March 1, 2007 15:03 - My Cabin Fever is rising!
Whoooee! I've really had it with winter. One storm after another. OK for folks that like it, but I have become, for sure and for certain, a fair weather fella. Once we get out of here, you can be assured, the direction our rig travels will be largely dictated (at least in the winter) by the weather report!
Wherever the weather girl says it's 70 degrees .... that's where I'm heading!
Sitting here at the dining room table trying to get some work done. Had to move most of my leather carving tools into the dang house (that hasn't sold yet.... those "interested" folks just up and vanished.... Poof!). A cold wind is howling around here so hard I couldn't follow the lines to trace my carving pattern. That Ol' Jayco was just rockin' and bouncin' like mad, and me bumpin' around with it.
Thought I was on one of those little buckin' horse rides at the grocery store!
and it weren't no "If it's rockin' .... don't come knockin' " sort of deal either :) ..... just howling windy!
Been crippled up for a week now. Slipped on some ice last Saturday and busted my knee up some, inside. Healing slow. So what's new in my world! Guess I'll just gimp around like usual.
I'll be putting my Custom Carved Albums page on in the next day or so. It'll take me a few days to get it all there and up to snuff..... and then a few weeks to get the albums on there. I'm in the middle of the first two. When I have four to present I'll put 'em all on the album page for folks to hopefully drool all over! Planning on having that done along about the last week of March.
As lame as I am, sitting and carving sounds pretty good. It feels real good to be carving leather again. Working out my routine, working in the fiver. Takes a little thought to compact what was a 16 X 24 leather shop space into what I have available to me in the fiver. Cutting down the things I build to just the album work helps out a lot on that score.
How many of you drive a dually? How often do you check your tires?
Was getting Big Red serviced the other day .... hadn't 'kicked the tires' in more than a week. They told me I had a dead flat tire on an inside dually. Turned out the valve extension had worked a little loose and let all the air out. I had gotten a mite lazy and hadn't checked things. Luckily they found it before any damage was done to the tire.
You need not go through the hassle of getting a gauge on the thing, but every few days, as you're coming and going, kind of reach under there with a foot, or a tire billy, and give your dually tires a thump, to make sure they still have air!
.... a note to Mr. Montgomery .... been trying to reply to your e-mail this past week .... have recieved no receipt notices that you read them ..... seems to be a glitch in your mail svc. ..... I'm still getting mail from others without a problem. Will keep trying.
Still Waiting to git to goin'
Brian
March 4, 2007 06:14 - Motorcycle Weather in the Rockies....Finally!
Outside of the couple weeks down in Arizona, earlier this month, I haven't been on Slick (My Yamah V Star) since before Christmas! That is just too durn long!
So, stove up leg and all, he's hauling me into that hardware job this morning. Only about 22 degrees right now. It will be one or two warmer by the time I leave, but the ride home at 4 this afternoon should be gorgeous! Supposed to be near 50 then. I'll take the cold this morning for that!
Lots more activity in the real estate market around here for those of us wanting out of it. Showed the house Friday and we have another this afternoon, that Heidi will take care of. It will happen if I can just keep my nose to the wind.
With the spring weather rapidly approaching, I'll be able to get some of my final projects done on the Jayco. Been holding off on some of them. I just can't get my ambition fired up much when it's 15 degrees, snowing and blowing.
I am surely anxious to get that good truck, hauling that good fifth wheel and us, ON THE ROAD. Cabin fever is starting to be overtaken by Spring Fever. .... or is it White Line fever? :)
Speaking of which, do you know what stops a Dodge Cummins? Not much.
Somebody's wife ..... I'll say no names ..... parked their truck on a slope yesterday. Didn't bother to put the tranny in gear or the parking brake on .... "early old timer-ettes" disease? Rolled across the barn yard, over a parking barrier, through a couple trees, turned (?) to miss another big one, ran over a big dead one, and down along a board fence, raking the left fender. That dead tree put a pretty good bend in the rear bumper before it went down.
Luckily, she got to the rig and got the brakes on before it shoved on through the fence .....
The male present at the time..... really didn't say much.... for which he is now in deep kim chee. HE .... thought it was pretty good discretion!
So boys, I have no advice. Say anything you're gonna get jumped on .... don't say anything.... you're gonna get reamed .... and you still have to fix your truck! and the tree it ran over. So, how is this MY fault?
Ain't life just a giggle?.... I'm gonna go get my gear ready for a nice, if cold, morning ride!
Brian
Evening update .....
another agent called this morning so I came staight home after selling nuts and bolts all day and showed the house for the second time today ... builds my confidence a lot! Both groups made very positive comments so we shall see!
I must be doing something right with this bum leg. It improved a lot today.... maybe plenty of experience with busted parts is paying off? :)
Absolutely gorgeous day to be on Slick. Better than 50 degrees this afternoon on the ride home. The ride in this morning was nice but still a little cool. Nice at least after Heidi brought me some fuel.... ran out two miles from the house! Again! Doh! How many times do I have to put the fuel lever in the wrong position before I remember that it IS the wrong one? Geez!
Must have something else going on too.... the mileage told me I should have had plenty to get to town ..... I guess not! Oh Well.... adversity builds character.... so with all the self inflicted adversity I should be quite a character!
..... comment that I was in the dog house.... is there somewhere else? After 30 years I'm used to bein' there no matter what I do .... Fact is I was still so lame yesterday there was no catching up with that runaway rig for me!
All I could do was think: what the hell am I gonna do if she trips trying to get the door open? .... and that truck just keeps rolling? Luckily, she didn't .... and the damages really are minor .... just something else for me to grouse about!
Tomorrow is another Bike day! Supposed to stay nice for several days .... yes! A few miles on a Boondockers motorcycle will improve my attitude a bunch.
Vaya Con Dios
Brian
March 6, 2007 21:52 - Henry David Thoreau .... our RV Boondocking Ancestor?
One thing I've not talked much about is the resistance a person can expect once they declare, to family and friends, their intention to drop out of the rat race, and go RV Boondocking full-time.
I thought maybe I was being a mite paranoid, when I concieved the opinion that we've been running into an awful lot of deliberate obstruction, as we've been preparing to "bug out" on our RV Boondocking Adventure.
You know. The Old, " They're all out to get me " kind of wierdness.
Then I remembered reading something along those lines written by Thoreau, a long time ago, in his book: On Waldens Pond.
Didn't think I looked at books that didn't have pictures, did you?!
After he built his little shack on Walden's Pond he wrote: "But wherever a man goes, men will pursue and paw him with their dirty institutions, and, if they can, constrain him to belong to their desperate odd-fellow society."
Some more modern writer penned this little bit. I've forgotten now where I discovered it: ".... Realize too that their attack will be subtle. They themselves, semi-conscious, do not completely realize their true motives. They are "only trying to help."
"At the sub-atomic level, there is a unity between all mankind. If you head away from the grid, the collective body will sense a loss of mass and will grope after it (you). Be alert and aware. Don't automatically consider any intuitions you have as "too crazy." They sense your increasing departure and can be amazingly clever. Rely upon some sort of "God" as your shield against the cunning snares of matter."
From mid 1800's to now..... Hmmmm..... So either they are out to get us as we try to escape ..... or ..... we ARE crazy!
My feeling is, we are definitely NOT crazy. In fact, it would be my opinion that WE are the sane ones! So when someone tells you that "you can't do that", "you shouldn't do that", "you must do yadda yadda yadda" just smile, nod, and change the subject!
Stay focused on your dream, and let them sizzle in the pan they're afraid to jump out of! Fact is, they only want to deter you from doing what they would like to, but are too fearful to try. If they can talk you out of trying, it justifies their own failure to make a run at the brass ring!
A little Cowboy Philosophy
Brian
March 9, 2007 07:20 - Wish I had something exciting to tell you!
But .... I don't!
The wind was blowing yesterday, as usual this time of year, so I just sat inside and worked on a story of a trip we took to Mesa Verde a couple years ago.
