as compare shipping costs (and return policies). For example, Camping World offers the ever popular folding step-stool for $12.22 ($8.99 if you're a President's Club member) while Harriet Carter has it for $15.98. I found the solar light going for as much as $42 in other places, Harriet Carter had the lowest price.

I know I have missed some of my favorite gadgets....I'll try to remember them for next time around. Hope ya'll have fun shopping!

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

Exhausted, Depleted, Worn Out and Sore, But...

I'm exhausted, depleted, worn out and sore, but it's been a pretty productive day. I'm back on the up till midnight and sleep till eight schedule (strange since I'm in Pacific time zone here in AZ). It's still cool when I get up and today was the first day I haven't had errands to run first thing. So I tackled the last totes of clothes that needed to be sorted. I had two totes in the back storage bay and 4 totes (two different sizes) in the cabover storage up front.

Ruthless, yes, I became ruthless...no more sentiment. A few things got held aside for my lady riding friends (motorcycle shirts) but 85% of the rest went to the community center donation table. So now I am down to two of the smaller totes and all four of the large totes are empty!

I have very little stuff around the bed and what is there is lightweight. The two heavy file boxes have been moved to the car and the three totes of office supplies are 90% gone with the rest moved to the left cabover area. The tote with camping stuff has been emptied with the backpacker tent for 2, ultra-light sleeping bag and self-inflating mattress pad are in the car...they will probably be sold as well.

Next I tackled the stuff that came out of the motorcycle saddle bags, tank bag and trailer. I wanted the trailer empty in case I found a buyer (no, that is NOT going well....sigh). Some things will stay with me, in the car, until I meet up with a group of lady rider friends in May. The two large rolling duffel bags have been divided with one for my gear (can't part with everything, might get a chance to ride sometime) and one for what I will sell/give away to friends. The other is empty and inside my large suitcase. All three are now in the back of the car along with the seat I need to sell, the custom one from my BMW.

I guess I need to note that while I was only 700# overweight overall, the rear was more than 1300# over while the front was way under. The right had more weight than the left, thus my attempts to lighten the right rear and move what I could to the left front area. For example, the large bottle of windshield washer fluid was moved from the right rear storage bay to the left front storage bay. In addition I will lose weight when I no longer have the tongue weight from the trailer & motorcycle. I didn't realize that towing flat (four wheels down) means no tongue weight. Phew....every pound helps! All in all, I feel very positive about the changes I've made and the weight shifting I have done. Now to get the rig weighed again to see how well I have really done.

Oh, what I didn't note was that while I was emptying out the rear storage bay I got sidetracked and decided to clean some of the worst crud off the left front side of the rig. I had used a duster to clean off the worst of the dust but inadvertently got it wet and thus the dust smeared on that side. I've ignored it since I left Bouse but with the micro-cloths & Protect-All so close at hand, I decided to clean it up a bit. Of course you KNOW how that goes...no, I didn't clean the whole thing but I did do the entire left side (only as high as I could reach) and it looks SO much better. Well, that made me feel guilty about how bad the trailer looked, and here I am trying to sell it. Yup, tackled that as well.

So now it's after 6pm and I am whipped....the bad thing is that my bed is covered with little things that need to find a new home in the RV....maybe I'll just sleep on the couch tonight. LOL!

In closing, here are two sets of sunset photos....note the color difference. Amazing skies even here in the middle of the city!




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