Showing posts with label HOT HOT HOT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HOT HOT HOT. Show all posts

Monday, August 22, 2022

Home 'Sweat' Home

No Pictures of the final leg of our trip...we have both driven US-19 SO MANY TIMES that we just forgot to take any pictures.  We left Marianna around 7:30, and got to Holiday Florida (280 miles) around 2:30.  We stopped at a rest area near Perry to pack up our clothes and bathroom stuff into plastic bags so that we can get them into the Condo as quickly as possible.  There is a grocery store parking lot near us where I packed up the freezer and some of the fridge.  I came inside to turn the AC down, turn on the water, and the hot water heater.  Just our luck, the AC was not working...the compressor was going, but no air flow.  I put out a ASAP call to our AC guy.  We parked on our street, unloaded a bunch of stuff, and by 4:00 I was ready to move to the RV Park near us.  Our AC guy called and was out on a call just a few miles away from us, and he was headed to our place.  He said we needed a new fan motor, and he had one in his van.  I drove us over to the RV Park, hooked up electricity, and I headed back to the Condo.  He already had the new motor in, and the AC was running!  Went back to the RV where Marcia and Indy were staying cool, and we waited about 90 minutes as the condo started to cool.  Got dinner at the store on our way back to the condo.  We were so tired, yet there was so much to do we had to force ourselves to say ENOUGH is ENOUGH!

Saturday I only made two trips to the RV, which is a 1/2 mile away with only 1/5th of that way being on public roads, to get more stuff. The rest of the day we continued to put stuff away.    Sunday was getting our hang-up clothes, our pantry, and clean the inside of the motorhome.  The rest of the time was finishing putting away all of the stuff we brought in, and Marcia also worked hard on washing laundry.  Did I mention that it was near 90 degrees, with humidity that made it feel more like 100.  The lows at night are only in the upper 70's, so it was hot all day long.  I could ring out the sweat from my shirt.

The HHR worked ok during all of that.  Today was suppose to be moving the motorhome into storage...but that did not happen.  The storage lot we normally use has been sold.  I would normally send a text to Jim, the previous owner, and he would answer back, assign me a spot, and I would pay when I put the RV into the lot.  After 24 hours with no text back from Jim, I called...the answering machine was different, and I could not make out the name of the RV Storage Facility that was mentioned on the machine.  I looked it up, and indeed Jim had sold it.  Looks like he was asking over $7 million, I hope he got it.  (The new owner did call me today 5:30, but by then I had made other arrangements.)   Next was a storage lot near our pharmacy, which was started about 2 years ago.  At 1:15 I drove over there to find that although there is RV Storage, the main building, which is used for job training and life training, was being totally remodeled, and I could not find a 'worker' outside of construction people on the premises.  Last time I picked up our meds from the Pharmacy, I saw at least eight people who work there on the premises.  Never did get a response to the message I left yet.  Once the remodel is finished, I am sure they will be more responsive. 

Today the HHR acted up all day...I was able to restart it, but it was running very rough.  On the way back to the condo from the pharmacy area, I drove by the old Moose Lodge, where they also have some RVs in storage.  Found a person who provided me a phone number, and BINGO, we have secured a place to put it tomorrow...and it is right next door to where we live!  Bad thing, it will be stored on grass and not gravel or concrete like I would prefer.  Our neighbor Mary drove me over to Palm Harbor so that I could sign and pay for the storage.  I hope it works out for us...there is a locked gate, which I have a key to, between the Condos and the old Moose Lodge...it is that close.

And then there is Indy.  When she first got into the condo, she ran all over.  Very quickly she wanted to go out back.  I thought she needed to do her business...but she just ran back and forth on her leash, and wanted back inside.  She was an ecstatic little girl...I think she was just happy to NOT be traveling anymore.  She LOVES when we stop and she gets to get out and smell other dog scents.  Once the motorhome starts moving, she gets in her bed and will stay there for the majority of the day.  After awhile she will get on one of the reclining chairs, but she rarely gets up on Marcia's lap, and only for very short time spans, like a minute or two.  Indy sees all the work we are doing, and she would rather have a bit more time with us than us doing work...that will happen soon, and then all will be back to normal.

 

Thursday, August 4, 2022

And We Are Off and Running

 

YES, we escaped the heat of Sacramento!



We had planned all along to get back to Florida by late August or early September.  It was a mad scramble to get everything done before we left...such as oil changes for both vehicles (quick lube place for the car, I did the motorhome), get a GPS for the motorhome to help get up back home since the installed GPS is past help, get the tires at proper pressures, and a whole lot of other things to help make our trip home uneventful as to the operation of the motorhome.  We got up at 6:30 am, on the road by 7:40, got 15 gallons of gas (which nearly broke the bank!) and off we went.  

The above pictures are of us at Bob Scott Campground (NF Campground) just outside of Austin Nevada along US-50.  At over 7,000 feet in elevation, it is cooler, but not cool enough to spend a full day in this heat hitting the west right now.  Our plan is to go through Nevada, Utah and Colorado, trying to stick to the coolest temps we can find along this route until we turn southeast and enter New Mexico and then Oklahoma and then Arkansas.  We plan to take our time, which means around 2 weeks to get into Arkansas.  (Sorry Laurie, but AZ is just TOO HOT for our tastes right now...108 on Saturday might be mild to you, but fricken hot to us!)

  

Hot August Nights is a HUGE thing in and around Reno each year.  Arny and Sandy told us to expect to see a bunch of classic cars and Hot Rods as we traveled up the mountain, and we did.  Here is just a small collection of those we were able to get pictures of.







Sorry that last one we got reflection off the dash, but it is just too nice of a "'34" to pass up on posting.  (I am NOT an expert on these things, but the license plate says "Thirty 4", so that says it all!)

In Fallon we filled with gas.  $195 for 40 gallons, and 2 gallons in the gas can to run the portable generator if needed, only $4.65 per gallon!  In Roseville as we were leaving I pulled into a Safeway where I got a 10 cents per gallon discount, making it $5.25, and put in 15 gallons...enough to get me out of very expensive gas land.  A Blue Beacon Truck Wash was next door in Fallon, so we got all the dust and dirt, tree sap and squirrel and bird poop off the motorhome.  Above picture is after we passed through Fallon, about 75 miles from our destination.

Austin Nevada is known for Stokes Castle. It was built by Anson Phelps Stokes, a mine developer, railroad magnate, and banker, with the intention of using it as a summer home.  Started in 1896, it was completed in 1897.   The family used it for a few short periods in 1897 and 1898, at which case they sold it, the mine and everything else they owned in the area.  The 'Castle' fell into disrepair, bought by a cousin in the mid-1950's, it was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

Tomorrow we head for Baker Nevada, right on the boarder with Utah.  We plan to get a campground and stay put for a couple of days to rest before we travel on.