5-4-14 Sunday (Thirsty?)

Meanwhile, earlier in the week…

Above: I packaged some steaks in the freezer,and had a little fun with the labeling.  It was killing me to wait for Jim to see it.

Friday 4/25 – Sunday 4/27: An Augusta weekend!  Surprise!  We arrived Friday night, unpacked, cleaned ourselves up a bit and went out to the bar to meet up and socialize with some friends.  We had a great time. 

Saturday morning, I made egg mcmuffins of sort.  Using our microwave egg poacher, I assembled egg, cheese, and Canadian bacon on an English muffin.  They were delish.

Jim worked outside getting the motorhome ready to move.  He disconnected it, aired up the tires, etc and moved it to an empty lot.  Our friend Wesley borrowed our mower for his lot, mowed several lots near him and then did ours as well.  When done, we brought the RV to Wes’ dad, the mechanic, so that he can work on the generator.  We have him a list of mechanical things to repair.

Above: Wesley

For lunch and made some veggie burgers and fries.  That’s 2 meals I cooked in one day at the RV.  Typically unheard of.  We’re trying to spend less on eating out.  Besides, I wanted this big RV with the huge kitchen so I’d have room to cook. 

Saturday night 4 of us went to dinner at Mi Rancho.  Karaoke (not that great) + good friends + good food = a good time.

Above: Jeff, who did not want his picture taken.

Above: Craig

On Sunday, Jim built some stairs.  Actually, they were partially built and given to us by Robert and Brad in the campground.  Jim had to build supports to hold up the stairs as well as a landing at the top.

Friday 5/2 – Sunday 5/4: Sometime earlier in the week, coworkers around me were coughing, sneezing, and all around sickly.  Naturally, I caught it.  Damn them!  I went on to Augusta anyway.  I felt pretty good on SaturDAY, Saturday night, not so much.  Jim went out, I stayed in at the RV.  It definitely wasn’t a great weekend for me.

Sunday night, at home, I had some feeling sick moments.  On Monday, I feel pretty rough.  I’m sure after a shower and such I would have felt fine to go to work but I opted to stay home.  Once I felt better, I did laundry, emptied the dishwasher, etc.  What a waste of a day off. 

A couple of weeks ago, while in Augusta, we went to Lowes. 

6 water fountains? 

4-20-14 Sunday (Stale Ingredients)

First, some photos from our backyard:

4/2/14

4/14/14

I took off Friday the 4th from both work and from NC.  I went to Fort Myers, Florida!  I flew Allegiant.  With one checked bag, it cost me $160 round trip.  An incredible deal!  Allegiant is limited as to what airports they fly out of.  Typical not major airports. I had to drive to the Asheville regional airport.  It was a 2 hour trip and was an easy drive.  I typically fly from Greenville but Asheville was a recent addition to their airport list.  Greenville’s departure time was like 6:30am.  With getting to the airport an hour early + a 2 hour drive, I would have had to leave the house by 3:30am.  Yeah, no thanks.  The drive to Asheville was prettier and the airport nicer.  The best part?  My flight was at 10:30am.  The second best?  Cheap!

My Aunt Donna and her best friend Rosemary (aka Ro) picked me up.  Ro was visiting from NY and she also flew Allegiant a day or 2 before I did.  Our family has known Ro for many years.

I spent the weekend with my Mom and Dad, just relaxing, chit chatting and such.  I got to see Mike, Dave and David for lunch on Saturday.  I didn’t take any pictures except for a couple of funny ones or special effects ones.

Above: My cousin Carissa.

Above: My cousin and her fiancée, Josh.

Above: Butt crack sighting at Perkins.

My Florida Trip ended Monday morning.  It was a nice long weekend trip. Jim did not come with me since a) he saw most of his family recently b) he can stay home with the dog and c) he doesn’t have as much time off as me.

A lonely photo in my phone…

Above: A few weeks ago while at lunch with Jeff and Paul at Diablo’s.  Fresh Free Ingredients mean something different than Free Fresh Ingredients.

Friday the 11th, we made our way to Augusta.  Jim spent a lot of time organizing his tools in to Rubbermaid storage bins.  We also found a place for the empty totes we use to transport stuff back and forth.  Now the living area is free of clutter.  I should have taken a picture but soon after organization, some piles started appearing.  You know the piles.  “Returns”.  “Needs a home”.  “Donate”. Etc.  Oh well.  It was nice while it lasted.

This is gone:

One of our friends here at the campground knows a mechanic… his dad.  So several weeks ago we dropped the Jeep off with him for repairs and this weekend we picked it up.  He repaired our power window, replaced the headliner, solved a rough idle issue and oodles of other issues.  The Mazda lease is up in June so we’re gonna need that Jeep in working order.

Easter weekend, 18-20th, we stayed in Charlotte and had friends over for Easter lunch.  Beth, Angie, David, Ruby and Jamie came over.  It was potluck style and the food was amazing.

Above: Ruby and Jamie as taken from the front door sidelight.

You know how I love the novelty bread from Great Harvest Bread right?  We’ve had a turkey and a spider.  This time, a very cute bunny wabbit.

Above: Crafty Jim arranged it on a cake plate with Easter grass and chocolate Easter Eggs.  Don’t worry, it didn’t suffocate in the plastic bag… it was already dead.

Above/Below: My contribution was the little Easter baskets filled with goodies at each place setting.

Below: I got a new Pysanka egg!

Thanks to Bette for yet another amazing egg!

3-30-14 Sunday (3 Weekends)

Weekend 14th – 16th.

It was another weekend in Augusta.  I pulled an extra bath mat out from under the RV bathroom sink and it was wet.  Ut oh.  The connection from the faucet to the cold water was bad.  It was dripping down into an abyss which might be where that water is coming from that was leaking under the RV.  It was a good time to replace the faucets.  Both the kitchen and the bathroom faucets were plastic and had dual knobs instead of a single faucet.  The RV dealer has been receptive to our emails and mentioned something about sending someone to make repairs.

Jim worked on leveling the RV again.  He’s anal about that.  We replaced the bedspread with our old reversible comforter. 

Above: We still need some more storage bins for the shelf above the bed.

Above: Before

Above: Look!  A finished area!

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Weekend 21st – 23rd.

This was a much different weekend than usual.  We drove to Augusta as typical on Friday night BUT then Saturday morning we left and went on to Atlanta for an extended weekend.  We took off Monday, spending the long weekend at Jim’s brother and sister-in-law’s house.  Jim’s dad and his wife were visiting from Florida.  Our nephew, Colton, is adorable and well behaved.  I spent a long time playing cars and trains with him.  He’s 2.  I’m not sure if 2 is still stated in months for that age.  I’m 525 months old.  Anyway, we had a great visit.  It’s always so relaxing.

Dasher enjoyed himself too:

On the way back home we stopped at The Varsity.  It’s a famous burgers and hotdogs place.  Jim and I weren’t all that impressed but I found out afterwards, we should have had the hotdogs which is what makes the place so popular.  Oh well.

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Weekend 28th – 30th.

Once again we’re in Augusta.  We spent a lot of Saturday cleaning out the last of our belongings from the motorhome.  It was mostly left over stuff that I put off finding a home for on the inside.  On the outside, Jim emptied the basement and organized all of that stuff.  We have plenty of room in the new RV though.  We even have some empty spaces.  Jim has hired someone to make some repairs on the motorhome.

So how’s the RV going?  I love it.  The space here is awesome and I love it’s modern style. 

When we come to Augusta, we pack up in storage totes for all of the clothes and other crap we bring.  I’d like to find a place for these totes while we’re here so the living room looks nice.  For the past few trips here, this is what it’s been looking like:

Above: The left side is where the bins have been getting stacked.  The right chair is stacked with new bins we bought this weekend to organize the cabinets above the chairs.

It’s a work in progress.  We did manage to squeeze in some socializing in the evenings.  On our next trip to Augusta, I hope to have the interior complete.

Next week, I’ll be in Florida for a long weekend!

3-9-14 Sunday (Wet Pilots)

After work on Thursday, 3-6-14 (I’m very behind), I headed to Augusta.  Jim had to work until 8:30 on both Thursday and Friday night.  I took Friday as a PTO day to get the inside of the new RV/camper/trailer/fifth wheel (I may refer to it as any of these), cleaned and organized.

Thursday night’s drive was miserable.  It was raining, cold and I-77 was moving at 5mph in some parts (due to an accident).  It took me a really long time to make it through.  Eventually, I made it to Augusta.  I unpacked the car in the cold rain and traipsed mud and everything else through the motorhome.  I had to dewinterize the moho.  First I closed all the house faucets.  We leave those on so that if water freezes, it has somewhere to expand without busting a pipe.  Next I went outside, lifted the hatch door to the connection and had to hold it up using my shoulder (the strut is weak), hold a flashlight and turn knobs to close the low point drains.  Next I closed the water heater drain then reconnected the water hose (with lots of difficulty).  I was getting angrier and stressed by the moment.  Damn you inanimate objects!  I turned the water on and it gushed out of the water heater’s pressure relief valve.  Damn, forgot that one.  I went back inside, switched on the water heater and the pilot light would not stay on.  Everything had gotten too wet.  I used a heat gun to try and dry it out.  I was somewhat successful.  The moho’s water heater would only fire for about 5 minutes and then switch off.  I stayed up a little longer and then headed for bed. 

On Friday I spent the day cleaning the new RV and moving things from the moho to it.  My neighbor and friend Wesley helped me get a water supply to the new RV and hopefully some hot water so I can eventually shower.  Late that night, Jim arrived.  My first decorative touch, a 5th wheel frame.

I try to be organized and when I can’t be, it bothers me.

Above: Unavoidable motorhome clutter.

Saturday was spent re-leveling the RV.  Jim, me and some friends worked at lifting/jacking the RV up and getting concrete blocks under 6 areas for support and stability.  Grueling.  Next, he went on to hard plumbing the sewer line while I went inside to continue transferring our stuff from the moho to the RV.  We attended a birthday party and then went back to work.  We were able to spend the night in the new RV!  Yay!

Jim discovered water leaking under the RV.  He crawled under and had to cut out some of the underlining to access the underbelly.  Pooled water dripped out.  He found the support brackets that hold the fresh water were broken at the welds and maybe the tank is leaking.  He used a jack and some blocks to brace the tank for now.  We ran out of time so it will have to wait until next weekend.

As is my typical writing style, here’s some unrelated stuff:

You may remember my constant battle with Monro.  Or you might remember and not really care is more like it.  I just got a response from them via the Better Business Bureau file I created 8/2012.

My response:

Naturally the cheapness in Jim compels him to save the certificate.  He figured we could get an oil change or something out of them.  I said no way.  The certificate will be passed on to a coworker who likes them or torn up and mailed to Monro. 

Some photos floating around in my phone:

Below: A photo of Dasher in the back seat during a trip back to Charlotte.

Above: At Walmart.

Above: At a restaurant.  They chose for me so I guess I don’t have to.

Above: I can’t believe this exists.

Above: I get so much material from Walmart.  Is it clearance or Clarence? Perhaps a blend.  “NOW;”.

3-2-14 Sunday (Someone Done Got A New Trailer)

After Jim got home from work Friday, we ate dinner and then hit the road for Augusta.  We didn’t get there until 10:30.  We unpacked the car, walked the door and then had a couple of drinks at the bar.  With Jim’s new job’s schedule, unfortunately we can’t hit the road as early as we used to.

Saturday, nothing real exciting.  I had a couple of Bloody Mary’s with our friend Wesley.  Yum.  Afterwards he and Jim went to get some concrete paver thingies that we’ll use next weekend to level the new RV.  While they were gone, I packed a couple of totes but got “Bloody Mary Head” and had to lay down for a few! 

For lunch, Jim and I went out to eat at Long Horn.  We had burgers which we used to like there.  We asked for them medium and they were well done.  It wasn’t really the doneness that was the issue but just the whole flavor in general.   I didn’t finish all of mine.  It just wasn’t that good.  No, I didn’t send it back.  Either their burgers aren’t as good as they used to be or my tastes have changed or perhaps with Red Robin and Five Guys, we’ve reached perfection and anything other than those places are subpar? 

Work for me has been very busy.  I haven’t run out of work in about a month.  Now it’s new underwrites, appraisal reviews, title reviews, etc.  I still love it.  Best.job.ever.  A few weeks ago I had that unhappy at work feeling for a week or two as I adjusted to our new work queue.  Unfortunately, there’s several more steps in my job now that I didn’t have to do previously. I’ve also learned new things and have been upgraded to working all loan types without restrictions.  My mind has been overloaded. 

The next Friday night, 3-28-14, we arrived in Augusta late, unpacked and pretty much went to bed.  Tomorrow is going to be a big day…

Oh look, it’s “tomorrow”… Saturday.  We drove to Tucker, GA (East of Atlanta) to buy our new-used RV.  As you may know, we currently have a 1997 Fleetwood Pace Arrow 36S which is a Type A Motor Home as shown below.

We bought a Gulf Stream Mako 33FSBI Fifth Wheel (style shown above).

We bought it from Peco Campers.  This was such a fantastic experience.  It’s not a very large operation and certainly low tech.  They only have a couple of salespeople; Nick was ours and he was fantastic.  When we arrived, we were introduced to Travis who provided a full “delivery” of the RV to us.  He went over all of the systems, switches, do-dads and all that.  We found a few issues, pointing them out and they were resolved quickly to our satisfaction.  The entire process took about 2 hours.  They gave us an awesome little startup package too.  A full propane tank, sewer hose, water hose, electrical adapter, toilet paper, etc.  Some of it we didn’t need.

After the demo, we signed paperwork with the owner and then turned the RV over to a delivery driver to haul it from Tucker to Augusta (approximately 2.5 hours) to our campsite. 

The driver dropped off the unit and then Jim and I worked at setting blocks for support and extending the slideouts.  This unit is not going to be moved around.

On Sunday I managed to clean a good portion of the main living area.  I’ll need to finish some more next weekend and then we’ll transfer our stuff from the motor home to the fifth wheel.  We need to finish hooking up water and sewer as well.  All in all I think it will take another 2-3 weekends. 

Once the motorhome is emptied then we’ll need to clean it and make some repairs.  We want to have the shower/tub replaced (see Caulkenstein posts), the fender replaced, and we need a generator starter or something like that.  After repairs, we’ll consign it.  We’ll pop a for sale sign on it in the RV park in the meantime.

Above: Both RV’s on the site = crowded and trashy.

Photos of the new RV can be seen here.  You don’t need a Facebook account to see the photos.  Please let me know if you have any issues seeing them. 

The wooded view: