| Sunday, November 30, 2008 Yesterday, we came rolling into Rainbow Plantation around 11:00 after departing Montgomery in the rain. But, it didn't take us long to drive out of the rain making it "clear sailing" most of the way. We had several greeters right away; it was certainly nice to see our friends and neighbors again. It's so good to be back home on East Traveler Street once more. There was a question taped to one of our site's corner posts: "How long does it take to cook a rabbit that is duct taped to your muffler?" Well, we assumed that Norm had stopped by to see if we had arrived but, surprise, surprise, it was Don who was the culprit. Ya know, I figured it had to be at least four hours at around 65 miles per hour, however, Don informed me it didn't take all that long and when it's done you throw away the rabbit and eat the duct tape. Mmmmmm, yum, yum!!!! We "set up camp" managing to beat the rain storms after which Ron and Ruth dropped by for a short visit and to bring us up to date as to daily life here at Rainbow Plantation this year. There's a lot happening with a pretty full schedule of daily events. If you're into "basket weaving" this is the place to be - I'll probably not see Miss Judy again until sometime next spring. Norm and Linda Payne, in the spirit of "no cooking on travel days", prepared a wonderful meal for us as well as inviting several other couples over for dinner. Where do I start? I guess with the food - there were Norm's World Famous barbecued short ribs (and they were "oh so good"), ham with pineapple and a special sweet sauce (Yummy), coleslaw, potato salad, pasta salad, baked beans and a very nice red rose wine followed by cheese cake for desert. It was all "lip smacking good" - you could tell 'cause hardly anyone was talking; we were all too busy "digging in"! Guests included Don and Gloria, Dave and Sharyl, Al and Joyce, Judy and I, and, of course, Norm and Linda. Since it was pouring outside we all gathered in Norm and Linda's Dutch Star for dinner. One would think that our little houses on wheels would be too cramped for that many people but there's more than enough room as we have discovered many times. It was a wonderful time of socializing and eating; we hated to see it end. Thanks Norm and Linda for a great meal and being such good hosts. Today it's off to church this morning and then Randy and Terry have invited us over for dinner this afternoon. If this keeps up we'll not have to do any more grocery shopping - that would help out the ol' budget. In any event, we're quite sure that there will be at least one other couple joining us. I'll fill ya in tomorrow so for now, see ya later! Saturday, November 29, 2008 So, you ask, how did you and Judy enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner with your daughter (Mary) her boy friend (Joel) and his family? Well, I'm glad ya asked 'cause I got so excited 'bout heading back ta 'bama that I forgot all 'bout givin' ya any details. We headed out from home around 9:30 making our way south on Brily Parkway to I-24. It was about 70 miles down I-24 to our exit for Manchester. We were surprised at the amount of traffic at that time on Thanksgiving morning - and the truck traffic was unbelievable. Then it was about 16 miles of state highways to Joel's house in Tullahoma. Nagy Maggie (GPS) got us right to our "destination on right". Joel has a really nice ranch style house (1600 to 1800 square feet) with a kitchen, formal dining room. living room, three bedrooms and two baths. His lot is backed up to a large field with beautiful views. He really enjoys entertaining and proved himself as a wonderful cook. For dinner we had turkey (well, duh) with sweet potato casserole (yummy), a terrific stuffing, (yum, yum, yum), one of the best cranberry dishes I ever tasted (hang on a minute, I got to wipe the drool off the keyboard), seasoned baked potatoes with really yummy gravy (Joel's dad did that - he hand picked the turkey neck and used the meat in the gravy), green bean casserole (supplied by Judy - yum, yum), bakery rolls, more of that stuffing, and another scoop of the cranberry relish. For dessert there were four different pies to choose from - apple pie (by Judy per request of Mary), pumpkin pie, pumpkin cream cheese pie, and a chocolate fudge pie (I think by Joel's mom). We were so full from dinner that we brought dessert home with us to have later (yum, yum). Oh yes, we mustn't forget the wine - it was called "Naked" so I suppose that after several glasses it would "make your clothes fall off". Now, I'm not a big turkey eater but the bird was very moist which made it exceptionally good. Yep, Joel is a great host and a wonderful cook; we'll have to make his house one of our first stops whenever we're in Tennessee. I'm sure Mary had a hand in all the preparation but was too modest to admit to it. We enjoyed meeting Greg (Joel's dad), Dawn (his mom), and Chris (his brother). They are great folks and we look forward to seeing them again. Belle, Joel's dawg, tried to steal the show when she ate a whole box of chocolates when no one was looking. After a call to the vet, a few ounces of Hydrogen Peroxide, and some recycled chocolate Belle was feeling much better and we were all back on track for Thanksgiving dinner. Thanks for inviting us, Joel; we really enjoyed the day with your family - it was a Happy Thanksgiving, in deed, and I want that recipe for the stuffing and the cranberry relish (while your about it, you might as well throw in the recipe for the sweet potato casserole as well). Yesterday we got underway around 9:00 and had an uneventful trip to Montgomery where we stopped over at Wood's RV Park which is a Passport America park. The last time we stopped by it was $13 but this time it was $18. It seems that $13 is for 30 amp service but if you have a 50 amp unit then you have to pay the higher price. It seems that each electrical box has both a 30 and 50 amp plug in them and people would pay for 30 amp and plug into the 50 amp. They never asked what amperage we had the last three times we stayed here so I just assumed it was all the same price. Oh well, it is what it is. We'll leave here the first thing in the morning and be "home" in about three hours - Yay!!!!! So, if you are reading this on Friday evening that's 'cause I don't intend to take any time to play on the 'puter on Saturday morning. Friday. November 28. 2008 We did it, we managed to burp over our turkey; now let the Christmas carols begin. Ho, Ho, Ho!! Let's celebrate Christmas (not Holiday) and let's make some room for Jesus this year. I hope all of you had a safe and happy Thanksgiving. In spite of things looking bleak in the economy we still have a lot to be thankful about. The truck is ready to head to the deep south which means that we can hitch a ride along while dragging all of our earthly belongings behind us like a couple of carpetbaggers. Carpetbaggers, if you remember, were northerners who went south after the Civil War to steal and plunder the spoils of war. We are heading south to steal and plunder as well - we are going to steal all of the warm weather we can get and we are going to plunder as much Southern Hospitality that we can put our arms around. The southerners don't refer to us as carpetbaggers any longer, though, they now call us snowbirds and when we show up they extend that Southern Hospitality to warm us up from those cold northern temperatures. "Y'all come down and just sit for a spell." Then out comes the sweet tea, hush puppies, fried chicken, pulled pork, and so on, and so on. My mouth waters just thinking about it all. When we arrive they'll make us feel right at home; ahhh, there's nothing like the deep south especially while all our northern friends and relatives are shoveling 10" of partly cloudy out of their driveways in sub zero temperatures. "Y'all pass me sum more sweeeet teaaa and anutherrr hush puppy, pleeeeze!" We'll be escaping Nashville before 10 this morning after an eleven week stay. We'll stop over in Montgomery this afternoon to spend the night at a Passport America campground. Then we'll pick up the trail again tomorrow morning arriving at Rainbow Plantation somewhere around noon time. We'll "set up camp" (or housekeeping, which ever you like) and then proceed to shake hands and get hugs. Norm and Linda Payne are preparing a road kill stew for us for dinner around four-ish. Norm has been perusing route 28, 32, and 55 looking for fresh kill but it has been a little sparse this past week so if we see anything along I-65 he has asked us to throw it in the back of the truck. Norm's sister (Gloria) and brother-in-law (Don) are in Summerdale as well. Don was suppose to help find some road kill but Gloria had told him to go fly a kite so he did. Now there is a kite flying club developing in Summerdale but they are predicting thunder showers today so they'll probably discover a new way to cook road kill. I've seen some of these kites and they look like they'd be a lot of fun to fly; just might have to get me one and go play with the boys. Well, I'd better get going and get ready to head south and stop just dreaming about it. See ya from 'bama tomorrow. Thursday, November 27, 2008 Happy
Thanksgiving
Wednesday, November 26, 2008 It is the day before Thanksgiving when all through the RV; not a creature was stirring 'cept Miss Judy making pies for Thanksgiving Dinner. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It's a time when families come together to share a meal together while reflecting on God's goodness over the past year. This year we will be enjoying Thanksgiving with Joel's family (Mary's boy friend) at his house which is over the river and through the woods to Tullahoma, Tennessee we go (about an hour and a half away). Judy is right in her glory. She loves baking and is making an RV (home) made apple pie - it's one of her specialties and a request by our daughter. Other than the fact that we had to mortgage the apples for it, it will be just yummy (my mouth is watering just thinking about it). Judy would do more baking but with just the two of us it would be too much and, besides, I need to watch my "girly" figure. Once we get back "home" she may bake more often 'cause we can share the spoils with our friends and neighbors (hint, hint). Yesterday I got the truck washed while Miss J washed the bedding. Also, I got all the outdoor furniture put away and Judy got all the Christmas presents put in the storage box in the basement. Today I will check all of the air pressures in the tires, air hitch, and air ride system and install the Pressure Pro sensors. Further, I will put up the awning and stow the outside carpet. Other than the "hook ups" everything outside will be done. Miss J and I will work on stowing the inside "stuff" this afternoon. Before we retire to our beddy bye tonight everything will be ready roll, head out, hit the road. Last night was a fun pot luck dinner at the lodge with our fellow workampers. We've enjoyed our time here but it was still w*rk so we are looking forward to not w*rking for a while. We spent three and a half months w*rking in New York and two and a half months w*rking here in Tennessee so now we are ready to sit and stare at each other's pointed little heads for a while. Hang on East Traveler Street, we are on our way. I'm taking tomorrow off so y'all have a Happy Thanksgiving. Be sure to take some time to Thank God for His goodness while enjoying your friends and family. Judy and I are thankful to have you as our "cyber" friends and hope that sometime in the coming year we'll get to meet many of you as we are Wandering America. Tuesday, November 25, 2008 Persistence brings about success. Yay for our team! Sunday may have been a bust but Monday was a boon. We managed to get about 80% of our Christmas shopping completed. Now, let me say this about that; if everybody followed our Christmas shopping habits over the years "they" wouldn't be using the Christmas season as an economic barometer. We don't (and never have) charge our purchases for Christmas and we don't (and never have) spend big bucks on Christmas. Maybe, when we were affluent, we may have spent $1,000 on Christmas but generally it was between $500 to $800, however, these days we keep our Christmas spending between $400 to $600. It's not that we're cheap, it's just that Christmas is about Jesus and we wish to keep it that way. Charging up Christmas gifts and paying for them for the rest of the year at high interest rates (to me anything over 5% is a high interest rate) doesn't make sense. We have no interest in paying interest!! Because of debt free living we will be able to weather this current economic storm even though we have lost tens of thousands of dollars in our mutual funds. It hurts and we will have to do more workamping than we wanted to over the next couple of years but we won't loose our house, truck, or have to declare bankruptcy. So, our advice is to keep Christmas simple, spend time with your loved ones, and don't go into debt buying Christmas presents. Well, getting off my soap box, we have a few more presents to get this morning at the Opryland Mall and then a couple more once we get to 'bama then we'll be ready for Christmas. This will be Miss Kalina's first Christmas and we are excited about spending it with her (and, of course, her sister Catia - oh yes, the kids as well). This afternoon we'll start preparing for our move to Rainbow Plantation. It seems that they have been having temps in the 70's which means that I'm digging out my shorts and sandals - man, I can't wait for that. Anyway, I want to wash the truck and start putting things away in the basement. The outside TV needs to be stowed, lawn chairs put away, tires aired up, and black streaks washed off the coach. Miss Judy wants to wash our bedding and get somethings inside done. Katie and Alex will start sensing that a move is imminent and begin their pacing routine. They are quite astute and can tell that we are getting ready to head out when they see things being picked up and stowed - clever katts!! Tonight the KOA crew is having a going away pot luck dinner for us. It nice to know that our managers and fellow workampers think enough of us to want to say good bye. For the most part we have enjoyed our stay here in Nashville even though it was a J-O-B. Everyone was nice to w*rk with and we had a lot of laughs along the way which makes for a pleasant environment. However, we are ready to roll but isn't that the way with this gypsy lifestyle of ours - after two months it's "hit the road" time! Monday, November 24, 2008 If rainy days and Mondays always get you down then don't come to our house today. It's Monday (or the first Saturday) and it's raining - actually pouring. And, further more, we have to go out in this "stuff" to get "fude" (you know, like in - "wil werk fer fude") in to the house since our cupboards reflect the early mother Hubbard look. Oh well, sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you. Yesterday's Christmas shopping trip was a bust. Try as we might, we couldn't find anything that Miss Judy had on her list. She had gone on line first and verified that one of the items was in stock at Target. When we got there and inquired about the items the store workers looked at us as if we had three heads. So, it was onto the next store where "it" was not the right size, not the right color, not the right style - in short, "it" just wasn't "it"!! Next store coming up where there was simply no selection to choose from, so home we came with only one present and I ain't saying who it's for. Today, in spite of the rain, we will try again while we are on our way to get some "fude". Being that it's Monday and it's raining katts and dawgs maybe there won't be too many nuts out there shopping and we can "GET-R DONE", but I won't hold my breath. Even though we know what we want we just can't find it. You'd think with the economy in a free fall that there would be an abundance of "stuff" available. Me thinketh that the news casters need to stick their little heads out of their little cubicles and find out first hand what's really going on 'cause it sure didn't look like what they are professing over the air waves. The parking lots in this area are full and the malls are crowded with people carry lotsa packages. Just a couple of final thoughts. I wish that a law would be passed that wouldn't allow any "holiday" trees, any "holiday" music, or any "holiday" ads before Thanksgiving. Yes folks, there is a holiday between Labor Day and Christmas that is called Thanksgiving - a time when families to come together to enjoy each other's presence without worrying about what to buy for so and so. Wouldn't it be nice to eat your turkey without having indigestion over the "holidays" before you even sit down to the Thanksgiving table? Also, I wish they would stop calling it "holiday". It's Christmas; the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It's about Him and His love for mankind and not profits or "stuff". Further, if I say "Merry Christmas" to someone and they are offended then that's just tough. Let them go crawl into their little narrow minded hole and cower there until they can no longer see their shadow. It's Christmas; it's about Christ, it always has been about Christ and it always will be about Christ - and that's politically correct. Sunday, November 23, 2008 What can I say, I didn't even get out of my PJs yesterday! What a lazy bum am I!! It was cold outside so we just played inside. I worked on the November travelogue, took two naps, and pestered Miss Judy. I've been fighting off a cold so Miss J sent me to bed; she says I'm not a very good patient - who'da thunk? In spite of my grumpiness my bride made me a batch of peanut butter cookies for a treat. Judy loves to bake and doesn't do anywhere near the same amount of baking as she did when we lived in a conventional home. We have two ovens (gas oven and convection oven) which are both far different from the electric stove/oven that she is used to. So there is still a "learning curve" taking place even after two years of traveling but I can tell you that those cookies were definitely YUMMY. There's absolutely nothing like having a warm, straight out of the oven, cookie especially since that I'm the original Cookie Monster. Coooookies, Yum, Yum, me want more Coooookies!!!!! This afternoon we are going out to do some Christmas shopping. I know, I haven't even burped over my turkey yet. But we trying to get the shopping done so that we can minimize shipping costs which can exceed the price of the gift at times. Mary is going to spend Christmas with Marc and Amie in New Hampshire so we want to give her her gifts this Thursday (we won't see her again before Christmas). We will need to ship Brian's gifts to Michigan and we have a couple more things to get for our grand daughters in New Hampshire. With Thanksgiving coming later in the month this year we actually lose almost a week of shopping time between Thanksgiving and Christmas; therefore, it's "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the Way" to the shopping mall this afternoon. Other than that, there's not much new happening in the Patterson household. Saturday, November 22, 2008 We went on our Civil War Tour in spite of the cccccold weather. It never got over 39 degrees which would have been tolerable if it hadn't been for the wind. The van picked us up at 8:30 AM and we were on our way. The driver, Stephen, did a great job of giving us an overview of the Nashville Campaign of 1864. We stopped by Fort Negely, which is pretty much in town, and then made our way to Franklin, Tennessee. Franklin was the site of the major battle for Nashville Campaign. We visited the Carter House, which was the center point of the battle, and then went to lunch at Monell's (great food) after which we visited the Lotz House and Carnton. Now, I know that this doesn't tell you a whole lot but, I promise, I will go into depth on the tour (along with pictures) in the November Travelogue. Last night was even colder with temperatures dropping in the high teens - it's not nice to fool Mother Nature. There's frost on the pumpkin, and everything else, to say the least. I'm not sure if I will even bother to get out of my PJs today. It looks nice out with the sun shining but, brrrrr!!! At least the winds have quit so maybe we could survive, however, I'm not really sure so I'll just sit around the fire in the fireplace - Miss Judy, throw another log on the fire, will ya. Even the katts are smart enough to curl up in front of the fireplace and take a snoozer. We don't have anything that we need to go outside for and there's plenty to do inside to keep us busy. There's always cleaning that can be done, Miss Judy has her basket weaving stuff to work on, and I can work on the November Travelogue; perhaps, with any luck, it will get published by the first of December instead of the middle of the month. We are now in our "getting ready to roll" mode. I have already had the oil changed in the truck and the tire pressure all brought back up to towing pressures. The front tires are always maintained at 55 PSI while the rear tires are set to 55 PSI for everyday use and 80 PSI for towing. The air bags are set at 30 PSI for everyday use and 60 PSI for towing. I'll need to top off the trailer tires, air bags, and air hitch before we head out. Due to the rains that we had a week ago a couple of black streaks are beginning to show up - hate them black streaks - so I will want to wash them off as well. Then there's some Christmas shopping that Miss J wants to get finished while we are in the Nashville area. Everything is so handy here which saves us from having to do a lot of running around but the sales taxes are higher than a kite on a windy day in Fall. Oh well, save on fuel; donate to the State of Tennessee. Speaking of fuel, what ever happened to the fuel shortage? Remember? It wasn't speculators manipulating the price of fuel last summer, there was a world wide oil shortage. Wow, someone must have discovered great big new oil field because the price of a barrel of oil have dropped below what it was a year ago - that is, it has lost almost two thirds of its price since last summer. Aren't you glad to know that we weren't getting gouged last summer? Oh well, let's enjoy the lower prices and hope that our "gummint" starts some initiatives to get us away from dependence on foreign oil (is that a fairy tale or what?). Hope your having a great weekend and take care. Friday, November 21, 2008 What a finish! It was a relatively easy day but ol' man winter arrived in town this week bringing with him some wicked cold weather. Along with the cold weather he brought some wind to ensure the cold would cut right through you, and it did. I about froze my keister off whenever I had to go outside to pump propane or escort a guest to their site. The sad news is that it is going to be even colder today - there'll be no tea at the sidewalk cafe today. I disconnected the hose last night and will just leave it off for today and tonight as well. Last night the temperatures fell to the low 20's and they are predicting the high teens for tonight. Man, we didn't get far enough south fast enough - brrrrrr!!! Today we'll dress in layers and just cuddle together to keep warm while we are on our outing. It won't be bad if the wind dies down; we'll just have to wait and see if that happens. No matter what, we'll make the best of it, have fun, and get some pictures to share with you later. Mr. Alex and Miss Katie are excited about the prospect of having mom and dad available more often to do their bidding now that we are unemployed again. Alex already has his list of wants; belly rubs, daily brushing, more play time. Katie is just content to be in the same room with her humanoids but does expect her blanket straightened out on the sofa (it gets messed up when Alex starts pestering her). But they are happy to have us around more so there will be purring in the RV today (well, once we get back from our tour that is). Well, it's off to our tour so take care. Thursday, November 20, 2008 This is it. Our last day of w*rk. You might think I'm excited. Well let me tell you that I am so excited that I bounded out of bed like a kid on Christmas morning just thinking about it. This is our last day of w*rk for this year and maybe the rest of my life, which may end at any time if I keep w*rking like I have the last few days. However, right now I'm just plain excited about the prospect of not w*rking for a while. Considering all that is going on in the world economy, we are extremely glad that we can continue to live this lifestyle. This is a blessing to say the least. Just to get to see our family several times a year makes it all worth while let alone the ability to be a tourist and do some sightseeing along the way. And we only have to w*rk part time for half a year to make ends meet. Who could ask for anything better in times like these? Speaking of sight seeing, we are all set to go on the Civil War tour tomorrow. It will be about a six hour trip to the Franklin, Tennessee area. We will, also, spend some time in town as well. Franklin is a quintessential little historic town that has been transformed into one of those little Artsy/Crafty places with boutiques and sidewalk cafes; where people wear khaki pants, cable knit