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Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy 2010

I found this card on the internet which conveys Sandy’s and my wishes to each of you for 2010.A Blessing for the New Year

Lord, as a New Year begins
We come to you and ask for your blessing
We pray that you would give us joy to fill our days
And peace to fill our hearts and love to fill our lives.
Thank you for the plans you have for us in the New Year.Thanking God for you and praying your new year is blessed in every way.

Tomorrow Sandy and I celebrate our 10th year of full timing. If you had asked us way back when would we last this long I feel we both would have said no. Not only have we survived ten years we are looking forward to ten more. We have met and made so many friends during this time. We’ve seen this wonderful country of ours which had we not chosen this lifestyle we would have missed. We have also established many friends over the internet. We have not personally met most of you but from following your journals we feel like we know you. Since we have not done that much traveling latley because of our ageing mothers we feel like we’ve been to the many places you have taken us through publishing your journals. We thank you for that.

inmaSIRTXE We’ve had a light rain for most part of the day which I’m sure hampered our crowd. Tomorrow its suppose to be warmer and mostly sunny. The bowl games today were good and for the most part played in excellent weather. Lets hope tomorrow bowls will follow suite.

I’ve managed to meet the goal of publishing something everyday for the month of December. Glad that's out of the way and we can get back to normal again.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

The Eve Before New Years Eve

Our cloud cover gradually gave way to a sunny evening. We didn't get as warm as the weatherman predicted. Tonight is going to be a full moon and as I understand from reading one of Jerry’s recent blog it’s called a blue moon.

A blue moon is a full moon that is not timed to the regular monthly pattern. Most years have twelve full moons which occur approximately monthly, but in addition to those twelve full lunar cycles, each solar calendar year contains an excess of roughly eleven days compared to the lunar year. The extra days accumulate, so that every two or three years (on average about every 2.7154 years), there is an extra full moon. The extra moon is called a "blue moon." Different definitions place the "extra" moon at different times. In Jerry’s blog with Our life On Wheels this is the second full moon for the month of December with the first occurring on December 3rd. This moon being the thirteenth of the year.

This is our blue moon here at Canton tonight.
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It started out today looking like we were going to be scarce with vendors this month but as the day past they started pouring in to the grounds. Our rest of the week is suppose to be a little warmer with partly cloudy skies. With this being the last weekend for the deer hunters we should have a somewhat good showing of the wife's of the hunters. Now I don’t know about those that will be watching all them bowl games the next few days but our crowd we hope will make it worth our while this month. Usually the winter months are slow and we are happy campers if we make our expenses. Who knows maybe the blue moon will change all this and we end up with a good month.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Right Now It Doesn't Appear It’s Going to Happen

Snow that is. We’ve had rain most of the afternoon and right now it appears that's all we are going to have today. One of the neat things  about posting blogs though is you can always cover events after they happen in your next. This is particularly true for a guy like me that seems to always have trouble coming up with something to write about. Now take Al with the Bayfield Bunch and Jerry with Our Life on Wheels, they always have interesting blogs and photos. Take today's blogs for instance they both have great stories from going shopping and traveling The Western United States.
If the truth be known most of you can tell…. now here is a guy struggling to keep consecutive posts going. Which is as close to the truth as one can get. In my posting I wanted to reach one goal and that was to make a post for every day of a particular month. I chose December. I have managed to bore you to death thus far with only two days remaining.

We had some of Sandy’s home made chili tonight which was just what the weatherman ordered. Wait what's this…. Sandy just pulled out her brownie cake pan. Oh! boy some homemade brownies maybe tonight before bedtime. This is the first Holiday season that I can remember in a long time that Sandy was unable to do her goodie baking. The trip to Houston and dealing with the MH issue just put a wrench into that. It want hurt my feelings if she wants to play catch up now.

My friends across the way surprised me with this USMC Devil Dog dressed in his blues.
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I am Army but I was telling them about one of our RV Dreamer friends whose son had recently joined the Marine Corps and we had added his name to on our family prayer list. So, they surprised me with this “Build-a Buddy” bull dog dressed in Marine Corps blue.


Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Bitter Cold and A Chance of Snow Tomorrow

Slept in till nearly 7:30 am this morning. Sandy was already up and on her second cup of coffee. She said “you need to hurry and get dressed as our neighbors wants us to go have breakfast with them”. After breakfast we returned and finished setting up our booth. The high today reached 43F and we are supposed to drop back to the mid 20’s tonight. They finally got around to turning on the water for a brief period to allow us to fill our fresh water holding tank.

Our neighbors from Lufkin showed up and we helped them unload and set up their booth. Did some on line banking and watched a little TV the rest of the afternoon. Presently watching/listening to a good    Independence Bowl game between Georgia and Texas A&M. So, far through the first half the Aggies have outplayed the Bulldogs.  Sandy’s sister Pam and her husband Mike are at the game in Shreveport and I bet freezing to death. Yea, I know stats doesn't always till everything. 8468

           44      -       20

 

The weatherman is predicting a 70% chance of freezing precept and snow tomorrow evening. Then we should see a little warm up the rest of the week.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Canton First Monday Trade Days

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Here is an aerial view of the place Sandy and I travel to every month. I have placed a yellow push pin in the area (Pavilion 4000 Booth 4271) where we currently set up every month. There are approximately 7000 vendors that set up here each month. There is another six Pavilions know as Old Mill Market Place about 3/4 a mile from the main grounds where we are located.image  This area for some reason though never caught on like the main grounds have. We even had a booth there for about two years before moving back to the main grounds. The area across from Old Mill is known as Dog Town. They primarily sell animals here. Dogs (puppy mills) being the most popular. There is a saying about First Monday which is “if you can’t find it here it does not exist”.

image First Monday Trade Days. according to various sources, the tradition began with district court meetings held on the first Monday of each month or with the monthly visit of neighbors in the Confederate times. The custom began with the swapping of surplus stock by barter and grew to include casual bargaining for or swapping of dogs, antiques, junk, and donkeys on a 30-acre grounds. It is so popular Canton goes from a town of 5,100 to a town of over 300,000 during the first Monday weekend, making it the largest flea market in the world. In the past, due to the success of First Monday, the city of Canton had no property tax, however, as of 2006, that is no longer the case. 

We have been coming to First Monday Trade Days now for about 23 years. We did take off for a little over three years and traveled the US selling our crafts and seeing the sites this great country offers. One of the greatest reasons we've come here for so many years believe it or not is not the money but the friendship one builds here with their fellow vendors. We are like one big family. In fact this is where we met our friends Joe and Sherri of Somewhere in Time. We had already met Mark and Dortha with RVing with Poppa earlier at a craft show in Tulsa OK. They too did First Monday. We could hardly wait for each First Monday to come where we would gather with our friends for fellowship, story telling, good food and popping  bottle caps of your favorite brew. In fact I learned a trait from Joe that's called “Back Wash”. I would noticed when around Joe he never drank his bottle empty. There was always some left in the bottom of the bottle. I found out that this was his  “back Wash’ and you just don't drink that. I figure since it was diluted with his saliva the alcohol was no longer 100% so why waste the effort.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

A Day Of Not Much Going On

Our high today reached 53F which will be our warmest for the next four days. Those days will have highs in the mid 40s and lows in the mid 20’s. We had hoped they would have turned the water on here so we could fill our fresh water tank. No luck as tonight's low will be in the mid 20’s again. We do not normally travel with a full tank but this may be one of those months we probably should have filled up before leaving Houston. We will just have to wait and see what happens in the next several days.

Outside of watching three bowl games today we just hung out at the MH. I was able to get some more business records brought up to date where all I have to do now is turn all over to our CPA for this years tax reporting. Sandy did some reading and made a trip to Wally World for some groceries. Her BIL Mike got him a new Iphone 3GS for Christmas so she spent a lot of time today on the phone teaching him the in and outs of the phone. She shared her favorite Apps with him of which he down loaded many.

Oh, there was something I wanted to post in yesterdays blog. You may recall our backup monitor/radio/info center felled to deploy when we left for Houston last Saturday. Sandy and I spent hours trying to get this guy to deploy but were never successful. While driving to Canton yesterday it all of a sudden deployed on its on and has worked each time we have pressed the open/close button. I guess it had a loose connection and the road vibration fixed it or who knows. Any way we are happy campers once again as we felt partly blind when driving without the camera.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Travel Day To Canton

We leisurely got up this morning and started preparations for our move day to Canton TX. The weather had changed as we had little wind and no clouds. However, it was cold as I did the normal duties outside the home. Even with gloves my finger tips felt like they were going to fall off. We rolled out of the RV Park about 9:30 am and headed north were it was going to be much colder. We were right outside of Livingston when Sandy shouted brace yourself ( I had gotten up and went to the back of the coach) and down to the floor I went. I gathered myself and looked up both north bound lanes on Hwy 59 were shut down.

There were at least seven law enforcement units consisting of State Troopers, Sheriff and local Police cars with their bubblegum machines going on. There were two law officers standing in the outside lane in front of their car shooting the breeze. There was a K9 unite with a German Sheppard dog going all over a Ford Explorer. A drug bust Sandy said!  Now why would they block both lanes of traffic for a drug bust???? Go figure I guess they just didn't take into consideration the flowing traffic at highway speeds.

Who knows why they felt a need to close both lanes. On other drug busts we've seen they usually have the victim way off the shoulder of the road. And why on earth were there so many responders. My take was they had nothing better going on being it was Christmas Day. Sandy said had it not been for the car behind us taking the shoulder they would have piled into the back of us. There was an off ramp just ahead of us where we were able to make our way there and continued on our trip.

We made it to Canton without our low pressure light/buzzer going off so I guess our little experience earlier is behind us for now. Our fuel mileage by the way has been around 9 to 9.5 miles per gallon and that we are thankful for. We are all settled in here at the Canton Trade Days grounds. It’s suppose to get down to 28F here tonight so they have the water turned off. Good thing I thought this might be the case and put some in before we left.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas Everyone

christmas tree

From our family to yours, we extend our warmest thoughts and best wishes for a wonderful Merry Christmas and holiday season! We hope you have a great 2010. And lets not forget Jesus is the reason for the season.

The Roffe’s

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Some Quality Time With Mom

We were up this morning before 7 am. We had breakfast and Sandy did some laundry. We left for Moms around 9 am. I went through some more of her personal finances and set up some more bill paying for her on my computer. Just before lunch time there was a knock on her door and my cousin Joan and her husband Ronald from Camp Wood TX near Uvalde walked in the door. What a surprise for Mom and us of course.They are down visiting their kids and family and dropped in to see Mom. Joan is one of the girls I’ve mentioned before that really looks after my Mom. They too are in their Motor Home and are parked at an RV park east of Houston. We visited and got caught up on what's being happing on their 2500 acre ranch since we last visited them. Their ranch use to be a game ranch but now they have cut back on that and are just enjoying the good life. Since it was so close to lunch Mom invited them and us to have lunch with her. Our lunch was great and we were stuffed.

roadcar After lunch they left and we took Mom’s 1995 Buick Roadmaster to the auto shop for them to replace her serpentine belt. The owner of the shop immediately asked if the cars actual mileage (37000+) was correct. We assured him it was and it was rarely driven anymore. He handed us his business card and asked if we ever sell the car let him make the first offer.  By BIL Frank said this car was a classic and if we would have it detailed he felt we could get maybe $18,000 or better. Of course Mom isn’t ready to sell it just yet.

We left for the MH around 4pm as we are under a thunder storm/tornado alert till 9 pm tonight and wanted to get back before it settled in. Right now we have wind and heavy rain. I guess this is the same system that took down Al’s satellite dish the other night.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Six Hours + $305 = Nothing Found Wrong

Sandy and I were up early today as they were to take the MH back to the bay for more trouble shooting. Sure enough about 7:30 a young man showed up and asked if we were ready for him to pull it into the service bay. We left and drove down the road to a nearby Whataburger for breakfast and hurried back to Cummins as we wanted to catch the shop manager. We wanted a progress report and where they were with solving our low oil pressure problem. He said he hope to have an answer for us by noon today. This facility is a Cummins Coach Care facility and they had about ten motor homes including ours either in bays or out in the compound. Only one other couple from Canada was in the waiting room. They had a Tiffin Allegro Bus that the wheel bearing seal went out and threw oil all over his wheel well and brakes. They weren’t there long and was on their way again to the Valley. Sandy and I settled in for the wait and the wait and the wait.

While there for the past two days, we met James Porter who has been a truck driver for the past twenty five years. Very neat and knowledgeable guy. We were telling him our problems and he said that based on what we told him had we allowed the engine to stay shut down longer than we did the computer would probably had reset and our problem might have gone away. Shortly after noon Don the shop manager came in and said they have done all they could with the computer, checking the electronic oil pressure gauge and the mechanical gauge and could not find a problem. The only other step would be to tear the engine down (which he didn’t recommend based on what he knew) and look at the oil pump and some other related parts. He also advised because of the holidays they would probably need two weeks to do this. James asked if he could ask some questions in our behalf and naturally I said go for it. One of his  questions to the shop foreman was in regards to the electronic and manual gauges calibrations. Joe assured us they were in their proper working order and the range on the two were within 2 PSI of each other. James did a thumbs up and felt we would be alright. Of course there is no guarantee on anything but we felt we had some good advise and chose not to go into a engine tear down.

Before leaving Cummins we asked if we could leave the MH there while we did some errands. We had to go to the realtor office who's handling Mom’s home to sign a contract offer. This is great maybe we can get this behind us soon. After returning we connected the Jeep and drove back to our RV space in New Caney without incident. Tomorrow maybe we can get some quality visiting time with Mom. We also need to do some earns for her before heading out .

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Wrecker Tow Day To Cummins South Plains

Sandy and I were up at 6:15 am this morning. Today was our day to be towed to Cummins South Plains in Houston. We garbed a bowl of cherroies with blue berries for our breakfast. To our surprise our Road Service provider called exactly at 8 am advising that our wrecker would be here about 9:30. Oh good if we get there early enough maybe they will get us in a bay before 1pm. Well about 30 minutes later the wrecker company called and wanted some specifics about color, location etc. You know those kind of things one needs to know. Good thing he did as he was not made aware by our road service that we had an independent suspension and our front tires had to be cradled for towing. He said I do not have a wrecker that can do that. So…..back to square one. About 30 minutes later another wrecker service called and said they would have someone there in about an hour.

MH tow to Cummins 003 Somewhere a little after 10 am Darrel shows up with this big boy. Yep, I believe  he's big enough and he can cradle/lift from our front tires. About an hour and half later we were on our way. He had to remove my generator exhaust pipe before he could scoot the cradle/lift to the front wheels. He wasn’t a real happy camper about having to do this but he managed to it done. Also the air fitting he had on the wrecker air supply hose would not fit my connector. I told him that I had one and that made him smile. So…. check your parts box and make sure you have a male adapter that fits your air connection.

When we got up on Hwy 59 south Sandy and I felt he would take it MH tow to Cummins 006 easy maybe 55 mph. No… how about 60-70 mph. The MH rode behind like a champ and surprisingly things were not thrown around that bad inside the MH. Before arriving to Loop 610 they had one of those blinking/ flashing highway signs advising Loop 610 east was closed down due to and accident. Now what to do….. about 8 miles further south the wrecker exited off 59 and we took a back route to Cummins arriving around 12:45 pm. He proceeded to back the MH into a open space and started to disconnect the MH from the wrecker. I asked him if he was going to reinstall my exhaust pipe and drive shaft and he said normally Cummins would do that. I said yea for a fee they probably would. So, I went to the service desk to check in and the writer said they could do this and their labor rate was $103 per hour. When I got back to the MH I’ll be darn if that Sandy hadn’t talked him into doing this for us as he was under the MH installing the tail pipe and afterwards installed the driveshaft. To show our appreciation we bought him lunch. Yes, we are the last of the big spenders. When we got back from lunch Cummins had the MH in a bay. We really started feeling better about our chances of getting the problem solved so we could continue our visit with family. About 5 pm one of the service writers came in the customer waiting room advising they have not been able to diagnose the problem and we were welcome to spend the night in their compound. They lock the gate at 7 pm and there is no coming or going.

So, here Sandy and I set waiting on what adventures to expect tomorrow. I might add we have good 50 amp service but no sewer or water. However, our space is a lot better than that at the RV park we stayed at the last two nights.

MH tow to Cummins 001

Our RV space at RV park. Backed up to busy Highway 1485 with a sewer problem. Each timed I drained the gray and/or sewer we had a gusher. No concert pad all gravel and dirt.

MH tow to Cummins 008

Our space at Cummins South Plains. Backed up to Loop 610 with no sewer. All concrete. I would say all at no charge except we have no idea what this is going to end up costing. Also Loop 610 has a lot more traffic noise than 1485…. bummer.

Oh…. the life of an RV’er.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Good Visit With Mom

Sandy and I were up early this morning as we had a 8am date to eat breakfast with my Mom at the Rosemont Assisted Living facility.  Our breakfast was just great. They set us up in their guest dining room. We had eggs, beacon, sausage, toast and orange juice. While there I established some more of her finances to do electronically on my computer. My sisters husband Frank came over about 10 am to help me replace Mom’s battery in her 1995 Buick Roadmaster. With my sister not being able to drive since her major surgery about three months ago the battery just died. While the hood was up I happened to noticed that the Serpentine belt on her car was in major need of replacement. So, while here I will try to address that problem after we first learn what our problem is with the MH.

We started putting things up this evening so we don’t have a lot to do tomorrow when the wrecker comes to take us to a Cummins repair facility. Lets hope that is what going to come down tomorrow. Oh, we also had to meet my brother half way from his job to Rosemont to take him his house keys that fell out of his pocket while visiting this morning.

Sandy was able to get in her HEB grocery store fix this evening. Now this lady just loves wandering the aisles of an HEB Store. There meats and particularly fresh fruits and veggies are the best I’ve seen. Pricing is also reasonable. They carry a Smart Balance Movie style popcorn that is the best I’ve tasted. We haven’t found this brand in other stores. We stocked up on several boxes. They were also handing out food samples of their different lines and I was like an old grazing bull. Lets see pineapple, orange slice, cheese balls, wine, shrimp wrap, crackers, jelly and cheese. etc. You name it what ever they handed out I tried it.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

One _ _ _ _ of a Day!!!!!!!!!!!

What's that saying….” when life bombards you with lemons make lemonade”. Today our lemonade would be bitter. What a day of misfortunes.

Our morning started off great then when we cranked the engine and at that moment is when it all started. Our backup monitor did not open up. Checked fuses , connections and all I could think of it would not open up to show the backup monitor. It’ll play the radio or IPod Touch but no camera.We decided to go on and I would continue to play with it. We were meeting Sandy’s sister and her husband Mike at Whataburger in Longview for breakfast. No problem there they were a little late but still no problem.

Our trip was uneventful until we reached Flying J near New Caney. We had been seeing diesel prices for most the trip around $2.56 a gallon. Well guess what Flying J was $2.66 per gallon and their propane $2.99 a gallon. I guess since they merged with Pilot they have raised their prices to the Pilot level. Flying J was about ten miles from the RV park and about 1/2 mile from their entrance our Alarm went off and flashed “Low Oil Pressure-Stop”. I looked up at the oil pressure gauge and it registered 20 lbs. Sandy pulled off on the shoulder and the warning light went off but 20 lbs oil pressure still registered on the gauge. We decided the shoulder of the road was no place to set. I asked her to shut the engine off to see if all that electronic sensor stuff and the computer just might reset and all would be well. Didn’t work so we  proceeded slowly to the RV Park which we arrived without incident.

