Tuesday, June 11, 2019: The lot is ready for us to begin our adventure. The awnings are put away, gardening tools stored, all patio furniture stored and we are ready to roll in the slides, pull up the jacks and start traveling. Gwen has an errand to run in the morning. While she does that, I will disconnect power, water and sewer then roll down the hill.

We have been here at "home base" for only six weeks. In that time we have cleaned and sold the fifth wheel. We have disposed of all the extra items coming out of the fifth wheel then cleaned and made improvements to the lot. We have installed an all new solar charging system on Mz Ruby. We have also made new friends. We met John and Lois while we were parked on lot 90. They like Timber Valley enough they want to rent a space for long term. When we told them our plans, they asked if they could rent our space until they are ready for something else. Of course, we agreed. It will be nice to have someone on our lot that we know.

Our destination for tomorrow is the Portland area. We will visit the Splendide distributor. Splendide is a French manufacturer of the washers and dryers found in most RVs. We are anxious to get advice on the noise coming from the clothes dryer.

Monday, June 10, 2019: Getting the lot ready for renters. The awning must be stored. Since tomorrow is forecast to be above 100, I chose this evening to store the awning. It's not as easy as it looks because several parts are broken so it takes longer to get all the pieces into the right place.

I also picked up cash at the bank today for Peggy, the lady who does our mail while we are away from the park. She picks up the mail and sorts out the first class items to be forwarded to us when we have a location to send mail.

Items on the inside of Mz Ruby are getting stored.

I dumped the holding tanks today and will check the fresh water level tomorrow.

Gwen has a haircut appointment tomorrow and a doctor appointment at 8:30 Wednesday, then we are on the road again not to return for eleven months.

Sunday, June 9, 2019: My chicken collection is growing from the garage sales Gwen has been attending. The last one is the chicken holding the sign. When Gwen bought it, the sign was blank, it was my idea to paint, "Eat BEEF" on the sign. I thought that was pretty funny. Do you get it? You know! Eat beef, not chicken! OK, I knew you would get it.

Saturday, June 8, 2019: Only a mile east of our park is the Cooper Creek Reservoir. There is a water treatment plant between the reservoir and our park so I must assume our drinking water comes from the lake. Driving distance to the lake is about 3 miles since the access is from the north side of the lake and you must drive through a residential area to get to the lake. The bicycle riding distance is about the same as driving with some short, steep climbs to get there. The Timber Valley Trail to the south side of our park comes to within a quarter mile of the lake and it would be easy to extend our trail to meet the trail on the south side of the lake. That will probably never happen because trails run two directions and we don't want strangers hiking into our park from the lake. It would be possible to bicycle ride to the lake then hike or ride the 3.5 mile trail along the south side of the lake. I have hiked that trail but never used a bicycle on it. Bicycle riding to the lake makes for good exercise due to the climbing.

Tuesday, June 4, 2019: We visited several stores today plus the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles. I noticed the license plates on the Forester expire in August and we will be in Minnesota in August. The plates need to be renewed now. The DMV was happy to see me and take my $112 to renew for two years.

One of the stores we visited was Home Depot for some exterior paint to finish Gwen's barn quilt board. While there, she picked out some vinyl floor tile samples for a little table project I was planning back at camp. We have a little table with legs but no top. We thought the tile would make a good top. This little table will be perfect between our chairs on the patio.

Monday, June 3, 2019: We are "lease-holders" in the Escapee park in Oregon. Once you become a lease-holder, the lot is ours for life as long as we pay our annual maintenance fee (amounts to about $100/month). We have been lease-holders since 2012 when our name came to the top of the wait list. We have had our Cameo fifth wheel on our lot since then and have traveled in something else each year. Now we have sold our Cameo so, for the first time, we are able to put our lot into the "rental pool" once we leave. This year we plan to leave on June 12 and will not return for eleven months. For every day our lot is in the rental pool we get a credit toward our maintenance fee (the lot does not have to be rented, we share in all rental income). For that reason and to keep with park rules, we have been doing much to clean our lot, kill weeds, weed-whack, pressure wash the patio, installing a water drainage system next to the patio, etc. Today, we painted the trim on the shed. Renters do not have access to our shed but we want it to look nice.

As a side note, in today's mail was a jury summons for the month of July for Douglas County Courts sent to me. As I read through the summons I came to the section titled "Reasons to be excused" and number 1 in the reasons: people 70 and over are excused. That includes me.

