Time to play “ketsup” with my activities.

June 11th...My maiden voyage in Roxie got off to a rocky start.  I went to the RV dealer on Monday for another walkthrough to make sure I remembered how to use everything and could hitch up right.  He told me I did a good job but had the cord wrapped wrong and he moved it.  They charged me for this!  But I did find some screws that were broken and caulking that was missing and he fixed those.

Silly me…I took Roxie back to the storage lot because I was worried about her being on the street overnight.  And while trying to back into my space sliced the cord almost in half.  The lot owner came to my rescue and mended the cord so I could take her back to the shop the next day to have it replaced.  They had to order one and it wouldn’t be in until around noon…so much for getting on the road early Tuesday morning.

Late Tuesday morning I pulled her back out of the lot down to the dealer and in about 45 minutes the new cord was installed and everything worked.  This time she spent the night on the street. 

All Loaded up and ready to go.

June 13...Wednesday I finished loading up.  I had already put a lot of stuff in her and just had to make about a dozen trips back and forth.  I knew I probably wouldn’t use the generator on this trip, but I wanted to get it in place anyway.  I can’t lift the 92-pound chunk by myself so I purchased a pet ramp (would have had dual duty for Homey to get in and out of the trailer) and pulled it up into place.  A tarp, couple of ratchet straps, a huge heavy duty bicycle cable lock on it and I’m ready to go.

It was about 10:30 by the time I pulled out.  I had decided to go through Yakama instead of the Tri-Cities but I had forgotten how many and how steep the hills were.  I didn’t think Simon was going to make it, poor boy! 

We got into Rim Rock Meadows around 4:30…pretty good time and I had my first experience at backing into a campsite.  You have to be careful not to run over the water faucet and electrical box and the sewer connection.  Oh yes, don’t forget the picnic table on one side and trees on both sides.  Whew.  Finally in.  Get out to walk around and discover I had forgotten I had a tailgate with the generator on it and had backed into the hitching post that divided the spaces. 

                    ChaChing…$30 for one post.

I drove 295 miles and walked over 16500 steps...what a day!

The Storm before the Calm

This was my get situated stop.  I’d be in it for three days and could decide exactly where everything fit.  Had I put the pots and pans in the right location?  Were the craft supplies in a good place?  What about the food?  A variety of storage boxes, baskets, command hooks and strips were deployed to contain everything.  I love the red storage ottomans I bought from the shopping channel.  Great for storage and resting my feet while I write.  They fit perfectly with the slide in.

Oh did I mention that I have a small Pomeranian, Tinkerbell, and 2 cats with me?  The cats have a playpen (doggie dorm) where they ride in Simon with the litter box.  At the campground, they can get fresh air.  Inside Roxie, the litter box is in the shower when I’m not using it (the shower, not the litterbox).

But beautiful things to look at...

There is no TV reception, no phone reception (except at the clubhouse) and for two days I didn’t realize that the WiFi in the clubhouse reached the campground once you got logged on inside.  I had one DVD with me that I purchased several years ago and had never watched...a British dramedy.  It was OK to run in the background at night.

 

Blue sky and sunshine

Large pool for relaxing

Inside Clubhouse

First meal in RV (cheated it was
all frozen just had to heat up)

A couple of wind storms, a wonderful thunderstorm and long days of sunshine.  What a wonderful way to spend the start of this adventure.

Sunset over the rim.

First week of retirement.

Week one of retirement completed!

So how was it?  What did I accomplish? 

It feels like it is just leave, I have to keep telling myself that I don’t have to go back.  I can stay up as late as I want…but I’m going to bed earlier.  I don’t have to get up early and so far I’m not.  I spent the week at appointment for myself and at the Vet.  Had dinner with friends a couple of times.  Went to a movie in the middle of the afternoon.

It's Saturday and I just put a load of laundry in the dryer.  Old habits die hard I guess.  I could do laundry any day but it has always been a weekend task.  When the boys were little there might be a middle to the week run but always several on Saturday and Sunday. 

See screen not good for photos!

I had plans to get the blog going but haven’t gotten around to it.  Every time I sit down at the desk I get distracted by the hummingbirds coming to the plants outside.  This is the first time they have perched on the shepherds hooks but before I get the camera up they are gone.  Plus there is a screen on half of the window…bad for photos, and the side without the screen is full of cat nose prints…also bad for photos (I guess I should clean the window).  I will get photos!  May have to be with a security camera but I will get them.

Speaking of security cameras, I need to get my Arlo’s set up before I hit the road next week.  Monday I took Simon to the shop and Bill told me that he had been broken into, AGAIN.  He has a $2000 security camera system but the video is so grainy they can’t make anything out.  I told him about the Arlo system and when I left he was ordering one.  He will be able to install them in the storage rooms, move them around and get alerts when they are activated.  Not that I think the police will get there to catch anyone. 

So much to do before I head out.  The Vet thinks Popeye has had a stroke or spinal injury that has him walking wonky.  She thinks Olyve has the start of kidney failure and needs to go on a low protein diet, she gets to eat carbs and I don’t.  Took Tinkerbell in yesterday and she started having a seizure just as the Dr walked in.  They took her back for some tests and after they brought her back and we were talking she did it again.  Rushed her back to the treatment room and gave her diazepam, wanted me to take her to the ER.  As we left she was doing fine so I decided to bring her home and she is still doing fine.  I think it was just stress.  She has been missing Homey and we had just picked up his cremains.

With his cousin.  Hard to tell
where one ends and the
other begins.

Un-named puppy!  I'll know
who he is when I see him.

I was excited on my last day of work that I was getting a mini aussie puppy but that fell through.  I asked son and DIL in Montana to see if the parents of their dog had any puppies.  She sent me a Craigslist link for Scotch Collies and guess what?  I have a little boy waiting for me at their house when I get there next weekend.  I hear he is almost house broken after being with them just  two days.

A Scotch Collie is a “lassie” dog.  Don’t know how his coat will be but I’m stoked!  When I was little I always wanted Lassie.  Haven’t named him yet but it won’t be Lassie (you know that dog was always a male, right?).

I should be dozing or reading.  It is raining and thundering.  But I really should be prepping. 

See you down the road.