Now let me tell you upon entering the park Sandy and my jaws just dropped to the floor. This RV park is advertised as a Passport America and Coast to Coast park. Let me tell you there is no way these people should have that kind of rating. Half of the park is mobile homes and the other half Rv’s all on gravel. Sandy and I both looked at each other and said do we want to stay here? We obviously came to a conclusion with the circumstances we were faced with we are very Thankfull to be here.

We were assigned to one of the remaining three back in spots. Unfortunately our site backs right up to a busy highway. Finally got in our spot as the space between our site and the RV’s across from us did not allow good turning and backing clearance. Hooked up the electric (50amp), water,  and sewer. Pulled the gray water valve and guess what a gusher of raw sewer water just poured out on the ground. Quickly shut off the valve and called the camp host. He showed up right away and discovered that an RV’er down stream did not use an adapter or collar on his sewer hose and it fell further down into the sewer line blocking it.

Finally, was able to set down and get our senses gathered. Since we could not move the MH until we addressed the low oil pressure problem we called our emergency road service provider. They asked all the usual questions and decided that they would send a wrecker Monday  morning and haul us to a Cummins dealer. In the mean time we are going to try and get our family visitation in tomorrow as we do not know how long its going to take Cummins to fix the problem.

Stayed tuned for further adventures of our travels. Lets hope our  lemonade will be a little sweeter.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Trip To Houston To Visit Family

Woke up to colder temperature this morning. Its suppose to be even colder in the morning I believe around 29F. We are leaving in the morning to visit my family in the Houston area for about three days. I spent this afternoon getting the MH for travel. We were going to say at the same RV park we did last time but found out they were full. So, we have made plans to stay at another park that is further out from Houston. We have never stayed here so will have to give a review after we get there.

I spent most of the evening uninstalling Norton antivirus on Sandy’s laptop and replaced it with Microsoft Security Essentials that Rick wrote about in his September 30th journal. My big problem was I had to download a Norton removable tool to get rid of that particular software. The MSE went down without a bit of problem, so we now have a antivirus program that didn’t cost us a dime. “Now I like that” is what Rick said, we second the emotion.  Rick did a follow up on the MSE in his October 27th blog and this was what convinced me to try it on Sandy’s laptop. My subscription with Norton runs out in March 2010 and we may switch over to MSE.

I've been trying to install Windows Live Writer on Sandy’s Laptop and have failed both times. I wonder if it has something to do with the Windows XP operating system. Rick if you have ant suggestions I should try send them on down to Texas.

We will let Miss Gabby rest this time and will use Streets 2009 with GPS for our routing. I am anxious to see how that works. The screen on the laptop being larger than the Garmin will be a big plus for me especially.

We have everything ready to go except for the shore power cord and putting the Jeep into neutral. Our plans are to top off on diesel and propane at the Flying J off of Hwy 59 and Hwy 242 near New Caney TX. Depending on how things go, we may drop over to Round Rock TX to visit our son Tim who lives in Austin. When we go to that area we stay at the Old Settlers Assoc RV park and they do not take reservations. So, if we go we are taking a chance we will find somewhere to stay. We will stay there probably one night and leave for Canton on Christmas day.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

To Many Gadgets/Gizmos and a Day of Shopping

My big mistake today was getting out of bed. Have you ever had one of those days that you just soon want to for get. I had one of those today. My first mistake was tagging along with Sandy and her sister Pam to do some Christmas shopping. I guess I just don’t understand a woman's logic of order in the art of shopping. From 8:30 am this morning till about 2:30 pm this afternoon I went from one store to the next and then back to ones we had already been in. Set in lounge chairs, benches, and the Jeep. In one recliner type chair I had to get help from a gentlemen to get out of that sucker. The recliner automatically reclined when I set down and I couldn't get out of it as it would not go back from the reclined position. Talk about embarrassing.

One would figure after nearly six hours of shopping you would be able to make your selections and decisions on what to get. After all of this I hear we didn’t get everything we were looking for. My response was my second mistake of the day. I quickly learned to get a hold of the mouth zipper and pull it closed. After lunch we drove over to Academy to look at some shoes for Sandy and Pam’s mom. I made my third mistake by asking “wouldn’t it be a good idea to have your Mom here for a proper fitting”. The response I got was her foot size is about the same as mine and if they don’t fit we can take them back. We left Academy with no shoes as they had no size in the shoe they liked that fit Sandy’s foot. Guess where we went then. Yes, back to the mall to Dillard's where we had been earlier. This time I set in the Jeep and read blogs with Sandy’s Iphone 3G.

After Dillard's we drove Pam back to her home and then I hear “I need to drop by Wally World to pick up a few things for mother”. My fourth mistake. You know I just lost it!

Lesson’s learned: stay at home next time, Or what is that saying “put on your big boy britches and deal with it”, Or if you can’t run with the big dogs stay on the porch.

This evening Sandy wanted to charge one of her electronic gizmos. You know the USB cable and it plug in charger all look the same but some are not interchangeable. Then I get the questions “have you seen” “I know you had it last”. She does a good job of keeping them in her gadget/gizmo box but I see now we need to mark them in some way so that we can pair the right charger to the proper gadget. Also we both learned we were looking for something that never existed.

Heard from my doctor today and the blood panel they did on me did not show a positive sign that I had Lupus. They are not ruling it out completely but for now I’ll continue with the cream application on my arms,chest and head. My follow up appointment will be January 5th.

Looks like we are close to another contract on my Mom’s home. The realtor called and advise the buyer would meet our asking price if we would go a little more on their closing cost. Go for it…. I said and now lets just hope and pray we can get this behind us soon.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

P.S. I’m so Thankful!… Sandy puts up with me like she does.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Colder Weather Makes For a Slower day

A colder day limited my outdoor activities. So, I spent most of the morning reading email, blogs,putting my photo albums in better order and backing up Picasa. We did manage to burn the big pile of tree limbs and debris next door.  We had a pretty good bond fire going and would have had a photo to show you but my camera battery needed recharging.

I thought I would make the reading of the journal a little more interesting and show some photos of our trip to the 2008 Sand Fest  we visited in Port Aransas. We joined Mark and Dortha with RVing with Poppa along with Donnie and Karen Martin. This was our first Texas Sand Fest. The week we were their turned in to be   an enjoyable and memorable time.

Our RV Spot At Pioneer RV Park Port AransasWe stayed at the Pioneer RV park just outside Port Aransas. The RV spaces at Pioneer are all concrete pads with full hookup. We did have to pay our electricity though. Mark and Donnie parked right across from us and we had Happy Hour and some delicious meals between their coaches.Our Friends The Halls & The Martins Rv Spot I might add here that Mark had a 2002 Dutch Star before buying is current Tiffin Phaeton. Of course we had not traded our 2000 Dutch Star for the 2002 Mountain Aire we currently call home. The Sand Fest for me was great but the best part of that trip was the friendship and good times we shared with  our friends.

