10-31-08 Friday (Elusive Upholsterers)

Ahhhh, it's Halloween. Earlier in the week I had posed a question to Jim. "Do kids Trick or Treat at RV parks?" We never found the answer, but it doesn't matter since we're in a hotel. Yesterday, Jim called an upholstery shop for a rough estimate on making new dinette cushions. It was $300-500. That's for 2 bottom and 2 top cushions. I guess the range depends on the fabric selected. We may continue what we set out to do yesterday, find an upholstery shop. Hopefully this time we can make it without a misadventure. 2 days ago Jim noticed a dent/scrape at the top of the Cherokee cargo door as well as on one roof rack. We had never noticed it until we were parked next to a curb which gave us the ability to see the roof. We assume the awning whacked it during the Great Awning Fiasco. The shape and size of the dent would match up to the awning. Of course to really check that would mean a trip to the Arizona desert to consult with the abandoned awning. Meanwhile, on some remote desert highway in Arizona...


The Cherokee damage isn't covered by the RV policy. It only covers a trailer. I made a trip to the laundry room. Wow, I can actually do 3 days worth of laundry at one time. Amazing. I know in the RV I do at least a load of laundry per day. Aside from the size of the washer, it's also about the hideously long dry time. Everything except perma-press takes 2 hours to dry. The last reason for constant laundry is that with size and weight restrictions, we couldn't bring that much. Chances are we wouldn't have enough of anything for an entire week. Funny thing about that is in photos, you'll probably see us wearing the same 6 outfits. I've thought about getting Photoshop, and change the color of the clothing. A less expensive option is to not have Dasher take photos of us daily.

As I wait for laundry to finish, I thought I'd share with you a photo of Blog Headquarters for this week:

Yes, it's the couch. We brought a folding table with us. We also brought our pillows so the hotel's pillows now make lovely back cushions. You can see Dasher peeking between the laptops.

Later, as I returned from checking on laundry, Clea and Dasher swiped my spot! Of course I didn't disturb them.......... until after I got a picture.

Jim has called a few places around town for upholstery services. The estimates seem higher than we want to spend. We ventured out to pickup some mail from the campground and then headed to a couple of other upholstery shops the GPS "found". One of them was not found and the other was booked for 3 weeks anyway. Even if he wasn't booked, the old man was scary. He had clear nasal discharge that almost reached his lip. Do I hear a "ewwwwwwww". I don't think I could have talked to the guy enough to pick out fabrics. (shuddering). We stopped off at a Joann's and priced out fabric and foam. We'll do the calculations later on. Maybe Jim and I can do it ourselves. Stay tuned.

I don't know if it's happened to you, but a few times I've forgotten it was Halloween. Occasionally I've seen someone with some hideous makeup and had to do a double-take. Perhaps, in a scary way, this was the way they dressed normally.

I'm so excited, we're going to eat out tonight. I love food and I love to eat out. It's unhealthy and costly. Yeah, I can beat the cost with our free giftcards. OK, I can beat the unhealthy factor by having a salad or grilled foods perhaps. You know what, shut up with your suggestions, I'm gonna eat out.

Ooooooooooooo, a new follower has joined the blog. A big welcome to Craig. I think I've only met him once. Craig's other half, Will, used to live in Fort Myers a long time ago. Will eventually moved away taking a job in some Michigan city that I haven't bothered to see if I can spell. Will grew up and changed his name preference to William. Name preferences are important in business, more so customer service. Ya know, get that personal feeling. However, with friends, it's more common to call them what you've met them by rather than their preference. When that someone persists on using their "correct" name then it's fun to use other non-preferred names like "Willy" or "Billy". So, Will, consider that a warning shot.

We've returned from dining at Macaroni Grill. I love the food there. Jim and I both get Penne Rustica, our favorite. On the way home, we made cracks at each other and I threatened him with the power of the pen keyboard. I told him I'd publish untruths like he sneezed, which made him pee his pants and as we laughed then he farted.

10-30-08 Thursday (We're Gifted)

Sometime between 10 and noon, an exterminator is supposed to spray the rooms. I think this hotel's policy is one pet so with us having 3, I'm a little edgy about it. We'll be OK if just the exterminator comes but if he's accompanied by a hotel employee, I'm not sure what will happen. I'm thinking we need to load up all the children and drive around. Jim doesn't think it will be an issue.

