Classes of 2008 and 2009

[IYQ]

Today we started out by driving out to the Brewery which is about 2 miles off the main road up in the hills. We had planned on having lunch there and listening to their live cowboy music. When we got there they were serving beer but the music didn't start until after 3 PM and they don't serve food. So we had a beer then returned to town to have lunch at Kaw-Lija's then drove back out there for the music and more beer. I declined on the beer. I don't drink beer unless I'm eating Pizza and nobody brought Pizza. We had gone to a Farmers market before all this so I took the gals back to there respective rigs so they could put their produce away and returned to the State Park. I was beat so that bed looked pretty inviting. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Sorry Steve.

[Wanderin]

I figured it was time I wrote something. Not really too much to say. Weather is gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous except it could cool down a tad but can't complain too much since it's cool at night and warm during the day. We were planning on heading to Oregon coast on Monday but think Terry's heading to Arizona instead. Why is it nothing ever works out as planned? That's about all I know. Hope everyone is having a great time, traveling safe and behaving themselves. Well, really you don't have to behave yourself because none of us would really know anyway. I'll be kind of glad when summer is over and kids are back in school and parents are back at work. :~)

[donf888]

So far (from AZ & CA), so good... Mom's stabilized, though we got her on Hospice last Sat. So, we're in OH visiting for the next little while.

 

While visiting Elkhart/Shipshewana area, ordered up a new couch (they put in 76" jack-knife, when they shouda put in a 68" unit with sturdy-but-removable arms; also, visited Mor/Ryde factory for inspection (the IS suspension has "moderate" wear, GREAT news!), discovered the hydraulic lines (for disc brakes) were not optimal, AND one had just broken, again (third time for that wheel position)... so, had them re-plumb the lines (for $200, they're now behind the frame rails, with no hard lines beyond the flex-line connecting to the calipers), since we needed to repair and bleed the lines for one wheel! Also, had them repack the bearings all around, spent two nights (with their amazing hospitality -- they bring in lunch every day, have 30a hookups for overnight guests) getting all the running gear in shape (one new rotor with caliper & pads, plus all 4 brake lines freshly re-plumbed, annual wheel re-packed with fresh grease), AND four-wheel alignment (there were corrections needed, though only one tire showed a toe-out wear pattern).

 

That's about it, for now; hoping we've finished paying our "taxes" for this year of traveling. We now have abit over 70K miles since 2007 when the RV was built... considering we did over 50K the first 3 years. We seem to be settling down to about 10k per year, though we'll probably do 15k (again) when we return to Alaska.

 

Cheers (from OH/MI),

Don

[Freddy & Delcie]

I just wrote a long post and as I signed our names it went away, dont know what I did. We are still at Vallecito Lake in the mtns of Colo. The monsoon rains have started and it rains every afternoon late, Bueatyfull in the mornings tho. Just five more weeks and we will have the season done, getting hitch pretty bad. We are missing ya'll. Hope everyone is doing good and having FUN!!!

 

LIFE IS GOOD!!!

 

Freddy and Delcie and Heidi

[steved44]

Well it's been a long time since I posted, but we were in Canada (way east, I didn't know there was another time zone out there) , and our satellite broke. Hmmmmmm I had replaced a transmitter on it back in Oklahoma in May, and that seemed to have fixed the problem, but not so it seems. We got on one time in Rimouski, Quebec on the St. Lawrence river, for about 45 minutes, and that was it. Also our phones were .90 a minute so we didn't communicate very much, and sure couldn't spend a couple of hours on tech support. This area is a lot more rural then anybody thinks, and just finding a place to have any RV work done is a challenge. The ice maker went out on our Dometic fridge, and the closest place to warranty it is in Concord, Mass.

Had a great time north of the border, and the old walled city of Quebec lived up to it's name. Go much farther east and there is a big shortage of roads. We were planning on going to Halifax, but that would have put us too far East and we would have to drive too far South in Maine to be able to get back to Burlington Vermont in time for our flight to LA for my niece's wedding. Dang, that sentence wore me out too!! We made it back to Plattsburgh, NY and got the bus serviced, oil, filters etc and then bought a Verizon hot spot to fix our internet problem. The satellite may be history, as I don't know if it's worth putting anymore money into it. Back when we first bought it, cell phone towers weren't so prolific and verizon was not in Oklahoma so we opted for the Motosat. Now we'll see how the hot spot thing goes. I had to update the wireless receiver in our PC because it was too old to communicate with the hot spot, but the printer, kindles, and my laptop worked fine. I didn't invest in a Wilson antenna yet, but that will probably be on the want list in the near future.

 

It's been a little warm and humid up here, but today it was cloudy and cool with a few rain showers. We are going to run over to Lake Placid area tomorrow and check that out. I have a friend who has a place up there and might need some company. Have to check on his cranberry juice supply...

 

Sounds like everyone is doing pretty good. Hope you all have fun wherever you are. Got to go watch a little more Olympics and then catch a Steve. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

[sandsys]

We're on the road! Sort of. We're RVing! Sort of. We drove our car to Texas to finalize plans for my snowbird rig. We are now driving back to Minnesota. LONG drive for a 3 1/2 hour meeting but we accomplished so much in that meeting it was probably worth it. Now I just have to stay sane until October when we make the drive down again to pick up the rig. Then Dave gets to make the drive back to Minnesota alone and I get to Go RVing!

 

Linda Sand

[mskay]

We're on the road! Sort of. We're RVing! Sort of. We drove our car to Texas to finalize plans for my snowbird rig. We are now driving back to Minnesota. LONG drive for a 3 1/2 hour meeting but we accomplished so much in that meeting it was probably worth it. Now I just have to stay sane until October when we make the drive down again to pick up the rig. Then Dave gets to make the drive back to Minnesota alone and I get to Go RVing!

 

Linda Sand

Good luck with all that stuff! So much to look forward to! Congrats.

[mskay]

I figured it was time I wrote something. Not really too much to say. Weather is gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous except it could cool down a tad but can't complain too much since it's cool at night and warm during the day. We were planning on heading to Oregon coast on Monday but think Terry's heading to Arizona instead. Why is it nothing ever works out as planned? That's about all I know. Hope everyone is having a great time, traveling safe and behaving themselves. Well, really you don't have to behave yourself because none of us would really know anyway. I'll be kind of glad when summer is over and kids are back in school and parents are back at work. :~)

I second that thought! I asked some kids selling cherries today when school starts? Here its after the 1st of September. We'll be gone by then. For most of the country, it's coming up and I was in hopes that this would be about the last vaca weekend! Hope hope. We are sitting pretty tight, conserving on the money and recouping from the downsize. I second your weather report. I'm holding my breath that when we head to Elkhart Indiana the storms stay at bay! Next week will be a little busier. A trip to Glacier, a trip to Libby, Thursday night the Northwest Montana Fair and Rodeo.. so I'm resting up. Today we took a little ride and I saw a black bear munching on the Huckleberries right by the road. Cherries are about done. Party on crew! We need stories for the winter!!!!

[mskay]

I just wrote a long post and as I signed our names it went away, dont know what I did. We are still at Vallecito Lake in the mtns of Colo. The monsoon rains have started and it rains every afternoon late, Bueatyfull in the mornings tho. Just five more weeks and we will have the season done, getting hitch pretty bad. We are missing ya'll. Hope everyone is doing good and having FUN!!!

 

LIFE IS GOOD!!!

 

Freddy and Delcie and Heidi

 

Missin you too! Glad you're ok....we'll catch ya somewhere along the line. :} take care you two!!!

[mskay]

Well it's been a long time since I posted, but we were in Canada (way east, I didn't know there was another time zone out there) , and our satellite broke. Hmmmmmm I had replaced a transmitter on it back in Oklahoma in May, and that seemed to have fixed the problem, but not so it seems. We got on one time in Rimouski, Quebec on the St. Lawrence river, for about 45 minutes, and that was it. Also our phones were .90 a minute so we didn't communicate very much, and sure couldn't spend a couple of hours on tech support. This area is a lot more rural then anybody thinks, and just finding a place to have any RV work done is a challenge. The ice maker went out on our Dometic fridge, and the closest place to warranty it is in Concord, Mass.

Had a great time north of the border, and the old walled city of Quebec lived up to it's name. Go much farther east and there is a big shortage of roads. We were planning on going to Halifax, but that would have put us too far East and we would have to drive too far South in Maine to be able to get back to Burlington Vermont in time for our flight to LA for my niece's wedding. Dang, that sentence wore me out too!! We made it back to Plattsburgh, NY and got the bus serviced, oil, filters etc and then bought a Verizon hot spot to fix our internet problem. The satellite may be history, as I don't know if it's worth putting anymore money into it. Back when we first bought it, cell phone towers weren't so prolific and verizon was not in Oklahoma so we opted for the Motosat. Now we'll see how the hot spot thing goes. I had to update the wireless receiver in our PC because it was too old to communicate with the hot spot, but the printer, kindles, and my laptop worked fine. I didn't invest in a Wilson antenna yet, but that will probably be on the want list in the near future.

