Did You Say Root Canal?????
Yep, the dentist said come back next Wednesday for a root canal. He xrayed my tooth, put in a temporary filling, and wrote me two perscriptions for 10 dollars. Took the two scripts across the street, 25 bux. Oh well, we enjoyed our day. Weather was perfect at 80 degrees and sun. I am taking antibiotics for the infection. A lady dentist does the root canals for this dentist on Wednesdays. She comes over from Juarez. Why that is I do not know. I did get some relief after he cleaned it out and put the filling in. I guess that shut the air off from the nerve. Next fall when we come I will have him crown the tooth. He said that will work. Teri got an appointment for Wednesday also. 20.00 for a checkup and cleaning.
We have a bunch of good pictures. If I feel like it, later, I will put them up.
We got lots to get done Saturday. Teri has made plans for us to eat with a friend, about 60 miles west of here at noon, so we are going to have to get busy early. We did work til dark tonight on the wall. We are hoping we don't run into any snafoos with this as our time is getting very short here.
Thanks for checking on us. Come back later and maybe I will have the photos gone through and posted.
Dan
80 Degrees and Climbing
Here is what we started with today. We covered this wall 3 years ago. It is time to update the interior so we will remove it. Look close because now y
ou see it.
Now you don't
Fitting the planks onto the back board.
Teri cutting the planks for the wall. I ran a couple pieces over to Al and he hit them with table saw for us. Teri started feeling bad right after this shot and had to take the rest of the day off. She says she will be ok by the time we take off for Mexico in the morning. I sure hope so as I am skeerd of dentists. I need her with me.
This is the panel as we lay it out. Going to look nice inside the coach.
Here is the wall after I insulated it. This coach will be completely insulated when we finish.
Last but not least. We got the amplifier for the internet connection today. I just stuck it up in the cabinet to make sure everything works properly and, it does. We should not be without internet now. Got all the goodies to keep us hooked up going down the road.
It hit 80 degrees here today. Was great. Hope we have a nice day tomorrow when we head to Mexico. Teri worked hard today and deserves to rest up. We will play some tomorrow after the dental appointment. At least I hope we will. Wish me luck. I need to keep this tooth. It is in pretty bad shape. Already had way too many pulled because we could not afford to have them worked over.
Thanks for coming by tonight. We enjoy your visit every time. I am hoping that we get some good photos as we travel into Mexico. I hope they let us back in. We have had several emails from readers. I appreciate those. Make sure that you put blog, gmc, or something in the title so I will know it is not bad mail. I don't open stuff if I don't know where it comes from.
Dan
Internet Ready
Here is a picture of the Verizon internet stuff that came today. This will give us "mobile" internet. So, when we head to the desert nex week we still have internet and will be able to maintain contact with folks. Pretty slick and its fast here where we are now. I just stuck it up in the cabinet. Will be out of the way. There is no wire hookup needed between computer and the Verizon modem. The mobile router takes care of that. This is really cool. Will have an amplifier and outdoor antenna hooked to this later this week. I got to get to Mexico before I can think straight. This pain is a booger when it hits. Wish me luck on Friday.
Dan
Customer Service
Lots of work but worth it. This little box will give Teri the entire upper left cabiner, above the tv.
I know everyone of you have run into poor customer service. Take a look
here. My friend Nick put his story on his blog. Just now I called to check on an order that got messed up with my new Verizon internet stuff. They forgot to put the antenna adapter in. Well, yesterday they discoverd their error and shipped it seperate. I saw on the tracking that instead of going to Phoenix airport that it had gone to Memphis. So, I figured they got the wrong address on it and sent it to our home in Missouri. I called. Got this, well, let me see how I can describe a female that sounded like she was much more intelligent than me and was standing 10 feet over me as she spoke. You choose the word. Let me know they had shipped it to right address and why would I even bother her with such a trivial question. Oh boy. I was very nice but I was not a happy camper. I did not even get her name.