This morning's shower was awesome. I'm not sure where to even start. OK, let's try the beginning, that's always a good place to start. The endless supply of hot water was the best part for me. Even in a "stick home", I've had to make the water hotter as I showered to keep up with the hot water loss. This stayed a constant temperature. I can't dismiss the fact that I love having extra space too. Washing my legs was great, even though instinctively, I still "watched my head" as I stood up, so as not to bang my head on the non-existent shower organizer. Oh, such little things in life we take for granted. I shaved my head and face in the shower as I always do, but this time, I didn't have to turn the water off during shave strokes. Yeah, I wasted water, and loved it. As Jim said, we were probably in the shower longer this morning than 3 days worth in the RV.

Well, now that I've shared my personal hygiene habits with you...... as I walked the dog (now sharing his personal hygiene) the exterminator showed up and I think he was by himself. Now we're free to roam Salt Lake City.

I haven't taken any pictures of the mountains here. I assure you, it's kinda ugly. Ann (Jim's Mom) warned him it was ugly here. She's right. There's so much smog, it's gross. It's constantly hazy, but I'll take some pictures so you can see for yourself. Jim says it's because Salt Lake City is in a valley/basin and the pollution can't make it over the mountains.

We left the hotel in search of an upholstery shop. We want the RV dinette cushions remade. Aside from the atrocious floral pattern, our asses seem to bottom out (get it?). Using the GPS, we searched for a shop. We went to about 5 shops that were mostly non-existent or closed. Stopping at a 7-11 for a peepee break and peepee fuel (drinks) led us to discover the Cherokee gushing coolant all over the place. Jim remembered seeing an automotive repair place a block a way so we hobbled on over. $80.00 later we left with a new lower radiator hose.

By the way, in a neighboring city we've driven through several times today, I'm constantly amused by it's name of "Midvale". For any of you Farside fans, a popular cartoon stands out. Jim and I shout "Midvale" out to each other when we pull on a push door or vice vera.

10-29-08 Wednesday (Spaciousness)

We've checked out of Mountain Shadows and are now staying at the Studio 6 Extended Stay hotel. Sadly, it's spacious compared to the RV. I mean a hotel room, being larger than a 36 foot RV? Weird. After unloading the RV, we headed to the repair shop to go over our needs/wants list, and of course leave our home on wheels there. Returning to Studio 6, we unpacked and settled in. The only thing they don't have is an oven so we'll be having pasta tonight and probably eating out the rest of the week with our gift cards. I may come up with some other things I could make without an oven. I'll probably need to because I have a feeling we'll be here longer than a week.

Jim and I decided to lay on the bed for a few minutes, and with all 3 pets in the bed, it's like gigantic enormous. Oh, how we miss the king size bed from the stick house (stick house is RVers lingo for a permanent residence). We joked we may need walkie talkies to communicate. Jim remained in bed for a nap. I can't nap. When I nap, I feel like I don't want to get up.

I had taken a photo of the neighbor's RV site again. I'm not sure if it's all that humorous anymore so I'll leave it out of the blog. Maybe it wasn't that humorous to begin with.

So, I glance over at the bed and Dasher is under the covers with Jim. Clea and Jag are laying contently on the bed. Evidently, I mistakenly made eye contact with Clea, which must mean, "Come over here and sit on my lap."

Of course after I've said I wasn't going to post anymore pictures and descriptions about the neighbor's campsite, I got a comment that it amused 1 of you. Today will be the last post about it since we're not at the campground anymore. Today's visual wasn't as interesting as others but here it is.

Today's cleaning product on the campsite is Tide. Remember, Tide Knows Fabrics Best. Hey, I did find out the paper towels ARE indeed Select-A-Size. I was so thrilled. I had thought about swiping them, but I refrained.

It's time we spent the evening playing mindless games on the Internet.

10-28-08 Tuesday (Scavenger Hunt)

Today's trailer park trash mess is brought to you by the makers of Modelo beer.... when Corona isn't available.

I know you've all been waiting for today's trailer trash description. I'm sure after a long day at work, when your significant other comes home, you'll be rambling off the list of items as if you've won a scavenger hunt or something. THEN, your other half will tell you, they read about it at work. What a kill-joy, huh?

It's almost interesting to watch the mess change next door to us. It's not quite as fun as stabbing your right eye with a paper clip, but it comes pretty close.

Aside from the Modelo Beer, we have some other interesting items. An Irish Spring soap box which appears to be empty. A sour cream container; I hope its empty. A roll of paper towels; I can't tell if it's select-a-size or not. A 12 pack of Fanta Grape soda, with a few of the 12 missing. I full case of Dasani water. A bag of potatoes. Last night's dinner must have consisted of onion, since there are only 2 remaining onions..... still stored under the RV. There's also 4 plastic bowls scattered about. I think 2 are from the previous days.

We've been all over town today. Nothing real exciting, just shopping. The only exciting place was Ikea. We love Ikea, but hate that we can't fit anything into the RV. I kept hoping to turn a corner and see an RV section. There was none. We ate lunch there too. As we were almost finished, Jim needed to leave quickly. Of course I was thinking something horrible like "Did you shit your pants?" or the like. Turned out he had gotten sentimental about not having the house anymore, feeling like we had nothing. He's bummed about the RV problems, I guess everything just hit him at once. I reminded him about the fun we've been having the adventures yet to come. We can also buy another house..... of course if we have jobs.

We've done a little packing up so we can check into the Studio 6 extended stay place which is related to Motel 6. We went over earlier today to check out the room before committing. We wanted to insure that they accept pets and had a full kitchen. We'll be emptying the fridge tomorrow as part of packing up. It's fine. Large bathroom, full kitchen with apartment sized fridge, 2 burners, microwave, etc. It has a couch as well as a dinette. It should be just fine for the 5 of us. I know Jim and I will be happy with the endless hot water and a large shower! Tomorrow will be "move day".

I've mentioned Jim's Diet Coke Reward's thingy previously. We can redeem some of his points for things, one of which is restaurant.com. I spotted a place in Salt Lake called The Mayan Adventure, and it's like one of those Rainforest Cafe places only they put shows on. They cliff dive inside the restaurant and also feature fire dancers. Visit the link above to see how cool this place is. Of course Restaurant.com is out of certificates for this place but hopefully we'll get to go before we leave here. Anyone ever been there? The reviews I've read are very mixed.

10-27-08 Monday (Canned Jalapeno Snacks)

Jim woke up this morning and checked on our new site. Remember, we were in a site without sewer. The site was empty, which was a good thing because our gray water was at the 3/4 mark. We packed up and settled into the new site.

What a sight at the site. I can only describe our neighbor's campsite as being what one would think of as trailer trash. Now, we've not seen these people at all today, so I'm not sure if they fit the image they've set with their site. I have a picture of course but in case you can't tell what somethings are, allow me to describe them to you:

12 pack (probably empty) of Bud Light. 1 crushed beer can, possibly crushed at some woman's forehead as someone chanted "chug, chug, chug". A mesh bag of onions lays beneath the RV. I hadn't thought about storing produce under the RV. A mop leans against the RV. A kitchen knife lays on the table. An empty box from a Crest tube. Jim says at least the 2 teeth they have are purdy. A container of salt (hopefully iodized). A big ole can of jalapeno peppers with an eating utensil emerging from the top, as if they ate right out of the can. A braided INdoor country rug that is filthy and laying OUTside. Just a few observations.

After my observations, the insurance adjuster arrived and wrote up the awning damage. It's at about $4000.00 less our $500 deductible. We popped over next door to Camping World and talked to a body shop estimator who came back to the RV to do his own assessment. Unfortunately, all of the other issues we have (vibration, tub leak, jacks, cruise control) they don't do. We went to another RV shop and gave him our list including the insurance work, and they do everything. We're scheduled with them for Wednesday, in Bountiful, Utah. We have a $750.00 hotel allowance from Progressive insurance and $100.00 a day from our extended service contract. Bountiful is North of Salt Lake City, while Draper (where we are) is South.

Next stop was Taco Bell for lunch. I haven't had that in so long. I'm sure I'll pay for it later.

