05/28/2022
I got up really early at 6:00 am. I have not been up this early in years and forgot just what it was like. Quite honestly, although it was a bit cooler and much nicer for walking, I did not notice much difference. Maybe that is because I was stumbling along with my eyes half closed trying to sleepwalk my way around the park. Today, of course, is the big day when we trade in Mr. George and pick up Quatro.
We hurried through breakfast, and I forgo the coffee for grapefruit juice probably because the coffee maker and all other utensils are packed away. I moved the Jeep to the temporary parking which is right next to the laundry room and hurried back to Mr. George to go thru the pre-moving process, lowering the jacks, moving in the slide, disconnecting the water, sewer and finally the electric power. The final act was to ease Mr. George forward a bit, jump out after turning off the truck engine and check that everything was OK and hit the road. It was about 7:30 am and the traffic was light as it was not a workday. I made the turn onto Ranch Road 12 without having to use the detour that I had as a backup and we trucked along, making good time until as I rounded a bend, the County police had the road blocked. Something must have crashed but it was no longer there, and the local fire department were busy washing off the road which, incidentally, took forever. Well at least 20 minutes of frustration before I was back on my way. I had already called Crestview to tell them of the situation so they would know I would be late. Time is money and all of that…
I arrived and parked Mr. George for the last time without an ounce of regret as he just did not measure up or maybe, I was just too picky, and hurried into the office to be met by my salesperson, John Giguere. We quickly went through the paperwork. I told him I wanted to keep the mattress from Mr. George as I had previously bought it. He said he would look to see if the one in Quatro was the same size and would change it out if it was. He hurried off and the very nice lady from the office called me in and we went through the paperwork. I signed what seemed like 50 pieces of paper with her rattling on that this was for xxx and this for yyy. I gave her my cashier’s check for a large sum of money and then I was the proud owner of Quatro. It would be great if this was the end of the story after I had transferred the few remaining things, but it was not to be as the step which automatically closes or opens depending on the door, stopped working. A whole army of technicians descended on us they went to work trying to fix the problem. Almost 2 hours later they had it working again, and they had to steal the parts off another RV as they did not have them in stock. I finally pulled out of there and made my way back to Henly. I had been in communication with my friend BJ, who had offered to help transfer the stuff into Quatro and told her to not bother because it would be late by the time I got home.
The trip back was uneventful except for one motorist honking his horn at me as I made a turn at a stop sign. I had to take a wide swing because of the off track due to the length of Quatro at 36 ft and he did not approve. Too bad. I could have just run into him and then see how he would like that. Upon arriving at Henly, I proceeded to back into the site, getting it right the first time without any adjustments whatsoever. Next was to plug in the shore power, lower the jacks after placing leveling boards under the jack feet, connect the water and sewer and we were all set and ready to go. I let out the slide and we went for a short walk before returning to start work. I tied the dogs up outside so they could see what was going on and started to carry in boxes from under the tarps outside. We worked diligently for several hours before calling it quits and finding some food for us all. I tried the TV but could not get it to work and gave up listening to an Audiobook instead before hitting the sack early as my body was so tired and sore and slept like the proverbial baby.
Written May 29, 2022. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com
Henly RV Park Day 29 Sunday
05/29/2022
I slept like a log not waking until around 8:30 am this morning. I got out of bed immediately and we went for a short walk around the park. The steps are making grinding noises when I open them, and it looks like trip back to Crestview although I will wait until I pull out of here on Wednesday, the 1st. They are set up wrong anyway as they are supposed to stay open if the screen door is open and latched and only close when the main door is closed. I did not bother with breakfast and had to settle for instant coffee. Better than nothing though.
We went to work all day carrying in loads of boxes and storing the contents away until, I determined that we had done about as much as we could but had hardly made a dent in the stack outside. With so much more storage space, I had the luxury of picking and choosing which drawers or closets to store stuff. The bunk is proving to be very useful as it will never get used for sleeping and consequently makes a fine storage space for totes and such.
Sandy was due to be groomed and this time, her groomer stopped by the RV to pick her up, bringing her back a few hours later looking clean and sharp. I thanked the groomer whose name is Bethany, and we went back to work. Around 7:00 pm we called it a day and found food for us all. I had bought a roast chicken which is the dog’s favorite when added to their other food. I ate mine with steamed vegetables which I recently discovered.
I worked on the blog site and all of a sudden, the computer crashed with a warning that it was infected with a bug and the only way to fix it was to call a certain company to get them to clean it up. Bottom line and a couple of hours and $799.00 later, the computer was fixed. I suggested that I buy another computer, but it is something to do with my assigned IP address and even a new one using the same IP address would also be infected. My only option was to pay the fee to get it cleaned up. I have no idea how I got the bug as I do not open things I don’t recognize and am very careful, but it does not appear that any information was stolen. I have programs that are supposed to stop it like Malwarebytes and others, but I guess it was a different problem. Not my day after all. I did pay with my American Express card just as a safeguard.