Also for the first time, we have made detailed, daily travel plans because we are going to states we have never visited. We normally make no plans and have never had a problem finding places to park each day. We plan to take advantage of "Boondocker's Welcome". That is an online location to find private individuals who offer a place to park overnight on their property. A traveler can make a reservation up to two months in advance. Today I sent a parking request to a couple in Houston, Minnesota for August 4. The request was accepted within 15 minutes.

Sunday, June 2, 2019: I weed-whacked this morning for about two hours. One of those things a lease holder must do since we aren't "renters". Later in the day I removed the TV to learn why the DVD player is not working and to install an HDMI cable to connect directly to a laptop. I was not successful in getting the DVD player to work. However, I have gotten a laptop connected. Gwen is anxious to see a new British show called "Man Hunt" with Martin Clunes (Doc Martin) as the star. We have decided to subscribe to Acorn TV. It is British only TV, streamed onto smart TVs, laptops, phones, tablets by connecting to the Internet. Gwen and I virtually watch NO network TV (well, Gwen has a few favorite shows on CBS, but I watch none). We watch shows on Netflix, Hulu and Prime and have found we like the British shows the best. So we have decided to try Acorn TV for a seven day free trial. After the free trial it becomes $6 per month. I'll admit, when football season starts again, we will renew our subscription to DISH network satellite TV. Click the photo to see the first Acorn show I watched while Gwen was playing card games at the club house. I watched the first episode of "Pitching In".

Thursday, May 30, 2019: Gwen and I took the time this morning to hike the Timber Valley Trail along the south end of the park. The park owns enough property for the trail to be about 1.5 miles long. A member of the park, Bob, has done most of the work including surveying and construction. The trail is very well built, wide with good footing for the entire length. It is in the shade so it makes for a cool hike on a hot day. The trail crosses several creeks and marshy areas so Bob and his crew built well constructed bridges over those areas. He has also added side trails for bicycle jumps plus signs warning of Poison Oak in the area. Gwen and I saw very little Poison Oak. Our entire hike this morning totaled 2.5 miles.

Tuesday, May 28, 2019: When the Cameo fifth wheel was parked here we had an aluminum awning attached. After the attachment, I ran a rooftop rain drain from the awning to the street drainage ditch. Gwen came up with the idea of extending the pipe under the pavers next to the patio where water usually gathers during heavy rain. I was hoping for easy digging but after only two inches of gravel and sand I was digging into the horrible clay which exists in the area. It is awful, sticky stuff. If it gets onto your shoes, it is terribly difficult to get off. For that reason, I borrowed the neighbors wheelbarrow to take the clay to the back of the lot.

I joined the new French drain links to the existing underground pipe which extended it 20 feet under the paving stones. I put gravel around the French drain then covered with sand and dirt before replacing the pavers.

Monday, May 20, 2019: What I will use for a water house arrived today by FedEx. It is a perfect size for the water house. Rather than leave off the bottom, I cut out the bottom to fit over the plumbing. In this photo I'm reading the instructions. "Fit part A to part B. They will slide together and click to lock in place." The sides were easy, the top, not so easy. The top required installing hinges and a pneumatic piston. I believe I used the wrong size screws on Part A because the screws I used on the top (lid) were slightly too long. Oh Well!

Click the photo to see the completed project. I circled the pipe I buried under the house to be able to push the female end of the water hose into the house. No need to leave the lid open to get water to the RV. We are putting our lot into the rental pool when we leave in June. I'll label the pipe so renters will know how to get water to their RV. Our next door neighbor, Art, came over to inspect the new water house because he needs one too. He believes all the lots should have one just like it since ours is so nice.

Thursday, May 16, 2019: Because it rained most of the day I worked inside my shed. I'm putting things back where they belong and packing things I don't expect to use for a long time. The floor space and shelf space must be cleared for long term storage so I've found a different location to put items I know won't be used for a while. That all sounds boring but to make life exciting, the first part of the next big project arrived today. I am at the limit (30 amps) with my current solar charge controller. I need to add more solar power to get my batteries fully charged during the winter months. If I add more solar panels, I need a new charge controller and that is what arrived today. The Victron controller will handle up to 60 amps and is controlled by a smart phone via Bluetooth. Additionally the panels will need to be wired a combination of series and parallel. That means everything will need to be rewired. I hope to keep this new project at two days once all the parts have arrived.

Tuesday, May 14, 2019: Besides being a "work day", Gwen and I took our friends Bud and Anita to lunch at our favorite restaurant, The Lighthouse Cafe and Bakery. It has the best food for 60 miles around. Bud is the friend who has been helping with the Cameo. We had an enjoyable lunch. Meanwhile, back at space 93, I have been moving paving blocks around to match the door in Mz Ruby. It is in a completely different location than the door in the Cameo. Next, I have been working on our water source. While we were in Arizona all the water connections have been upgraded (changed). In making the changes, our water line to the back of the property was dug up and must be buried. The "water house" around the water source has been destroyed so I threw it away and it needs to be replaced. The gravel has been leveled and the low spots have been improved. I hope that means the Mz Ruby stabilizer jacks will not have to extend very far.

Thursday, May 9, 2019: What a day. I had my dental appointment early this morning. While I was at the dentist, Gwen opened our yard sale at the Cameo. Everything from inside and under the Cameo was for sale. Later in the morning I joined her and got to meet many people from the park, the only place we had advertised the yard sale. When closing time came we had made $400 in sales but we still had a lot of stuff so I posted announcements to the public on Craigslist and Facebook. About an hour after the post I was contacted by Al (on the right in the photo). He identified himself as forming a nonprofit to deliver items to those affected by natural disasters. He told me he was making a trip to Paradise, California tomorrow and had a long list of items needed by those in the area. I talked with him by phone and told him to come get whatever he needed and to bring an official ID so I could know he was legitimate. He brought Allen with him who has helped with the project from the beginning. He brought lists of items needed provided by churches and other nonprofits in the Paradise area. He also brought the magazine, Ruralife where he is featured on the cover with an article inside telling of the disaster relief he and his group have provided. Gwen and I were happy to donate whatever he thought was needed. I helped fill boxes of everything he could take. This pretty much cleaned out our yard sale so I went back online and cancelled the public announcements. Gwen and I are very happy to help those in Paradise however we can. Click the photo to enlarge.

Wednesday, May 8, 2019: This has been another tough physical day. Tire pressure has been checked and adjusted, the jack stands have been removed, all the concrete blocks supporting the jack stands have been removed, water turned off and disconnected, the permanent sewer connection has been removed and discarded, the tires, wheel wells and rims have been pressure washed. the battery has been replaced, onboard stabilizer operation has been checked.

This all happened after a morning breakfast with the Escapee Chapter 9 group. During that meeting I passed around an advertisement for the cedar steps I had built to make entrance into the Cameo easier. They will not fit Mz Ruby so I want them gone and off the lot. Linda got a copy of my advertisement and immediately turned to me to say, "I want those!" I told her she needed to measure the height of her entrance to learn if they would fit. Later she came by to say they would fit and paid for the steps. I got my friend, Bud to bring over the tractor and we loaded the steps onto the bucket. We set up the steps in front of Linda's Presidential trailer. The steps turned out to be about a 32nd inch too tall. Bud suggested we adjust her stabilizer jacks by that much. After getting my tools, I made an adjustment to her stabilizer jacks and the door cleared the steps, yippee! Linda is a single woman living in the Presidential and was very appreciative of the new steps into her home. We are very glad she got them, we know how much nicer it makes living in an RV feel like home. Click the photo to enlarge.

The big yard sale starts tomorrow. All the stuff in the yard sale comes from inside and under the Cameo.

Tuesday, May 7, 2019: It took nearly the day to remove the skirt fold and store. Once removed, the Cameo had to be washed where the skirt had covered. After it was washed, I rolled the slides in. This was the first time those had been rolled in for about five years. I was glad everything still worked. We have actually had a few calls from buyers who sound serious. They have promised to see it this weekend. My friend, Bud, brought over the tractor. We put the hitch (removed when the skirt was attached) into the bucket of the tractor and Bud lifted it into place while I inserted the bolts. What's left, check the tire pressure, remove and sell the jack stands, new battery and it is nearly ready to roll. The one thing which should be done before rolling any distance is a wheel bearing pack. I'll let Les Schwab do that.

Sunday, May 5, 2019: This photo is from the Cameo roof looking down at the two north side slides. These are the two slides where I installed aluminum roofing to protect the slide tops. That roofing material must be removed so the slides can be brought in and the Cameo can go back to being mobile. I was able to remove everything and have patched most of the holes. I will finish patching when it isn't so hot. What's left is to remove the skirt and reinstall the hitch which was removed for the skirt.

