Rain, rain, go away...

Enjoying a morning treat

Set out for my morning walk and was chased back inside by the rain, but not before getting a few pictures to share.  Today I was greeted by bushy grey squirrels everywhere.  The storms must have shaken the trees enough to release their nuts and fruits.  The squirrels were out gathering their winter hoards and eating all they could find.

The rain started yesterday afternoon and continued with lightning and thunder all night long.  Not a problem for us, we played a couple games of Scrabble, watched an old Jack Benny show on TV, and I lost at a hour and half game of Chess.  Also spent a bit of time mapping out our trip up North and out West since we are going to be on the road for about a month before settling down for a bit.  We have business to attend to in South Dakota and want to get out of there and head South and West to sunnier climates before Winter sets in. It's going to be a great adventure!

The rain here has been nothing compared to the flooding up in the Stevens Point/Wisconsin Rapids area.  Having family up there, I went on-line this morning and the pictures showing the flooding broke my heart.  I've been on those roads and can not imagine the amount of rain they must have received to cause the rivers to meet the roadways.

Back here at the campground in South Carolina, the ditches are half filled and small rivers have formed behind some of the camping areas.   The sun is peeking behind the clouds, so it must be time to get the "To do" list done.

Ditches filled with rain water

A small river created by the rain

 Rain is grace; rain is the sky condescending to the earth;

without rain, there would be no life.
-  John Updike

Have a Great Day!
Jo

Mornings

Today makes it a week of being in our new home.

Woke up to a slightly overcast sky with the sun barely peeking through the clouds. This was welcomed as the sun has been blazing hot.  Fall has officially arrived and it is still in the high 80's to low 90's. Never thought that I would say it, "I'm looking forward to heading North and cooler weather."

Morning has always been my favorite time of the day.  The world is slowing waking up from its slumber, it's a clean slate, a new beginning!  Poured myself a cup of fresh brewed coffee, sat outside listening to the world come alive.  After my morning jolt of caffeine, it was time for a walk.   As I started my walk, I listened to the birds singing their beautiful melodies high up in the trees, sharing their love for the morning light.  Along the way, I met a Bullfrog as big as my two fists in the ditch near the side of the road.  He seemed to be extremely camera shy and hopped into the drainage pipe before I could even get the camera focused on him.  Now I understand why the two little girls were so interested in that ditch when we arrived last week.  Enjoying the cool fresh air, I decided to walk the whole campground.  My walk took much longer then expected as I stopped to talk with other campers.  Some walking their dogs, some having coffee at the tables, others just out enjoying the the fresh air that only morning can offer!

 

Stopped to pet many four legged friends and it tugged at my heart. This is a picture of Hank.  Hank was my daughter's dog who died recently.  To me, Hank was so much more then just a furry, four-legged creature.  His understanding of people, his excitement as he spotted a squirrel and chased it, the love he so freely gave, made him almost human.  Last year we were fortunate to spend a few weeks with Hank and it was then that I realized why people become so attached to their animals.  Seeing all the dogs with their owners this morning, brought back a flood of good memories of being with Hank.

The bright hot sun quickly burned off the morning clouds.  It's going to be a hot one.  No real plans for today, we'll take it as it comes.

The best things in life aren't things. 

Art Buchwald

Thanks for sharing my morning with me....

Jo

Learning new things.

Monday we decided to test how the refrigerator and water heater would run using only propane.  Turns out they did fine.  What needed to stay cold, stayed cold and what needed to get hot, got hot!   Yipee!  One more thing tested and off the list of working the way it should.

Tuesday we emptied our grey (Kitchen and bath water) and black (poopie stuff) tanks. As Paul put on his gloves I backed away and watched from a very safe distance.  It had nothing to do with the fact that we watched the movie RV with Robin Williams a couple of weeks ago. 

Actually lit the oven and made a roast for dinner.  Things are running smoothly in the kitchen department with the exception that I continue to rearrange what goes in which cabinets.  Seems I change them daily.  Haven't quite figured out hat is the best placement for certain items.  Making sure the heavy stuff is low and the lighter weight things are on the top shelves.  Things I use everyday, close at hand and the non essential things can be place on the top shelves that I can't reach unless I use a step stool.

I'm sure I'll figure it all out before we get on the road.

Thanks for stopping by.

Jo

This is it!

September 16, 2010

Thursday

Well, we did it, we've picked up our new home! Did a final walk-thru and got some pointers for hitching and unhitching.  Needless to say,  Paul broke the cotter pin in the handle of the hitch pulling it too hard on his first try of unhitching at the dealer.  Well, with that fixed, and a few more pointers, we were ready to roll.

We drove to Oak Plantation Campground, named for the big beautiful oak trees all around the camp.  It was an eleven mile with white knuckled ride for me.  He did great, it was just the idea of pulling the RV behind us that was a bit unnerving.  As we arrived at our site, there were a couple of cows in a nearby field waiting to greet us to our home for the next two weeks.  I had to go over and have a quick chat with them.  I'm a country girl at heart and farm animals always make me feel "right at home".  

After pulling into our site, we proceeded to unhitch.  Well, almost.  Paul broke the cotter pin again.  We put a call out to our trusted dealer and he sent out a couple of guys to give us a hand.  Seems we weren't raising the RV high enough to unhitch.  With that problem solved, we put out the slides and started to get things unpacked and put away. Hooked up the sewer hose, water, electric and got the RV leveled.  So far so good!
We decided not to spend the first night here as we still had a few things to settle at the  rental house.

