Monday, March 28, 2011

Getting Ready To Roll

Remember these bad boys? Well, it seems the 10 pounds I consumed last month did not bother me one bit. I got my blood checked Thursday, visited the doc today, and he said everything looked great. I even have a copy of the lab work to prove it. So, folks, get the dark chocolate. Will not bother your cholestrol or weight one bit. Now I am headed to the grocery store for some ice cream. I love it when I pass these tests. The doctor thinks I have worked so hard and I let him think that. I love to get "pats on the back".
Getting things ready to hit the road Thursday. I have 2 tvs to repair. Just waiting on parts. We have a list of things we need to get in the car for the trip back to Texas. Had our 6 year old granddaugher spend the night with us last night. Not sure we can squeeze another one in before we go or not. If I can I will. Grandkids make me feel good. Old people make me feel good. Hey, just not working makes me feel good. The absence of stress in one's life is a really good thing. It was about 3 months after I retired that I finally figured out why I was feeling so good, no stress, nothing to worry about. Did not even realize I was stressed when I worked. It took me 3 months to realize the check would keep coming even though I did not work. I checked that bank religiously to make sure that deposit was made.
We have our yard all looking good. Got it mowed yesterday after it finally warmed up enough for me to get the mower deck all put back together. I love having a freshly cut yard. I am pretty much the only one on the street that has mowed so our's looks really good. Just hope it holds til we get back from Lousiana.
I hate leaving the vdub here for 3 weeks but I am not driving it 760 miles to the GMC. I feel that the bug is a 50 mile car, 25 out and 25 back. Besides, Teri can get a lot more stuff in the Vibe.
The tracker will be running Thursday early, WD0AFQ-1. Enjoy your week. Aren't Mondays great?
Dan

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

No Pictures

I hate it when I have no pictures. We have been busy around here. I pulled another tooth from one of the grandchild's head.  That little booger. First tooth I have pulled when the kid had his mouth shut. His mom wanted it out so I got it. He did not even realize it was gone til he saw it in the floor. His first one so he is proud.
We have had our kids from Indiana pass through and spend one night. They were heading to Arkansas looking for diamonds. Our daughter called back and had some choice words about the accomodations there that they are paying 90 dollars a night for. While they were here we got together with one of our other daughters and family for supper. Think we had 7 grandkids there. Made for a good basketball game.
Our 4 year old grandson spent the night with us our second night home. He is a "corker". His 7 year old big brother is coming tomorrow night, hoping to catch "Swamp People" on tv. They don't get the channel.
Teri is getting checked out this morning at the doctor. Monday it is my turn. Planned to go have lab work done today but why not wait one more day. I am trying to slick up my veins good so one more day will be that much better. Make sure I eat good cholestrol material all day today.
Will do a little more work around here today. Been tinkering with the vdub. Got my rear view camera system mounted yesterday so now I can see who is behind me at all times. Wired it so it comes on when I start the engine. Teri and I added some little led blinkers to the front of it. My thinking is I may only get one wreck in it so I want to prolong that as long as possible. That's the reason for all of the lights. We have 7 brake lights on the back of the thing. Even mounted my new flag and put an led light on top so when I am out in the dark the thing is shining. I get lots of comments about my new flag.
Trying to get in the mood to change the blades on the lawn mower. Maybe after lunch.
Next Thursday I think Teri and I will make the journey back to the motorhome. We want to visit with Billie more before we take off for Lousiana. She is also going with us. Take a look on your map. Patterson, La. is way down there. Not sure I have ever ventured that far south before.
That is pretty much what is happening around here. Trying to make the place looked lived in. We will be gone for at least 3 weeks so will get the grass cut short  once I get the blades on.
Hope everyone is doing good this week. Looking forward to seeing all of our GMC friends in Patterson soon.
Dan

