It's All Darrell's Fault - Somewhere in NY

Another busy week here in the Empire State. I put in my 50 some hours at work and Peggy hung around the campground getting in plenty of reading and walking. She was even able to drag me out for an evening stroll on most nights.

After a leisurely start yesterday we took off in the Vue for a shopping trip that ended up taking us all over the capital region of NY. We started by driving to the Alpin Haus RV dealership in Amsterdam, NY. I needed to buy a replacement fuel filter for the Winne's generator (remember the one that was leaking back in Yellowstone National Park that I basically bypassed?). Since there is a Camping World at this RV store we might as well take a quick walk through there - right?

Several hundred $$ later we loaded up the Vue. It wouldn't have been that bad but I talked myself into buying a low/high voltage and surge protector gadget for the Winne. It's actually all Darrell Patterson's fault - he keeps telling me how every RV oughta have one to protect all the valuable electronic stuff inside from the sometimes questionable shore power supplies in RV Parks - not to mention the added protection for nearby lightning strikes. In the last 5 years or so we have been traveling in the Winne we have plugged in to over a hundred different shore power supplies and have had only two that I recall were a problem. One was a 30 AMP service that was so low in voltage that I requested a different site and the other required that we be very careful when running the air conditioner at certain times of the day. Regardless - I have heard/read of enough bad experiences that I think the surge protector is a good idea. So now all I gotta do is figure out where I'm going to install it - go find a few parts - and then go play electrician for a few hours. Where is Darrell when I need an apprentice?!

After loading up our Camping World purchases we decided to check out the new motorhomes on display at Alpin Haus. We looked a nice 40' Tiffin Phaeton and a Tiffin Allegro Rear Engine Diesel - but alas - we found nothing that jumped out and said "buy me!"

Then we were off to Saratoga Springs to find a Sears store. It probably would have been closer to find one in Albany - but we decided to check out our old stomping grounds in Saratoga. After a nice drive through the NY countryside we finally made it to Sears where it was time to purchase a new Deep Cycle "House" battery for the Winne (remember the one that I found out was dead back in Yellowstone National Park that I had to disconnect?). Another dent in the wallet there and we were off to Wal-Mart for our weekly replenishment walkabout.

We finally made it home in the late afternoon, stowed our purchases, took a break, went for our evening stroll, and then crashed for the day. Whew - what a busy day-off!!!

Today I promised to take Peggy out for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. We haven't been to a CB in several months now and I'm sure their revenue and Stock Price are suffering. So it's time to get going and stimulate the economy some more. After-all - I hear that another recession is coming if I don't get out there and spend-spend-spend. Well I might spend a bit - but it won't be with borrowed money - I'll leave that bit of insanity to our leaders in Washington.