Wow July already... As you can tell we have not been posting much this summer which is normal for us as we are sitting still in Iowa for most of the time. 
I  (Ron) have had several doctor and dentist appointments. Have a front tooth to get fixed as a cavity fell out right in front and I thought it would need a cap or something but the dentist sez a filling will take care of it. 
When I noticed it last winter in AZ I did shed a tear over it. It was liek the bottom part of my front tooth was gone. 

Next I had a MRI on my upper spine and it came back as nothing much wrong except a small common genital spinal abnormality. So on we go with the medical profession not finding the problem but getting paid for the big tests. The second specialist said right out if he could find anything that he needed to work on he would, because he is good at finding even little things to operate for. So for now it's back to putting up with the little pains and mark it up to getting older.  In one respect it is good they didn't find anything serious. 

We have had pretty good weather with only a few of times so far have we had to head into the buildings to take cover. No trees down like last year. We do pull in the sides when we get severe weather warnings.  I have a great link to the local TV station with weather rador loops taht get it down right to block leverl so we can get near real time info. We need to get a couple of gals. of hydraulic fluid as the sides are getting slow moving. 

Today I received a big box from Attwood Mobile Products.  They are the ones who make the ranges and stoves and much of what we have in these RVs.
I hade looked at my product guied and found the parts lisr and email them and Sue sent back the prices aand told me to call her to order. I did and whe was grat to work with. Ordered on Thursday and UPS showed up today, Monday with all the parts to replace the front panel, grate, under bunner panel and a new cover panel. Boy does our range look great now. After 4 years it was getting that used look. 

Now it looks brand new and will have to be cleaned EVERY time we use it.  See the shine. How long will that last. Notice the all new front panel behind the knobs. The panel came without the graphics and they had to be applied as a stick on label and if applied wrong you are screwed. I lucked out and got it on just right. Cleaned the knobs which held up, just need cleaning. 
The bottom line is if you want to update your Attwood range to make it look new just do it. The parts were much less than I thought they would be as if you look at the price to replace the whole unit is seems more than a home stove would be. But the parts were not out of line. New grate= $36 New under bunner top= $45  New front panel with label= $16.   So do you think I am a happy camper, you bet.  And only wonder why I didn't do this sooner.

Now tomorrow after my dentist appointment, plan on hitting Target to look for a new fry pan and wok skillet. 

Hope you have a Great 4th of July...  Soon we hope we will have country we can be proud of again. 
We pray and support for our troups who are doing the best they can as they are told.

So get out there and have a hot dog and a beer. A little campfire would be nice if you want.

This is our view out our 5er door. A older pic. as now the garden has grown up big time. 
There are corn fileds all around and now are head high and just yeaterday they tassled. We had a fantastic full moon last weekend. So looking forward to a relaxing 4 th. 
May have pork spare ribes and a few  Leinenkugel's

(The pried of Chippewa Falls)
Click on the graphic to see more about a a great beer.

Now if we could only get this in AZ in the winter...

Monday July 9

It rained a little last night... We have been having a heat wave like the west has been baking in. But a cold front is going through and we hope it will cool down a bit. I have been working on the main site updating and adding sites. It's fun to read the blogs as I add them and soon I get lost in the process with all the great adventures people are off to. Sometimes what I read drives me nuts.  One new blog was talking about pulling into a KOA (how we all love those places) in Flagstaff, AZ and stayed for 5 days. They turned on their A/C as it is hot  outside and the KOA staff came by and told them they could not run the A/C in the park. Old park wiring. SO they turned it off. 
Can you believe, pay the outrages prices for a KOA and not be allowed to use your A/C. They didn't want to pay the higher rates in the Sadona, AZ parks.  I commented back why not go to Cottonwood, AZ, a more central location, to the Dead Horse State park for about $15 FHU.  I would have been calling KOA home office and having a talk with them.  But that is why we read blogs to see how others are living their adventures. We get to see the good and the bad of life on the road. OK done ranting. 
Got to thinking what we had to do yet before we get back moving again. 

Terry has waxed the 5er (that's a big job done) RV range reworked along with the plexiglass panels around it.
Doctor stuff done. (have a follow up first week of Aug.) Waxed the PU and treated the bed liner. Getting meds all sent out from Medco. Still need to shampoo carpet, but that is about all and then will be ready to get the hell out of town as they say... Have to stop and get the  Dometic fridge recall work done. It takes about 30 min. from what they say on the forums. This is better than doing a list. 
Last year we left late and ran into snow in Rawlings, WY. and started heading south from there. This year it is HOT and we want to go west Aug. 15. The thrill of trying to stay one step ahead of the weather. 

 We sold our home (that was hell, took 8 months and after we were gone south in TX the first year and it sold in January in the cold back up north in IA)  (I sold my first two homes in less than 24 hours each so this was not a fun time) Some might call us snowbirds, but we do live fulltime in the 5er, right now  we do spend 3 months visiting in Iowa during the summer. No RV parks fees and it is free in Terry's sisters (we have a pad here with FHUs. And he does work for them remodeling their properties. I mow the grounds and watch the corn grow. 
I have my pension with paid health for BOTH of us. (Have to pay imputed IRS income on his share). But still much better than what it could be. We are living and learning as we go along to find the routes and places we like. Right now we take a few months to get anywhere to where we want to stop for the winter. NO rush. Quartzsite, AZ 
was that have to go there thing, and we have been going back for the last few years, and now boondock in the BLM (have the equipment to live well that way) We could go to a RV park but we have MORE room in the BLM.
Who wants to look out a window right into another RV. It is not about the money saved by boondocking in the BLM...  IT is the freedom from RV parks with units sitting side by side. 

Terry loves the  Quartzsite Jem and Mineral Club  and he is an instructor. (We do a web site for them site as a courtesy sponsored by our other site HitchItch.com) 

We do plan to get a little more into this lifestyle (if that is possible) (spending less time in IA in the summer) and more time just exploring the US northwest as we go along.  In a couple of years I will get extra funds with SS. 
I have always wanted to be more of a campground host type fulltimer. 
By that time we might want to replace our current HitchHiker II 5er and Chevy diesel PU with units we might like better. We like what we have, but never can tell. Since we already have a NuWa 5er this is one unit 2008 HitchHiker Discover America 348 SB I would like to take a closer look at it. 
So much for dreaming... time to get back to the blogs on www.hitchitch.com 

Friday July 20

Tioga and George are in WY on the Oregon Trail east of Fort Laramie and posted this: Do you think it is odd for us on The Team to believe that we will be able to hear the sounds of the old pioneer wagons going by tonite? 
My thoughts after a few ...  It's a beer don't ya know...

To answer his question...

Odd to some, but not me, If you believe it is possible to have the wonder and openness to hear those sounds...
YES you will hear them ..  in your mind and thoughts....
A wonderful function of our concise minds, is we only use 10%,  the rest is for greater deads. 
We are more than we can think is possible.

What is it that draws so many year after year to camping, and the burning flames of a campfire, to relive the bond with nature, and our past, which we just seam a need to connect to.
Connecting with people in the past, on a different level, is just as powerful, as we now do in present time via the internet .  Both are mind altering concepts. 
We connect with the past, in our own way, and share that awareness, with those in the future.
 We are alive NOW, and have travels to document, so others can learn from us,  just like we learned from those before us.  It is good to be alive, if only for a moment in the scheme of things. Life as we know it, is so short, as we try to learn the meaning of it all, before we don't have the time to wonder anymore. (In this life!)