Happy Birthday Nan

Apparently it wasn't a joke. We ended up getting about 4 inches of wet heavy snow overnight. There were a lot of utility lines down throughout the state and our neighbor across the street had some limbs come down that took out her Cable TV line - but we were fortunate and kept all our services working. The snow accumulation was much worse inland where they got 1 to 2 feet in some areas! Much of the snow melted through the day and I suspect there won't be much left after tomorrow. Maybe then we can get back to a somewhat normal conclusion to fall  - with no more pre-winter snow events!

I did a little more troubleshooting on Eric's car yesterday and determined that the timing belt had broken. The owner's manual recommends changing the belt at 120,000 miles. Eric/Jen made it to 144,000 so I guess they got 24,000 bonus miles. Fortunately for them - their Ford Focus' engine is NOT one of those engines that destroys itself if the timing belt breaks while it is running! It took us about 4 hours to install the new one this morning - so he is back in business - and I get my truck back!


Happy Birthday to Nan! She is 83 today. She has been through alot these past couple of years but she's hanging in there. You go girl!

You Gotta Be Kidding

You have got to be kidding me! 6 to 10 inches of snow and it's not even Halloween! It's just not fair and I'm just not ready!!


OK - now that's off my chest and I can start dealing with the COLD hard facts. Yes indeed - it appears we are in for an early nor'easter this afternoon with lots of heavy wet snow and high winds to boot. So ... it looks like my final winter prep chores need to be moved up on the agenda. Time to finish putting away the outdoor furniture including the BBQ, time to get the snowblower out of the shed, and time to find and stage the snow shovels. I know this snow won't stick around long - but I might as well finish up the winter prep chores anyway - real winter is not far away!


My son Eric must have thought I was getting bored and needed something to do. He called the night before last to inform me that his car had just died while driving home from work. He had it towed over to Mikee's Car Care, RV Service, and Bed & Breakfast Center for diagnosis and repair. I played with it for a few hours yesterday without success and I'll get back to it after the winterization chores are complete this afternoon. Is there a reason that car stuff always breaks when the weather turns cold? 


So much for the bad news. How about some pictures of Taylor Anne to perk up your day!

She is really growing fast and getting cuter by the day. It will certainly be tough to leave her for a few months ... but I'm sure she will do quite well without us. Of course that was never the question. The real question is how will we do without her?

Modifications

Every RVer I know has modified his/her RV in one way or another. Although most manufacturers try to satisfy the needs/wants of the RV consumer - it's nigh impossible to please us all - all of the time. Although I think Winnebago did a lot of things right when they built Winne there have been several "improvements" we have made over the years to make it fit us better;


Vent Covers:


Our Winnebago was supplied with 2 roof mounted ventilation/exhaust fans. One of our fans was a "manual" version where you had to hand crank the cover open and then turn the fan to one of three speeds. The other fan has a motor operated vent lid and a rain sensor designed to automatically close the vent lid and turn off the fan if rain is sensed. I suppose that is all well and good as long as you trust the electronic rain sensor - but I don't - and I also like the idea of being able to exhaust inside air while it is raining outside. One of the first things we "modified" on Winne was adding vent covers to each of these fans. We have left our vent fans open and on in some pretty heavy downpours and not a drop of water has entered the RV. I personally think all of these vents should come with vent covers.


Remote Operated / Temperature Controlled Vent Fan:


The vent fan in our living room / kitchen area of our motorhome was the one that originally had the "manual" fan unit. Although the fan worked fine - it was a bit difficult to operate for my somewhat vertically challenged wife. Every time she needed to open/close it or change fan speeds she had to first find the portable step stool. A few years back I bought an "upgrade" kit for the fan that included a variable speed thermostatically controlled fan and most importantly - a remote control unit. Now the step stool only has to come out to reach the stuff in the top cabinets.


