Thursday, June 28, 2012

Placer County Fair 2012

Carol and I went with a bunch of friends of Carol's friends from work to the Placer county fair Friday the 22nd of June. We had a wonderful time hanging out with Tiffany, Mary, Danielle, and her daughter Audrey. For the majority of the evening, we just checked out vendors, people watched and ate fair food. Audrey had the chance to see all sorts of farm animals and even got a balloon dog from an 'Animal Maker'. We all had a chance to just enjoy the evening! One of the exhibits at the fair was a memorial to the event that transpired on September 11th, 2001. The shocking thing to us was the fact that it had been displayed at the state capital until Governor Schwarzenegger decided that it should no longer be on display, with no reason given. If you get a chance, go to your local county fair. It may be simple, but you will un-doubtedly have a wonderful time.
Happy camping! Eric and Carol

Thursday, June 21, 2012

A little not so 'field' repair

One of the things we tried to learn before we started full timing was just what things, we really did need in the rig. Eric figured out just what tools he needed. Carol figured out just what things she needed in the kitchen. Well, so far, our evaluation and selection has worked out pretty well. Eric picked all the tools he needed for doing just about every repair we have needed. Although he didn't plan on needing a lawn mower or a rake while full timing, we were lucky enough to move into a spot where the previous tenants had left their lawn mower. All we needed to buy was a rake. However the lawn mower has since given up the ghost. :-(

Eric did have the tools needed however to do an occasional brake job on the old keystone Cougar trailer when we had that as well as what he needed to install the tow bar on the front of the Honda when we moved up to a motor home.

Carol has everything she needs in order to cook a full holiday dinner. On more than one occasion, we've had a turkey dinner with all of the trimmings prepared completely by Eric's honey! :-)

Our most recent exploration into, 'Does Eric have what it takes', has consisted of what was needed to replace a blower motor in the dash area of the motorhome. Though we love our motorhome and wouldn't trade it for anything, one of the 'things of character' (as the dealership called problems with a  used coach) that came with the moho when we bought it, was a loud blower to run the air conditioner. It was really bad on the slower speeds. So, Eric sent an e-mail to Tiffin asking them for suggestions. They suggested that Eric call Tiffin to get some instructions. They provided all the information we needed to get into the Dash and to the blower motor so that we could diagnose the true problem. It turned out that the motor had lost a bearing and the fan, which was plastic had warped. We a couple more phone calls to the fan manufacture, we found out that a replacement fan could be found at our local AutoZone, who would have thought it. And, for the reasonable price of $25.00! So, in short order, we had a new fan installed.


Normally, this sort of thing might have been considered a 'Field repair' but since it was done in the comfort of our home RV space, we guess this doesn't qualify a s field repair.

The following weekend, since Fuel prices were relatively cheap, we took the moho out to get some Diesel. We tried the Air conditioner, and guess what, it was so quiet, we could actually hold a conversation!!!!

We think we are pretty well set on tools. We have found, that there was one tool that would come in really handy, that is a step ladder. So, for fathers day, Carol bought Eric one of those folder step ladders at Camping World. Eric absolutely loves the ladder. When we were out getting fuel the other day, Eric it out... the ladder that is, and was cleaning the windshield in no time while Carol fueled the rig. We really are living the good life!



Happy camping! - Eric and Carol -

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Red Bluff weekend

We were very lucky to be able to hook up with Karen and Mike at Durango RV resort in Red Bluff is about 3 and a half hours north of Sacramento, and about the same distance south of Ashland Oregon. As such, it makes for a perfect meeting spot for our two families. Durango is a wonderful facility with large Buddy sites where we can park across from one another and share a nice large lawn area! On Friday afternoon we didn't do much, but sit around Camp and do some catching up.

Saturday, I helped Mike install the Quik Fill battery filling systems on their motorhome. This is a slick little system that allows you to easily fill all the cells of the batteries with the pump of a bulb and a bottle of distilled water. After that quick install, Mike helped me to fix a couple of chewed up sections of vinyl that Rosie had gotten to when she was new to our household. That repair project took significantly longer than the installation of the battery filler. :-(

Also on this trip, we made it to Turtle Bay near the sun-dial bridge where we got to check out not only their Chocolate exhibit, but also their Butterfly one as well. After going to Turtle Bay, we went into Redding and found a restaurant called View 202. This is a restaurant that looks pretty fancy, but they serve those casually dressed without batting an eye lash! The food was great and the view off the patio was fantastic. We will definitely come back to this restaurant again! Maybe next time for dinner so that we can enjoy the evening sunset!




Karen and Mike brought their newest addition to their family Corona. Corona is from the Jackson County animal shelter. He is five years old, and still trying to figure out the pecking order, but he is coming along quite well. Addie, the English Springer Spaniel that Karen and Mike adopted from a friend of theirs that was moving to Australia, is doing great after the surgery a couple months ago to remove the tumor off of her. So, Karen and Mike are a three dog family just like we are.

Well, that is it for this latest trip. We probably won't hit the road again until July, because the rest of June is looking so busy, but stay tuned, we've got lots of other things coming up where we will probably update the blog.

Happy camping! Eric and Carol