Onward

RAINBOW'S END RV PARK, Livingston, TX 77351 

Feb. 11-17, 2012

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RV LIFE/MAINTENANCE: 

Our week here at Escapees is over. Last year we were "stuck" here for 1.5 months!!! We had to wait for a part for our RV. This year, we planned ahead and the part arrived while we were here.  

We renewed our vehicle registrations, inspected both, and had our Equa-flex suspension equalizer replaced. Scott had noticed there was a crack in one.  It never seemed to get larger, but Scott was not comfortable continuing with it cracked. There are many RV's that don't even have this. The Equi-flex helps the RV keep a smooth ride, so things don't bounce around too much inside.

Onward Southwest! We'll be playing tourist in San Antonio.There are also quite a few DDD restaurants that  we may want to try out also.

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PRODUCT REVIEWS:

COCA COLA made in Mexico: While in Jefferson, TX, we visited the "General Store". They had Coke that is made in Mexico. So what is the big deal?  Coke in the US is made with corn syrup. Coke made in Mexico is made with real sugar. Did we taste the difference? I felt it wasn't as "sickening" sweet as US Coke. But according to the Consumer Reports comparison, the testers felt the Mexican Cola was sweeter. If you pick up Kosher Coke, that is made with sugar.

The Mexican Coke is in a glass bottle & has a metal pop top (like a beer bottle), rather than a plastic screw top.

Gold Tone Reusable Keurig type brew cup:

Our rating 1 out of 5

Don't waste your money. We picked this up at the local supermarket. $8.00 ($12.00 on Amazon), so worth a try. The coffee drips through the filter too fast and makes a very weak/watery disgusting cup of "coffee".

Barksters dog treat crisps:

Our rating 5 out of 5. What others say

We are always looking for wheat free dog treats for Devin. He gets the itchies if he eats wheat. These treats are wonderful! All good ingredients, air puffed,so only 12 calories per piece. Devin has actually climbed on Scott's easy chair to try to get these treats out of the overhead cabinet!

These are available at Tractor Supply.

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BOOK REVIEW:

I have FINALLY finished all my hardback and paperback books. Of course, I could pick some up at the next RV Park, but for now, I have hundreds of books waiting to be read on my Kindle.

Behind the Shield by Sheryl Lynn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Easy reading romantic mystery.


View all my reviews

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

There are too many audio books to bother working my way through this. I will use Diane Yannick's review. She wrote is just as I felt...
"This book started with such promise. Pasquale was a great character and I would have enjoyed following his story. The Italian setting was lush and Dee Moray's story was interesting until it got crushed by all the random characters and story lines."
I did not bother finishing.


View all my reviews

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WHERE WE'RE GOING

Feb. 18 - 25, 2012
TRAVELER'S WORLD, San Antonio, TX 78214

Shoulda gone South!!!!!

TOM SAWYER'S MISSISSIPPI RIVER RV PARK
West Memphis, AR 72301
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RV LIFE:

All is well somewhat, with our RV troubles. The bearings problem is all fixed for $1100. and now trying to keep warm right next to the Mississippi River. 37° and much colder with the high wind chill factor.
We had ALL the bearings replaced. We had all our bearings checked and packed this past April. We had upgraded to a 7000# axle earlier this year. The bearings were 6000#, so the new bearings are now 7000#. The mechanic thinks the bearings were over tightened when we had them packed in April. Also the cotter pin? broke.
The spindle threads were stripped. So all had to be replaced.
After our first day's problem we stayed at Soaring Eagle RV Park. After pulling in, connecting the electric, then checking the inside to make sure we can open the slides, open we do and we hear an odd sound. All of a sudden Scott yells stop. He goes outside and oops, he forgot to put the cover of the electric post down and the slide rammed into it.

Luckily, it is only cosmetic on the skirting. We are trying to think of a cheap solution. Any ideas?
Time to move on. We were delayed for 2 days.
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Other titles for this post:
I'm in RV hell!
TX can't come soon enough!
White Christmas.
Freezing on the Mississippi.
Who's idea was this anyway?
Cabin fever

Can you tell I'm miserable????