Oh, the neighbor returned. Turns out it's a single Spanish guy, who works for a concrete company. He and 2 fellow amigos are hanging out, drinking beer, cooking dinner on the grill and enjoying some OLD slow Spanish music that doesn't quite fit their age. They speak English. The 3rd guy (white) has a trailer across the way. I think rather than trailer trash, he's more of a young bachelor who's a slob. That also explains the peppers out of the can. The salt was for some bottles of beer they brought with them. It didn't look like Corona but maybe.

Where was I? Oh Taco Bell, uhhh oh yeah, we went to Camping World and bought a couch slip cover (made for RV couches) in a nice neutral tan. Looks much better.

This evening's dinner was Pizza Hut delivery. Another thing we haven't had in a long time. I'm so stuffed, I don't even feel like typing anymore..... see ya!

10-26-08 Sunday (Mrs. Kravitz)

I could barely stay up last night. By about 10pm, I was in bed. Jim stayed up, probably much later, since he's slept in so long today. I'm not even sure what we're going to do today. Yesterday, I grabbed a copy of a weekly entertainment newspaper but I haven't looked through it yet. I'm sure there's several haunted attractions to see but I fear (get it?) they'll be as cheesy as the time Jim and I went to the Lakes Park Haunted Train ride. That was a joke. Definitely for children, not for adults. It's possible today might be one of those long blog entries about nothing.

They say a person's life journeys shape one's personalities. Or something like that. I wonder how our journeys will change us. Will we want less belongings since we can currently carry less? Will we want more because we'll be tired of having less? Will we want a smaller home because we're grown accustomed to having that? Will we want to be environmentally friendly after seeing the natural beauty? I'm sure we'll change, and hopefully in a positive way of course.

Jim has crawled out of bed. He didn't go to sleep late, he's just feeling sick. Congested and such. Perhaps he's caught a cold. It's close quarters here so I'm going to do my best not to catch it as well. I'd spray Lysol around but then the LP Gas Leak Detector Nazi will scream at me.

Jim has went back to bed. He laid on the couch for a short time. I can tell he's sick, he hasn't even smoked.

The water here tastes and smells like a new vinyl shower curtain liner. While I've not tasted a shower curtain, I can assure you, this is what it tastes like. We've had this situation before in Florida only it was a foul smell. Since then, I think we've purchased a water quality check kit at some point. I guess the next thing will be to find it. There's not much space in an RV but you'd be surprised at all the nooks and crannies. I've checked in most of the "makes sense" places so far except for where the hose is stored. I think we'll have to get bottled water for the stay here. I'd hate to cough up a PVC pipe, although I'd probably be famous and maybe wealthy.

Jim has risen from the land of sickness. I'm not sure how long he'll be up. I'm thinking I should close the bedroom door, arm myself with Lysol, and attack the bed. I may even scream "attack!" or some other engaging word. "Fire!" is probably a bad thing to scream in an RV park. RV's contain diesel or gas and propane. I've read "It takes only 5 to 7 minutes for a 40 foot RV to burn to the rails." Educational blog, isn't it? Imagine standing at a party, chatting with a new acquaintance. They talk to you about the physics of the moon and you can blurt out "Oh yeah, well did you know an RV can burn to the rails in JUST 5-7 minutes?". While you may appear well read, maybe even slightly smart or mildly disturbed, you can guarantee you won't be invited back.

Way too often, I REread (for Here and There) what I have in the entry so far and amaze myself over the stupid stuff I insert into these things.

Even though my day has been so busy thus far, I stopped to take some photos of our campground "Mountain Shadows".

To one side we have a small mountain view with some attractive traffic cones in the foreground. The small pond with waterfall is fishless but not too bad.

More mountain views also reveal the highway which is right behind the pickup truck that got in my damn way. I didn't want to waste film. Oh, yeah, I have a digital camera.

This photo reveals the soft green areas with another bright orange traffic cone. I never really noticed them until I looked at these pictures. What's that on the other side of the interstate? Is it an Ikea? Wow, we could practically uhhhhh drive there.

It's really not a bad park and the convenience to Camping World for repairs will probably be worth it. Even though I say it's not too bad, I'll probably continue to bitch about it, topped with photos of less than desirable things here..... it's what I do.