I still have not hooked up the Roku stick, and the TV does not work using the other remotes that I have so we sat and listened to an Audiobook until it was time for bed.
Written May 29, 2022. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com
Henly RV Park Day 30 Monday
05/30/2022
I slept well probably because the work I did yesterday moving stuff into Quatro. It is tiring walking up and down the steps plus the heavy lifting is not what I am used to but I did manage to cover 1.8 miles for the day. We got up and took the first walk around the park running into a few other campers most of whom said hello. I did not even bother with breakfast or coffee and jumped straight into the work. Today, I spent a few hours loading totes into the outside storage in Quatro. Stuff like tools and supplies and such. It was amazing by working along at a steady pace, how much I was able to accomplish and before long, all of the outside pile was gone, the mat was back in place with the couch on it. Everything was stored away and I still have quite a bit of storage space left even after storing the extra, now empty, totes. What I will do in the coming days is to redistribute where the different items are stored to even out the weight a bit but there is no hurry for that. Incidentally, the Jeep is also empty, more or less, although there are some things I carry permanently in it.
Back inside Quatro, I sat for a while after stripping off and changing my sweaty clothes, just to relax a bit before going back to work inside trying to organize and straighten up. I received a call from Crestview and had a conversation with the manager regarding the steps and have an appointment on June 1st to get them fixed. I am leaving this park on that day anyway, so it is a detour on my way to Bastrop and hopefully, should not take too long. I spent the rest of the day straightening and tidying things up inside the RV. I even worked on the television and installed my Roku stick. Although the TV lit up. it kept telling me “No signal”. I messed around without a clue of knowing what I was doing, and I got lucky, and everything opened up. The screen is huge, probably at least 48 inches and maybe more. It will be fun to watch the soccer games on it.
We are pretty much all set for the move on Wednesday. Tomorrow, I will load the Jeep with the wicker couch and table and the other sundry other things that I carry there when we travel. I cannot hook it up yet as I will need to pull Quatro out of this parking space to do that so that will happen early Wednesday morning. We went out for the final walk of the day just around the park. It seemed hotter than ever even with a steady breeze, and I was glad to get back to the A/C. I finished writing this blog before getting it ready to post.
Written May 30, 2022. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com
Henly RV Park Day 31 Tuesday
05/31/2022
We all slept well, and I am glad that I had them swap the mattress from Mr. George as the new one is really comfortable especially with the additional 2 inches of mattress topper on it. I got up at a respectable hour for us as I knew we had a busy day ahead. We went out and walked around and ran into Daniel, back from his weekend vacation. He said they had a wonderful time swimming, canoeing and fishing along with eating and drinking. I showed him around Quatro, and he said he really liked it. He liked the additional space and the layout plus all of the storage. I think he was being honest and not just being nice. Back in the RV, we had a quick breakfast and this time I was able to make a latte along with a couple of slices of toast having got everything set up.
Then it was time to go to work. I harnessed the dogs to the table so they could watch and then proceeded to load the usual things in the Jeep carrier, outside mats, wicker couch and table and some of the wood blocking we use for levelling under the RV feet. The cushions and a couple of other things were put in the back of the Jeep. With everything outside put away with the exception of the water hose, sewer hose and electric power cable which will be the very last things after we pull in the slides, we adjourned back inside of the RV to the air conditioning. It was hot outside as the temperature had already reached 90 degrees.
Back inside, I put away the last of the things from outside and changed a couple of other storage locations for other stuff and noticed that I had overloaded a drawer and the bottom had parted company from the sides. Something else to work on. I did find a new home for the drawer’s contents though as I have that much space. I still need to get Quatro ready for the road by clearing off the counter tops of all moveable items and any others located throughout the coach. We do not have to be at Crestview until 11:30 am which means leaving here around 10:15 am or so I have a little time for the final packing. I do have to hook up the Jeep which takes about 15 minutes and will be the last thing I do before driving off.
I sat around for a while messing around with different things as I thought about them until about 6:30 pm when we went out walking around the park. We also walked the road that is part of the loop and that leads to Hwy 290 and saw a few exotic deer in the Preserve before returning to the RV. We managed to cover 1.6 miles for the day. On the way out on our walk, Malinda and Daniel were sitting outside of their RV and we wandered over so my dogs could say hello to their dogs. I sat and we chatted for a bit mostly about the upcoming move and the tenants of the park. We discussed my moving to their site when I come back which will be good for me as I will not be facing the sun like I do in this one.
It was still too hot to sit outside and anyway, I had nothing to sit on having put it all away ready for the trip, so we headed back indoors. The dogs immediately crashed while waiting for me to prepare their food knowing that as I was busy writing, it would be a while before I turned my attention to them. I finished the blog for the day and fed the dogs before feeding myself and then watching TV on my huge, screened TV set.
Tomorrow is the day when we start yet another new adventure.
Written May 31, 2022. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com