Seemed fitting. Wind blowing like a mother in law .... and me feeling pretty windy!
Making a little progress on some custom albums that you'll soon find in that section of the site. As always, senility caused me to not notice I was running out of some "supplies" I require when I'm tooling. So I had to suspend that for a day or so while I waited on leather factory to get some of the magic fluid to me!
If any of you do leather carving, and have not tried 'pro carve', DO IT! (available from Leather Factory/Tandy) I won't carve without it anymore. The stuff really works for casing the leather. I swear, it improves my carving.
A great RV Boondocking "avocation" to pursue, while the lady is over there knitting or whatever it is that she does .... of course .... I see no reason why you couldn't tool leather while he sits over there knitting either! :-)
Though guys, not everyone is as understanding as I am, so you may want to keep your knitting activities confidential!
Watching an image "rise up" out of a piece of leather I'm carving and tooling is still one of my greatest pleasures. I anticipate it getting only better, when that leather carving is done, sitting under the awning on some crystal clear mountain lake. In the afternoon. After my nap, After I got back from landing that humongous, personal record rainbow trout in the morning! Yes sirree!
At least the temps are back up in a range that allows me back on Slick while I engage in this interminable waiting.
Been just around 30 when I leave in the morning .... getting back down there for the ride home in the evening.
Though for the next couple days they're talking maybe 60 degrees!
Happy RV Boondocking, Leather Carving ..... and Knitting!
Brian
March 10, 2007 06:19 - Some more RV Philosophy
A onetime neighbor friend of ours recently returned from Texas to button up some family business. Last fall, she and some old college friends took a long RVing road trip back east.
Our friends husband had recently passed and it was sort of a cooling out, re-building period for her.
Four women in a fiver. Rolling east from Colorado, they turned that fifth wheel down the east coast, and rolled from Maine to the Carolinas. Word is they had a fabulous time.
Out of it all, have come some pretty good stories of her, continuing, RVing education. From the "Easy back in" described by one park, that turned out to be a 1/4 mile up a hill and around a bend, to the demise of the roof top air conditioner, the loss of a dump hose extension (into the dump!), and the assassination of a couple of bushes!
The one that got my attention though was an incident, early on after she'd left Colorado, on the way to pick up the other members of the expedition.
As I remember it, she was in Nebraska somewheres, and trying to un-hitch and set up for a couple days. Her fifth wheel hitch is apparently a mite tempermental, so she was crawled up in the truck banging on it with a hammer!
One of her neighbors, in the park was a gal she described as a "carney woman". "You know" she said "big gal, tatoos .....". Well, I guess the carney woman was watching close as she backed in and went about settin' up.
When she climbed into the bed of the truck and started bangin' on the hitch with that hammer, the Carney Woman just couldn't contain herself any more and walked on over to ask .... "WHAT are you doin'?"
"Well" our friend replies, "I don't know, this is how my husband always did it!" (apparently, he got some frustrated now and again...)
NNNNNNoo. Says the Carney Woman, who then set about showing our neighbor the proper way to massage a recalcitrant hitch, without the use of a hammer! :-)
Morals of the story .... Though testosterone may get us through some difficult times, a little finesse and thoughtful persuasion is often the better option! :-)
and....
Don't keep it all to yourselves guys. The day might come when your lady will need to know how to run your rig all by her ownself. Make sure you showed her how to do it right and proper. Save her some extra grief!
A few extra thoughts....
Just because it's stuck doesn't mean you get a bigger hammer guys! Think about it for a minute before you start wangin' the stuffin' out of it .... you may want whatever it is you're a whuppin up on, to actually keep working tomorrow.
And just because she's a girl, don't go jumpin' to no conclusions. Her Granny may have been a "Carney Woman" who taught her a few things that are hidden under that carefully manicured beauty!
Reserve judgment for a mite. I learned the hard way, (that's spelled e..a..t..i..n..g c..r..o..w ) that there's quite a few gals out there who know a thing or two. Save yourself the hassle of digesting feathers and just smile for a bit!
