Sunday June 28

Well here we are on the weekend before July starts...  Wow this summer is off to a fast start. 
It has been a bit unsettling with a couple of big stroms moving through.  But it has calmed down a bit and they predict less heat this coming week (it has been HOT, but you knew that). So we a looking forward a campfire right off our RV patio in a day or two as we get ready for the 4th. . We will have to get the firebox moved onto the deck as it is now still stored still for the winter in the shed. 

Will have to clear a few things off the patio first. View from the 5er door.

Ok so now later we got things moved and a fire going. 
It has cooled down here in IA and a great night to sit outside around a campfire. 

We are staying at Terry's sisters family acherage where we have a RV full hook up pad. Sort of our landing spot when we need it in the spring to get our heads back on straight and get Dr. apointments done, etc. 
His sister and famly are off to San Francisco for a couple of weeks tomorrow on Sunday morning. So we are here to hold down the fort. Will have to learn how to operate their new John Deer lawn mower. 
This is one of those that doesn't have a steering wheel. I'm sure we can figure it out and have fun doing it. You should see Terry's nephew tear ass with this machine.  So much different from their old piece of junk that died several times last season.  At last they got a quality machine. I had been the lawn boy person in the past couple years as part of the compensation for our RV pad expenses while we stayed here and the old machine was a pain to try to keep running. Now they have this great new unit. And the kid (nephew who is now 15)  is now in charge of doing the lawn.  Now he gets to use the new high tech machine. I think he kind of likes the speed and power of this unit. 
Enough already about green grass. Something we don't see much of in Arizona, as in Quartzsite. And with all the rain, things are quite GREEN around here this year. It will have to last in our minds as we are going back to the desert this winter. 
When they are back from vacation on the 11th we are off to eastern Iowa to vist Terry's parents for a week and then we are getting the heck out of Iowa and heading north by northwest. 
Our tentative route to Washington. 

HW 14 83 and 12 across SD and ND. HW 200 across MT. And HW 2 across WA. 
After visiting Tad from the Q rock club who is in WA for the summer, down central OR and into CA slowly getting to AZ in late October. So as you can see we're not in any hurry and will take it one day at a time and not be in vacation mode. We hope... I can get excited and tend not to want to stop early enough in the day. Always craving to see what comes next. Oh and we are not taking any interstate roads or only small sections if we have to. This is a back road kind of event, looking for the out of the way adventures. 
Small towns and friendly people. We shall see... so come along with us and see what we find. 
If you have a special spot along these routes give us a shout and we'll try to check it out.

I did a post on NuWa owners forum about our factory warranty service appointmemt for our 5er.
Here is my post:
A little tale of our recent factory service appointment at the NuWa service center in Chanute for our 09 348 SB DA unit. The fresh water tank leaked a little only when full (we boondock and like use the tank) and we had a squeak in the floor in the kitchen. They were also going to replace the fridge doors. One of the seals had come loose and Norcold sent out all four new doors.
We dropped it off on schedule and got a call in mid afternoon it was ready.  The leak was a clamp not applied correctly when built. And the floor squeak, a shim was missing. We were very happy with the speedy service and walk through explanation, or in other words, the hand holding they provided (or should I say trailer side manner). You know what they say about a doctor that has good bed side manner. That's what you get with NuWa service. If you are a RV owner you know or have heard about the customer service that Fan-Tastic Fan provides.  NuWa is the Fan-Tastic service provider of the 5th wheel industry.

OK so here we go, you say, after hearing the next statement... Later that afternoon we found a bulge in the kitchen vinyl floor while we were back in the city RV park. It looked like a screw was about to protrude through the vinyl flooring. They had just fixed the squeak in the floor and now this. We called them back, and were told by Darrel in service who has been our contact all along. (hope I'm spelling his name correct) to bring it back in the morning.  They looked at the new problem and we all agreed this was probably a new item and not a result of what they had done the day before. Told to unhook and leave it, and they would get to us as soon as they could. We knew they had other units scheduled for service. We left the rig and headed out to breakfast again at the Grain Bin in downtown Chanute. We asked Darrel where to go this time, and he said there was only one place, the Grain Bin. We still did drive all over town , up and down the streets and never found another cafe open to eat breakfast at, so back to the Grain Bin. We sat at the same table as the day before and had the same server, she even remembered we wanted hot tea and decaf coffee.  After studying the menus we ordered safe (unlike the horrible omelets from the day before) we hoped, hot cakes, sausage, eggs with sugar free syrup.  Now the cakes were very good.  So at least today we ate good.  We saw others still eating the omelets. Must be they just don't know what they are supposed to look or taste like. Sorry.

We had told the server and the cashier why were in town (getting our trailer serviced at Nu Wa so they would know that this local company is still active and bringing customers to their city and establishment.
The cashier, stated that is what they figure when they serve strangers, is that they are most likely staying at the city RV park and getting service at Nu Wa.

This city needs to understand how important it is that NuWa gets back up and running as planned and that it is supported by the community.
Darrel and crew fixed the screw in the kitchen floor. Had to drop the underbelly again and remove it. And a good job they did, again.
We left Chanute after saying good-by to several people in the City RV park who we had met. Fulltime RVing is like extended family and when in HitchHiker country even more so.

After a month or so last fall with our new 5er our Nexus 32 HD flat screen TV that came as OEM on our 5er died. We were in Quartzsite, AZ and called Nexus service and got the run around on how to get it repaired. We then went to Yuma (Best Buy) and got a top of the line Sony and stashed the Nexus in the bedroom closet as they said a repair station was in CA 150 miles away and we would have to take it there and leave it. So they said it would be OK to take it with us and deliver it to a repair center back in IA in the spring. (We had a case # for reference later so felt good it would get repaired) Just wanted to get it fixed to give it to Terry's nephew as a present.  NOW that we are back in IA they tell us there is no repair facility here AND now they don't even have repair centers anymore for their TVs. Told I will have to ship it to them. Ya Right. I don't have the orig. shipping carton it came in as it was installed in our RV. I went though hell just proving I owned it without a sales receiit as it was OEM and had to have Ron V at NuWa call and confirm it to them last winter. This has all been a nightmare, so called Ron V at NuWa and explained my frustrations dealing with Nexus. He offered to call them and see what he could do and call me back. If I have to box this up at a UPS Store and pay to return it to Oregon from Iowa I might as just take it to a recycling center and be done with it.

Ron from NuWa called.  I will have to ship the TV to Nexus but NuWa will pay for the shipping. Nexus will pay the return shipping. What a deal. How cool is that.
I'm not even going to send him the UPS bill as it now only came to $50. But it is was the thought that counts.

Just looked at the box from Nexus They returned a brand new TV. 

We have always been more than happy with the extra effort all the people at NuWa have provided anytime we have dealt with them. This is our second new 5er from them now. From the person who answers the phone. (no menu options, real people ans. their phone) to getting answers to any questions we might have. One of the best built 5ers you will ever find and the warranty service that is the best in the industry. Darrel in service treated us great and fixed our issues above our expectations. We only had a couple of items. And it turned out to be errors on the orig. build and they corrected them in short order. Way to go NuWa service. I think you will have to go far and wide to find unhappy NuWa owners.

 Remember... I'm a man, but I can change, If I have to, I guess. 
 

Today was the day to take our 03 1 ton truck to the Chevy dealer to have an oil leak checked out.  This is the fourth time for this. We had taken it to their quick oil change dept. a couple of weeks ago and they found a small leak again. Told them to check for leaks before they changed the oil as we have a history.  They put dye in the oil and said to come back in a couple of weeks. So now went back today to the main service dept. after making an appointment to have it all checked out. With it up on the lift they found the oil filter adapter was leaking. Easy fix... good news.   Now I will say they have covered the oil pan leaks in the past out of warranty at no charge. We are very happy with Kark Chevy in Ankeny Iowa. So today that was fixed and we also got the rear differential fluids changed. Back and forth with cell calls we also had the air filter changed and a few driving lights replaced that were burnt out. Got out of there for $265. 
Now I'm running around getting estimates for front tires since the alignment went out and we didn't notice and it pretty much screwed up the left front tire with abnormal wear on its inside edge tread. Should have noticed but I didn't so it will cost about $450 for two new tires. Might as well replace both up front and save one for a spare. As my spare was the best of the worst when I had the six tires replaced last spring.  All the others are like new, just this one that didn't wear well due to the miss alignment. 

