Hot news flash
Well the news is we're ready to come back to Washington. It won't be long now before we get out of Dodge, that is Leander Texas. We just about have our little projects all wrapped up. Here this weekend we probably will move back into the Motorhome. Yesterday we got our second covid 19 vaccination, and five days after that we should be good to go!
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I have been visiting several doctors, and Judy and I signed up with a primary care physician at the Baylor Scott and White clinic. This has allowed us to be included in a waitlist for vaccinations. I have been thoroughly inspected inside and out, and my last inspection will happen next week! They will be testing my brain. If they find the test went well, I might qualify for a DBS implant to control my Parkinson's.
Right now our plans are:
1. Sell the sprinter van.(We were successful selling the Sprinter Van)
2. Drive the coach only to Arizona.
3 look around the Phoenix area and see if we can find a smaller rig that we can squeeze into.
Our alternate plans are:
1. Tow the unsold sprinter to Arizona.
2. Sell the sprinter in the Phoenix area.
3. Look for a smaller rig that we can squeeze into.
4. Trade both rigs for a new smaller rig we can squeeze into.
Our alternate plan
To tow the sprinter to Washington in about a month.
There, that ought to cover all our bases.
Over the years I have come to realize it's always easier to buy something new than it is to sell something used. In which you can have lovingly created, worked hard to get just the way you wanted, is not necessarily a compelling reason for someone else to buy. The Kelly blue book people suggest $35,000 as a fair price. A local auto dealer suggested a mid $20,000s and would offer us $12,000, maybe.
The new issues we are finding for our newly adopted way of life, which we call snow-birding, has its own list of things to consider.
1. Do we leave everything in the coach and create duplicates in "Nana's Tiny House in the Meadow.", Or do we take a bunch of stuff back and forth across the meadow to the coach each year as we get ready to move. I expect it will take most of the week to move everything back to the coach.
On our migration trip this year we are planning to stretch our legs a little and consider doing some 300 mile days. We are hoping that the RV parks haven't all gone out of business.
More good news: we are actually starting to hear about bluegrass festivals that are really going to happen in the summer. Looking forward to meeting up with sister Holly at Sacajawea State Park and Pasco. It won't be the same, there will need be no bands featured, only picking n’ grinning. But it's a start.
Our probable route was suggested by Google Maps.
> US 29, US71 and US 87 to San Angelo TX
> Interstate 20 around Midland TX
> US 62 to Los Cruxes NM
> Interstate 10 through Deming, Benson, Tucson to Casa Grande.
> At that point we will leave Google maps for Interstate 8 to Gila Bend
> Then we will cut across country to Wickenburg AZ, our old standard route.
Location: Date
North Ranch, Congress AZ April 21
Cottonwood AZ April ??
Bend Oregon May 7? (Arrived May 11)
St. Helens OR (Spokane) May 14? (Plan for May 14th)
Colville WA day trip for Dwane Phipps Celebration of life, May 22nd
Seabeck WA May 21?
Trip to Winthrop WA May 24-27?
Sequim WA May 28?
Seabeck WA June 1?
Notice: These sailings are not yet approved by the Fleet Admiral. Also recognize that these dates are much closer than they appear.
Potential Events: Date
Sacajawea Pasco WA TBA (2nd week in June)
Lacey Dixieland Jazz May 25-26 not confirmed
Wenatchee Bluegrass Cashmere June 18-20
Darrington Bluegrass July 16-18
Stevenson WA TBA {3rd week in July}
Category Archives: Uncategorized
20201026 A Difficult Blog to Write:
Moving Day:
Yesterday, (Sunday,) we changed campgrounds in the same area of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. We were needing to dump tanks and take on water. Dry camping at Las Vegas Bay National Campground wouldn’t do. We had a lakefront spot reserved at the Lake Mead RV Village with full hook-ups. The sure recipe for roughing it smoothly. Besides it was only 9 miles away. I talked Judy into driving the coach and van separately.