Three Stage Battery Charger/Converter:


As mentioned in my previous posting - our original Charger/Converter would overcharge our coach batteries when left plugged in for long periods of time and damaged the batteries by boiling off the water. I changed the unit to a "3 Stage" unit that charges the batteries at a fairly fast rate when they are low on charge and will revert to a "float" charge level that doesn't boil away the water once the batteries are fully charged. It also periodically raises the charge rate to prevent battery plate sulfation. The new unit works as advertised and has minimized my need to frequently check battery water levels.


Border Removal:


One of the first "modifications" we made was to remove all the adhesive border material that was originally installed. The main reasons we did this was because we grew tired of trying to stick it back on after it started peeling off in several places. I have noticed most of the manufacturers have stopped installing this stuff in their rigs. I think they finally got tired of the customer complaints.


Seatbelts:


Our Winne is a 2003 model although we bought it new in 2004. The only coach area (not the driver or passenger front seats) seatbelts installed in the 2003 model were on the couch. We thought it would be good to have a seatbelt installed at the dinette table - at least on the forward facing seat. This way someone could sit at the table while we were driving, facing forward, and do whatever they wanted to do at the table. We must not have been the only ones that had this idea since I noticed the 2004 models included this feature! After checking out how the seat belts were installed in the 2004s I manufactured similar brackets and installed one on ours.


Shock Absorbers:


Although the Winne handled pretty good when new - I thought it had a bit more rear end sway on corners than I liked  - and after about 20,000 miles it started to porpoise a bit when driving over some of our "less than smooth" New England highways. After doing some research I found that many Workhorse Chassis owners had replaced their original shock absorbers with Koni brand and raved about the difference in handling. Back in 2007 or so (back when I worked for a living) I paid the big bucks to purchase a set. It didn't take long for me to become a big fan. The difference in sway was very noticeable and even the bridge transitions on I495 became tolerable. Now that these shocks have about 60,000 miles on them they seem to be holding up pretty well.


Tire Pressure Monitor:


Back when we had our tire blowout in 2007 we didn't have a tire pressure monitor. I have no idea if the tire lost pressure slowly before it blew - but I doubt it. As bad as that sidewall blew out I'm pretty sure it was a sudden event that a tire pressure monitor would have provided no warning. In spite of that - I think having a Tire Pressure Monitor System is a smart idea - mostly for the towed car. Although it's a good idea to be able to monitor the pressures in the motorhome tires - I have always feared that if I had a flat tire on our "toad" I would probably never know it and would destroy at least a tire - and probably a wheel before I finally figured it out. We have used our Pressure Pro system since 2008 and it has helped me pick up 2 slow leaks in the Vue's tires due to picking up a screw/nail in the tread. Although the tires never came close to going flat - the slow leaks (1 to 2 pounds per day) were able to be picked up very early and repaired before any damage was done.


Electrical Surge Protector:


We operated Winne for 6 1/2 years without having a surge protector. In that time we probably had 2 incidents where a surge protector would have tripped on low voltage and protected our systems (mainly the air conditioner compressors). Even though we didn't have one - I always thought they were a good idea - although pretty expensive. I finally installed one last year when I was feeling financially flush bringing home a paycheck every 2 weeks! I like having the peace of mind that the added protection provides.


GPS:


We purchased a Garmin Streetpilot 2720 GPS back around 2006. Although like any GPS unit - you have to learn when not to trust them - I really like driving with one. Ours does a great job of helping me get in the correct lane early when driving in unfamiliar areas (especially cities) and I like being able to find the nearest rest stop, fuel stop, Cracker Barrel, Wal Mart -- with the touch of a button!


Cellular Antenna / Amplifier:


During our first 4-5 years of RVing we used our cellphones when we had coverage and didn't worry about it much when we didn't have coverage - which really wasn't that often. During those years we relied on having WiFi in campgrounds for our internet communications. As technologies improved and as we became more dependent on internet connections for mail and paying bills we transitioned to using a cellular USB modem/wireless router for internet use. When we made this transition I installed an external cellular antenna on our motorhome ladder and hooked this directly to the USB modem. This combination worked very well in 90% of all the places we stayed - but there were still those 10% where an internet connection was shaky to non-existent. Last year I purchased a cellular signal amplifier to help out in those cases. It seems to work really well - now we are down to those 2-3% of the cases. 


That's about it ... once again ... not that many changes really. Winne pretty much got it right the first time.

Coach Equipment Failures

This is Part II of my series on our 7 1/2 years of part-time RVing.

It may not seem like it - but an RV's "systems" are a lot more complicated than those in most "sticks and bricks" houses. RV's tend to have at least 2 ways to power everything. As examples - the 120 Volt AC electrical system can be powered by hooking up to "shore power" at a pedestal at an RV park - or in many cases the 120 Volt system can be powered by an on-board generator. In other cases the 120 Volt system can be powered by on-board batteries through an inverter. Most RV refrigerators can be run on either 120 Volt AC power or by using an on-board propane gas source. The freshwater supply system can be fed from an external water source or from on on-board water tank/pump system.

So how does all that relatively complicated RV equipment hold up under use? Since we are part-timers - we have only "lived" in our RV about 2 of those 7 1/2 years. Keeping that in mind - and understanding that some "issues" can be easily dealt with by a minor adjustment or replacement of a consumable part (water filters, light bulbs, air filters - that kind of stuff) here is a list of the RV system failures we have had to deal with in our 7 1/2 years:

Failed Deep Cycle "Coach" Batteries:

RVs generally have 1 or more 12 Volt Deep Cycle batteries to supply power to the "stuff" in the RV when not hooked up to an outside power source. Since we have owned Winne I have had to replace these batteries twice. The original batteries were probably in sad shape to start with since they had been sitting in the rig for over a year without being charged. That, combined with being overcharged by the supplied battery charger/converter caused them to die within the first 2 years. When I purchased the 2nd set of batteries I still hadn't figured out that the original battery charger supplied with Winne was overcharging the batteries when I left Winne plugged into shore power for extended periods of time. Fortunately - I finally figured out what was going on and replaced the battery charger/converter system and the third set are holding up much better. I learned two lessons here. 1. If you are buying a new (or used) RV - have the dealer supply you new 12 volt batteries so you know what you are starting with. 2. Many RVs are supplied with charger/converters that will overcharge your batteries if you are plugged into shore power for extended periods. If this is the case you either need to frequently check your battery water levels or get a better charger/converter.

Air Conditioner System Refrigerant Leak:

Like many RVs, our Winnebago was supplied with 2 Air Conditioner systems. Unlike most RVs where the A/C units are separate and are mounted on the roof - our 2 units are combined in one box and it is mounted underneath the rig and the air is ducted into the coach. The A/C units in the Winne are also heat pumps and can provide heat when the outside temperature is above about 40 degrees F.

About 3 years ago we had a problem where one of the two units quit working. Anybody who knows me - knows that I don't tolerate hot and humid weather very well. So failure of even part of our ability to have cool air is a BIG deal to me. Once I figured out that the problem was a loss of refrigerant in one of the units and it had to go to the dealership for repairs - it took several weeks to get it correctly fixed. It took them multiple attempts to get it right and more than one bout of harassment from me - but they finally got it fixed - a day before we needed to head to California!

Inverter Failure:

Our Winne was supplied with a small inverter (300 Watts) that can be used to power our entertainment stuff (both TVs, satellite receiver, DVD player). Since we don't operate that equipment very often without being plugged in to shore power we really haven't used the inverter very often. Regardless of how seldom we use it - I needed to replace it when the original one died. Afterall - you never know when something really important is going to be on TV and you are "dry camping."

Battery Charge Solenoid Failure:

Like I said earlier - RV systems can be complicated - especially electrical systems. For instance - not only do we have two electrical systems -- 120 Volt AC and 12 Volt DC -- we also have two separate 12 Volt DC systems -- one for the "Chassis" that operates things like the engine starter, the outside lights, the entry steps, the hydraulic system -- and one for the "Coach" that operates the inside stuff like the lights and the ventilation fans. Since we have 2 different 12 Volt systems - we have 2 separate battery systems and two different ways to charge each of the battery systems. See - I told you it was complicated! Anyway .... one of the electrical solenoids (basically an electrically operated switch) that controls which battery system is being charged by which source failed a few years ago while we were traveling through Oklahoma City. Same city where the "Loss of Toad" incident occurred but on a different trip. We picked up a replacement at a local RV dealership and had it replaced  with an hour. Again - not a big problem since we had other ways to charge what we needed to charge - but it needed to be fixed nonetheless.

Torn Slideout Covers:

Modern RVs come with slideouts to increase the inside livable area. Most RV with slideouts have reinforced vinyl type covers that automatically extend over these slideouts when they are extended to keep water, leaves, and other junk from being brought inside the RV when the slideouts are retracted back inside the coach. Although these vinyl covers are reinforced with fabric strands - they take a lot of abuse from the sun and the wind. Both of our slideout covers started tearing after about 3 years of use and needed to be replaced. These covers are not too difficult to replace but they are a bit pricey!

That's about it!! We have had other small issues arise from time to time - but these are about all I can think of where we had to get something fixed on a coach related system. I'm pretty sure I would have had to fix at least that many items in a "sticks and bricks" home in 2 years time so I don't consider our experience too bad at all.

Stay tuned for Part III - "Things that we needed (wanted) to modify"

Breakdowns

Peggy and I purchased our Winnebago Adventurer in May of 2004. Although we had rented a motorhome a couple of times for week long "camping" trips with the kids - we really had little knowledge of what was out there as far as selection or the quality construction and durability reputations of the various manufacturers. We did look at a few different models and manufacturers before we purchased the Winne and we definitely could see the difference in quality between the Winnebagos and some of the others. 


We also had little to no knowledge of what it took to do "extended" travel in one of these things. Towing cars, auxiliary brake systems, water filtration systems, converters, inverters, "black" tanks, "grey" tanks, power management systems - these were all new and we we certainly RVing newbies.


So --- considering that we have now owned an RV for a about 7 1/2 years - and have driven the rig for over 80,000 miles while towing a car for almost all of those miles - how has it all worked out? How terrifying was it? How many times did we "break down" and get stranded on the roadside or have to find a repair shop before we could move on? Well, I can't say some of these things didn't happen but I can say that considering all the things that need to go "right" in order for a trip to be event free - I think we have been pretty fortunate.


Breakdowns


I consider a breakdown to be an event where we couldn't continue on our way as planned and needed to get something fixed. With this as our definition - I guess we have had 5 breakdowns in those 80,000 miles.


Back in 2005 during our first big trip out west we had a problem where the throttle control actuator kept acting up and putting the engine in "limp home mode." Although we could reset this problem each time it happened by pulling off the road, stopping, and then restarting the engine - it started happening more and more frequently as we drove west. We finally got it fixed during a planned stop at the Grand Canyon and I'm sure glad we did as some of the places we went after that would not have been good places to have to "pull over." This repair was done under warranty - but I did end up paying about $60 to overnight ship the repair part from Chicago to Flagstaff, AZ.


Breakdown #2 happened a few years later on a return trip from California. There we were traveling smoothly through central NY on the NY Thruway when suddenly- BLAM - our left outside rear dual tire suffered a sudden sidewall blowout. Once my heart re-started from the shock of the moment - we were able to easily pull over to the side of the road without further incident. It's a long story that I won't repeat here - but the bottom line is that we were able to drive the rig to a nearby campground and it took about 24 hours and about $400 to obtain a new tire and get it installed. 

Our third breakdown happened in 2009 during a trip to the southeast. We had pulled over at a rest stop in Connecticut for a lunch break and when we went to leave the engine starter failed to work. I had been having intermittent problems with the starter for about a year but I thought I had solved the problem by replacing a wire connection. I was wrong. Fortunately we found a Workhorse Chassis Dealer about 30 miles away and he had a new starter. We disconnected the Vue, went and picked up the starter, installed the new part, reconnected the Vue and we were on our way with only about a 3 hour delay and $225 spent. Since that day I have repaired the original starter and keep it in the motorhome as a spare - just in case.


