RV Blog--Life in a Box. This just ain't 'camping' any more....

Saturday, August 30, 2003:

COOL! Blessed cool weather--and damp! We actually heard light rain on the awning today! Back in IL that's a frequent occurance. Out here, it's a rarity--one to be enjoyed. I'm trying to feel sorry for all those 'vacationers' who dragged their boats to the lake for the weekend and have to play in the water in 70 degree, drizzly weather, but I'm failing! This weather is almost as relaxing as that little camping trip woulda been. We stayed home to finish repairs on the little camper--and have a cookout for an injured friend. Poor thing! She tripped coming out of her RV and managed to mangle her right hand on something on the way down. :( She was just recovering the use of her other hand after having torn ligaments in a fall a couple of months ago!

The cmapground isn't as full as I would have expected--cool weather, I guess. The pool isn't very busy! LOL! But, we did have a batch of noisy kids next door last nite, right under our bedroom window--at 11:00PM.... *sigh*

Dinah // Saturday, August 30, 2003
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Wednesday, August 27, 2003:

Labor Day Weekend looms, and odds are that our campground will fill quickly! So, we're thinking it's time to take the truck camper and head for a nice, primitive campground in the Hills--one of those ones that are down 10 miles of gravel..... :) We know one that comes with it's own stream and everything! I hope you're all planning a pleasant weekend, too....

Dinah // Wednesday, August 27, 2003
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Tuesday, August 26, 2003:

The dogs woke me at 3:00 this morning--I swear they just wake up and want to go out and scope out the neighborhood, cause they don't do anything else! So I was up, and semi-awake and decided I might as well log on and do some surfing. I think I can probably go back to bed after Keith leaves for work! IF he leaves for work. He and the boss are doing one of those 'day by day' things....

We came back from our trip to the chiropractor last nite to discover that our half of the campground was without electricity! UGH. At least the temp had cooled enough that, once we kicked on the Fantastic Fan we could sit around in relative comfort! We had lights, exhaust fan, floor fan, and the 12 volt tv! Luxury! The fridge had kicked over to gas, so we didn't have to worry about that. There was still some life in my laptop battery and the cell phone was charged up! Living in an RV has some advantages.... :)

We had a 'meeting' and began discussing the possibility of leaving our nice, big RV out here for the winter--if he ever gets on that highway construction job. At first I thought that sounded like a really crummy plan, but, by shipping clothes and files and a few other things home in boxes, I'm starting to think it would be 'do-able'. It's not like we don't have a place to stay once we get back to Illinois! And we have the truck camper to live out of on the road.... It'd free us up for winter job hunting, too.
We've got so much "stuff" at both ends of our Gypsy Circuit that we don't really NEED to drag this 'Lead Sled' behind us all the time! And have you noticed the price of fuel???? At least this time the diesel fuel is cheaper than gasoline--that's a switch--but it's still darned expensive! Anyhow, we had been talking about going to Arizona for a while in January. It's like the Mecca of Snowbirds! And we have friends that are out there every winter and want us to come see the circus that is Quarzite!

So many possibilities.....

I guess I'd better get out the PDA and start making lists of what to pack, what to ship and what to load into the truck camper--just in case we decide to leave the big rig out here!

Meanwhile, it's time to surf on.....

Dinah // Tuesday, August 26, 2003
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Tuesday, August 19, 2003:

Well, there's a 'change' in the wind for this pair of gypsies! Keith's boss told him he'd have to let him go in a couple of weeks, cause he's not going to be able to afford to pay him. This is Year 2 of a horrendous drought out here--no grain crops again this year. And feeding the cattle will get expensive. So, hubby will be back looking for a seat on a construction job, or something. Times like this I wish I'd cultivated some marketable skills! Not too much demand for an aging, fat farmhand.... LOL!

The good news is that the weather is changing! We've had 2 days of cool weather! Tomorrow is supposed to be hot, but then a major cool-down, I guess! :) Love those Fall cool-downs!

Best yet, our long-time, local friends--the couple we ran around with when we were first here in 1969, are back from their adventures in Alaska! They've been gone since just before we got out here this Spring! They took their truck and 5th wheel, ferried up the coast, stayed a while and then drove back! They'll have some great stories! Love those camping stories!

Dinah // Tuesday, August 19, 2003
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Saturday, August 16, 2003:

I forgot to mention that "hubby" passed a couple of little kidney stones while we were in the mountains--and he didn't heed the warning. So THIS weekend, their big brother followed them! Poor guy--he was miserable for most of the day. Thought we might have to haul him off to the ER, but I had a few 'wonder pill' that helped a lot!
We got a phone call from one of our biker friends-at a campout in Peoria, IL. He walked around the campground with the phone, handing it to people we know, and we got to chat briefly with folks we hadn't talked to for quite a while. It was great! Thanks, Scott!

