This is NOT what happened the other night! But it got your attention didn’t it? Photo courtesy of Texas A&M University
Well, we haven’t even been back in Texas a week yet and we’ve already had a Tornado Watch. May be I should have done a little more research before settling on agreeing to spend a seemingly massive (in this case) amount of time here.
It turns out that the Great State of Texas, where everything is bigger (more) than normal, either by design or just luck, ranks #1 in the not-so- great category of the annual Most Tornadoes in a Year contest.
Yay!!!
We’re #1! We’re #1! We’re #1!
Which also makes us #1 in the world because (tornadoes occur on six of our seven continents, none in Antarctica) the United States ranks first in the world in tornadoes, and Texas is the State that has the most of these whirling dervishes. Texas averages 135 tornadoes per year, followed by Kansas with 91 and Oklahoma with 75. All 50 states have recorded tornadoes at one time or another.
I can assure you that when you are sitting around waiting for the calamity to ensue, that this is a somewhat uncertain honor.
So, why here?
Knowing now how the minds of true Texans work, I am quite sure that someone would like to claim that it was all part of the plan…. that Texas is bigger, and better, than everyone else. In some cases, Texas is bigger (quantitative) and maybe better (qualitative) but geography plays the most important part in determining the frequency of these Dorothy and Toto Transporters.
The warm moist Gulf of Mexico air works its way northward over the land while the air flowing from the west meets the Rocky Mountains (to the west) which (as it flows over the mountains) cools and dries this advancing air mass. It then collides (an appropriate verb here) with that hot, moist, energy-filled Gulf air, driving a wedge of cooler and dryer air beneath it causing it to rise which makes the Gulf Air cool, condense, and wring itself of all of that moisture in the form of thunderstorms along the advancing cold front. The vertical and horizontal movements of this air mass combined with the dynamics of the convective and conductive nature of a thunderstorm, provides the ideal conditions for the development of our new (not best friend) Mr. Tornado.
Nowhere on our planet is there a replication of this type of geography…. the Gulf of Mexico slightly east and south of a major mountain range to its west.
Ta-Da!
We have the mostest and bestest (adverbial superlatives definitely intended) places on our Planet for breeding Tornadoes. It’s not called Tornado Alley for nothing!
That’s the end of our combined Geography and Meteorology portion of today’s post…… 😊
We will now concentrate on another Biggest Category and that is the Cracked Windshield award.
This season’s winners are Paula McCarthy and Don Hall who have amassed a total of no less than seven separate (very long) cracks in their Motorhome Windshield!
A big round of applause for our winners please!
It was touch and go for a while, the competition is fierce in the Big,Flat,Motorhome Windshield Projectile Gathering category, but as luck would have it, somewhere on the last day of travel before needing to report to the judges, a massive “Top to Bottom” crack was discovered as the windshield was being cleaned and de-bugged. It was confirmed as a “New Crack” which made it eligible for addition into the “Total Inches” section of the judging criteria. It was reported that Mrs. McCarthy and Mr. Hall were delirious with joy upon learning that they had captured First Place in this highly competitive contest.
We are very proud of our Award Winning Windshield! You can see the start of the newest crack just to the left of the yellow “it’s here” indicator line.
As the Motorhome is registered in Brenham, Texas, The Great State of Texas has quickly followed with a statement of its own claiming the honor of the “Biggest and Best Cracked Windshield” for this, the 2022 Traveling Season.
The Award Ceremony will be held in Moraine, Ohio, the site of the worlds largest auto glass manufacturing plant, later this year.
Upon learning of this, Texas has begun building a new windshield manufacturing plant that will be larger than the one in Ohio.
Actually, the two questions that we get most is “Where are you in Texas?” and “How far are you from Chip and Joanna?”
Those are excellent questions as Texas is about as vast as it gets. Waco, (a.k.a. ‘Chip and Joanna’ ) is about two hours away so we only get to see them every other week or so and we usually swap visits. Chip really likes Paula’s meatloaf! As for our location, it takes us two days to leave the state when we work our way to the west. Everyone knows the major cities so saying, We live halfwaybetween Houston and Austin narrows it down a bit. That is all well and good, but if I gave you a map of Texas and asked you to pinpoint those cities…. Would you be able to?
For your perusal pleasure, I am including a map of Texas here for easy reference.
As you can see, El Paso is pretty far away. It is almost 700 miles from us and in a motorhome that translates to about 14 plus hours of driving and where that can be accomplished in one very long day, it is much better to find a place to stop for the night and proceed the next day.
Our little spot in Brenham is perfect for us. We have a concrete pad that we poured right next to the corral at Danny and Kaitie’s place.
The pad we poured for the motorhome.
