Potters rescue - Dec. 21st, 2018

On November 8th, 2018, a wildland fire broke out near the town of Paradise in Northern California. It turned out to be the most deadly and devastating wildland fires in California history. The effects of the smoke could be felt as far south as Sacramento and even Stockton. 

Over 15,000 homes, and 5,000 businesses were destroyed. One family of 5 who lost everything reached out to Chako Pit Bull Rescue and advocacy for help. There was a pit bull that the mother had rescued from a closed KMart parking lot in Oroville in August of 2018 at the age of about 3 months. The puppy, now 6 months old was part of a family who had lost their home, their business and were about to start living out of their car. The mom and the four kids did not want to give up the dog, but they needed to do something to try to make life work again. So they had to give up this puppy that they had rescued and called Malta. Eric and Charlie left Sacramento at 4:30 AM on a Saturday morning to drive up to Redding to see if Malta might be a suitable dog to enter the Chako Foster program.

After doing the Chako behavior evaluation, Eric decided that Malta could become a foster dog of Chako's and start his search for his new forever home. 

The following is a little video that Eric put together about the adventure of going to pick up Malta, who would later be named Potter once he entered the Chako Foster program.  

Sadly, when Potter went into get neutered at the Chako veterinarian, he must have come across some parvo virus, because 5 days after his surgery, Potter developed the Parvo virus. Potter has been treated and released from the veterinary hospital and is on crate rest while he recovers from his bout with the Parvo virus. Though he is not out of the woods yet, the entire Chako team is hoping he will make a full recovery.

Safe travels!

Carol and Eric Anderson 

Drone Task force - Dec. 15th, 2018

Eric has been working for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; the state prison system. For the last year working for CDCR, Eric has been a member of their Drone Task force which is investigating how drones can be used in the state prisons, and also what equipment can be employed at state prisons to detect drones that are being flown by criminal elements to deliver contraband to inmates at the prisons.

Eric is really enjoying the team members that he is working for and all that he has learned over the last year. Additionally, that after more than 30 years, Eric is thrilled to start using so much information and principles that he learned when he was studying for his Aeronautics major.

Everyone who works as part of the Drone Task force are enjoying not only the mission, but the others that are involved in the team. Even the holiday spirit is being embraced by the drone task force.

Safe travels all!

Carol and Eric Anderson

Refrigerator replacement, Dec. 12, 2018

The day after thanksgiving this year, we had our typical left overs and then topped that off with our small ice-cream treat for our late night snack. On this day, we found that our ice cream was a little softer than normal. So, we checked the refrigerator and found that the Freezer was only at 30 degrees. We placed a thermometer in the refrigerator portion and found it was running at 50 degrees. This was not a good sign. Since it was late in the evening, there wasn't much we could do about it, but the next morning, Eric had to hop on getting to the bottom of what the problem was. A quick inspection on the back side of the refrigerator, Eric found that the control board (which had failed in the past) was not the problem. So, next, he checked the insulation around the burner that heats the Ammonia to cause the cooling process that takes place that allows RV refrigerators work even with burning propane. Eric found a yellow deposit the key indicator of a coolant leak on a RV refrigerator.

The refrigerant on RV Refrigerators can not be refilled except when done at the factory, so Carol and Eric had to decide if they wanted to have a new coolant unit installed, replace the refrigerator, and if that was done, would we go with a new RV refrigerator or a residential one. We decided that we wanted an RV refrigerator so that we can still easily boon-dock, so we either had to replace the coolant unit or the whole refrigerator. Well, we knew the seals on the existing doors were shot as well and that the only way to replace the seals is to replace the doors. So, now it seems like we are replacing most portions of the refrigerator, we might as well replace the entire unit.

So, we had a couple options to consider. We could get a new Norcold, or a Dometic unit. We found by looking at the specs that the Dometic unit was two inches deeper and would not fit through the doorway. And we were told that if we they had to take the refrigerator in and out of the window, we would need to leave the rig for 3 days. Well, we didn't want to live in temporary housing for two nights so we decided to go with the Norcold unit which is over $1,000 more than the Dometic unit. After much thinking about the issue, we decided to go with the Norcold unit to simplify the process.

Well, we are very happy with he outcome of having the new unit, because additionally, the existing wood panels from the old refrigerator fits in the doors of the new one. The funny thing we found out is that the technicians were not able to get the old refrigerator out through the door, they had to use the window. Well, they removed the window anyway, so we could have gotten the Dometic if we had known that in the first place. Oh well, we are very happy with the new unit.

Safe travels all!

Eric and Carol Anderson

Pitty Puddle - Nov, 16th 2018

Most nights when we get home from work, after dinner and doing the dishes, we enjoy watching TV in the company of our dogs who had been waiting patiently all day in the motorhome for us to return after a hard day of work. The couch can get a little cozy with all five of us sitting on it. We definitely make the couch work most nights, but occasionally we like to have what we call 'Family Bed Night' where we watch TV in the bedroom.

Sadly on the night this picture was taken, Carol was out having dinner with some friends, so it was just me and the three dogs, but rest assured, she has been in this picture many evenings as you can see below! :-)

The dogs don't care where we are, as long as they get to be with us.

Safe travels all!

Eric and Carol Anderson

Our Fall of 2018 - Oct. 31st, 2018

As in years past we always enjoy the fall time of year. We love how the trees change color, and we also enjoy being able to decorate our site around the rig.

We had a inflatable Micky Mouse in years past to help add color to our yard, but last year, the fan inside of it died and so we said good by to Micky. Fortunately, we found this cool inflatable carriage at our local Lowes to help brighten up our yard during this time of year.

We don't normally get too carried away on decorations, but we always like to have something to put us in the mood for the season. Our neighbors Paul and Linda always have some great decorations like the Pack of Pumpkins and the dragon to help make the surrounding area that much more festive.  We also had a bonus this year, we had what we think is our first 'Trick-or-treater' ever while living in our fenced site here at Aspen Grove RV park.

On the topic of Aspen grove, they have recently replaced some of the lighting around the park, and it is nice in that it is much easier to see when out walking the dogs in the early morning!

Safe travels all!

Eric and Carol Anderson.

Proud to be a pit bull - Oct, 27th, 2018

Every year, in the month of October, Chako Pit Bull Rescue and Advocacy holds their annual 'Proud to be a Pit Bull owner walk around old town Sacramento. It's a great opportunity to get our dogs out and socialized and also to give the public a chance to see that Pit Bulls are not as scary as some aspects of the media may make them out to be.

As always, Charlie joined me on the walk as the best example of what a wonderful dog Pit bulls can be. The walk takes us through Old Sacramento, but at it's farthest point, takes us to the Golden 1 center which was completed a little over a year ago. The shopping center that was completely redesigned as part of the inclusion of the Golden 1 center is starting to come back to life with new stores and time goes on.

Safe travels everyone,

Eric and Carol Anderson