Oh wow, 8 Draper City Police cars arrived along with an ambulance and a fire truck. Something happened at an RV 3 spaces down. A crying woman on a phone, and an older man who was shaking met with the police. Perhaps a death or something? I'm not really sure why 8 police cars are needed. The ambulance appears to be leaving without anyone. Ahhhh the days in a trailer park... try it. I'm sure in a way it might be amusing to see all of these people crammed into an RV. The fire truck is now departing. I feel like Gladys Kravitz, only I hope I look better.

Jag takes in the view of "neighbors talking trash during a crisis".

The over-responding Draper City Police Department.

An hour or so later, Jim saw an unmarked bed-capped pickup truck arrive to which a body bag was carried out to. Only 1 police car remains.
Jim had suggested the vinyl tasting water should be checked right from the faucet. I did so and found it to be something in our connections. It turned out to be our hose which was used a few times prior to this one. I'm not sure why the hose started to emit a poor taste after being used a few times. It's a water drinking safe (so we thought) hose we purchased from Wal-Mart in an RV supply section. We bought it because the hose can be used even when part of it is reeled up which makes for a tidy campsite. We'll be returning that now. Maybe Camping World has something similar. I switched out the hose with our other and the water is fine.
While I worked on the connections an older spanish man walked over and spoke with me in fairly good english. I had found out that the woman that was on the phone is his daughter and the 3 kids are his grandchildren. He said she didn't live here and that she came for something and found him dead. I think he's her ex from what I could understand.

10-25-08 Saturday (RV For A Tent Trade)

Since starting the blog, there's been about 3 comments pertaining to who's taking the pictures of Jim and I. I wanted to clarify this issue. As you've guessed, Dasher has taken them. I take the scenic pictures (Dasher's too short) while Dasher takes the pictures of Jim and I. He's not perfect in his picture taking abilities and naturally those are the ones I don't usually post. Here's a couple of pictures I've rejected for blog publishing.

Poor thing, sometimes he's all paws when snapping photos.

Clearly, he's been getting into adult photo shoots with Clea on OUR bed!

We made it to Salt Lake City today. I drove the RV about 50-60 miles worth and then gave it back to Jim with "OK, you can drive." I hadn't driven it for a long time. The hardest thing is keeping it within the lines. It constantly wants to roam the road. I felt like a drunk monkey with epilepsy. The constant steering corrections are annoying. Hopefully that will be resolved next week.

We're staying at Mountain Shadows in Draper, UT right next to a Camping World. The campground screwed up the reservation and listed us for a tent site. This place is full so we're in a site that doesn't have sewer. We'll have to manage until Monday when a site clears out. I was pretty annoyed but left the office before I'd say things I'd regret.

After setup, we went to Costco, Lowes, Applebee's and then Wal-Mart. At Wal-Mart we just picked up somethings for now but will need to go back in a few days once we figure out when the awning fiasco damage will get repaired.

It's so strange seeing so much traffic and so many stores. It's been so quiet and now the opposite. Today was the first time we've driven on an Interstate since Denver to Ouray. Jim has pointed out that I complained when it was too underdeveloped and now I'm complaining about the big city.

Honestly I'm too tired to go into more details about the campground tonight, it will have to wait until tomorrow.

10-24-08 Friday (Blogger Blues)

Yesterday's blog post had 2 more paragraphs at the end. As I approved a comment, I notice ant-sized writing at the end. I went back and fixed it. It wasn't anything important, and mildly humorous at best, I'm still pissed it showed up as it did. Reading it, however, would make the entry title more logical. Google Blogger is very quirky. It's a love-hate thing really. I guess I love that's it's SUPPOSED to be so easy to post, but hate that it constantly fights me on formatting. So many times I preview the post, and make changes, then I post it, and view it to discover the line spacing is wrong. I then unpublish it, change it and go through the cycle 4 or 5 times more. While I'm not looking for pity, nevermind I am. Pity me. Google's Blogger isn't all that cooperative.

The blog takes a long time. I enjoy doing it for myself as well as doing it for the readers. It's awesome that I can dominate a conversation, like I'd do outside the blog anyway. I'm not a very good writer, but probably a good story teller. Some of you have commented through phone conversations that you can picture me saying the things I do. I guess that's what I need to stick with, whether the grammar is marginal or the humorous analogies are missing.