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Home Again

Here are 5 grandkids happy to see grana and grandpa. We were home just a short time when they started arriving. We sure were glad to see them too. 4 of these are old enough to realize how long 107 days is. Its a long time to them. Teri counted up the time today as we were traveling home.
Billie had to know what time we were leaving this morning. I knew I should have fibbed a little. She was up to wish us a safe trip at 530 am. By 545 am Teri and I were on the road. If you checked the tracker today you saw us moving right along. Got through Dallas by 9 am and Little Rock at 2 pm. Took us 12 hours to travel about 765 miles. Truck traffic is heavy on Interstate 30, real heavy. Not sure what they are hauling but they are moving something up and down that highway.
We were not on a sight seeing trip today so no pictures. I got out of the car twice to buy gas, that was it.
So, will sleep in tomorrow, if I can sleep in my old bed. I sure enjoy the bed in the GMC. Have a few things to take care of around town and will tinker on the vdub. I put the battery in and pumped it about 10 times, vroom. It was like it had not been sitting. Hard to believe all of that snow that was on it while we were gone. The scooter also fired right up. Next is the Mustang, then the lawnmower.
Weather was very nice all day. We had to run the ac all the way home. Still nice and warm here in Dexter.
Ok, I am off the roads. The weekend is about here. You working folks have the streets for the weekend. I am not leaving town.
Dan

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Our GMC Motorhome Friends

What a day. This is one neat place, Kingsland, Tx. Here Billie and Teri stand in front of the Texas Massacure house.


Neat cabooses near the lake.

This is the parts coach that Billie has for sale. I'd say it could be someone's coach without too much money spent. Runs good. Interior is not bad. Nice GMC Ladder. Someone will get a bargain here. I think with a little checking this thing would drive home. Has a fuel line leaking. Could need the tanks dropped.

The girls had to do some geocaching.

Look at those smiles. You can tell they found the cache.

Took this one for my grandsons. 8 foot alligator.

Billie's son in law killed this bad boy with a bow and arrow. He is quite a hunter, along with his wife. Trophies all over his and her office.

Looking for another cache.

Billie had all of these m&m s just going to waste so I helped her out a bit.

The girls fixing supper. Look at those smiles. I rarely see any nicer smiles than on these two ladies. Billie has taken very good care of us. We have not had time to do a lot of stuff. If I can get my cholestrol test moved up a week we will get to spend more time with Billie before we all three head for Patterson.

And, thank you Doug. I have never seen this much stuff in and around our vehicle. I won't let Teri use the roof rack but I did not tell her she could not have one of these. So, Doug mailed it to us in Arizona and Teri makes sure it is used. I hope we don't lose my generator on the trip home tomorrow. It will be about 6 inches off the ground. I need 2 wheels under it. Not that much weight so am not too worried, or I would tie it to the roof rack for added support.
We plan to hit the road around 6 am. Hope we can get home around dark. I think it is 750 miles. This will be no sight seeing trip, I can tell you that. So, don't look for us to have any exotic pictures from our ride home.
GMC folks make the best friends. Thanks Billie. We will see you in a couple of weeks. We know you will take good care of our motorhome.
Dan

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Rollin, Rollin, Rollin, In a GMC Motorhome into Kingsland, Tx.

Oh yea, I saw the sun coming up Monday. In fact, we were on the road long before the sun came up. Jerry told me to call him when we were at Lordsburg. I called, "you have got to be kidding" was about all I could get from him. Teri said "I told you not to wake them up. Oh, I got messed up on our times. Az. does not do dst. We were on the NM line, Az. side. So, I guess it was 5 am when I got up, NM. time and 6 when I called Jerry. No matter, he was up and waiting.
See that little spot in the mirror? That is Jerry and Rosemary. MM 62 in NM. They were there all day yesterday, right into Menard, Tx. I think we covered almost 700 miles in 12 hours. Jerry wanted to roll so we rolled.
Coming into the Lone Star state. This place is big. We pulled off at a rest area just as we crossed into Tx. We thought a 747 was trying to land on our roof.
Nope, it was us making that noise. One of the band clamps had slid up on the 3 inch exhaust, just behind the collector. Easy fix and on the road again.
Time for an oil filter change in Van Horn. Had 500 miles on the engine and the builder told me to change the filter at 500 miles. I changed it right here.
Yep, that's me again. Seems the band clamp slipped again. I put the hammer to it this time and it made it  the rest of the way. This thing is loud running with 4 cylenders open.
Just a nub along I-10 before we got to Ft. Stockton. Right past this we saw a herd of wild hogs grazing in the grass along the interstate. I counted 10. At a distance I told Teri to look at that monster gopher. Well, as we got closer it was no gopher.
Once we got onto the two lanes, south of Ft. Stockton, the towns were 50 miles apart. Every time we approached one I would ask Jerry on the radio what he thought. "Only 50 miles to next town" was always his answer so I knew what that meant. He had ground to cover and was rollin on. Finally, at 730 pm, the sun had set. We were in Menard, Tx. Jerry, look at that spot over there by the water, near the bridge. "Let's try it". Perfect.
I am telling you it was like riding 200 miles in a wildlife preserve. Wild hogs, a big horn sheep, turkey, turkey buzzards, antelope, skunks eating dead animals, and 5,000 deer, not counting the antelope. And, do you know what is the size of a softball and goes "kaboom"? A meadowlark hitting a GMC windshield headon with GMC doing 65 mph. That will get your attention quick.
Suppertime with the Wheelers. Rosemary brought some great stuff over and Teri had chilli. It was great. We visited for a while then it was bedtime. We had traveled a lot of miles. Jerry took about 50 pounds of weight from our coach by trading me a window for some parts I had no need for. Teri was happy. Rosemary, not so much.
Early morning visit before parting ways. We parked looking at the water, hidden from the road. We were behind a body shop. About 5 am a wrecker dumped a broken vehichle and we did not need an alarm clock. We said our goodbyes and pulled out of Menard about 8 am.
About what we found fuel for the entire trip. This was in Menard. How much did 30 gallons cost me?
The counties in Texas have some nice courthouses.
This is how big Art, Tx. is. I took this shot for my uncle Art, who is from the hill country of Tx.
What is this?
You know what this is. Came with a factory T-10 and a 260. that gives you the year, tell me.
It now has this souped up 289 and a Cobra frontend. Nice little ride. He towes it behind a Foretravel. The owner sold his GMC coach 5 years ago.
So, I am in Kingsland today while Billie and Teri are playing cards. I am doing the Charles Kurwalt thing. Every shop I stop at wants to know why I am in Tx. Then, every one of the guys tells me to" tell Billie hey". There has to be 3- 4000 people here. All of the town knew Lanny and are thinking of Billie. Lanny must have been a legend in Kingsland.
So, this little town is right on LBJ lake. I will try to get some pictures while we are here. I am sure Billie will be a great tour guide.
Dan

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Getting Our GMC Motorhome Ready For Travel

Getting our coach ready to roll is normally no big deal. Today is the day. I have not seen this much dust on it every. We had two bad dusty days last week. I got out and dusted the thing as best I could. A must is having a car duster. This works very well. A trick I learned from members of our car club. Now, I need to take a dryer softner sheet and get a few bugs off the windshield. Will then Rain-x it good. We rarely ever use the wipers on any of our vehichles. The GMC windshield is especially formed well for Rain-x to work great. I learned the dryer sheet and bugs deal from a fellow motorcycle rider. Just dab the sheet in a bowl of warm water and wipe the bugs right off the paint or windshield of your vehichle. Rinse off the residue with cool water. Saves lots of time and elbow grease.
See the dust up on the engine? Most of that will blow off Monday when I hit the road. I am not going to worry about it now. This morning I pulled the glass engine cover to make sure my axle bolts are tight. That is something folks need to think about when owning a GMC coach. I have seen and heard some wild stories. When these thing come loose you have problems. We used to have these safety wired but now I just try to check them when I do my normal checking of things. I checked the intake bolts last week and they were all tight. Also checked the fan clutch bolts, then on to the headers. It is funny, I find the driver's side header bolts tend to loosen while the passenger side never do. We had 175 miles on the new gaskets and a couple were in need of tightening. Using the thick Remflex gaskets this time. Have wasted enough of my money on the Mr. Gasket copper ones.
Hatch is on and we are ready to fire up Monday morning.
In 06 I purchased a set of Tire Sentry air pressure monitors, for the ten tires. They were expensive but at the time the only ones that allowed the owner to change his own batteries. The other popular company charged 20 dollars to change the batteries. During the entire 3 year warranty period I had all kinds of problems with these things. Last year I sent the entire system back. The warranty was up. They told me I could only use the Energizer batteries due to the physical dimensions and making good contact. That worked well and I paid them 40 dollars for that advice. Now, I am checking them again, before our trip. I find one on the toad that will not transmit a signal.
Well, I worked on the thing for 2 days and have now given up. The right rear toad tire will have no monitor on our way across Tx. I do not like this but nothing I can do. Should have checked these things earlier I guess. The tire pressure was too high in my tires. Make sure you keep a check on tire pressure. I hate doing this chore and one reason I bought the sensor system. Most tire blowouts, I believe, come from low air pressure causing  the tires to get hot. Absolutley no way you can eyeball a radial tire and know if it is low or not, unless it is almost flat.
I have my duties and Teri has her's. Do we help each other? Of course we do. But, for the most part, I maintain the exterior of our vehicles and running gear. Teri takes care of packing them. She does an excellent job.
Our friend Doug rewarded Teri's excellent talents by shipping her this carrier. I showed it to you last week while we assebled it. To me, this looks like a theft item. So, I sprang for a locking pin. It should deter a normally honest guy from trying to steal it. Hang on to see what we put on this thing.
That is about it. I am getting a "look" from my best buddy. I know I need to help her with something. Funny how after 10 years we can kinda just look at each other and get our point across.
Life is good, watch the tracker Monday, wd0afq.
Dan

Friday, March 11, 2011

Venturing Out From Our GMC Motorhome

Teri and I do almost everything together. This morning we had a tv to repair over in Safford. Took about 30 minutes then we had the rest of the morning to do what we wanted. Look at the picture. This is a must see place when you get to Safford. It is 2 blocks off 70, to the south. Just stop and ask anyone for directions to the Tortilla Factory.
When we arrived to make our purchase , the workers were on break. The boss lady told us if we could wait 10 minutes she would give us a tour of the place.

Yea, I can wait. I just knew we would get a sample. Look at those things roll along.
As you might guess, it is warm in here. Would not suggest that you tour the factory in August.
These ladies are flouring the dough balls, before they are passed on and flattened out.
This is why they need no heat on a cold day. The tortillias pass through this fire.
And, here is our "freebie". Wow, was it ever good. Teri gobbled her's before I could finish mine and look like a begging puppy. Right out of the oven. mmmmm good.
You never know what is right around the corner. I try to always be on the lookout. Teri knew about this place. I would never have noticed. And, always play the tourist thing up to the max. It often gets you little "freebies".
Well, hope everyone is excited about today being Friday. I am back home and off the road. Come Monday morning we will roll east and take the scenic route across Tx, over to Kingsland. This will be a two day journey, 700 miles. We hope to meet up with Jerry and Rosemary early, down on I-10. They too are traveling in their GMC coach. Long time friends but we have not seen them in a couple of years. We can't wait.
Ride with us Monday, wd0afq will be the tracker.
Enjoy your weekend and keep the folks in Japan in your thoughts and prayers.
Dan

Oops, nearly forgot. Volvo, 60s to early 70s.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Visiting Those Special Places in a GMC Motorhome

Sometimes you find the neatest places when out running around. This morning Teri and I had a tv repair to do up in York. On the way we passed this resturant. Teri knows the owner. She is always telling me about this place. So, we came home and finished up a few things. Then, back up we went. This is one of those must visit resturants.
An all meat Burro for under 6 bux. More than I should have eaten. Very good. In fact, I can say it is as good a burro as I have ever eaten. Check out those fried sweet potatoes. the little waitress brought this out and I poured Tabasco all over the one she put in front of me. I cut into it and found beans. Oops, that was Teri's and she does not do spicey stuff much. Off came the Tabasco before it soaked in. She said it was good.
2 happy patrons with mouths full of food. We had to get the waitress when we could as she was busy. The food was delicious. Just as you come into York, on 75, be looking on the east side of the highway. Stop in and tell them Dan and Teri sent you.
Holly and Teri catching up on some good times from previous years. We will be back.
Apache Grove is just south of York, on 75.
Blow this photo up and check out some of the history from years gone by.
What is that car?
Here is some history that was not on the sign. This is an old "dance hall/tavern" for lack of better words. Back in the 50's Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, and others, made this a regular stopping place. There was no interstate 10 going from El Paso to Tucson so they came through this way. The bands always made this a regular on their way to and from as they traveled the Southwest. It sits down off the highway on the west side if you get through this way. Don't you just love the history that you can get from old timers? I do. Things we would never know. Just stop and hang with the old guy sitting on the bench. He will fill your ears full.
Life is just full of little history tidbits. I love hearing them every chance I get. Not much left in Apache Grove these days but there are still a few folks that can enlighten you if you take the time to stop.
Ain't life just Grand?
dan