Since they (whoever does our tires) will have the wheels off going to have the brakes checked. If all are bad one estimate came in at $1300. Ouch. The worst case, so hope they find only the front needs work. Might not even need any break work done. But that wouldn't happen to us now would it. The local Chevy dealer in Parker, AZ had charged us $89 to check out the breaks  two years ago, and found them to be ok. They cleaned the rotors and pads to stop the sqeak and said they didn't need to be replaced. They would credit our bill later for that amount if they did the work when we needed it.  Said breaks in these trucks last longer than many people think. 
Just want to make sure our breaks are good for mountain driving as after all we are pulling our home around with us. 

Anyway it was a good family outing as Terry would say... Went to the local Chinese Buffet before we picked up the truck after they called and said it was done, where I actually had only on plate of food. And just a spoon or two of Terry's Ice Cream.  Just the thought of feeling so full (I remembered that) after eating (at a chinese buffet) didn't seem worth it today. Remembering how hot outside it was, helped to curb my craving for all the goodies. So I just didn't eat till I dropped. Good for me. 

And since this outing was after my recent  DR. apointment last week, and the need for me to do better on lifestyle and eating trends.  Oh and the Dr. didn't keep me as I posted I was worried about. But my A1C was up a little (still just on meds for it) and I will get it down by this time next year won't I. (OK code words for loose weight) I stopped smoking several years ago and it took a couple of years to get that job done without cheating, but I did do it!) Now I have this next challenge, it didn;' happen last year but it WILL happen this year. 
Remember...I'm a man, but I can change, If I have to, I guess.     Damn you Red Green... Now he has changed the man thing again... Now it's...I'm a man, but I changed, because I had to, Oh Well... 
If this is all strange to you you need to spend more time on PBS. His web site is 

Click on the graphic to go to his site... 
Now... from his site... 
Why Mature Men Don't Ask for Directions When We're Lost
    Okay it all comes down to pride. We're out there driving around in our own vehicle, burning gas, wearing sunglasses, looking good. People who see us driving by would never guess that we have no idea where we are. And we don't want to tell them. Men don't enjoy the concept of going up to total strangers and saying "You may not know this but I'm a moron." In contrast the woman we're traveling with is often very anxious to share this knowledge with the world. It somehow eases her burden. To women, getting lost on a trip is a blameless act of nature - to men it's a personal failure. He knew where he was when he left home - he doesn't know where he is now. Somewhere along the line he crossed the line from the world he knows into the world he doesn't know. To a man this is how he felt when he got married or had kids. If he admits he's lost in the car, he'll have to admit that he's lost everywhere and that's way too much to ask. So just bite your tongue and circle the block a few more times. Men aren't lost, they just go the long way.

We got back and then the storms moved in. It is HOT here in the midwest as it is everywhere.  We had to close up the 5er slids and send the Sat internet dish to store, and go to the house because of the warnings, but lucked out as it moved over without the winds and hail promised. Sure it blew and heavy rain but we did well. No hail.   It went just around us as others got hit hard again. Might be more later tonight and in the next day or so, so will have to pay attention. The A/C is working great. Glad we now have a 15K unit instead of a 13.5K. And yes one unit is enough to take care of our needs. The local TV channel said today was the hottest in over two years and this is just the first few days of summer, let alone what happens here in August. We will be long gone by then. As I give one of those... YES...  with a downward bent arm movement with a clenched fist. 
So for the most part we are doing well and biding our time till we hit the road again. 
I spend hours reading what others are doing via their blogs on www.hitchitch.com so I can enjoy their travels as 
much as they are.  Soon we will be right there with them soon enough.

Oh, I set up  a Twitter account so if you want to follow us, we're at www.twitter.com/hitchitch
I might return and follow you as that's how Twitter works doing its thing. 
Thought I would see what all the fuss was about. It's kind of fun.  We shall see.
But for right now having fun with it. 
 

Driving south to Ankeny from where we are at north of Des Moines Iowa we discovered more storm damage, trees down and a few out buildings blown over. This had to have gone right through where were were at. Guess the sound of hail covered up the wind. We are feeling lucky to say the least right now. 
We are #98 on the DataStormUsers map.

A family outing was the plan of the day... Wal*Mart for another $115 on the debet card. And we got what? Not sure... But a fun outing it was...  You know you're in trouble when a fun day is a trip to town to wonder around a Super Wal*Mart as the highlight of your day.  Oh. we did stop at a ACE Hardware for a couple of screws and finishing washers for my Netbook computer platform board for the truck consol.  (Pics later, to be sure)  I told Terry If you can't get it at Wal*Mart you don't need it. Wrong I guess. 

Anyway might have been a good day for us compared to others, as we just got a Tweet from Geeks on Tour saying the FMAC rally was quote "Pretty dismal rally in Albert Lea for most vendors I talked to. One in particular didn't sell a single thing."  Nick Russell from Gypsy Journal must be glad they didn't bother going to this one. It seems to be turning out to be not a good year for some venders on the Rally Circuit. Not many good things said after the Albuquerque Affinity Group Rally and then the Escapees Rally also also not a big hit with all the rain. Both of these events we hear had the RVers parked far from the main event, so who wants to carry stuff back to your RV. And now more bad news.  Hope things turn up for these folks as they are living on the road fulltime with the only income from these ventures. But I'm sure the RVers will all say they had a great time.  Just getting together with like minded people will do that. And they didn't spend much. They are happy campers and the venders are saying Bummer... But things will get better and we will ALL be Happy Campers in days to come. Trust Me... My glass is slowly going above the half empty mark.  How wierd...

Trying to keep my glass half empty. 
Part of the cost at Wally World was booze, and I'm having a little  Bourbon with 7-up  as I post...
 

A week that was...  I had a Dr. visit for a physical on Monday with blood tests. It's now Late Thursday and no call back from the Dr. office.  So hoping all tests were good.  I'm not a fan of the way my Dr. does things... You go in fasting and then they do blood tests after your physical.  I would rather have the blood work done a few days before so then when I go in he has all the test info so he can explain them. I think they want to be able to have the time to look at the results so they can deciede a plan of action. It has never taken them this long to call with results so no news is good news I HOPE. We shall see. Normally I get that dreaded call with test results some good, some not so good, and that they want to change or add meds. Like I have said in prior posts... if they don't keep me we are off to adventures in the great norhtwest. But let me state right here I'm still very pleased with my Dr. as he understands our lifestyle. Fulltime RVer... and now lets me go for a year without seeing him.  And if I need anything I'm free to call the office and they will work with me. I get my meds via Medco (the nations largest mail order service) and I can online order refills and have them sent to any general delivery post office. And they call me via cell phone to confirm my selections that I make online. 
Terry went in for the same thing on Wednesday. He is healthly (Knock on wood).  He takes no meds. 

We are in weather central and last night we watched and nothing, so went to bed.  Woke up to warnings all night but none for us.  But without a weather radio alert warning hale started hitting the roof with winds and rain. Since no warning just laid there and listened. You just feel so helpless when all you can hear is hail pounding down (praying it doesn't get larger and come through the roof) on your new 5er in the middle of the night. And of course it sounds so much worse as you know in a trailer. It didn't sound like heavy, heavy pounding so we were hoping it as we found out this AM no damage. Just some limbs down.

 And tree leaves plastered to the sides of the 5er. 

Later Terry went out a hosed down the junk that had blown and stuck to the 5er.  Now later it has gotten hot. 95 and humid. Summer in Iowa.  The forecast is for tornados tonight to the north of us and all bets off for tomorrow for us. 

So far now all is well and Terry is making beef stew for super.  He got 12 V power up to the bathroom laundry closet so I can now use my new little inverter to power our satellite equipment in the closet without haveing to be connected to AC or have the huge 2000 W Magnum inverter unit turned on. 