Saturday, May 4, 2019: I've always known to have an escape plan ready in the case of a fire. In the case of Mz Ruby, the kitchen is located in the center with ONE door for escape ... in the front. That means we need an emergency escape route from the back. I do happen to have a fire extinguisher in the front and back of Mz Ruby but an RV is like the head of a match stick, any fire will likely spread quickly so I want a rear escape route. I found this ladder at Amazon, the shortest and least expensive. It is too long for Mz Ruby but might be OK for a fifth wheel. The hook design is for a standard window and won't work for an RV so I improvised a quick-hook system. I put heavy duty coat hooks at each corner of the window which are used to connect to the straps (after removing the straps from the metal bars). I first attached aluminum braces for extra strength. Of course I tested my weight on the ladder. I cut off five extra rungs at the bottom of the ladder since it was too long. What is left is easily stored under the foot of the bed. The window brace in kept under the window. Click the left photo to see the corner coat hooks. Click the right photo to enlarge. The yellow rags are to protect Mz Ruby's finish while testing the ladder.

Sunday, April 28, 2019: Gwen and I drove to Bandon, Oregon, about a two hour drive. We arrived to meet Gwen's son David and Lesa. Dave's partner, Brook and Lesa's friend, Jeff are also in the photo. This location is the "Washed Ashore" museum. A artist museum of rubbish retrieved from the ocean. Nearly 50,000 pounds of rubbish has been taken from the ocean. The objective is to remove ocean trash by creating an activity to use the trash.

We enjoyed a family meal together then a walk around town. Dave and Brook are from Brookings while Lesa and Jeff drove from Klamath Falls. We all picked Bandon as a convenient meeting location then we all returned to our home. This was a perfect weather day except for a high coastal wind.

Click the photo for another family view.

Wednesday, April 24, 2019: The winter storms at Timber Valley did a lot of damage in the park. Mostly by breaking tree limbs and downing trees from the heavy snow load. Today I joined a work crew to "pick up sticks". The sticks were hundreds of tree limbs which needed to be loaded into the park dump truck. With more than a dozen people helping it only took two hours to clear the one area we were assigned for today's task. This is the first physical work I have done in a long time so I'm pretty sore tonight. Click the photo for another view. Tomorrow will likely be physical work too. I plan to start the day by pressure washing the roof of the Cameo.

Monday, April 22, 2019: I have the first appointment of the day for Mz Ruby's annual engine service. I'm parked at Cummins in Central Point, Oregon. I was told to expect to be ready to leave by noon. As it turned out, all the service was complete by noon however, a recurring fault code turned out to be the NOX sensor which was diagnosed at failing. It must be replaced. I was told they would install it tomorrow morning so I chose to stay another night in their parking lot. In the meantime, I drove Mz Ruby to the Oregon DMV to get her registered in Oregon. I simply transferred the Miss Dory license to Mz Ruby, for a fee of course. I waited at the DMV for nearly two hours. Once I got service the transaction was quick. Mz Ruby is now a legal Oregon RV. Click the photo to see two Cummins mechanics holding the new sensor which must be installed tomorrow.

Friday, April 19, 2019: One of the many things I did today was spend some time with Elise and her Dad, Scott. We had a picnic in the park and the kids played on the playground equipment.

I was hoping Joe's replacement fan would arrive but that didn't happen until later this evening so that project will happen tomorrow.

For dinner, sons Joe and Ben and I had a special meal together. It will be one of our last times together since I'm leaving early Sunday morning.

Thursday, April 18, 2019: Remember the clock I built for my son Joe's new house.

Today I installed the clock onto one of Joe's walls in his new house. Last fall I could not get the clock to work properly. I made a few adjustments today and it has been working for a couple of hours. Click the photo for a video or click here.

The bird house below the counter weight is filled with BBs for extra weight. I want the clock to have every chance of working before I remove the extra weight.

Wednesday, April 17, 2019: Click on this photo for another photo. These two photos were sent to me by Gwen earlier today from Sutherlin where she is preparing the Cameo, fifth wheel for sale. Since buying Mz Ruby we knew we would be selling the Cameo as soon as we returned to Sutherlin. Gwen has already found a buyer for the aluminum awning which was installed three years ago. The awning must be removed to move the fifth wheel. This is just the first of many obstacles which must be removed before we can move the Cameo. I will be arriving in Sutherlin on Monday to get to work on all the projects.

Tuesday, April 16, 2019: Remember this fan from the installation we did at my son Joe's house. We have been working since then to get the fan to work. I have spent the last two days on the phone with Hunter, the manufacturer.

They finally got to the point they wanted to start sending me replacement parts. They wanted to try one part at a time with 7 - 10 days for shipping time with each part. I said, "NO". Joe ordered the fan from Amazon so we will click the button to return the fan.

At least we had practice with this one and the one in the bedroom. The bedroom fan works, by-the-way!

Sunday, April 14, 2019: Today is recital day for Chloe and Noah. They had many family members in the audience to appreciate their music. Here is the video of their short tune.

Click the photo for another view.

Here is a photo of all the performers.

