Winding down 2014

Assistance Please!

Soon after the arrival it was time to move Theresa's mom, Helen, to an Assisted Living facility in Hemet. It has been a big adjustment for her and for all the family. Hopefully she will get into a pattern and it will feel more like home.

As part of helping Helen adjust to the new facility Theresa, Dorothy, and Kevin moved some of Helen's personal items into the new facility. In addition, Kiehl & Madison came to Hemet for a day and helped get their grandma's room ready for her arrival.

Once Helen had settled into the new facility Kevin and Theresa drove in to LA for Xmas Eve with Kiehl, Madison, and her family, see pictures. In LA the Smit's were able to hike up to a scenic peak in the heart of Brentwood , made Christmas cookies and enjoyed Xmas Eve dinner with Kiehl and Madison's family!  Way Fun. Nothing better than family at Christmas.

Christmas morning Kevin and Theresa drove back to Hemet to spend Christmas day with Theresa's Mom and her family. They did the drive in 1 ½ hours. The route normally takes from 2 to 12 hours depending on LA TRAFFIC. WHY DOES ANYONE LIVE HERE?
Theresa's Mom's was able to escape for Xmas day and spent it at her home with Theresa, Kevin, Dorothy (Theresa's sister) and Dorothy's kids and the newest (great) grandson Oliver. See pics here.

The day after Xmas, Theresa and Kevin got a call that Theresa's Mom was on the way to the ER. It was learned that she fell in the bathroom and had a gouge in her head. Kevin and Theresa made it the the ER before Helen was admitted into the system. This gave Dorothy a chance to arrive from her home in Fallbrook, CA to also be there for her mother. Dorothy has been a Nurse her entire adult life and understands the ins and outs of an ER. CAT Scan and X-rays were ordered. Helen remained in the ER hallway as all beds were occupied. Actually Kevin and Theresa counted no less than 6 open beds while Helen lay in the hall way. Cat Scan of her head and Xrays of her hip came back OK and after 3-4 hours in the ER She was moved to a bed long enough to be cleaned up (she was covered with blood from head to toe), and then able to return back to the Assisted Living. Kevin and Theresa drove Helen back to the Assisted living facility. Dorothy spent the evening with Helen in her room to ensure all was good thru the night and into the next day. Helen was bruised from head to toe as if she had participated in a kick boxing contest.

Helen was moving around the next day just fine and even wanted to partake in the morning exercise class. What and ANIMAL. She still has trouble speaking, but can write, read and understand most of what you tell her. She is still going to Speech Therapy so she is hoping for more improvement. “Crossing fingers”. Helen recognizes that what she is communicating is not the words she is hearing in her own head. This continues to frustrate her as she says: “one time good, then not”.    or   “CRAZY”.
 
On the RV front ... 

The RV was long overdue for a wash & wax (this event also included the Toad (Jeep) as well :). Kevin had been building a repair list of items that needed attention as the couple traveled from east to west across the US. He had made calls to mobile a RV repair company to get on their very busy schedule in Hemet. The repair list continued to grow as one of the slide-outs had both bolts bust somehow when moving the slide in and back out for the washing/waxing and it was not able to slide back in. This was then added to the repair list that included: a drawer that won't close, Awning would not close, Holding tank sensors not working, Satellite TV not working, Front Passenger Tire pressure valve stem leaking.....on and on. After Xmas the mobile RV team came out and took care of most of the items on site. Slide now works, Drawer is fixed, tire valve repaired, awning was adjusted (lesson learned... never fully extend the patio awning), and to Kevin's surprise the suggestion of unplugging the satellite TV, wait 20 min, then plug back in fixed that as well.

These guys get a 5 gold star rating!

In addition, with the lower temps (hovering around freezing at night) the propane needed filled so Zin and Theresa could stay warm! There was a mobile propane service that was called out and within 5 min the tank was filled. LIFE IS GOOD!

On a side note.... Kevin had been noticing the RV was getting hard to start when it sat more than 2 days in a row as it made its way across the US. With this information gnawing at him he attempted to start the RV after two and a half weeks in site 921 in GVP to see how well the RV would start. Wa Wa Wa wa wa w ….ah. Let it rest, try again. Wa Wa wa w...a.

Let it rest, try again. Wa wa w...a. Let it rest, try again. Wa....a. CRAP.

OK try axillary start. This is a BRILLIANT switch that calls into play the 4 house batteries to assist the Two Chasse Batteries to start the RV.

Nnnnn..... NOT.

CRAP!

Kevin's next move was to pull the Jeep up next to the RV and connect jumper cables between the Jeep (the toad) and the RV to see if he could jump start the RV. Positive to positive, Negative to Negative (red to red, black to black). COOL ready to try. With the Jeep running and feeding life giving electrons to the RV, Kevin climbed into the RV. Key was placed into the ignition, Key turned one click, dash board lit up, buzzers began to sound, lights went thru the normal elimination followed by each one slowly going dark. The only lights expected to remain on were: Park Brake, Wait to Start (heating the engine block), Low Air (air brakes and suspension air bags needing to get to proper pressure). Slowly each light darkened. Time to turn the key one more notch. WAA.. WAA.HMMMMMMMMMM. Started! Kevin leaped out of the RV, Diesel purring at 900 rpms. Jumper cables carefully removed to ensure the contacts did not inadvertently touch before all contacts were safely secured. Jeep was moved back into its proper parking spot. RV was left running for 20 minutes, charging chasse batteries.

Kevin will need to seek additional insight into the need for new chasse batteries, or what it might be that is draining 3 yr old batteries. Add this to a New List of repair items. RV = Repair Vortex!

GVP - Golden Village Palms RV Resort, a RVers (mostly Canadian) Vacation Mecca 

There is so much to do here and Kevin and Theresa want to partake much more than the previous year! To date only a few facilities have been explored including:

Signed up for a Doors tribute band concert in Jan, attended the welcome reception, played pickleball with Kiehl & Madz, used the jacuzzi a few times as well as the work out room. Walking the park perimeter is 1 mile so that will log about 3K steps on a Fitbit. Most days the 10K goal is met, but with the low temps and other priorities there are some missed days.

Kevin got the bikes off the jeep and got them road worthy. The chains have been sitting out in the elements for over two months and look like they are made from old junk yard iron. Fully Rusted and red as North Carolina Clay. Kevin used all forms of lubrication known to man kind. He was concerned with the effects of mixing multiple flammable oil type lubricants to break the chains free from the frozen state. Finally got to take a 10 mile ride on the mountain bikes pulling Zinfandal(dog) in the dog trailer. That was enough for a bit of a shakedown. Hopefully the miles will expand as the temps increase. The couple had to take two days off to recover from this 10 mile strenuous bicycle ride at a 10 mph pace. Kevin has also located a group that rides from Hemet every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9 am. The group is a no drop style ride, they also have nicknames for each of the riders (sounds like Thorns N Roses). They have a blog that is written after each ride and they post the route and pace of that days ride. The pace of the group is currently a little too aggressive for Kevin and Theresa who have been off of the bicycle and sitting in the comfort of the RV for far too long.

Kevin has located a remote control air field and has pestered a guy in the RV park that works on remote airplanes to get any of the 3 planes he brought with him in the air. Kevin has been practicing on a RC trainer computer program for months now and is anxious to make it real.

He has been seen in the RV park flying his Quad Copter.

Looking forward to 2015

New Years there will be a family gathering as Theresa's sister Mary Jean will be here and hopefully Kiehl and Madz can visit as well.

Consider this blog as the Smit's Christmas card to you as there will be none in the (e)mail this year.

May 2015 be one of Joy, Health, Wealth, Peace and Good Being.

Make a Difference every day.

You have arrived!

As time to part was of little concern on Saturday, Kevin and Theresa discussed the need for a mandatory gem stop, to secure yet some more local memorabilia. However the first priority was a Breakfast stop to experience additional local color. Once Breakfast was consumed they headed out to secure some of the Gems and Rocks that are the attractions of Quartzite.

Quartzite still has an active gold mine. Rock Hounds still roam the hills to unearth other gems and petrified wood. They then sell these to tourists. Some of the rocks are polished and some are left in their natural state. Still others are cut and set into jewelry.

The team drove up and down both sides of Quartzite to find the best ROCK/Gem site to visit. They quickly discovered that there are no/limited Shops. All the vendors are located in the dozens of roadside Flee markets that line the side roads. The Morning was still early and the prior evenings rain storm had all the flee markets tables still covered in tarps. Beside each tent and table was an old RV, Trailer, 5th wheel that clearly had not moved for years. This is were old RVs go to rest and provide shelter for the Flee Market vendors.

Eventually after several loops around Quartzite the team landed at a local Gem shop were the owner was a long time resident and well known rock hound and jeweler. He even had a rock museum were his most important finds were displayed but not for sale.

Kevin and Theresa spent more than an hour with the Rock Hound learning all about the various rocks of the area and how they are prepared for jewelry or polished as individual stones that may later be set into jewelry. A couple of eye catching pieces were purchased and happy holiday was wished to owner upon leaving. It was now time to prep for departure.

In preparation for the trip, the Jeep was lined up with the tow bars. Simultaneously as this
procedure was being performed, connections were made with the friendly neighbors. They were Canadian's (as it seems most of the Rvers were all Canadian's). He was a retired Fire Chief. He and Kevin hit it off as if they were long lost friends. Both Kevin and Ron (the Canadian) were equally concerned about the Patio Awning and the concern that it still may deploy at highway speeds even with the bungee cords attempting to hold it in place. Ron the Fire Chief confirmed that if the gut says something is not solidly correct you must deal with it before it creates yet a more disastrous end. This is the same training that Kevin has come to appreciate as a technical SCUBA diver. You MUST address each potential problem and resolve it completely before it compounds into a life threatening situation. With the confirmation that more is required to secure the Patio Awning, Kevin sent Theresa up the ladder to Lash the Patio awning down with rope to lash it down. Theresa is the best for this challenge as she is far more steady on the ladder and she understands how to tie a proper lashing. Kevin has failed in every attempt to learn the art of knots and lashings. He always ends up with a slip knot no matter his attempt to do a bowline or other type of lashing. As thew neighbors continued to chat is was discovered that Ron and his wife will also be at GVP in Hemet in Feb. A Pickleball challenge was made as safe travels were wished. Small world! RVers are just so friendly!

A convenient Pilot gas station was just before the entrance to 1-10 so that was the first stop. Filler 'er up!

As I-10 was entered only 11 miles from the CA border, there was a large industrial plant to the north west near Blythe. Theresa google-wikipedia-idiot-ed-it to discover it was an experimental solar farm! CA needs all the energy it can get so this was an amazing structure.

At mile marker 1 of Arizona Kevin and Theresa spied a road sign they remembered from the prior years trip. It announced the names of a couple of their best friends from the college days at Iowa State. The sign was Erenburg - Parker. This immediately reminded Kevin and Theresa of Dave Parker and Bob Ehrenburger, two individuals that Kevin and Theresa spent a lot of time together during the college years.

Once into California , even more renewable energy was observed as the team approached Palm Springs. There were wind farms that stretched in the valleys as well the hilltops! These massive structures had expanded in population since the last year! They seemed to multiply and stretch far into the distance.

As the route threaded into Beaumont, the Idlewild and Big Bear mountains were unveiled with a bit of snow frosting on the very peaks. The previous days/nights storms had left Snow at the highest elevations and very green pastures beneath and very clear blue skies far above. This was most dramatic as the Smitanic made it's final decent into the Hemet Valley!

One more right turn and “Destination is on your right!” was announced by the GPS as the entery in to GVP (Golden Village Palms) was made. 

Just like meeting an old friend, it seemed like everything was as it was left! This place was full of excitement and energy that will be leveraged for the stay. It was an immediate reassurance that this is such a good fit for the winter's stay!

Zin required immediate relief so that was a priority. On the return to the RV some new folks were greeted and introductions were made. More RV tips were gathered as well as pending pickleball challenges.

Dinner was with Theresa's mom at her rehab Facility along with sisters Dorothy, Carol and Bob. Theresa's Mom is doing great moving along without a wheel chair ,just a walker. Her speech is still not completely understandable, but every now and then there will be a phrase that makes it all make sense.

The hope is to meet up with Kiehl and Madz on Thursday :) As well as line up RV repairs for drawer, awning, satellite TV and a wash and wax for the RV.

The bikes have been extracted from the Jeep where they have rested for the last 6 weeks, and are in need of much attention as well.

There may not be any posts until after the holidays so Kevin and Theresa wish every one a very Merry Christmas and the Happiest of New Years!

Gem in the desert

The Penultimate day was planned to be about 280 miles to somewhere on the West side of AZ.

In the last days in Benson, AZ, another RVer stopped by when Kevin was playing with his new toy, a Quadcopter. He introduced himself as Ron and handed Kevin his 'card'. (Kevin & Theresa need to make some cards so that they can share this blog and their contact info as they meet folks). Ron shared several RV 'secrets' with Kevin.

Use Armourall on the awnings to make them hold up better, this was from his experiences from surviving a tornado in Savannah, GA. His wife was hunkered down in the bedroom with her rosary and he and Freddy (the dog) where up front to witness the spectacle. His truck had $7K damage and his RV was all fine. Even the plastic sunroof on the shower was fine. He did have to shovel off the 4-6 inches of hail on his slide-out covers.

Magnets can be used to attach the external sunshades to the front and side windows vs snaps . Ron elaborated on how rare earth magnets are very powerful and can be used thru the double pain windows to hold the shades. Also it makes putting the shades up and bringing them down a non-snap (he-he). (As Kevin unsnapped ours 3 of the snap grommets busted... magnets will be on our improvement list.)

As we left Butterfield RV Resort there were safe travel wishes to Ron, Loree and Freddy.

Before the couple were able to exit the park Kevin noticed that the Break Away cable indicator was not illuminated on the Break Buddy System. This suggested to him that the break buddy had not been fully configured. The RV was parked just inside the gate of the park to resolve the issue. Kevin and Theresa worked together to once again initiate the Break Buddy (Tows remote breaking system) set up. The results of this second attempt resolved the issue and the Simitanic was ready to truly shove off to ports west.

Kevin had heard from one of the other RVers that Quartzsite was a mecca to RVs. Mostly for boone-docking or dry camping. Boone-docking is where your RV is self-sustained...no hook up! Any power is via generator, water is via a pump from the onboard tank and any waste goes in the holding tanks. For the one night stand and upcoming weather this would not be suitable tonight so any of the other RV Park accommodations would be the preference.

As the route headed West, Kevin prompted Theresa to consider Quartzsite as the nights destination. The weather was hovering over LA and heading East. The winds were picking up and Kevin was feeling its push and pull in between semis and any bridge or mountain range.

Time to pack it in! Theresa called a 'resort' in Quartzsite to see if they had open spaces. No Problem! Just come on in! Was the reply. As the town was approached several RVs were spotted randomly in the desert looking like a Breaking Bad episode!

Once checked into the Holiday Palms Resort, the winds were gusting even stronger. As the set up process unfolded Kevin noticed the patio awning was pulling away from the side of the RV. As part of the days departure efforts he had noticed the same issue and had nudged the awning into its completely stowed position. Apparently the awning had defied his attempts to stay in place and with the bouncing of the roads and strong winds the awning had again started to deploy rather than stay in the closed position. Theresa fetched the ladder, Kevin found several small bungee cords, climbed the latter and once again forced the Patio Awning back into its properly closed position. He then wrapped a couple of the bungee cords around the arms of the awning in hopes that this will keep the awning from deploying while headed down the roads on the last full day of travel. This is one more item to add to the RV list (RV = Repair Vortex). This was completed and Kevin finally rested after his 6 hours of practically non-stop driving!

No cooking tonight, is was time to find some local color! After some investigation Theresa found just the right spot.... the Quartzsite Yacht Club! It had a interesting history and even offered happy hour!

This was a classic local color type place as the server Samantha, offered to get ice for Theresa's wine! All the old salts filled the place and left no table empty. Kevin and Theresa decided it was their duty to join the Yacht club! The membership gave them a T-shirt, hat, and certificate as well as entry into any other Yacht Club... What a deal!

Tomorrow will be the last day of driving in to Hemet, CA. Before leaving there will sure to be a stop at a local 'rock' shop to get a sample of the areas gems!

Step up to the plate!

That's what you do when life throws you a curve ball. Several fine folks staying in the park, who were met on Monday, are doing just that and in grand style!



One Canadian lady named Sandra is camping in a 40 foot rig all by herself. She is a single mother and raised three children. She bought the rig so that she and her sister(Who had just lost her husband) could travel together. However her sister passed away one month before they left.:( Sandra often hooks up with other RVers in a group called RVillage.com.




Her next stop is Texas to take care of folks who are coming back from missionary assignments in Mexico. Her work involves glamorous things like cleaning toilets and laundry and any other assignment. 
In talking to her, Kevin was spouting out his 'bucket list items' including events such as Pumpkin Chunkin and Sturgis Motorcycle Ralley and Burning Man. Sandra mentioned she is a motorcycle rider in Canada and still rides a motorcycle. Kevin was impressed with this and even more impressed when she declared that when she was 17 she was the queen of Sturgis! AWESOME! Sandra I hope you read this and know you are truly an inspiration!

Another gentleman that Kevin struck a conversation with, is hear by himself with his wife back in Pennsylvania. His wife is preparing with their daughter for a soon-to-be second grandchild. He is here to get cancer treatments for his the third relapse. He's very excited about his doctor and the treatments that he's receiving. The treatments are the same that his twin brother received however his twin brother passed . The treatments seem to be working for him so he's excited about that. He is in a toy-hauler that helps him transport his three wheeled motorcycle. He enjoys tooling around on that when he's not in treatment.

Yet one more Canadian gentleman pulled in with his fifth wheel late in the afternoon with his double axle fifth wheel. He strolled over after he got all set up to share that he had a tire blow-out as he was heading to TX with his new fifth wheel. After he changed it with his spare and got back on the road then the second tire on the other side blew out. He ended up replacing all four tires. In talking to some locals they pointed him to a place/person that was able to hook him up with new treads. He was needless to say very relieved to be finally in a campsite but the day had it run its toll on him. His advise was immediately replace factory tires with brand new quality tires!So much for the carefree RV life! RV = Repair Vortex

On Tuesday there were a few meetings to attend to in the morning and then off to visit the Kartchner Caverns State Park

It was only two exits away and a short drive off of the main freeway. The reservations required you to be there one hour prior to tour time, so that left time to watch a video and look at a lot of the displays in the Discovery Center about the cave. The story was amazing about how the cave was discovered and kept secret for 14 years until it was made a park so that it could be protected.

The discovery of the cave required crawling through a hole that was equal to the opening of a clothes hanger. The two collage students who made the discovery must have been very skinny and agile. Not something that Kevin nor Theresa would even attempt in there current age and state of fitness and mobility :)

The tour was amazing It guided us through the cave careful not to touch any walls nor ceilings. The 'decorations' of stalactites and stalagmites were impressive. The main cavern spanned the area of a football field. Entering the 'Throne Room' the tour sat down and experienced a light/music display that featured one of the showcase formations named Kubla Khan. It stretched five stories high, it was quite colorful and still 'alive' as drips of water still graced it to add more to it's minerals structure.

Kevin wished he had his scuba gear when the cave was full of water so that he could go exploring. Theresa, however was thinking she was brave just to enter the cave with this tour! No cave diving!




After the tour a quick lunch was consumed before heading on the 2 1/2 supposedly mile trail that went up and around the mountain above the caves.

The views of the mountain ranges were spectacular. The shrubbery and cactus were not in bloom but one could see that the blooms must have been quiet colorful.

Everything seemed to have thorns, thistles or something that would be poisonous or poke you as if to say 'don't you dare touch me, I'm doing my best to survive here!'

There is also campgrounds attached to the park and was noted as a potential stop on the return trip.

If you find yourself looking for an AZ destination, this one is not to be missed!

Back at the RV park in Benson where the Smitanic was parked, The park observatory red lights were lit up around 6pm, meaning the scheduled viewing session was a go! Six attended and were able to see a few constellations, a nebula, star clusters, Uranus, and Andromeda. Mars was hidden by some cloud cover so that could not be viewed. The observatory is a unique feature of the park an not to be missed!

Wednesday was wash-day. Theresa loaded up the laundry including linens and towels and Kevin helped her haul the loads up and get them started. While the wash cycle was going Theresa was able to go to the work out room and get her 30 min 21DayFix routine done, then put the 3 loads into dryers and head to the shower facilities. The RV has a nice shower, but there is limited hot water and limited grey water holding so showers are very short. Theresa took her time and enjoyed a nice long hot shower!

More inside cleaning of the RV was in store. Theresa has been revitalizing the cherry woodwork with an Amish secret product that Kevin's mom gave him. It is the best ever and gave all the dull woodwork a new glow.

It will be nice to have a clean RV for the Hemet arrival!

PS. One more bit of park rumor.... they say that the reason the trains blow there whistles several times as they pass Benson is that one of the train engineers has an X-wife who lives there and this is a unified effort to irritate her.

PPS. Kevin may run for Park Mayor soon. He meets and greets everyone and gets the scoop as he strolls thru the park several times a day.

It's a bright, bright sunshiny day!

The skies were picture perfect as the AM sun cast shadows on the rich browns and reds of the Franklin mountains just west of El Paso,TX. Kevin could see very Clearly Now and there were no obstacles in his way (see song reference :).

The ship made an early launch at 8:30 with an immediate fueling stop. Exiting that it was open roads with very little traffic and only a few tumbleweeds rolling across the freeway to cause any interest.

The destination was 250 miles on I-10, Kevin was so possessed and obsessed he completed the entire drive in 4 hours non-stop, passing thru 2 state borders and into Mountain time zone! Theresa offered to take a turn but was promptly turned down not to mess with the groove, so she continued knitting.

 The Butterfield RV Resort, just 30 miles east of Tucson, AZ, claimed to be '3 Time Arizona Park of the Year'. Reservations were made here for 5 days as plans were to stay off the road and do a little work from here before making the final 2 day push into Hemet, CA. One of the unusual features of the park is that it has it's own observatory!

Since such and early arrival was made Theresa had made an appointment with the Tucson Apple store to get Kevin's iPhone repaired (see early post on how that happened). That meant another 1 hour drive (one way) into the city past the University of AZ, up Skyline Dr to the La Encantada Mall. The repair was scheduled for 5pm so that would leave time for dinner and maybe some Xmas shopping :)  The Apple store was packed as usual, but with an appointment the priority was escalated (at least that is what they make one think). Since Kevin had Applecare on his iPhone the repair would only be $79 and they would just be replacing the glass front of the phone so no data or back up/restore would be needed. Yeah!

The evening temp started out at in the 60's, but as the night progressed it dropped well into the low 50's. Several times in the night windows that were left open were closed in hopes to keep some heat inside the RV. An unpublicized feature of this park (as every other RV park) is that it is located adjacent to a highly utilized railway track. Trains not only roared by but insisted on blowing the whistle just as they passed the park. This was an hourly occurrences all thru the night, so only snippets of uninterrupted sleep could be accomplished. Perhaps ear plugs were in store for the following night or maybe folks just get used to it...

Monday thru Friday will be focused on work, provisioning, following up on family calls and maybe some site seeing. The park observatory is a must and then there is also the Kartchner Caverns and Tombstone near by.

Friday will be the penultimate travel day, the finish is in reach.

A whole lot of nothing!

Yes that about sums up West Texas! Theresa drove first, leaving the El Paso entry to the admiral, Kevin.

First stop was fuel 5 miles down the road then more I10 West. As the Smitanic cruised along, Kevin was annoyed by the Break-Buddy beeping irregularly indicating with lost communication with the Toad unit. Diagnostics began. Was it that the plug was not inserted completely? Maybe it was the connection back to the mother ship? The Break buddy communicates via remotely via a some sort of wireless connection back to the receiver at the helm. One stop was made to check the plug and connection...that did not resolve the issue. Theresa was thinking what was different? Then she recalled that the sunshade was put up in the Jeep's front window to keep heat and the sun rays off the cars interior. Perhaps this could mess with the signal since it was a bit metallic in nature. One more stop to remove the window visor then back on the road. Wa-la that was it, no more beeping! Kevin could now relax and was comfortable enough with Theresa's driving that he even read a bit from his book :).

At the midway rest stop, Theresa gave up the command and Kevin was left with the remaining 150 miles of Texas. What a long state. Theresa was working on her Mac posting the blog and getting accommodations for the days stop. While she called she need to put her Mac on the dash for just a minute while juggling phone, pen and paper to take down the codes for the evenings accommodations. Unexpectedly her Mac fell off the dash on to the cup holder area and then on to the floor hitting her foot. Her foot caught the brunt of the impact and the Mac was OK, however later that evening Kevin found that his iPhone that was in the cup holder area had been smashed and the front case shattered. One more thing to have to deal with.

Tonight's spot the Gaslight Square Mobile Estates and RV park west of El Paso is one of the smallest places yet! There is good wifi, but not much of anything else. It was a tight squeeze into the site and the slide outs barely made it open without hitting tree branches.

With a gain of an hour (now on Mountain time) dinner of leftovers and bedtime were very early!

Smooth Sailing...

Push off from the Take-it-Easy RV Resort dockage was done with precision and skill using Smitanic unique signals (see RV Signals page). Kevin guided Theresa at the helm so that the dingy could be attached and verified prior to making way.

The winds were favorable at 10 knots, the course was due west without any jibes or tacks needed. The landscape rolled like a 12-foot tide surge (flashback to BVI sailing trip) which seemed to pushing the vessel effortlessly towards it's point of sail.

Kevin gave Theresa instructions on using the engine break. It is best applied before a decent at 45-55 mph. This technique is far superior to applying the breaks constantly down a steep decline and lets the engine hold back the downward momentum vs burning up the breaks.