Fighting a demon:
Yes, I blame Ole Parkey. More specifically a common debilitating effect of Parkinson’s Disease. It is dementia, and I am having to compensate for its effects daily. The good news is it is not the same as Alzheimer’s disease. It doesn’t wipe your slate clean. I have the most problems with short term memory. It’s best described by my all too common complaint that by the time I get “Google” up and running, I can’t remember what I was going to Google. I can bring up detailed instructions on how to wire up an alternator, but I have to have them printed out and pictures to keep me on track. I recently replaced the alternator on Arcturus, our 2001 Alpine Coach. There are two signal wires, the Key signal and the DuVac wire that goes directly to the battery. Then there are the two big wires, the Positive Lead and the Ground. I had photos of the back side of the alternator, where we could feel but not see. The as-is photos were taken with the front side camera of my cell phone. The reference photos were taken with the rear camera, (The selfie side).
Be honest with me. How many of you knew that selfie pictures are mirror images by default?
I wired the alternator back-words. Here is the photo:
Notice the clue, the words are mirror image and back-words for us to read. But I read the words just fine. A cultured skill developed over the years. It comes in handy when you are trying to read the paper on your boss’s or your customer’s desk, as you try to figure out what the bottom line is.
Returning to my story, Parkey, affected my alternator project five ways.
- I had to keep detailed notes of the alternator as I disassembled it so I could be sure and put it back together.
- I took many photos to document each wire.
- I had a wiring diagram from Western Recreation, and traced out most of the circuits.
- I assembled the backside wires before turning the alternator around to it’s final position. This compensated for my lack of dexterity and my reduced ability to touch an exact spot with a finger tip.
- The final brick was the mirror image error. My friend Dave, and I finally got it right and it is now working just fine.
Parkey takes me for a ride:
Yesterday’s ride had just started when my cell phone lost contact with Judy. Knowing I cannot drive and attend to the cell phone at the same time. I slid the phone out of the dash cubby-hole just far enough to call out “O.K. Google, call Judy.” I must have touched the screen for shortly the lady from WAZE announced that I was to find a place to turn around. I failed to recognize that Parkey was jerking my chain. The insistence of the spokes-person finally eroded my confidence, and I spotted a viewpoint exit that promised an easy “U” turn.
I was expecting to be directed to make a left turn just before we passed the park we had just exited from. We passed that exit and started up the hill to the park entrance. Judy was in full panic mode, 500 feet behind me, because neither of us could get a cell phone connection. I am starting to panic when WAZE directed me to turn right, which i did. I immediately regretted this for I recognized the “Private Road, No Trespassing” that we had traversed a few days ago coming south from Ely NV. We were headed for US 83 North out of town. We got both rigs turned around and I hooked the Sprinter behind the Motor-home and the map program reset.
It’s a One Way Street:
I then bowed to the inevitable. Parky has won this round. I can no longer drive. The skills are still there. I can keep up with traffic, I can negotiate the curves and stay within the lines. I can no longer handle the mental traffic of keeping track of where I am, which way is north, where should the next turn be and which direction will I turn. I am also easily distracted and easy to confuse.
Now What?
We are daily making decisions about what our rig is going to look like in the future as we set up for our new “Snow Birds” life style. After 16 years and 5 months of what I call the Wandering life style we will be looking for a much smaller rig. Arcturus, our Western Recreation, Alpine will either get traded or reside at a semi-permanent address in Washington State. The Super “B” Van, should we get one, will make the 6000 mile annual migration trip to Texas and back each year. It can also make short week long sorties to regional Bluegrass or Dixieland festivals.
Gary’s Parkinson’s Song
You’re [I]fight_- ing a battle_ you know you can-not [V7]win__
But you have to keep on fight- ing_, you can’t let your- self give [I] in__
Why God gave you_ this battle_, you may not e- ver [IV]know__
Just keep your faith in [I]Je- sus_, hang [V7] on and don’t let [I]go___+__
Par- kin- son’s an ill- ness that keeps try- ing to knock you [V7]down__
You-must come-up off the can- vas_ to fight a- no- ther [I]round__
What- ever old Par- ki Throws at you_, you have to find a [IV] way__
To dodge the punch he throws [I]to you_, then [V7]get on with your [I] day__
It started as a tremor that con- tin- ued to get [V7]worse__
Things that once came easy__, now you had to [I]force__
What hurt the worst was music_, a big part of my [IV]life__
There’s times it’s hard to play or [I]sing,__ and it [V7]cuts me like a [I]knife__
Please [I]_help us with this bat-tle_ we pray one day to [V7]win__
We will keep on fight- ing_, we won’t let our- selves give [I] in__
God would have us join_ this battle_,that one day we might [IV]find__
The mir- acle that will [I]win this fight… and leave [V7]Park-in- son’s be- [I]hind…
Tag:
Pray, [I]help us with this battle.. that one day we might [V7]find__
The miracle that will win this fight… and leave Park- in- son’s be- [I]hind…
Pray, help us with this battle.. that one day we might [IV]find__
The miracle that will [I]win this fight… and leave [V7]Park- in- son’s- be- hind…_
I am working to get the song finished with a new backing track perhaps even a new melody. Credit to Joe Maggie for the lyrics.