\

Was wondering about you guys and if you got your snoot in the disappearing cream. Glad you're having an adventure. That way we'll know whether to go there or not! Our weather is Hot in the Daytime and Cool at night. Just saw New York News - they had a Tornado on Long Island! Crazy.... We're headed to Indiana the 1st of Sept. and I pray the storms stay away then.... be safe. I like my MIFI a lot and haven't had very many places that it was weak. Have 4G here in Kalispell and it's great! IYQ is playing Steve....Zzzzzzzzzzzzz so you better get back in your place!

It's been a little warm and humid up here, but today it was cloudy and cool with a few rain showers. We are going to run over to Lake Placid area tomorrow and check that out. I have a friend who has a place up there and might need some company. Have to check on his cranberry juice supply...

 

Sounds like everyone is doing pretty good. Hope you all have fun wherever you are. Got to go watch a little more Olympics and then catch a Steve. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

[IYQ]

The gals were tuckered out from all the running around on Friday so one of them elected to sit it out all day Saturday. The other went to lunch with me and was going to come out and share a small watermellon with me in the after noon. But, a grandson showed up to visit so that never happened. Instead, we went out for dinner them came back to her place and watched the movie "Avatar". Great animation but not much of a story theme. After the movie (10 PM) We ate the watermellon and yacked some then I excused myself and came on home. I had a few chores to do before bed but finally got to play "Steve about 1 AM.

[mskay]

Don't know what happened to my reply to your post, but anyway..........glad you surfaced again, thought maybe you'd been playing in that disappearing cream a little too much! Sorry about the sat. but I really like my MIFI so far and haven't been anywhere that I haven't had service so far since I got mine in May. I'm sure it can happen, but there's lots more Verizon territory and lots more towers all over the place. Hope you like it. The only complaint I have is the battery doesn't stay up good enough, but if ya have elec. no problem. IYQ is missin ya too....he's pretending to be you all the time!!! Glad you're ok and having a good time. The thing about service is Nation wide I think. I have had trouble getting any appt up here. We are headed to Indiana and the Thor factory when we leave here. Will be in Elkhart the 10th of Sept. Probably for a couple weeks and then head for Arizona. Take care a safe travels.

[mskay]

I updated my Blog last night. Got some pretty cool pics from the surrounding area, and actually saw a bear in the wild eating Huckleberries in the bushes! Stoked me up and I'm ready to go to Glacier tomorrow. my blog addy is www.kayndan.blogspot.com

Have fun and safe travels everybody!

[bobsallyh]

MSKAYNDAN, your Verizon will be good in Libby and several miles up Rt 37. Then again at Osprey Point Boat Ramp on Rt 37. That is about it until getting near the bridge that crosses Lake Koocanusa as you are going toward Rexford. Last year there was temporary service at the juction of Fisher Rd. and Rt 37 when there was a fire several miles away and they set up a temporary tower for the fire camp near Blackwells Guide Service. We just finished 2 weeks at COE Blackwell Flats Rec area on the Kootenai River just below the dam. One of our favorite areas.

[palamine]

Ah, Tina and Jeff have landed safely in EH land. Happy to be here. Said they haven't traveled that far in quite a while. They were impressed with the mountains along the Coquahalla Hwy. I work until 8:00 pm and then we will have FIRE. Your ears may be burning

[Sandie & Jim]

Still in Helena. This Saturday some of my high school classmates are coming to town and we're going to take the tour train and the Gates of the Mountains boat ride. Should be a lot of fun. And once again our plans have changed somewhat. We were going to leave from Billings after Jim's doctor appts on Monday and head for AZ. But we've decided to come back to Helena until after Labor Day and then head down a different direction. So glad we're flexible. At least about plans anyhow.

[Guest coldsmoke]

the further adventures of mike and deb and smokey continue.............

 

has any one seen the movie RV with robin williams... well we just lived it.. we had a leaky black water valve replaced.. so far so good... yesterday we went to empty tanks,, and nothing come out !!!!!

 

we called rv place they said probaly a bad new valve , BRING IT BACK. Deb wakes up at 5 am and decides maybe its clogged. so we go out , deb takes a plumber snake puts it up the opening !! ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE...........ACTUALLY ALL CRAP BREAKS LOSE.... SO MUCH FOR TP RATED FOR RVS. things got a little smelly.. deb said a few choice words (at me) but it does work now . (deb needs shower)

 

im beginning to hate rvs.. !!!

hopefully deb fixed it good

all else is well here, should snow any day. we head back out end of sept,, hope to meet up with all.

 

mike and deb

[IYQ]

Today was one of those day I should NOT have gotten up. I got up and had my breakfast then started to get my trailer ready to head out. My Black tank was near full and I knew it wouldn't last over the weekend. I had planned on going over to Raton, NM to Sugarite Canyon State Park. But remembered they didn't get any phone signal at all up in that canyon so I headed South. Things were going along fine until I got 5 miles north of US 60. (The Highway Dave C. lives on.) Then BANG, I popped the forward curbside tire on the trailer. I called my free roadside service that comes with my Vehicle Insurance and 35 minutes later they had a local towing service there to change tires for me. Just my luck it happened right in front of a cattle feed lot. The aroma was not very pleasing and the flies were so thick, the inside of my truck was black with them. It only took the guy 30 minutes to change the tire after combining his two jacks and My bottle jack to get the wheel high enough to come off the trailer. He took my spare down and found that I hadn't be keeping the maintenance up on it and it only had 40 lbs of air. The air tank he brought wasn't at high enough pressure to blow it back up to 65 lbs so I got my compressor out and turned on the inverter to get 100 AC to run it with. That worked and now I though I was ready to hit the road again. But the truck wouldn't start. Evidently I had left the switch on while rolling the window up and down trying to clear the flies out. It must have been on about an hour. With the outside temperature being 95 degrees it was probably trying to run the blower in the AC, Plus the Radio and my GPS units and I couldn't hear it because of all the noise on the Interstate. Fortunately the Tow Truck guy hadn't left yet so he turned his vehicle around and gave me a jump start. That worked out fine. I had planned on staying at the Kiva Horse Motel which was just down the road 5 miles but with a dead battery and the only spare tire on the rig being one load range less than the rest of the tires I decided to keep on going. By the time I got to Caballo, State Park (Riverside unit) just south of Truth or Consequences I was getting pretty pooped so I pulled in to Caballo and unhooked the truck and turned it around so that if it didn't start when I need to finish my trip I could jump start it with the trailer batteries. The River that is the boundry of the park is low so the Ranchers cattle are wandering around in the RV Park. They don't cause any problems but it's best to watch where you step. If my truck battery holds its charge and starts without a jump in the morning I'll pull the trailer down to the main park and dump then come back a stay a while. I have my choice of sites with or without electric so I think I'll just cool it a fee days. The tires are all fairly new but when I get to Deming I'll have them all replaced with Good Year or Michaelon. When I had the bent axil trouble I put cheap Chinese tires on to make sure I had the wear problem solved. I guess I'm paying now for putting the cheapies on. Oh Well, BLT. that's not Bacon Lettuce and Tomato. It's Better Luck Tomorrow although the former would taste very good right now.

[IYQ]

the further adventures of mike and deb and smokey continue.............

 

has any one seen the movie RV with robin williams... well we just lived it.. we had a leaky black water valve replaced.. so far so good... yesterday we went to empty tanks,, and nothing come out !!!!!

 

we called rv place they said probaly a bad new valve , BRING IT BACK. Deb wakes up at 5 am and decides maybe its clogged. so we go out , deb takes a plumber snake puts it up the opening !! ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE...........ACTUALLY ALL CRAP BREAKS LOSE.... SO MUCH FOR TP RATED FOR RVS. things got a little smelly.. deb said a few choice words (at me) but it does work now . (deb needs shower)

 

im beginning to hate rvs.. !!!

hopefully deb fixed it good

all else is well here, should snow any day. we head back out end of sept,, hope to meet up with all.

 

mike and deb

Mike: I use regular Charmin TP but I don't use those caustic pefumed dropins to keep the tank from stinking. I use about a bottle cap full of Rid-X the stuff you use to keep Septic tanks functioning right. To keep the bacteria alive I don't use any anti bacterial soaps or any bleach in any of my sinks. The Bacteria and Emzines in the Rid-x liquidify the TP and it dumps clean every time. Rid-X doesn't work as good as some of the other Bacteria based products but it's easy to get. Even Wal-Mart carries it all the time. It is also important NOT to dump your tanks unless they are at least 3/4 full so that the pressure of the water in the tank (Weight) will carry any solids left, out with the force of the liquid. And now that I've sounded off just watch, I'll have trouble dumping tomorrow when I take it down to the Main park.