Friday, April 12, 2019: I spent the day at my son Joe's house. He wanted me to install a new kitchen faucet which seemed very difficult at first but I learned part of the cabinet would come apart which allowed easier access to the faucet. I plan to install Joe's old faucet into Mz Ruby. Meanwhile, I finished the installation of Joe's choice of faucet. Click the photos for more views.

In addition to the faucet, Joe wanted two ceiling fans. This one I installed into his bedroom. I installed this one into his family room.

Wednesday, April 10, 2019: Visiting my son Ben and his kids, Noah and Chloe. They are still practicing for their Sunday recital. Noah seemed to be more interested in practice since he sat down and played his duet part before Chloe joined him. Once Chloe was coaxed by Dad to practice, she joined Noah and they practiced together.

Sitting on top of the piano is the interesting and very strange chicken they purchased while we were all on vacation in Windsor.

Tuesday, April 9, 2019: This is April in Verdi, Nevada, so what does that mean ... for the weather?

Well, after the weather I went with Lucy and her Dad to gymnastics, it IS gymnastics Tuesday! Lucy worked for an hour with her instructor and two classmates. I have been to gymnastics with her before but always in the morning when few teachers and students are present. This time it was after school and the gymnastics building was full of all ages at practice.

Lucy enjoyed her hour and so did Elise who was upstairs with Dad and me playing with the other kids (not in gymnastics) and their parents.

Click the photos for larger views.

Monday, April 8, 2019: Visiting with daughter Mindy and the grandkids, Lucy and Elise. We usually play games but today Lucy and I wrote a book about an ant and a worm. She would draw the pictures then tell me what to write on each page. The ant and worm were friends. They played together on the playground. The ant liked cars and motorhomes. But the ant became sad when the worm left for Oregon in a little red wagon.

Elise also tried to draw in her coloring book but that didn't last long. Instead she decided to eat raw peas and share them with me. She has a cold so now I'm just waiting to learn if she passed the cold on to me.

Still ... we had fun telling stories and drawing pictures. Click the photos for another view.

Monday thru Friday, April 1 - 5, 2019: It is a tradition for my son Ben and his kids Chloe and Noah to visit Windsor, California, this time for five days. And for even MORE fun, Uncle Joe has joined us for the five days. On our first day, my sister, Dorana met us in West Sacramento, California for lunch then we walked the entire IKEA store. Check out all the photos of our five day adventure. We did parks, bridges, beaches, game stores, toy stores, swimming, fish hatchery, lunches out, and ice cream plus brownies. Click all the photos for more views.

Finally, here is me with the kids and lots of snow at Donner Summit.

Sunday, March 31, 2019: My son Ben invited me and his sister, Mindy, her husband, Scott plus Lucy and Elise for a fish barbeque tonight. The cousins enjoy playing with each other. After dinner Chloe and Noah practiced for their recital by playing their duet in front of all of us. The performed for their cousins, Aunt, Uncle, Dad and Grandpa and did a very good job. The piano was given to them by their proud great-grandmother Doris. This was "Lime-Green" day at Chloe's school so she always wears a shirt Gwen and I have given to her.

Here is a video of their practice.

Click the photo to see Noah and Lucy playing catch-the-big-red-ball together. Lucy is five and Noah is seven.

Friday, March 29, 2019: Elise is an aggressive horse rider and enjoys her afternoon rides. She had to show me how hard she can ride. What fun to spend the afternoon with Elise and Lucy.

I've made a short video.

Click the photo for a larger view.

Thursday, March 28, 2019: This was a playday with the grandkids. Toward the end of our playtime, we visited a city park with lots of playground equipment. Lucy must be an expert. Elise also enjoyed much of the equipment with Mom's help.

I did make a video of Lucy on the swinging bars.

Click both photos for a larger view.

Wednesday, March 27, 2019: My day started with service for the Subaru from the Reno Subaru dealer. They also did the last oil change (service). I'm not a big fan of deal service but I will give them a chance. I am always given a large detailed list of all the items serviced. I knew I was out of window wash fluid and when the car is returned to me I immediately check the level of window washer fluid and it has not changed. I check the page showing the work done and the "Washer Fluid" is checked as "OK" and "Filled". If I get the chance to send remarks to the shop, I will note that this makes me doubt all the other "green checks". Click the photo to enlarge.

Later in the day I took my kayak to my son Joe's house where I will store my kayak in his garage. Gwen and I are planning a major adventure this summer beginning in June and not returning to "home base" (Oregon) until May of 2020. We will not be taking our kayaks on this trip. I'm very grateful to Joe for the use of his garage. Click the photo to enlarge.