See, I can do it!

Do what? Get up in time to see the sun rise. Here are two shots I managed to catch at 7:15 this morning.

So regardless of what some may think....I CAN get up in time to see the sun rise. LOL!

The rest of the morning was spent showering and getting ready to head about 50 miles to have lunch with some BMW riding friends from Houston. The morning was brisk and the temperature wasn't rising quite as quickly as I would like so I planned to wear my Gerbings electrics (socks, gloves & jacket liner). I had already dug out my Sidi boots (haven't worn them much since they have a bigger toebox than my CruiserWorks boots but the do have a better non-slip sole with dirt/gravel) and repacked my saddlebags (in case I opted to do a little shopping).

So, pulled on my electric socks over lightweight knee socks, pulled on my First Gear HT Overpants (noticing there was still quite a bit of dead bug guts on them....LOL!), hooked up the socks, changed the quilted liner in my Tourmaster Trinity jacket to the Gerbing electric jacket liner and started to hook up the socks to the jacket liner and then hook it all up to my temp controller. Phew...cords everywhere! Suddenly I realized on my Harley I had the plug attached directly to the battery and had never gotten that done on the BMW! EEEK...sure am glad Ara and I didn't stay late in San Antonio that night....would have been a disaster with non-working electrics. One more thing added to the list for the BMW dealer next Tuesday.

Fortunately, by the time I stripped off all the electrics, put on two pairs of socks, put my jacket liner back in and dug out my regular warm gloves, the temperature was finally climbing a bit and I knew the electrics wouldn't be needed.

It was a nice ride over to Moulton, I could have taken some photos but was enjoying the ride too much. The front tire was still a little light on the road so when I finally got to Moulton, I adjusted the suspension again. I only had about a 10 minute wait for Mike & Barb to show up. Thanks to a TON of great conversation, only a couple of photos were taken. We had a great time talking bikes, gadgets & RVing (Mike has a Lazy Daze Class C motorhome). The time passed all too quickly and we parted company. The sun had gone behind the clouds again and I actually had a few raindrops on the way back.

All in all, a pretty darn good day! Tomorrow will be a sadder one...Ara will be leaving the park to head easterly. His company will be greatly missed, I look forward to hopefully seeing him in Moab come April when he will show me the ropes of boondocking.

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

My turn now....

Well, it figures. I started the game of tag and now it's my turn again. LOL! I got tagged again by Mike & Gerri...I love this game! So here we go again...you're going to end up knowing me better than my ex-husband! LOL!

Once again, here are the rules:

1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 5 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
3. Share the 5 top places on your "want to see or want to see again" list.
4. Tag a minimum of 5 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So here goes nothing!

5 Random and/or Weird Facts:

1. I love tomatoes, tomato sauce, catsup but hate tomato soup. I love bananas but not once they start to get ripe.
2. I love having a nickname. I never had a nickname as a kid...in fact never had one until I was 55 and started riding a motorcycle
3. I never ate fried chicken until I was 17, never had a taco until I was 28 (never even knew what it was).
4. I first tried skiing at age 45...thought I'd hate it (and suck at it since I was never athletic) but I actually enjoyed it.
5. My eyes are such a dark blue that most people don't realize they are blue.

Since I already did my top five see again/want to see list, in honor of the new movie "Bucket List", here is my retitled list.

My Bucket list:

1. Try whitewater rafting.
2. Ride my motorcycle in Alaska & Hawaii.
3. Go for a hot air balloon ride.
4. Visit Australia (okay, so this is on both lists)
5. Continue to RV and enjoy every day to its fullest!

Okay, now to tag the next round of bloggers (and not all are RV related)...

Next!

1. Nick & Terri/Gypsy Journal
2. Tina/Paper Mojo
3. Nolan & JoAnn/2 On the Road
4. Dick/RV Travels with Huggy
5. Fab Grandma

Okay, so what's new since my last post? Not much....cold, cold, cold nights....down into the 20's. Tuesday night I got up around midnight and found no water. Bundled up and did a quick disconnect at the campground faucet, hoping nothing had been damaged. Last night most of the campground was preparing ahead of time...forecast was for 22 degrees.

Since it wasn't the middle of the night, I didn't need a flashlight and I wasn't dressed in sleepwear and freezing, this time I did it right. Fortunately for me I had picked up several sets of brass quick-connects at the Escapade. What a lifesaver! Turn off the water, disconnect. Disconnect that hose from the water filter, drain and connect to itself. Then disconnect the outlet side of the water filter and let that drain. Spend a couple of minutes getting most of the water out of the filter, toss it all into the storage bin.

This morning, reconnected it all...discovered that it might be a good idea to let the water filter fill with water before turning on anything inside. The air pockets produce a pretty big splash in the toilet. Fortunately it was clean water.....

I got my new-to-me custom seat yesterday....for the motorcycle, nothing custom for MY seat. LOL! I managed to get it mounted all by myself (thank you to Ara for showing me how to take it off and put it back on). Geared up and rode to get some groceries and drop off some mail. So far I like it. Tomorrow will be a 100 or so mile ride, we'll see how it does on more than a 10 minute trip.

[click to see larger photo]

The old seat is on the left, the new seat is on the right.

This weekend is supposed to warm up to the low 70's which is fortunate. I have to pull the bags out of the trailer, repack all my gear and then load the bike. I also need to reorganize some of my totes and what's in them and the easiest way to do that is to pull them all out onto the ground. Will take me the two days to do what I want but this month has been good about showing me what I am using and what I'm not (at least not yet). I suspect that within a year I will have shed a lot more "stuff", especially clothes.