Weather is horrible!!!! Since we arrived, it's been freezing, snowing, sleeting, frigid winds, nasty rain, high winds.
I've gone through excitement of being in a new area and I ALWAYS love being on the Mississippi.
To disappointment that the weather has been so bad that it's a chore to walk the dogs and not pleasant at all. There are wide trails all around this RV park, but we haven't been able to enjoy them.
To depression: We are stuck in the RV. It's starting to feel claustrophobic. Scott is getting on my nerves.  Scott has done nothing wrong. This is the first time since living in the RV (1.5 yrs) that I've felt cramped. I can't find my own private space because my usual space is too cold. The other day I spent the whole day in bed to keep warm & watched TV and explored around on my computer. I would have loved this when I worked full time! Now it's that I don't have the OPTION of going outside that is driving me crazy. There's a couple of items I want to put in the basement, and I don't want to deal with the cold, wind and trying to flip up the panel. Really, really nasty weather.
We have a nice fire pit that overlooks the Mississippi River. We have as much FREE firewood as we'd like. Meaning, there is plenty of driftwood all along the shore line. But it's been too wet and too cold to sit outside even with a fire. Even while in Sevierville, we had quite a bit of rainy weather. When we first got to Sevierville, I went around to empty campsites and gathered left over fire wood. I had a nice pile, but the weather didn't agree with my plans.

So, I've got to rethink my outlook. Scott has helped with that. He's such a sweety.  He reminded me that there have been days when I've spent the whole day on my computer, sitting in my easy chair and it's been beautiful out. So I've got to forget about the weather and enjoy myself in the moment.

We were planning on continuing to head West and hit OK, but change in plans to hopefully get to a little bit warmer weather. I really don't mind 45° and up, but this freezing weather day in and day out while living in an RV is not pleasant. If I were in a regular house, then this would be no big deal.
So instead of OK, we will be heading directly South on I-55 towards New Orleans. We don't plan on going to NOLA, but as far South in one day as we feel comfortable. Then West from there.

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PETS:

Dealing with the dogs in weather like this is difficult also. It's bad enough that we have no fence to just let them outside, but the gravel roads are flooded so it's difficult to maneuver around with the dogs without getting our feet soaked.
We are on an end site, so we have a large area for Devin to be put out on a tether. But, he has found something interesting about a foot underground and is digging his way to China. I've tried covering it with a big plastic tub...he just knocks it over. I've put our bicycle basket inside the hole. He digs a wider hole. So we will have to fill in that hole before we leave. We don't want to leave a bad impression about "big dog people"

Devin has discovered peanuts! When feeding our parrot, I tossed a peanut in the shell at Devin. He sniffed, rolled it around the floor, then rolled around in his mouth. He eventually shelled it and ate the peanut. Now every time we feed the parrot, he is sitting by the cage waiting for his peanut treat.

Why is it, dogs will eat all kinds of garbage...sticks, poop, chicken bones, etc. but when give a peanut, he shells it?!

Lazy days

VILLAGE OF TREES RV RESORT

Declo, ID 83323

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RV LIFE: 

So, we are in the last days of our 3 week stay here in Declo. We only planned for 1 week, but this is such a wonderful park and we had a couple of weeks free, so we extended our stay to 2 weeks and finally 3 weeks. There isn't much to do in this area, not even any interesting restaurants to try. This is why it's been some lazy days for us here.

Scott's been playing an on line game with other players from around the world.

I've been doing a lot of silly facebook games, such as BUBBLE WITCH SAGA, also crafting & reading. What a great life.

Yesterday, it was in the 40's again in the morning. Barely hit the 50's in the afternoon, plus add wind and rain off and on. This made for a great day to stay inside and "play sick". Meaning, watch TV, have soup for lunch, cuddle under the afghan, etc.  I ended up knitting in bed watching old "Trauma: Life in the ER" marathon. Great day!

About 4 days ago, two horses gave birth. I've been trying to take photos of the foals in the field near us, but they are always laying down. I guess they're like puppies and babies and sleep alot. I'm just not catching them during their play time.

White speck on grass on right is a 3 days old foal napping.

**Update: Got a few shots of the babies.

I'm finally starting to not feel quilty about "being lazy", which really means relaxing, enjoying what I want to do, instead of working on someone else's schedule. I keep saying, Scott & I are so lucky to be able to retire at a fairly young age and have the means to live this RV full lifestyle. Also, that both Scott & I think alike and have the same goals.