Meanwhile, the Yarndiva and her hubby were between Philadelphia and Erie, PA when the lights went out the other day! Fortunately, they had reservations in Erie, because the place they were staying had electricity and there were LOTS of folks trying to spend the nite there!

It's still mucho hotto here. Every day the weatherdude tells us the cool-down is coming--one day later than they thought! Tomorrow we're supposed to go to an outdoor birthday party in Hermosa (where the trees are all 3' tall). And it's supposed to be 100 again! :(

We'll ya'll stay cool and keep in touch! I DO enjoy your emails!

Dinah // Saturday, August 16, 2003
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Tuesday, August 12, 2003:

THAT WAS FUN!!! :)

Up and over the Big Horns, dragging hubby's motorcycle behind the truck. Then back down into the HEAT until we got to Cody, WY, where we spent an expensive night 'dry-camping' in the huge Walmart parking lot. (If anyone ever tells you that parking your rig overnight at Walmart is cheap, they have tremendous will power!) This Walmart had a whole ROOM full of clearance priced stuff! And a massive fabric department...
The next morning, we headed UP, on Chief Joseph Highway, towards Beartooth Pass. Gorgeous! Found our campground, and our friends and settled in amongst the pines, with Fox Creek providing the audio to cover the hum of the mosquitoes! No drinking water in the campground--something about it not passing WY codes so they just shut it off, since the campground will be closed during renovations next summer.
On Saturday, I squeezed myself into Michelle's sidecar, Michelle climbed into the driver's seat, hubby got on his bike and we went up and over Beartooth Pass to Red Lodge, MT. An interesting experience, to say the least. It was COLD up there, and raining! I swear, there were a few snowflakes, even! The ride back to camp was much drier, and even sunny, at times.
Saturday nite, we got out our dutch ovens and the 10 of us feasted on buffalo chili, cornbread, fresh roasting ears and peach/apple/nectarine pie!
And then it was Sunday and time to head home.

Back down to Cody and HEAT! And then, up into the Big Horns, by another route--where we spotted an honest-to-goodness bull moose, grazing near the road!!! That night we camped in a totally silent forest of lodgepole pines and shared the leftover roasting ears with a nice young family camped nearby. Unlike the night before, it didn't get chilly enough to need the furnace, but it was a nice night for a campfire--and NO MOSQUITOES! :)
Monday, the trip was all down hill and back into the 100 degree heat. *sigh* But, 'home' was a lot different than the Rally craziness we'd left. The bikers had all pulled out and headed back to their real lives--with their new tee shirts and tatoos and leather.

I talked to my darling daughter, the Yarndiva, after we got back and she's been asking people if they'd heard the joke about the old couple who live in an RV and needed a new camper so they could go 'camping'! She thinks she's so funny.... She who has more yarn than she will ever have time to knit up!

Dinah // Tuesday, August 12, 2003
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Wednesday, August 06, 2003:

Got email from Hope about their 'maiden' camping voyage in their brand, shiny new "Box"! Sounds like they had a good time--which is the point, after all!

We're goin' camping tomorrow! :) Taking the truck camper and the motorcycle on a trailer and going to the mountains! Left the puppies in the kennel, poor little orphan dogs.... LOL! A REAL vacation! :) We finally found an old slide-in camper to replace the popup one that got totaled out in a hail storm last summer. (It still worked, just looked ugly--but the insurance company paid us and I rat-holed the money!) Then the wind tore up the front of the ugly camper--so the time had come. It's pretty cool, for an old camper--got this tiny little bathroom with a SHOWER in it! And I do mean tiny. Especially for my wide butt. But it's a bathroom! :) All the comforts of home, just smaller.... And we get to go hang out with our IBMCfriends--some that we haven't seen for years! And we get to escape from the madness that is the Sturgis Rally! And the 100 degree heat coming here the rest of the week.

So, we'll be up in the mountains, 'roughing it' with no electricity--and probably out of reach of cell phone towers most of the time! Be back online Monday nite--see ya all then....

Dinah // Wednesday, August 06, 2003
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Friday, August 01, 2003:

Yee Haw! Just read Hope'sblog and found out that she and George have their very first RV!!! Blood will tell, ya know! LOL! I hope she writes me a detailed description.... This is soooo exciting! It'd be REALLY cool if she had a website, with pictures..... (hint, hint).

Dinah // Friday, August 01, 2003
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