 I sez Xantrex listed but the big name on it is Duracell. Link to BestBuy.  It also has a USB power outlet. It sez 175 W but that is peak, normal is 140 W. I had bought a 400 W unit from Wal*Mart (took that back) and checked out what Radio Shack had but both had noisy fans that would keep you awake at night. This one is tiny and just the right power output to handle what I need. And a tiny fan that makes no noise.  It only has to power my D3 Sat controller box, Sat modem and wireless WiFi unit.  This way I can leave power on to the Sat. controler, modem and Wi Fi so I can controll it all from my Netbook in the truck cab. If we stop at a reat stop I can tell the Sat dish to go up and be online without ever having to go back into the 5er. How cool is that. 

Now off to read the blogs on my main site. www.hitchitch.com
People are out and about and I need to see what they are up to... Not going to Alaska this year but can follow some who are doing that right now. While we're stalled for the time being in IA. 
It may be warm here but John and Derek in Dallas thinks it's still hotter there.  Geeks on Tour is vending at the FMCA Midwest Area Rally. Tioga George is as always puttering around Mexico. Nick is hanging out in ID. 
Many are off workaming like RV-Dreams and the rest of the bloggers are just living life as we know it...  I love that pharse...
 

We are in what you might call our down time, relaxing between adventures.  Once in awhile it's nice to just land and not have to think about the road ahead and where you are going to camp the next night.  Don't have to worry about searching www.freecampgrounds.com or all those Complete Guide to Campgrounds books you bought and haven't looked at.. I just got three new ones and each one lists over 1200 campgrounds. (ICorrection... they were for as I said  for Terry's birthday, don't ya know) (I listed them in a prior post) Let alone Streets and Trips mapping software with thousands of campgrounds, etc. all with push pins with more campgrounds. That's just for the northwest... way to much information overload for the mind to handle. I have started to search through some of these materials planning our next move. I said started... I had a route I thought, but the more I research, the more it changes. Guess you just have to do a tentative plan on which part of which states you want to explore and go from there.  What I have been doing the most of is reading other peoples travel blogs (of course on www.hitchitch.com) and seeing where they are and what they are finding. 

Route planning seems to work the best for us if when we are stopped for a few days, or just overnight, we just look ahead, at that time, as it's more a what we feel at the moment kind of thing.  After all we have the Internet dish right on top of the 5er, Streets and Trips loaded on the computer, stacks of Guide Books, and piles of local tourist info gathered along the way. All right there in front of us so we can make a decision as we go. We would never stick to a made up ahead of route plan anyway. After all we're fulltimers and only want to be a at winter destination months later. So whats to sweat, just go and do it. That's the ticket. 

Hitch Itch is starting to have its way with me. We landed in Iowa after taking over two months to go from Quartzsite, AZ to here in central Iowa. People do it in less than a week. But what fun would that be. Might as well hop a plane. Slow down and live a little. Come to think of it right now feels more like a little vacation from fulltiming. A break in the action. 

Now that we're here I'm ready to move on out anytime Terry wants to. I've had enough vacation time. It wont be till July as he has a few projects he is still working on. His sister has him working on their duplex, and he has to build a TV stand from scratch for his parents for their new flat screen. They don't like the ones in the stores so he has to build it. Sometimes... 

I think the thing that causes the most Hitch Itch is reading what everyone else is doing in their travel blogs, which gets me excited. You get to know people from following them daily. The best ones are those who share their feelings at what they are experiencing, not just we did this, and we saw that. Keep writing those great blogs people. So many are right there with you, looking over your shoulder seeing it from your point of view. 

We are having a slow gentle rain on this late Friday afternoon. Terry just came home from working at the duplex.  He put down some new vinyl flooring in the bathroom, and updating the fixtures. Today it was a new back door install. 

National TV has sucked for the few weeks. Nothing new on so we were lucky as DirecTV gave us three months of free Showtime. I've been looking ahead and DVRing movies during the overnight hours so we have lots of stuff to watch in prime time if we want. I would never pay for Showtime as the movies are of low quailty and repeat often. But Free so I'll take it. Terry likes MSNBC and I go to the off channels to HGTV, PLGN, FOOD, COM, HIST, and TRAV.  So many channels and nothing to watch. I remember when I was a kid and we had, if were lucky, three channels, all snowy and later in color. But I degress, and reveal my age. I'll go away now and watch our fancy HD set and shut up. 
 

I spent much of the afternoon working on www.hitchitch.com adding more sites again. Go check it out. 

Update: I took down the article I had posted here on Health Ins. issues now be working on in Congress. What got me going was the ranting by my old Senator Grassley here in Iowa who is pretty much a jerk at times and likes to make a fool of himself in a national spotlight. The Health Ins debate is important but I thought it over and that's for another place and maybe not on my personal bog. It was from this article in the Huffington Post and not written by me. When I do a post it should be me talking and not just an article written by another. Now in the future if I want to go off on a rant I sure as well have the right to, but it should be only me up on the soap box spouting my own thoughts.  I Am A Man, But I Can Change, If I Have To, I Guess. 

So back to watching it rain and keeping the links updated on Hitchitch.com
 

The weekend, where did it go? 
If I remember it was cool, cloudy, and wet for the most part.  After a nice nap on Saturday we had a knock, just as I was reading an email from them, we had company from Phil & Joy who do their blog  Backroad Chronicles
They have been touring Iowa and wanted to stop and do a meet and greet. 

We had a swell time as fulltimers do when they get together. So much to talk about with so much in common. We read each others blog, as so we already have the background and travel history to draw on. 

About 6 PM  today (Sunday) we had our first round of storms move through. Tornados and all such nasty stuff. We lucked out as it mostly went just 10 miles south of us. We did got over two inches of rain in a short period of time. The just planted pumpkin patch looks a little soggy. 

I hate storms and with this round we moved the 5er slides in to wait it out. Didn't head for shelter but stayed inside and rode with it.  Watching closely of the TV radar so knew we were OK to stay in the 5er. We have Terry's sister's house and basement close by if needed. 
Now the weather radio just went off at 11 PM with an alarm of a Tornado alert till 5 AM. No sleep tonight I can see. 
Current radar, Hope it stays to the south. All that stuff in southeast Nebraska is headed northeast toward us. 

We are just north of Des Moines at the crossroads of the interstates in the center of IA. 
Small section of radar image from NWS  http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/full_loop.php
If this link is not one of your favorites, click it and it will soon be where you check national radar. It shows the whole country at once and you can then click on a area and go to the local NWS site. 
 

Friday was Terry's birthday...
Just as we were getting up and logging on the net as we do each morning his sister stopped by.  She had a USPS box from Amazon for us. 

The last book  (MT, WY, ID) book still is on route to get here. Being sent from a Amazon cennected company. How cool... That saved the day as I could say your present just arrived.  We do not get excited for presents as we just go and get anything we want anytime we want it. Underwear is the big ticket item for Christmas don't ya know... But to help pay the costs, the Amazon links to the books are above. Go get em and we get a cut. So what should we do today, Friday. We missed brunch and I suggested we go to the Star Trek movie at 2:10 PM in Ankeny, IA  (Ankeny is just north of Des  Moines)  He of course would vote for a chinese buffet, but it would have been a heavy meal, and to than sit through at a movie. So I pleaded for a light lunch at B-Bops. 
  We had a 1/4 lb. pork loin fritter. 
http://www.b-bops.com/  They are known for their hamburgers and fries. But a fritter sounded good. They have won  best tasting awards for 15 years as the best place to get a burger around here. And the price is right. With a coupon (online for download) you can always get two for one. The fries are the best we have found at a fast food place by far...  If you ever see a B-Bops pull over and park it and get the food. They are not RV site friendy but go around the block and park in a big box store or something, but do stop. Now after a fun lunch in their outdoor seating area, they only have drive up or outdoor seating. This is a true drive up...
Now I did read Nicks blog this week and saw them eating pork fritters that were thin and huge. Now Even B-Bop's can't match that me thinks.  I grew up in eastern Iowa (Lowden to be exact) and their was a tiny cafe on HW 30 (Lincoln highway to you) that had the best pork tenderloins you would ever eat. Thin and chrunchy. Just like the picture Nick had on his blog. http://gypsyjournal.net/blog/

When I think about it, I have been on a quest to find a pork tenderloin like we had back in IA growing up. Thanks Nick for reminding me, what it looks like as it was just like the above picture... People travel all over seaking out Sticky Buns etc. why not Pork Tenderloins? Not that we do searches on Google or anything but if we see it on a menu we might ask how it is fixed. 

