A Funny Day

No matter how many years we do this full time RVing there will always be new things that happen or at least thing will happen that out of the ordinary. Today has had several of those happenings.

We left the campground near Rochester that we have stayed in for slightly more than two months this morning. We needed to get some propane, which was available at the the camp it self and we needed to pay for the days over two month plus the electricity that we had used in the last month. The male owner got us our propane and asked me to double check his figure for the cost. He said "I don't like calculators. I have never liked using them." No problem, his figure was right. Then he was unsure of how to calculate the charge for the extra days based on a monthly charge, so I did that for him. Then I guess that his wife, who works one day a month at another place, reads the electric meter and figures the charge. He did not know how to do that. Now this is a man that can fix almost any piece of equipment and build anything that a person might want. Tomorrow we will call and find out how much we owe for electric and figure out a way to get them paid.

We decided to go to Mercer, PA to spend the night, and likely go on in the morning. They assigned us to a very nice site, a bit narrow but nice. As I turned into the site there was a picnic table that making the turn a bit tighter. I figured at worst I would have to move it and/or jockey the motor home to get parked like I would like. Erma was outside making sure that I did not hit any of the trees, which is like a thin forest here. Suddenly there were two young women that came up to her and said that would help her move the table, which they did. I was not going to disconnect the Jeep for the night. I positioned myself and extended the jack on top of boards that I had placed under them. The slope was such that the jacks were not long enough to level the Vectra. To put blocks under the front wheels and more blocks under the jacks I had to disconnect the Jeep. So much for not disconnecting for the night. I repositioned with four inches under the front wheels and six inches of blocks under the jacks and the leveling computer still said I had excess slope. But my level bubbles indicated that I was so close to perfect that I accepted the level. I am unsure why sometimes it quits when it does and sometimes it will lift the wheels off the ground before it quits.

This is the first time we have tried our new satellite dish anywhere except near Rochester. I guess that it worked the way it was supposed work, but it seemed to take a long time to find the satellites. I think I was also lucky to have an available shot in amongst all the trees. As long as it is not raining hard I have TV and it has been raining hard some of the time.

I have a system that monitors the air pressure on the tires of both the motor home and the Jeep when I am driving down the road. There are little sensors that screw onto the tire stems and send a signal to a monitor in the motor home. I can see the pressure of all my tires anytime I choose to look. Also if I lose ten percent of the pressure in any tire I will get a warning. Each sensor has a small battery in it that will have to be sent to the factory for replacement when it goes dead. The guy that I bought the system said that his had been running for four years and did not need replacement yet. To extend the life of the battery I remove them from the Jeep and loosen them on the motor home when I am not driving. This will extend the life substantially I have every reason to believe. This afternoon for the first time ever I decided to only loosen the ones on the Jeep. Bad mistake on my part. A little later we decided to take a short drive with the Jeep. I had two flat tires on the passenger side. Since the Vectra has air brakes it has an air compressor on the engine. I started the engine and inflated the one tire I could reach with my hose. Then I had to turn the Jeep around on its flat tire so I could inflate the other tire. First of all I will not just loosen the sensors on the Jeep again, I will take them off. It is not hard to do that. Second, I have thought many times that I should have an extension hose for the air so that I can reach the rear of the Jeep when I am attached to the hitch. I may have to buy a twenty five hose to carry for times like this. Then I will NEVER need it.

When I had a home with a foundation I had several hoses in the garage. When I moved into the Vectra I figured I would never need them so I got rid of them. I did not figure I would want my shop vacuum cleaner either, but recently I bought one to carry with us. To be sure the new one is smaller. I also had a boom box that I figured I would never need. Recently I bought another one because I do need it. Again it is smaller than my old one, much better suited to my lifestyle. Another thing that I have bought is a battery charger to replace the one (actually two) I did not think I would want. Again it is smaller. What this makes me wonder is what will I come up with next that I had before and will have to buy a replacement. Oh yes, add to the list a small hand saw. I need it to cut 2x8's to create blocks to go under the motor home jacks and wheels.

I have not been taking any pictures lately but I would guess that will change shortly. We are heading to meet some friends along the Smoky Mountain Parkway. That is beautiful country and should give me scenes that I want to photograph. Since I have a video camera now, don't know much about using it yet but maybe in the future there will be something worth putting in here. In fact I think I will try it here. The big dog, Hagrid, belongs to some friends of my daughter. He has been a companion of a two year old red headed girl since before she was born. The little girl with him here is three. Hagrid is a huge gentle dog that is nearly as big as a small horse. He is a beautiful dog.



I did not know how that would work. It took quite a while to load but I guess it is okay. Maybe I will have something that is not an experiment soon. You are being a test trial for me. So, thank you.

Till later this is Uncle Duck