Theresa drove first for the first half and she only had to make a few lane changes to overtake or give way to another vessel. She did need to use the engine break a few times but mostly she set the cruise for 65 ish in the 80MPH zone allowing the few vessels on the road to easily pass on the Starboard.

After a quick stop for the change of command Kevin was at the helm for the remainder of the sail. The roll settled down and gave way to flat calm seas as the port of Fort Stockton RV resort was entered and docking process was now underway. The speed declined from 80 to a RV tollerable 5mph, ahh time to get into relax mode!

The preassigned slip #49 was located in the Reservations folder as the dockmaster was off between the hours of 12-2pm.

The bow and stern where fended off and secured. The dingy was left attached but the break buddy was unplugged to reduce the battery drain.

All systems were checked including the Satellite TV. It did not work due to tree but Kevin keeps on trying to validate it at every stop in hopes of troubleshooting it not working as we move westwardly.

Park upgrades of a dog run and more green area were a big improvement over last year's stay. However we were informed that the Menu at the Roadrunner cafe was the same... (except dessert, it is now a scoop of Ice cream instead of cake).

The Six shooter trail seemed like a good way to get some steps in. The trail head was marked with a 6-shooter mailbox and an arch. The next expansion of the resort was underway off this trail and seemed very compact for the Texas expanse (just saying). The trail paralleled the freeway which allowed for several photo opps...(see the photo album).

Dinner would be something delectable on the cafe menu like BBQ ribs and catfish.

No rush to get going tomorrow as there are no early AM meetings nor long miles planned :)

Threading the needle.

The exit out of Houston required the usual checklist:

A) Draining the sewer, this is a two step process 1. Black water holding (that is toilet waste in case you don't get that). Kevin connects an additional Hose to the Black Water to add clean water to the tank to assist in flushing/cleaning the debris from the tank. The flushing process begins once the tank has finished draining via gravity. Kevin usually monitors the clear water flush by letting the clean water run for about 15 – 20 minutes. Once the Black water has drained and the clean water flush is completed the Gray water (shower, sink and other drains) is then emptied. This also helps flush all residue from the drain hose.

The sewer hoses are then disconnected from the drains. The ends are closed to reduce any residual draining, they are stowed in there plastic buckets, and placed in the RV basement until the next over night stop. Kevin does this all with plastic gloves then washes hands thoroughly!

B) Inside the RV is readied by:

Closing all vents, windows, locking all sliding doors, closing/locking all drawers, lowering the TV antenna, making sure all electronics are off. These include the TVs, Satelite, home entertainment center, cable box, thermostat, refrigerators,......

Put all items away so that the slides can be pulled in, this includes but are not limited to: rugs, toaster, covers for sink and stove top, dog bed, yoga mat, numerous bags with electronics and knitting projects, printer, etc

C) Then prepare for RV movement: this includes pulling the 4 slides in, disconnect the fresh water supply and filter system, coax cable. Put away all chairs, ladders, rugs or other items removed from the 'basement' bays.

D) Raise the jacks (there are 4 that stabilize the RV when parked).

E) Next start the engine and let it warm up a bit. Disconnect the SHORE POWER and stow the 50 amp surge protector and power cable. The days destination is entered into the GPS.

F) Theresa then carefully guides Kevin out of the site. Note there is not much room to make the needed maneuvers so lots of back and forth is usually required... Theresa and Kevin have their own signals..(more on that on another post!).

G) Next it is hook up the Toad (jeep), be sure the power is charging the breaking system, check the turn signals and break lights, ensure that the tow bars engage as well as the wheels turn w/o any drag on the car.

Good to go! This can take 1-2 hours to accomplish. Nothing is done quickly in an RV!

Additionally today, another round of laundry was done by Theresa while Kevin initiated some of the preliminary steps. There was really no rush, so Theresa also did her 30 min P90 21 day fix routine as well as a shower in the hour it took to get all the laundry done. That was productive!

Kevin checked the pressure in the tires and noted that most were a bit low. The park had a FREE air station that was used to add? Air to the tires. When doing so to the right front tire the air bursted out making it even lower. Kevin struggled with the air hose and reached a tolerable pressure for the trip and left it at that.

Finally at about 10:15 the Smitanic made it's exit from the resort.