20200128 The water Pump
I confess I’ve been a little lax in creating blogs recently. I have been working on a very large project to revise the water purification system and the motor home. At the conclusion of the project. The pump that supplies pressure to the water system of the coach quit working.
Of course I did a bunch of troubleshooting, even enlisted Neil to help me. I finally decided that it was time to create a power source for the pump that included a relay. After several days of routing wires through the cupboards of the coach and hooking everything up, came the time for testing. I hit the “on” switch and nothing happened . I’m beginning to sweat a little, my handyman reputation is at stake. I pulled the cover on the strainer at the section of the pump and discovered that the section line was completely dry. Now there was water in the tank, but it wasn’t getting through the check valve. Logical conclusion: Check valve is plugged. Logical response: Remove, check valve. So I revised the inlet piping to eliminate the check valve. With my confidence renewed. I hit the on switch. Nothing happened. Now I’m really beginning to sweat. As handyman, I could be replaced, you know.
I think I do my best work. I’m asleep at night. The next morning I had a brilliant thought. We had been supplementing our water from the Tice’s house. The pressure from the hose could be keeping the pump from filling with water by blocking black pressure from the system. I walked over to the big house and turned off the water. You know it’s a little hard to flip the “on” switch with all your fingers crossed, but I managed to do it. Yes, it worked. Now I have to decide whether to put the check valve back in or not. I guess not.
The Sage Says: “What is the lesson to be learned here? It’s very possible to over analyze a problem. Occasionally you need to step back and look for the simple solution.”
Meanwhile, I will finish the two big projects I’m working on. The first is the adventures of the Abby Normal. The second is a detailed description of my new water system.
20190716 The Grand Adventure, 2019 Style. (Down at the “Y”)
Who can’t resist a bargain? As a mater of fact we can’t. At least my son, Glen, decided to check into a really stiff “Y” valve. You see, Canada is behind the curve when it comes to pump-out stations for the ship’s Head. This is our 10th day in Canada, and only one of the ten marinas have had a pump-out stations. With five adults aboard the black-water tank is good for two days, period. Well Glen found an orphaned three way valve at the Maple Bay Marina and bought it. We decided to install it this afternoon
I am sure some of you watched Robin Williams in RV. With the possible spectacle on the order of Robin’s I fitted the Canon camera out with a nice fast zoom lens, and signed aboard as Plumbers mate.
We carefully documented the existing installation, and marked all of the hoses with labels.
We traced each line from the sea-cock to the overboard discharge. We donned rubber gloves, I gave a thumbs up to Glen signaling that I was ready. The first hose clamp came off easily and we walked the hose back until it popped off and immediately we were pooped all over.
I say we, but I was actually out of the line of fire, and we only lost perhaps a cup of sewage. We spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the bath/head room. And then we all took showers. The action is captured in the photo gallery.
Photo Gallery:
Study, Measure and mark 
Oops! 
All Finished
20190104: Heart Transplant for Arcturus:
Well maybe that is just a bit of a stretch. It was the Inverter/Charger that we replaced. Just a month ago The 2001 vintage Freedom semi-sine wave 2000 watt inverter/charger burned up a component on the main circuit board. On Wednesday January 2, 2019 we replaced the destroyed unit with a new Xantrex Freedom Sine Wave Inverter Charger. It was a bit of a shoehorn job getting it in past the bed into its totally inconvenient locker in the bottom of the bank of drawers.
Continue reading 20190104: Heart Transplant for Arcturus: