Weather....not Whether

In the last week I have read blogs and forum posts from RVers dealing with tornadoes, extremely dangerous high winds, flooding rainstorms and now the fires in California. While many think to themselves that RVers have it made, they can just pick up and move when the weather gets bad, sometimes the weather is TO BAD to move. I am glad I have my weather radio with battery backup, it will be very useful on the road.

Courtesy of NASA - fires as of 10/21/07

For those interested, please follow along with these camp hosts in the area of the San Diego fires. My heart is breaking for everyone out there....the destruction and devastation is heartrending.

EDIT: Just had some RVing riding friends post in the Escapee forum...they made it out just barely.

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

Winding Up & Winding Down...

What a week....the house is getting emptier with more and more things being sold and picked up. I still have some things to deal with, but for the most part I only have borrowed and not-yet-picked-up items left. Even the office is pretty bare.

Speaking of the office, I still have to resort the couple of totes of "stuff" into the RV. That is what I will concentrate on the beginning of the week. I know I am keeping too much "stuff" but at least half of it are consumable items (from my buying-on-sale habits). Once they are gone, I won't carry such a stash of those things (toiletries, canned goods, paper products).

Same thing with paperbacks, carrying too many but I will be leaving many along the way as I read and travel. Now books in general....not sure where I will end up there. I have several (too many) campground books, several (probably not enough) RVing books, and a few computer related books. I also have three laptops...my old one that needs internal cleaning before I can sell it, my newer notebook-mini that needs to get repaired before it's considered stable (grrrrrrr) and my newest that I use the most. Toss in the printer, labeler (can print stamps & labels and I love it), external backup and my wireless router for my new Verizon USB Aircard. Toss in paper, pens/refills, envelopes, paperclips, stapler/staples and a lot of other assorted and sundry office supplies....needless to say, I am sure some of this is going to get culled out over the next month or two.

Yes, my Verizon Aircard arrived and it works fine....albeit definitely slower than my DSL. But once I am traveling I will hit areas where it will be faster, remember, I'm in a rural location. I'd love to have satellite Internet but just can't justify having both. I'll try to keep my big downloads (Vista updates, etc) confined to when I have access to outside Wifi.

I sold both my older digital cameras and upgraded to a newer Canon Powershot S5 IS. I even splurged and ordered two filters for it and eventually may try a lens or two. I have a lot to learn, will be playing with that for quite a while. So far I really like the camera and look forward to trying it out on the road.

Still waiting to hear on the final closing date on the house and if I can sign before heading out, thus no firm departure date yet. My target was/is October 20th but if I can't sign the paperwork first, I may be forced to stay (easier than trying to predict where I will be for next-day service). Keeping my fingers crossed that I will hear Monday or Tuesday and that I can leave on Saturday. I have two recalls I need to get taken care of, some general service work and maybe an add or two (thinking about air bags for rear of the motorhome).

So, things are winding down in general here but winding up in preparation for hitting the road!

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

Saturday night's alright for......grilling

It was the smell that got me.....first BoBo, my little pup, started going to the door to the deck, his nose sniffing the air. Then when I took him out for a walk I noticed it....hard not to, I think the humidity made it cling to the air.

I was suddenly flooded with memories of days past, warm summer nights, family & friends, picnics, fireworks and July 4th, children's laughter, fireflies, good music.....amazing what the smell of burgers on a neighbor's grill can bring to mind.

A grill is something that has been lurking at the back of my mind. I haven't owned one in several years, Mike did all the grilling and when he could no longer eat regular food, owning a grill just didn't seem too important. Add to that the fact that I almost never used a grill myself, that was always sort of the man's domain.

While I love the smell and the taste of grilled foods be it burgers, hot dogs or chicken, I wondered if I would really use one. I read all the forum posts with interest, everyone debating the best grill, the best size, the best cooking method (gas or charcoal). For small the winner was the throw-away versions sold at Wal-Mart. For taste the winners tended to be way too large for my needs (and storage space).

I have pretty much resigned myself to using my small George Foreman grill outside, even though the taste wouldn't be the same. But that doesn't stop me from reading the posts about new grill discoveries. Recently I read about a smallish (24"x15"x6" and 20 or so pounds) propane grill. It's the Coleman InstaStart PerfectFlow Portable Grill. Looks like it would be perfect for folks with minimal storage space, still a bit too large for me though.

Another favorite for those with space to spare is the Coleman Road Trip Grill. It has its own stand so it's great for those times when there is no picnic or other table available. You can even order wheeled carry case for it....high tech! ;)

I did come across what looks like it would have been perfect....shame that they appear to have gone out of business (or aren't producing it anymore). Neat little grill, EZ-Grill, that folds flat for storage, yes, it's charcoal but how can you beat under four pounds and folds flat? LOL!
EDIT: A friend sent me a couple of links to other portable grills so I wanted to add them here. Grilliput Portable Grill and Grill4All

So it's back to the George Foreman and maybe finding some nice campground neighbors that notice when I'm drooling......

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