Traffic was riddled with construction, accidents and Texas drivers. Kevin used the 'F' word in many combinations... What the _, this is a cluster _, they are a dumb _, Who the _, _ing idiot, as well as other expletives. Meanwhile, Theresa would lean to the center of the RV with eyes closed in hopes to offset how close the RV was coming to the construction barricades on the right.  Kevin was a master and guided the RV right down the center with skill an precession!  He does have skills!

The Smitanic was due for fuel so Theresa investigate the options for the preferred Pilot/Flying J stations (there is an App for that). As Pilot/flying J members they get a discount of .05-.08 per gal for diesel which can make a huge cost savings when requiring 30-50 gal per day. The tank holds 150 so Kevin likes to keep it above ½. This also lessens the sticker-shock at each fill.

The only Pilot station on the days trip required a slight detour from the GPS path. This turned out to be good as the original route's exit was closed to trucks (and any large RV) due to construction. There was an alternate way to get back on the trail after the fueling stop. With the fueling complete, the RV was on course to take the 410 north and then west to connect back to I10 to get around San Antonio. As soon as the merge to 410 was made the traffic came to an abrupt halt. There were emergency vehicles guiding traffic around a nasty accident and backed up traffic for 2 miles or more. After a 40 min delay the Smitanic was back up to full speed heading West into the hills of central Texas.

The original destination was abandoned for a stop another 40 miles West to an RV Resort in Kerrville, TX to allow for shorter mileage the next day.

Each day Kevin and Theresa plan the next days mileage, gas stops, and overnight stays. As the next day unfolds they modify and adjust all elements of the days trip as events unfold.

The 'resort' was a tight squeeze off a country road, with lots of continuos traffic elevating the noise level. The facilities did include an indoor pool and spa, which was not leveraged due to all the other obligations that were required, but the pool looked nice. Good thing this is just a one night stand and there needs to be a quick exit in the AM. Note that the internet sucked as well. Perhaps a rating needs to be done...

On Friday the plan is to make it to Fort Stockton, TX to the ONLY campgrounds for a 100 mile radius! This was on last years trip as well, so it is a known destination that has full hook up and a cafe to boot! There are limited options to adjust for this planed overnight stop, so this is it.

Hunkered down in Houston

The Westlake RV 'resort' was very nice, clean and has a great open area for Zin to stretch her legs and run a bit off leash :) The evening meal of bacon wrapped scallops were prepared on what looked liked an unused gas grill in a fully-featured outdoor kitchen under a lighted gazebo.

The laundry room was equally impressive an required the use of a prepaid card rather than lots of change inserted to get the job done. Three loads of accumulated items were washed fluffed and folded within 1 hours time, now that is efficient!  However, there will be unused $$ on the card that will have to be leveraged on the return trip :)  Seems there is a opportunity for someone to make $$ on all those cards... hummmm.

Also surprisingly enough, the internet is actually usable! So the blog entries, pictures and maybe some work can be accommodated.

Kevin extracted the 4 bikes (1 road, 1 mountain for each) from the top of the Jeep (Toad) to discover rusty chains and locked up forks. They were placed on an alternate rack on the back of the RV. Much attention will be needed before the bikes are ridable once the Hemet, CA.

There were 3 alternatives available for TV, (Satellite, Cable and TV antenna). The observation is that the TV antenna had the most and clearest stations that is if you knew Spanish and wanted some redemption! Most was a viewing wasteland and was not turned on much except to catch up on some News and Weather.

Theresa drove in to Houston 11 miles to her meetings. It took more than 30- 45 minutes to make the drive. Working remote by far has lots of advantages, but the face to face meetings were very productive and it was nice to meet and get to know those you have only dealt with by phone. Houston traffic is on parallel with any LA, NYC or any other large metropolis and it is spread out over 30 miles of our I-10 route. Theresa not only found that she was well out of practice to handle the gridlock but also was not accustom to long days of meetings and customer interaction! Wasn't she retired? Not quite yet, as she will continue to do some part-time consulting into the new year :)

The customer dinner one night was at the Taste of Texas Steakhouse. This place was decorated to the hilt in Texas fashion (go big!) for Christmas. The waiter found out there were some “out-of-towner's” and donned each of us with a bandana and cowboy hat for a photo op! The steaks were ordered and then personally selected and marked with a number so each slab would not get mixed up during the grilling process. As expected the meal was delightful and very filling! Needless to say Theresa brought home enough for Kevin's lunch the next day.

Thursday the Smitanic will make it's exit from Houston and head West. Theresa has charted 6 days of about 250 miles each day to get to the Hemet, CA destination. 3 days will be in TX!