DSC00282

Also there were some memorable sun rises off the Gulf of Mexico. I tried to make it a point to get to the beach several mornings to capture pictures like these. Every time I saw a ship on the Gulf I would wonder where they were from and where were they going. DSC00284

Behind our Motor Home there was a pasture which had a several cattle feeding on the land. Every evening they would work their way up to the fence behind the MH and one specific cow would start bellowing. We first couldn’t understand why all the ruckus but later learned they were wanting their treats. The neighbors who had been there for the winter would fed them treats every evening just before sunset. Her bellowing was letting them know they were there.2008 04 19 063

There Sand fest didn’t start till on a Friday and lasted through the weekend. We were able to go over early during the week to watch the artiest build their sand art. It was just amazing to watch a pile of sand turn into something so beautiful as shown in the following photo album.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

A Day of Shopping and VA Doctor Visit

We were up early today as Sandy had made a date with her sister Pam, to do a little Christmas shopping in Longview. I also had an appointment with my VA doctor, soooo I had to tag along. We hadn’t been up long and the phone ranged. Yes, it was BIL James wanting us to join him at Arnold’s for breakfast. After our meal we drove into Longview where we picked up Pam and drove to the Longview Mall.

Surprisingly the mall was not that crowded. We then drove to several other strip centers where there was a Pier One, cooking/kitchen store and Hobby Lobby. Next was Chick-fil-A where we each had an excellent salad. After lunch we dropped Pam off at her home and drove to VA. They took me right on time. My doctor advised my blood sugar AC1 had rose 1.5  points from my last visit 90 days ago. I also gained some weight that probably explains the high blood sugar. We are still waiting the results of the blood panel VA did on my possible Lupus problem. They said this usually takes about three weeks and we should call VA Shreveport later this week.

After VA we did the Wally World thing and got back home about 5pm. Just in time for Sandy to go to her mothers to get her ready for all you can eat catfish dinner that James takes her to every Tuesday of the week. Let me tell you this lady can eat the catfish. Her secret is eat the fish only and avoid the fries and hushpuppies. While at Wally World I met three Marines dressed in their kaki and blue uniforms. I made a point to thank each of them for their service to our country. They are so young looking and looked real sharp in their dress blues.

So, now you know what kind of exciting things I did today. In reading Al’s most recent journal with the Bayfield Bunch he did an excellent job on the awe of the American southwest. The photos were just outstanding. Rick at Rick and Paulette RV Journal did a good job of publishing a Gizmos & Gadgets Checklist. They are getting ready to travel from Canada to the American southwest in about two weeks.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Reversal of Yesterday’s Journal Entry

What a difference in 24 hours. Woke up this morning around 7am and you could see it was going to be just a  perfect day. Sun was out and the high today was 68F with a slight breeze out of the north. For the most part of the day we were able to open our windows and use the fantastic vent fans. I was able to do some outside chores for a change. Sandy and I did a little reorganization of our 14ft cargo trailer that we now use for personal storage.

I’ve been wanting to put on some window vent visors on the Jeep. I purchased a set last week and since the day was warm Sandy and I put them on. This will allow us to crack the windows on those hot days and not have to worry about rain getting in. Also on rainy days you can crack the window as you travel down the highway. They also being black smoked look good over the windows.

My friend Mark with Rving with Poppa called and asked had I heard about using mineral oil in your batteries (go to this website for more info). He said the forum he read says if you will put 3-4 ozs in each cell it will prevent both evaporation and absorption of CO2. It is said it will increased the life of the batteries and significantly reduced the amount of corrosion on battery posts, cables and trays. They also report less evaporation resulting in less maintenance. I add water about every 30-45 days and the next time I have to add water I will top the cells off with mineral oil instead.

We changed the settings on our Norcold outdoor refrigerator/freezer over to freezer so we can free up some space in the inside refrigerator freezer compartment. This will also allow Sandy to do some bulk purchasing of meats and frozen veggies. This should also help Sandy’s processing of whether or not to get a Food Saver vacuum sealing system. Sometimes old Santa has to intervene in the processing.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Absolutely A Do Nothing Day

I guess I can blame my laziness on the weather.I awoke this morning a little after 8am. Because of the heavy fog this morning and our cloud cover we saw no sun today. There was so much dampness in the air the ground gave the appearance we had rain last night. I don’t believe our temperature ever reached 50F. The weatherman had predicted a high of 58F and partly sunny day. Never happened.

The Cowboys lost another to continue their December melt down. Lets see now…. how many does that now make for losses in December?? Sandy’s team the Vikings or should I say Brett Favre won their game so she is a happy camper.

Al with the Bayfield Bunch sure had a good read on Kelly and his Coronado cave adventure. The photos were as usual outstanding. I see Jerry with Our Life's on Wheels has challenged and bribed Al with some Cowboy cookies to take the Blue Moon photo for him on December 31st. You might want to jump on over there too for an explanation of a Blue Moon.

Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains unawakened."

yoyo

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Wet Dreary Day For Shopping

Sandy was up at her usual time 6:15am. I being a little lazy today didn’t roll out until 7:30am. Of course it was raining outside so why be in a hurry. We left for Longview around 8:30am and had breakfast at Whataburger. I was on a mission to see if I could find a better solution to my house battery cable problem that I wrote about in my November 28th journal. The guy at Interstate Batteries put me on to a couple places where I might find the 3/0 stranded cable and connectors. They both turned out to be nothing more than a wild goose chase. I will call our dealer next week to see if he has any suggestions.

After the two electrical wholesalers we drove to Best Buy and picked up the HP B209a-m Wireless Printer/Scanner and Copier that I mentioned in yesterdays blog. The setup was a snap and the printing quality is much better than our previous printer.  I’m having some difficulty setting up Sandy’s HP laptop on the same printer. It probably has to do with the XP operating system that's on the HP. Will have to do some more research and try again maybe tomorrow.

We went to several other stores for some Christmas shopping including Sams  Club where we grazed on all the different food samples in the grocery area. While at Sams I found they had the identical printer we picked up at Best buy for $89.99. So, back to Best buy to get that additional $10.00 off the price. So, with the $50 gift card, the $10 better price at Sams that Best Buy matched I picked the printer up for $39.99.

With it raining on us all day we decided to call it quits and returned to Lone Star. Settled in an watched the Army-Navy game and for the eighth year in a row Navy won. The Heisman winner Ingram did not surprise me. The second place winner Gerhart did. I had Colt    McCoy a second place winner. Oh, well Alabama now has its first Heisman Trophy winner. Lets see if it will be a jinks for the young man and his team Alabama. Most of the time the Heisman winner does not fair well in subsequent games.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Oh that painting mitt I mentioned in yesterdays journal  turns out  to be similar to a wash mitt. A friend of my BIL says he hired some Mexican labors to paint his fence and that is what they used.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Helping BIL With Pipe Fence

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Our phone ranged this morning at 5:45 am. It was Sandy’s brother James wanting us to join him for breakfast at Arnold’s. After breakfast Sandy went to her Mom’s to take her to the beauty shop for a hair do. I stayed behind and helped James a little on finishing up the pipe fence to the west of his property. I probably did more standing around than helping but we finished this section all but the sanding and painting. He is going to paint the fence black and we are debating if we will use paint brushes or paint mitts. The paint mitt sounds like a pretty good idea to me as all you do is first slip on some rubber or vinyl gloves then the paint mitt, dip in paint bucket (the 5 gallon variety) and rub on. Will post more photos after we get it painted. 003

Sandy didn’t get back in time for lunch at the Wildflower over in Hugh Springs. James and I enjoyed their buffet. I had chicken fried steak, okra and pinto beans with jalapeno cornbread. Yummy! This is more than I normally eat for lunch but being full maybe I won’t stuff myself tonight at dinner. Even though Sandy has made some of her good homemade stew and boy is it good. She’s at her mothers now so I’m sure she is going to make some cornbread to go with the stew.

hp printer Because of the hair appointment and me being somewhat involved in helping James, we decided not to go into Longview this evening. We will maybe go tomorrow to look at this HP Wireless printer/copier and scanner at Best Buy. It will do all that I want it to do and plus it will fit on the tray. Also it is on sale for $99.99 and I have a $50.00 gift card that will help go toward its costs.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

A Time For Good Deeds

We were up early as we had to make that weekly trip into Longview for supplies. Our low this morning was 21F, so it took us a while to get the kinks out and get  dressed. As we were walking out to the Jeep, James drove by and invited us to breakfast at Arnold’s where we had there 2 egg, 2 meat and 2 toast special for $3.00 each. After breakfast James dropped us off at the MH and we loaded up and headed into Longview that weekly one way 38 mile trip.

Our first stop was Home Depot where I needed to pickup a WP phone jack for outside. The one we have has deteriorated where there is a lot of noise on the line. While their I checked the price of the 150psi Porter Cable pancake air compressor and it was $159. Still not the price I’m  wanting to pay. Then off to Lowes to check air compressor prices and AT&T to see what the earliest date I could renew my contract and get a new cell phone. The phone I have now is one of those Go Phones and has no features whatsoever and keys so small that only a child can use. Can’t update until February 10, 2010 and the price on the compressor was $164.

hp printer Then we dropped off a lamp that we picked up at Canton last weekend for Sandy’s sister Pam. Visited for about thirty minutes and then went to Best Buy. I wanted to look at and  measure a HP Photosmart/Premium Wireless Printer/Copier
/Scanner that I had found online.  Office Depot had it on sale for $139, normally $199. Best Buy would match but in measuring the printer it would not fit depth wise on the slide out tray under our computer/dinning table.  The depth was 23-3/4” and my tray would only accommodate a 20” depth. What the problem was the paper tray drawer behind the printer protruded not only from the front but also about 4” at the bottom back. So, I will look for another model.

After lunch at Jack-In-The-Box we went to Walmart for grocery shopping for Sandy’s mom and us. I had one of them sinus headaches and decided to nap it off in the Jeep. Sandy was in there for about 45 minutes. As we were backing out we noticed a little old lady in front of us pushing a huge basket of groceries. She probably was in her early eighties and had that look about her “where did I park my car”. I asked Sandy if I should go ask her if we could be of help. She said no you might startle her and I’ll go instead. Sandy rolled down the window and asked if she needed help. The little lady just about in tears replied “Yes, I don’t remember where I parked my car”. Sandy got out and asked the usual questions make, color, what aisle etc. They started back toward the store front as she recalled it was somewhere near the front. They finally found her car and Sandy helped her unload her groceries. Her and Sandy exchanged names. She was so thankful and hugged her for her help. She told  Sandy “the good Lord has just put a star in your crown”. She drove by us on her way out and waved. Have you ever wondered how many of our senor citizens find themselves in this same boat. I told Sandy someday you and I both will be in this same predicament (may be sooner than later) and lets hope there will be someone there for us.

senior citzen wealthUntil next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Baby It’s Cold Outside

We were awaken this morning by strong winds out of the northwest blowing 15-20 MPH with gust has high as 40 MPH. You step outside and it will cut right through you. We managed to do just that as we had breakfast at Arnold’s with Sandy’s brother James. After our meal we returned and I started working on our books for this month sales at Canton. Sandy cleaned and dusted around the inside of the MH. She also is pre-soaking some pinto beans that we will have tonight for dinner with some cornbread. Yummy!

With the cold weather and its wind chill didn’t do a whole lot today. Did the usual kind of things on a day like this reading blogs and a little surfing the web. We had planned on going into Longview but postponed the trip for tomorrow where the wind won't be quite as bad.

Took some mail to the post office and you could tell Christmas is just about upon us. Long lines of people with packages and large mailing envelopes. Took a brief nap this afternoon while Sandy read her book.

Now isn’t this the most exciting post you’ve ever read. You can tell from its contents there just isn’t much going on right now. I was reading Rick’s journal with Rick & Paulette RV Journal and the area they live in Cowichan Bay BC, Canada is such a beautiful place. Their weather hasn’t yet been as bad as ours here in Northeast Texas. He posted several scenic pictures from his trip to Victoria for meeting up with some friends for a luncheon and friendly game of cards.

Sandy has gone to her Mom’s to take her evening meal to her. While there she will also make cornbread for our dinner tonight. Our low tonight is suppose to be around 23F. The beans and cornbread will be just what the doctor ordered for such a cold night.

Burrr…Just came back in after disconnecting the water hose from the MH and draining it. Our fresh water tank is nearly half full which will carry us over till tomorrow when its suppose to warm back up. Also plugged in the lamp in the fresh water compartment to add a little warmth there to prevent freezing of the water pump. I’m not sure if I needed to go through these gyrations since we will be back in mid forties tomorrow but better safe than sorry.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Our sun set today!
image

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Wintery Start of the Week

We pulled out of Canton at 7:30 am Monday morning. Traveled 14 miles east on I-20 to the Loves Truck Stop to dump and top off. Upon arrival every truck island was full with two to three trucks lined up behind the first. Their fuel price was $2.71 credit card or $2.66 cash so I didn’t understand why the crowd. We had to drive through the place a second time in order to get next to the dump station. The first time through we had two trucks parked at the dump station waiting to move up to the fuel stations. After dumping we decided to just go on down the highway to see what prices would be at several other truck stops we knew about before exiting off the freeway. The Pilot which was about 20 miles further east and their fuel prices were $0.05 higher. The next was the Valero at our exit for Hwy 155 and their fuel price was $2.63 and not a truck one in their islands. Go figure.