Jim and I have decided to skip Capitol Reef National Park. It was so yesterday. There's probably not that much more to see anyway, so we'll go to Escalante Grand Staircase instead. The Grand Staircase from what I've seen in photos has some very unique ROCK FORMATIONS. Yeah, I make fun of the rocks and dead Indians things but I really do enjoy what we see. If I really want to, I could easily put it into a different perspective, like...

We have no jobs but really like wandering the country to photograph rocks. OR We've spent thousands to see what some old Indian built out of rocks instead of saving money in piss-poor economic times.

With that perspective in mind, some would say we're nuckin' futs. Truth be told, no matter what the reasoning or perspective, some may still feel that way. As for Jim and I, we don't care if we appear crazy and gypsy-esque. We care about other important issues like what's on sale at Camping World or if there's a Wal-Mart close by. Those are the important things in life.

We're back from the Grand Staircase and it wasn't at all like what I thought I remembered seeing from photos. Apparently the more intricate terrain is only reachable by hiking trails. We're too lazy for that. It was a 2 hour drive there but with today's adventure, it wasn't about the destination but rather getting there. The roadside views of the canyons and mountains were stunning.

Our steepest climb yet.

Great scenery, twisty road.

Dasher seemed to be sulking or something.

A llama in the background and poop in the foreground.

10-23-08 Thursday (Fire!)

Today is our 100th post! To commemorate the day, I've created a collectible poster. That's right, you'll be the envy of all your friends and co-workers. Order a poster now, and you'll receive:

• Garret-chewed-gum to securely fasten your poster. (Specify Dentyne or Wrigleys)
• One Diet Coke label with Jim's autograph. (Additional offered at $25.00 each)
• A water sample from the infamous washer-over-floweth-disaster.
• Hydraulic jack fluid (ATF), fresh from a leak. (Please specify which jack)
• A sample of awning fabric. (1 X 1 inch, quantities limited due to supplier somewhere in Arizona desert)
• Wal-Mart Door Greeter trading card. (Allow us to pick for you)
• jimandgarret.blogspot.com bumper sticker.
  

That's right, you get all of this for just $49.95 + shipping and handling. Don't miss out, the printer only has so much ink on hand! Order now and receive a bag of rocks!

Here's what people are saying:

JD: I used my bag of rocks to mark off the states I've lived in and the ATF to fry awesome chicken.

Dave: The chewing gum was great to level my keyboard with.

Carl: The rocks were awesome. I used them in the car to add weight and slow me down.

Mike: I ordered 5 kits, just so I could get the Wal-Mart greeting cards!

Fred: Who are you people? Take my off (expletive deleted) your stupid list.

Jack: I used thumb tacks on the poster and rechewed the gum. I chose Dentyne.

Jodi: I'll be giving them away as gifts. How do you wrap 1X1 square?

Pearl: A got a rock shaped like New Jersey... very disappointing.

Tim: As a painter by trade, I found the bumper sticker useful for edging and the ATF worked well to clean my brushes.

Amy: Thanks Jim and Garret! When my adding machine broke, I used the rocks to make an abacus. My boss saw it and it saved me from this round's lay offs!

..... 20,125 more testimonials available upon request!

Yes, I'm done. I had too much fun with the testimonials..... as you can tell.

Capital Reef National Park was nice. We didn't finish it all today because of a 4x4 trail, which I'll tell you about shortly. At Capital Reef, we stopped at the "Gifford Farmhouse" which was a museum and a store. Amongst the junk they sold, they had home canned fruits as well as fresh pies. We bought a small apple salad, OK, so it was really an apple pie. At the end of a scenic drive, we stopped off at a picnic pavilion and ate our lunch, and then the apple salad. After lunch, we spotted a Kangaroo Rat scurrying into some bushes. No photo, it was too fast.

No day is complete without an off-road adventure. This was the most challenging. It was 20 miles and at a speed of 5-10 mph, took hours. We crossed a couple of raging rivers where I reminded Jim not to squash the fish. Raging rivers might be overstated, more like babbling brooks, with no fish.

What was very interesting about the trail was the definite change of terrains. From rocks and boulders to dirt to green spaces to more rocks to a forest. We ended up in Dixie National Forest which was about 30 minutes away from the RV. The fun part about trails (sometimes) is not knowing where you'll end up. The disadvantage is the neck ache afterwards. The bumps were frequent, and often matched with the sound of Dasher's tags jingling as he got bounced to and fro.

