Showing the “low” side and the blocking required at the new site

 I awoke after a good night’s sleep and following the usual morning ablutions, we harnessed up for the first walk of the day. It was cold out and I was glad to have on my jacket. The weather forecast is for overnight freeze for the next few days with the temperature only reaching the mid 40’- 50’s during the day. I have already filled the freshwater tanks and so this evening, I will disconnect the water hose and only reconnect it when the nighttime temperatures go up or I need to fill the tanks again. Better yet, if and when we are at a new campground. We are so lucky that this site was available as we could have been in the field with no electricity for the heaters as the house batteries will not last very long without charging. 

Following the usual breakfast, shared with the dogs and coffee for me, which was not shared, I sat down to read emails with the usual mixed results. I had one from BJ describing her return to her home from the trip and the 2 days she took cleaning and dusting. I looked around and thought of the 15 minutes it takes me to clean and dust Quatro, the odd times I think it necessary, which, incidentally, is not very often. There is a lot to be said for living in an RV. 

The rest were the usual junk and were quickly disposed of before turning my attention to the blog which is all caught up. My old parking spot has been filled with an older Class A and when we went out walking this morning, the owner was outside and cooking breakfast on his propane stove. As we sat writing and working on the pictures I took, 3 very large Class A’s pulled in one behind the other, probably travelling together. Several others came in one by one as the park filled for tomorrows big game. Come Sunday, most of them will be gone back to who knows where, elated or disappointed at the result. Unlike my sport, soccer (football where I come from) where a tie is counted as a result except in competitions like cup games when there has to be a winner, football of the American variety always has a result. It is the American way that there must be a winner and conversely, a loser and tied games are just not acceptable. 

I worked some more on the pictures of the new location ready to post in the blog and then caught up with writing and the afore mentioned posting. It is surprising that by moving 50 yards closer to the road, just how much the traffic noise has increased. Sometimes, it is a bonus to be deaf as all I have to do is take out my hearing aids to cut out some of the noise if it gets too loud. 

It had clouded over again, and the temperature was dropping, and we harnessed up for the afternoon stroll around the park. Nearly all of the spots are filled although there are a couple still open, much to my surprise as Gerry had mentioned that he did not have anything available. A lot of the new tenants are LSU fans and much of their camping gear reflects this. At one site, many of them were gathered around one campfire, drinking, barbecuing and chattering away and the spirit of camaraderie for their Alma Mater was very obvious. They cheerfully greeted me and made a fuss of Sandy as we stopped to say hello. Incidentally, the majority of the rigs that they drove were very large and very expensive Class A Motorhomes, so they appear to have benefitted by attending their School. 

On our return to Quatro, I sat and wrote some more and then remembered that I needed to fill the cold water tank and disconnect the hose because of the forecasted frost for the next few nights. The daytime temperature will not go above 50 degrees in that time, and we are in for a real chilly spell. 

I received a call from the Quality Collision to confirm what I had already suspected that the Jeep was not going to be ready today and with it being Friday, they will not be working on it again until Monday. Even if it ready then, we will not travel until Tuesday at the earliest and that depends on us finding a camp ground. I have a couple picked out but cannot call them to make any arrangements until I get a firm move date which depends on the Jeep repair. 

Incidentally, this will be a good time to clear out the refrigerator and freezer as I have no transportation to get to any stores. Probably will be drinking my coffee black as well. The closest Dollar General is almost a mile away, within walking distance if needs must. Just as long as I do not run out of wine…

The rest of the day and evening was spent in the usual way 

Written 11/12/2022. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com  

Southgate RV Park, Fayetteville, AR Saturday Day 66 11/12/2022

Showing the frost from the Park entrance.

When I looked out of the window around 7:30 am, the ground was covered in a white blanket of hoary frost. It was very pretty to look at and quickly disappeared as the sun’s rays hit it. Even so, I sign of things to come which will only get worse the longer we stay here. 

We went out walking and I was bundled up against the cold although I still wore my shorts as I usually do most of the year. Last year, I wore them all 365 days without changing into long pants at all. Not the same pair of course as I have many pairs of shorts. The park was quiet even though it was full, it was only when I got back in the RV, did I discover that the game is scheduled for this morning which accounts for it. 

Wandering around, we did see one other dog walking his master and we steered clear of them as we walked around. We did our usual full circuit which works out to 4/10’s of a mile before returning to Quatro for breakfast, glad to be out of the cold wind and into the comparative warmth of the RV. 

Back in the RV, it was breakfast time and the little guys each got a taster. Incidentally, they always have hard food available as I only feed them once a day. I discovered by trial and error that they would not eat the same food in the morning as they get in the evening. Go figure… 

Then it was the usual straightening up the RV and making the bed before settling down in front of the computer. There were, as usual, a lot of emails, mostly junk which were quickly trashed and then I turned to the blog. At least, this is something that I have control over. I wrote for a while and then posted yesterday’s blog after working on a few pictures that I took of this morning’s frost.  

Looking around for something else to do, I wrote a poem about the poor decisions that I make from time to time and the frustration and sometimes the monetary cost that is also involved. If only we had foresight or maybe could change the past, but we live and sometimes die, by the decisions we make. In my latest case, it just cost me a lot of money and I did not die…Not from this event anyway but, in the end, everybody dies. 

Sandy was being a bug and at every opportunity, was giving me “the look” which interpreted means “Let’s go walking”. I could not stand it anymore looking up and seeing her beautiful brown eyes staring unwaveringly at me and closed the computer to harness them up. The air was still chilly, and I was glad of my jacket. The dogs did not care as they dashed madly from one great smell to another with Sandy, as usual, leading the way. 

By then, the game was over with the Razorbacks losing to LSU and a couple of the RV owners were breaking camp and getting ready to move out. Probably the Razorback fans as the LSU contingent were all still there. Sandy led us around the park and then onto the road that leads through the neighborhood before I guided her into making the turn onto Cado Park Road. The traffic was very heavy leading to Hwy 71B, and we had to wait to cross over. Eventually, two of the cars, one in each lanes, waved us through at the Stop Sign and we continued back to Quatro. We managed to walk 1.6 miles for the day. 

Back in the RV, it had cooled off again and I had to adjust the electric heaters accordingly. It was still only late in the afternoon, so I watched a couple of English Premier League games which included time out to prepare the food for both the dogs and for my evening meal. Incidentally, the refrigerator is looking bare, and we have started in on the frozen and canned food. Probably a good thing to use that up anyway as goodness only knows how old some of it is. 

Just to be sure that I would not be cold during the night, I hauled out a fleece cover for the bed. Mikey very occasionally will sneak under the covers to cuddle up close to me, but he does not stay very long as I guess he gets too hot. Sandy is the opposite and usually does not sleep touching me or Mikey but last night, I thought she was shivering, and it woke me up. Knowing that she is averse to covers for whatever reason, the best I could do was to drag the corner of a blanket to sort of half cover her. It must have been enough as she stopped shivering and remained partially under the cover for the rest of the night. Some bad experience from her past, no doubt as she has had a broken rib which I can feel in her chest area. She was a couple of years old when she joined our little family so who knows what her past life was like. 

We all slept the rest of the night without further interruptions. 

Written 11/13/2022. Read my other blogs at https://pondblog2011.com