Edited August 15, 2012 by IYQ

[ccsimpson]

8/15 to 9/15 at Sea Mist campground at Dam Neck military campground in Va, Beachg, VA. We are back in Va. Beach (which used to be home) to visit family. It has been 18 months since we left the last time, headed to FL, then over to AZ for the next winter. We left the west in July , and boy do I miss it!! Had a wonderful 18 past months. Sure miss those mountains!

 

Jim and Sandie, enjoy the Gates to the Mountains boat ride. It is a really nice boat trip. If you have time in Helena, there should be local info on a horse wagon ride in the mountains and dinner in a teepee. That is loads of fun and really good food. I think it is something you would enjoy.

 

Carol

[sailbad]

Still in Helena. This Saturday some of my high school classmates are coming to town and we're going to take the tour train and the Gates of the Mountains boat ride. Should be a lot of fun. And once again our plans have changed somewhat. We were going to leave from Billings after Jim's doctor appts on Monday and head for AZ. But we've decided to come back to Helena until after Labor Day and then head down a different direction. So glad we're flexible. At least about plans anyhow.

 

Hey you two.... Unless you are planning on staying high in the mtns of Arizona. I wouldn't rush that direction. Even after Labor day, it's hot down there. I had a place for years just North of Parker and found the temps didn't drop until the later part of October.

 

 

 

 

[Sandie & Jim]

Hey you two.... Unless you are planning on staying high in the mtns of Arizona. I wouldn't rush that direction. Even after Labor day, it's hot down there. I had a place for years just North of Parker and found the temps didn't drop until the later part of October.

 

 

 

 

 

Dave - this is not by choice, that's for sure. Jim has to have some more cancer scans done to make sure there isn't any of that stuff hanging around anywhere. They wanted us to come down in August (that 3 month rule) but we convinced them 4 months would be okay. After the doc appts we plan on heading to northern AZ where hopefully we can find some cooler temps for a month or so.

 

I sure hope everybody has gotten rid of Murphy. Can't believe all the problems you all are having. Be safe.

[Wanderin]

Dave - this is not by choice, that's for sure. Jim has to have some more cancer scans done to make sure there isn't any of that stuff hanging around anywhere. They wanted us to come down in August (that 3 month rule) but we convinced them 4 months would be okay. After the doc appts we plan on heading to northern AZ where hopefully we can find some cooler temps for a month or so.

 

I sure hope everybody has gotten rid of Murphy. Can't believe all the problems you all are having. Be safe.

 

 

I'm getting itchy feet pretty bad. It's just August and beautiful here now but I'm about bored spitless. Oh .. there's lots of work to do but I'm not interested in doing that anymore. Kids are all busy and pretty much working and doing what they need to. I miss the RV bunch and totally dislike the weekend crowds. We still don't know where we're heading but just that we'll probably head someplace about mid-September. We stupidly planned a get together September 8th so probably wouldn't be smart to leave before that. I'd like to do Mesa Verde again but that's on the Jell-o list. All these decisions are getting to us.

[IYQ]

I went to Wally World this morning in T of C, NM and put a new battery in my truck. Now that the battery will get the truck running again I decided to put some new wiper blades on also, so I can see where I'm going. I ran into some ran last night and was sort of driving by radar for a while. I think I'll hole up here until at least Monday. I'll order the parts for my hitch and have them sent to Deming so they will be there when I get there. I'm also going to replace all the tires on my trailer with American made tires, Maybe French. Good Year or Michelin might be more reliable than those cheap Chinese jobs that are on there now. It's 102 outside so I'll just set here in the trailer with the AC running full blast and watch the cows wandering by until the sun goes down tonight.

[Sandie & Jim]

I'm getting itchy feet pretty bad. It's just August and beautiful here now but I'm about bored spitless. Oh .. there's lots of work to do but I'm not interested in doing that anymore. Kids are all busy and pretty much working and doing what they need to. I miss the RV bunch and totally dislike the weekend crowds. We still don't know where we're heading but just that we'll probably head someplace about mid-September. We stupidly planned a get together September 8th so probably wouldn't be smart to leave before that. I'd like to do Mesa Verde again but that's on the Jell-o list. All these decisions are getting to us.

 

I know exactly what you mean about missing the RV bunch. We have this beautiful lot to sit on so Jim can fish but it's like being in a stix and bricks and I really am so ready for a change. So even going to AZ in the heat works for me. It was so fun going out to dinner with Steve and Cathy because they know what it's like to live in an RV. Most of the rest of the people we've been catching up with think we're nuts.