RV REPAIR:
I guess "honey do's" never end. While I was rearranging my side of our basement, I was getting dripped on. Above my head were the water lines. Uh oh! Did a hose crack? Did I poke a hole in one when I put some nails in the wall?
Honeeeey? We have a leak! I did check to see if it was leaking where it was dripping...nope! It was coming from inside....somewhere. I had visions of having to call someone in to pull apart our water line.  We knew this water line was from/to the bathroom sink, so Scott started by looking underneath the sink. Imagine how cramped working on a bathroom sink is in a regular house. Cut that space in 1/2 and now you're working in an RV bathroom sink cabinet.
Scott figured out that it wasn't the tubing or joints, but the faucet. Remember I said there's not much around Declo? Well that includes, no Home Depot or Lowe's either. Scott did find a local hardware store and we bought a cheap $25. bathroom faucet set. He installed and all is dry. We'll take our time looking for nicer faucet. We're not fancy people and can easily put up with this cheap faucet for quite a while.
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CRAFTS:
I have been working on the sleeves of the COMFY CARDI. So I'm very close to the end! Well, I was until I kept knitting & knitting & knitting while watching TV in bed yesterday. As I was about to shape the shoulders, I measured the length and ...I'm an idiot...the sleeves will end up down to my knuckles!  So, I will have to FROG (rippit, rippit, out) my sleeves to the correct length. I was so close to finishing. Now it will be a day delayed. The feeling is  like driving to your next destination and when you're 10 miles away, you realize you put the wrong coordinates in the GPS and now you have to drive another 100 miles! Oh crap. It's not much fun to have to frog your projects, but you'll be glad you did rather than leaving in a very noticeable mistake you could have fixed.

Today, I sat outside in the bright sunlight to see my knitting better (black yarn), while I frogged, my sleeves. After frogging to the right length, I was left with an unwound pile of loose yarn. No problem, I'll just be careful and I re-knit and eventually the loose yarn will be used up again. But, I didn't take into account that Devin would decide he wanted to play with Lyla and Lyla would come over to me to get away from him. Yep, she walked right through the loose pile of yarn, got her legs wrapped around it and around it. In the meantime, Devin is still trying to get to Lyla. Chaos!!!

Yarn all over!

Scott heard me yelling at Devin, so he came out to help. He's a brave man to enter into this screaming, chaotic situation. Poor Lyla could tell I was upset, so she wanted to jump up and get a hug from me. Oh, I also had headphones attached to my IPod and that also got tangled in. Thank goodness I was on my second glass of wine. Scott brought the dogs into the RV. I untangled my headphones, put them back on and started listening to STASH AND BURN podcast and calmly just proceeded to untangle and roll the yarn into a ball.  Fifteen minutes later, all is in order again.

Well, maybe not everything. I no sooner get my yarn untangled and then I had to untangle Devin.

FOOD REVIEW:
I tried a JAZZ APPLE the other day. Nice very crisp apple, with a slight sweet taste. Not as sweet as a McIntosh. I would purchase again.

Broccoli Salad: We first enjoyed a Broccoli Salad purchased from a PA Dutch Market in NJ. It was delicious. It consisted of broccoli florets, sweet mayo bases dressing, shredded cheese, sweet red onion, & raisins. Since then, we try broccoli salad where ever we can find it.
Albertson's Broccoli Crunch Salad is very good as is Walmart Broccoli Salad. I believe we tried Smith's, which was way too sweet.

Length of Stay?

PONY EXPRESS RV RESORT
North Salt Lake, UT 84054

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RV LIFE:

When we first began our full time RV adventure, we remembered other Fulltimers' advice about this is not a vacation, this is a lifestyle. So don't try to rush to see everything, take your time.

So, our idea of taking our time was to stay a week, instead of just 3 or 4 days. That would also save us gas expense and usually there is a break with a weekly rate at RV parks.

We quickly realized, one week is not long enough in one area (if we like it). We are a laid back couple. Scott is usually not out of bed before 10am. I am up at 6:30am, but am not ready to go out and do things until about 11 am - 12 noon.

For example, I got up at 7am today. Walked the dogs for 40 minutes. Made a cup of coffee, scanned by emails, sent out a couple. Now the time consumer! I have discovered Facebook games! Ugh! You know I have too much time, when I can spend an hour or two and "just one more" on these games. On the other hand, I still remember my working days, when I wouldn't waste my precious time on these games. Retirement is wonderful!

So now I'm on my 2nd cup of coffee, and still playing games. No wonder my blog has been neglected!

It's now 8:30am and I'm updating this blog waiting for my 3rd cup of coffee to brew and my bread to toast. Now, I'll sit outside at this nice, clean plastic round picnic table with lovely green, green, plush grass and have my breakfast and read. That will be at least 1 to 1.5 hours.

So, you can see how easily the days fly by. It takes a couple of days to acclimate ourselves to the new RV park and town. Research where good restaurants are, grocery stores, vet, etc.  We tend to stay at home on the weekends. NJ has really biased us against weekenders or "Bennys" at the shore.

