The weather is cold, wish our Norcold was also, Dec 22-24, 2011

We have enjoyed two days of waking up to this.  And…

also figuring out how to keep our Norcold cold.  Seems it really doesn’t like to work at colder temps, like below 28-29 degrees.  With the aid of our shop work light and my hairdryer to keep the control board warm, it runs well.  Well as long as it has a new 5 amp fuse.  You see every time it shuts down because of the cold outside temps, it blows the fuse.  It really is sick.

We are waiting for a package to be delivered at the PO on Tuesday, with all the road closures a few days ago, the mail was delayed.  So on Tuesday our plans are to head to Phoenix and try to explain to a service tech that our frig really does not work in cold weather when it is in the 60-70’s with lows in the 40’s.

May we all continue our walk with our Savior.

Another Norcold surprise, Dec 21, 2011

The first words I heard this morning were, “the frig isn’t working again!” Deep breath, now what. The first recall module had just been replaced two days ago back in Hondo, Tx. Soon Bob ventured outside in the 30 degree temps to remove the frig cover to see if the module displayed the red light of death…to his surprise it did not. So that meant there was hope in getting it to work again. His first method of evaluation is shown below.

Then came out the continuity tester (it is yellow). From what he could tell, the frig was getting power, so now what.

A few days ago when we had the safety recall module replaced, the owner, Murphy, of Matthews RV Repair, told Bob if you have any problems, just call, so that is what Bob is doing. Murphy had him check a few more continuity issues, all checked out good, so the next step would be remove the control board cover and check the two fuses in there.

Much easier said than done. The control board cover is about 7” x 5”, It has a white label, under the yellow paper tap and to the right of the top electrical outlet. It is also held in place with three hex screws. At first Bob tried to maneuver his tools past all the parts in front, no direct angle, so he was about to call it quits, when he got his second (tornado like) wind. He started to loosen up the screws holding the front parts in place that were in the way, they moved sideways enough for him to slowly remove the three hex screws securing the control board cover.

Soon the black cover came off revealing the brains of the frig.

He spied the 5 amp fuse, the large type of fuse, used by the Class C we had owned previously. The best part is, we had transferred the box of spare fuses to the coach six years ago, and we had the correct fuse and the fuse worked!!! The refrigerator works!!! (The coach takes a similar but smaller fuse-like the one we replaced a few days ago for our front shade.)

One more call back to Murphy telling him the great news. With his help over the phone, Bob had fixed the frig for the price of a 5 amp fuse.

We left all the parts as they were, will reassemble them after a few days of letting the frig run, making sure it doesn’t blow that fuse again.

In this special moment in life…trust others

P.S. For those who want the full unabridged version, check out Bob's blog at www.because-we-can.net, today's journal.

Ft Stockton Tx to Columbus NM, Dec 20, 2011

Today being a long travel day, I was up by 7 am and lo and behold I got to see the sunrise. I don’t see too many of those.

Today was a day of electronic issues. Since Bob did a great job of describing each in detail, I am just going to link to his site.

We are currently at Pancho Villa State Park in Columbus NM. This is one of our favorite parks and may even get to see snow tomorrow! We also see a few trips to Mexico as this park is only three miles to the border.

In the special moment in life…forget trouble

Hondo and Fort Stockton, TX, Dec 18-19, 2011

Sunday, we arrived at the SKP park, Lone Star Corral, about 8 miles west of Hondo.  The reason for coming here, to get our Norcold frig recall module replaced, it went bad when we were in Virginia and the repair shop bypassed it had told us to get it replaced when we got home.  Well, our home is where we park it, so that answer was a major cop out.  Murphy at Matthews RV Repair lives at the Hondo SKP park, we had used him to do our original recall last March, so it seemed he was our best bet.  An email a few weeks ago to him had let him order the recall module, so when we arrived here, he was ready.

He arrived about 9 am, and done by 9:20.

So by 10 am we were not our way to Fort Stockton.  The forecast rain followed us out of Hondo for a hour or so, then cleared up.   The scenery is definitely changing, looking more and more like the west we love.

These mesas have windmills on them.

Today I got to do something I had not done in over a year…

…drive the coach, drove only about 60 miles on I-10.   With us driving six hours today, I needed to help Bob out.

In the special moment in time…take a chance

Enjoying La Grange, TX, Dec 17, 2011

This morning we walked about a mile to La Grange’s town square. 

Within view of the Court House, is this historic  Live Oak tree called the Muster Tree.   “The first recruitment of citizen soldiers under the tree probably took place in 1842. An invasion of Texas by the Mexican General Adrian Woll prompted Colonel Matthew Caldwell of the Texas Army to assemble a small volunteer group to resist Woll at Salado Creek near San Antonio.”

In the afternoon, Bob washed the coach’s windshield and the Explorer’s windows, then applied RainX.  I detailed the coach’s front and put on some 303 protectant.  Hopefully it will be easier to scrub those bug parts off.

Speaking of bugs, next to the coach we noticed a line of ants carrying leaves of different sizes.  Do believe they were the Texas leafcutting ant.  Evidently the leaves are used to grow their food-fungus.  This one has a large piece of leaf, some were carrying only a piece about the size of their head-guess they were pikers.

In this special moment in time…remember the reason for the season.

Time to head down the road, Dec 16, 2011

I am really enjoying my clothes drying rack.  Do believe I have washed every day since we made it.  Bob has been working on the construction plans, they should be posted soon, perhaps in a day or two.

This morning the windshield had accumulated some moisture, so used the fan to evaporate it off.  By the time we were ready to go, it was gone.

Before we left Livingston, we had to have our annual inspection for the coach.  Takes only a few minutes, show registration, proof of insurance, check lights, brakes, pay the $14.50 and we were on our way.

Today we drove to the Colorado Landing RV Park in La Grange, TX.  We took a trail near the park to the Colorado River.

 

Since my feet can’t touch, I tried to get the swing to swing, I could not do it, so Bob tried.  Here is a video of his efforts.  To see the video click on the underlined word ‘video’ above.

Our home for a couple of days in La Grange, TX.

Already a week here in Livingston, TX, Dec 5-10, 2011

Since we are where our mail is delivered, I was picking up the items I had ordered, some of the items for us and some were for Christmas gifts.  I was a happy girl.  I do miss getting our mail every day.

Also was busy getting our Christmas box ready to ship to California for the kids and grandkids.

We both have gotten our eyes examined, ordered new glasses, I went for a well woman check, had some blood work done.   I was  even able to schedule a mammogram for next Tuesday.  In California, you had to schedule months in advance for one, here I called and have an appointment in one week.  Got to love small town America.

The morning I went for my blood work, before eating, and the windshield had a thick layer of frost on it, couldn’t find our ice scraper (maybe we threw it away), so Bob is resorting to use a credit card, worked well.

While we have been here at the SKP Rainbow’s End RV Park, we have taken the park tour again, got to see our very own mail folder, and yes, that is all it is, a pendaflex folder among thousands of others.  We also toured the Care Center here.  It is a facility for RVers who still live in their RV, but need just a little more help like meals, laundry and some cleaning.  Check out the link above.  We are planning on volunteering here next July, before we leave for Europe mid Aug.

We stopped at the Bargain Table at the park’s activity center and I found another dish drainer just like the one I have.  Although mine has seen better days.  This one is a little sun discolored on the top edge, but otherwise in perfect condition.  I bought mine over five years at Camping World, but have not been able to find a replacement one since.  So I was a Happy Camper.

While we were at Betty’s RV in Abbeville, LA we met Kelli and George.  They were also coming to Livingston to take their Class B license tests.  Here we are celebrating their successfully passing both the written and driving tests.  We can so relate as one year ago we were in their shoes.

I have a nickname for my Christmas Cactus, which is now a year old (started from a few cuttings from my Mom’s plant that my daughter now has).  I call it my Touchdown Jesus Cactus.  See the similarities between it and the photo beside it.  This structure was actually nicknamed “Touchdown Jesus” check out the link.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See below my clothes drying rack we designed and built.  Even if there were two trees you could tie a clothes line too, most if not all RV parks don’t allow you to so.  So we have seen versions of this rack occasionally on RV’s and I wanted one.  Ours is designed for easy install and take down and it fits fully assembled in our basement storage bay.  Bob is planning on doing a detailed post on how he build this rack in a few days.  When he does, I’ll post a link to it.   I love it!!

Tonight we enjoyed the Christmas Parade while sitting on the Court House steps. Lots of floats, enthusiastic band, fire trucks, and horses.

In this special moment in time…try something new

Rainy travel day, Dec 4, 2011

With a 4.5+ hour drive today, we were on the road by 10 am.  The first hour or so, no rain, but then…the skies opened up and we were drenched along the way with an occasional treat of  lightening and thunder. 

As you can see through the front windshield, we drove through some beautiful fall color in east Texas.

Around 3 pm we arrived at where our pendaflex for our mail is located, in Livingston, TX.   Our plans will keep us here a week or so, an eye exam tomorrow and then new glasses are in our future.

In this special moment in time…Believe in yourself

Source of Tabasco, Avery Island, LA, Dec 2, 2011

Today we took a day trip to where Tabasco sauce is made,  Avery Island, Louisiana.

Check out this link to see how Tabasco is made, quite a story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While we were on our self guided tour watching four processing lines, they bottled over 10,000 bottles.  The bottles processed today were headed to Russia. (They ship to over 160 countries.)

Below is the original recipe handwriten by Edmond McIlhenny in 1868.

To make sure the pepper are picked at the peak of ripeness, the pickers use this “little red stick” to match the red color for the perfect ripeness color.

See our new Christmas Tree thanks to Wal-Mart.  It is a 32” Fiber Optic Tree.  Sure looks nice on our dash.  I am planning on adding our own ornaments to the tree when we get to Livingston, TX.

Enjoying Abbeville, LA, Dec 1, 2011

I was interested in seeing some cemeteries here is Louisiana.  Not too far from Betty’s RV Park is this one. 

This side area were all children and babies, very sad.  One marker even listed the time born and time died as being 2 hours and 15 minutes apart.  Life is precious!

Then on into town we found this church with a cemetery behind.  Here some of the stones date back to the mid 1800’s.

After Happy Hour tonight at Betty’s, we all headed off the participate in Abbeville’s Christmas Stroll. 

Different businesses had goodies for us Strollers plus they stamped our entry form for a grand prize drawing to be held later in the evening.

 

Bob even got to have his form stamped by a real Elf!!  See the ears!

Here Bob is showing our forms all stamped.  Our group of 8 rvers did great, none of us were from the area and we found all these businesses with a little help from a few passerby's.

Since we didn’t receive a phone call, guess we did not win, but sure was fun.

 

Here are the eight of us.