Brenham is in the heart of Washington County which is the actual birthplace of Texas. Many moons ago some guys got together at Washington-on-the-Brazos and pissed off the Mexican guys by declaring themselves to be a new nation. It’s nice having the local history so near. We are also in the best place to witness the annual emergence of the famed Bluebonnets. These pretty flowers stay out for about a month in the spring, and they are everywhere! Even the sides of the road are covered, and the Road Crews refrain from mowing the sides and medians of the roads until they have stopped blooming. There are several “favorite” spots along the roads where folks from the city come up to take their family photos in the middle of these gorgeous fields.
It really is this pretty!
As you can see, we’re surrounded by fields and woodlands
Please notice the nicely groomed dirt in the white fenced-in corral that Google was able to capture!
Back at the Ranch we help out with the chores when we are there. My favorite thing to do is keep the corral “Raked”. This done by towing a special metal apparatus around it with the tractor or 4-wheel side-by-side. It’s kind of like dragging a chain link fence around. It levels and distributes the piles of manure so that it dries nicely, and this helps alleviate some of the flies. Plus, it looks nice which helps me with my Lawn-Mowing-Experience-Withdrawal because the grass down here not only is not the same as in Jersey, it doesn’t grow as fast because of the drier climate.
Yes, there are flies.
There are also scorpions, and other Texas-sized bugs to be aware of. The howl of the local coyotes is heard nightly and as long as you are not a chicken that forgot to go home for the evening, it sounds kind of nice. We even have wild pigs. These are feral pigs that are descendants of domesticated ones from back in the day. I guess that they wanted their independence from Mexico also. There are over two million of these critters roaming the countryside doing over two billion dollars in agricultural damage annually.
Yes, they are hunted! (and are rather dangerous as they are very ferocious)
We also tackle a few special projects like the Goat Mansion that we built last year. Danny and Kaitie keep adding small parcels of land that are contiguous (or almost contiguous) in order to keep adding to the ranch and keep “others” at bay.
This was all wooded. Now cleared, it is being readied for posts for fencing.
Kaitie surveying her future turn-out area for the critters
The land gets “manicured”, that is, somewhat cleared but only of unwanted small stuff like cedars. The Live Oak and Post Oak trees are then left to grow nicely without having to compete with the other unwanted species. After a few months, you can’t even tell that they had even been growing there. All the trunks have been pulled, and the ground leveled. It ends up looking very nice.
An example of mature Post and Live Oak trees
Look how gorgeous those trees are!
The large, very expensive, quintessential Texas ranches all have their share of Live and Post Oak trees growing in their fields. They are very prettily shaped trees, and they provide nice, shady spots for the cattle that usually inhabit those ranches. I don’t think that we will see cattle at Danny and Kaitie’s place, just horses, which right now there are four of.
And… they don’t all get along.
There is always a pecking order when it comes to the barnyard and clearing the land so that the corral, et al, can be expanded just makes sense for the well-being of these guys. (Think separating your kids at the dinner table in order to insure a calm eating experience.)
It’s raining and they all want to be inside but unless I stand guard the big one will shoo the little guys outside
We try and keep our site looking nice!
Our “pad” here has water and full 50-amp electric service. The only thing that we need to move for is to dump our holding tanks. This ritual occurs about once a week and it means traveling five miles down the road to the State Park at Lake Somerville. I really don’t mind this as it make us a start everything up and drive it. This is good for all of my mechanical friends that live down below, the motor, transmission, wheel bearings, etc. It is always good to exercise these guys.
Danny is an Inspector on the Pipeline so we thought it was humorous to have Maddie go over to him with her checklist and ask him about his safety features 🙂
So, there is probably a good amount of chores waiting for us when we get back to Texas in a few days. Danny has been on the “Pipeline” (Kansas) for the entire season and Kaitie obviously has the Important Parts of the Critter Keeping to do besides taking care of Maddie and working. But we love a good project so I’m sure that we’ll be ready to dive right in as soon as we return!
Well, it has been two full days of traveling hundreds and hundreds of miles and we have yet to see any of those pesky little ‘Check Engine’ lights come on. We communicated with the boys in Houston (Campbell’s Freightliner in Lafayette) yesterday and they were happy about that news! They have yet to accept any payment from us for this until we’re absolutely sure that the issue is resolved. As I write this we are safely parked in my cousin Mari’s driveway just outside of Atlanta. These are the folks that I haven’t seen since the middle 1800’s. We had a great night last night as her kids and my other cousins (Mari’s brother and sister, who have passed) kids came over to meet us.
We’re really glad that we ‘detoured’ and made our way down here. Never underestimate the power of a family get-together!
“What do you mean, ‘We have a problem’, you just left here! Please hold this for Command, they’re gonna wanna hear this one! ‘We have a problem’…. Sheesh! who do you think you are? Tom Hanks and Jim Lovell? Ha-Ha-Ha!
“Hey guys! Get a load of this one!”
(Me covering the mic so I can talk just to Paula) “I knew it was a bad idea to call back to base!”