September 17, 2010

Friday

I've created a binder of all the booklets given to us with the RV.  It is now known as the "RV Bible" I'm sure this will come in handy and be used many times in the coming months.

We are slowly getting things where we think we want them.  I'm sure this is going to take some time.  Should the dishes go there, or there?  It'll be trial and error for a while. Paul turned on the hot water, air conditioner and we were set for a day of making this our home.  Six hours later, still no hot water.  Now what could the problem be?  Did a check on the tank with the release valve, yep, there is water in it.  Time to pull out the trusted RV bible.  Seems there is this very little on/off switch we forgot to flip.  Wow, once the water heater was turned on, we had hot water for showers within 15 minutes!  The marvels of modern science!  Hot showers, time for bed.  This has been a a very busy day.

Hung the Tulip stain glass in the window, over the table.  Does this make it officially home?

September 18, 2010

Saturday

A new day and since we now have hot water, I decided to test out the washer/dryer.  Want to make sure everything is working before we hit the road.  On checking the holding tanks, Paul noticed that one of the two grey tanks was full.  Okay no problem, maybe we didn't open the valve when we hooked up the sewer.  Time for a valve check!  Nope, valves are open.  Checked the RV Forums hoping to get an answer.  Seems we have another valve, but where?  Under the slide? Behind the wheels, under the carriage were all suggestions of places to look.  Nope, can't find it!  Another call out to the dealer.  They said the same thing!  It's right there, under the slide behind the wheel.  Well, Paul climbed under and looked.  No luck.  So I climbed under to have a look.  Nope, can't find it!   Called the dealer back, "We can't find it"  They went to check another model and will get back to us.  I climbed under again, bound and determined to find the notorious elusive grey tank valve!  Under the carriage I go.  Do you know how many spiders decide this is a good place to catch a meal?  Too many for me.  Trying to avoid the spider, I banged my head.  Paul bent down behind the second slide to check on me, lo and behold, he spotted the valve!  It's right there!  In fact, there is a small sticker on the outside of the slide that clearly states "Grey Water"  A quick call back to the dealer to let him know we found it!

Did a load of laundry.  The washer/dryer worked great.  No leaks, no overflow, one more thing gets checked off the list.

In the late afternoon we had a tremendous downpour of rain with wind, thunder and lightening.  This was actually great as it gave us time to make sure there were no leaks anywhere.  Watched some TV and spent the night listening to the rain pitter patter on the roof.  

Charlie has taken residency sitting on the counter in the living room, keeping watch over all we are doing.   A quiet evening, a day of rest ahead.  Can't wait to see what next week brings! 

Jo

Traveling with Charlie

In April 2010, Ann, my mom, 89 years, 360 days old, left this world while wrapped in my arms.

Momma, Charlie and Jo

My mom loved adventures and traveling.  Until the last year of her life, she traveled near and far, visiting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, Florida to California and everywhere in between.  She took great joy in discovering new places and meeting new friends. One thing she instilled in me was to enjoy life, "Live life!", "From the moment you are born, you start dying", she repeated this several times to me as the years went by.

The last few months of her life, she took to carrying around her beloved teddy bear, Charlie.  Charlie would be held close to her chest when the pain was bad and added comfort in her last days.  Charlie was passed on to me,  "Take Charlie, walk the beaches, climb the mountains, explore the woods".

In October, Paul, Charlie and I are setting off to see the world, in part, as a loving memorial to my mom. Along the way we will visit with family and friends, see new things and meet new people.

We will walked the beaches, climb the mountains and explore the woods.
Most importantly we will "Live life"

Thank you for visiting our blog.  We hope you will enjoy sharing in our travels with Charlie. -   Jo

The Road Less Traveled

The Road Less Traveled by Kit McCallumen

How oft we must bear the challenges of life;
The endless roller coaster between happiness and sorrow;
The constant ups and downs of daily strife.
And always the question remains .... why?

Life is not an easy road for most;
It twists and turns with many forks in the road,
Although always, and inevitably, we are given a choice ...

Do we turn to the right ... or the left?
Do we take the high road ... or the low road?
Do we take the easy path ... or the difficult one?

Decisions are not easy for those struggling for direction ...
And sometimes the many choices and signs become overwhelming.

While standing at a crossroads in life,
The urge is to take the most comfortable path;
The road with least resistance ...
The shortest or most traveled route.

And yet, if we've been down that comfortable road before;
Have gleaned its lessons in life, and learned from our experiences;

Do we yet again follow the known?
Or does our destiny lie in another direction?

The fear of the road less traveled is tangible and all too real;
It manifests itself in many ways,
And tends to cloud the issues that might otherwise be clear.

It is in these times of confusion,
That we must seek peace and solitude;

Time to contemplate on our life,
Our experiences and our choices past;
Time to look back, and reflect on what we have learned
Without fear or confusion.

For only each of us knows our own personal thoughts;
Our unique past and personal history;
The experiences that brought us to the crossroads we now face.

We can always learn a small degree from others experiences,
And yet ... no one person can walk in our shoes,
Others know not, the trials and tribulations faced in private ...

For each is individual ... unique ... and personal.

And that is why ... while standing at a crossroads,
Only "we" can formulate the decision for ourselves;
The true direction that lies within;
The choices we must deliberate on with clarity and wisdom.

For it is only through personal reflection,
That we can now choose our destiny;
... Our next adventure;
... And the future we will embrace.