.... and if you see a guy a wangin' on his hitch with a hammer? .... you might diplomatically offer him a beer and a breather, to allow him the time to gain a little better perspective!
I'm feelin' danged philosophical and windy as usual this week!
Brian
March 13, 2007 08:31 - Gonna' be a busy week in our continuing prep to go RV Boondocking
Well, I'm sure you know by now that I'm IMPATIENT to get this place gone and get us gone! So, to hopefully accelerate things a little, I've decided to do some more work around here to buff the place up a little more. Maybe that will work to get a little more attention?
Things are starting to green up so I want to get the "curb appeal" shined up.
Going to do some brick work, planting, landscape work .... yadda yadda yadda. At least spring is rapidly coming! Supposed to be around 70 degrees today so it will be nice to just be outside. That put a dent in my cabin fever.
Then, now that the weather will allow it, it's on to some more RV Remodel projects. So while I continue to wait, I'll make the time at least be productive.
Which is really the opposite of what I want to be doing! I've been "productive" for a long time.... I want to go Fishing! :-) What is it "they" say? Life is what happens when you're making plans!
Short post this time .... gotta go get to work.
Till next time
Brian
March 14, 2007 18:05 - RV Tow Vehicles, Tour buses in Yellowstone and Wolves in Oregon!
Was in a pretty good funk this afternoon. Heidi knows the cure .... so she suggested I fire up Big Red and go after some materials we need. So I did!
Decided to have some fun, and see just how many miles I could squeeze out of a gallon of diesel, with an 8000 lb+ Dodge 3500 Dually! He turned over 26,000 miles last week, so he's almost broke in.
Made a run of about 75 miles round trip. At the furthest point, when I pulled into my destination, the meter was sitting at 26 MPG! I had broke 27 MPG a couple times on the way and more than half of it was city driving. Far Out! You have to really concentrate on how you are driving, but the challenge is kind of fun.
I went down on the two lane, but rolled back up the interstate. When I pulled back in, and parked at home, the meter was still sitting at 23.2 MPG average! Absolutely cool.
The only problem is, people get really cranky when a guy runs along at the speed limit or a few miles under! Bummer for them!
Did you hear that the Old Tour Buses, from the Thirties are returning to Yellowstone? They're real similar in appearance to the great old rigs in Glacier National Park. I guess they used the old bodies but put them on modern chassis. Still pretty cool. I really enjoy the Old Timey stuff!
Supposed to be back on the road in early June. May be a good option for RV'ers touring the park. It's a pretty good deal to be able to actually look at the countryside while somebody else does the driving .... sounds like a Hertz commercial don't it?
Just saw an article that they think the Wolves have spread over into easterm Oregon. Maybe something for RV Boondockers to go camera hunting with! Some biologists saw the critter and found the tracks so their confidence level is pretty high I guess. They believe their own eyes but seldom ours I think :-)
So, seems like there's no shortage of new things to keep RV Boondockers busy.
Take Care Folks! .... and let me know if you find the big bad wolf!
Brian
March 18, 2007 06:56 - Notes on waiting to go RV Boondocking
Same old same old.
We continue waiting patiently. (sort of!) I think that anyone else, contemplating goin' RV Boondocking full-time will discover the same as us. The wait, to get things cleared out so you can leave is the worst part!
Much, much more activity in the RE market around here so I am hopefull. The nibbles in the past turned out to be looky lous. But spring is coming and it will happen!
The hardest part I think is to be patient .... and not do something dumb out of frustration! It's all I can do to not just load up and drive away! The mountains and lakes are calling me. .... Ohhh Briiiiian! Ohhhhhh Briiiiiiiiiiiian! Cruel, cruel
mountains! :-)
The grass is greening up. I can see leaves starting to poke up out of the flower beds. Each passing day will make the place shine a little brighter as it comes out of the winter blahs. Trouble with spring is that it makes my feet awful itchy. Makes it hard to get anything else done, when your head is a thousand or so miles down the road!
The good news is Slick (my RV Boondocking Motorcycle) gets a daily workout again, now. With the temp up into the 70's and no precip, I crank up that bike every morning. The hard thing to do there is turn into that ranch store to go to work! Slick keeps sayin':
"Hey Brian, let's just roll on by and go run Poudre Canyon!" .... It's getting harder and harder to NOT listen to him :-)
I've got some additions designed to upgrade my custom bike carrier with a wheel lock and a cable lift. Probably going to wait and do that as we start the full-time adventure. Thinking I'll let Mike, up by Devils Tower, get in on that little bit of fun. The two of us should be able to get into some sort of difficulty with it!
Time to go make the donuts. Hope you folks down south aren't suffering too much in the heat!
Brian
March 20, 2007 15:03 - What should you do? A New Fifth Wheel or Motorhome? or Makeover/Remodel that Good, Old, Rig?
You know, it kind of amazes me, not only how many people buy a new car every year or two, but how many trade in their good RV every few years as well.
Considering that if you pulled it out of the dealers lot, did a U turn in the road and pulled right back in, you just lost at least 25% of its' purchase price and sometimes even upwards of 50%, it's God awful expensive!
And If you're actually wearing a rig out in 4 or 5 years you might want to look at how you live! We all pretty much agree that there are truly some workmanship issues with some RV manufacturers, but after you've been in a rig for a couple years, you've pretty much corrected all those problems.
Not to mention probably tinkered with it some to get that Fifth Wheel, Motorhome or Tandem Articulated Travel Trailer pulled by a Class 8 Chrome Plated HD Kenworth with a bathroom, tow vehicle, tailored to your way of goin'!
It just doesn't make sense to me to keep turnin' the things over, and startin' over. If you put a part of the $$$ you'll lose in immediate depreciation, into refreshing and refurbishing your current RV, you'll have a sweet outfit without crushing your wallet. At the same time, you can maybe add in some of the improvements you wanted in that new rig, for a fraction of the cost!
For the first time buyer I usually recommend buying used as well. If you take care to make careful inspections, and/or pay somebody qualified to check out the things you are unsure about you'll generally save a bundle, over buying new.... and again, maybe leave some cash in the bank to make some personalizing modifications?
I suppose if $$$ isn't a problem you could just swap 'em out whenever they get dusty, till politicians learn to tell the truth. For most of us I expect our wallets won't endure the abuse. I know for sure and for certain mine won't!
There is a pressure as well, every time you pick up an RV Magazine, to buy one of the new and flashy 17 slide, six air conditioner, double door, big drawer refrigerator, 4 television, computer controlled, gold plated rigs and dump the "old friend" Wilderness Trailer.
I'm not immune to it for sure, but I resist it. Instead, I look for ways to fit upgrades, to our Jayco Eagle Fifth Wheel, into the budget. I figure I can reupholster, recarpet, and reaxle this rig a number of times and come out way ahead when it comes to money....
At the same time, I don't find myself selling off all the good memories, that have soaked into the walls of that good trailer. I would feel like I was abandoning an old friend, to sell off the rig that has taken us to so many good places.
So, at least for us, the Jayco Eagle Fifth Wheel is safe. We'll give her new parts and upholstery when she needs it, take care of her on the way and consider ourselves lucky to have crossed paths with her that long ago day in Cheyenne......
.... at least until that 18 slide rig comes out!
At last, Spring is here!
Brian
March 23, 2007 19:06 - RVing weather in the West!
We were blessed with the first thunderstorm of 2007 here today. I much prefer it to snow!
Settin' in our Fifth Wheel, tooling leather, it made me smile. Only thing to do, since the darkening clouds took the light I needed to keep on tooling. I'm going to have to deal with that lil' problem.
Lightning crackin' and flashin' reminds an RV Boondocking man .... or woman! they're ALIVE!
I do love it. Settin' in our fiver, up high somewhere, enjoying a good cup O' Joe, with the rain rattlin' on the roof, is as pretty a time as I can imagine. Steppin' outside, after the mountain storm passes, if the scent of rain fresh pine doesn't put a grin on your face, your shorts are too tight! You might want to reconsider RV Boondocking! Could be, with that attitude, you're better suited for town. :-)
Made for a good day. Rain to green up the grass and bring up the flowers .... right after some folks came to see the place, and seemed to like it quite a bit ....
Then, Heidi called. Our daughter had picked up some chinese food down the street. Heidi's fortune cookie said: "You are headed for a land of sunshine".
Considering our plans for this summer are to go North, clean up to the "Land of the Midnight Sun", that seemed to us like a pretty good Omen!
Hope your day was as good as mine
Brian
March 27, 2007 07:49 - Mental wanderings of a 'stuck' RV Boondocking geezer
Windy as I am, I still haven't had much to gab about the past few days.
I've gone from making good time to playing catch up with my Carved / Tooled Custom Photo Albums / Scrapbooks. Seems that every time I sit down and start carving the phone rings, something breaks somewhere, somebody needs something, somehow, that keeps me from getting much done!
Boo Hoo ..... and yes .... I WILL take some cheese with my whine! :-)
The plan had been to get 4 built by now ..... hoping to have two finished somewhere around the end of the month.
If you've been watching to see how they're coming, I apologize for my tardiness .... but as always, the hurrieder I
go, the behinder I get.
Don't want to say too much about the house .... I think I keep jinxing things. We have some healthy 'nibbles'. We'll see how 'hungry' they really are....
Got nearly 3 inches of rain in that little storm the other day. Things are greening up with a rush now. Only makes the place look that much more appealing, which is a good thing for sure.
It's spring and the chronic RVer disease of Hitch Itch has got a solid hold on me. I keep dreaming of Yellowstone,
the Olympic Penninsula and the Alcan Highway..... scratch .... scratch ..... scratch! The infection just keeps spreading.
Some folks came in the hardware store the other day, where I'm still putting in some time while I wait. They were picking up a few supplies, preparing for a summer working for the Yellowstone National Park concessionaire (sp?) at the warehouse in West Yellowstone Montana. Didn't help my Hitch Itch one darn bit. Have any of you ever found a creme or ointment that offers any relief? Or is the only cure, the scent of the wind, rushing by the windshield?
West Yellowstone, Montana is one of my favorite little towns, in one of my favorite states.
I don't really know why. Maybe because I can't remember anybody in a bad mood in that absolutely gorgeous country? I mean how could you be? You're upright, taking nourishment and walking around, breathing in some of the prettiest, soul filling land God ever created. If you can still be cranky .... well, there's just nothing I can tell you!
All of you out there RV Boondocking already .... Wait up! :-)
Brian
March 29, 2007 07:07 - It ain't over till it's over
Nearly 70 degrees and spring rain the other day.
28 degrees and blowin' snow this morning. Ahhh. Springtime in the Rockies! I sure hope that Big Girl with the good singin' voice gets here soon.
Was going to head up to Cheyenne today. Need to locate some 'supplemental' breeches for the upcoming wedding. (our daughter gets hitched in May) That, and I was going to look for some 12V lights, of some sort, to improve the lighting at the dinette in the Jayco.
Doing leather carving in the dark just doesn't work out very well. Most times the light there is great. Sunshine streaming in the windows. Perfect. But on those days when it's cloudy, it gets pretty iffy, and after sunset, the little factory bulbs are fairly anemic. At least for tooling leather. I would think that having good light is a needful thing for quite a few RV Boondocking handcrafters. I'll let you know if I find anything that works out well.
I may have to look down here if I go to do the RV Light shopping today. When it's snowin' an' blowin' around here, it is generally downright ugly up by the Wyoming border!
Don't know if you all know it, but it takes a certain kind of person to live in Wyoming. I used to have the endurance and that was my favorite place .... least ways in the summer time! Still ranks right up there with Montana, in the summer. But .... in the winter .... I'm like the Tin Man without oil. My creaky joints just freeze solid.
If you can't deal with cold, isolation, the requirement that you take care of your ownself, and a wind that would eat a hole in an Abrams tank .... you might want to wait for summer, before you wander into Wyoming!