So, if we stay a week, say we arrive on Tuesday. Wednesday is looking for grocery store, settling in, checking out trails with the dogs. Thursday, we may try dinner, Friday we may try breakfast. No way we can go out to dinner after having a huge breakfast. Then it's the weekend. So now we only have Monday left. If there's any sightseeing, or more restaurants, we only have 1 day. Proof, that a week is too short.

So, 10 days minimum to 2 weeks is our preference.  Of course, if we hate the place 1 week could be too long.  We tend to make reservations about 5 days ahead for a week.  If we like the park and area, we will ask for another week. We have never been told no.

Cleaning: Of course, the bad thing about 2 weeks, is we do settle in. Meaning, the RV gets cluttered, the outside gets cluttered, etc.  The day before moving day is usually my clean up the RV day.

Toilet is usually cleaned after tank is dumped.

Bird cage cleaned upon arrival at new park. Our African Gray Parrot, is in a travel cage, so the cage is empty and can be cleaned thoroughly.

Vacuuming is done either day before, morning of, or before complete set up on arrival.

Sinks are scoured day of travel, while storing kitchen and bathroom items.

Dusting & mold is done while vacuuming on a cool day. It's a real pain to have to move everything to dust and clean the mold that builds up. Not only do the shelves, have to be dusted, but the computers need to get the dust off the fan area and the screens, etc. The mold is something new RV'rs should take note of. I was surprised to find this, as in our Stick & Brick home, this was not a problem.  Mold builds up around the trim of the windows, sometimes on the walls behind furniture, and in our case, in our closet at the head of the 5th wheel. (See photo on March 5, 2012 Post)

Outside cleaning: On a cool day is when I will clean a section of the outside of our RV. Wipe down with water, wipe dry, and then lightly rub PROTECT ALL on it. I just do a section at a time while listening to a book on tape. Do this for an hour every few days and before you know it, the whole rig is clean & ready to start all over again. Well, at least up to about the 10' mark is cleaned.  After that, I can't reach any higher and Scott hasn't gotten around to doing the top part.

Roof: This is Scott's job.  I haven't gotten to the roof myself yet.  Scott is slowly overcoming his fear of being on the roof. It's important to keep the roof in good condition. We don't want any leaks!

Maintenance: This is where we are lacking. I do have a spreadsheet that I've put together and all from other RV sites, but have I looked at it yet? We've been full timing  10 months! I think I need to stop relaxing so much and take a look at that maintenance schedule.  Our slides squeak now when going in & out.  I remember the RV dealer stating the importance of  keeping the slides seals lubricated with silicone spray. Have we done this? Noooo! Time flies.

So when we stay 2 weeks, I need to clean in between...sometimes.  

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RESTAURANT REVIEWS:

We vacationed in Oahu a dozen years back. We loved the "plate" meals. So seeing this restaurant advertising a "plate" menu, we were excited.

GARLIC CHICKEN: This was very tasty. Nuggets of chicken with a batter deep fried. Some "bite" to it.  It reminded me of General Tso's chicken without the sauce. I would order this again.

TERIYAKI PORK: Flavorful but tough.

PULLED PORK: Bland

KALBI SHORT RIBS: The flavor was very good. They had a rub or marinade that gave great flavor. But again, this meat was tough, with a lot of gristle. 

STEAMED RICE: Gloppy bland, but I think that is how it is supposed to be.

MACARONI SALAD: OK, but too much mayo for my taste.

Overall, my husband would return for the Garlic Chicken, but I would not bother.

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Not as good as Panera Bread, but I would definitely return.

3 CHEESE CAULIFLOWER SOUP: Thick and delicious. Came with 2 slices of your choice of bread.

TURKEY CRANBERRY CROISSANT SANDWICH: Ok, would have liked to have thinner & more slices of turkey. 

REUBEN PANNINI ON RUSTIC RYE:  Great.  I'd like a little more pastrami & kraut, but great bread, toasted nicely and delicious.

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Being from NJ, we have only heard of In N Out from the celebrity raves.  

The building was very clean, but just looked like a "fast food joint". There were at least 10 cars waiting at the drive in at 12:45pm.

We opted to go inside. We HAD to check this place out because of all the hype.

I like the simple menu.  When I go to other fast food burger joints, the menu has gotten so large, & the menu board is so confusing.

Oh my gosh! I will now be craving their cheeseburgers!

Difficult to say exactly why though.  There is very little meat in this sandwich. Just a thin slab of ground beef amid the pile of other ingredients. I probably would have enjoyed this sandwich just as much without the beef.