“Ok, ‘Bago 1′, please explain this one!
“Roger CapCom, We were proceeding on course and on time. All systems were ‘Go’, no indications of any issues. About 80 miles out and still in our initial ‘burn’ to leave orbit we encountered some of the same glitches that initially aborted some of the previous missions. We thought that these ‘issues’ had ben addressed, but while gliding through the Lehigh Valley, about 2/3 of the way to our first rendezvous and course correction, we had multiple warning lights.”
“Roger that ‘Bago 1′, the boys in the lab suggest that you attempt a return to base, the only good thing here is that you won’t need to go all the way to the moon to slingshot around it in order to make it back here like they did back with Apollo 13. The experts agree that an “All Stop” is in order, then fire your retrorockets and take the same course back here. They will be waiting with the portable computer so that the ‘Hard Codes’, that will still be there, can be analyzed and a recommended course of action will be put in place.”
Well folks, as they say …. You can’t make this stuff up.
It turns out that there are several “Codes” that come up when those pesky Check Engine lights come on and they are not specific enough to drill down to the exact cause. In this case it was still all part of that after-treatment of the exhaust. We made it back to Base and turned it over to the boys in the lab. They felt that they had it this time. In all fairness to them, the probable offending parts had previously checked out and were within the parameters of working correctly.
Anyway, Paula and I then went back the way we had just come. We figured that we would spend the night with her cousin anyway as it had already been planned (and the alternative was a night at the repair facility) Today we went back to Base and picked up ‘Bago 1’ and then went back down (3rd time now!) the way we had just come from.
This report is being written in Staunton, Virginia (over 300 miles away) and so far we have not had to call back to Houston and repeat that dreaded phrase!
Dateline: Augusta, New Jersey – Launch Site Command – 0400 hours.
“Good Morning everyone, Walter Concrete reporting. We are here in a secure bunker in the cornfield directly across from the site of today’s highly anticipated launch of the two brave ‘Bagonauts who are scheduled to begin their much-delayed mission to the second largest Planet State in our system, that of Texaranus. The scheduled launch time is 0900 EDT but as we all have experienced in the past, almost anything can creep up and bite them in the tailpipe. In fact, we’ve been here twice before in the last few weeks only to have the Mission put on hold for indefinite amounts of time while practical, and personal, glitches were sorted out. It is now reported that these various issues have been somewhat contained for at least the foreseeable future enabling Mission Control to resume the Countdown that was initially started some time during the week prior to Labor Day.
Anticipating Liftoff
The Command Vehicle is a beautiful sight this morning, it sits there on the pad glistening in the pre-dawn darkness, illuminated only by the glow of the sodium-vapor lamps of Yetter’s Parking Lot. That 0900-launch time is, however, fairly nebulous as the built-in Automatic Hold for breakfast at the Diner can be extended depending on how many well-wishers (and debt collectors) show up before the scheduled launch time.
The Mission has been carefully plotted and installed into the Navicomputer, which is conveniently stored in The Co-Commander’s brain, which is that of Captain Paula McCarthy. It seems that the other Co-Commander of this Mission, Captain Don Hall is content with his role in this adventure, that of Chief Officer in Charge of Windshield Cleaning.
The Route that has been plotted will take them initially into Douglasville, Pennsylvania where they are scheduled for an overnight layover at Carol and Glenn’s (of Ortley Beach fame) before resuming their southward journey. The next course correction will occur near Atlanta Georgia, where they will encounter several old cousins of Captain Don’s who, as he puts it, “I haven’t seen since the middle1800’s”. We expect that may be somewhat of an exaggeration, but then, we never know with him. After that brief layover, the course will be altered one final time and plotted almost due west for a scheduled soft-landing sometime Friday afternoon. That is, if the ‘Bagonauts don’t succumb to the temptations to do a fly-by of the mysterious place called ‘Narlans’ by the local indigenous inhabitants, but we all know it as ‘New Orleans’. Only time will tell. Captain Don is scheduled to give us timely reports over the course of the Mission, so stay tuned to this station for further updates.”
“This has been Walter Concrete reporting……. film at 11.”
So, while the Cat (Paula) is away, What does the Mouse (Me) do?
Paula is still up in Vermont with her sister who is recuperating nicely with the help of Paula who is a trained CMA, and who worked in a surgeon’s office for years. Paula is scheduled to return this coming Monday, Columbus Day. Her son Matt, and his family, are going up for the weekend and if all goes well, and Barbara feels good enough, they will transport Paula back to North Jersey. The original plan was for me to drive back up there and pick her up. We had allowed two weeks for this exercise to pan out so, I went ahead and scheduled the final Doctor’s appointments accordingly. Unfortunately, my last one is that next Friday, so, even if Paula were to return earlier than planned on Monday, we will still need to stay around for that last Doc Visit.
So, what does the Mouse do?
