Who would have thought that we would have to stay here so long. Living in the mountains is not my idea of a permanent home. Well, maybe in the summer but not in the winter months. When we got up, the temperature was a cool 32 degrees, and it was very cold and windy outside. I bundled up and we wandered around the park enough for the dogs to do their thing before returning to the RV. I was more concerned about getting back into the relative warmth of Quatro than I was in counting steps.
Following the usual breakfast and coffee, I settled down to read the daily news and saw nothing of major interest to worry about before turning my attention to writing in the blog. I sat and thought about it and then decided to call the Collision Center…again, to see just what the latest news is and am now awaiting to hear back from them.
I completed and posted yesterday’s blog and the poem that I had just written. All about the word “Love” and how it is used, sometimes misused and a lot of time applied to the wrong things. It truly has so many meanings. I also did a quick review of the rest of the trip in RV Trip Wizard although I cannot complete any of it until I know when we can pull out of here. Everything centers around the Jeep repair. I also compiled a grocery list for when I can get into the nearest Walmart’s. I am really scratching for things to get up to as we wait for the Jeep.
We harnessed up and walked the sidewalk in front of the Tyson Plant all the way to the end which is a good half mile. This is easy walking as far as we are concerned, and the sidewalk is set back away from the road making it much safer. The wind was very cold, and I was glad to get back to the warmth of the RV. Altogether, we covered 1.4 miles for the day.
I was sitting and listening to an Audiobook story and a truck pulled up very close to the RV. It got my attention and as I looked again, my Jeep, driven by a pretty lady pulled up. Then I recognized them from the Collision Center and opened the RV door to greet them and we stood and chatted for a while. They were full of apologies for the delay, and I mentioned that I had put my plans on hold while all this was going on. After they left, I parked the Jeep a bit further away from the roadway entrance for safeties sake and went back inside.
I could pull out tomorrow after I find a new place to park for a couple of days but as I need groceries, I have decided to pull out on Friday if all goes according to plan and stay the weekend at the next site before moving on.
The rest of the evening was spent in the usual way.
Quatro in his new site. The old site is straight ahead where the Class A is parked under the tree.
We did not wake up as early as we have the last couple of mornings. Probably because it was warm and snuggly under the added fleece cover, I had thrown on the bed last evening. I crawled out to a very chilly RV only to notice that one of the electric heaters had tripped a breaker. Not too surprising as we are on a 30-amp instead of a 50-amp electric system. No wonder it was chilly…Incidentally, as opposed to the warmer months, many of the window blinds are raised during the day to let the heat of the sun in, not as we do in the warmer months, lower them to try to keep the heat out.. I have not used the front window fan for at least a week as we use the Suns natural resources.
I reset the breaker and the power returned to that heater and I adjourned to the bathroom only to discover that the water had frozen. I had forgotten to turn on the tank water heaters last evening. Hoping there was no damage as all I could do was wait for the pipes to thaw, we harnessed up and went out wandering around the park. Several of the RV’s had already left and the park was beginning to empty again. Through the course of the morning, a couple of others pulled out.
At one of the smaller Campers, they were preparing to leave, and the lady had a bag of trash in her hand. I offered to put it in the dumpster which we would be walking by anyway. It is this sort of helping that makes for good neighbors and we had spent time chatting to them the day before. Besides Sandy liked them as she got her ears scratched.
Back in Quatro, the water pipes had thawed, and I fixed the usual breakfast shared among the three of us before settling down to read and junk the emails. There were a couple, as there usually are, that require some work and a couple more that made interesting reading before they too were junked but on the whole, very little to hold my attention.
With that chore out of the way, I turned to writing the blog, completing yesterday and then starting today. I noticed that Gerry was in the office and walked over to get some quarters for the laundry although, not sure when I will do it. We spent some time talking about yesterday’s football game and I got a full play by play from him as to why Arkansas lost.
I am hoping for good news about the Jeep tomorrow so we can go ahead with our plans although I still must find our next stop on the way home to Henly. At least, we have a semi-permanent site until that time. But we are in the mountains, and it is getting cold with the frosts at night.
We went out for the final walk of the day and just wandered around mostly where Miss Bossy wanted to take us. She literally is guided by her nose so none of our walks are in a very straight line which is OK as it helps with the mileage count. Altogether, we covered 1.5 miles for the day and completed 185% of our total weekly goals. The park is pretty empty again and even a couple of the long termers, have moved on.
The rest of the evening was spent in the usual fashion with the evening meal for all of us followed by watching football of the rest of the world variety.
Southgate RV Park, Fayetteville, AR Monday Day 68 11/14/2022
Very big and very expensive RV’s, here for the game and all LSU supporters. They brought the frost on the ground, with them…
I awoke early but chose to snuggle in with the dogs until the call of nature forced me to get up. I thought about taking a shower and chose instead to conserve the water. We are working off our freshwater tanks although the temperature goes up enough during the day that I could re-connect the hose long enough to refill them if we need. Not like I have gotten hot and sweaty these past couple of days. Quite the opposite as I have had to add a jacket for our outside endeavors.
We wandered around the almost empty park with only a couple of RVs left in the temporary areas and even in one of the two permanent spots, only 5 RV’s remain. This essentially means that the park is getting ready to close temporarily for the winter to travelers. This is an older park as is the owner, Gerry, and unfortunately, it is starting to show signs of its age as it needs upkeep in many different areas. Gerry does not have a full-time maintenance person as many parks do and it shows. Gerry himself is a very helpful person and tries hard to accommodate his guests, just as he did us. Incidentally, his family built the park 30 odd years ago and he inherited it. I would imagine that he will be handing it over pretty soon to his son to manage or maybe, just sell it. If I was 25 years younger, it would not be a bad business to get into although not here in this part of the country as I hate winters. Next Saturday is the last home game for the Arkansas Razorbacks and then the park will empty out and leave around a dozen permanent residents. Actually, it makes sense to close so as not to worry about freezing water pipes and snow clearing and such.
Back in Quatro, I fixed breakfast that we all shared except for the coffee of course and then settled down in front of the laptop for the usual morning session. As usual, there were a couple of emails requiring attention and a couple of newsy ones that were interesting to read but otherwise, it was the usual exercise in trashing and discarding.
I then turned my attention to the blog catching up and posting yesterday before moving on to today. We are on hold here as we wait for the Jeep to be repaired and have no idea when that may be. I hope to see them drive it in on an hourly basis as they have promised to deliver it back to me. Currently, I have no transportation having turned the truck back in when I first thought the Jeep was ready. The good thing about that is that I have now started eating the food in the freezer which probably needed cleaning out anyway, but I have run out of fruit and yogurt and the ice cream is getting low. There is a Dollar General store almost a mile from here and if push comes to shove, I could walk it.
I got a message on my phone telling me that rain was due in 30 minutes, and we harnessed up to take an early walk, just in case we cannot get out later. We wandered around and the dogs noticed a couple of loose strays in the area where the few permanent RV’s are. They kept their eyes on them as we made our way back to Quatro having to cut the walk short. They might be friendly, but both were bigger dogs than my two put together and why take the chance.
Back in Quatro, I worked on writing some more both to pass the time and also because of my lousy memory. I really have to think hard to recall what I did yesterday, and the small things sometimes slip by. I happened to glance out of the window and what had started as a very light rain was turning into snow. I did not think it was that cold but apparently so. I pulled down the shades and we snuggled up with our two electric heaters suitably placed to direct their heat in our direction. They are not powerful enough to warm the entire RV and with us on a 30 amp circuit, I have to be careful as to what is switched on anyway. It is easy to trip a breaker with an overload. Not a big deal to reset it but just a pain.
The rest of the evening was spent in the usual fashion of watching a couple of Premier League games as we ate the evening meal.
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
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.
I got up really early for us, around 7:15 am, took a quick shower and then harnessed up the dogs for a walk around the park. I did not even stop for coffee and breakfast and headed out the door to find Quality Collision with the Jeep. I walked in and told the Manager what the problem was, and he and a couple of other Mechanics went to work on it for an hour or so. Finally, he walked back over to where I was sitting and explained that they had checked out everything mechanical, but they did not handle the computer re-programming and that had to be done by their other shop, the one that changed out the harness in the first place.
After some discussion, and several phone calls to the other shop, the Manager arranged for the Jeep to be driven over there by one of his guys and told another one to give me a ride back to Quatro to wait it out. If and when it is fixed, they will deliver the Jeep back to me here at the RV Park. With the arrangements made, I got that ride back and managed to catch Gerry, the Park Superintendent just as he was getting into his car.