sweaters, and drive Mercedes, BMWs, or Porches. It's always fun to visit towns like this and mingle with the residents who appear to be oblivious to anything else going on in the world. Hakuna Matada (no worries) reigns unbounded in these little towns. Being able to live in them is almost as good as living the fulltime lifestyle. We'll probably "take tea" and get a bite to eat at one of the sidewalk cafes along the streets of Franklin (that is, as long as it's not too cold). It all promises to be fun and we'll have some in depth stories and pictures in our November travelogue. Wednesday, November 19, 2008 There's just not a whole lot that I can say this morning. I've not been sitting in my chair very much or doing any contemplating so I don't have any words of wit or wisdom to share. We've been w*rking hard to get rid of as many leaves as possible while we have an additional body. Once Judy and I finish w*rking it will leave only two guys to w*rk on the leaves and their schedules only overlap by one and a half hours. The Nashville KOA is a Corporate Owned Property (COP) and the corporate offices have been cutting their hours yet they expect the job done on the same schedule - go figure!! It takes at least two people w*rking together to really make any head way which is what they have while I'm still here but that all end's tomorrow. I know, it's not really my problem but I have always accepted the responsibility right up until the end, however, come Friday morning I will no longer give a shhh, I mean, care (almost said something else). It's been waaay toooooo cccccold here in the northland with temperatures hovering in the 40's during the day. It's definitely time to "get along home Cindy, Cindy" by getting this rig headed south. Just as soon as we burp over our turkey we'll be doing just that. It's about 500 miles from here to Rainbow Plantation which means about eight hours of driving time. We plan to drive five hours and stay off at the Flying-J just south of Montgomery and that will leave us only three hours to 318 East Traveler Street. Can't wait!!! Miss J and I will be doing another tour on Friday. This time it will be a Civil War tour which should be interesting (at least for one of us). We'll be sure to take pictures and you'll get to read all about it on our November Travelogue. Well, enough babbling this morning and "Happy Motoring" to ya. Tuesday, November 18, 2008 Miss J and I are winding down here at Nashville KOA with Thursday being our last day of w*rk. It will sure seem nice to get back to doing what fulltime RVers do. Nothing!!!! Well, not exactly nothing, but nothing planned. We'll get up in the morning and have a quiet time with our Lord, then get some exercise, work on our crafts/projects, do some reading, visit with our friends, take a nap, sit around the campfire while swapping stories, watch some TV, play some games, and, somewhere in there, we'll get something to eat before heading off to bed. Yep, just a lazy laid back day with nutin' much happenin'. This morning I need to go get the oil changed in the truck, get a couple of hairs cut off my head, and pick up a few things at the store. Then it will be off to w*rk trying to get these leaves up. Right now the leaves have the advantage, there are more of them there then are workampers. We'll do an area and within twenty four hours it doesn't look as if we were ever there. Oh well, on Friday it will all be someone else's problem to deal with. Miss Judy has been in her corner again and has shared a couple of thoughts as well as a couple of recipes for these cool weather days. So check it out - here's a question: Why do grandparents take naps? Well, not much else happening around here so - Take Care, Have Fun, and God Bless. Monday, November 17, 2008 What can we say? Our playmates are having a pot luck picnic lunch with fried turkey, participating in all sorts of basket weaving events, and enjoying good meals at the club house and here we are stuck in Margaritaville. Hang on folks we're on our way. The good thing is that the gatherings won't stop anytime soon as the Rainbow Plantation Posse knows how to round-up plenty of fun. Next year we won't stay away so long. Things get kicked off around mid November and continues through mid April. November is when the "Sparrows Return to Capistrano" to share all of their past summer experiences. Some people keep traveling throughout the summer while others return to specific places to workamp or just spend the summer. This cycle seems to work in that it keeps our conversations fresh with new stories and experiences to share as we congregate around the campfire. Returning to the same place each winter was not what we had in mind when we began our fulltiming lifestyle but has, none-the-less, been a serendipitous development. We love the campground, our site, the people, our church, and the area. It wouldn't take much for us to settle down at Rainbow Plantation and just do extended RVing from 'bama - the that's kinda what we're doing anyway. Hopefully we can break this workamping cycle so we can do some traveling out west. There is soooo much to see and do in this great country of ours that we haven't even put a minor scratch in the surface of it all. It all depends on what our investments do over the next year or so. Right now it looks as if we'll have at least another year of workamping in order to stash some "moolar" away for a rainy day. We like to keep at least six months living expenses in a savings account for emergencies, also, we need to make up some of our losses in order to up grade the truck within the next couple of years. In the meantime, we do enjoy our lifestyle in that it lets us see our family, especially grand daughters, more often than we could have in any other lifestyle. We may not be traveling as much as we would have liked but it gives us freedom of choice - we can move south in the winter, go north in the summer, visit friends and relatives, and do some traveling along the way. And that's pretty cool, huh? Sunday, November 16, 2008 We made it through the grand daughter sleep over without even a scratch. Katie and Alex didn't much care for it though. Whenever Miss Kalina would voice her displeasure Katie would sit on the bed and voice her's as well. Alex was rather "skiddish"; you know, like a long tailed Tom Katt in a room full of rocking chairs. But they got through it and things were back to normal for them after the grand daughters left. I figured that Miss Judy and I would be dawg tired after the weekend, but we were in pretty decent shape. We even played a few games of Sequence last night; Miss Judy won two our of three games - me thinketh she cheats!!! This is our last week of w*rk then we get to retire once more. This will be the fourth retirement that we have had since hitting the road back in 2006, but this is waaaaay better than w*rking a real J-O-B. It can be hard and tiring at times but, all in all, it's a decent way to make a few bucks. It was a better choice than staying employed fulltime and living in one place forever and ever. So, again, we retire once more. Matt and Jackie attend the World Outreach Church in Murfreesboro which, also, broadcast their sermons on Sunday morning. Being that it is a long drive to get there and we w*rk on Sunday afternoons, we have been attending via television. He is a very good teacher/preacher and has excellent sermons, however, we can't wait to return to our church in Fairhope. We've listened to some of Pastor Bill's sermons through broadcasts on our computer but it's just not the same. We need the whole experience to help get us into a full attitude of worship so we are looking forward to being "home" again for a while. Today it's back to leaves - they're everywhere. We use a leaf blower to pile the leaves up and then a tractor with a vacuum system on it to suck them up, but it has been rainy for the past three days and the leaves are extremely wet so I noticed that they were shoveling the leaves into a pickup truck yesterday - that won't be fun! Yes, it's hard w*rk but I pace myself and we have a team w*rking together to get the job done. Besides, it's good exercise and you all know I could use some of that. Saturday, November 15, 2008 Two katts, two babes, and two adults; that's how many didn't sleep very well last night. Not really, the grand daughters actually slept pretty well, but the rest of us didn't. Then again, I don't sleep very well any night; I'm at the age where I sleep like a baby - sleep for a couple of hours then wake up and cry, sleep for a couple hours then wake up and cry again. My crying is due to pain - anyone over fifty who says they don't have any pain is lying. Any way, this is not supposed to be about me but about having our grand daughters for a sleep over. They arrived just after six with parents in tow. We fed all four of them before sending the parents on their merry way. Grandpa held Miss Kalina for awhile and then she laid in her play pen for awhile. Mean time, back at the RV, Miss Catia played with her baby dolls for a little bit. Then she wanted a movie; that kid loves her movies and must have every Disney Movie ever made - we watched One Hundred and One Dalmatians. By the end of the movie Miss Kalina had gone to sleep and Miss Catia (and Grandpa) was nodding off so Grandma put her (us) to bed. Miss Catia, just like her father, does not like lightening so we no more than got settled into beddy bye when in she toddles into our bedroom whining about the lightening. We tried to explain to her that there was no lightening but she insisted that she saw it. As a matter of fact, she was emphatic that she had seen lightening so it was into bed with us she went. She stayed there for a few minutes then decided that the lighting must be done and she wanted her "baby" (i.e. Kalina) so grandma put her back to bed in the living room. Grandma discovered the lighting; it was our router which has a flashing green light on the air card. We never heard another peep out of her for the night. The katts were another story. Katie, who sleeps on "her" blanket on the sofa was totally uneasy about having two small humanoids occupying the living room space. Alex, who sleeps in one of the Lazy Boy recliners (doesn't make a bit of difference to him which one) kept pacing about the bedroom and chattering. I think he was trying to tell us that someone had broken in and was taking up residence in the living room. Finally Katie found a place to sleep on my pillow above my head and Alex laid down next my feet. Yep, I had a katt comforter!! The three of us were all pretty uncomfortable and it was a restless night. Miss Judy will have to tell you her side of the story 'cause I'm not sure if she slept or not. Both girls slept in this morning with Kalina getting up at around seven. She sure is a cheerful little kid, not even a wimper when she woke up. Miss Judy prepared a bottle and shoved it into her face which made her entirely content (I tried to talk her into fixing one for me but there is no whiskey in the house). Miss Catia is still sleeping as I write this. Katie and Alex are now stretched out on our nice warm bed purring themselves to sleep. So, all in all, it was a great night - let's do it again some time!! On a different note, Fred and Jenn (our manager and his wife) just returned from a week long KOA conference in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. They had a good time with the Nashville KOA winning the President's Award - I don't know the significance of that but it seems to be a big deal among the KOA Campgrounds. Also, the corporately owned KOAs (there's twenty eight with Nashville KOA being one of them) have been challenged to cut budget and "hours" so I suggested to Fred that he cut Miss Judy and I loose at the end of this pay period which is this coming Friday since both the replacement workamping couples are now on board. That means that Thursday will be our last day of w*rk. But it won't change our arrival date at Rainbow Plantation because we are staying in the area to have Thanksgiving dinner with Mary, Joel, and Joel's family. However, it will give Miss Judy some extra days for Christmas shopping and me some extra days for getting our house ready to roll again. Well that's the state of affairs at the Patterson household this fifteenth day of November two thousand and eight. Be Safe, Have Fun, and God Bless. Friday, November 14, 2008 Yesterday, if you remember, I lamented about not getting to meet several people who are passing through Rainbow Plantation. Well, I must declare, "happy days are here again". Jim and Ellie and Mark and Dortha have decided to stay put until the first of December so we'll get to meet them after all and, hopefully, spend an evening with them. Then I received an email from Kirk saying that they are going to stop by Rainbow Plantation again on their way west in April so we will get to spend some time with them as well - Hooray for our team. This is a unique community to say the least in that we all know each other even though we have never met face to face - that's due to our websites and blogs as well as RVing forums and chat rooms. But absolutely nothing compares to meeting our cyber friends up close and personal. Did I ever tell you that one of the best things about this lifestyle is the friends you make along the way? I know, I know, only a million times! Now, my next task is to convince Mike and Peggy that they need to get out of Maine this winter (Brrr, cold, snow, how can they do it?) and spend a few weeks in the Gulf Shores area with us. Judy and Peggy were "best buds" waaaay back when we lived in Maine (that was about three lifetimes ago). They have stayed in touch ever since with Mike and Peggy stopping by Lake George Escape the past two summers to see us. Mike and Peggy are not fulltime RVers but do travel extensively a couple of times each year in their Winnebago Adventurer. So, guys, come on down, the water's fine!!! As I, also, mentioned yesterday that today (or rather tonight) is the grand daughter sleep over. We are making the most of our grand daughter fixes while we are in the Nashville area. The little dears will be making their way north to Wisconsin, along with mom and dad, to spend Thanksgiving with Grandma and Grandpa Winegarden. Mike and Sheila were our best friends when we lived in Harbor Springs, Michigan. Mike and I w*rked together at Control Engineering (I was Plant Manager and Mike was the Manager of Customer Service). Control Engineering is a manufacturing company that builds automated material handling systems (automated guided vehicles and various conveyor systems). Anyway, we are glad that Matt and Jackie and the girls will be spending Thanksgiving with them. After that, we will be seeing them again at Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, I long for the old days when the Christmas paraphernalia didn't show up in the stores until after we'd had an opportunity to burp on our Thanksgiving turkey. Now, the minute that the back to school supplies are taken off the shelves the Christmas music begins playing. By the time Christmas shows up it feels like election day - thank God it's over. Miss Judy loves Christmas time. She loves to decorate the house, make special dishes, buy and wrap presents, and enjoy the good times with friends and relatives. But the four to five weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas is more than enough time to do all of that. We don't need to be bombarded with Christmas in September. Besides, Christmas needs to be more about our Lord and others and less about commercialism. Oh well, I guess I have to get with the times - so to heck with Thanksgiving and I hope you all have a Merry Christmas. Thursday, November 13, 2008 Darn, what a year to NOT be at the Plantation in November. There have been a ton of friends dropping in and we're not there to welcome them. Jim and Ellie, Mark and Dortha, and, possibly, Kirk and Pam are there or on their way. These are all people that we have never met face to face but have communicated with over the past year. Glen and Sylvia, who drove over from Florida last year to meet us, are there and possibly with Jack and Danielle who we met two years ago (they were planning to stop by). Norm and Linda, Randy and Terry, Pat and Dick have all arrived along with half our fellow residents on East Traveler Street. And here we sit in Margaretaville - hang on, Y'all, we're coming so don'tcha be rushing off. Today is our Friday which leaves us two more weeks here in Margaretaville. We are planning on doing two more Gray Line Tours - one tomorrow and one next Friday. Also, tomorrow we are hosting a sleepover - Miss Catia and Miss Kalina are coming. Let's see; "our coach holds six for cocktails, four for dinner, and sleeps two" so just how did that happen? They are grand daughters, that's how. Somehow they don't figure into that equation so it now reads - "our