Well, he tries his best to keep busy and put everything that we were doing together (like binge-watching Downton Abbey for the second time) on hold. These types of activities need to be replaced with something else, so I’ve watched a few movies that are not on Paula’s Favorites List like, Haunted Motorhomes from Hell and Why Did You Pick Up That Hitchhiker?
Only kidding! I never watch anything even remotely scary!
So, Star Wars and History-Type movies have been inserted into the DVD player, much to my delight.
I’ve also had the opportunity to spend and entire day in NYC with Jan and Kyle (her son) from Ideal Farms. It seems that about eight years ago they somehow were able to get involved with the Manhattan Plaza, a very large high-rise complex just on the other side of the Lincoln Tunnel, between 9th and 10th on 43rd Street. There is a small park-like alcove right on the street where the landlord has some vendors set up on different days of the week. Ideal Farm’s day is Thursdays during the months of May through the end of October. They show up with all kinds of fresh produce, homemade cider donuts, cookies and other home baked goods, and seasonal decorations, just as you may imagine.
Last week they were short a person (this is definitely a three -person endeavor) so Jan said to herself, “Hey, Donny’s not doing anything! I’ll ask him!”
That’s how I found myself riding three-up-front in the Official Ideal Farms Transport Truck into the City. What an operation! Everything is on custom made rolling carts (they do their own welding and fabricating) that fit snuggly in the back of the truck and get wheeled onto the lift-gate and lowered to the ground and (very) hastily set up because as Jan warned me, “They’ll all be waiting for us!”
She was not kidding! It was like the early morning Black Friday opening of Walmart! These folks knew that the good stuff goes quickly and even though Jan tries to bring as much as they can, eventually things sell out.
Especially those donuts!
Jan feverishly set up one of the two cash registers as Kyle and I wheeled the set-ups around and quickly put the Farm Stand together. We were very ably assisted by Joan.
Joan live in this high-rise and is an old and dear friend of Jan’s from back in her singing days in the Village.
The things that you learn about folks when you’re squished in the front seat together 😊
Joan waits for a call from Jan, usually when they are entering the Tunnel. Joan then goes outside and procures the first available parking spot in the Loading Zone which is thankfully right in front of the set-up area. On this particular day, the Parking Gods were smiling down as we were able to slide into the very spot that a truck happened to vacate as we put our directional signal on.
I claimed full responsibility for this fortuitous opportunity as it was obvious to me that I had brought an abundance of good luck to them!
Ideal Farms in the Big City!(That’s Joan on the left in the tan jacket)
Not having a clue what to do after the set-up was completed, and having exactly zero knowledge of working the register, or what any of the prices were, or how to work the digital scale, I made myself busy by appointing myself Chief Security Officer in Charge of Tomatoes.
No one was going to plan a fruit-type heist on my watch!
Well, it turns out that none of that was necessary. These folks really like Thursday when their friends from the Country roll in with fresh veggies straight from the Farm, and at reasonable prices to boot! Jan is on a first name basis with most of them and it was great to be introduced to all of the customers. Many of them are current or former Broadway actors, musicians, and/or stagehands that still reside in this area that is within walking distance of Times Square and the Theater District. I eventually became a productive Member of the Team as I finally worked up enough courage to slide behind the second register (right next to Jan) and learn how to work the stupid thing along with the scale. By the end of the day, I even knew the price of tomatoes and apples! This position was the most fun because I was able to re-use my old talking-to-customer-skills from the Chatterbox.
I had a blast!
The time flew by and soon it was time to roll everything back into the truck. We closed up by around 5:30 or so and were on our way back into the tunnel by 6 o’clock. Just in time for Rush Hour.
I fell asleep on the way home, no surprise there!
The rest of my days are spent on various activities like painting and working on our Second Year Yearbook. I have a lot to catch up on with this project and I am happy to report that by the time Miss Paula gets back home, I will be up to date with it. Here is what I’ve done before. Actually, every trip that we take I make a hardcover photo book about it. Way better than the old days when we had to put those 4×6 glossies into the four-corner tabs in the album!
Front Cover
Title Page
The painting part is not house painting, it’s artistic (I hope!) type painting. I’ve taken to painting small scenes on oblong pieces of wood, usually about 2” by about 15”, (just think “Panoramic”). These scenes so far are of my minds eye projections of Coastal Maine, complete with the requisite lighthouse and islands. Throw in a few schooners and colorful fishing/lobstering shacks and voila! There it is! I’ve also done some Country Scenes, with farms, churches, little villages, and a Country Fair thrown in for effect.
Examples shown here!
Coastal Maine?
Countryside Scene
Lobster Boat with all the little colored lobster trap buoys
My ‘Studio’…. note larger 48″x4″ big scene up top. This one has two lighthouses and villages, complete with old hotel up top.
