Today is preparation day getting ready for tomorrows move. There is not a great deal I can do today except put a few things away in their travelling places. Things like the toaster and indoor grill all go in the shower on the bathmat to stop them sliding around. Other things have their respective places for the journey and the bed is the catchall for what is left.
We went out for a walk and as I had some trash, took it with us to put in the dumpster. On the way, I noticed that the Canadian Geese are back, al 15 of them strutting around as though they did not have a care in the world and maybe they don’t. As I had forgotten my phone…again, we hustled back to the RV, and I picked up my camera to take a few pictures of this gaggle. We wandered around for a bit before heading back to Quatro. All around us, there are signs of campers preparing their RVs for the trip home as many are weekenders. Several others have already left and there are a lot of empty spaces with the Camp Staff busy at work cleaning and preparing the sites for the next tenants.
I decided that I should do my laundry as I had looked to see that the machines were all available and collected up my wash bag. I chose to drive over the short distance because the detergent and such were already in the back of the car. One of the young staff ladies was cleaning the machines and I complimented her on the care that they show of the campground. With the wash in two separate machines, I drove back to Quatro and did a bit more work before heading back over to put the wash in the dryer. I chatted to another camper who was waiting for a washing machine, and we discussed the crazy drivers on the road. I headed over to the office to get quarters for the next wash at the next campsite as I was just about out and chatted to the same young lady as had been in the washroom. Then back to Quatro to await the driers completion which took about 40 minutes. I drove back as I did not want to carry the heavy laundry basket and it was just as well, I made that decision. I had to wait 5 minutes for the drier to finish up and when I opened the drier door, I could not believe just how hot it was. I could not put my hands on the clothes and had to wait a while for them to cool down before I could start to fold them. With everything folded and put away, I drove back to the RV and put the neatly folded clothes into their proper places.
With the laundry done for one more week, I sat down to work on the pictures that I had recently taken making adjustments and such ready for me to use as I see fit. A couple of them turned out really good. The others are just pictures. I had stood for a while when out walking the dogs and had taken nearly 35 pictures of the different boats that went up and down for about 15 minutes. Some may be the same boats coming and going as the lake ends further up and away from us. It is very busy today, boat traffic wise but it is Sunday, a day of rest and play.
We adjourned to Quatro for the rest of the afternoon trying to stay cool. The outside temperature is now 100 degrees and next week’s forecast for here is a week of the mid 100’s. Bloody hot.
With everything done that I could do before we leave tomorrow, we went out for the final walk of the day talking to as many people as we could and visiting the duck’s nest for the last time. Hope the eggs hatch OK and there are lots of baby ducks. We visited the dog run for the first (and the last) time as I had not seen it before and spent time talking to others that were in there who had let their dogs run loose. I kept mine on a leash as I did not trust either of them around other dogs unsupervised, especially Mikey who thinks he is a Doberman in disguise.
Back in Quatro, we had the final meal and watched TV for the rest of the evening. I remembered to lower the TV set back into its little space ready for the journey and we went to bed here, for the last time.
Written 07/19/2022 Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com
Mountain View RV Park, Mountain View, AK Day 1, Monday
07/18/2022
We got up early enough knowing that we are moving on today to yet another campground still in Arkansas. This time at Mountain View RV Park, Mountain View. This one is high up in the mountains but first, we had to prepare Quatro and then make the 200-mile drive. We took our final walk around chatting to a few people before heading back for a quick breakfast. With that out of the way, I finished storing stuff into their respective places for the trip and hoped that nothing would shift around too much. Usually, something does move and so the next trip, I adjust and on and on.
When I got up, I put stuff away in the bedroom and then pulled in the slide using the bed to store items as well. I put everything away in the bathroom after I had finished showering using the shower as a storage space for larger items such as the indoor grill and the toaster plus a bunch of smaller stuff. This time, I remembered to take the shower soap off its rack as it fell and turned on one of the valves on one of the earlier trips and after I connected the outside water supply, we had a flood.
With everything shipshape inside, I brought in the big slide and then went out outside to complete the unhooking of water, sewer and finally, the 50-amp electric supply. The last thing to do was to lower the RV off its jacks and onto the wheels and then we were ready to roll. I had previously moved the Jeep to the wide space in front of the office and with one final walk around the RV checking both under Quatro and around the campsite, I drove it to the office parking space and hooked up the Jeep. It went well as the ground was level which really helps to get things aligned. Then we were ready to roll and after programing in RV Trip Wizard on the tablet set up for this use, off we drove.
For some reason, the voice on the tablet had us run around in a couple of circles before we hit the highway and off, we went. The countryside is really pretty and heavily wooded on all sides with lots of tall fir trees. The miles (and time) slipped by as we drove and then changed onto several different Highways and then drove some more. The campsite had previously sent me directions which I compared to the RV Trip Planner, and they appeared to be the same or close enough. Well, it turns out they were not, and the last 10 miles of the journey were up and down a twisting and turning two lane highway with hairpin bends and steep inclines both up and down. I drove very carefully and luckily, there was not a lot of traffic. I noticed that when I had to apply the brakes going down for any length of time, the truck automatically down shifted to help with the descent. It was a very interesting trip to say the least and I would not drive it in the winter. I wonder what the gas mileage was for those last 10 miles with the engine working so hard.
We eventually arrived and I pulled up in front of the office which was just a small building which it shared with the laundry room although separated. I was greeted warmly and was offered a different spot under the trees which of course, I jumped on. I made my way to it following the lady’s instructions, but the park is so small, I could have found it anyway. There are quite a few permanent residents as in most Parks and several tiny houses and cabins scattered around, all occupied. I counted 18 empty campsites in two rows, so they were obviously, not terribly busy. Nothing going on around here to attract visitors or as it is a Monday, the weekenders have already left.
I unhooked the Jeep as the site is not long ls enough for both of us and drove into my spot. I eventually was satisfied and went about the business of hooking things up. A 5th wheel pulled in right next door, and it turned into an unofficial race to see who could set up first. The young guy and his wife beat me all ends up except they had to relevel their unit which allowed me to finish and, in my mind, was the unofficial winner. They had the same problem with their 5th wheel that I had with the one I used to own when it came to levelling although they did have automatic levelers and mine were manual. Still, that does not help when the wheels are off the ground and need blocking under them which is the problem that my neighbors had. We had chatted just a little bit as we worked, and they seem very nice.
With the electricity on and the A/C doing its thing, we went out for a quick walk just so the dogs could stretch their legs and do their business and explored the field below the campsites. When we returned, I went about the business of straightening things up inside and getting the place shipshape ready for our occupancy. Most everything was still in place, and nothing had tipped over or shifted from where I had left it so even with the mountainous terrain, we had done an excellent job of packing. Satisfied that I had done all that was needed and as the place is cooling down nicely, we went out for the final walk of the day. I was sitting outside when my new neighbors stopped to chat and before long, we were joined by another lady who took over the conversation. My neighbors grew tired of listening to her as I did, and they left which also was a signal for the lady to leave, thank goodness. She probably meant well but had a very loud and very grating voice and dominated the conversation.
We sat for a while enjoying the evening as it was starting to cool down by a couple of degrees before going inside for the evening meal and the usual television. So ended our trip and our first day at this new site surrounded by mountains.
Written 07/19/2022. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com
It seems that there are always lots of people to chat with and that campers are very friendly people. That’s really nice except when you have someone come over that just monopolize the conversation.. When I meet someone like that I tell myself that it’s probably because They are lonesome. That doesn’t make it any easier.
You can generally tell which campers are not friendly if they do not respond to a greeting. As for the monopoly bit, you don’t know that until it is too late…