Monday, October 18, 2010

NOW...where do we put this thing ?? !!

Swell, we got an RV...finally. Even went on a trip with it....but now it's sitting in front of our house looking for a home. I know, let's put it next to our house in the side yard. After all, that's what that area was designed for.

Wait, there seems to be a couple of obstacles in the way....like two tall birch trees, uneven ground, a fence and a lawn. Now what? Well, I got out there with an axe, then a hatchet. That must've looked funny....like a mini-Paul Bunyan.Fortunately, my neighbor across the street came across with his chain saw and, together, we cut them down.
These are the two remaining trees. We cut down two the same size
This is the After photo...Kim and I spent the next two days chopping all of this up.
...about one quarter of the branches we took to the local dump.
One tree trunk at the top. The other at the bottom.
...the second tree trunk....trying to cut this down to ground level was not easy.

So, after cutting down the trees, chopping up all the branches what's next?.


Ah, that fence and uneven ground.
Done with the fence...about 12-feet wide.

We had 1 and 3/4 yard of gravel dumped.
Time for a beer while washing down the dusty gravel.
Ready for the RV now.
 This side yard is about 12-feet wide. Take away the PGE meter next to the house and our rain gutters it becomes about 11 feet. Our RV is 8-feet 2-inches wide....kind of a tight fit. Well, here goes....time to back it in.

We were going to sell ticket to the neighbors to watch, but most had gone to work already.
back, back ,back...no...more to the left !
Watch out for the house !
Kim was on our walkie-talkie giving me directions and we got it in the first time.....good teamwork.

boy do I look relieved
Like ET said..."Hoooooome"

It's quite a tight fit, but we can get in and out just fine to start filling up all the inside spaces.

Becuase the winter is coming on, our trips coming up will probably be down south to Death Valley, Mojave Desert...places like that.

Thanks for following...next blog will show our new gate.

Monday, October 11, 2010

First Trip !

Well, after 3 days of packing the RV with supplies, clothes, food, etc, we finally headed out at 9am Monday the 4th to Lake Solano Park for a few days. This trip is meant to be a "shake down" cruise where we find out how to use all the systems and see what's it's like to live in an RV (versus all those years in a tent).

First we had to back into our spot. I did real good backing in...got it just where the water and electricity hookups were. Wooo wooooo. BUT, when I went to put out my slides....oooops....too close to the hookups...they will not go out. Rats. Sooooo, pull forward and put it 6 feet away.
Wrong way !
That's much beter
NOOOOO....too close. Can't extend my slides.


Finally I got it right and here's our spot for the next 4 and a half days.
All backed in nicely now.
Our awning
With the slides out. One for the bedroom and one for the living room. Adds so much space inside

We took walks every morning and took photos. Kim took most of these....gorgeous river and lake views.








I also took flora and fauna for all the nature lovers !

...and this shows Mr. Retirement Man at rest.

We have a tradition of taking self portraits by holding the camera at arms length in front of someplace we want to remember. We have dozens in our collection..
awwww...how cute.

I trust you all are enjoying our blog....thanks for following. 






Sunday, October 3, 2010

Loading up "the coach"

We've spent the last 4 days trying to get our RV filled up with the necessities for our upcoming shake-down cruise and man, there is a LOT of stuff that needs to go in there...and we can't just take it out of the house and leave it in the RV. Like tools, for instance. I'm looking into getting a nice, neat tool kit at the local hardware store just for the RV. Otherwise, every time I need my hammer, it's, "is it in the coach? or in the garage"?

I've included three photos. One of our living room, our bedroom and the hallway looking from the bedroom towards the rear of the coach into the living room. We have two slides, one large one in the living room that really expands that living space and one small one for the bed to slide out a foot or so. 
Living Room. (Notice the beer bottle to the right.)

Hallway. Sink to the left. Bathroom/Shower to the right. (That's Nattie, one of our cats, scoping it out.)


Bedroom. We have "pillow windows". Allows for a nice breeze in the evening.


Today is Sunday and we're really hustling to get it all packed up because tomorrow we're heading up to Lake Solano for 3-4 days to try out all the systems before taking it out for an extended trip up towards the Redwoods on Highway 101.

Nice to hear all the comments from you that have responded. Thank you. Keep 'em coming!

Kayaking again...finally!

Finally, we got back on the water. This time at Meacham Lake in upper state New York, just on the north edge of the Adirondack Mountains (yo...