I explained the situation and he told me that based on my earlier discussion with him, he had rented out the space for the game this weekend and I had until 12:00 noon tomorrow to move out. If the Jeep is not ready, he said that I can park in the field if needs be but of course, there are no services there. Hopefully, it will not come to that if I get the Jeep back today. All of this because I was too damn lazy to unhook the Jeep in the first place. Incidentally, there was almost $16,500.00 worth of damage to it… My share was $3500.00 plus the cost of the rental truck. A very expensive lesson learned.
I harnessed up the dogs and they looked at me as if to say, “Another walk and it’s not yet afternoon”. They were happy to go regardless of the time of day. We wandered along and I let Sandy lead the way. She took us out across the field and then out through the neighborhood and back to Quatro along 71B. I had not planned on that long a walk, but it is hard to argue with the female sex. It was still morning and I settled down to catch up with the blog working on it for a couple of hours as I waited for news or even sight of the Jeep.
A couple of hours later around 4:40 or so, I received a phone call telling me that the other shop was not able to get to it and quite literally, had no idea when they would. The guy on the other end of the phone was full of apologies and said he was hoping for tomorrow but could not promise anything. I explained that it left me in a very difficult situation as I had to move in the morning from my current site unless they can get it done tomorrow morning. I will need to talk to Gerry and see what part of the field he will let me stay in. No good looking for another campground in this Football crazed city.
With as much information as I was going to get today, I harnessed up the dogs and we went out walking around the park just as several others were doing. With skillful maneuvering on my part, we avoided any confrontations although Sandy is ever watchful for other dogs on her patch. Altogether for the day, we managed to cover 2.5 miles.
The rest of the evening was spent in the usual fashion.
This is the first snake that I have seen this year and this little guy is only about a foot long. Needless to say, he was not harmed by us and continued on his way.
The clock changing thingy worked for me again, as I awoke early although I did not get up straight away, preferring to laze around and snuggle under the covers. The dogs reminded me that I should make a move otherwise, what is the point of waking early. We wandered around the park avoiding a couple of people who had three big dogs between them. I hope they have a roomy RV with that many large pets.
We returned to the RV, and I fixed the usual breakfast which I shared as I usually do before turning to emails and then the blog. Today is one of those hurry up and wait days as I can do absolutely nothing while waiting for word of the Jeep.
I called Quality Collision Repair for the latest news and was told it would be another couple of hours or so and I arranged to get over there by 3:30 pm. For some reason, I had all kinds of trouble with the map finder on my phone and kept ending up in the wrong place. I was trying to return the rental truck and then they would take me over to the body shop, at least, that was the plan. Two hours later, for a trip that should have taken 30 minutes, I finally arrived. The Jeep looked great but on the way home, the hood open warning light came on. I pulled over and could not get the hood shut.
I made my way back to Quatro for the night and spent some time messing around and did get the hood to close. However, the “Hood Open” light warning came back on, and it was something more than I could fix.
I took the dogs out walking to help ease my frustrations about the whole sorry mess. Two and half months and it still was not working right. The walking and the dog’s company helped a lot as they do not ask for much and in return, give me all the love and companionship that I need. We managed to cover 2.4 miles for the day.
On our return, it was already getting dark, and we settled in for the night. By 5:30 pm it was night and dark outside. The clock changes have hit us with a bang. The rest of the evening was spent in the usual way, food and then television and worrying about tomorrow.
I awoke at what was probably the same time as I usually do except it was an hour earlier than normal because the clocks went back last evening. Now, I have no excuse for getting up late as I am on my own biological clock which also happens to coincide with real time. That does not mean that I cannot sleep late occasionally. The dogs, however, knew it was time to get up as they have no concept of time other than that which governs their respective bladders.
We wandered around and as expected, some of the football campers were preparing to go home and were working on breaking down their rigs. A couple of others were walking their dogs and we made sure to steer clear of them to avoid any confrontations. We did our usual half mile walking before returning to Quatro.
When I took the morning shower, the water had started to puddle up under my feet, a sure sign that that grey tank needed emptying. As soon as I was dressed, I took care of this chore, which takes a good 10 minutes, to empty both black and grey tanks. Only with this complete, was I able to go back inside and make coffee and breakfast. While I was eating, I was perusing the latest news and then the emails with nothing much to grab my attention. The world has not come to an end. Not yet, anyway.
I sat and thought about the future as regards our travelling. I am hoping to pick up the Jeep tomorrow and if that goes according to plan, can then go ahead breaking down camp. I need to re-attach the carrier to the back of the Jeep after removing it from the RV and then load it with the outdoor stuff which includes mats and the wicker lounger. If all goes well, I will do that tomorrow.
I have a new Blue Ox tow bar after damaging the last one in the accident, that I decided to install on the back of Quatro ready to tow the Jeep. It went very well and was bright and shiny when I pulled it out of the box. This will not last long as it catches all of the dirt and spray from the tires that the RV kicks up as we drive. The actual Jeep hookup is the very last thing to happen. In any case, I have to move the RV to a spot where I can get the Jeep lined up behind it as ours is a back in site which also drops off considerably just behind the parked RV. The RV breakdown is simple and does not take very long before driving off. I do not have the next stop picked out yet and cannot wait until I get the Jeep back. It is all in the timing.
With the tow bar installed on Quatro and the carrier ready to install the Jeep, there was really nothing else I could do in preparation for the move. Instead, I sat and watched my other favorite team, Man United, play Aston Villa who beat them soundly by a score of 3-1. It was just not Man U’s Day.
By then, it was time for the afternoon walk about. I harnessed up the dogs and we set off with the intention of just walking around the park. Sandy, of course, had other ideas and I let her lead us to wherever she wanted to go. Mikey gave me a look as if to say, ‘Really” as we wandered around. We ended up at the bottom of the field and then I took charge again guiding us back along the neighborhood road to Cato Park Road and then back to the RV Park. Altogether, we covered 1.6 miles for the day.
The evening was spent in the usual fashion, food, wine and football, with a round ball.
Southgate RV Park, Fayetteville, AR Monday Day 61 11/07/2022
Nature’s fruits
Today is the first day with the clocks changed and as I expected, I awoke and got up at 8:00 am. The first thing as usual, was to walk the dogs. The temperature had dropped again, and I was glad of the jacket that I had on. We did not stay out long, just enough for the dogs to do their thing before returning to Quatro where I made a bacon sandwich which I shared with the dogs although, I got the biggest part.
Turning my attention to other things, I did the usual world news thingy and decided that nothing had changed much and probably never will in what is left of my lifetime and if it does, it will be for the worse. I put the gloomy thoughts to one side and turned my attention to emails, none of which needed my input. I have resorted to blocking as many as I can although that only appears to be a temporary fix as the same senders show up again after a couple of days. Even those that tell you to do such and such to not receive their emails anymore, generally ignore the request to not send them. I read somewhere that the business is in the sending and not in the content and when a cancel request is sent, the company that sends out the emails are the losers. No wonder they are not interested in any cancellations regardless of the content or the wishes of the person sending the cancel request. I wonder how I end up on these lists as they are often for things that I have absolutely no interest in.
I sat there for a bit longer thinking about our plans for the next few days. Everything depends on the Jeep repairs and when I can pick it up. I fought against the urge to make that phone call as it was still way too soon. I must give them time to install that headlight, so I turned my thoughts to what remained to be done just to be organized in my mind.
Inside Quatro, when we move, I need to make travel safe all the moveable items for the journey. Not a big job and routine, mostly including installing shelf rods to stop the contents from inside the cupboards and the refrigerator from moving. Some items are stored on the shower floor and others are put on the bed, none of which can happen until we are actually going to travel. The letting in the slide outs and disconnecting the utilities are the very last thing. Add to that, packing all of the outside things on the Jeep carrier once I get the Jeep back. The final act before driving off is to connect the Jeep to Quatro. Damn, I hate all of this waiting around…So much to do and so little time.
I turned to the TV and played around with the sound bar but to no avail as I cannot get it to work. Giving up on that, I turned the TV on and watched a couple of Premier League games while I waited for the call which of course, never came. At half time in the second game, I bit the bullet and called the Collision Center as my patience had run out. The news was as I expected that it was not going to be ready today but should be sometime tomorrow, hopefully in the morning. I hid my disappointment and also my anger, thanking them very courteously and asked them to give me a call when I could come and pick it up. I bet that I will need to call them because if they have bad news, they will not want to call me.
I watched the second half of the game and as I calmed down, my frustrations evaporated as I watched these very good professional players kick each other all over the field but in a sort of controlled way. These players are incredibly fit as not only can they run and kick the ball for 90 minutes, mostly running at top speed in a very controlled way, their skills with the ball are amazing. I was a good player but nowhere near the level of these guys. No wonder, I never made the Professional grade.
