kb0zke

Solar panels are in the truck, which is at Arizona Sun RV Park. $300 moves them from my truck to yours.

We're at Arizona Sun RV Park. The towbar is with us. $250 moves it from my truck to yours.

Got in, set up a bit, and headed over to the Happy "Hour". Saw several people we knew and met new people. Bit Tent tomorrow.

I got an email this afternoon from our SD mail service asking us to write to our State Senators to vote for the amended SB17 (SB17A). The amended version makes it clear that we DO have the right to vote in SD. Unfortunately, the email also said they could be voting on SB17A today. I immediately sent an email to the Senator that represents our address, but not sure if it got there before the vote, or if it would even be read before the vote.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Happy "Hour" tomorrow afternoon. Four of the six solar panels will be installed in early February, when we get back here after Q. The other two are listed for sale in the Classifieds. I'd really like for them to go away soon.

I bought six of these panels, thinking they would all fit. The installer says only four will fit, so I have two extras. I bought them from A1 Solar last month. I'm in Apache Junction, AZ right now, headed to Q next week. $300 for the pair.

Give some thought to what you actually can tow. "A motorhome can tow anything smaller than itself" isn't true. Somewhere in your information is how much it can tow. That will be limited by how much the MH already weights (remember Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating) and the receiver limits.

Within those limits, what sort of vehicle do you want to tow? It will be our daily driver while you are on the road, but it can also do more. If you are not into off-road adventures, and are interested only in spending as little as possible on fuel, look at one of the small cars. If you are into extreme off-road adventures, set up a Jeep or similar vehicle for that. Most of us are somewhere between those two extremes. Our last towed was a 2015 Lincoln MKT. Good fuel economy and very comfortable ride, and a surprising ability to swallow quilts.

In 2020 we did a two-week build at Hobbs, NM with Care-A-Vanners. When it was over we returned to our lot at The Ranch. As I was doing the outside stuff I noticed a green area to the lower right. Huh? I moved my had into that area and my hand was behind the green blob. I went into the Foretravel and told Jo Ann that I thought I had a detached retina. This was Sunday evening, and we both had regularly scheduled eye doctor visits in Roswell the next day. We headed to the hospital in Artesia, wrongly thinking that, if it was a detached retina, they would probably send me to the hospital in Roswell. The various people I talked to in Artesia didn't know any more than I did, and they even called the University hospital in Albuquerque. That hospital said to go home and tell the eye doctor about it the next day, so we did.

Jo Ann got her regular eye exam. The doctor looked in my eye, then left the room. A few minutes later we were both called into the office and told that we were to head up to Albuquerque immediately. You well-traveled Escapees know that Roswell is about an hour north of The Ranch, and ABQ is several hours past Roswell. We headed back to The Ranch, packed a suitcase, and headed back north. The next day I saw an eye doctor at the University hospital, who said I would have surgery the next day. Surgery went well, and after a quick checkup, we were on our way back to The Ranch.

This was February, 2020. Shortly after we got back, the governor shut New Mexico down. Jo Ann's new glasses were delivered to the eye doctor in Roswell, but they didn't want her to get them. She objected to that, and eventually they decided that, since she had already paid for them, they had to deliver them to her, so she was permitted to walk in, get the new glasses fitted, and immediately leave. I couldn't get a regular eye exam because that wasn't considered medically necessary by the governor.

In July of 2020 we left The Ranch for my two-year stint as the Interim part-time Head Teacher at Trinity Lutheran School, Riverton, WY. As we were leaving Roswell, heading toward I-25, the eye doctor's office called. The governor had finally decided to allow eye exams. I told them we were heading out, and they asked when we would be back. I said two years. I got the eye exam in Riverton.

Between Carlsbad and Artesia, NM. Or, as some say, between the bats (Carlsbad Caverns) and the aliens (Roswell is about 60 miles north). It is one of the Escapees co-op parksw.

On our way to Quartzsite. We'll be staying at the Arizona Sun RV Park.

Where is that? We're on our way to Quartzsite, be there the last week of January, then work our way back to The Ranch for a couple of months.

Thanks, Kirk. We're planning on getting there as soon as we can, and it doesn't take long to get set up, so we'll be volunteering as quickly as we can.

Well, things change. The guy who was going to install the solar panels decided they were too big to fit on the roof, so I'm driving around with six solar panels in the back of the truck. There is another guy near Phoenix who says he can install then using a different system. We're going to meet up before we get to Quartzsite, then he will install them on our way back to The Ranch. We'll see what happens.

I want to add a radio or two in our 2016 F350. So I don't have to reinvent the wheel, has anyone done this? I'll need a pair of places where I can get ~20A. Many years ago it was fairly easy to find a place, but lately there seems to be a lot more stuff in the way.

We successfully got registered on the 10th. Didn't see anything about volunteering, but we know Steve and Anna, so we'll talk directly to them and see what they say.

Okay, thanks.

Jo Ann has a set of plastic ones that we use. They are smooth on one side and rough on the other. Put the smooth side down and the rough side holds the item to be cut. Each color board is a specific use. I know a couple of the colors, and ask about anything else. If I need to get one for her she tells me what color to get. I pull out what I think is the correct color, show it to her, and she either says yes or no. I have a bit of color blindness, so sometimes two colors will look enough alike to me that I'm not sure which is which.

Apparently, after a certain period of inactivity the system automatically logs me out. However, I typed in my user name, tabbed to the password, typed it in, hit ENTER and I was in.

Hmmm, I always log out when I'm done. I'll try staying logged in and see what happens.

"Or you could do like we have, enable WiFi calling on your Verizon or AT&T phone when you are in a non service area and continue to talk, text and stream on your existing phone." What does your WIFI connect to?

It used to be that I'd type in my user name, hit tab and type in my password, then hit enter and I'd be in. Lately, though, I type in my user name, hit tab and type in the password, hit enter, and "Something went wrong." I then type in my user name, hit tab and type in my password, hit enter and I'm in. I've tried clicking on the password field, then the log in button, but get the same thing. Once in a great while it works as it used to, but most of the time I have to try twice to log in.

Probably a longshot, but have you asked Itasca for a roof plan? Granted, my trailer is a 2022, but Grand Design emailed me the roof diagram within a few minutes of my request.

Jo Ann and I will be around the last week of January. We're staying at Arizona Sun RV Park since we're not yet set up for boondocking. I'll be monitoring 146.520.

We have one available. Here's the Blue Ox link: https://www.blueox.com/product/bx7380-alpha-2-tow-bar/

We'll be at the Bernalillo KOA until Tuesday, then down to Hacienda RV Resort in Las Cruces for a week. Starting on 24 January and lasting for a week we'll be at Arizona Sun RV Park, Quartzsite. Not sure where we'll be between Las Cruces and Quartzsite yet, but somewhere between the two. I give where we'll be because a towbar doesn't ship nicely. Better if you pick it up. Yes, I can meet you somewhere along the way.

Price? Good question. Blue Ox wants over a thousand for one now. We got this one in 2021 at the factory for half that. Make me a good offer.

It would also help if States would post what speed to slow to when passing those protected vehicles. Some say to slow X mph. Does that mean X mph less than what I'm already driving, or X less than the posted speed limit? I drive a maximum of 65 mph when towing, and usually more like 60. If the sign says to slow 20 mph, and the speed limit is 70, do I slow to 40 mph or 50 mph?

I do pull over on four-lane highways, and frequently I'm passed on the right by someone who thinks that I just moved out of their way. They either don't see or don't care about the vehicle on the shoulder.