Believe it or not, I am trying to get to the point where I can sell these little guys. A little extra income for us retired folks is always a good thing! Plus, I love making them! I’m working with Erin Brady who designed our incredibly awesome Chatterbox website and logo to help me plan how to market these little pieces.
If any of this pans out you will all be the first to know because the Plan is to attach whatever we do to this blog!
The last activity of any consequence was that I was able to help my grandson Andy, with his acquisition of a BMW Z3. It’s an older model about 20 years old, with 190,000 miles on it but it is in incredible shape, and he was able to buy it nicely below what it probably should have gone for. Andy is one of those kids that can do research like nobody’s business. He found this baby down in Maryland and soon struck up a long-distance relationship with its owner, Bob, who is older than I am. But Andy knows what he’s talking about, and Bob was really impressed with what Andy had planned and the fact that he could drive a stick-shift car. His present vehicle is a very rugged Toyota Tacoma with a five-speed. Andy has already had most of the truck apart, fixing this and that, so he is the perfect candidate to get another vehicle and be able to do most of the work himself. Guess who got all of my (tons of) extra tools when I downsized my tools in order for them to fit into the motorhome?
Yup….. Andy.
We borrowed my nephew Paul’s almost brandy-new Ford F-350 Quad Cab and his big flatbed trailer and drove down to just outside Baltimore last Sunday. Everything panned out and the car was in better shape that we had hoped, so the deal made, the car was strapped down, and away we went.
Here’s one of the Test Drive
There was a grin on Andy’s face for the four-plus hours that it took for us to get back home. It was great to be able to spend that much time with just him. He’s almost 18 years old now, so I know that these kinds of times will become rarer. We’re planning a photo-shoot for this afternoon to properly introduce his new ride to the world. Plus, I get some extra practice with my new camera! These photos will be available for your viewing pleasure at a later date, but for now, here’s one from the driveway….
If he hadn’t bought it, I would have !
So, that’s the report from Mouse Land. The Cat will be home soon and hopefully things will get back to our somewhat normal state of being and we’ll high-tail it out of here before the snow fly’s!
My favorite Science-Fiction author, the great Robert Heinlein, has a short story entitled, “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.”
I am going to borrow from that title and state Time is a harsh mistress.
Yesterday I returned from Vermont where I dropped Paula off in order for her to be with her sister Barbara for the next few weeks as she (Barb) is having a medical procedure and will need some assistance recuperating. We drove up on Tuesday morning and I returned yesterday morning. That means that I needed to sleep (?) up there. Sleep is a rare commodity for me, and I really don’t care too much.
My least favorite part of the day is when I go to bed.
My most favorite part of the day is when I wake up.
As you may see, this can be the source of an issue.
I have no problem falling asleep, (much to Paula’s chagrin} and I believe that my record stands somewhere around seven seconds. (I am not exaggerating). My problem is staying asleep. Between aches and pains, Restless Leg Syndrome, and the fact that I really don’t want to be there, tends to deprive me of a restful night. When I feel that I am getting too uncomfortable and/or restless to the point where I would be disturbing Paula, I just pick up my pillow and retreat to the couch, sliding the pocket door (that divides the bedroom area from the rest of the motorhome) closed.
Now I am the master of my own sleep-deprived destiny.
Depending on what time this nightly ritual occurs, I do try and fall back asleep on that couch. I am no fool, I do know that (unfortunately) some sleep is physiologically important for our well-being. Fortunately, I believe that I am on the lower tier of this Sleep Need Level as the only negative that I’ve encountered so far is that it is usually a good thing to have Paula do the driving (either car or motorhome) in the afternoon. Actually, I react to the ride in a car much the same way that a baby does, You know, “Take him out for a ride around the block to put him to sleep.”
So, back to Vermont.
I did not sleep well that night, in fact, it was one of my least sleepy nights I’ve ever had. I was up at 1:30 AM. I did go into the next room which has a couch and try to go back to sleep. This effort was, on a grand scale, very unsuccessful so, I was up and down all night either working on something on my computer, reading a news feed, watching the Hurricanes progress, laughing at funny dogs on Instagram, etc. As you can see, on one level I was happy….. I was awake! On the other level, I knew that I would pay for it sometime and I was worried that it would be while I was driving back down to New Jersey the next day. There would be no Copilot Paula to bail me out.
The trip down the NY Thruway was uneventful. I pulled in at the Ulster Service Center for the obvious reasons, bought a Coke to help out a bit, and made it back to Freightliner Memorial Hospital to visit and hopefully get Miss Motorhome discharged. I spent a few hours waiting there, inside the motorhome, and I did try and lay down for a bit but that did not work. Finally, we were discharged, and we made our way back to Yetter’s RV Resort and our reserved parking spot.
Well, I made it until about 7:30 PM, which under the previous night’s circumstances I thought was pretty good. I called Paula, said I was zonked, and went to bed. I do not recall falling asleep. There is an excellent possibility that a new record was set but as there were no witnesses, the Guinness folks refused to even take my call.