We liked the color variations.

This had an interesting marbleized effect.

Towers coming out of the ground.

Picnic spot of the day.

Apple salad pie.

Interesting colors and holes.

The raging river we drove through.

This road sucked.

Another raging river.

We stared at this deer and it stared back. Taken at the Dixie National Forest.

With dinner digested, we decided to build a fire. I'm not really sure what went wrong but the damn wind changed direction more times than a presidential candidate's platform. This spewed smoke and embers at us constantly. As we tried to enjoy the fire, a stray cat walked over and eventually jumped in Jim's lap. It was kinda strange. We eventually had to sit too far from the fire to feel the warmth. Finally we gave up on the chairs, since it did nothing but slow down our flaming fire ball dodging dance. As we pondered the possibility of defective wood, we decided this really sucked. 4 gallons of water later, we came inside.

$4.50 on wood. $3.00 on fire starter fluid. 1/2 hour of time we'll never get back. 4 gallons of water. Clothing that smells like an arsonist. Oh what fun. Not quite bad enough to classify this as a MISadventure.

10-22-08 Wednesday (Where's My Keys)

We're on the road to Torrey, Utah. A 3rd jack was discovered to be leaking. Apparently, the stop leak stuff already in the system plugged it or it's a small leak. The jacks cooperated and registered as retracted without intervention. Yay.

The newest dilemma is the shower floor may possibly be leaking. It's had a small crack in the plastic floor (the shower is one piece) since we bought the rig. The crack has grown. We saw some water dripping from under the RV. We'll look into it later tonight or tomorrow. There's an access panel in the front of the shower to access the drain and such. Wish us luck!

We were fortunate to drive through Glen Canyon. More beautiful rocks. I know, it seems like our trip is centered around dead Indians and giant rocks. Maybe we'll find a place where we can throw rocks at Indians. Like a carnival duck shoot booth.

We stopped for lunch within Glen Canyon. As usual, most of the roads we travel are empty and when stopped it is so quiet and peaceful. Have you ever seen "The Hills Have Eyes"? We have; it's a horror movie and many of the surroundings remind us of it. Here's the plot synopsis:

While traveling in a trailer to California through the New Mexico Desert, a family is misled to a shortcut going to nowhere by the owner of an isolated gas station and wrecks the car in a rock. Along the night and on the next day, they are attacked by a group of deformed cannibals, fruit of the atmospheric nuclear tests conducted by USA from 1945 to 1962 in that spot. Absolutely trapped by the psychotics, they have to fight to survive.

I know, it's creepy. I was lucky to have caught it on film. I expected some mutant to attack at any moment.

We drove through Capital Reef National Park to get here and it was beautiful. That's going to be one of our destination points this week. We're staying at Thousand Lakes RV Park and I'm happy to say that we have a strong cell phone signal. Yay. I think there's only 2-3 other people staying here. This park is closing for the winter in a few days. We bought a stack of firewood to use; the temperature for tonight is supposed to be in the low 20's. We filled our water reserves and reeled in the hose. We don't need anymore frozen water issues. We've got enough on-going issues to deal with. Dasher seems to be in heaven here, it's like 1,000 other dogs have marked the grass and he's not sure what spot he should re-mark. What a stressful life, eh? Where should I pee? Should I save some for the next 15 spots?

Aside from this place making Dasher happy, it makes us happy too. Look at the incredible view from our patio! A funny thing about this is, neither one of us noticed the view until we finished setup. Jim called me outside to look at the view. Duh. Rock and Indians, rocks and Indians....

Pictured above is the park during the day, below at night.

After setup, we redeemed a restaurant.com certificate for "Rim Rock Restaurant". We used Jim's Diet Coke points. See, it pays to drink 32 gallons of Diet Coke a day. Anyway, the restaurant had pretty good food, and it was situated where most seating had a view of the mountains.

Just ANOTHER reminder, we're only up to $32.73 in ad income. How's about using the search bar on the left to find your favorite crap?
Some of you may know about my fondness of cartoons and Wonder Woman. I found this video last night and couldn't pass it up. I love it.