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A New Chapter; RV in Winter
Part 2
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| November 9, 2006: Just down the road from our RV on Thompson Creek Road is this "Oregon Handiman Special". This is "view property", 3 bedrooms with 1 detached bathroom (in Oregon, they call them "out buildings"). Just add paint and curtains, mow the lawn and this "rural two-story hide-a-way" would be perfect for you and the kids. For a closer look, click the photo. |
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| November 15, 2006: This is Thompson Creek directly behind our RV. The rear of the fifth wheel is only 15 feet behind Gwen. On a sunny day like this, it is a very cozy, fall site. Even with the rain we have experienced lately, it has not changed. The reason, is because the ground is so dry, all rain is soaked up. Once the ground is saturated, the creek will likely change it's look. |
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November 18, 2006: This was a Saturday fundraiser for Applegate Elementary School, the school in the little community where we are now living. It is the "Harvest Festival" |
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| where there were many games to play such as "fishing" where you throw the line over a curtain and pull it back with a prize. Another game was a ring toss where you won a goldfish in a plastic bag. Gwen and I tried to win a cake in the cake walk above. You march to music in a circle over numbers taped to the floor. When the music stops, you are standing on a number. The cake walk operator, draws a number from the hat, if it's your number, you win a cake. We played 5 times but never won a cake. We ended the festival with chili, corn bread, salad and a drink for $4.25. |
| November 19, 2006: When you live in a 55+ mobile home park, of course they have a Thanksgiving feast on the Sunday afternoon before Thanksgiving. The table is well stocked with all the Thanksgiving food you can think of and more. Gwen and I will be driving to Lodi, California next Wednesday. I've come across this highway warning from the California Highway Patrol. |
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November 28, 2006: Both snow and ice were part of the commute this morning from Applegate Valley. The county must spread sand on these roads and there must be a sand shortage because the county was pretty stingy with the sand. I don't want any more fender benders after the little Thanksgiving mis-hap. This road looks wet but it's actually ice. |
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| December 1, 2006: The little village of Applegate actually has three restaurants. Two cafes and one dinner house called the Applegate River Ranch House. This dinner house is also a bed and breakfast with some very nice rooms. Both the lodge and restaurant are on the banks of the Applegate River and both are only a half mile from our RV park. Tonight was our first time to visit the restaurant. When we arrived, we were the only customers. Apparently, the restaurant waits until customers arrive to turn on the heat. We sat next to the fireplace to stay warm. Those after us had to huddle for warmth. We enjoyed the meal and the fireplace since we no longer have a fireplace of our own. |
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December 4, 2006: The moon sits over Applegate Mobile Park. It is a clear night and a full moon. That makes for a cold night, cold means mid-20's. Last night it reached 27 degrees and our fresh water hose froze. That's unusual because we've gone down as far as 22 degrees without freezing. I sealed the insulation around the hose and haven't had a frozen hose again. |
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| February 3, 2007: Gwen and a couple of her friends decided to teach nickel bingo to the residents of the Applegate Mobile Home park where we are currently living. This is a game we learned in Casa Grande, Arizona while at the Escapees RV park. Twelve brave people showed up for |
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| their first experience at playing bingo with a standard deck of playing cards. As the games followed, you could hear audible gasps as one or more player would get to their last card. Everyone had a great time and promised to bring their friends to the next Bingo night so more nickels could be won. |
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February 4, 2007: After watching the Colts whip the Chicago Bears on Superbowl Sunday, we enjoyed a bowl of Gwen's homemade chili with Kathy and Terry. This was our first time to try to entertain in our King of the Road fifth wheel. It was a tight squeeze but the game was good, friends were fun and chili was great. |
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| February 9, 2007: My tow vehicle, the Dodge Ram, 3500 came stock with Michelin tires, 265 x R70/17. These tires have a load rating of 3,100 lbs. After my tire trouble with the trailer tires during our Arizona trip, I've been paying more attention to tires. The amount of pin weight during our trip was overloading the stock tires although not above the design capacity for the truck. I took the truck to Les Schwab today with the idea of rotating the tires and checking on the availability of larger tires which would carry a heavier load. Les Schwab offered me a trade-in value for the stock Michelin tires (which have 30,000 miles on them) helping me to decide to replace the tires today. These are TOYO 10 ply tires, 285 x R70/17 with a load rating of 3,750 lbs and they are wider than the stock Michelins giving more stability. I'm feeling much better about the tow vehicle now. This is Pete up front and Ross in the back, mounting the new tires to the Dodge rims. |
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