Our RV Adventures

After coffee this morning, Jan read her Kindle and I tried to figure out how I wanted to hook up the replacement drinking fountain that I bought back in Reno, NV a couple of weeks ago.

I had put it off because I also had a Filtrete Under-Sink Advanced Water Filter and I figured if I had to pull every thing out from under the sink and then crawl under there, I’d rather only do it once.

But I wanted to figure out how the best way to hook it in place of the old Omnipure in-line filter that I was replacing. After thinking about it over coffee, I figured that if I just got some adapters that would go from the 3/8” tubing of the new filter to the quick connect fittings on the old filter, that would do it.

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If I could find a adapter like that, I could just plug the new filter’s tubing into the old quick connect sockets and be done with it.

So I’ll make a stop at Lowe’s this afternoon and see it I can come up with something that will work.

Later in the morning, Jan talked to both of our kids. Brandi, Lowell, and Landon are getting settled into their new house, and Chris, Linda, and Piper are in the process of moving into our house. Hopefully we’ll be able to Skype with Master Landon next weekend.

About 2:30 Jan and I headed into Bend for some shopping and dinner. Our first stop was up north of Bend at the local Lowe’s to see if I can find the adapter that I need. And after a little sniffing around the plumbing section I found exactly what I wanted.

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The tubing from the new filter slips into one end and locks, just like one of those old Chinese finger traps. Then the quick connect adapter screws into the other end.

Easy Peasy.

Or at least it seems that way right now. How it goes tomorrow might be a whole ‘nother story.

Leaving Lowe’s we headed over to a place that we’ve been anticipating since we got here.

Baldy’s BBQ

You’ve just got to love a guy with a hairline like that.

Although it’s a BBQ place I know from past experience that their steaks are fantastic. So I went with the 16oz Ribeye with fries, beans, cole slaw, and honey-jalapeno cornbread.

Just as delicious as last time.

Jan went old-school with a full rack of their great ribs. Along with the beans and cole slaw, she got the chipotle potato salad. Notice when they say a ‘full rack’, they mean it. When means Jan has plenty of leftovers to take home.

We also had a good time talking to our waitress, Kalani, whose in-laws are RV’ers, and are presently at the Verde Valley Thousand Trails park in Cottonwood, AZ, one of our favorite areas too. Before we left I gave her a couple of copies of Nick Russell’s Gypsy Journal newspaper to pass on to them.

Completely stuffed, we headed home with a stop at Fred Meyer’s (that’s Kroger’s out here on the West Coast) for a few things before getting back to the park about 6:30. We stopped off at the produce stand, but they were out of the fresh cherries Jan wanted, so we’ll have to try again later.

As we came further into the park we came across a flatbed trailer behind a semi that had these two beautifully-restored old trucks. Ironically I had seen this truck coming south on US97 as we were heading north into Bend this afternoon. So it was really great to be able to get a closer look.

This is a Ford C500 COE (cab over engine), Based on my internet research, I think it’s about a 1955 model.

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This one says Hall-Scott on the side, but I think it might actually be a Kenworth, with a Hall-Scott engine. Hall-Scott was mainly a engine manufacturer, though they started out building self-powered rail cars in 1910.

I wish I had been able to get a look inside, but anyway, these are really neat.

Tomorrow I’ll see how the filter/faucet install goes.

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Thought for the Day:

Those who remember George Santayana are doomed to repeat him)

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Friday, May 31st

Jan talked to Brandi this morning about their new house. The closing went off with no problems yesterday, and the moving people showed up this morning to start the move. By the time Jan talked to her, they were just about finished loading up

She’s so excited that they will be sleeping in their new home tonight.

We left the beautiful view here at the Likely Place Golf & RV Resort at little before 10am, got back on US395 and headed north for Bend, OR

I was happy to find out from a guy in a Class C parked next to us that we were in for a nice drive. He had just come down from Bend and said although it was State Roads (SR) all the way, they were nice two-lane roads with wide shoulders, wide enough, if turns out, for us to be able to pull over for a rest stop with no problems.

One thing that was kind of interesting on the trip was all the animals we saw along the way. Before we even got out of the park, we saw both chipmunks and prairie dogs. But I think the most unusual were the White Pelicans we saw along Tule Lake, CA, just before we crossed into Oregon. We’ve seen plenty of them at Galveston Bay RV Park where we spend the winter, but in the middle of northern California?

One thing I’ve always found interesting about them is the fact that they’re only white when they’re sitting.

When they’re flying you see that they’re actually White & Black Pelicans.

And to go with the pelicans, we also had a lot of seagulls as well.

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While we were still in CA the land was still relatively flat. And driving through here, we saw a large coyote loping along side the road.

But soon after we entered Oregon, the terrain started to get more hilly, but still very scenic.

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We even got a view of Mt. Shasta, at this point about 50 miles away. From the right spot it can be seen from as far away as 140 miles.

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And here it is again about 90 miles away.

Along here is where we saw our last unusual animal, a large white llama in a pen behind a farm house.

We got to the Bend-Sunriver Thousand Trails park a little after 3pm, and quickly noticed some changes, one of them disappointing. The first was the fact that we no longer check in at the ranger station, but they’ve rerouted the entrance to pass by the office where you then go in and register.

The second one was the fact that Big Jim’s Coffee Wagon was no more.

Parked at the exit, we regularly stopped for great coffee and delicious breakfast sandwiches as we left for sightseeing trips like our visit to Crater Lake when were here two years ago.

Bummer!

After signing in, we unhitched the toad by the lodge and drove over to where we parked last time we were here. We were happy to see our old site was empty. In fact the entire ‘H’ section was empty. Nice.

We got parked and set up with no trouble, but then my problems started. No matter what I did I could not get a satellite signal. Last time I used this hole in the trees.

But that was when I had the old manual dish.

I spent 4 or 5 hours moving my Winegard Carryout Dome around, trying to get a consistent signal with no luck. Sometimes I would seem to get something and then it would go away.

I was using a manual compass, my cellphone compass, and three different cellphone programs that show me where the satellite is located in the sky. And all of them were telling me something different.

I must have shifted the dish around about 20 times, until finally I just gave up and called it a night. I was too pooped to even do a blog. Off to bed.

Saturday, June 1st

Getting up at my usual 10am, (remember, I usually don’t go to bed until around 2am), I fixed us coffee and we just enjoyed the view and the smell of the surrounding woods.

Yes, I was trying to avoid fooling with the satellite dish any more. But finally Jan’s pointed looks and loud sighs stirred me to action. Well, that and threats of physical violence if I didn’t get her some TV. About this time Nick Russell called to check in, and give me a few moments reprieve. But finally I had to get back to work. I put the dish back in the location where I seemed to get some sort of signal last night. A couple of times my DVR started to come online and then stopped.

Normally I just plug in the DVR, set up the dome outside, and then by the time I get back in the rig I’ve got pictures. But that wasn’t working this time, so I tried something different.

Since I was occasionally getting some sort of signal, I wondered what it looked like. So I set the DVR to the Signal Meter screen and put the dome in search mode. Getting back inside I noticed that I was getting signal readings that would come and go, with a high of about 73%, not great, but certainly usable. I expected the dome to lock in on the satellite and shut off. But that’s not what happened.

The dome kept searching without locking in, and then timed out and shut off. So why didn’t the dome just lock in, even on a weak, but usable signal. The only thing I can figure is that it has minimum signal level it will accept, and it’s more than 73%. So, new plan.

I restarted the dome searching, and while Jan watched the meters on the TV, I stayed outside and the first time it reached 73% again, I pulled the power cord.

Bingo!

We had signal. But because the low signal equals low bandwidth, it took a few minutes for the channel lineup to download, but after about 5 minutes we had pictures. Yeah!

With this problem out of the way, Jan and I headed down to the park office to check on some things. Since the park doesn’t have sewer connections, I wanted to check on the honey wagon schedule (Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. Sign up the day before), and also let them know I have a couple of packages coming in, the missing ones being forwarded from the Lake Tahoe park.

Jan also wanted to check out the park’s Book Exchange, and drop off some books. I guess it worked out, because she dropped off 8 and came back with only 5. I also dropped off a bundle of Gypsy Journal newspapers while we were there.

Right next door was the park’s Country Store, where Jan found some new dishes, moose themed, of course.

Then before we left, Jan checked out the produce stand that is now located where Big Jim’s Coffee Wagon used to be, and came away with some fresh cherries and tomatoes. Mmmm, fresh cherries.

For dinner, we had Rudy’s BBQ from Texas. Before we left, we bought a bunch and froze it. So tonight we had ribs, sliced brisket, and jalapeno sausage links, along with baked beans and chips. And of course, Rudy’s great BBQ sauce slathered on it all. A really good meal

Finishing up for tonight, here’s a shot of our site and the surrounding area.

Really nice, and with no neighbors within sight, really quiet.

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Thought for the Day:

Don’t take it personally. It’s just you…

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