I am now booked up pretty much through the end of March. Initially I will take about a week, give or take a few days, and head to Quartzsite, AZ. There I will boondock with the Escapees SOLO group. I'll be dividing my time between the SOLOs, the Full-time Graduating Class of 2007 (both Escapees affiliated) as well as some local friends. I leave 'Q' on the 23rd and travel a whole 25 miles to the little town of Bouse. I will be staying at the Desert Pueblo RV Resort where I will meet a couple of folks down from Alaska for the winter. The husband is very active in The Motorcycle Tourer's Forum.

After a week there (good rate of $80 +electric) I head to Gila Bend, 130 miles back to the SE, and Augie's Quail Trail RV Park. I'll spend a week there but since I will be returning after 10 days and staying another three weeks, I'll get the monthly rate of $340 including electric. During those 10 days I'll be inducted into the Elks (so I'll officially be an Elk and a Lady Moose) and I'll be attending the Gypsy Journal Rally (if you are in the SW and have nothing to do the middle of February - check it out!). The first day I take a half day driving school where I HOPE to get better at backing my trailer. When the rally is over, then I head back to Gila Bend. I'll be ready to relax & rest at that point...LOL!

Tentative plans for March at to be in Black Canyon City and if I can get my boondocking set up before April, I hope to do some boondocking in Moab area where Ara plans to be. He'll help me get my feet under me...he lived on a sailboat for years and has been camping/RVing for a while now. I still have so much to learn and "in the middle of nowhere" boondocking will be a challenge. It will be nice to have someone help me learn the ropes before attempting it on my own.

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

Looking over my shoulder....

A peek into the past...I wrote this article January 1999 after our initial foray into full-time RVing. Enjoy - I think you'll recognize a few things!

---

My ReVolutions for the New Year

... did I hear you say it should be Resolutions? Another year is rushing towards us. This past year has been very exciting. Mike & I have learned a lot of new things about RVing, but I know there is always room for improvement. To that end, I have come up with a list of the top 10 things I need to change. I hope you'll have as much fun reading them as I did writing them.

I Resolve:

TO bite my tongue when I know we're lost.
The more people I talk to, the more I know that it's true - men really DO hate to ask for directions. But with an RV, I think it should be different. If you're going to be lost, relax and enjoy it. You may never pass this way again!

TO quit yelling "THE OTHER LEFT" when helping my partner backup.
I used to think I was the only person to have this problem, but now I know better. No matter which way you direct them, they will always go the other way. So, just steer them opposite of where they need to be!

TO use my time at the Laundromat for something better than reading a 5 year old "True Confessions".
Yes, I have been known to be that desperate. Since I'm a writer, this would be the perfect place to "people watch" and build new characters. So, remember that the next time you see a middle-aged woman with pen and pad in hand, staring at you with a crazed look on her face!

TO keep my eyes open when we drive through areas of road construction.
Don't panic, I'm not the driver. But I do have a bad habit of holding my breath and closing my eyes when the going gets "tight". I guess if I'm ever going to learn how to drive this rig (and that is an emergency must), the first step is getting used to those tight spots!

TO make the bed more than once a week (whether I think it needs it or not).
I know, laid back lifestyle & all - once a week should be fine. It sure is with me, but Mike thinks tripping on the covers once a day is much more preferable to tripping every time he walks into the bedroom!

TO learn to cook in my convection oven.
Okay, maybe this is a stretch - cook, that is. I'll just commit to learning how to use it!

TO stop being embarrassed when I can't remember the name of the folks I just met.
I know I should work harder on remembering, but that's a lost cause. Anyway, I think it will make me a more memorable character this way. They'll always describe me as that "crazy-looking, middle-aged lady who could never remember our names". At my age, it's much more fun to be interesting rather than proper!

TO file our bills and other papers more often.
Mike says that making "piles" on the far end of the couch doesn't qualify as filing (which is something I only do when I don't have room for my feet anymore). I have to admit it will make it easier to find that Sam's Club receipt we need - when we need it!

TO make my brother happy by calling the catalog folks and getting off their mailing lists.
He keeps telling us we get more mail in one week than they do in an entire month. This will be a tough one - I think they need to start a "Catalog Shopper Anonymous". I know I'm addicted!

TO "Enjoy Life. This is NOT a Dress Rehearsal!"
Need I say more? Happy New Year to everyone, everywhere!

---

Things have obviously changed quite a bit...technology for one thing, having a GPS helps with directions and two-way family radios as well as back-up monitors help with backing (although I'll bet folks still holler about the OTHER left).

I did sign up with an Opt-Out service to start getting rid of the gazillion catalogs that still manage to find me, even after many moves and I now use a mail forwarding service rather than abusing family. LOL!

My current rig doesn't have a convection oven but since I'm only cooking (and I use that term VERY loosely) for one, that's fine. In fact, the real oven will probably get taken out to make room for batteries and an inverter.

I do make my bed every day...maybe not quite as nicely as at home, but that was a quirk Mike had and was one thing I started doing regularly after he died. (I know that gives him a smile.)

I still don't remember folks names...so if you have met me before and see me again, PLEASE remind me who you are. I ran into a couple in Livingston and the lady very obviously remembered me and I was too embarrassed to tell I that I hadn't a clue as to who she was. If she is reading this, I apologize!

My filing still stinks....that is something that will be addressed this winter...sometime. Honest!

As to driving, well, that became a necessity but not the 36' (or 38' - still can't remember) Class A we had...but my little 26' Class C. That was challenge enough for a while.

I am still a true believer in the "Enjoy Life! This is not a dress rehearsal" philosophy. Life is for the living and that is what I intend to do!

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