With the games out of the way, I remembered that the clocks had changed and that it was going to get dark much earlier. We harnessed up and wandered around the grounds playing tag with a gentleman and his long haired Dachshund although, as with all of that breed, he had spotted us and was barking up a storm. My guys did not want to be outdone and responded in kind but luckily, we were going in opposite directions, and it quickly was over. Looking at his dog gave me the chance to confirm that basically, that is what Mikey is. In appearance and color, they both looked very much the alike. Mikeys problem is that his legs are twice as long than a true Dachshund which is his “something else” part. Altogether, we covered 2.5 miles for the day.
The evening ended in the usual way. Tomorrow, we can only hope that the repairs are completed as promised and even if they are, we will not travel until Wednesday.
The walk around the park as usual, consisted of changing directions a couple of times to avoid confrontations with other dogs out there, walking their owners. The park is beginning to fill as the Razorbacks have a home game Saturday, but most of those supporters that stay at the park will come in on Friday. We walked our normal 4/10ths of a mile before returning for breakfast.
I did the usual news thing and then followed it by the email thing. My friend, BJ, has been released from her expensive prison cell as she is now Covid free although with not much of the trip left to enjoy. Such a shame although, her suite aboard the luxury ship is larger than Quatro in square feet and much more luxurious.
It was difficult to sit and wait for news of the Jeep and I kept wanting to call and find out. They did say that if it is ready, it would be in the late afternoon. I used to pride myself on my patience which was boundless but, as I grow older, my patience and my temper are both getting harder to control and sometimes, I find myself really having to work at it. Another downside to growing old. Finally. I could stand it no longer and made the call and as I halfway expected, had more bad news. Apparently, the replacement headlight is the wrong one and they must reorder it. They did say that they should have everything done by Monday. Yeah, right…
I stopped over to the office to discuss the situation with Gerry, and he said that I was paid through Monday and if I needed to extend it by a couple of days, I could. I thanked him for his understanding and went back to the RV. The weather forecast is for heavy thunderstorms, so I decided not to waste the opportunity and instead drove into town hoping to beat the rain and get back before it started. As usual, the trip included both the Walmart’s stop, and the Starbucks follow up on the way home. I arrived back just in time to unload everything as it started to rain, with of course, a lot of help from my two little friends.
Back in the RV, I turned up the A/C units and turned on the portable heaters as it had cooled off dramatically with the onset of the rain. Then, with a lot of help, we put away the groceries before settling down to catch up on emails and write in the blog. By 5:30, it was already getting dark with the skies very overcast. As the clocks go back an hour tomorrow evening, this is the new norm, dark at 6:00 pm. Maybe, I should also change and start getting up earlier although, unwittingly, I will be doing that anyway. OK, now I have figured it out that my brain never adjusted to the original daylight-saving time which accounts for my normal wake up time at 9:00 pm. And I thought I was being lazy…Incidentally, this is the first heavy rain we have had for several months.
Our usual evening walk is just not going to happen so I must be prepared for the worst as far as the dogs go. Still, I do have Doggie Pads to put down and can only hope they find them. It rained hard for the rest of the evening and only tapered off around 11:00 pm. Just like before, the skylight in the bathroom has a very small leak but luckily, it drips straight into the toilet bowl.
I sat and listened to the rain beating heavily on the roof of the RV, which is actually, a very soothing sound and found myself nodding off to sleep. As it was only 7:00 pm, I roused myself awake and got on with the usual evening things like food and TV. We eventually went to bed around 11:30 pm and by then, the rain had stopped. As it happened, I did not need the soothing sound to go to sleep this time.
Southgate RV Park, Fayetteville, AR Saturday Day 59 11/05/2022
I awoke early and instead of rolling over and going back to sleep, my brain suddenly clicked into gear and reminded me that I need to walk the dogs as they had been “holding it” because of yesterday’s rain. I scrambled out, being careful where I walked just in case one of them might have had an accident but as far as I could see, the dogs had done a good job of hanging on. It was cold out and I was glad of my jacket and both dogs were very happy to return to Quatro after a very short walk, enough for them to do what they had to do. I could almost see them heave a huge sigh of relief as they “went” as they had been holding it for around 20 hours.
I managed to blow a fuse with a couple of units on at the same time and the GFI (Ground Fault Interrupter) switch that is supposed to take care of that sort of thing would only make some circuits work again. This happened because I forgot that I had one of the electric heaters plugged into that circuit and when I switched on the toaster and coffee maker, it caused an overload. Lesson learned and something else to research to get that circuit working again. Never a dull moment…
I sat in front of the computer and could not get it to open. My immediate thought was that the damn scammers had gotten into it again. Then reason took over and I started testing outlets to see which ones were not working. It appeared that one side of the RV was dead including the bedroom although things like the TV and the lights still worked, and the problem was confined to the outlets. The first thing was to dig out the manual which was an absolute waste of time. All it had was a description of the parts involved but no explanation of how to make it right. It only had a rough idea of where I should look.
I remembered that I belonged to RV Repair Club and went on line to see what they had to offer. I watched a couple of videos, but they did not address my particular issue. Giving up on that, I went back to physically searching the RV. In one of my earlier RV’s, the fuses and breakers were under the bed. This bed was a definite no-go as it does not lift up to use the storage underneath as the others did and there were no electric panels attached to the frame. I kept looking and what I originally thought was a part of the cabinet on one side, turned out to be the opening door to the fuse box. Hooray, I had found what I was looking for and with a quick survey, noted that one of the breakers had tripped. Quickly resetting it, I heard a beep as something came to life and we were back in business. At least now, I know where to look if I need to in the future.
Breathing a huge sigh of relief and happy that I had resolved the issue, I settled back down to writing in the blog as we have nothing planned for the day. The clouds had disappeared, the sun was shining brightly, and it had warmed back up again although the wind still had a chill to it.
I thought about it for a bit and decided that I should try a couple of the local Walgreens to see if they might have a shaving head to fit my razor. I have already tried Walmart’s within easy distance and the only one that had anything close was the Super Center. Not close enough though so after driving around and finding a lot more of Fayetteville than I wanted to see, I headed back to the RV park. Today is game day and the traffic is heavy close to the University.
When I arrived back to Quatro, both dogs greeted me and obviously, could not wait to get out walking themselves. We harnessed up and set off around the park and then headed for the field walking all the way to the bottom, staying in the sun as much as possible. The wind had a definite Nip to it as we wandered around. I was glad to get back in the warmth of the RV. I think that today is the first day in several months that I have not had the big fan running facing the front windows where most of the heat comes in even with the shades pulled down. Now, I am glad of it as it helps to warm things up.
I watched one of my favorite teams, Brighton and Hove Albion play, the one my Great, Great Grandson plays on. They won their game with Solly getting to play the entire match. I thought he played very well but then I might be just a tiny bit biased. The rest of the evening was spent in the usual way.
I had a restless night for whatever reason having difficulty in going back to sleep. My mind was filled with thoughts of this and that never settling on any one subject before switching to something else. Eventually, I must have dropped back off as the next thing I knew, it was 9:00 am and time to get up.
I took a quick shower and shaved. The new shaver is not as good as the one that needs a new head but then again, it is much cheaper. I will keep looking for a replacement head on our shopping trips. As a last resort, I can go back to the company online and get one that way,
We went out walking in the park as we usually do for the first walk of the day. The park is virtually empty except for what I consider to be the full timers or at least on an extended stay. I have noticed by the logo on some of the trucks, that in a couple of cases, the RV belongs to a worker whose job has them traveling from job site to job site and as soon as the job is complete, he/she moves on. Not a bad way go.
I wish I had known this when I worked pipeline construction, back in the day although it was in England and RV’ing was not much in vogue over there, back then. In fact, RV’ers had a bad name and were considered nothing better than wandering good for nothing, Gypsies. Incidentally, the English slang word for these Travellers was, “Didicoys”. There have always been wandering gypsies from time evermore going back to the horse and caravan days. They were looked upon as second class citizens because of their way of life just travelling around and making a shilling or two wherever they went, sometimes dishonestly. Hence the lack of trust by the other “law abiding” citizens. Now, as time has progressed, there are two sets of RV’ers. Those still referred to as “gypsies’ because of the nature of how they derive their living although they have upgraded their horse drawn caravans to low end or well used RV’s. Then there are the other luxury groups whose RV’s or Motorhomes can run into the many thousands of dollars and who are definitely not gypsies.