Now comes the Time part.
The motorhome has several ways of drawing and /or producing electrical power. Generator, batteries, and several levels of amperage can be used to keep the juice flowing. There is a ‘Brain” of sorts that knows which one to choose from if any, or all, of these options are available. The issue is that these “Juices” flow at slightly different rates, and it is impossible to determine how it may affect anything on board.
It gains 30 seconds every minute!
Except our digital clock that is stuck up in an alcove above the bed so that we can see it at any time. There are no “nightstands” on either side to hold a clock or anything, just a small shelf for water, glasses, tissues, etc.
When I woke up this morning at 5:30 AM I was unbelievably ecstatic!
7:30 PM to 5:30 AM…. 10 Hours !!!!
I haven’t slept that much in years, or decades, possibly never!
As it was now way past my usual “get up” time, I threw the covers off, jumped out of bed and was busy planning everything that I need to get done today!
I felt like the proverbial “Million Bucks”!
Until I went out into the living room part of the motorhome and turned on all of the lights.
I happened to glance up at the battery-powered clock that is on the wall there.
Wait! That can’t be!
It only took a nano-second for me to realize that for the last day the motorhome was on various power levels while at Freightliner Memorial.
The correct clock read 1:30 AM.
Old Reliable
I don’t know which part upset me the most…
The fact that I did not get a good night’s sleep or,
The fact that I felt so good when I thought that I had!
The visit to Freightliner Memorial Hospital was relatively successful.
The Operating Room of Freightliner Memorial Hospital
All the new parts were installed, the Official SCR Test for this equipment was run successfully…. Three times! So, all seemed ok.
Left to Right, Chief Surgeon Brett, the Patient, and concerned relative, Paula
I say relatively because on the way back to Yetter’s Deluxe RV Park and Resort a Check Engine light came on.
Boo!
But…. all the big, bad, scrolling messages did not pop up on the dash like last time! I hopped into the Lifeboat and went back over to CampbellsSupply (that’s the official name of the truck repair) and went to see my Service Guy, Bob. He had Brett, our technician and new best friend, hop in his truck and make a house call 😊.
After hooking up his computer and spending some time underneath, Brett was able to get the light off, but we may still need to fine tune something. That something still needs to be determined so Brett asked us to run the motor a few times over the weekend to see if we could get the Check Engine light to come back on.
So far it has NOT returned!
And the suspense is killing us!
In the meantime, I went over to Ideal Farms across the street from the (former) Chatterbox. Jan and Ben Jorritsma run one of the finest Farm Stand/ Farm Themed attractions in the area. When were still at the Chatterbox it was as though, at times, our businesses were one and the same, especially on “Pumpkin Picking” and “Christmas Tree Cutting” weekends. The cooperation between us was seamless and quite rewarding for both enterprises.
Out front
It is that kind of interaction that I miss most after the Chatterbox went to that Big Burger Joint in the Sky. It is always a treat to go visit them and we have, on occasion, parked over there and transformed them into another RV Resort!
So, I have procured a new camera, a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex). These digitals are based on all of the same principals as any of the old 35MM cameras that we used to load film into, adjust our settings, and click away. You all know how much I love my Samsung phone camera. Everything that you have seen so far in the blog has been taken with it and I will still carry it with me. But I have been itching to get back into proper photography for a while and I have seen more and more folks using DSLR’s, especially for National Parks and landscapes. I used to have a darkroom in my basement, and I was the Photography Editor in both High School and College for the year books and newspapers, so my background is fairly solid.
For the most part.
But….
This digital thing is crazy!
There are no less than 14 gazillion possible settings when it come to these cameras and then the further processing in an Adobe product called Light Room (I get it!). I’ve embarked on this venture because I felt that there were still some nuances of photography that I was missing with my phone camera with both its abilities and drawbacks factored in. Not many, but maybe enough to warrant all this new paraphernalia (camera, computer, and software.)
I hope to use all of this to great advantage when we’re on the (hopefully) upcoming World Cruise in January.
We shall see, and so shall you, because I will be doing this blog deal from the ship, all the way around. Apparently the newer internet connections (on at least the Princess Lines) are quite good! Only time will tell.
So, getting back to Ideal Farms.
I went over there yesterday to do a photo shoot and practice a little with the camera and all those settings,. The weather was really good, and the lighting was great. Here are some of the “fruits” (you’ll see!) of that shoot.
Not the place for Black and White photos!
New pumpkins and a vintage truck
Kids have a ball!
Hayride to Pumpkin Hollow, past Boot Hill
Returning hayride, hopefully with no one left at Boot Hill!
Piled high
The Three Amigo’s “Lookuphere! Lookuphere!”
There’s one here with your name on it!
The place is great, so if you and your family are looking for the perfect place to go, spend some time, go on a hayride to “Pumpkin Hollow” and come home not only with some Fall decorations, but also with some great memories, I can suggest no better place than Ideal Farms.
Nothing like old barns to supply good opportunities for some B&W photos!
Say Hi to Ben and Jan, just tell them, “Donny sent me!”
Yup…. It’s sitting right outside of the Authorized Freightliner Repair Facility.
Do you know why it is there?
Yup again….. It is … hold on now…. “Waiting For A Part.”
I feel the inspiration for a Country and Western song coming on…
I’m settin’ and waitin’
Just anticipatin’
It’s 4am and dark
Lonely here, the truck repair
No one here ‘cept me
They said, they said, they said….
The “part” was on its way
I’m just settin’ and waitin’
Just anticipatin’
It’s 4am and dark
Sure wish they had my part….
Maybe they’ll have my part by the time I learn to sing, get a record contract, make millions, and am able to buy the parts manufacturer and beef up inventory.
We’re back here, the parts had been ordered last week with the anticipated arrival of Tuesday. We scurried over here yesterday morning breathlessly anticipating the 10 to 11 am arrival of our beloved SCR unit. You know when an acronym is involved with any type of “Part” it automatically increases the price by a factor of 10. Our SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) is no exception. But the forces at work here, (which would be the collective Terrorist Organizations of the DOT, DEP, EPA, and just because they can… the special XYZ department of the government that covers anything else that the previously listed agencies may have left out) make it impossible for the motor to run without it. Don’t get me wrong here, I don’t mind the fact that there is a significant reduction of all that black smoke that used to emanate from the tailpipes of the trucks and busses but bringing everyone to screeching halt with no “Band-Aid” available is going a bit too far. It’s a good thing we’re so close to a home base and a repair facility that we know and love. The guys inside had been customers of the Chatterbox😊.
Never underestimate the powers of a good cheeseburger, fries, and chocolate shake!
“Tower, This is Winnebago Flight 101 declaring an emergency and requesting an immediate return to base!”
“Roger, Winnebago 101, what seems to be the issue?”
“Multiple dash lights, engine warning, DEF sensors, we could de-rate at any moment, request to return!”
“Ah, yea. Winnebago, request to reenter pattern granted but this is a Diner so we’re not sure if we will be any assistance unless you need a Taylor Ham, egg and cheese on a hard roll, to-go. We suggest that you procced to The Emergency Repair Facility in Lafayette on RT 94, they’re an authorized Freightliner facility and should be able to help you.”
“Great, hopefully we’ll make it without having to ditch this baby into the Paulinskill, Captain Sully is not aboard, wish us luck!”
“Roger 101, good luck and keep us posted, we’ll keep your parking spot open for as long as we can hold off the employees who used to park there. They’re like vultures circling over a dead body!”
“Nice thought Tower, thanks a lot for your encouragement, Winnebago 101 , out!”
It never looks good when the Technician is on his creeper, legs out, with he rest of his body crammed under the innards of your baby.
Well, we were going to try and spend a few days up in Watkins Glen, New York. There a few days open that did not require Paula to be in Vermont, hostessing, or anything else. And my responsibilities for the 100th Anniversary of Ritter Food Corp. did not start until next week, so plans were made and reservations at the KOA were secured.
The weather was just incredible, perfect for traveling. We dumped the tanks, filled up with water and fuel, Loaded the Monster Energy Drinks into the fridge and way we went!
Almost.
Not five miles into our journey did those ugly lights and ringing bells signal a premature end to our planned mini trip.
Miss Winnebago feeling mighty important waiting the the queue to be examined by the Authorized Freightliner Mechanic and Technician, our new best friend, Bret.
You may recall that this exact same thing happened when were embarking on the Great Circumnavigation of the Lower Forty-Eight way back at the end of March. Same as then, we did not get more than five miles into said trip when all hell broke loose, and we needed to land in our Texas Emergency Facility.
I guess we could look on the bright side and be thankful that were not in the middle of Lower Nowhere, just outside of One-Horse Town, inside the confines of the Last Chance Desert.
As a matter of fact, that is just what we are doing!
We celebrated our good fortune of being stuck at home by going out to dinner at one our favorite places, The Carriage House on Culver Lake.
We were greeted warmly. 😊
“Next!”
Our present position at the Campbell Supply Freightliner Repair Facility and RV Park
“Ground Control, this is Winnebago Flight 101 requesting to push back.”
“Roger, Winnebago 101, please hold for Garbage Truck, momentarily blocking your tarmac area, expect a short delay, they’re only doing a pick-up and will vacate the gate area momentarily.”
“Roger, Ground Control, waiting your go-ahead.”
Everything was loaded, including Bonnie the Parsley Plant who took her usual seat in First Class. We had fueled a few days ago and topped off our propane tank at the same time so that we would not have any additional delays come Departure Day.
