Our RV Adventures

Another early morning started when we left the rig about 9 am heading up the road to Webster for Jan’s 9:45 dental appointment.

While she was there, I ran some errands, ending up at EPO (Electronics Parts Outlet), one of my favorite places to explore.

They have computer stuff, electronic parts and tools, science kits, and best of all,

TOYS…lots of Toys!

And as Jan says, I can resist anything but temptation. I saw a new helicopter that I just had to have. It’s a new 3 channel model that has both gyro-stabilizers and an accelerometer, so it’s very stable and easy to control.

And a lot of fun to annoy the cats with. Of course sometime the cats annoy it back.

I’ve lost several copters that way.

You can see it fly here.

As I was leaving EPO, I got a call from Brock’s Car Care telling me what they’d found on my truck. And as I suspected, a stuck brake caliper was the problem. So the caliper, pads, and rotor on the right side had to be replaced. But because of the higher pressure in the brake lines caused by the stuck caliper, this caused the left side to stick and grind down the pads and the rotor on that side too, though not as bad.

Brock’s said the total would be about $650. So next I called my extended warranty company to see what they would be able to take care of.

And the answer, as I suspected, was pretty much nothing. They ended up paying $70 of it.

Which was 1 brake caliper. Apparently they pay for the bad part, but not anything the bad part damages. Huh?

Oh well, I’d been trying to remember to cancel them anyway. This just gives me incentive.

I’d originally got the warranty free for the first year when I bought our 2004 Dodge Dakota in December 2007, and then kept it going since then. But this is the first time I’ve used it, because nothing has gone wrong so far, just maintenance stuff.

Jan was done about 11:30 so after picking her up we drove over to Jason’s Deli for lunch. Jan loves their Muffalettas and Broccoli Cheese Soup, and I really like their Southwestern Chicken Chili, so we were both happy.

Finishing lunch, we headed home to the rig. While Jan feed the birds and then sat outside with Mister and enjoyed the nice weather, I went back to finish flushing out the water heater, now that I got the drain plug off.

I use one of these wands to do a better job of flushing it out. It goes on the end of your water hose and lets you get up in there and get all the ‘gunk’ out. You’d really be surprised how much stuff comes out.

One more job on my pre-flight checklist done.

We left out again about 3pm so Jan could meet Lowell and Landon at Landon’s pediatrician’s office.

Brandi had noticed a lot of wax in Landon’s right ear and wanted to get it checked out. Jan was along for moral support and to help manage all the bags, bottles and carriers that seem to accompany any moving of Master Landon. He has his own ‘posse’.

It turns out that Landon does have a slight ear infection, so the doctor prescribed an antibiotic to take care of it.

I left them there while I went by Home Depot to get some more Teflon tape and then by Sam’s Club to pick up our prescriptions for the month.

Then I headed over to the house to wait for them. On the way I got a call from Brock’s saying my truck was ready. But I had to wait for Jan get there so I could go get it.

After Jan got there and we got our truck, we drove over to Texas Tea Room to supper. Then it was finally back home for the night.

More tomorrow…

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Thought for the Day:”There is nothing so aggravating in life as being condescended to by an idiot"

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Today is our “Beauty’s” 3rd anniversary. Three years ago today we picked her up Roman Holiday Motorhomes in New Braunfels, TX.

Then, one month later, on February 6th, 2008 Jan and I began our full-time life on the road.  And if we stick to our plan this year, we will hit the road again this coming Feb. 6th.

A little synchronicity at work.

But this morning I left the the rig a little before 11 am heading back to the same client I was at yesterday. But today was already scheduled before yesterday’s emergency laptop repair visit.

Leaving the rig I noticed we’re finally getting street lights here in the park. They’ve been installing the forms and rebar to pour concrete for the pedestals. And they’ve already finished some of them.

Jan and I both have mixed feelings about the street lights. The darkness is kinda nice and the lack of light lets us see the stars better. Oh well.

Finishing up at the client’s about 2:30 I next drove over to Brock’s Car Care to see about getting my front brakes fixed. A few days ago I started hearing grinding from my front right brake. Since it hasn’t been that long since I had the brakes done, I suspect that I may have a stuck caliper that caused the brakes to not release completely after braking and then grinding the pads and rotor down.

They said they could get me in tomorrow with no problems, so I told them I’d drop it off either this evening, or the first thing tomorrow morning.

I got back to the rig about 3:30 just to turn right around and leave about 4 pm.

Jan and I were heading up to League City to the Cracker Barrel. It’s Thursday so it’s Turkey and Dressing Day there, Jan’s favorite.

And even better, we got to eat for free.

As I mentioned back on December 23rd, we stopped by Cracker Barrel to pick up a take-out order of Turkey and Dressing so Jan could have ‘leftovers’, since we were eating out on Christmas Day.

But then the day after Christmas, when Jan went to have her meal for supper, she found that no only did she not get any cranberry sauce, but that her Turkey and Dressing lacked any dressing.

Sacrilege!

So to avenge Jan’s slight, I emailed the Cracker Barrel home office, and lo and behold, a few days later, I got a call from the manager. And after another few days, we received a coupon in the mail for two free meals. So Jan finally got her dressing and all’s right with the world.

After we left Cracker Barrel I called our son-in-law Lowell to see if he was home yet. Luckily he was, so we drove by the house to borrow his truck so we’d have a vehicle to drive tomorrow while my truck is in the shop. Especially since Jan has a dentists appointment tomorrow morning.

This way we were able to go ahead and drop off my truck at Brock’s tonight so they can get started on it the first thing after they open at 7 am.

And, of course, while we were at Brandi’s Jan and I also got in a little Landon time since Lowell had already picked him up from daycare.

We got home about 6:30 after a busy day. Hopefully I’ll be able to get back on rig stuff tomorrow afternoon. We’ll see.

More then…

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Thought for the Day:

”When there are more people riding in the cart than there are pulling it, the cart stops moving…”

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