Back in the RV, I decided to do the laundry I had been thinking about and collected all of my “stuff”, jumped in the truck and made the short trip over to the laundry room. The person that had been there when we checked in on our walkabout, had gone leaving an empty washer and dryer for my use. The wash takes around 30 minutes. I returned to Quatro to do some more writing as we waited it out. When it was time, I jumped back in the truck and made the short trip over to put everything in the dryer. On my return, an hour later, just like before, the wash was not completely dry. It was just a bit damp and not wet, so I threw everything into the bag and drove back to the RV. The clothes that were dry were folded and put away but those still on the damp side were spread about the RV so they too, would dry out.
With the laundry out of the way for another week or so, I went back to writing and as I did, thought about calling to see if the Jeep would be ready. I was a little hesitant fearing more bad news, but the response was still very hopeful that it would be available late tomorrow afternoon. All I can do now is hope for the best.
We have nothing else planned for the rest of the day and cannot really make any plans for tomorrow until I know the status of the Jeep. It is really the focal point of the day if we can pick it up as our travel plans are on hold pending that.
We went out for a much longer walk down Cato Park Road and walked it all the way to the end. Altogether, we covered 3.2 miles which was the best day we have had in a long time as it did not include walking in a Walmart’s store. As can be expected, both dogs found their respective places and zonked off while I wrote some more as I cooled off.
Our first walk was no different than many before as we slowly wandered around a nearly empty park. We only saw one other dog and its owner had stopped the car as they were on the way out, so the dog could do its thing. They drove off and we continued wandering before returning for breakfast.
As is the normal routine, I perused the news and read a couple of items before turning my attention to emails. Just like every other day, nothing of major importance with just a couple requiring my attention. My thoughts turned to my friend BJ and her daughter Kristen locked up in their cabin, on board a ship with not much to do and not allowed to go anywhere because of Covid. I dashed off a quick text message, so they at least feel like they are in touch. Not a very nice ending to what promised to be a wonderful trip.
I wandered over to the office to exchange dollars for quarters as it was time to do the laundry again. Besides, if we do pull out of here on Monday, it will be nice to have everything clean and not have to worry about it at the next stop, which is still unknown. I cannot make any reservations until I get the Jeep back just in case it is delayed.
I was chatting to Gerry and asked him about the RV’s that the Hispanic workers live in as I thought that maybe, Gerry might own them and rent them out. He told me that the Construction Company that they work for owns them and I guess, rents them to the workers. Seems like a pretty good deal as they use their company vans to travel to and fro to work as transportation as well. Sounds like a good company to work for.
Luckily, I do not need a job as I already have a full-time one looking after Mikey, Sandy, Quatro and myself.
Later that afternoon, we went out walking again through the neighborhood, down the long walk past one of the large buildings which are a part of the University of Arkansas research programs before returning via Hwy 71B back to the RV. Altogether, we covered 2.1 miles for the day. I swear that we walk much further but as both of my step programs show the same thing, then I guess it is just wishful thinking on my part.
The rest of the day was spent in the usual fashion.
Mikey’s foot appeared to be OK or at least he did not show any signs of discomfort so, as we usually do, harnessed up to go out walking. After a couple of false starts, one because I forgot my phone, again, and secondly because I forgot the small bag of trash that usually goes with us on most of our walks. We make a point to walk past the dumpster at least once on our circuit of the park. We wandered around and said our “Good mornings” to those that we met before ending back at Quatro. The park is almost empty again except for the long termers.
Back in Quatro, while checking emails, I discovered that my very good friend, BJ, and her daughter Kristen, who are currently on a cruise ship, have contracted Covid. Kristen writes for a company that does travel reviews and this trip was one of those. Both have had all their shots so hopefully; this will only be a mild case. Their problem is that they are confined to their room for the rest of the trip.
Back on dry land, BJ has always been so careful about taking precautions even to the extent of having Home Delivery of her groceries, but I guess, on a ship there is no place to go except up on deck to get away from people. I know that when we came over on the Queen Mary all of those years ago, the family came up on deck to help stop their sea sickness. Fresh air and not being in an enclosed space really helped. Then again, we were not confined to our cabins like BJ and her daughter are. They must be going nuts in such a tiny enclosed space. Get well soon, both of you.
The rest of the emails were the usual junk and quickly trashed. I unfriend and unsubscribe from as many as I can, but they often come back again with a new address especially if they are trying to sell me something. Many of the “unsubscribed” are ignored by those companies that offer their services. I was reading somewhere, that many of those same companies unscribe on a limited basis as they get paid to remain active. Everything is a racket and I often wish for the days of long ago when life was simple and things like the Internet were a futuristic dream. Something you read about from HG Wells and Stephen Hawkin and other such writers. Unfortunately, now it is a permanent part of our lives and here to stay. Big Brother is watching you and has been for a while…
I wrote for a bit until I was caught up and turned my attention to posting yesterday’s blog. This does not take too much time as long as I do not fall behind. I have taken over 100 pictures of our time here at this park, which normally should be more than enough but due to the extended stay, some of the pictures may be duplicates of earlier posting. Sometimes, if I think a picture is worth repeating, I will repost it.
We went out for another walk this time through the neighborhood after following the field to the end, then walking the road, and returning through the field instead of walking all the way to Hwy 71B. Then, I sat around listening to an Audiobook for a couple of hours before harnessing up the guys for their last walk of the day. This time, we just walked the park avoiding the other few dogs walking their owners. Altogether for the day, we covered almost 2 miles keeping up with our daily average.
The rest of the day was spent in the usual fashion with food and television.
I was reading through some work that I know was written a very long time ago when I was at least fifteen years younger and now I am much older and wiser although wiser is a relative term used by people to affirm that they are smarter than the average bear and that in their thoughts they really care which may be true in their minds the sum of our thoughts often find that the things we often say can be hurtful in many ways in our beliefs and way of life some of whom prefer to strife while others look for a peacefull way and let the others have their say that is how it should be otherwise it is tyranny we should all try to get along each one singing his own song different than what your neighbor sings he is his own person and can do his thing as long as it does not interfere in all of the things that we hold dear for as individulas we have choices or collectively raise our voices there is no purpose to this poem no hidden views or call for action other than to lead a good life trying to do it without any strife respecting those who try the same for life is so much more than a game with the winner coming out on top life should be shared and we should stop competing to see who has the most of material goods which are quickly lost for when we die as we all do what use the gains of a lifetime or two for the only ones who will reap the rewards are those left behind who can now afford to start the cycle all over again until in the end they end up the same.
It was very cloudy and overcast when we rolled out of bed. It looked like rain and there was some in the forecast, so we quickly harnessed up for that first walk. We wandered around stopping to chat with a couple of residents who were either working on their RV’s or getting ready to move on. One lady had the cutest little ball of fluff that was very friendly and even Mikey came over to check it out. It was a truly adorable little Lhasa Apso.
We made a short circuit around the park and managed to cover our usual 4/10’s of a mile before returning to the RV for breakfast and coffee. I really am having a hard time finding food that appeals to me as much of it is very bland and tasteless. It is probably my aging tastebuds and not the food. Oh well, at least I still need food so that is something. When I stop eating, then I really am in trouble… or maybe not.
My front window looks out on Hwy 71B and there is always a constant stream of traffic going up and down it. Today on the few times I looked up, there were at least a dozen or more RV’s that passed by. Those were the ones that I noticed and there were probably more as I am not constantly looking out of the window. We are hoping that in a week’s time, we too will be joining them as we make our way back to Henly.
I got to thinking about weekend travelers and why so many campers like to travel then. Many are just that, weekend campers and need to head back to their permanent homes but others, like myself, are full timers. I prefer to move out on Friday’s or Mondays to avoid the weekend traffic as much as possible although I have no idea of what percentage of drivers are on the roads on weekends as compared to weekdays and if it even makes a difference.
I spent time on the blog, posting the latest before turning my attention to doing a bit of housecleaning. With that out of the way, I looked around for something else to occupy my time. Finding nothing of importance, I opted to watch another of my favorite teams, Brighton and Hove Albion, the one my Great, Great Grandson Solly March plays on, beat Chelsea, the current Premier League leaders, by a resounding 4-1 score line.
Convinced that it was not going to get any better than that for the rest of the day, I harnessed up the dogs and we went out for the afternoon walk. This time, instead of walking around the park, we hit the outside sidewalk that runs the full length of the Tyson Meat Packing Plant, a distance of at least a half mile. This sidewalk has a grassy strip that protects it from the road traffic and is much safer to walk on than the other sidewalk we sometimes use. Altogether, we covered 1.7 miles for the day.
Back in Quatro, after the usual food all around, I sat and watched yet another Premier League game before retiring at a reasonable hour.