We’ve been sitting here at the Winnebago Airlines gate in the Yetter’s Terminal of Sussex International since our arrival back in late May. It’s a good thing that the folks here at Yetter’s have waived both our landing fees and ground fees because staying here at the Terminal (instead of pushing us over to outlying areas where outfits such as Bill’s Airlines and Lower than Whale Doo-Doo Air Transport are located) would normally have been prohibitively expensive. Getting that clearance from the Port Authority of Augusta was a bit dicey as we were the only Flight here. Luckily we were able to trade these services for First Officer Paula’s work tenure as a Hostess and Cashier in the Terminal Lounge area.
“Winnebago Flight 101, this is Ground Control, the Garbage Truck has cleared your area, permission to push back is granted, please proceed to Runway 206 South and switch to Tower Control for further instructions, have a good flight, Ground Control out.“
“Roger Ground Control, Runway 206 South, and thanks for your hospitality, Winnebago 101 out.”
“Tower this is Winnebago Flight 101 taxiing for take-off, Runway 206 South, request permission to perform final run-up before entering runway.”
“Roger Winne 101, traffic is heavy, perform run-up then proceed with caution, you know how those bozo’s coming out of Pennsy are!”
We performed our final check of all instruments and awaited our opportunity to enter the traffic flow in front of us. The Tower wasn’t kidding, it took several attempts to finally pull out onto the Runway and accelerate to our take-off speed. In the meantime, all of those small, single-engine pests coming out of Pennsy, were in fact, quite annoying, kind of like a swarm of gnats trying to pass an albatross.
“Winnebago 101, this is Air Traffic Control, proceed due South, switch from 206 to 15, hold both course and speed through the Lafayette Congestion Area, then you may accelerate and climb out when you reach the Sparta Zone, watch out for those Sparta Control guys, they keep their Radars on, have a good flight, Air Traffic Control out. “
As we were preparing our final details, an urgent message was heard in our headphones, “Winnebago Flight 101 abort take-off! I repeat abort take-off!” We hastily retreated to the safety of our parking area at the Yetter’s Terminal to get an explanation. It seems that there are some new developments, family personal matters, that require Paula’s attention. So it looks like we are grounded until at least the end of September, which means that we are not leaving for Texas any time soon. You will have to put up with our presence for a bit longer!
We would have settled in for a routine flight on the first leg of this trip to our first destination, that of Ortley Beach, just north of Seaside Heights down the Shore. We did this anyway, only we did not bring Miss Biggie, we just used the Lifeboat. When we finally get on the road for sure, the entire flight is definitely not a non-stop event. There are several end-of-day layovers planned as this aircraft has only a two-person crew and we are certified to fly for only about ten hours before we must land and get the mandatory eight hours of rest before climbing back into the cockpit and repeating the process. Our entire flight will be three to four days long, depending on the condition of said pilots. Our landing in Texas is definitely a “daylight” procedure as this is a back country airport with no landing lights and has many obstacles that line the runway, so extreme caution is advised.
As I alluded to in my last post, I don’t like to start any adventure with a dirty vehicle. I am pleased to announce that I am very happy with the way that our house-on-wheels looks. I have discovered a new product that helps with anything vinyl, rubber, plastic, or otherwise. It is not anything like the Armor-All type products. This one actually bonds with the materials and keeps it looking good for a year. Plus, I got the one that has a black color to it so that it is something akin to using black shoe polish on black shoes. This solves my problem with the “protective” vinyl covering that is affixed to the front of the motorhome and was looking tired, dull, all washed out, and looking like, well, you know….
No amount of anything made it look good, until…… now!
I wish that I had a before and after photo for your perusal, but you’ll just have to trust me one this one!
Outlined area is the newly refurbished part
We do have a lot of car and automotive enthusiasts here in Sussex County. They are extremely knowledgeable about their vehicles and how they are kept. They are also quite critical about everyone else’s and make no bones about inspecting other folks’ vehicles and pointing out things that need attention.
Bill and Alex, local Car Critics
A few days ago, we inadvertently created quite the panic session at Yetter’s before we pulled out of the parking lot.
As I said before, we left to get propane.
That in itself was not the issue.
The issue was that we needed to leave the parking lot and drive to Newton in order to procure it.
So, why was that an issue Don?
Well, it was an issue because the staff thought that we were pulling up stakes and hitting the road without having Miss Paula, Hostess Extraordinaire, finish out her shifts that she is responsible for.
The wailing and gnashing of teeth was audible as we pulled out. Multiple staff members were seen exiting the building, using any and all of the doors in an attempt to hurl themselves in front of us as we exited out of the parking lot.
It didn’t help that we had a banner affixed to the rear that read,
“See you next year!”
But we came back a short while later, much to the delight of the previously devastated staff. Paula is using her new-found popularity and is holding out on signing next year’s contract in the hopes of getting additional packets of saltines when she has her soup for lunch.
The government is investigating these coercive negotiating tactics.
