August 2011 Archives

Awake: 6:52am     Temp 61     sleep 7+57     mostly sunny     overnight @ Nicktown.

This morning, Kathy was inside our house cleaning windows...before Bernie adds the screens on the windows.

Mother Nature was most kind to me on this sunny day as I did my checking & snooping around to make sure I had electricity going to both of the compressors...& pulling plugs & checking for any loose wiring, etc.

I talked to Chuck @ Newell, the parts man & asked him about some of the parts I'll need to have to make the fix; I'm not ready to order them yet....just want to be sure.

Dinner: Tuna steak, rice with golden raisins, spinach salad & corn on the cob.

Zack called late evening; he has been having back aches lately. Kathy gave him some suggestions as to what he might try; ie. sleeping on his side as opposed to his back, doing stretching exercises, perhaps getting a new mattress. We also talked about the TV program: HGTV...house hunting.

Lights out: 11:26pm.     

Awake: 7:03am     Temp 64     sleep 6+10     mist...rain & heavy @ times    overnight @ Nicktown.

This morning, I called Newell & talked to Jim, one of the upper end guys who works in the repair area; I told him my problem & then he passed me onto Robert & also to Jimmy.

Both techs then tried to resolve the problem of an air leak that just started over the weekend on our M.H. Both compressors don't run. So now, our air door is manual, the slide tubing will eventually go flat which means that I'll have to run the engine every so often to keep the pressure up, etc.

Unfortunately, off & on rain had me inside & out checking for voltage, continuity & any irregularity in regards to the air system. The compressors are located in the forward section of the coach in the basement below the driver. Many phone conversations & theories of: what's happened....continued throughout periods in the morning & afternoon.

The Newell guys in Miami, Oklahoma are good; they know their stuff & the company allows them time to help on problems like this because the company takes care of their clients.

I didn't make too much progress this day but I did hit the books on Saturday & Sunday to perhaps educate myself on the air system before I made the call today.

Kathy was in the house much of the morning & afternoon, organizing.

Dinner: pork chops, fried noodles, apple sauce, cherries & broccoli.

Lights out:10:55pm.  

Awake: 6:30am     Temp 66     sleep 6+39     rain...TRW's     overnight @ Nicktown.

We just happened to be near St. Nicholas church this morning when the new Bishop, Mark, who said the 10:30 Mass & was about to give the homily.

We were lucky to just sit down inside & listen. I liked the way he spoke & he seemed very sincere & a down to earth kind of guy.

Early afternoon, we continued opening boxes & placing their contents in the proper rooms, etc.

Dinner, salmon fish, rice, beets in sour cream with spinach, & cherries.

Late evening, Nick Skyped us & spent well over an hr getting my Fire Fox program to operate normal again. Not having it, was messing up my blogging. Now I must turn over some of my precious & classic Transformers to him at Christmas time for being so good & helping me so much!

Lights out: 12:53am.        

Awake: 5:12am     Temp 65     sleep 5+56     mostly sunny     overnight @ Nicktown.

We attended the KK meeting this morning. It's been awhile since we've seen our friends & neighbors, so it was good to be with them again.

We spent the afternoon in our house, opening boxes & re-distributing their contents in the proper places (we hope). Kathy also did (2) laundry loads, using (for the 1^st time) her new Asto washer & dryer machine. Plus, she washed many & I mean many, glasses using the Mile dish washer. Then we attended the 6:00pm vigil Mass & afterward, we had some pizza & beer with John, Barry, & Theresa.

Tonight's movie: "Teahouse of the August Moon." We watched ½.

Lights out: 12:09am.

Awake: 6:25am     Temp 66     sleep 6+58     rain during the night     overnight @ Nicktown.

Early morning, Katrina called with birthday wishes from Denver. Now the birthday wishes are complete or so I thought.

At the KK meeting, the birthday song was sung, more cards & wishes, & special cake from Donna, etc. Wow!

Back in our M.H., I called my brother & asked if I could borrow his hand truck to help in moving boxes. We have a hand truck in storage but haven't seen it yet. Bro Don said, sure, & he would like to have some white concrete to patch up a small section of his outside wall. I simply asked the masonry boss man, Simon, & he gave me a small amount that should do the job.

Gary & Rosemary, returning from a wedding in Ohio, stopped in to see how our house is progressing so we gave them a quick tour & then, shortly afterward, cousin Cy visited. He will be storing some of his furniture at the garage, using our old crates; Kathy showed him the wrapping paper that our things have been packed in, which she had neatly folded, & suggested that he might also use the same wrapping paper. We loaded his truck down with paper & boxes; fortunately he had a cover to keep the paper from flying away.

Then we motored to Ebensburg, picked up my bro's hand truck, visited the thrift store, West End Market, & then returned to Nicktown.

Dinner: pulled pork with Rendezvous Bar-B-Q sauce, corn on the cob, mixed salad, zucchini, & toast.

Lights out: 11:43pm.                    

Awake: 6:38am     Temp 73     sleep 6+48     a short burst of rain     overnight @ Nicktown.

After breakfast, we brought more things from our M.H. into our house. I also turned the geo unit on to air condition the main floor.

Later, I spent some more time troubleshooting the phone failure. This time I think I've finally found the problem & believe it to be the fault of the phone company, which is why, I spent so much time figuring it out. If it's my fault, I pay for the fix; if it's their fault: no charge.

Dinner: Reuben sandwich, 4-bean salad, cherries & chips.

My cousin Cyril paid us a visit; much talk about He & Jan temporarily moving back to the homestead near Nicktown.

Mary Jo called from CA; we cut our talk short due to Cyril's visit & will connect with Mary Jo another time.  

Tonight's movie: "Boys Night Out" with Kim Novak, James Garner, Tony Randall, Howard Duff, Janet Blair, Patti Page, Zsa Zsa Gabor, etc. Trio of married men and bachelor Garner decide to set up an apartment equipped with Novak. Some interesting innuendos, with comic relief from Blair, Page, and Gabor. 1962. Interesting & amusing.

Lights out: 12:22am.

Awake: 5:21am     Temp 73     sleep 5+38     sunny & hot    overnight @ Nicktown.

Our phones are still not working; before going to the KK, I went outside & talked with a few brick layers. They all seem like good workers.

At the KK meeting, we were happy to see the gang again & we think, vise versa. However we have to leave early due to Blume's arriving @ 9:15am this morning.

After cutting some granite, Mike placed the cook-top in the middle of the counter; now it awaits installation.  

Next, I spent hrs trying to find out if our M.H. is the source of our phone problems; I checked the filters, the lines coming in & the phones themselves to no avail. I'm not finished so I'll be thinking of other ideas in troubleshooting.

Dinner: Balsamic chicken with baby spinach & orzo, & cherries.

After dinner, using boxes, Kathy went thru her closets & picked out many sweaters & clothing to take & store inside our house.

Lights out: 12:05am.   

Awake: 6:10am     Temp 78     sleep 6+10     fog....sunny     overnight @ Greenfield, Indiana.

We both had a good night's sleep so after our coffee, we left the Heartland Resort @ 8:19am, continuing on I-70 east. Down the road a bit, we decided to make a stop @ Wal-Mart in Reynoldsburg, Ohio for some milk & a few other items so that when we arrive in Nicktown, we won't have to go grocery shopping the next day.

Kathy stretched her legs & went into Joann's Fabric store to check out their buttons for future use on free hand embroidered shirts for our grandkids.

Then we continued following I-70 going thru Washington, PA & bypassing Pittsburgh & eventually @ Youngwood, PA, took a short toll road which connected to U.S. Route-22 to I-219 north; then a short stretch on U.S.-422 east, & State road-553 to Nicktown....arriving home @ 5:32pm.

We wanted to try this route of bypassing Pittsburgh but, I doubt that we will do it again. We also fueled up @ Bentleyville, PA, getting 165 gal of diesel @ $4.09 per gal. My 1^st time of paying over $4.00 a gal for diesel fuel for the motorhome.

Today's travel: 421 miles    behind the wheel=7+57    69 gal used    6.1 mpg    53 avg speed. 

(2) stops en route. Total mileage out & back = 3,455 miles.

After parking our coach, we both looked over the brickwork the guys have done. It's looking good. Then we started to take many things out of our M.H., & put them in our house.

Dinner: Crab cakes, asparagus, rice with golden raisins, mixed salad & a peach.

We called Melissa on our cell phone & found out that she is getting better.

We finished watching the "Dream Wife" with Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Walter Pidgeon, Betta St. John, etc. Silly bedroom farce about Grant's engagement to Middle Eastern princess and interference from his former fiancée Kerr, a state Dept. official. Cast is wasted. 1953. ½ of a star & yes, the cast was wasted.

Lights out: 11:43pm.  

Awake: 6:28     Temp 67     sleep 7+01     sunny     overnight @ Flying Saucer Campground. 

We talked with Melissa @ 7:20am for about (20) min to find out if anything has changed with her status? She's still very tired & not feeling much better. 

After that call, Kathy called Bob, the builder, to let him know that we have (2) more cabinets to hang. Bob also clued us in on the bricking & on the security system. 

We left the Flying Saucer Campground @ 8:56am...heading east across town, south on I-25 for a short time & then east on I-70. We had (1) stop for fuel in Oakley, Kansas; 164.3 gal @ $3.97 per gal. 

Our next stop was Paxico, Kansas arriving @ 6:08pm. We found the Mill Creek campground office, paid our camping fee for the night: ($27.00), & proceeded to have dinner: leftover cod fish with rice & tuna salad from the Macaroni Grill on Friday. 

Today's travel: 518 miles     time behind the wheel= 8+47     80 gal used     6.5 mpg     avg speed 60. 

Coming into this campground, we crossed over double tracks that were a mere (100) feet from where we parked. And, we were told that those trains are very active day & night. Oops, how well will we sleep tonight? We didn't get any satellite signals from space due to too many trees so we watched a recorded documentary. 

Basically we were pretty tired & lights out: 11:44pm.   

Awake: 4:50am     Temp 81     sleep 5+08     sunny-hot    overnight @ the Newell campground. 