Southgate RV Park, Fayetteville,AR Monday Day 54 10/31/2022
Today is a Monday and is also the last day of the month, again. It seemed like only yesterday that I said that about September. Time sure does fly by. We are hoping this will be our last week here and that the promise of the Jeep will still be good for this coming Friday. I cannot even complete our next stop as we make our way back to Henly for December 1, just in case that date changes.
We went out for our usual morning stroll around the park which is now very empty again although it will fill up towards the end of the week as the “Razorbacks” have a home football game. Our friendly big dog and the little ball of fluff had gone and there were no other people or dogs to visit with.
Back in the RV after the morning breakfast and coffee, I settled down to complete yesterday’s blog and make a start on today. This was after reading the morning news and answering or in my case, trashing most of the emails. I read an interesting piece on using specially made airbags to place under and around the RV in the winter to keep the temperatures a bit warmer and prevent freezing. It looked promising although not cheap. Then again, anything RV related is not cheap. For my semi-permanent winter stay in Henly, which I do every year, this might be a worthwhile investment. Then again, South/Central Texas does not have that much of a winter although I did have a freeze problem with a couple of the pipes this past winter. Those repairs cost almost a thousand dollars so maybe spending an extra thousand might be worth it. Something to think about as the weather does seem to be changing for the worse with Climate Change.
We had nothing planned as is our usual custom, not even a trip to Walmart’s and I took a look at RV Trip Planner and get a rough idea of where to go as we headed back to Henly for the winter. I played around and came up with a couple of ideas. If we do manage to get out of here next Monday, that will leave us with about 23 days to make our way back for a trip of a little over 600 miles. So, maybe 3 stops with about 150-mile drives and then a final drive to Henly. I have decided to wait until we get back to Henly to get the RV repaired. It does not affect the driving and the repairs are purely aesthetic. There is probably a waiting list anyway. In any case, I would need to rent a room in a Motel while the RV is being repaired so it is imperative that it not take too long.
The spammers are at it again as they keep calling with their Toll Free Numbers. After a couple of repeated calls, I blocked them, but this is only a temporary measure. There are no permanent cures for this problem. I hate those bloody spammers with a passion, and they can all rot in hell.
It was too early to go out walking and I searched around for things to do. I settled on watching my other favorite team, Manchester United play against West Ham. It was an interesting game, and, in the end, Man U squeaked by 1-0.
It was time to take that final walk of the day. We started off wandering along the fence between the properties and came to the spot where both Sandy and especially Mikey, “attack” the dogs on the other side of the fence. They play this game every time we walk in this direction. Only trouble was that Mikey in his enthusiasm, managed to catch a toe nail in the wood resulting in his turning and limping back to me. I saw what happened and made a big fuss of him which consoled him a little. It was obvious that it hurt, and he made the most of it, limping along with a sad look in his eye knowing full well, he would get a lot of extra attention.
I wondered if we should carry on of go back to the RV and decided on the former. Mikey did not appear to have any trouble walking. I did take pity on him, and we hit the sidewalk that goes in front of the Tyler Processing Plant. This is both easy walking and safely placed from the highway. We covered half our normal distance before I turned back to the Quatro where both dogs found their sleep places and zonked off. I checked Mikey’s paw but could not see any major damage so maybe it was a splinter from the wooden fence, that stuck him.
I prepared the evening meal for us all then settled down to watch yet another English Premier game. We finished the evening watching a detective series that I managed to find.
I woke up early for us and took a shower before harnessing up and then walking the park. I even remembered my phone the first time which by itself is quite an achievement as we usually have to go back for it. The park consists of a large outside loop that is divided by a single inside road to make a figure 8. It is .4 tenths of a mile around this circuit and is normally the morning walk.
Back in Quatro, the first thing was to start the chicken and pork that I bought yesterday, cooking on the inside grill. I love that thing as it shuts itself off when it considers the food cooked. Now, if it could only clean itself, it would be perfect. With that working, I made breakfast for me and shared it with Sandy as Mikey was doing one of his, “I do not want it” things. “Made” is a relative term here as all I did was grab a couple of enchiladas and stick them in the microwave. I did not actually make anything except the coffee and had to convince the Latte machine that it needed to foam more milk.
The next move was to cook the meat that I had bought yesterday, some of which was for me but mostly for the dogs. My system is to load the indoor grill and let it cook while I do other things, in this case, work on the blog
I concentrated on checking emails with the usual results and then turned my attention to the blog completing yesterday’s events and starting today. We have nothing planned except maybe a quick trip into Walmart’s to grab a fruit bowl that I forgot yesterday. A couple of hours later, all the meat was cooked and put in the fridge and the parts of the grill that were washable, were soaking in the sink.
I sat and watched a Premier League Football game which held my attention for 90 minutes and then decided that the trip to Walmart’s was a good idea after all. I chose the local Neighborhood Store as I did not need much, and it was also the closest of their stores. I was in and out in no time flat and then drove to the nearest Starbucks for the usual Latte.
The drive back to the RV park was straightforward although the traffic was beginning to pile up a bit as it was late in the afternoon. I made it back safely and as I only had three items, I did not need the dogs’ help to put them away even though they offered, of course. We harnessed up and went out for a walk, first around the park and then out onto Cato Park Road to complete the circuit. I managed to cover 1.7 miles for the day.
Arriving back at Quatro, I sat down and completed the blog. Nothing of importance happened in the evening except for the ongoing search to find another TV series to watch.
We all slept late, and it was 10:30 before we awoke. I scrambled out of bed and with the barest of morning preparations, we hustled out of the door. It was a beautiful sunny day with not a cloud in the sky. The sun was even warm, and it was very pleasant walking. We had the park to ourselves at least walk wise and did a full circle, walking every road.
Back in Quatro, I fixed breakfast for myself and coaxed the coffee maker to at least make some sort of a latte, taking much longer than normal but succeeding in the end. I fixed another bacon sandwich that I shared with my two little friends although, I ate the biggest part feeling guilty under Sandy’s unwavering stare. I think she knows that is how she makes me feel and does it on purpose.
Then, as usual, it was time to peruse the emails hoping that there would be nothing of any importance. Luckily, there was not except one that looked very official from one of the credit card companies telling me to click this link to correct my information. I went back to the email to check the address of the sender and just as I thought, it was another scam job. I hate those sons of bitches with a passion. After trashing that one, I moved on to writing in the blog, catching up on yesterday’s writing and then starting on today.
I worked for a while and then posted yesterday’s blog along with some pictures I had already worked on so that we are up to date, blog wise. Good thing too as I have a hard time remembering what we did yesterday, and anything further back is ancient history. I remembered that I needed to extend our Jeep rental due to having to stay an extra week and gave Hertz a call to take care of it. I also inquired if they would drive me to the Collision Center on the day and they readily agreed.
With that out of the way, I knew we were getting low on supplies and made a list of the major items. There are always other things that catch my eye as we wander around the store, and I have to be very restrained from impulse buying. Telling the dogs that they could not come with me, which they are well used to, I jumped in the truck and made the short journey to one of the Walmart Super Stores which is only 3 miles away. Wandering around the store, I found everything that I wanted and then spent some time talking to a sweet young thing about why I could not get my soundbar to work. She was very knowledgeable about it and told me what I needed to try. I thanked her and put the box she had given me in my cart and went on walking.
Although I have been in this store a couple of times before, I had not seen an RV section until I turned down one aisle and there it was, right in front of me. Feeling like a kid in a candy store, I spent time perusing and settled on a couple of items like RV toilet paper (BJ?) and a fitting to help backwash the tanks to help prevent piles of sh**t from building up, a well-known RV problem. The fitting cost me around $20.00. I have a Macerator unit built into the RV that does the same thing, but the expanding hose is leaking and not usable. A new hose and end fitting starts at $100.00 so the $20.00 I just spent is a much cheaper replacement. Hope it works. I checked out and then found the nearest Starbucks before making my way back to the RV.
The dogs, as they usually do, were very helpful in putting away the groceries, sniffing each item and giving their OK that I could carry on. Some things took longer to check out than others, but nothing was rejected. I harnessed them up and we wandered around the park and the field for a bit. The park is filling up again so there must be something going on in town or locally. I know it is not a Football game as the next home game is not until November 5th.
Back in the RV, I worked on the sound system but am still unable to get the soundbar to work at all. Doing something wrong quite obviously. The regular sound system with the TV works OK but is not loud enough. Actually, I think that my hearing is the problem, and the current deafness is caused by wax build up and I need my ears syringed again. It will have to wait until next month when I get back to Henly along with a few other things that need attention. Also, my right hearing aid is not working properly and again, it will have to wait to get it serviced or replaced. These are all things that you take for granted when you have a fixed abode but when you are on the road, things take a different perspective. Incidentally, I have been deaf since I was 11 years old and have worn hearing aids for most of my life except when swimming or playing sports.
