Volunteer position in the Fall

Well, our efforts to find a volunteer position in the Fall along the Oregon coast have borne fruit. We just accepted two positions at the Lewis and Clark National Historic Park , outside of Astoria Oregon. It meets our new requirements:

• stay at a park near the Pacific Ocean;
• take a job that does not include cleaning campground toilets.

Thus, during October, we will work three days per week at the visitors center, answering questions and conducting tours. The Park will furnish us a campground at a nearby KOA.

We think this is a great deal. Near one of our favorite OR ocean parks, close to Astoria. Heck, after our visit last Fall, we began listening regularly via the Internet to the Astoria NPR station and even subscribed.

Sure hope we get those cool little ranger hats.

Bruce

Zion National Park, UT

Three days now at Zion National Park. Look at these magnificent sandstone cliffs surrounding our campsite. The first picture is the scene from our front door.

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As soon as we arrived, we said, “Let’s stay longer.” Luckily no one had reserved our great campsite till the following weekend, so we turned 8 nights into 13. With Jenna’s geezer pass, we pay just $9/night and no entrance fee.

The campground offers electricity at the site, and a water/septic station for the campground. We expect to dump our holding tanks one time before we depart. Oh, I didn’t mention that the closest showers are in town (1 mile away). The Park Service apparently decided to minimize development here, thus the lack of facilities.

Did I mention “magnificent?”

To minimize traffic, they offer a shuttle service into town. And another shuttle service, which also runs every few minutes, throughout the park. We took a partial tour on the shuttle today, more tomorrow. (Actually, when we re-embarked, the shuttle driver his plan to return to the campground rather than continuing on. Then he closed the bus door and proceeded. OK then.)

During our 13 days here, we plan to explore beyond this park. In particular, we intend to see Bryce National Park, home of hoodoos - unique geology of red rock spires and horseshoe-shaped amphitheaters.

Nice nice.

Bruce

Lake Mead, NV

We just finished four days at Lake Mead, NV, 22 miles south of Las Vegas. Lake Mead is another magnificent national park…national recreation center actually. Not so many people there. Peaceful, beautiful views of the lake and hills.

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Very nice indeed.

We arrived at the park by driving over Hoover Dam. Looked kinda cool, but the narrow twisty tourist-filled road occupied all our attention, and we certainly didn’t see a parking spot for us. So we cruised on by.

We were planning to see Las Vegas yesterday, before departing for Zion National Park today. Then Jenna found an article in the local paper that Vegas has slipped from #1 to #2 in the nation for car theft. In other words, a lot a people steal vehicles there.

We gotta desirable truck. Losing it would be a disaster for us - unable to tow anytime soon, and very hard and time consuming to replace it for reasonable money. So we didn’t go at all. (Remember that we fled Atlantic City NJ together almost 30 years ago, so we already know from gambling.)

Instead, we visited nearby Boulder City, "The Town that Built Hoover Dam.” A pretty, somewhat quaint place, with no gambling, strict controls on growth.

Tonight we stop at a small park in St George UT outside of Zion NP. Then eight days at the park, with side trips to Bryce NP and other natural beauty.

Dunno if we can connect to the Net. If not, no posts for a week or so. Bite your lip in anticipation.

Bruce

Best wishes from the IRS

So we just received a letter from the IRS about our 2007 tax refund.

Page 1 reads in part, “We are writing to you because there is an error on your 2007 Federal Income Tax Return. We will explain why we made the change and what you need to do.“

On the next page, they list the error in Adjusted Gross Income, resulting in a lower refund.

Further down page 1, they also say that “Due to a processing error, you didn’t receive the correct refund. You will receive an additional refund in 3-4 weeks.”

Following this? Same letter – my error and their error.

Sure enough, we received two checks. Total amount? The same as the refund on the tax forms we sent them.

Ha ha ha. That’s a good one. True life is stranger than fiction. Or maybe the IRS is stranger than true life.

I blame it all on W. Why not?

An editorial response

Responding to my 4/18/08 entry about women’s salacious comments to me in Denby’s presence, a long time reader says, “Why women get you and the dog confused is puzzling.”

I believe he has misunderstood the meaning of the phenomena. Or has twisted the observation to serve his own evil purposes.

We will monitor his future remarks closely.

Bruce

Seligman to Kingman AZ via Route 66

Today we departed Flagstaff for Lake Mead. We left late because I didn’t set the alarm correctly, exhausted from yesterday’s events (don’t ask).

Our friends, Barb and Steve, suggested we take Route 66 from Seligman to Kingman, the longest remaining section of the Mother Route. So we did.

Starting in Seligman, which has made an industry out of the Route 66 mystique. While there we saw an endless number of motorcyclists, as well as a line of seven or so classic cars just starting out on the trip. What a trip it was.





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And now we have encamped in a simple RV park in Kingman, with just 80 miles to cover to Lake Mead tomorrow.

Bruce

Grand Canyon – well named. Plus - disturbing interactions

We spent the afternoon till sundown at the Grand Canyon. Hard to describe if you haven’t seen it. Unforgettable if you have. A few pics here don’t begin to touch the majesty.

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But this trip reminded me of a puzzling and disturbing phenomena I too often experience.

Whenever I walk our dog Denby, women approach me in a most familiar way. This day was no exception. For example, as I’m walking down the path, one woman says to her companion, “Look at that guy. Isn’t he cute?” They even say these things in front of Jenna! And, they always look down, not even into my eyes, which is most embarrassing of all.

I don’t understand it!! (But I kinda like it.)

Note - any rational input will be ignored. That is all.

Bruce

Flagstaff AZ in a serendipity way

Yesterday AM, well noon actually, we depart for Prescott AZ for our appointment with destiny, in the form of a Ford dealer to fix the truck controller for the trailer brakes. Loyal, or disinterested, readers know our sad tale of promises made and broken about this repair.

Driving up to Prescott. Hey, the brakes work! Why? Who cares anymore! I figure that so many people had touched the truck and trailer in the past four months, inadvertently someone had fix em. Bruce takes full credit…why not.

The day prior, we decided to drive to Flagstaff after Prescott, to visit our friends Barb and Steve from Imperial Dam. Well, with no reason to go to Prescott now, we turned around and drove to Flagstaff, where we now reside. And Barb and Steve greeted us with a turkey dinner that couldn’t be beat.

We consider this our first real day of fulltiming as promised. No compelling plans, change on a whim. Like three year olds really. Yeah!

“How long will we stay in Flagstaff?” you ask. See previous paragraph.

Flagstaff looks like an interesting liberal town, with a college, Lowell Observatory, four microbreweries (!), and the nearby Grand Canyon. Kind of like Olympia, our former home town, with GC instead of Mt. Rainier and without the mold. We hope to drive to the GC in a couple three days, BTW.

Last time we saw the Grand Canyon during a visit to Sedona about five years ago. We rented a Harley Ultraglide. However, the rental guy underestimated the time needed to get there. We road that loud vibrating beast all the way up to the entrance, still several miles from the rim, then turned around so we could return the bike before we paid for another $150 day. This time we drive up in a loud diesel beast of a truck, but in much more comfort.

Maybe some pics next time of the Grand Canyon, tho we certainly don’t have a camera that could capture that grandeur.

Bruce

OTR in two days

Once again, you can feel the thrill of anticipated travel in the confined atmosphere of our RV. Just two days now till we return to the road.

This week we actually toured around a bit here. We visited the Heard Museum, learning about the culture of the indigenous tribes of AZ and NM. Then we got sleepy and left.

The Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum was a gem, with row after row of minerals found in AZ and NV. So much beauty in those specimens and so much prehistoric research. Even tiny moonrocks brought back from the Apollo mission. No green cheese – maybe you find it at the AZ Dairy Museum.

And last night we enjoyed live music at a local coffee shop open mike night. Our neighbor here at the park performed. Excellent music with a wide variety of styles, including rock, folk, western, and even a five piece brass band playing Big Band tunes. Big fun. We felt like normal people again after 7 weeks of confinement while Bruce recovered from surgery.

Yes, the good times are back. Right after we take the trailer and truck to the Prescott dealer on Monday to fix the brakes. Please!!

Bruce

Can’t catch a brake

So we arose at 5am and drove the truck to the third Ford dealer in Phoenix. Who kept the truck for half a day and came to the conclusion that “Nothin’ wrong with your truck Mister.” He suggested turning up the power on the brake controller when connected to the trailer. Or return with the truck and trailer so they can test both.

Ha ha, tow our trailer down to Phoenix to a Ford dealer. (For those of you new to this blog, we live in our trailer.)

Went home, plugged in the trailer and turned up the power. Nothing.

New plan. When we leave here in a week, take a slight detour on our route the first day to Prescott, AZ. Take the trailer and truck to the local Ford dealer for them to poke at. Hope springs eternal, AKA no other choice.

Oh yeah, since our last post, the one with the refrigerator door falling off too, we received a recall notice for a part in our stove.

Still no response from readers about owning an RV. Good thing we’re retired, so we have time to keep up with the parts falling off our home.

Bruce

Refrigerator Brakes

No, that’s not a typo.

Do you ever wonder what distinguishes a moving home (RV) from a stationary one (Stixandbrix)?

• Plumbing?
• Heating?
• Roof?
• Wood floors?

Nope, nope, nope, nope.

Brakes. The thing moves. What goes forward must stand still. You need brakes.

Well, we don’t have ‘em. No brakes since we arrived at Imperial Dam north of Yuma in December. What’s wrong with this trailer anyway? We towed it to Quartzsite to a mechanic, who couldn’t find nothin’. Then to our current park north of Phoenix, moving with care.

Since then, I have poked the trailer wiring and hired another mechanic for the same. Latter fella replaced a fuse in the truck and pronounced all was well in the trailer and truck.

Except when I tested it a few days ago, just to be sure, prior to our impending departure, nothing had changed. No brakes.

A trip to the Ford dealer to check the truck brake controller. “Nothin’ wrong with your truck Mister. It’s always the trailer.”

Except now a neighbor and I have determined that fault lies in the truck. Steaming mad, I was, ‘cause that dealer didn’t know and didn’t even try.

Now I feel confident that I can get the brakes fixed at a new dealer on Thursday. OK!

Except today the refrigerator door fell off the hinges.

Hence the title of this post.

Don’t you wish you had an RV?

Bruce