Last year, Teri and I visited the Roadmaster plant in Portland. We had 2 bad brakes for the toad and I wanted to make sure it was fixed. They were always nice but I always had a broke brake. We took it into the office and finally got someone that knew more than the tech I normally talked with on the phone. The girl at front desk was pleasant. We told her we were out here on vacation from Missouri. Asked could we pick up the brake the following week. "Yes". In fact, they would call us on Friday, this is Monday. Good. Friday, no call. We are in Tillamook, 80 miles away. Monday, no call. Tues I asked Teri to call, she is much better than me on this stuff. She called. "Oh, we shipped it to your home in Missouri". Smoke just a rolling out my ears. Now, why in the world did they do that after we had such a discussion about us picking it up. I mean, we were crossing the Rockies. It would have been nice to have had it. Oh well, long story short. It was at home when we got there. I was so aggrivated that I did not use the thing on a trip we made after we got home. Thought about selling it while it was new, and just back from factory as a refurb. Well, I did install it when we left home on this trip and for the first time since I bought this thing over 2 years back, we have a working toad brake.
I can see why some places lose buisness. They need better customer service. Tiffin Motorhome has that customer service and they do great buisness. If Teri and I were to ever look for another motorhome it would be one made by the Tiffins. Allegro is their coach name. A really nice family owned factory in Red Bay,Al. We have taken the tour. Mr. Tiffin came out to check on us as we sat in the waiting room. Now, they know customer service. I hope I would be like they are and do everything I could to make the customer happy, even at my expense.
Well, I just wanted to let everyone know that we all run into those folks in customer service that need a factory job rather than greeting customers. Teri and I are trying to finish up in here as we will be pulling out next week. Pray that I last til Friday. No call from the Mexican Dentist for a cancelation so I guess Friday at 2 pm it will be. Thanks for stopping in. Dan
Two Down, Two to Go
Oh yea,I am counting the days, soon to be the hours, til we cross the border. I am going to be happy to see a dentist. I hate going but when I hurt like this I will do whatever I have to to rid myself of the pain. Will be a good trip for Teri and I. Will be a little over 100 miles to where we are going. Just south of Deming. We will have some good pictures. If they wont let us back in the US I guess we will wait til dark and come in the same way all the others get here.
I tried three times to upload that picture. I hope it did not come through all three times. Oh well. Picture is of the solar monitoring meters. The one on the left we have had for some time. The one on right we got last week. Did not have enough wire to get them mounted where I want them but will get that done this weekend. the new meter tells us pretty much everything we need to know about what is going on in the batteries. Should allow us to stay out longer simply by watching the gauge on the battery level. Just thought you might want to take a looksee.
We bit the bullet yesterday and signed up for Verizon wireless internet. Works like cell phone using the cell towers. Should be able to have internet just about everywhere we go. Next couple weeks will be a good test as we will be out in the desert with no hookups and no wifi. I told Teri now I can surf the net while I drive the coach down the road. I got this frown and then, "maybe I can drive while you surf?". Sure I said. So, we will be able to cruise the net as we cruise the hiways, no matter if in coach or the car. Have special antennas and an amplifier too. Will be able to reach out and touch yall no matter where we are.
Getting excited about getting ready to roll next week. We sure hate to leave our daughter and her family but we need to get going. I worked around getting the coach ready to go today. fired up the big 455 for the first time in 6 weeks. She did not even grunt, just came to life like always. We take care of the coach and it takes care of us, always ready to roll onto another highway and off into the sunset.
Perfect weather here today. I still have the door open at 630 pm. The sun just dropped over the mountain. This is great weather.
Oh, my friend, Rick, sent me a note this morning and has our taxes already finished and in the mail to us. Can't say enough about hiring a CPA to do your taxes if you get into a mess like I was in. Not a mess but I was paying way too much. Rickey helped us not owe so much this year. Last year was rough. I should have had him do them last year but I thought I was ok doing them myself. I guess sometimes we are and sometimes we aren't ok. Anyway it is good to have a friend like Rickey. He always has time for me when I walk into his office.
Teri has been working on our presentation for the GMC International Convention. I got us into that I guess. They wanted me to do an hour on solar stuff. I could not do that. I can tell all I know in 5 minutes. I am one of those guys that just knows a little about a lot and not much about anything. So, I said, how about Teri and I both giving a talk on our traveling around? Ok. and now we are on the agenda. Oh boy. This should be fun. I hope we don't boar them to sleep.
Yall have a great evening and thanks for dropping in. Also thanks to my friends with emails on how to stop the pain. I have some Hurricane ointment that is helping me make it til Friday. I just hope the dentist can save this tooth. Come on back when you get the chance. The door will be open. Dan
Down But Not Out
Have you ever been brought down by a toothache? I am talking Tom Hanks and the Fed Ex movie toothache. Well, this one came on me this weekend and it is hard to shake. Lost a filling in December and I feel it now. Had planed to cross the border at Yuma in a few weeks to see about it but I can not wait. Teri got the name and number of a dentist just south of Deming and called this morning for an appointment. Hmmm, Friday at 2 pm. Wow, that is a long time off when a guy is hurting. I am going to try and make it til then. I have a new bottle of Hurricane that we got today in Safford. Maybe that will hold me. If not, it may be a big rock and a stick. Last time I got put off like that I drove to the dentist office and told them to either call the cops or put me in a chair cuz I was not leaving until I had some relief. They pulled it right then. I am afraid this time I might find myself in a Mexican jail so will try to wait. They did say that if there was a cancellation they would call. I am praying some snowbird cancels out soon. Why Mexico? I have no dental insurance. A Mexican crown is 150 bux. Try 600 plus back home. I will let you know how it goes.
Oh, we will have internet in the desert next week. I got signed up with Verizon today. Got the best equipment I could so should work good. We will see when we leave out. Should give us good mobile internet while heading down the road. I thinkou get I can drive the coach and surf at the same time, we will see.
Have a great week. Be thankful that your teeth don't hurt. You never miss a toothache until you get one and remember how good it felt to have no pain.
Dan
Stopped in My Tracks
Have you ever had everything just cranking to the right and then, wham, everything comes to a screeching hault? Well, that happened to me this evening. Got up and ran over to Safford. Picked up my 7 feet of battery, cable @ 4.50 a foot, and made my way back over the mountains. Got here and Teri was just working away. She was ill yesterday but recovered. She will not sit still. Anyway, I went to work on rewiring my batteries so I could install this new meter. It is kinda like a gas gauge. Tells how much juice is going into the batteries and how much is coming out. Will give us a good idea of what we can and can not do when we are not hooked to electric. Just like the fuel gauge in that it will accurately let us know how much we have left in the batteries. Works with a shunt. So, I got all my wires run and mounted the shunt under the hood. Teri shot a couple pictures. I guess she wants folks to know that her husband does actually do a little work, ha. Was just about done, under the hood, when I dropped my screw that holds a set of wires from the meter to the shunt. Well, I am on gravel and the screw is brass. Really was no use in even looking for it. We looked for a while. It is probably stuck behind the radiator and never hit the ground. That shut me down. Nothing else I can do. I am just hoping I can find a little machine tread screw without having to make the 90 mile trip over the mountains to Safford. Maybe this is worth a prayer tonight.
Teri finished the doors today. She is very particular about this finish stuff. She also got the box built for the satellite receiver. Just need to get it stained tomorrow. She thinks she is finished with the borrowed table saw. We hope so as it was needed back home today. We had it borrowed for a month. Still have a mider saw borrowed so I think we can finish our cuts wthout needing the table saw. We have a bunch of c clamps that we must get back to. I hate to borrow things but we did not have a choice this time. Our biggest project left is the wall. Those boards must be cut 35 inches long. May take the wall out Saturday and get started on that. Will also insulate behind it and put in another 110 volt outlet.
Have a good weekend and come back when you can. I am sure that you will find us in some kind of mess. We are getting short here so we must get into high gear on our projects. Less than 2 weeks til we must move west.
Dan
New Friend
Today Teri is ill. I guess either she has the flu or I have over worked her. I hope a good couple days of rest will let her get better. I don't like it when Teri gets down. I'd rather be sick myself. Today our friends, Anne and Al, came by and picked me up. For just a few minutes we ran up the road to Tom Elm's place. Al needed a piece of pipe and Tom had it. Tom is a really nice fella. I knew there was something special about this guy as soon as he shook my hand. Well, come to find out, he was born in Paragould, Arkansas. The place where folks don't bother buying the kids shoes til they are teenagers. Anyway, we talked for a while. I used to live in Paragould and attended Crowley's Ridge College there. Just a stone's throw from where Teri and I live now, in Southeast Mo. Tom has this museum behind his house. I mean a real museum. He has everything in there that has any kind of age at all to it. Lots of Indian artifacts, lots of early settlers stuff, I mean a real museum in his large garage. He has made arrangements with the Duncan school to put it all there in the near future. The school is getting some really good stuff that will help teachers when they teach the kids about history of this area. I could not get the camera to work but did get a fuzzy picture I will post here. This is a beaver's head. Take a look behind the head. I know that you can see what is in the box, never opened. Bet that is some potent stuff now.
Have a great day. Talk with you again soon. Dan
Rising Early
Well, I was up early this morning. I awoke to the table saw just a humming, 930 am. Teri worked hard today on the box that will hold our satellite receiver. We will be glad to get that up and clean up the cabinet where it is now. Teri gets the cabinet space when I get the stuff out of there. It won't be long now. Short a couple trim boards so might be Friday before we get it stained and hung. I think Stasha will run over the mountain tom. evening and pick up the trim while she is there. If not, we can get it this weekend. This will free up a lot of space for us. Will also make one for the bedroom satellite receiver.
Teri has really been working on the staining of the doors. They are going to really look nice when she gets them finished. She likes doing things right. I like doing things fast.
Here is a shot of some of my work. See, I do a few things. Did all new plumbing under the sinks. We moved the trap all the way back to the wall. This gives a lot more space for the top sliding drawer. Have to be creative in a motorhome to get the most space available. I can not take credit for the idea. It came from another GMC guy. I just have to get my gray water valve in and I am done with this stuff. I hate doing plumbing. Actually I have tinkered with this for 3 years, trying to keep it from leaking. Well, Monday I just ripped it all out and started over. Should have done this a long time ago but you know how some guys are, patch this and patch that til it blows completely out. Yea, that is me sometimes.
I finally got my new solar meter. This one will measure power going into and out of our house batteries. I will probably be running around Thursday looking for a ten foot piece of battery cable to get everything hooked up like I want it. My friend, Al, told me at church tonight that he might have a piece. If he does that will be great. If not I will be out heading up to Clifton or Morenci to see if I can get a piece cut. I have the ends and a cable crimper. We have our 4 year old grandson, Caleb, tomorrow so maybe he and Teri will run around with me. We love our 12 grandchildren. Oh, we will have another one come September. That will be an even 13. Not bad for a young couple like Teri and me.
Did yall see the eclypse tonight? That was neat. We took photos but they were not good enough to post.
As always, thanks for the comments and emails. We enjoy hearing from everyone. Glad you could stop by for a visit. Will see you again in a day or two.
Dan
Another Productive Day
Teri worked on the finish of the doors to the cabinet today. I had to run back over into town for a part to use to hook the plumbing under the sink to the main drain. We are getting close to finishing the kitchen. Got one more piece to add in under the sink so we can drain the gray water. Should get that done in the morning. Teri was working on the entertainment center when she realized whe is short one foot of trim. That may have stopped that project for a while. May pull the passenger wall in a day or two and get started on that. I think we can do it in a day.
I am not much on politics but kinda looks like the Clintons took a spanking tonight in Wisconsin. I heard a good thing, we will not have to pay income taxes if a certain party is elected, the poor folks. Teri and I certainly fit in that category.
Been checking into a different way to get the internet for last couple days. Some places we stay we just can not get a wifi signal without having to get into the car and heading into a town. I don't like that. I want it all the time. 60 bux per month, after the equipment is purchased with Verizon. We can turn off our home phone. That is 30 dollars. Maybe I can cut my snacks by another 30 dollars. That will let us afford it, especially if we no longer have to pay income tax.
Wanted to head out into the mountains tomorrow but they are calling for rain. Will check with our friends in the morning about what and when we might head out there. That will be photo shoot.
I appreciate the comments and emails that we receive from our readers. I do hope that we paint a positive picture of what we enjoy doing in our retirement years. This is not expensive unless we want to make it that way. We live cheaper on the road than at home really. Now, some days we certainly spend more money on the road. When we move the coach or when we find something that costs that we think we will enjoy. However, most sight seeing is pretty much free. If we stayed in RV parks every night we would certainly be burning some money. RV parks are just not a necessity for us. Teri and I do this while we can because we never know what the future may hold. We may get a president who outlaws having fun, ha.
Thanks for coming by. I promise to get some good photos us soon. I know how much I enjoy photos over some boring guy's ramblings. Will see ya soon. Dan
The Lifestyle
Did you get the impression that I do not like "camping" from my last post? I got several comments from many friends on that post. Especially about the part where I hope most folks keep working and do not try this.
RVing is not even close to camping. Oh, many folks own an rv of some type and take it out once or twice a month during nice weather months. They mostly go camping. They have the gas lanterns and pump up cook stoves. We had all that when I was a kid. These folks enjoy going 20 miles up to a lake or state park and paying 15-20 bux a night for a pad. That is good, especially if they have children and can spend quality time with them. Families can only succeed if they have lots of quality time together. Many of these couples will grow into "rving" when the kids are gone.
Last week Teri and I got to visit with some "full time" rvers. They have sold their house, got rid of all of their possessions, and hit the road, living in their rv. They tell me how "free" they feel once they accomplish this. I think I could do it someday. I have only the car that my dad bought me in 1970 that I would like to keep. Everything else is of no particular importance to me. I think I could get rid of everything. It will take me some time to work on Teri though. She likes having a house. I do too but why? We just have to pay taxes and insurance on it. Grass has to be mowed. Utilities must be paid. It just seems to me that these expenses can be avoided. We spent a great deal of time making our house as maintenance free as possible but those taxes and insurance bills just keep coming in. Sell it and stick that money in the bank. When we grow "old" we can buy another one.
Teri and I would never travel like we do if it were not for the motorhome. We will not go places and sleep for a month in motels. You never know what has been in those beds the night before you check in. We enjoy cooking in our own kitchen and having our own bathroom, not to mention sleeping in our own bed every night. There is absolutely no way we could travel this cheap. Our car gets over 35 mpg and we use it. We drive the coach to where we plan to stay and park it. Don't want to go cruising with an Oldsmobile 455 hauling over 12,000 pounds around, even though it is a cool ride.
No, I am not trying to convince anyone to try this lifestyle. I mean we are out away from home for 4 months at a time seeing our family and friends, and checking out the sights. I would still be working had we not bought the motorhome. I had a very good job and was paid pretty good. When we got the coach I found out that I really liked living in it. I have even been known to sleep a night or two in it while parked in the driveway. I had to work, so I could not get away. Hey, when the sun goes down it looks the same in here whether we are in California Redwoods or the driveway at home.
We will be getting out this week and I will get some new photos. Our friends want to take us out in the mountains and show us some Indian stuff. We will take their laptop so I can show them how to operate their new GPS. Teri says I am tearing out the plumbing, in the morning, under the sink. I have worked on it for three years and the drain still leaks. It is all fixing to be new. I can move the trap back over against the wall and give her more space under there for storage.
Oh, we got some unsolicited "comments" today in the comment section of Friday's post. Don't click the links, advertizing Bayer asprin. Some spam garbage. I stopped that today by resetting some of the contols.
Monday is coming up quick, one of my favorite days. Hope everyone has a great week. Come back when you have time. Tell a friend how much you appreciate them one day this week. Dan
Motorhoming
I realize that this life is not for everyone. When I was younger my dad bought a fifthwheel. I could not for the life of me understand why grown people would want to go "camping". I mean, that is what we did when I was a kid and dad needed a rain on the crops. We would pack up a tent, load up some supplies, and head to the lake. Rained every dog gone time, at least at the lake. there was no decent bathroom, no tv, no anything. If we were lucky we had an am radio to listen to. Just was not my kind of "living". I like my toys back at home. My dad died before he got to use his fifth wheel the way he wanted.
Now I am older. I have learned that my dad did not really plan to go "camping" in his fifth wheel. He was going to go places in style. Well, now I can see it. Camping is roughing it. Motorhoming or traveling with a fifthwheel does not need to be "camping". I mean, if I can not take my toys from home, I am not going. Folks, I have all of my toys from home right here in the motorhome. My ham radio equipment. Satellite tv, and yes, even the modern day internet. This is living. If I don't get along with my neighbors, I just move to a different neighborhood. If I grow tired of the scenery, I find something different. Hey, I even have an automatic dump so I don't have to dread the once a week job. Did I mention, I don't like getting dirty either.
