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

Wednesday, October 29, 2003:

We tried, but we didn't pull it off. In the world of RVs, sometimes things don't always go according to schedule! We took the bigass truck, with the bigass camper on it and the not-quite-so-big truck and went off to switch the camper onto the old truck and store them. But, the camper would NOT come off the big truck! And then a corner jack broke clear off. Then we checked with all 3 RV dealers trying to find one where they could pick the camper off one truck and drop it onto the other one. Nobody had equipment to deal with the dually. :( By then it was mid-afternoon! We were beginning to think we were gonna have to park the big truck and camper and go trade the old truck on a bigger one to haul the 5th wheel (I'm sure we must have had enough room on the credit cards to cover a new truck....)! Finally, Keith went off and bought a bag full of hardware and re-installed the corner jack. Eventually, we managed to get the camper off one and onto the other and got home around 6PM. We started at 8AM.... *sigh* Tomorrow, we're gonna batten down the hatches and get ready for the Big Blast from Canada! Maybe next week we'll pack up and go to IL.....

Stay tuned for the next installment....

Dinah // Wednesday, October 29, 2003
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Monday, October 27, 2003:

Departure date? Did I say, "Departure date?" I knew better, of course. We re-set the date for Wednesday--and then the wind began to howl. Gusts to 50mph tend to slow down the sorting and packing outdoors! We got the truck camper emptied and winterized, the motorcycle into storage, the stuff out of the storage shed and sorted--but jacking the camper up off the ton truck, pulling the ton truck out from under, then backing the other truck in underneath the camper and cranking it back down??? Not in that much wind!!! And then the horizontal rain started. And now the weather geeks are telling us it's gonna snow and blow hard all week--and then get really cold! :( We're not likely to get to IL on Friday....
In other news--it's looking like we'll be in Florida before Christmas. Keith's construction buddy says that's where the work is--and his wife's son has an RV hookup in her fenced in back yard--which she'll rent for cheap. Neither of us can work up much enthusiasm for Florida in the winter, but having a steady income is important....

If an accident should happen and we actually make it home this week, then the following week we have to head for Louisville before the weekend! Pam's got really good passes for the Fall Meet at Churcill Downs! And our friend Scott is flying in from CT--and we haven't seen him since Linda (his wife and one of my best friends) was killed over a year ago. Good thing we're "mobile"!

And now, back to organizing the piles of stuff we carted into the RV this morning....I've filled the basement, so I'm going to have to get creative!

Dinah // Monday, October 27, 2003
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Tuesday, October 21, 2003:

I suppose you've noticed that I've been neglecting my blog since we parked the Road Trip camper. I do have an excuse (doesn't everyone?). The weather has been just too darned perfect and the campground has been empty and I've been packing stuff (sent 4 boxes of miscellaneous stuffwedon'tneed to Lana last week--just to free up some space in the basement! My next move is a trip to the storage unit. Eeeeeeek! Been trying all summer to get that emptied out and haul it all to the Packrat Palace and make it go away! Couch, recliner, bar stools, boxes of random stuff.....

The biggest thing we've done since we got back was the Pow Wow weekend before last. That was cool! I like pow wows anyhow, but we had a balcony view of the dancers this time. :) Being broke helped me resist buying any of the beautiful crafts--except for one Apache spirit wheel for my collection. And, of course, the fry bread! YUM!

We officially have a departure date--next Monday. Which means that we'll be lucky to leave on Tuesday! I'd really like to get back to IL/IN by Halloween and Lana's birthday. We'll see! As soon as we get there and have seen everyone, we have to transfer the necessities to the little trailer and head for Louisville on the 7th! Then back to IL and our kids and grandson. Whew! And then we have to address the question of where the income will come from this winter--Florida, or Arizona, or somewhere else. I've been searching for that money tree, but haven't found it, yet......

Dinah // Tuesday, October 21, 2003
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Saturday, October 11, 2003:

We're baaaaack! What a great road trip! The weather was fantastic, the moon was nearly full, the NF campgrounds were nearly empty and free, and the dogs travelled like veterans! Slept one nite in the Rockies with elk bugling all around! Another nite we slept next to a river in a beautiful canyon. One nite we pulled off the graveled Forest service road, into a meadow, and camped there, in absolute silence.
Oh! We started the trip with a visit to Tantonka, right here in the Black Hills! Unbelievable! Larger than life bronze buffalo, being driven over a cliff by bronze indians on bronze horses....and so much more. Kevin Costner's vision is worth the price of admission.
Anyhow, in a little over a week we covered nearly 1000 miles and saw a LOT!
So, now for another week or two of work on the ranch, and then probably we'll be heading for IL, with our home in tow.

Dinah // Saturday, October 11, 2003
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