After topping off the MH we had driven 338 miles on 38 gallons of fuel which gave us an average of 8.78 miles per gallon. We’ll take this any time. Normally I would not top off but with winter setting in I wanted the fuel tank to be as full as possible to avoid the condensation problem.

After arriving at Lone Star we got the MH setup and left for the usual errands, Wally World, bank, and had the oil changed in the Jeep. Since we didn’t get back until late we had pizza for dinner and settled in for Monday night football.

Drizzle set in late last night and remained that way through this morning. We were mostly cloudy with lots of fog for pretty much of the day. Our hard winter is suppose to return Wednesday evening where we are expected to be in the mid forties and mid twenties. Our wind gust will be out of the northwest 15-20 MPH.

Until Next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Breaking News!
Danica Patrick signed with JR Motorsports on Tuesday to give NASCAR a try, but her schedule in the second-tier Nationwide Series has yet to be determined. Patrick will make her stock-car racing debut in the Feb. 6 ARCA race at Daytona International Speedway, a day before she'll be featured in a pair of Super Bowl ads for sponsor GoDaddy.com.

Danica Patrick

Danica's dream

Patrick is more than just a pretty face. She's also talented and deserving of this chance. The Indy Car sensation unveiled her green and orange No. 7 Chevrolet in a news conference at Chase Field with GoDaddy.com, which is sponsoring her in both series.

Monday, December 7, 2009

December 7, 1941 A Day which will live in Infamy

image USSArizona_PearlHarbor_2  It was 68 years ago from today that this horrible attack on the USA occurred. I was five years old when this happened, of course being a five year old I did not understand everything that was going on. However, there are some events that are lodged way back there in my mind. I can remember my Dad, Mom and Grandparents huddled around a radio listening to all the events of that day and the days that followed. I can vaguely recall President Roosevelt’s famous “A Day Of Infamy” speech and declaring war on Japan. My Mom and grandmother wept. I remember the nights when sirens would go off and we had to turn the lights off and blackout all the windows in the home with blankets.I also recall the rationing of the tires and the gasoline shortages my Dad and Grandfather went through at the Texaco filling station they owned in Galena Park, TX. Our home was connected behind the station and I remember my Dad, Uncle Gee and Pop (my grandfather) setting around in the office talking about the war. We later made trips to Galveston to see the gun embankments that were built along the coast line. Later some of this area was turned into POW camps.

A lot of our World War II veterans are gradually passing on and arlingtonthere just isn’t that many that are left today. So, we have the responsibility to that generation to not let this part of our history slip away. We must always remember so that they shall not have died in vain.

Here are some posters of that time that a Army buddy of mine sent to me in an email attachment. You don't see anything like these in this day of time. I do have to admit though today we back our troops a lot better than we did the Vietnam vets.

always fight for liberty 

 weve just begun

 defenders of freedomremember dec 7th

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Close of Another First Monday Canton Weekend

We didn’t get as cold last night as the clouds moved in and kept things warmer. The clouds however did bring rain for the most part of the day. The crows I believe may have been affected by the weather. While the temperature was higher today 45F it felt colder as we had a wind out of the southeast and the dampest from the rain made it feel much colder. Our crowd was no where near a typical Sunday crowd. The weather I’m sure had a lot to do with that.

We started tearing down our booth at the allocated time 3pm. Sandy worked on our booth while I helped the two ladies next to us tear their booths down and load their cargo trailers. Since it was raining we did not move the MH over to the RV spots by the creek. We  stayed behind our booth and watched football. I guess those Cowboys will stay true to their traditional winless in December streak. Sandy’s team the Vikings are struggling with the Arizona Cardinals. We will get up in the morning have breakfast and then make ready the MH for travel back to base.

The cream seems to be doing its job. I don’t have the flaky skin and the itching is no where near what it has been. Only draw back is it leaves a oily film and I have to be careful when I set or lean back.

We found a vendor on grounds, an Amish family that sells the best homemade pastries, cookies and fried pies we’ve ever tasted. My favorite is the apricot. The crust melted in your mouth and the filling was just great. They also make peach,apple,lemon, pecan, and cherry. The family are husband and wife with three kids helping in the making. They don’t sell on Sunday but when I went over Saturday afternoon to get two pies for our breakfast this morning they had just about sold out.

Until next time…. MtnAire Travlers.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Heavy Frost on the Old Pumpkin

Our temperature last night got down to a low of 21F with a wind chill of 14F. There was heavy frost all over everything. With the sun reflection it had the appearance of snow. You could tell this morning was our coldest as the crowd was much later in showing up to shop. The cream (Triamcinolone Acetonide) for my rash finally has caught up with me. Our sister-in-law who picks up our mail when we are gone gave it to one of her co-workers who came to Canton today. So, lets hope I can get some relief from the rash on my arms and chest.

Our high today was 48F and there was a good crowd. The aisles where literately full of people and they were double parking on the lot behind us. I never seen so many people with their dogs. It seems everywhere you looked there was a person that had their dog. About three booths down from us there is a vendor who has pet supplies and she always does well. Yes, people do love their pets. Even though our crowd was good they were just not buying. Everyone around us said their sales were down. Sooo, no black weekend for us.

You just can’t ask for a closer game. Them Longhorns barley escaped the jaws of defeat. What a defensive ballgame.

83

23

        Texas 13 – Nebraska 12   

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Canton’s Friday was a little slow

Thanks to our cloud cover last night our temperature did not dip as low as forecasted. It was still cold however. Our crowd I believe reflected the weather sparse. Right now its 34F and our low expected in the morning is 24F. This is the first time our heat pump as gone into defrost. Tomorrow’s high is to be 49F with clear skies. 
It was our turn for tonight's meal. Sandy prepared her Taco Soup and boy was it good. Our desert was coconut pie. Being as cold as it was we did not linger in the Pavilion. After our meal we cleaned things up and everyone returned to their RVs.

servicw a wag I just saw on Fox News a short story of Cody the dog. He is the dog I posted a photo of a couple nights ago that greeted people at a concession store in Florida. It seems the Health Dept as made him take early retirement. Only service animals were allowed where you serve food. It seems to me Cody was doing a service job when he greeted customers at the drive up window, but they didn’t think so.

One of our neighbors across the way is a wannbe full-timer. He has been over to our booth for several months now picking Sandy’s and my brains about full-timing. They have their home up for sell and are looking for a motor home to buy. I gave them Howard’s and Linda’s website RV-Dreamers.com and told them to read the different articles they have about full-timing.  As they will do a much better job of answering those uncertain questions one has before taking the big leap.

how fast can you go on two wheels How fast can one go on two wheels

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Burrrrrr Its Cold Here

Sandy was up early this morning as it was Thursday and she had to set out her purse inserts and open the booth. I just laid there and listen to the different sounds (hair dryer, makeup tap, etc) she goes through in getting herself ready. The longer I laid there the more guilt feeling came over me. I slowly stuck my head out from under the covers and boy was it cold. I believe our low this morning was 32 degrees. I started to roll out of bed and  Sandy says “what are you doing…..You don’t need to get up now. Now my first thought was yea she doesn’t need me, so I will lay back down and stay under the covers. A few minutes later out of her mouth comes “I guess I will get the inventory boxes and key keepers racks out of the bay and put them in the booth”. Okay that did it I could no longer lay there so up I arose and dressed .  Had everything out and set up by 8am.  I don’t know why so early as there was not a soul anywhere to be found that time of the morning…no vendors nor customers. Afterwards I helped Linda our neighbor two booths down set up her grids. She has a broken index finger and didn’t get in till around 8pm last night. Then it was back inside the MH to thaw out.image
Shhhhh. This photo was taken without Sandy knowing. It shows she has put the heater to good use. This weather is perfect for some of Sandy's homemade chili and boy was it good. I am two bowls full. Tomorrow is suppose to be our coldest day of the weekend . Tomorrow our high will only be 38F with a low of 25F. There is a 20% chance we could have snow. Now I think that might be some fun if it does snow. Lets see snow ball fights with your neighbors and customers, making snowmen and snow angels. Its been awhile since I last did these.

Al with Travel With The Bayfield Bunch  has an excellent post on the old ghost town of Courtland AZ. The photos are quit interesting especially those of the old tractors in the sunset. Sandy just closed the booth for today and said for the day being the kind of day it was we didn’t do bad.

Don, Carla, Denise and Jennifer our neighbors across the way provided our meal this evening. Boy was it good! Lets see boneless baked chicken stuffed with rice, cheese and broccoli,  salad, garlic bread, pecan and coconut homemade pies.

Scratch a cat and you will have a permanent job. 

!cid_20_1871290371@web65606_mail_ac4_yahoo

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

100th Blog

s_fireworks Well I have finally reached a milestone …my 100th blog. If you would have asked me back when I started this on December 5, 2008, I would have been one to tell you no way would I post 100 blogs.There just isn’t that many things going on in Sandy's and my life right now that would be interesting to write about let alone for someone to want to read.  However, I have managed to come up with enough things to write about (while most are probably boring) to reach this plateau in my posting. It took nearly a year to accomplish this feat. Okay enough said about this 100th blog thing.

image While watching The Food Channel TV cooking show today, Sandy happen to be in her kitchen making some of her good homemade chili. A thought came to mind…. Sandy we need to contact the Food Channel people and get you a cooking show on TV. I don’t know of any show that addresses cooking in RVs. Lets see we could call it “Cooking in My RV”, “Sandy’s RV Cooking” or “Meals on Wheels”. No, meals on wheels is the group that delivers meals to home bound senior citizens. Oh, well it was just a thought anyway. Gosh! I just noticed if you look closely you can see the cook’s reflection in the photo. Look out Paula here we come. And the crowd said… “You are no Paula Dean”.

Even though we are full timers Sandy has all the cooking gadgets and gizmos one would have in their home in her RV. Lets see a Kitchen Aid hand mixer, toaster oven, crock pot, Cuisinart food processor, Cuisinart cooking grill, and all kinds of measuring utensils. Have you noticed I didn’t mention a outdoor grill. That's my cooking toy and I’m sad to say I don’t use it very often. Her cooking grill really does such a better job on chicken breast I don’t bother getting it out. The Baby Q is used when we have people over or here at Canton when we do a lot of group cooking and rotating of meal responsibilities between our vendor friends.

Believe it or not we’ve had a few snow flurries this morning. It rained all night long here and today is wet and cold. Sandy is so glad we drove over yesterday and picked up the heater. We have the booth set up and all now we need to do is put out the product tomorrow morning. The RV spots are not filling up. Have no idea what our month is going to be like.

My Verizon air card usage from November 5th till now has been 2252MB of the allowed 5120MB. My month does not end until 12/7/09. Therefore, I haven’t even used half that’s allocated. I guess being new to this I have been a little more cautious and conservative than need be.

Rick with Rick & Paulette's RV Travels had an interesting post today on the Iphone Touch and some RV Apps that were available for it. You might want to jump on over there if you have a Touch. He is always publishing informative posts and this one is right up there with the others.

Money will buy a fine dog, but only kindness will make him wag his tail. 
wag

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Poor Planning On My Part - When Can You Trust The Weatherman

Prior to leaving for Canton First Monday this past Friday November 27th, Sandy and I both checked the long range weather forecast for Canton. We were satisfied that there would be one day Thursday that would be cold and near freezing. So, the decision was made not to take the propane heater this trip. What a poor decision this was on my part. The propane heater would not have been that big of a deal to take along even if we didn’t use it.
In Texas the weather can change in a heart beat which it did with the cold front that blew through here Monday afternoon. The old weatherman has really changed our forecast for this weekend. We are expected to have Highs in the mid 40’s and low’s in the high 20’s.
So, an executive decision was made that we would get up this morning and drive back to base in Lone Star and get the heater. I needed to check the Post Office anyway for the cream VA was to have mailed for the rash. In the past when we have done dumb things like this, Sandy would call her brother James and he would meet us half way. I said no not this time. James has been kind enough to bail our butts out in the past and we were not going to bother him. The drive one way is a little over an hour and one half (102 miles). So, up this morning at our usual time and off we went arriving in Lone Star a little before 9am. On our return to Canton we dropped by the PO and nope on cream. We left for Canton arriving just before noon. As you can see we brought our isolating fan because of the first forecast. Sooo, now we have both and are prepared for anything….lets hope.image

Now one might ask why didn’t he just go buy a new propane bottle and Mr Heater head at the local hardware or Wally World. The thought crossed my mind but I didn’t want to drop about $125 on one since I already had one. Also the cream just might have been at the PO. The fuel for the Jeep ran about $35. We also enjoyed the drive and the companionship again. Even though I have to admit I took a long cat nap on the return trip. Here are some photos taken on I-20 which being Interstate has some beautiful scenery with the rolling hills, trees and pasture land. (Click on photos to enlarge)

image image imageMy favorite is Elise the Cow
image


Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.