Rallyin with other Heartland Owners

I am sitting, waiting quietly for children to come to the door for Halloween! I made a special trip to get candy in case we have visitors. Even though Peggy says we have never had any before, this year may be a first, now that some kids have moved close to us. I always prepare for the kids and if they don't show this year like before. I will just eat the candy!
Okay, I have no excuse really on not posting after our return from Rayfords Crossing and the Heartland owners rally. I have had work stacked up waiting on me and finally managed to catch up. There are no photos of this trip save for one taken at the potlock supper on Saturday nite, but it has the backs of peoples head mostly so I opted not to put it in the blog. I also have no excuse for not taking any pics so there you are. We did arrive and get set up okay on Wed evening. Everyone allready camped came by and welcomed us and invited us down to the gathering camp for the get aquainted sit around. We then met the rally organizer who told me that they did not have a lot planned since a couple of sponsers who usually present informative talks, backed out. No worries for me since I prefer to wander at will and shoot the bull. My navigator got sick on the first night with a bad chest cold and managed to remain unconcious for most of the rally. I did come and check on her hourly and see that she was fed and watered, but after that she was down for the count.
I did learn a lot from the other RV folks there, and that was the main reason I had wanted to go. Look at other rigs, talk about issues, soak up knowledge that someone else has learned the hard way, and try to learn more about our RV and how to make it all work. I looked closely at every kind of hitch, stabilizer setups, wheel chocks, sewer hoses, jacks, flags, decorations you name it! In that respect it was very helpful to me and I asked lots of questions. I can't say enough about the welcome we received and the fellowship extended by all we met.
The only negative thing I have to say about the whole rally,,,,was having to leave a bunch of really nice folks and go home to the JOB. One day, we won't have to leave if we are not ready and can linger for as long as we like. I am really looking forward to that day! We have made some new friends and contacts and hope to get to do some more Rallyin in the future. I have a set of Air Bags on order to help me level the truck out some and a few suggestions for improvements to my setup. Everyone stay safe and have a great Halloween.

Charlie

Confederate Rose

While pulling the Condo out for our trip tomorrow, I noticed that my Confederate Rose (Hibiscus Mubilis) is blooming. It blooms last of any flowering plants on the place, but it also blooms the nicest. Starts out very light pink and then as the day progresses, it turns dark pink. While we are gone to the RV Rally,,,the whole bush will bloom probably. As you can tell,,there are gobs of buds fixing to bloom. They last a day or so, then fall off. Bummer! I will cut them back to the ground this winter when the first good frost comes, then they will reach this ten foot or so height by late summer. Enjoy

Mud Flaps and Cleaning

So yesterday the new mudflaps came in and Peggy and I put them on the truck. Since we have had so much rain, everything is muddy and nasty but it had to be done. I posted the pic of the flap and the clean RollingCondo so everyone could see the genuine Duraflap brand made in Grants Pass, Oregon. Of course I wanted the naked lady design common on 18 wheel trucks, but for some reason, Peggy said "not". I did manage to look a little East Tx redneck with the Tx logo and the Ram design! It fits right in with the Bighorn RV and advertise our state a little (like no one would know where we were from by hearing us talk and spotting the license plate! Taking photos of a metal shiny mud flap is harder than it looks. I am gonna post those pics below, showing my earlier attempts!!

See, this photo taking thing is harder than it looks! The reflection from the trees across the road give a camoflage effect. My reflection in my PJ's, white T and Bald Head, really set it off !

I should quit while I am ahead I think. and go back to watching the Cowboys play football.

Our First RV Rally

This month, we will be making our first ever RV Rally. This is where folks gather up at a pre determined site and, well they Rally! I have read a lot of folks blog that they are either headed to or have gone to a Rally so I guess its something RV'rs do. My wife asked me what happens at a Rally, and I told her I had no idea but we will know after the Heartland Rally near Spring Tx on October 15th thru thru 18th. Since we are fixin to go Rallyin we had a few things to get done on the Rolling Condo. Our microwave/convection oven quit on us at our last campout and had to be taken in to the dealer for repair. While waiting on the unit to come back from the factory we decided to get a good surge protector installed in the Condo. This will shut the rig down if you get too much electricity or not enough ,and possible prevent damage to your electrical components.
Of course we needed to get the trailer cleaned up and washed. We have been putting this off so on Friday evening we started with the roof. With some Spic and Span and push broom and water hose, we got after it and made good progress with the top, back, big slide side and the front cap before we just gave out. Looked good ,so we continued the next morning after breakfast. Now we were not moving as fast on Sat morning because for some reason, we both hurt nearly everywhere we could touch. Not being used to  manual labor for a long time, our muscles were screaming in pain. After getting our IBuprofen for the morning down, we got back on it and washed the remaining side and tackeled the awning. The awning proved to be the hardest job of all. I could only reach halfway up from my ladder and it had to be scrubbed on the top and undersides. Some mildew was present which had to be delt with with a different solution than I was washing with but finally we got the job done. I had complained when we were on vacation at paying 80 bucks for a wash at a big rig truck wash next to the interstate somewhere in Arkansas, but on reflection, it was worth every dime of it!!
I would have included a photo at some point in this blog, but I cant hold a camera up that high right now! I cant seem to pick my arms up above my waist without feeling that burning in my shoulders, so just visualize it for me. The Rolling Condo is gleaming clean and ready for Rallyin! While examining some small dings on the front of the trailer near the front jacks, I believe that some small rocks have kicked up and marked it. For the year that we have had the new trailer we have not given a thought that stuff will kick up and make a mess on that part of the trailer. One of the most basic parts of a truck is mudflaps and we dont have any. So Peggy and I got on the computer and in short order got a pair ordered that we can install which should be here next week.
On another note I have to send out congrats to my dad on his 80th birthday! Not only did he reach this milestone in life, he graduated college at the same time. Most would not continue to pursue a degree that you had been working on most of the last 40 years, but my dad only liked a math course to get graduated and he finally got it done. We are all proud of him as he put his education goals aside many times so that his six kids could get an education and anything else they needed in life, while working two or three jobs at a time. When he found out how long it would take to wait for the actual graduation ceremony, he decided to skip that part because in his words " I might not last that long" ! He is still wagging it around and making folks wash their hands in order to hold it. I washed mine in order to get a look at it and not leave any fingerprints on it.
I will let you know how the Rallyin goes, Hopefully I can pick up some tips from more exprienced RV'ers that will save me some heartache or trouble ahead. That's from the school of hard knocks and an education that you cant get in college! Be safe and Take care.

Charlie

Hanks Creek Prk Sam Rayburn Lake, Huntington Tx

Friday, Sept 4 2009

Thursday night, Peggy and I did the grocery shopping and packed up the Condo for a short drive to one of our local campgrounds located on Sam Rayburn Lake. We had been wanting to camp out their since Hurricane Rita had taken down some trees and made a mess a few years ago. The Corps of Engineers has been working since that time to revamp the campground and it really looks nice. They have added these little screen houses for those folks who don't really want to sleep in a tent. They are a small room with concrete floors, a counter top with storage underneath, and electricity. They have also added floating boat docks at the launching ramps and a pavilion with five or so RV pads that are in a semi circle of the pavilion. Pretty neat, for a family reunion. We rolled in on Friday just about lunch time and met the nicest couple who are workamping for the Corps. I did not get their names, but they were very easy to work with and moved us to a better spot with a good view of the lake. After some careful work by Peggy with the our handheld radios, she had me in just the right spot, and we dropped the jacks and hooked up. I thought we were a little close to the road but we were on the campsite. With the slides out and sitting in the slide out next to the road, a vehicle coming down the road looked like it was coming right toward my chair! I finally just shut that window shade and tried not to look. The park host also told us that there was an ant problem at the park and that we should put out ant powder or granules, and to put it on our tires, jacks, water lines, elect chord or anything else that would touch the ground to keep them out. As soon as we got hooked up, we drove a few miles back to a store and got a couple of cans of ant poison and gave them a dose on our return. No problems with ants the whole time we were there.