Living in a motorhome is an adventure. Not everyone understands and I am glad because some of yall need to stay home and pay taxes so I can stay out here. Even with gasoline at all time high prices one could not travel as cheap as we do, especially being out for 4 months at a time. Friends of mine say, "I'll just stay in motels, much cheaper". Wrong, but I do not argue the point. Like I said I need some of yall to keep working.
This lifestyle is not for everyone, I repeat that. I mean, who wants to see the west coast and stay for a month or two looking at the dog gone seals steal crab bait from the crab traps. Who would want to sit on the Columbia Gourge and look at the river that Lewis and Clark traveled 200 years ago. Not too many want to see where John Wayne and Matt Dillon must have grown up, wild west of Arizona. Who would ever want to stay at the mouth of the Carlsbad Caverns for days enjoying the sites there? All of this while sleeping in one's own bed, watching their own tv and hanging out on the internet even in the most remote areas of our country.
Motohoming is not for most folks. It is better for yall to sleep in motels where the beds are always nice and clean. Calling to get reservations where you know that the showers are very clean and sanitary. Speeding along on the nice interstate highways of our country at 75 mph. Nope, yall don't need to see the backroads that are two lanes and pass through every little one horse town along the way. Leave all of this kind of stuff for Teri, Sam, and me. We will do the hard work for you. You guys just rush rush rush to wherever it is that you want to go and leave this motorhoming stuff to the select few that are willing to sacrifice for the rest of you. I feel that it is my duty to make these sacrifices for you and will continue this for you as long as I am able. Just an occasional thank you is all that I need from yall.
I hope everyone has a nice weekend. Teri and I have been invited to an elk steak lunch tomorrow by some of our new found friends, You see, I love friends. I will never have as many as I need. That is another thing I do for some of you, meet folks that you don't have much in common with. I get lots of meals but that is one of the things I must do for you in my sacrificing lifestyle.
Dan
Valentine's Day
I hope everyone enjoyed today with their "sweety". Teri and I spent our 8th Valentine's Day together. 8 years ago I was here in Arizona for the first time, trying to get Teri to marry me and move back to Missouri with me and Sam. I guess I did something right. She came home with me, we got married, and still enjoy each other very much. We are the best of friends and rarely do anything apart. That is why we can enjoy living in this motorhome together, with Sam. What a lifestyle. I have a lot of trouble figuring out what day it is every morning.
The weather was warm today, back up to 75 again, or close to it. The wind got up though which is normal out here. The weatherman is calling for snow down to 3,000 ft. We are at 3600. Will see if we have andy white stuff in the morning. I still have the windows open at 830 pm so it will have to really cool down in a hurry. We have not used any heat for 2 nights in a row. Good thing as the portable tank is about empty. I will fill it Friday and hope that it takes us through til we leave in 3 weeks.
Here is a link to
Donna's blog. She is our friend that we hooked up with over at the full timer's rally. she writes a good blog on her travels and takes some really good pictures. Maybe you would like to ride along with her some. As I run onto interesting blogs I will try to hotlink them in here for you. Donna taught me how.
Remember tomorrow is Friday. The working folks' favorite work day. Enjoy it if you have a job.
Dan
Our Day with the Fulltimers
This is what the scenery looked like Monday as Teri and I traveled to the fulltime rally at Pinal County Fairgrounds. We sure enjoyed ourselves. Here are just a few photos we hope you enjoy. Our best way to bring you along with us is with the photos. They never give the true sight, that we see, but they can give you a glimpse of what we have enjoyed. Thanks for coming with us.
Dan
Here is where the fulltimers gathered this week. Nice fairground and very nice weather.
A little 22 footer at the fulltimer rally.
Nick, the guy in the blue cap, is boss of this show. Here you see him telling the big guy how it is. Lots of hard work by Nick and his wife.
This is the coach and scooter of the guy who set this all up.
Here is a full time rig for ya. Wonder where the shower is?
Yep, even motorhomers need a plumber now and then. He was there.
Rows and rows of these rigs. I just walked around enjoying the looking.
This is our friend Donna and her license plate. She is one happy lady with her chosen lifestyle. We really enjoyed our time with her.
I think the Queen of England could live in this rig. Wonder how many square feet that is?
400 miles and a Great Time
Oh me. It was hard on me to roll out of that sack before 630 this morning. I did not think I was going to make it, but Teri helped me and I showered and we were out of here at 645 am. That was 45 minutes later than I had planned but we got gone. 200 miles of two lane through the mountains and a good bit of traffic the last 40 miles, but we made it. Had a great time. Found my friend Donna right off. She is a very nice lady as I knew she would be from our conversations and reading her blog. I overheard a lady talking about being in the Sojourners and interrupted her. That is a group of Christian folks that help other Christians in various ways. They work under the leadership of a congregation in Burleson, Tx. We got to visiting and then met her husband. They are both ham radio operators too. Teri and I have thought about trying to hook up with the Sojourners. Now we actually have friends in the group who we can contact from time to time. We hit all of the vendors, two or three times. Teri learned how to cook on some newfangled pots and pans. We attended one of the sessions there. Got to meet the fella and his wife that put the whole thing together, Nick and Terry. Visited some more, took a lot of pictures and then headed on back home. We arrived here about 7 pm, tired but more enlightened. Was a great day for us to get out and do something other than work on the kitchen. I will try to upload some pictures Wednesday. Just too tired to edit them tonight.
Thanks for coming by to check on us. Teri visited with the kids, watched a little tv in the bedroom that I hooked up Sunday for her, and is now asleep. Sam is snoring at my feet. I am thinking about the sun tan that we got today in the 75 degree sun. Was a perfect day. Now I am going to bed. Dan
Shhhhhh!
Ok, here is a sneak preview but be quiet. Teri
does not know I am putting it up.
It looks good to me. We are not finished with it. I caught Teri outside and snapped this. Once again I did not clean up the area. Remember, we are living and working in here so we must move things around a lot. Anyway, it is coming right along. Have not finished with all of the staining yet, as you can see. The counter sunk nail holes in the trim are not going to be hidden but it still looks great. Will touch them up with a "pencil" of stain the same color. This is wood so things are supposed to show. Still need to cut the hole in the big door for the furnace vent.
Teri and I are getting up early and driving nearly 200 miles to a "full timer's" rally, over near Casa Grande. Will be late when we get home Tuesday night. May have some pictures from there. Don't really know anyone but have spoken to one on the internet so we will look for her when we get there. Look for us Donna.
Dan
Door Latch
This picture is for our friend Ann. We use these little babies to keep the doors from flying open on the cabnets when I drive. Teri used to blame my driving for the doors coming open enroute. No more. There are two ball bearings in each receiver. Also two springs. Then, on each end there are two adjustment screws. There is no way these doors will fly open anymore, no matter how I bank the turns. I found these in Oregon last year and bought the guy out. I knew they would provide the relief I needed in the driver's seat.
Dan
News Flash
Ok, here is where we are right now with the cabinet doors. Got them all hung this morning. That was quite a feat in itself. Just wanted to show you how it looks without the stain. We will take doors back off, cut a vent hole in the tall door for the furnace, and reassemble everything, after the stain is on. Still have a couple other small things to accomplish, like the backsplash area, but we are coming along. This is really not a job for two rookies but we will get er done and it will not only look good but will be much more functional than what we had. No space wasted this time.
Dan
A Day of Traveling
Oh, I got one in there twice. Act like you didn't see it. We had a great time today. It was time for a break. Instead of heading down south of I-10, we stayed north and went to the back side of Mt. Graham. Teri got lots of pictures. I saved some for later. We were up at 5500 feet. Snow was right on the side of the hiway. I got to coast the Vibe for 5 miles coming down on the west side of the mountain. Teri was trying to get me to slow down so she could get a picture. I got it slowed from 77mph to 70. Oh boy, I learned that was not what she meant. I hate to break a good coast. Hey, that is free mileage. We have a scan gauge and it showed 400 mpg. That was great. We were practically making gasoline. I have a blast playing with that little gauge. Having a 6 speed transmission makes it pretty easy to get good mileage. We averaged 37 mpg today on our outing. remember, I had to climb that mountain also.
Teri is pretty slick. While I was stopped at the gas pumps she snuck into a sandwich shop and grabbed our picnic lunch. I did not know it til we stopped, at the end of the pavement. She pulled out those big subways.
We could have driven much farther today if we had the Jeep. I do not like taking her car on gravel so we stopped when the pavement stopped. I told Teri we will pull the Jeep out here next time and do some real searching around. Even on the pavement we were way out in the boonies. Saw several boondocking rigs scattered around the mountains. One big dead coyote. That does not look right. Big fox. How is that? Same family. An old store that Teri remembered from years ago had closed, but we got a picture of it. Found a prison way out there in the boonies. Arizona has more prisons scattered around here than Missouri. No better place for a prison than out in the desert. If they escape, where will they go? I like that.
When we were up about 5,000 feet we could see for 60 or 70 miles. We saw snow covered mountains way over east in New Mexico. What a view.
They charge you 5 bux to pull into a state park out here. We wanted to see Roper Park but when I saw that 5 bux, I just turned around. That is over a gallon and a half of gas. Just to drive through. I could not believe it.
Well, that is pretty much what we did today. Got mad in home Depot. I hope I never need to go into this one again. People everywhere and none of them can help a person. They must just drag folks in off the streets and put them on the clock in the Safford store. It is about half pint size to any Home Depot we have been in before and they carry very little stuff that we need. The local Ace has way more selection than they do. Even Walmart has parts Home Depot does not.
Hope everyone has a great weekend. Thanks for stopping by. Dan
Sneak Preview
Here you go. A chance to see what we did today. Teri was not too happy with me shooting these pictures because we had not cleaned things up yet. This is coming out just right. Teri is very picky with her work and makes sure that we get this right. I am not like her. If it is close, go with it. Oh boy, that does not go well with her in the kitchen. Remember this is her favorite room at home and on the road. She loves to cook. Notice the pull outs that she has designed in here. Two pull out baskets and two pullout drawers. One, the bottom, holds our gas cook top. She made it just the size for the cooktop. Worked really well. We have so much more space in the new kitchen than we had with the old. She is using every available space. We got the large door hung and realized that we had picked up a bunch of wrong hinges for the others. Will take them back Friday and exchange so we can get the other doors hung. Once we get them all set just like we want we will take them off and stain everything. Teri stained a board today and this is going to really match the floor good. She also got part of the entertainment center built this afternoon. I have a real rat's nest where the satellite receiver and dvd player are now. We will clean all of that up and have a nice neat center for those things. We are going to sight see in the mountains down south of I-10 tomorrow also so we should get some nice pictures. Won't get anything done inside here until Saturday. Teri needs a day off. She has been over worked and underpaid on this trip. Guys, don't forget Valentine's Day next week. Teri and I spent our first Valentine's Day here together 7 years ago. It was great and this year will be great also.
Have a good Friday, last work day for most folks. Drop back by when you can. I should have some good pictures on here for my next post. Dan
Sneak Preview
Here are some shots of the doors being put together today. Won't be long now. This is quite a time consuming project. I am glad we don't have jobs and are trying to do this in our spare time. It is good that all of our time is spare or we would never get done with this new kitchen cabinet and counter. I have said it before, cabinet makers earn their pay. I guess if we did this a lot we would be faster. The frame up and mounting the counter top and sink were nothing compared to the final stages. Here, if we make a mistake it shows. If we had made any mistakes in the framing they would be hard to overcome also. I am not talking. I will say that you won't see any mistakes. Teri is going to make sure this looks good. If she does not like what she sees, we re do it. We have a little more on one pull out drawer to finish then we can stain the whole thing and then hang the doors. We are hoping for a good day Thursday.
Let me tell you something. It gets cold in these mountains. It was back down to 18 degrees again last night. The furnace kept kicking on and we leave it at lowest setting when we pull the covers up. It is 34 degrees right now so I am hoping we don't drop quite so low again tonight.
I had lots of email this morning. I appreciate when folks hollar at me. Being a ham radio operator I enjoy conversing with people. Doing it via email is just fine too.
Well, keep coming back. We will have the completed project up soon. Teri is going to build us an entertainment center too. She may start on that tomorrow. Got to keep her busy. She is motivated as I told her the cabinet where the satellite receiver and dvd player is her's when we get that stuff in a regular space and out of the cabinet. See, I know how to keep her going. Just a little carrot every once in a while. Thanks for your visit tonite. Dan