Terry got excited since he missed his chinese buffet, and got his wok out and has stuff ready to swish in it. 
Now that is a large wok which he has stored in the shed, but now gets to use it on the super burner since we are here. He sez it is seasoned.  We don't carry that huge thing. But keep looking for a smaller quality one but haven't found one yet. 

A view from our door where Terry gets to work.. PLAY in his shop. 

 And the view to the right from our door... if I get my left and rights correct. Hi Terry... 
Yhis is Terry's brother-in-law Mark who is discing the pumpkin patch yesterday. His Sister and Andrew were out there at 9 AM pushing pumpkin seeds into the dirt, and proud of their efforts. 

Now I have spent too much time to post as Terry is eating his creation, so I need to STOP and get with it. 
You all have a great weekend.
 
 

Tuesday  June 2

So just what have we been up to lately. 

I have been working on updating Streets and Trips of course. I did get the location additions from www.RVdirections.com  They called back and told me the download file was 120 Meg so when we went to town yesterday we stopped at the interstate rest area and I bought and downloaded it while in a free hotspot. 

Turned out I needed not bother at it was only a 36 Meg download. And after I paid for it, it said I could download it at anytime within the next 48 hours. So even if it had been a large file, I could have set up auto downloading to do it during my unlimited free download time period. 1-6 AM. 

And now the kicker after using the add-ons to Streets and Trips I'm not all that thrilled with it. It's OK but not as great as they advertised me thinks.  And a little steep at $45. Sure I'll use it as it's a supplement (replacement) to my current navigator. Say Hi Terry. 

I got an email from Nexus with the RMA and address to ship our defective old flat screen TV to. So now have to get it to town to the UPS store and have them box it up and ship it. So glad I bought a Sony as I replacement, so I didn't have to worry about how long it would take to get repaired. It did crap out last Nov. or Dec. now didn't it. 

Terry is in heaven working  (playing) in his shop here at his sister's. We went back to the sheet metal place (they were open on Monday) and got his aluminum rods. He is making solder picks, I think he calls them, for his sliversmithing classes back in Quartzsite.

Looks simple but quite useful.

He can do wonders on his metal lathe. He is very talented with his hands except left and right directions. If you don't hear from me, you can bet he used those same hands to break my typing fingers. Ouch...

A valve for our BBQ made by Terry on his metal lathe, so we can use it with our 5er propane system. 
NuWa has a snap hose coupling in the propane line so a BBQ can be connected to the main supply instead of carrying around a grill propane bottle. You have to eliminate the regulator on the grill as you only want one regulator in the gas line and you already have one in the RV system. The gas flow will then be adjusted by the above red handled ball valve for your BBQ flame. The above right side orifice value was made as Terry couldn't find one so he made it. He could have reused the one from the grill hose but he wanted to keep that one so he could hook up a propane bottle if he wanted to. Note: It won't work having both a RV system regulator and a BBQ regulator hooked up at the same time. Your any length of hose connects to the snap coupling on the left side above and then to the RV init snap coupling. Check with you RV dealer on what size your RV uses for the snap coupling. They're not all the same size.  Now the hose is 1/4". Now in the picture the left side snap male connecter is connected to the value so it just doesn't get lost. It connects to the snap female in the RV and then a 1/4 hose connects it to the red handled value as in the below example. 

RV snap connecter ==[  <== above snap connecter  then hose connected to the red handle value. 

I can tell more info than you ever want to know, unless you have this setup on your RV that is.
 
 
 

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