This is the view from my coffee cup every morning. You just cant beat that with a stick. It was relatively quiet for a labor day weekend. We had good Sat reception so I could watch the
Red Sox play ball and the Nascar race on Sunday. We also had some good neighbors who, even though they had a big dog and a small boy, it was not bad at all. I had planned on doin some fishing from the bank by our campsite and was all set to get the fishin equipment in gear when Peggy spied a water moccasin slowly swimming right next to the camp. That rascal was about 4ft long and big around as my fist, so that wrapped up the possibility that we would be taking our chairs down by the water and watching our cork bob up and down. If we had seen one on the shore, we would have had to move for sure.

We did see something new for me. A Parks and Wildlife Game Warden workin the water on a Wave Runner with a Blue Lite mounted on the front forks. I don't know if they use that to chase down the kids riding them to fast or dangerous, or just for fun. Either way, it looks like they would get wet while doin this and I guess they don't mind as hot as it is.
We did have a thunderstorm blow up one evening, but it went around us. I did notice a lot of swimmers still in the water with lightning being visible and thunder rumbling. Not sure what people are thinking or maybe there not, but we were anxious until they all got out of the water. Only one major malfunction to report on the Rolling Condo. The convection/microwave oven decided to quit workin on Sunday morning at breakfast. Hate that when it happens, but since the warranty is still good, we will contact the maker and see what the process is for replacing the oven and start over. Luckily Peggy remembers how to cook bacon the old fashioned way on the stove top with a skillet!!!! Until next month, everyone stay safe and travel when you can.

Charlie

Stump the Toe

We have not done anything exciting since returning from the road trip, but we did take the Condo to Baileys RV Center for some small needed warranty work. While we were there we talked about getting an additional A/C unit for our RV. On talking with Steve and getting the price, we decided to go ahead and add the 2nd unit now so we can continue to wander around East Tx even during the dog days of summer. In the meantime, I had a training school to attend in Baytown Tx for three days, getting the latest on Digital Photography of crime scenes and such. I did learn a lot about techniques to use with the digital camera. I did however manage to break my big toe before leaving town and I taped it to the next toe and continued on. No broken toe is gonna keep me from learning something and taking a road trip. By the second day, I could not put on my shoe and was wearing house slippers nearly everywhere. A large sore had formed on top of the toe and it was getting more difficult to get around. So after a small operation Thurs nite, I thought it would be better. By the time we got home on Friday evening it was screaming at me and Peggy did another procedure on it. I did manage to fall on my rear end at the training, trying to be careful with the foot and toe, then tripping on a table leg. I felt like I had been in a bar fight and lost!! We brought the condo home and managed to get it backed into place and setup. Now I can get everything loaded back inside and prepare for quick getaways! Everyone stay safe.

Charlie

Home is Where Stuff Happens

You know, Peggy and I were somewhat worried the whole time we were away from the house. We just knew some disaster would befall us while on the road. No disasters to report on the entire 1500 mile trip, but when we returned home, two disasters arose first thing. The Sat dish blew over in a storm so we started working on that while emptying the Rolling Condo for the trip to the RV Dealer for some warranty work. Nearly finished that project and the washing machine quit, so a trip to Lowe's Home Improvement was in order for Peggy to pick out a new washing machine. I had no idea that this was as time consuming as it turned out to be. She finally make a pick of a white Maytag and it was delivered today, so that disaster is fixed. No rain to speak of here and the grass is crunchy, but some of it needs mowing so that will have to be done soon. The Rolling Condo needs washing also,,but to be honest about it, we just don't have the will to get out in the 100 plus temps here to do it. Also a neighbor passed away and a new cat has decided that we are to be his new parents, so we gotta get some cat food. I cant stand to see anything starve to death. We go back to work on Monday, and that does not make either of us smile. Peggy has already commented that she is ready to roll again,,lol. Someday we will set sail and not have to come back to go to work. I may not post regular unless we have an adventure so until next time. Everyone take care and stay cool if you can.

Charlie