Now, come summer, you'll very often find me right up there in the Gros Ventre country east of the Tetons.... or maybe at the Dairy Queen in West Yellowstone! Nothing better than a M&M Blizzard and a stroll through the 'business district' of tourist traps on a warm summer evening.
.... I sure have a lot of 'Nothing Betters' don't I? Hey, maybe there's a new list there! .... "Top Ten Nothing Betters!"
May the wind be always at your back.... saves gas :-)
Brian
March 30, 2007 08:19 - Life is What Happens When You are Makin' Plans
Ever hear that?
Another Old Timer Moment....
I was planning on getting a lot of stitching done this week. Well, Doh! I had decided to use a lot heavier skirting leather on my newest custom photo albums. That would allow me to do get extra heavy relief in the carving.
Well, that part works out just fine. Only hitch is, when you've sold your heavy harness stitcher, so that you can pack your leather working tools into your fifth wheel, as an RV Boondocking handcraft.... you are left with only the old fashioned awl for stitching.
That is still not a real problem, except that I had forgotten just how slow and difficult it can be to hand stitch heavy, 10-12oz. leather. forgetfulness ..... that's my 'Old Timer Moment' of the week! So, another bump in the road to getting my albums available on the site. I have ordered a couple new 'Pricking irons' to speed the work. They pre-punch, properly spaced holes, to allow the awl to slide through much faster. The spacing also helps to quickly make a more accurate stitch line. As soon as they arrive I can get back to work!
Was 17deg when I rolled out this morning .... Supposed to be back up near 70 this weekend. I guess I shouldn't complain, considering the beating good folks have been taking just east of us with all the tornadoes. My real estate problem could be a lot worse..... I could lose it all and have nothing to sell..... I'll try to quit my whining!
Yeah right, like the wind is gonna' stop in Wyoming!
Speaking of Wyoming, we decided what the heck yesterday and went to Cheyenne, weather be damned! According to Heidi, damned it was! The Wyoming wind was in a big hurry to get to Nebraska! Hard to see it at times though. White outs a couple times reduced visibility to 100 feet or so, but really only for a few seconds at a time.
Maybe six cars on their sides, roofs and just in the ditch on the way up. Nearly as many new 'wipeouts' on the way back.... I just don't get it. Slow down and you roll on along. How hard is it to learn that simple little detail?
They were all, except for one van body truck, smaller front wheel drive cars and 4wd's. I rolled through, in an empty, dually truck (ie. reportedly poor traction in slippery conditions) with nary a hitch. When are folks gonna' learn that 4wd doesn't mean you can keep rolling at the same speed, even when the conditions are a lot worse?
4wd only gets you stuck, 50 feet farther in! I was taught, for the most part, drive around in 2wd. When you get your rig stuck, put 'er in 4by, back out, and go home!
It's not that road conditions make a road impassible .... it's the inability, of too many people, to learn how to operate the machine that makes the problems!
I'll bet that those folks that went on the unexpected 'detours' are the ones who roll on by when I've slowed to 55 or less .... because the speed limit sign still says 75mph! I go 20 mph slower and get there long before they finally arrive. One way to keep the :-) on your face!
But, we made it through with no difficulty and I got most of the trimmings to make me as purty as I can be for the upcoming wedding.
Enough wind for one day ...
Brian
March 31, 2007 07:22 - My Brain Hurts .... I need some RV Boondocking to Repair it!
Finally figured out, sort of, how to convert some files to PDF format and upload them to the website. My eyes are crossed and my head hurts but I think I got it done in a workable way. No smoke or sparks yet anyway.
What I was trying to add are easy to print downloads of most of the checklists I've built.
If you need one, most of them are on the checklist page. Like this one, the maintenance checklist. See what you think. Maybe they'll be useful for a few folks.
I also got two others put up on other pages. The First Aid Kit and I also built a new page to stimulate folks to think about their RV Toolbox.
Spring is here. The RV Boondocking Road is calling, Hitch itch is a itchin' ..... time to get ready!
Let me know what you think! or if you find these new pdf's useful!
Take care.
Brian