coach holds six for cocktails, four for dinner, and sleeps two except when it comes to grand daughters". Between w*rking, sightseeing, hosting sleep overs, and having Thanksgiving with Mary, her boy friend, and his family we are certainly readying ourselves for some down time in LA (Lower Alabama). Just one last thought which has absolutely nothing to do with nothing. There are two things (I'm talking things, not people) that I love; my recliner and my coffee. These are the first things that I look for each morning as I stumble out of bed and make my way to the living room. One of the reasons that we chose a fifthwheel over a motorhome was Lazyboy Recliners. These are the "bear" necessities of life; a humanoid cannot live without a Lazyboy Recliner (some may think they can but they are just delusional). The ability to sit back in your recliner with laptop in lap, a cup of coffee on the coffee table, and the HD television blaring in the background is "priceless" - ahhh, nothing like boondocking. Wednesday, November 12, 2008 I continued to work on the pictures and ended up resetting the camera to the 640x480 resolution. The distortion and grainy-ness of the pictures on the other settings were just not acceptable. The Toshiba came with Picasa2 loaded on it so I'll play with that a little bit to see if it makes a difference in resizing the pictures. I emailed Howard Payne and he uses SmugMug so just maybe it's the Oscar's Thumb Maker that I'm using that causes the pictures to become grainy. I'll keep you posted as I continue dabbling with different options. In the meantime, here are a couple of pictures showing the leafs that I have been w*rking to eliminate. They are beginning to pile up like snow.   Speaking of Summerdale, keep the home fires burning guys; we're on our way so leave a space next to the campfire for us. Two more weeks of w*rk and then we'll be liberated. Tuesday, November 11, 2008 The October Travelogues are published - finally!!! Now I can start working on November. One of my readers, Miss Judy, after reading yesterday's entry expressed her displeasure over stopping anywhere along the way to San Hose (i.e. Rainbow Plantation). Yes folks, she has seen the barn and is chomping at the bit to get back in it. "I just want to get back and see my friends, go to church, and work on my crafts!!!" Translated that means, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars - no Space and Rocket Center, no Montgomery, just get me back to Summerdale and do it pronto. Oh well, she deserves a break; after all, w*rking in reservations, check-ins, and the store are not one of her favorite things to do. We've been workamping since the middle of May with only three weeks off; Therefore, it is high time that she gets to sit back and work on her basket weaving "stuff" for awhile. Besides, Linda Payne has baited the hook by expressing her desire to make a quilt. Our grand daughter, Miss Kalina, needs one as well so "thar ya go!!" Miss J is looking to begin that project with November 30th being the start date, so there will be no dilly-dallying along the way. I have to admit that I'm ready to be sitting on our site on East Traveler Street as well. It has seemed like a long time ago that we departed Alabama at the end of March. Yes dear, I'll focus - Summerdale, Summerdale, Summerdale. While we were at the Gypsy Journal Rally, two months ago, Miss J purchased Creative Memories Digital Scrapbooking software. Well, it turns out that that software likes digital pictures to be taken at the higher resolutions. I have been taking pictures at the 640x480 (lowest) resolution so I reset the camera to the 2048x1536 resolution. Now when I resize the pictures, using Oscar's Thumb Maker, for the website they turn out very "grainy". We have two cameras but don't want to have two sets of pictures so does anyone have any solutions to this dilemma? Today I will be rereading the manual that came with the camera as well as searching the internet for some solutions but I would love to hear what you folks might have to say. Monday, November 10, 2008 We are definitely ready to roll. It has been nice to be in the Nashville area and spend time with our kids and grand kids, but these "keen agers" are ready to "hit the road again". We're only going to Rainbow Plantation so I don't know if that will be a long enough road trip (just under 500 miles). Seeing old friends again will be a great incentive, however, we enjoy experiencing new things while traveling. After all, our house has wheels. There are some significant things that we could do on our way back to Summerdale. In Huntsville, Alabama there's the U.S. Space and Rocket Center that we could visit; also, both Birmingham and Montgomery are steeped in history surrounding the civil rights movement. Being that finances are an issue, at least until August, we probably won't spend the $50 admission fee to the Space and Rocket Center but we'll take a look at Montgomery's history to identify some points of interest. There's a Passport America campground just south of Montgomery (we've stayed there before) that we could use as a "home base". Oh well, we have two more weeks here and are planning a couple of outings before we leave. We want to do a Downtown tour and a Civil War tour with Gray Line (might as well take advantage of the free tours). We did the Downtown tour back in 2004 and it is one of Gray Line's better tours and, being that I enjoy history, the Civil War tour only makes sense. Yesterday I continued w*rking on getting the leafs picked on the "J" sites. Each row of sites is designated by a letter of the alphabet with the H, I, J, and K rows being heavily used. During the winter months rows A, B, C, D, and E are closed with rows F and G being used for monthly rentals (we are in G row). Rows L and N are premium sites with patio furniture and don't have many trees (there is no M row because it was combined with the L row to make the premium sites which are 90 feet long). Well, that's waaaaay more information than you probably wanted to know, but welcome to my world. Today I will continue w*rking on getting leafs picked up - surprise, surprise. This will go on well into December. I use the leaf blower to blow the leafs into piles and then use the Cyclone which is attached to a tractor to vacuum them up. It's a lot of w*rk but I certainly pace myself and sort of like doing it - up to a point that is. A few more days and it will just be a pain in the A--!! By the 28th I will be more than ready to say "good-bye" to the "Leafs of Nashville KOA". Be sure to have a great day and don't forget to hug your katt. Sunday, November 9, 2008 Saturday morning I rolled out of bed, scratched, waddled to the living room heading for my favorite recliner and my morning cup o' Joe. Wow, I needed that! I spent most of the morning working on October's Travelogue which is just about ready for publishing. Then we did some straightening up and cleaning of the RV before our kids arrived later in the day. Around 3:30 in the afternoon Miss Judy and I set fire to some wood in the outside fireplace in anticipation of their arrival. Matt and Jackie. toting Catia and Kalina, arrived first with Joel and Mary showing up around 5:00. We sat around the fire for a while chit chatting and watching a little college football before we burned some hot dawgs (ahh, hot dawgs cooked over an open fire). It was predicted to be chilly outside so Miss Judy had made some chili (nothing like chili to warm you when you are chilly) along with some corn bread and a "sin" pie (a.k.a. Toll House Pie) for desert. We were all pretty full but Miss Catia still wanted to toast some marshmallows - she didn't care much about eating them; just wanted to toast them. After all, what good is a fire if you don't burn a half dozen marshmallows. We had all the ingredients for 'smores but nobody wanted any after eating "sin" pie. It is always nice to have the family around the house for an evening; brings back memories of times past and makes you feel young again. On top of that, one can never get enough grand daughter time. We, also, had the opportunity to get to know Joel a little better. This was the second time that we had met him and he fits in just fine. We will be spending Thanksgiving at his house with his mom, dad, and brother; we're looking forward to that. Before we knew it it was time for everyone to leave with our evening coming to an abrupt end. Hopefully it won't be long before we get to do it again. Saturday, November 8, 2008 If you were to visit our house this very morning you'd see two old people sitting in their rocking chairs with big smiles on their faces. The grand daughters spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa yesterday and we couldn't have had a better time. The day started out with rain so we had to play inside. Catia brought plenty of "stuff" to keep her busy and Kalina thought it would be a good day to entertain Grandpa. She just sits in my lap and smiles - boy, does that girl love her Grandpa. Catia and Grandpa watched AristoCats - just love that Thomas O'Malley the Alley Katt. "Everybody wants to be a katt 'cause a katt is the only katt that knows where it's at." We had company (Chris and Clyde) stop over for a visit in the afternoon. They are getting ready to go fulltime and we had met them at church. Anyway, while they were visiting Catia watched the Little Mermaid in the bedroom with Alex and Katie. It dried out a little by late afternoon so Catia and Grandma went swinging (ya didn't know that Miss Judy was a swinger, didcha?). Then it was home for another movie - Lion King. Grandma made a homemade chicken pie that Miss Catia, Grandpa and Grandma enjoyed for dinner (Yum, Yum). Kalina entertained herself on the floor with an arch full of toys swinging above her while catching a glimpse of the AristoCats now and again. That little shrimp doesn't hardly sleep much at all (maybe a half hour in the morning and then a few minutes on my chest in the afternoon. Little Kalina stayed out and entertained the guests while being held by Grandma and then Grandpa. When Catia and Grandma were swinging Kalina got fed by Grandpa and then just played in his lap for a while (yep, smiling - that kid is a smiler). Then, while we were having dinner, Miss Kalina "crashed and burned" in her playpen for a good little sleep. Matt and Jackie showed up around 7:00 and polished off the chicken pie. They stayed and visited for awhile before packing up the car (babies sure come with lots of stuff) and heading home. We turned on the TV after they left and attempted to watch NCIS, however, it turned out to be one of the better episodes that we've ever slept through. Yep, we were tired but satisfied. What a great way to spend the day - let's do it again sometime soon. Today will be some more family time with Mary and Joel, Matt and Jackie, and, of course, Miss Catia and Miss Kalina so more about that tomorrow. There's no better way to spend a weekend than being with family. Hope you, too, are having a great weekend. Friday, November 7, 2008 Today is our day off and the first thing this morning our daily routine is about to be disrupted. We got a phone call at 6:00 A.M. this morning with a little voice on the other end. "Our babysitter is sick so can you take us munchkins for the day?" So Miss Catia and Miss Kalina are on their way over the river and through the woods to grandma's house they come. Get ready katts, you are about to be invaded and required to share your "digs" for the day with two little girls - one mobile the other not. Actually we are looking forward to spending the day with the munchkins but one thing I learned a long time ago was that babies come with lots of stuff. Our "little house on the highway" will look like a tornado passed through, however, we'll all be happily enjoying our day together. Catia and grandpa can take a little "snoozer" together after lunch (you can tell you're getting old when one of the first things you think about after just getting out of bed is a nap). Miss Kalina will just sit in Grandpa's lap and smile while warming his heart. I'm sure there will be a couple of times that we'll wonder "what were we thinking?" but that's why we came to the Nashville area in the first place. It's all about grand daughters, ya know? Tomorrow I will give you the highlights of our day. Miss Judy was sicker than a dawg yesterday. There seems to be one of those 24 hour things going around. I had it on Monday, Miss Judy had it yesterday, and the babysitter has it today. Luckily it only lasts a day but it does leave you feeling "dragged out". Two grand daughters ought to leave her pretty much drained by the end of the day. Grandpa will just have to take up some of the slack. All in all, we are both over "it" and on the mend now. I'll tell you that the weather has been absolutely wonderful with temperatures in the 70's during the day. That's about to end once this cold front passes by this morning with the temperatures dropping by around 10 degrees. Hopefully that's where they will hold for the next three weeks until we get our tail feathers south. My knees don't like cooold weather especially while I'm w*rking outside. Speaking of w*rking outside, the leafs have turned bright gold and are falling like dollars in my investments. We pick them up and the very next day they are back - looks like we hadn't done anything. Oh well, J-O-B security. I have always enjoyed yard work, just not so much of it. Well, I had better get going and get ready for the munchkins (a.k.a. the grand daughters). What could be a better day than spending it with a three year old and a three month old. I love seeing things through their eyes - in their world everything is so fresh and new. Oops, they're here - see ya tomorrow. Thursday, November 6, 2008 I forgot about the rehashing of the rehashing but soon the networks will be able to get on with the real news like what's going on with Paris Hilton, Brittney Spears, and Lindsey Lohann - the stuff that really matters. Of course, I'm being sarcastic. It will actually be interesting to watch President-elect Obama pull together his team and make the transition into the White House. There are certainly plenty of issues for him to deal with when he takes over. One of the first positions that will need to be filled is that of the First Family Dawg as Obama promised his daughters a new puppy in front of God and everyone. Well, for us conservatives it can be a little unnerving but change is good for us so Miss Judy and I will be looking forward to the future. Speaking of future, what does the future hold for us. Well, we're definitely going to have to w*rk again next summer and possibly even this spring. As you all know, we will be leaving here and heading to Rainbow Plantation. Then we will return to Lebanon, Tennessee (Cedars of Lebanon State Park) for a few days to celebrate Christmas with our grand daughters. We will return to Rainbow Plantation where we will hang out until the end of April. Right now we are planning to go to the Escapade in Missouri at the end of May and then on to Michigan and New Hampshire to visit family before landing at Lake George Escape. In September we plan to spend some time in Maine with my brother and then stop by the Gypsy Journal Rally in Ohio at the end of September before returning to Rainbow Plantation. But, as you all know, all of our plans are carved in putty which means they are subject to change at any given moment. Hopefully, in 2010 we will finally be free to travel out west and not have to take on a long term workamping assignments. We will always have to continue to workamp but we are hoping that it will only be volunteering for no more than a couple of months at a time. Time will tell but like my friend Mike stated in his blog - ya gotta have a plan in order to change it!! - so there's our plan on this sixth day on November of two thousand and eight. Wednesday, November 5, 2008 It's all over but the cryin'! The news will be recapping the recapping but the rest of us can get on with our lives. I wonder what the talking heads are going to chatter about now - frankly, my dear, I don't give a darn. I'm just glad it's all over. Today is tire day. We're getting two new tires and an alignment on our "Front End Diesel (FrED)" tow vehicle (i.e., the truck). Then I'm going to stop next door and get the oil changed. This is all in preparation for our big up coming move to Summerdale at the end of the month. Yes, we're getting excited about getting "home" again where the fires burn and the wine flows. It will be nice to see our playmates again and join in on all of the fun. Yesterday a new workamping couple joined us; they will replace Ray and Diane who will be leaving next week. Our replacements will be arriving this week and starting on Monday; that will give us two and a half weeks to train them. All in all, it's pointing toward us heading south real soon. Can ya tell, we can't wait. Today will be leaf day at w*rk. Ray and Bill can take care of the rest of the "stuff" so I can concentrate on getting our heavily used sites cleaned up. I have a "back pack" gasoline leave blower that I use to blow them out of the sites and on to the lawns. Then I use the zero turn lawn mower to mulch them up after which I go back and blow the residue off the sites again. Once I get done the campground looks nice. If left alone I can get quite a bit done in a couple of hours. Oh well, that is probably more information than you needed to know. Before we leave Nashville Miss Judy and I want to do two more tours with Gray Line. One is a Civil War tour of the battlefield in Franklin and the other is the Nashville tour that we did way back in 2004. Of course, you'll get to see the pictures and read all about the trips in the November Travelogue. By the way, the October Travelogue is almost done; I plan to finish it this weekend (Friday and Saturday). Tuesday, November 4, 2008 It's Election Day - don't forget to vote. It's a right that we Americans have and it did not come free; it cost a lot of Americans their lives. Voting is one of the ways we get to exercise our voice in "gummint" so please vote. Wow, I went back to bed yesterday morning and slept pretty much straight through until 3:30. Then I got up, showered, got dressed, and went to w*rk. That made it a short day for me but I just didn't have the energy to w*rk a full day. I wouldn't have gone in at 4:30 except that Miss Judy had the front desk all by herself and really needed someone around to escort guests, pump propane, deliver wood, as well as to be around so she wouldn't be all by herself. Needless to say, I didn't do a lot of hard w*rk. Bottom line, I feel gggrrreeeaaattt this morning. I see our friends Howard and Linda Payne are upgrading the tires and wheels on their rig to 17.5". That's an excellent idea. It's just one more of those things that fulltimers need to put on the "must have" list when purchasing a unit, whether new or used, as it provides an extra margin of safety. Another "must have" is disc brakes - It's all about stopping. Most diesel engines will pull whatever is harnessed behind them but stopping that weight is the other side of the coin. Disc brakes can reduce the stopping distance by up to half the distance. By the way, I'm not suggesting that you exceed the truck's weight ratings but as you are approaching the maximum weight allowance braking can become an issue. So, if you are in the market for a new (or used) fifthwheel be sure to negotiate these two items into the price, you'll be very, very glad you did. Speaking of fulltime units, I would suggest that you steer away from Cedar Creek. We're not entirely unhappy with the unit but are dissatisfied with some of the workmanship. Whenever I go to repair or replace something I find just plain poor construction practices. So far it has been just minor minor stuff but it makes me wonder about the infrastructure of the coach. For instance, the repairs that I just made to the awnings over the slides reveled that they were not installed properly. The closet doors fell off because the they were not installed correctly - stapled with no glue and where they used screws in the header they were too close to the edge causing it to crack. I have the same issue with the cabinet under the sink - stapled with no glue. Some of the wiring looks as if a first semester high school shop class performed the work. Thankfully I am capable of correcting most of the mistakes but I shouldn't have to. If you were considering a Cedar Creek then take a look at the Landmark by Heartland. It is in the same price range and appears to be built a lot better. Here's a couple more options that I would have on the next fifthwheel (not that we are in the market - no money). Either Big Foot or HWH hydraulic leveling system and a 2000 watt true sine inverter/charger with two to four 6 volt golf cart batteries (AGMs would be nice). As we get older it would be nice to level without using boards and while traveling and staying overnight without hook ups it would be nice to have power without using a generator. By the way, I would not put a built in generator in a fifthwheel; it takes too much room, weighs too much, and runs on propane which makes it pricey to run. Instead I use a Honda 2000 (Yamaha 2500 claims to run a 13.5k Btu air conditioner) to power the unit when we are "boondocking" and that has proven to be enough power for our needs plus it takes less space, only weighs 46 pounds, and runs over 12 hours on a tank of gas. Monday, November 3, 2008 This is it, these are the last two days that we will have to listen to those annoying 2008 election ads. The bad news is that on Wednesday we'll have to start hearing about the 2012 presidential election - oh, good grief. I woke up around 3:30 with an upset stomach and it has continued to annoy me since. Miss Judy says I'm a big baby when I don't feel good, but don't you believe a word of it. I'm a very pleasant person all of the time and maybe a little mellow when I don't feel good, but never a baby. Well, I'm off to bed, where's my rattle? Hopefully I'll wake up feeling much better. See ya tomorrow. Sunday, November 2, 2008 Yesterday we assisted with the pancake breakfast at the Music Barn here at Nashville KOA. Then we came home and I repaired the slideout seals - one more item crossed off the Ta Do List. In the afternoon it was grand daughter fix time. We must be nuts but we are going to have a sleep over (let's see, our "camper" holds six for cocktails, four for dinner, and sleeps two). Can you imagine, two old people, two spoiled katts, and two grand daughters (three years and three months) spending the night together in less than four hundred square feet? That could have disaster written all over it!!! Miss Catia is like Jello on a shaker - always in motion. Miss Kalina is a very good baby and likes to sit in grandpa's lap smiling (that is, until hunger pangs set in or diaper needs dumping or tiredness takes over). Oh well, it will be fun (I think) and we're looking forward to it. Other than that it was just another day in the life. Today I will repair the awning over the large slideout. It has a small tear starting in a stitched seam and I want to take care of it before getting to Alabama - we tend to get windy days down there which would cause further damage. That leaves me just one more item on my Ta Do List - defrost the 'fridge. Hooray for my team!!!! Did you remember to set you clocks back? We have a clock that sets itself - it gets the time from a satellite and automatically changes from DLS to STD time without any intervention from me. That's a good thing 'cause it would just go on my Ta Do List and not happen for a couple of months. In any event, we have the correct time - not that it matters much to us (Remember? There is only two times for us - day time and night time). Take care and be well. . . . . Saturday, November 1, 2008 Just a quick entry this morning. Judy and I did smores last night at the campground Halloween party and this morning we are helping with the pancake breakfast. So I must be out the door in about an hour - that means hurry up and do the journal entry, take a shower, get dressed, and gulp down a cup of joe (that's not to be confused with Joe the Plumber). Now I keep tellin' ya that there is no "hurry up" in this fulltiming RVing lifestyle. Well, dawg gonit, almost no "hurry up". Sometimes you make commitments that come back to haunt you but it will be fun. By the way, welcome to November - if any of you missed the last few entries in October you can find them in the archives. Usually I wait a day or two before archiving them but yesterday I was just sitting around with one arm as long as the other with nothing else to do so I decided to archive them. Don't ask me why, I just did. We met some new friends yesterday, Bill and Theresa, who have a brand spanking new New Horizons fifthwheel with a brand spanking new Ford 550 diesel truck with the bed converted for hauling the fifthwheel. They invited us in for a tour - what a nice unit. I loved the work work and Bill showed me a lot of the "infrastructural" things that make this the top rated fifthwheel in the RV Consumer Group's ratings - it is the only fifthwheel that gets the five star rating. Drool, drool, drool. I'm sure they had to mop up the floors after we left. I'm off, so unit tomorrow............. |