Later that same year we were headed to California and traveling near Toledo, OH when I started to hear a ticking noise coming from the engine compartment. After pulling over and checking out the situation I found that the serpentine belt that drives all the engine accessories had slit in two and was only about 1/4 its original width. Once again - we found a nearby (maybe 30 miles) dealership that obtained a belt and had the new one installed in about an hour from the time I pulled in. This repair cost about $80 and I could have saved about half of that if I had replaced it myself - but I figure we were back on the road quicker - and I was less dirty - by letting the dealer earn a few dollars.

Then there was the "biggee" last spring when the towing baseplate on the "Vue" broke and we ended up spending 6 days in Oklahoma City getting a replacement baseplate and the front fascia of the Vue replaced. This one certainly was traumatic at the time but since Blue Ox paid for all the repairs all it ended up costing us was a few days extra in OKC. Fortunately Gene and Judi Curp were staying there for a few days and we got to spend some time with them. It's never a good thing when your towed car passes you - but having friends nearby with Vodka handy made it survivable.

Five breakdowns costing less than $1,000 and only a couple days of delay in 80,000 miles of traveling ... I don't consider that bad at all.


Here's hoping the next 80,000 miles goes just as well  - but I'd just as soon not lose my "Toad" again.

Bikes

Autumn has fully engaged midcoast Maine. The foliage color is near peak, many leaves have already fallen, the sun doesn't rise until after 7 AM, and the temperatures are starting to fall. Actually - we have been very fortunate temperature-wise. Here it is October 21st and we still haven't had a real freeze. But I suspect it is not far away.

It was a sad day on Monday when I put the Chevelle in it's winter storage. We didn't get to drive her enough this summer but we certainly drove her more than the last couple of years so I suppose that's the good news. She'll be fine 'till next spring when we wake her up from antique car hibernation. I hope there is still gas to be found ... at less than $5.00 a gallon.

You may recall that earlier this year our son Eric gave us a couple of nice mountain bikes that he and Jen weren't using. The bikes are several years old but appear to be nice quality TREK bikes. I cleaned them up a bit and did some basic maintenance last spring but we really haven't used them yet. We do want to take them with us this winter when we head south for a few months and I've been contemplating how we were going to accomplish that. We could purchase a bike rack to mount on the hitch behind the Winne and in front of the Vue - but our propane coach heater exhausts into that area so that probably wouldn't work very well. We could purchase a nice hitch mounted bike rack to place on the Vue and carry the bikes back there - but the Vue doesn't have a hitch receiver installed. We could purchase a relatively inexpensive bike rack that mounts to the rear door of the Vue - but I'm not too sure how that would have held up over a few thousand miles. Decisions - Decisions - Decisions.

Last week I decided to go with the Vue - Hitch Mounted option and went internet shopping. I found a nice bolt on hitch for the Vue on Amazon.com for a pretty reasonable price and free shipping. I found the bike rack I wanted on Amazon as well - but Camping World had the same rack on "internet" sale only - and also with free shipping! It appears the retailers are doing all they can to encourage us to part with our hard earned cash - so I did!

The hitch arrived on Wednesday so yesterday was installation day. Fortunately the Vue was built with mounting holes/welded in nuts in place for just such an installation and the install went pretty much as planned. Today our friendly UPS driver brought the bike rack so I put that together, put it on the Vue's new hitch receiver, and mounted one of our bikes to see how it all worked. All-In-All it looks like it will work pretty well. Adding the hitch to the Vue was an added expense - but it may turn out to be handy for other purposes in the future. The bike rack installs easily, appears to be well built, and should last for many years. The bikes are easy to load and unload. The only drawback I see is that you can't get the back door of the Vue open with the rack installed (I didn't buy the fold down version of the bike rack since you need to take off the bikes anyway to use the fold down feature). I don't see this as a big deal since it looks pretty easy to remove the bikes and rack if we need to use the back door.

So now we can take our bikes when we travel! I wonder if this means we will actually use them?

On "Occupying"

Another week gone by - hard to believe! But it has been a pretty busy week. I have spent several days playing old car mechanic finishing up some projects on the '34 Ford Streetrod. The owner seems happy and is already talking about my next project. Wait a minute ... this is starting to sound too much like a j*b!


Yesterday Peggy and I drove up to Lincolnville, ME to watch Kyla play in the State Middle School Soccer Championship game. It was a pretty fall day but very windy. The team from Richmond (Kyla's Team) and the team from Camden were evenly matched and fought hard for the entire game - including two overtime periods - but neither team scored! At the Middle School level they don't proceed to penalty kicks to break a tie in the championship game - so both teams were declared Co-Champions! Congratulations to the Richmond Middle School Ladies Soccer Team!


Wow - it is the middle of October already! That means the Christmas decorations are already in the stores. How time flies when you're having fun and staying busy. Let's see here ... about 2 more weeks 'till Halloween, 5 more weeks 'till Thanksgiving, and 10 more weeks 'till Christmas. Yup - time to start getting ready for the Christmas holiday season - Jumpin' Jehoshaphat - I better start getting prepared! I've got things to do, lists to make, and thoughts to think! I wonder where I put those outdoor lights?


OK - I'm back now - I just got carried away a little. But doesn't it seem that the retailers push the "Holiday" season back a little bit further each year? Oh well - I suppose everybody needs to make a buck. 


Oops - I forgot (again) - those folks that are "Occupying" places all over America keep telling me that corporate greed is bad and they're just not going to take it anymore! At least that's what I think they are trying to tell me - I could be wrong - it could be that they're just having fun being anti-whatever and pro-love & peace. Wait a minute - didn't we do that back in the late 60s? Yes I believe we did!


Then we grew up and realized that mom and dad weren't going to support us forever, that we really liked that new car/gadget, and that we had better work for a living (frequently for one of those greedy corporations) if we wanted to obtain all the comforts and gadgets we desired. Then (here comes the best part) many of us figured out that we could have the government give us much of what we desired - after-all - we were Americans - didn't we have a "right" to free stuff from the government? Soon we were all living pretty great with all the "free" stuff from the government and we also found that we could get more "free" stuff using our credit cards. You see - we didn't have to worry about paying back what we borrowed because our homes were appreciating in value at a rapid pace and some day we would sell those homes and be "rich." Yup - life was pretty grand for us baby booming, graying, ex-hippies!


Then somebody figured out that our "house" was built of straw, that those homes were actually worth much less than we thought, that we and our government were deeply in debt, and that those to whom we were indebted wanted to be paid back. 


Oops! - Now what? 


We could stop our out of control spending, be productive,and pay our debts. 


Or -- we could "double-down," take to the streets, raise our banners high and demand that our debts be forgiven, that our government provide more free stuff, and that those nasty corporations give all their immoral profits to us.


Here is the GOOD news ... We still have the freedom to decide for ourselves!


At least we do now.

Fabulously Fun Fall Day

First off - I gotta tell you - I really like my iPad. Now that I have spent a few days playing with it and getting things like contact lists and "bookmarks" transferred over from my PC - I find that unless I need to use a keyboard (like now while writing this blog entry) I would much rather use the iPad than my laptop. I even used it to make a couple of video "calls" to my son Brian in New Jersey using the "Facetime" feature. Since Brian has an iPhone it was as simple as entering his phone number and bingo - there he was - mug and all! Ain't this technology stuff just "the bees knees." Now I'll need to get Skype working so we can make video visits with Eric and Stacy while we are on the road! 


The last couple of days have been unusually warm (for October) and absolutely beautiful sunny days. Not wanting to waste a good opportunity - Peggy and I took off late this morning to see what adventures we could find.


We started out geocaching - with our first stop being the Cathance Water Tower out on the Cathance Road here in Topsham. Believe it or not this water tower is a historical landmark - having originally been built in 1875. After arriving at the tower the geocache was pretty easy to find among some nearby rocks.

With one easy find behind us we headed off for Bailey Island and the "Giant Steps." The "Giant Steps" are actually a natural rock formation of "steps" that leads from a public accessible walking path down to the ocean. The views from the walking path were gorgeous as were the butterflies that were nearby.

We searched around the geocache's coordinates for about a half hour before giving up (for now). This one is supposed to be well hidden - and it was! But it really didn't matter - it was well worth it being out in this beautiful area on a super day!


Since it was waay past Mikees lunch time - and since there was seafood nearby - we (I) decided to stop at Morse's Seafood Grill right on the Bailey Island end of the cribstone bridge. Peggy enjoyed her haddock sandwich and I had the fried shrimp roll with o-rings. Great food with a great partner on a great day in a great location. It just don't get any better than this!

We took the long way home and ended up stopping at Rocky Ridge Farm in nearby Bowdoinham to pick up some fresh picked apples. If I'm lucky - I see an apple pie in my future!

So there you have it. That's what we do on a nice fall day in Maine in October. I wonder what we'll do tomorrow?

Taking a Bite

Sometimes you just have to splurge and give yourself a treat. Don't you agree?


I finished up my work on the '68 Mustang a couple of days ago and it is now running like a Swiss watch - OK - maybe a Detroit watch - but it's running pretty well. The Mustang's owner paid me for my efforts so there I was with some cash in my hands. What a quandary! I could use the cash to help stretch the budget, I could put some away for a rainy day, or I could stimulate the economy by spending it. How about I spend some and save some? OK - I like that idea. Now --- what to spend it on? Something I NEED or something I WANT. Sometimes it is hard to figure out the difference between a need and a want - but I decided to go for the pure WANT.


For several months now I have been eyeing "Tablets." You know - the iPAD and all the iPAD wannabes. Ever since Apple came out with the iPAD a couple of years ago other computer manufacturers have been trying to get a piece of the market that Apple created. So after all my research on which was better - the Apple iPAD or one of the Android based tablets I concluded the same 2 things that almost everybody concludes when making a computer buying decision - 1) It depends on what you are going to use it for, and 2) It doesn't really matter what decision you make - you'll second guess your decision later anyway.


So with my decision made and my cash in hand Peggy and I took a drive to New Hampshire yesterday. Afterall there is no sales tax in NH you know! So after burning up our sales tax savings in gasoline and enjoying our ride on a very lovely fall afternoon I am now the proud owner of an iPAD 2. Yes indeed - after all these years of avoiding all things starting with an "i" I have taken a bite out of the Apple.


I have only "played" with it for a few hours so far so I'll save any serious critique for later - but I'll give a few first impressions:


1. It works right out of the box with little hassle (unlike every computer I have ever purchased).
2. It starts up quickly and you are "on-line" within seconds (unlike my poor tired laptop).
3. It is not something you want to use to type in a lot of text. It provides an on screen keyboard - but it's not something that these fat fingers can use with any speed or accuracy. You can purchase an external keyboard to use with it if you desire.


So ... I am now an "i" user. I have a lot to learn. 


Thanks Steve Jobs - it will be an interesting experience.

A Special Day

Here it is - October 4th, 2011! Do you have any idea what happened 41 years ago today on 10/4/1970? For those of you who were lame enough to "google it" - No - I'm not talking about the death of Janis Joplin (although she did die on that date at age 27) - nope - I'm talking about the marriage of Miss Peggy Durham and myself!

It was a nice early autumn day in Sacramento, California. We were both 20 (her barely), full of excitement for the future, and a little bit crazy. I had just joined the Navy some 7 months earlier, had just returned from "A" school in Great Lakes, IL two days earlier, and had orders to report to Nuclear Power School in Vallejo, CA in two weeks. We didn't have a place to live, and we really didn't care.

We had a nice ceremony with a short reception at the church and then Peggy and I were off to her apartment to grab some luggage in preparation for our 24 hour honeymoon in San Francisco. We stopped by her folks place on the way out of town to spend a few minutes opening a few more gifts and saying hi and bye to all our relatives. When we arrived it was clear that the party was just getting started! We left before it got real crazy - but I've heard a lot of stories about that party over the years since!

We spent our wedding night at the 5 Star St. Francis Hotel in downtown San Francisco. I have no memory of what it cost for that one night in 1970 in a very nice suite at the St. Francis - but I have never let my sister Marcie make reservations for me again! The next day we took the cable car to Fisherman's Wharf and had lunch at Alioto's. Cracked crab for two - San Francisco sourdough bread and a bottle of Chianti. We weren't old enough to order the wine - thank goodness the waiter didn't bother to check!

After that the honeymoon was over (although some might say it never ended). We drove back to Sacramento after lunch and loaded up Peggy's 64 Nova and a small U-Haul trailer with pretty much everything we owned and headed back to the bay area the next day - this time to Vallejo. We found an apartment to rent the next day and moved right in. The rest is 41 years of history!!

Happy Anniversay dear - I love you.

Babysitting and Trip Planning

Another week gone by since my last blog update. I think about doing an update every few days - but lately I haven't had the motivation. It's not that we haven't been doing things of note, or that I've been too busy, just a lack of motivation I suppose.

Anyway - this last week has been kinda crazy. We have had some really nice days and then some rainy dreary days. I guess that is pretty normal for autumn. You just have to be flexible and plan your outdoor activities on the right days!

I have continued to spend a few hours almost everyday working on "old car" projects. My work on the '34 Streetrod is pretty much done but the '68 Mustang continues to have "issues." Just about every "issue" I have run into on that Mustang has to do with what happens when you let an engine sit without running for several years. Oh well - we'll get them all fixed - one at a time.

My big treat this week was getting to babysit Taylor for a few hours on Thursday while Stacy and Peggy went to Freeport for a shopping trip. It was a pretty tough job. Stacy changed her diaper and fed her right before they left and then Taylor and I took a nap for about an hour in my recliner. After that "bonding" experience I put Taylor in her crib (that's right ... Taylor has her own crib here at our house!) for about another hour. So Taylor pretty much slept through the whole trauma of "babysitting by Grandpa" and then mom came home, changed her diaper again, and took her home. Being a grandpa is pretty grand!

Although it will be pretty hard to leave Taylor Anne to be raised by her parents for a few months - Peggy and I have been talking about a "next trip." As it stands today - we are planning to leave here shortly after Christmas for an extended trip south. We will spend some time in NJ with the Jerzee Evringhams but how long will depend on what we end up doing for the Thanksgiving holiday. Sometime (probably after New Years) we would be heading south, taking 10 days to 2 weeks to arrive in central Florida  at the SKP RV park in Bushnell. On our way down we hope to spend some time again along the southern US coast near Charleston, SC, Savannah, GA, and perhaps even somewhere along the northeastern Florida coast. We are contemplating spending a few weeks in Bushnell while making day trips to visit with some friends living near Homosassa, perhaps take in the Tampa RV Super Show, maybe a trip over to take in some Disney attractions, and most hopefully soaking up some warm Florida sunshine. Somewhere around the 1st of February we plan on heading over to our now traditional stay at the Rainbow Plantation in Lower Alabama. We will probably stay the whole month of February at the "Plantation" - visiting with our RV buddies, eating too much too often, enjoying the Mardi Gras festivities, and generally goofing off. It's a tough job - but somebody has to sacrifice and "do it."

That leaves us with another month before the snow is pretty much gone in Maine to figure out how we are getting home. We are going to leave that part of the plan totally up-in-the-air for now. No sense in getting too carried away with planning!

For now we'll just focus on October. Colorful leaves to view and rake, shorter days, and cooler temps.