The roll was fresh, and nicely toasted, with a crispiness along the edges. Thick pile of fresh, crispy lettuce, a beautiful slice of tomato, a generous slice of sweet onion. I think there may be mayo or some kind of sauce on the burger also.

The combo makes a delicious, refreshing sandwich.

The fries were slightly above average. They did seem fresh, not frozen, but I wouldn't waste the calories on the fries. I'll opt for a milkshake in lieu of fries next time.

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Breakfast

A lot of reviews state "better than Denny's". It's been a while since I've been to Denny's so I'll have to visit again.

Large, clean restaurant, very similar looking to a Perkins Pancake House,

Coffee was good enough for me to drink black. Very generous with the coffee. Kept returning to refill.

LUMBERJACK BREAKFAST: 3 eggs, 3 hotcakes, hashbrowns, ham, bacon & sausage. Very good meal. Although hotcakes aren't the best I had (a little heavier than I like), they were very good. Ham was delicious, bacon & sausage, both good.

PIONEER: Hash browns are covered with finely shredded cheddar cheese, sauteed onions, sausage and mushrooms. Would have preferred fresh mushrooms, but was still delicious. All this topped with 2 eggs. What a combo. Absolutely delicious! Opted for hot cake instead of toast. We would return if we were here longer.

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BOOK REVIEW:

Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class - And What We Can Do about It by Thom Hartmann

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Explained how the middle class is being screwed by government and corporations. Corporations are becoming so powerful, they are influencing the gov't to believe that they can run things better than gov't. Problem is corporations are out for PROFIT and more money for the executives. Corporations don't care about the average Joe trying to make a living in the US.

View all my reviews

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AUDIO BOOK REVIEW:

Alone by Lisa Gardner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Good narration by Anna Fields.  Her men's voices are a little "silly", but she does a great toddler!
This story catches your interest quickly. Bobby, the sniper sort of gets me aggravated, with his stupid decisions.
But then, once I realize it's difficult to decide who's the good guys and who's the bad, I was excited to read/listen on to find out.

View all my reviews

Keep busy

RAINBOW'S END-Escapees
Livingston, TX 77351
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RV LIFE:

I polished another section of the RV. I just do about an hour to hour & a half's work at a time. By the time I'm done with the whole RV, it's times to just start over. I just put on some headphones, listen to an audio book, the dogs get some outside time & I'm making a must do maintenance chore, not so bad.

Scott did a quick wash of our truck so it will look nice for TX inspection, which we passed. Our first step to becoming Texans.

Today we hope to get the RV inspected, & register our vehicles. If all goes well, maybe we'll get our TX driver's licenses today also!

We also received our first set of unsolicited address labels with our TX address on them, as a "free gift".

You know that kind of mail.

Since we knew we were going to be at Escapees in Livingston, which is where our mail is forwarded to us, we did a lot of on line shopping, so we could pick these items up at Escapees and not pay for postage for forwarding. It was almost like Christmas!

Anything for me Mom?

Although the Escapees Rainbow's End RV Park isn't much to brag about, close by (walking distance or better by bicycle), they have an Activities Center and a Clubhouse. There is enough things going on to keep you active. Exercise classes, computer classes, movie showing, pot luck dinners, card games, swap library, & lending movie library.

I joined 4 Ladies for Shanghai Rummy. I knew basic Rummy, so I thought I watch & learn. By the 2nd game, I was in.  I impressed myself by winning the 1st 2 rounds (of 7). But then it gets more difficult and I went downhill from there and lost terribly! I'm a gracious loser and we all had a laugh on me.

**RV ALERT: While Scott was looking for something in the back of our closet which is at the head of the 5th wheel, he saw this.

Ewwwww! Mold on the back wall of the closet. I immediately squeezed in the closet amid all our clothes & storage and cleaned that up. 

Scott said this is because it is on an outside wall and the temperature changes causes condensation to form on the walls, which leads to mold.  This is a downside to RV living. This is something I have learned to check all over the RV.

Mold forms by the windows, & now I see in the closet. Please check these areas of your RV for mold before it gets out of hand.  We caught this fairly early. This could have ruined our clothes, our storage items, our health.

FOOD:

Escapees Breakfast   Our Rating 3 out of 5

Escapees offered a pancake breakfast last Saturday, for $3.50, at the Activities Center. Very good price for 2 strawberry pancakes, 2 sausage pattties, OJ & coffee. The strawberries were pureed and then added to the pancake batter. Pretty good! We would go again. It was great to meet other RV'rs going through the same steps we are to become Texans.