About 7:00am, technician Tracy came over to our M. H. & drove it to the dump station & then into bay parking. 

Whitey & Jimmy, techs,  got right after some of our glitches; Whitey on the cracked pipe I had during the winter; and Jimmy, on replacing the air seals on the front air bags. 

Whitey also replaced my Teddy Heater with a new one after I had trouble with the old one during the winter. Later, Jimmy painted our passenger slide edges with a sealant to prevent water leaks in the future. 

Later, the temperature in the service building was so hot: 103 degrees. Many coaches were running their air conditioners to help keep the techs somewhat cool & somewhat comfortable. So much electricity was being used, not only by the service techs, welders, & the building of new motorhomes in the other buildings, but also in the city of Miami, Oklahoma. 

The voltage was in the lower 100's. I turned our air conditioning off during the high load period & later in the afternoon, back on. 

Dinner: Sausage, peppers, onions & mushrooms & broccoli plus Como bread dipped in balsamic vinegar & olive oil. 

On our recorded DVR, we watched 1/3^rd of the movie: "High Flight." 

Lights out: 11:58pm.           

Awake: 6:35am     Temp 80     sleep 6+25     sunny-windy overnight @ the Newell Factory in Miami, OK. 

After our coffee, I climbed my ladder & started to clean off our roof with soap & water; (approx 2 hrs later) I finished. The roof's color is white again. 

After breakfast, K & I washed the driver's side of our coach in the shade; that took slightly over an hr. Temp now was in the 90's, but breezy.

We took a well deserved break inside our air conditioned M.H., and then, continued washing the coach on the passenger side; that took 1.5 hrs. And the finish: back & front, another 1.2 hrs. All together, it took about (6) hrs to do a reasonably good clean-up on our home on wheels. 

Speaking of wheels, I didn't have enough go power to shine up the rims. After another cool break, Kathy wanted me to cut her hair. 1^st, we walked over to the service center & found a spot where a strong ceiling light would be suitable for cutting hair; this same spot had a good sized fan nearby for cooling + an outlet to plug in the clippers. 

Minutes before Kathy found the "right spot", my sister, Mary Jo, called from California & I had to let her know that I couldn't talk very long as a lady was in waiting & she wanted action...pronto! 

After washing her hair & spiffing it up, Kathy let me know that: I did fine. 

Dinner: Leftover hamburger with a mixed salad. 

We finished watching: "Captain Horatio Hornblower" with Gregory Peck, Virginia Mayo, Robert Beatty, Denis O'Dea, Christopher Lee, etc. Exciting, well-produced sea epic based on C.S. Forester's British naval hero of the Napoleonic wars. 1951. A good story & some great acting. 

Lights out: 10:52pm. 

Awake: 5:40am     Temp 75     sleep 5+54     sunny & hot     overnight @ St. Robert, MO. 

It was a hot night for both of us; we had our windows open & fortunately there was a little breeze. 

We delayed breakfast & left St. Robert @ 7:24am...following I-44 south, a very smooth Interstate. We had (1) stop for fuel: in Joplin, MO. Flying "J". 172 gal @ $3.80 per gal. Our breakfast along the way was eating dry cereal. 

We arrived @ Miami, Oklahoma & the Newell factory @ 11:20am. There were only (2) campsites with water available; after that site is taken, one would have to park with only electricity & that happens a lot. 

Our parking spot was not the best due to having a tree & the limbs blocking our satellite signals. @ 5:00pm, we attended the vigil Mass @ Sacred Heart church about a mile down the road. After Mass, we treated ourselves to a delicious big hamburger with pasta salad & French fries @ the Stonehill Grill on Main Street in town. In fact, we took a doggy bag back with us as it was too much to eat.

 When we returned, another campsite opened up that was in the clear so to speak. We quickly retracted our slides & moved right into that site. 

Evening movie: "Captain Horaitio Hornblower." We watched 1/2. 

Today's travel: 186 miles     3+36 time     30 gal used     6.2 mpg     52 mph avg speed. 

Lights out: 12:10am.

Awake: 5:52am     Temp 69     sleep 6+20     heavy rain & TRW's     overnight @ Hillsboro, Ohio. 

This was the 1^st time that we retracted our slides while raining. I was expecting to see water dripping onto the carpet but, none. The sweepers on the slides must have worked. 

We each had a Kathy muffin & then we left Hillsboro, Ohio @ 8:02am following  U.S.-50 with our windshield wipers keeping our windshield relatively clear. At one point, in the State of Indiana, we changed over to I-64 to go through St. Louis & take I-44 south & find a suitable Wal-Mart for the night.Kathy looked through the Wal-Mart book & located a Super Wal-Mart, made another phone call & talked to the Night Manager & got the OK tor spend the night. 

We arrived in the town of St. Robert @ 6:45pm; parked our M.H.near the Big Truck area & then walked into Wal-Mart to cool ourselves off & get some exercise. Today the temp was 20 degrees lower than Hillsboro, Ohio; our last stop. However, it was still hot!  Dinner:Leftover Tuna salad with apple slices & chips. Driving time=9+53 hrs  551 miles     90 gal used     6.1 mpg     56 avg speed. Lights out: 10:06pm.