By the time I finished writing, it was 6:45 pm and time to feed the little guys and then myself. Their evening meal consists of a small piece of Walmart’s doggy loaf cut up very finely and then covered with cooked chicken thighs cut into tiny pieces and sprinkled on the top. They are down to one meal a day and they have hard food that is always available to them. I gave up making them breakfast as they both would not eat it. Of course, breakfast did not have the chicken sprinkled on the top, but they ate small handouts of my bacon sandwich in a heartbeat.
The rest of the evening was spent in the usual way with food all around and then a glass of wine for me. I spent time trying to find another series to watch and so far, have not had any luck. Oh well, if that is the biggest problem I must deal with, then I would say it was a very good day.
The rain continued through the night and when we awoke, it was still coming down. I was concerned because it was a long time between doggy walks and the necessary business that it implies. I jumped out of bed and changed the usual routines this time cleaning my teeth and then getting dressed to go out walking, foregoing the usual shower and shaving until we got back.
We did not stay out very long or go very far, just enough to do their “thing” before returning to Quatro. The forecast is for it to rain all day which does not affect us as we have no plans, but the weather has turned much colder. Returning to the RV, I made breakfast and shared most of it with the dogs who happily munched away on their portions of the bacon sandwich. They liked the bacon best but ate the bread as they quickly ran out of bacon. They did not get much anyway, just a taster. To me, bacon is still one of the foods that tastes as it should although I know that it is not particularly healthy to eat. Such a shame…
Following breakfast, I made a trip over to the office as I needed to extend our stay here because the Jeep completion has been pushed back a full week to Nov 5. I booked us through to leave Monday, Nov 7 to places unknown but heading the general direction of Austin. I had a special mail delivery in the office which I was expecting and picked it up at the same time and then checked the outside mailbox to see if I had any regular postal service deliveries.
Back in Quatro, I opened the mail, most of which was junk as usual. There was a delivery of health supplements that I take on a regular basis which may or may not help. The trouble is that there is no way of knowing if they do any good. These are for my prostate as I incurred a bout of prostate cancer some 14 or so, years ago and at that time, had radiation treatment. I am a firm believer that the supplements have helped to keep me cancer free. The radiation may have cured the cancer, but one major side effect was that my sex life went all to hell and never recovered.
Incidentally, my oldest son in England is currently fighting his own battle with prostate cancer and is undergoing treatment. Maybe it runs in the family. The cost of his treatment is entirely covered under the English Family Health Plan. Luckily, I have good health insurance through my employment with the University of Texas which covered the entire cost of $136,000 for the radiation treatment that I incurred. It is too early to say how well my son is progressing.
Sandy was giving me “the look” signaling her need to go outside. Quatro is not like my earlier house with a fenced yard and a doggy door where the dogs and cats could come and go as they pleased. That also included wild critters as on two separate occasions, a raccoon and a large snake, both found their way in through that door… Of course, they could not find their way out and I had to open the back door for them to leave. The raccoon left willingly enough but the snake, which was a four-foot rat snake, needed a little help which I did with a broom. I do not kill wild things unless I have no other choice. Both gave me quite a scare when I first noticed them, which was first thing in the morning while I was still half asleep. Not for long though…
We harnessed up and I decided to walk the roads again. This time, we started in reverse through the park entrance heading towards Cato Park Road. I even crossed the road to see if the sidewalks were any better to walk on for the 100 yards or, so that we are on Hwy 71B. I quickly discovered that they are not and in truth, are closer to the traffic as it whizzes by. Will not make that mistake again.
We turned down Cato Park Road and walked fast as there was a chill in the air and the wind was cold. Well, let’s say that Mikey and I tried to walk fast but Sandy wasn’t having any of it and slowed us down with her constants sniffing and peeing. I swear she is a male dog in a female body. Wait a minute, I know a few women just like that except they do not mark everything at least by peeing on them. Maybe, they have other ways…
Altogether, we managed to cover 1.5 miles of fast walking, some of which was sheltered by the trees. Out in the open, the wind blew cold, a sure sign that winter is on the way. As we walked, we avoided other people walking their dogs by slowing down or changing direction. One time, a young couple were coming towards us with two small dogs of the terrier variety. I cut across the grass to give them room and the guy picked up one of his dogs but even so, a noisy shouting match ensued between them as we passed. Both other doggy owners and I exchanged pleasantries as we passed and commented on the need for little dogs to be heard, maybe to make up for their lack of size.
I turned down the cut off that leads to the campground and came across an older, Asiatic lady standing outside her house. I stopped to chat to her inquiring if everything was OK, before moving on, advising her that she really should go indoors and get out of the cold. Farther down the road, there was a large 5th wheel attached to a truck and I commented to the lady standing by it on how nice the rig looked. We got into a conversation about RV travelling before moving on back to Quatro through the field.
The dogs found their hidey places to rest up after their strenuous exercise and I settled down to catch up with the day’s events. About a couple of hours later, Sandy was at it again giving me “the look”. She must have figured out in her little doggy brain, that if she bugs me enough, we get to go out walking. It usually works as maybe; she does need to “go”.
We did a quick walk around the park and Sandy proved that she was not trying to con me into walking. A single circuit later, we were back in the RV. On our walk, there was another couple walking their dogs on the other side of the park. They had 3 small ones and another medium sized one. Now, that are a lot of dogs to have in an RV and to take walking.
I spent some time working on the Sound Bar to the TV to try to get it to work but with no luck and gave up, turning to fixing the evening meal which both dogs ate. Sandy gobbled down her bowl but Mikey, I think in an effort to annoy her, usually waits until she is finished before starting in on his. Dogs are so funny.
The rest of the evening was spent in the usual fashion of food and TV. Incidentally, I spent most of the evening trying to find another decent series to watch in place of “Third Watch”. So far, I have not had much luck…
Who ever thought that I could be, a writer for one like me who trouble has in speakingwords has found the pen is mightier. and that remembering the words to use in sentences that are profound can take the time and write them down and sense they make to one and all who listen hard but cannot hear the verbal words as they lack the meaning that I’m trying to say so I write them down in another way to explain the words that my mouth cannot say for I fear that a speaker is not my way
An orator, one who can hold, an audience so strong and bold in the palm of his hand with words so fine they listen to every one of his lines as he speaks they hear magic of the times of the words he has to say as he speaks to them from far away.
Now maybe the twist is in the words the orator may well read the choice of pieces for the need to an audience recite the written word, that I did write and even though the will to speak of that I am very weak the orator can say the things and for me say that which I keep in my mind and on which I write.
It was very windy outside and the wind direction changed, yet again, this time blowing in a SW direction, the very opposite from the way it was blowing yesterday. Hope that does not mean that all the leaves will come flying back. We wandered around making several pit stops of the important kind by both dogs, and then headed back to Quatro. Incidentally, Mikey always knows when we turn for home and is eager to get there tugging at the leash in an effort to hurry us along. Sandy, on the other hand, has way to many interesting smells to be in a hurry so it becomes a bit of a tug of war when we head back. I think that physically, she is the stronger dog or maybe it is because she is heavier than Mikey who still has his boyish figure while Sandy is on the chunky side. Too many goodies.
After breakfast of a bacon sandwich, shared with the dogs and for me, the inevitable latte, I settled down to catch up with the latest news, which as usual, was very discouraging. I then turned to emails, which as before, had a mixture of junk, trash and those worth reading. My good friend, BJ, always has a kind word or comment to say about my blogs which are probably not very interesting reading to the few people that do follow me. Pretty much the same thing almost every day with the occasional bright or different moment. But then again, such is life especially to a retired single person. Just a few bright and different moments mixed in between what we consider to be our normal everyday living.
Incidentally, I have managed to eat enough food out of the freezer that it is working again, and the ice cream is now just that. Things inside it have that icy feeling once more. Now, the question is, do I leave it on maximum freeze or start dropping it back a bit at a time until I find that happy medium. The refrigerator is powered by both LP Gas and/or electricity which is the setting we are using. As I have said before, we conserve the LP as much as possible while we are in campgrounds that have an electrical hook up.
Finished with the emails, I turned my attention to the blog catching up and posting the previous days actions along with the pictures that are added really just to pretty up the page. The pictures are usually always of the park that we are currently in and writing about so that my few readers can see where we are staying and what we have around us.
I searched all over the place even in the storage compartments under the RV looking for the TV sound bar I had bought for use in the last RV. I could not find it anywhere which is not surprising as the only thing in any order in a single compartment are the tools that I have brought with me. The rest of my life’s belongings are in several different plastic totes scattered between the many different storage compartments and it is always an adventure in trying to find anything. One of these days, when I feel really energetic, I may sort through the totes and try to reconcile the different items in their own boxes and in their own compartments. One of these days…
The very last place I looked was inside in the storage space under the seats to the table that I use for a desk. Lo and behold, there it was minus any cables to go along with it. They, of course, were somewhere else which prompted yet another search for them. Luckily, I had an idea where they would be as I do keep all types of cables in one box and I knew where the box was found, one of the very few. I spent the next hour hooking and unhooking up the sound bar to no avail as I could not get it to work. It was made all the more difficult because the TV is in its own special stand that raises the unit to view it and can slide down into its own compartment when not in use or when we travel. Very convenient to put it out of the way but it does make it tough to get to the back to plug in any units. This was exasperated by the limited space to work in and that I could not get very close and was really stretching. The really bad thing was that I had to use my left hand which is not as well coordinated as my right one. I eventually gave up vowing to have another go on a different day.
Sandy was giving me, “The Look” and we harnessed up and went out walking heading for the outside sidewalks as they are much easier to walk on than the grass. We did not meet up with any other dogs or suspicious characters this time around and arrived safely back to the RV. We managed to cover almost 2 miles for the day and have increased our daily output by almost double. Got to stay fit somehow and the dogs really enjoy it.
Back in the RV, we finished the evening in the usual way of food all around and then watching both a Premier League game and “Third Watch”. Unfortunately, it was the very last episode of this highly entertaining series and naturally was a bit sad. So now, I need to find another series to watch and hope it will be just as entertaining.
Southgate RV Park, Fayetteville, AR Monday Day 47 10/24/2022
Scary…
I awoke to the sound of rain on the roof and took a peek outside. It was not pouring down, just a fine misty rain but uncomfortable to be outside. Still, the dogs had to do their thing and I got up and after a quick shower. We walked out the door. I had on a jacket plus a rain cover, and we set off walking around the park. Even though it was wet out, it was not raining hard enough that the dogs minded, and we happily wandered around.
The young lady, Catherine, that had climbed on the roof of the RV and cut the branches for me, was outside and came over to chat. She walked us back to Quatro and said goodbye as we walked inside. Nice of her and she is very pleasant to talk to. Not many sweet young things have time to talk to ancient and decrepit old guys like me. Maybe, I remind her of her Grandad.
Back inside the RV, I remembered that the bathroom sink was backing up and I thought about what, if anything, needed to be done about it. Obviously, it was a no brainer, and I went outside to empty the tanks which incidentally are draining slow again. I need to buy a new Macerator hose to fix this problem but must check on the difficulty in swapping out the units first. Of course, the connection is not in an easy place to get to…Nothing is ever straight forward.
Back inside I fixed breakfast of a couple of tacos which are just not very appetizing. The dogs enjoyed their share though, looking for more. I did a bit of tidying up before settling down to read the news and then the latest emails. Satisfied that the world is not coming to an end, at least not in the next day or two, I turned my attention to writing the latest blog. Incidentally, if it is coming to an end, it might be better not to know about it as there is probably nothing, I can do to change it or to even save myself or the dogs.
It was cool enough that I had the small indoor heater running with the outside temperature not forecast to get above 72 degrees. Luckily, we have no plans and can snuggle up and if nothing else, watch a Premier League Football match or two. Both dogs have already zonked off, Sandy in her basket under the table and Mikey right alongside me as tight as he can get without actually sitting on my lap. He really loves me, that little guy and shows it all the time. Sandy does too but is not quite as demonstrative as Mikey although she has her moments. A man and his dogs…
It started to rain quite hard and as I had run out of things to do, we settled down to watch a Premier League football match hoping that it would clear up in time for our afternoon walk. Unfortunately, it never did, and we were forced to stay inside. I was really concerned about the dogs and them having to “go” but it did not make any sense to go out walking in the wet weather.
We finished the evening in the usual fashion and the rain continued through the night. I discovered that there was a very small leak in the ceiling fan housing in the bathroom but as luck would have it, the periodic drip of water dropped directly into the toilet bowl. How about that for luck. We went to bed with the sound of the rain beating on the roof to lull us to sleep.
Another late start or maybe, as we seem to be doing it a lot lately, it is now the norm. It doesn’t matter as we have no plans of major importance. As usual, we wandered around the park, but we only did one circuit as both dogs were very active, bowel wise, which is the main purpose of the walk anyway. We always judge our success for the first walk of the day, not by the distance travelled but by the number of times they “go”. We don’t count peeing in that otherwise we would be up to the hundreds after each walk, especially from Sandy. That girl has a bottomless bladder. Incidentally, I carry plastic doggy bags with me to clean up after them which are then put into the dumpster. The dogs know the command, “Dumpster” as we visit it after every walk. OK, maybe not but they should.
I had breakfast of a couple of burritos, which incidentally, did not taste that good, accompanied by a homemade Latte which took a long time to make. For some reason best known to those that invented my Latte machine, the milk was not frothing. I have had the machine for less than a year and I wonder if it too is on the fritz. Would not surprise me one little bit as most gadgets are now throwaway things and are not worth repairing. It still brews coffee so maybe I need to change my morning drink and forget the milky part and rely on Starbuck’s for a Latte.
As I sit and write, the main entrance is only a couple hundred feet away and in perfect view. I can watch the RV’s come and go as new arrivals drive in and the “old” ones leave for places unknown. I watched as a small black car pulled in and parked by the entrance. A young guy of about 25 or so, got out and walked around, opened the trunk and then got back into the car. I kept my eye on it wondering what might be wrong and then, sometime later, a tow truck pulled in with lights flashing. I thought then the car had mechanical problems and needed to be towed and felt sorry for the young guy. Turns out, it was nothing more than a flat tire that in my book, any red-blooded American male or female, should be able to change on their own. Obviously, I do not know the circumstances and the guy may have a medical condition which prevents him from lifting anything heavy or maybe, did not have a jack so who am I to judge. Even so…
The tow truck drove off after the driver changed the tire and put the flat back in the trunk. The young guy got back in his car and drove off leaving me wondering. If he had a condition, then he had an excuse. On the other hand, if he did not and preferred someone else to do it or did not know how, then something is lacking in his upbringing. A basic part of learning to drive, especially for a man, is to know how to do some small maintenance or repair work which includes changing tires. What is this country coming to? OK, do not answer that as I already know. Now if he only had an App on his cell phone, he could have got it to do the work. Why not, the younger generation relies on their cell phones for everything else…
Enough ranting. I am not going to let the present or future of the world spoil my day. I carried on writing in the blog and then worked on a couple of pictures that I have taken, wondering what we should do today. I have nothing planned but then again, I never usually do as we wait for the Jeep to be repaired. Incidentally, I called the Jeep repair shop and now the earliest will be Nov 5th, Guy Fawkes Day in England so maybe I will let off a few “bangers” when I eventually get it back. For those of you who do not know who Guy Fawkes was, he, along with others, tried to blow up the British Houses of Parliament back in in 1605. England celebrates this date every year with bonfires and fireworks. If and when, I get the Jeep back, I will celebrate it with a Latte.
I remember back in England when I was still a youth, marching into my home on November 5 to announce, “The Prince is alight”. Everyone looked at me with a blank stare and I had to explain that the bonfire built in the parking lot of the Prince of Wales, a local pub, was alight. The family just shrugged and went on with whatever they were doing so my particular announcement fell on deaf ears just as most of them usually did. Who listens to an 11-year-old kid anyway…
We went out for a long walk this time taking a different trail we had not walked before. It was concrete most of the way so easy walking. One runner passed us but other than that, we had it to ourselves. It was fast walking except to cater to the whims of Miss Sandy, and I was hot and sweaty when we arrived back at Quatro. I sat for a while to cool off and the dogs found their sleeping places and zonked off. I did not feel like taking a nap and instead just sat there in the A/C before turning my attention to the blog.
I caught up, writing of the most recent events and brought us up to date. Incidentally, we covered 2.5 miles for the day.
Southgate RV Park, Fayetteville, AR Saturday Day 45 10/22/202
The view from the bridge
For once, we got up at a reasonable hour and after the usual morning preparations, took that first walk around the park. We saw one other dog walking his Hooman and made sure to go in the opposite direction to avoid a barking confrontation from Sandy. I noticed that the owner was standing and looking at us, probably sizing up which direction we were going so I pointed away from them. He waved back and we both went on our way. The park was quiet, which is not surprising as with the exception of two other RV’s, all of the rest are the regular tenants, most of whom have jobs.
It was a bit gusty with a strong wind outside and the many leaves and a lot of dust were swirling all over the place. As I watched, the leaves are blowing mainly to the North. This got me thinking that eventually, they must end up somewhere and considering the amount from just this park alone, someone else is going to have a big clean up job. At least, my small area is clean of them. I also realized that Nature, by design, does this on purpose and it is her way of redistributing the leaves which eventually rot and supply more sustenance to the soil. Nature turning a full circle.
Back in the RV, I fixed a breakfast bowl from the freezer in an attempt to eat some of the frozen food as I have overpacked the unit and it is not freezing properly. I have got to learn to be more conservative and not plan so far ahead and stop buying on a whim. I shared the bowl with the dogs who probably enjoyed it more than I did. Food just does not taste that good anymore and is just a necessity. At least I can control my weight fairly easily, although it does nothing for the flab and lack of muscle. Incidentally, the ice cream which is in very tiny containers is now liquid, and I give a half a single serve container to each dog in the evening. They do not care that it is not ice cream but rather liquid cream and lap it up.
Following breakfast, the dogs found their sleeping places and I settled down to read the news, most of which was very discouraging. I turned away from it to check emails but many of them were of the routine read and discard kind. There were a couple that needed my attention and a couple more from friends that are always welcome as it is nice to stay in touch with them.
Goodness only knows, I have very few real friends left in this world. Most of that is my fault with my nomadic lifestyle. Plus, I have always been a bit of a loner, and a lot is due to changing interests and such. Even, back in the day, I had associates and acquaintances from my many interests, especially when I played football and some of them were also friends. We grew away from each other when I retired from playing as we had little else in common. Such is life. On the other hand, I had good neighbors when I owned the house and I still stay in touch with them.
We have nothing planned for today except the usual “stay busy” sort of things, most of which are a part of living in an RV. With those out of the way, we harnessed up for an early walk. We started in the field and then cut through the neighborhoods houses to get to Cato Park Road which we crossed over and headed down the sidewalk to the other trail areas that we have discovered. Last time, we made a left turn and eventually walked around in a big loop bringing us back to where we started.
This time, I turned in the other direction heading away from our last walk hoping that this would bring us out onto Hwy 71B. A couple of people on bikes passed going in the opposite direction and as I turned a corner, in the distance in front of me was a group of about a half dozen people. I could tell from the shopping carts they were pushing piled high with their stuff and their general appearance, they were homeless. Plus, they had two dogs on leashes of what appeared to be of the Pitbull variety. The people were probably harmless, but I was worried about the dogs. I was not about to take that chance and made a swift about turn heading back the way we had just come. Luckily for me, they went straight on and passed my turnoff. As the saying goes, “Discretion is the better part of valor”.
We walked back to the campground with the occasional glance behind, just to be sure but they were nowhere in sight and heaving a huge sigh of relief when we stepped into Quatro. My fears were probably groundless but why tempt fate when there are other options? Altogether, we covered 2.5 miles for the day.
We ended the day in the usual fashion with the evening meal, food for us all and watching the latest version of “Third Watch”, which has taken some interesting turns but has still way too many sex situations in it for my liking. The show is good enough without that being included. I am not a prude by any means but have yet to see the value of including bedroom scenes in an otherwise very good police series. Way too much detail.
As usual, after taking a shower and changing clothes for clean ones, we went out to wander around the park. There was no activity anywhere and the park was pretty empty. We only did one loop mainly because I had forgotten my phone… again and returned for the usual breakfast and coffee.
I turned my attention to reading emails and catching up on world news, which was as usual, very depressing. There were another couple of accounts that needed updating to the new credit card which I took care of before deciding that it was a good day to do laundry. I do not know why I decided this as apart from the weekends when the working people do their laundry, any other day is a good day from my perspective. It comes down to how much laundry I have and do I have enough quarters.
I gathered up the laundry bag and making sure I had detergents and quarters with me, jumped in the truck for the short journey over. It is always a guessing game as there is only one washer and one dryer, but I got lucky and neither machine was being used. I loaded out the wash making sure to put the quarters in slowly as Gerry had advised and then drove back to Quatro to wait for it to to be done.
Thirty minutes later, I was back to load the washed clothes into the dryer which takes an hour for them to dry. My laundry needs are very simple as I usually only wear underpants, shorts, tee shirt and socks. Add to that the towels and such and every week or so, the bed sheets and that is the sum of nearly all my laundry, thank goodness. A simple life for a simple person.
An hour later, I returned to fold the clean laundry and put it in my bag for the trip back to the RV where the dogs helped me to put it away in its respective places. Well, not actually help as to oversee that I did it right. They have the best job just supervising without doing any of the work. I could go for that.
We harnessed up as a reward for all their help and went out for the afternoon walk. I had already decided to walk Cato Springs Road, which is the one that runs parallel to the campground. We have walked it a few times before. This time, I decided that we would walk it’s full length or at least, as far as we could go with a sidewalk.
We started by walking through the field and then taking the road through the sub-division as we have done a couple of times before. This took us to Cato Springs Road, and we turned away from the camp ground in the direction that the road ends in a tee junction. It was about a mile in disatnce and we could not get to the very end because we ran out of sidewalk.
On the way back, by the bridge we had crossed before, there were two utility access manhole covers that were dragged open to one side. There were no visible signs of any work ongoing as if there had been, they would have been barricaded off. I considered it a dangerous situation to anyone walking and not looking so I dragged them back into place. Better safe than sorry as it was an accident waiting to happen not once but twice.
Feeling pleased that I was able to be of help to maybe prevent an accident, we continued on our way. We kept up a pretty good pace as we had already covered the ground once so the number of interesting smells was somewhat lessened. I decided that instead of cutting back through the field, we would continue up Cado Springs Road until it reaches Hwy 71B which would lead us back to the campground. The walk along 71B is a bit scary as in some places, the very narrow sidewalk is right next to the street with barely enough room for the dogs to walk side by side and cars and trucks whizzing by just a a couple of feet away. Altogether, we covered 2.5 miles for the day and that without walking in a Walmart’s store.
Having made it back safely and I sat and caught up with the blog. We have no further plans for the evening except the usual food, drinks and watch the football on the English Premier League.
Another late morning but again, it does not matter as we have no plans. We went out for that first walk of the day and just wandered around. Another big Class A towing a Jeep pulled out as we watched. Beautiful rig. Back at the RV, the outdoor couch and carpet are covered with leaves a couple inches thick. The trees overhead, except for one of them, are pretty bare. I guess, they are on their own individual timeline obviously, not the same for every tree. Nature’s way of distributing the pain both for the tree and for the Hooman that has to blow the leaves. I wonder?
Last night, before going to bed, I decided to turn on the house heaters instead of the portables that I have been using as the temperature was forecast for the low 20’s overnight and I did not want any plumbing problems. By the morning when we went out, it had risen above freezing and I turned the heaters off again as there is no frost forecast for the next few days. Like I said before, I need to conserve propane and use alternative fuels as needed and anyway, the electricity that I use is included in my rent.
I sat down to the usual emails none of which held any earth-shattering information before turning my attention to the blog. I am currently up to date with it, which is a good thing as I mentioned before, memory recall is getting harder and harder, a sure sign that I am getting old. What is frightening is that it does not matter how physically fit my body may be, if the brain goes, it’s all over. So far, for me, it is just forgetting small things. Oh well, age is one of those things that is both a blessing and a curse. Everyone wants to live to a ripe old age but at what cost?
I remembered that the milk had turned when I went to make my morning Latte, and nothing tasted worse than a Latte made with sour milk. I know as I have tried it. I jumped in the car after promising the dogs I would not be very long and hit the nearest Walmart’s, one of the neighborhood kind. Not as big as the giants but it had everything I needed. No extras this time either from the list I had written. Proud of myself. There was a Starbucks just up the street and, on the way, home so it was almost a perfect trip.
On the way back, I drove down the road that we had been walking on to see just how far it went. It comes to a Tee Junction leading goodness only knows where but from one end to the next is exactly a mile. Good to know as the next time I feel energetic, we will take that walk. Not today though.
Back in the RV, I had the usual help from the dogs but as there were only three bags, I was able to manage by myself. With everything put away, I made the mistake of looking down only to see two sets of brown eyes giving me “the look”. We harnessed up and wandered around the park not meeting a single person or pet. The air still has a chill to it but there is no frost forecast overnight. Knowing this, I took the time to re-hook the water hose back up to Quatro, so we no longer are relying on our water tanks. I also used my small battery-operated blower to clear the leaves although that is almost a thankless task at least until they have all dropped. Hopefully, we will be long gone by then and someone else can keep the site clean.
I could not think of anything else that needed my immediate attention and turned to the blog, catching up on today’s events. With that done, we went out for the final walk of the day and managed to cover 2 miles.
The evening was spent in the usual way, television, food and a glass of wine.
