A stowaway and up in the air!

Yesterday when I was setting up in the parking lot, I opened one of the cabinets of my entertainment center to turn the antenna booster on.  There, I found evidence that a small mammal had stowed away in the rig and hitched a ride with me from Anahuac NWR.  And here I thought I had made it unscathed by rodents for this year’s volunteer tour.  Not so, grasshopper!  So, I got out one of those plastic traps; loaded it up with peanut butter and within two hours that little bugger was on his way to the happy hunting grounds!  I reset the trap and put a second one under the sink where I had found further evidence.  So far, there haven’t been any other snaps in the night.

 

I was ready early this morning for the guys to take the rig into the shop to begin the long list of repairs and recalls.  I needn’t have hurried so because they didn’t come for the rig until after lunch. 

In very short order, my home was up in the air and the water pump and clutch recall work began.  In the meantime another tech started doing some of the other things on the list.  Emma and I took off in the car to take a drive around this area of Louisiana.  It wasn’t long before another front moved through and the rain began.  We’ll try that trip again, maybe tomorrow, when I hope things will be better for pictures. 

 

Billy Thibodeaux is the man that owns this repair facility, and it’s a family run operation.  His son tackled the repair on my Splendide washer'/dryer this afternoon.  In order to get to the machine, he had to take off the cabinet doors and remove the toilet.  When he got it out, he discovered that the cement block had come loose, crashed, and messed up the electronic board and several bolts and other stuff.  He will now do battle with the extended warranty people about this as a repair would probably cost more time and money than a replacement would. 

 

Not all of the work was finished on the engine, so I’m spending tonight under the huge shed cover.  At least they brought the rig down to ground level!  :)  Not sure how we would have gotten into it otherwise.  I have water and electric (and a reinstalled toilet) so I’m good for the night.  I wonder what tomorrow will bring??

 

Thanks for stopping by…. talk to you later,  Judy

Taking care of business

Well, I learned the last three days that I really miss the internet when I don’t have access to it.  The wifi in the park has been down quite a bit this month.  Apparently a lightning strike on the DSL server has played havoc on service for almost two weeks.  I’m hoping, the problem is finally fixed.

I headed out before 8:00 this morning for a trip to Idaho Falls to accomplish a variety of chores.  I wanted to look at printers at Best Buy to start with.  I occasionally have found that it would be nice if I had one.  Getting my old camera fixed is a good example.  I can send it in to Canon for repairs, but I need a printed copy of the repair order so I can do that.  Hard to do when you don’t have a printer.  :(  After looking things over, I decided I just couldn’t afford it at this time.  Maybe later in the year.

There was a Sear’s store across the street from Best Buy, and I noticed that there was an auto service area, so I took the Focus in for a much needed oil change.  For some reason, I got a $10 discount, so it only cost me $20 to get that done.  :)  Last night, I had a real craving for some home made French fries, but I don’t have a deep fryer in the rig.  When I signed up for the oil change, I was given a $5 coupon good for anything I might buy at Sears (only good for today). So while I was waiting, I decided I really couldn’t live without a small FryDaddy deep fryer any longer.  :)  Yep, I bought one.  French fries tonight!

After stopping for groceries, I called Universal RV in Minnesota since I had cell phone reception for a change.  I still haven’t received license plates or a title for the rig that I bought almost two months ago!  As usual, I was put on hold several times, and then told I couldn’t speak to the person I wanted, but could leave a message.  Ugh!!  It’s so frustrating to deal with these dealerships long distance!  If you are not there to bug them daily, you just get put on a back burner.  I’m not a happy camper about that.

As I headed for home, I stopped at Smith RV to set up an appointment for taking the rig in on August 9, when I leave Red Rock.  Yesterday, my Splendide washer/dryer went berserk on me.  I got out the book to troubleshoot the problem, and after doing what it suggested, it still wouldn’t work.  So, I need to take it in for that, and also another issue with the surround sound speaker system.  There’s always something.  :(
The wind has really been blowing very strongly today, and the view of the valley around the campground is really hazy.  With the windows open in the rig, the dust is just blowing in.  Everything was getting pretty gritty, so I shut the windows.  :(
After being cooped up all day, Emma was ready for a good walk, so out we went.  The wildflowers have had a great year because of all the rain this spring, but as new varieties appear, some have passed their peak.
Looks to me like these past prime blooms are having a bad hair day.  :)

One of the things I needed to pick up at the grocery store today was apple cider vinegar.  My neighbors, Jim, Jackie, and June, are gone for a week to take a trip up to Glacier NP, and I am watching over their rig while they are gone.  When they left, they gave me a bag of Jim’s special buttermilk pancake mix.  They also gave me a quart of buttermilk to make them, but I needed the vinegar to follow the recipe.  I also picked up a pint of fresh blueberries, so tomorrow morning it will be blueberry buttermilk pancakes for breakfast!  :)

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy