We took our usual walk and then ate breakfast. I prepared a special one for the dogs which they gobbled down. I have concluded that they just do not like canned Dog food as they ignored it last evening as well even to the point of not eating the added chicken that I put on the top. So, no more canned food? What can I feed them instead? More problems to worry about.
I sat down to write to stay caught up as tomorrow will be a busy day for us with the next trip. There will not be time to dawdle over the blog as I do on most days. I sat and thought about what needed to be done and what I could do at once. Putting on my outdoor shoes, I went out and did things like putting the outdoor chair into its bag and folding the outdoor mats that I have under the entry steps. I stored these in one of the compartments along with the folding trash bag. On the back side, the dirty business side if you like, I emptied the tanks and disconnected and stored the sewer hose. Anything left in the tanks when we travel is a good thing as it sloshes around freeing up any pyramids of you know what, that may have built up. This is as much as I can do today. Tomorrow, I will put in the slides and disconnect the water and power chords. Finally, I will lower the jacks and then pull forward so that I can hook up the Jeep which is the longest in time of all the chores.
The first stop will be at the Walmart’s gas pumps to fill up Quatro before we hit the road. Gas prices have dropped considerably and, on the way up, I saw it as low as $3.78 a gallon, although Walmart’s is advertised as $4.07. Still, it is getting better.
I sat for a while before taking the dogs out walking again. While we were outside, we ran into the owner and stopped to chat to her for a while. She is a very nice lady and offered me a place to stay if we are ever back in the area. I thanked her and we moved on wandering around for a bit before returning to the RV. She told me that my neighbors are also moving out tomorrow so it will be interesting to see how we manage that. Luckily, they are facing in the opposite direction and will pull out of a different entrance.
With nothing left as far as departure preparations that I can do, we adjourned back to the A/C although it has cooled own by a couple of degrees. I sat around and wrote a couple of poems to pass the time and it seems that for some reason, this has been the longest day. A couple of hours later and Sandy was giving me the look, so we harnessed up and went out yet again. That little girl is insatiable. We never got the promised rain…
We went out for our mornings walk and the first thing that I noticed is that the new neighbors with the Class B van have already packed up and left. Much different than me as I like to stay in a park for a few days and usually a week or more at a time. Then again, my set up and break down takes a lot longer than theirs as all they had to do was hookup the boat and of course, their Class B van is much easier to drive than Quatro.
We continued our walk and lo and behold, Mikey did his thing and we both made a big fuss of him. Well, at least I did with Sandy looking at him as if to say, “what is so special about going to poop”? Still, it made me feel a lot better as I was worried that his lack of going to the bathroom was a warning sign that something might be wrong with him.
Back at Quatro, we sat outside in the shade for a while enjoying the morning. This is a very quiet and peaceful park and as far as I can tell, me and my neighbors on both sides are the only visitors. All the other campers are permanent residents plus the people in the cabins. Back inside, we ate breakfast before settling down in front of the computer. I wonder what I would do for entertainment when computing was in its infancy, if this was say, 20 years ago and our life was as it is today. Then again, I would be 20 years younger and a lot fitter than I am now and would probably be hiking every day. Heck, I was still playing football of the English variety with a round ball, 20 years ago, kicking and getting kicked by my friends and the others who wanted a piece of me. Can’t dwell in the past and must live for today and hope there are a lot more tomorrows.
I decided to go into town just to take a look and I am glad that I did. This is an old town and was incorporated in 1890. From the look of the buildings, not much has changed on the Main Street and City Square at least construction wise. I walked around for a bit taking pictures and then drove out of town on the road that we will be taking. It leads up a mountain but hopefully, will not have as many hairpin bends and as twisty as the last one.
When I got back, I harnessed up the dogs for a short walk as it was way too hot to stay outside. Then I worked on the pictures that I took of the town and will incorporate them into the blog. This is a very nice part of the country with the mountains that do not tower as one would imagine but look like tall hills covered in trees and forests. Very beautiful.
Later on, we took a longer walk as it had cooled down by a couple of degrees and then sat outside watching the world go by. Maybe that should read, hoping something passes by. We were in luck as my next-door neighbor took his baby who is just starting to walk well, and his dog and they wandered around the park giving us something to watch. The occasional car drove either out or in with the drivers giving us a wave as they passed. The people are friendly enough and when we meet them, usually stop to talk although in one case, I could hardly understand anything the old guy was saying.
Back inside of Quatro, I fixed the dogs their evening meal before attending to myself and we finished the day in the usual fashion.
Mountain View RV Park, Mountain View AK – Saturday Day 6 07/23/2022
The Mountains beyond the city.
I crawled out of bed and hit the shower which incidentally, cycles between hot and cold with me reaching for the knobs to make rapid adjustments. At least, the cold part wakes me up. We went out and walked for a bit and the walk was nothing out of the ordinary. Basically, a slow stroll around with the dogs alternating in peeing and smelling the roses. Back inside of the RV, I prepared breakfast but both dogs ignored what I put in front of them so I can only assume that they either do not like the stuff or are not hungry. Maybe both.
Following the meal, I sat down to read emails removing most of them and answering the couple that needed my attention, before turning to writing the blog. My thoughts turned to the upcoming trip on Monday and what I need to do in preparation. I have the routine down pretty well but must go over things in my mind to make sure that everything is complete. The one thing I sometimes forget it to turn off the LP gas at the tank when we are travelling. I will begin to store things inside of the RV tomorrow putting things in the places they go for the journey, leaving only the outside things to do on travel day, Monday. We have a relatively short trip of 120 miles which should not be too bad. I took a chance on the next campground and have booked it for two weeks.
I use PostNet for my mail and I can view scanned versions of any mail get if I think it necessary or as I did this time, they package everything up and send it on to whatever address I tell them to. As I have booked two weeks at the next stop, I have asked for it to be sent on to that campground. None of this is free, of course but it does enable me to lead a sort of normal life. The only difference that instead of the US Postal service automatically delivering 6 days a week to a fixed address, I must request delivery to any of the campground addresses that I have at that particular time. Small price to pay. One thing it did make me do and that is cancel subscriptions to magazines and such that I considered no longer necessary. Things like Ponds and Gardens and House Beautiful and such. Just kidding on the last one.
I went into town to the local Walmart’s to get a few things that we were getting low on. I like to be prepared when we are moving as I never know how close the nearest stores are until I get there to find out. We would never starve as there are plenty of cans of food and stuff in the freezer, but I might run out of necessities, like milk for coffee or even wine. Heaven forbid if that happens. Just kidding as it nice to enjoy a glass in the evenings but it is certainly not a necessity, and I am not an alcoholic…yet.
Back at the RV, the dogs helped to put the groceries away, sort of before we harnessed up to take a short walk. I forgot to mention that I bought a straw cowboy hat in Walmart’s for the grand price of $11.69. Considering that I paid almost $90.00 for the hat I normally wear from a different store, I thought I had a bargain. The problem with the expensive one is that it is not really for the summer as it is too hot and has no air circulation.
I sat and wrote as the pork chops and chicken cooked on the indoor grill and the odor of cooking meat wafted through the RV. Quite a pleasant smell and it made me hungry. So, I settled for a few crackers to tide me over. With the cooking done and things cleaned up and put away, we went out for the final walk of the day wandering around the park and on the field below before returning for the evening.
We got up at a respectable hour and went out for the first walk of the day around the park and we sort of hopped from one shady area to the next although it was not extremely hot…yet. Back in Quatro, we had breakfast and tidied up a bit which does not take long in such a small space. The dogs found their hidey places and at once zonked off. What a life.
I got on the computer and worked on the blog and posted yesterday which brings us up to date, a good thing too as my friend, BJ, berates me if I get too far behind. Says that she does not want to read “old” news. I spent time on RV Trip Wizard and located and then made reservations for the next stop. I decided to stay 2 weeks at Ozark Country RV Park in Branson, Missouri which will make this the third State on this trip so far. It is only a short drive of about 125 miles. It is always a risky or maybe the word should be “chancey” business selecting campsites as the only thing to go on are the reviews that people take the time to post. It helps if there are several then you can get a general feel for what people are saying instead of just an individual’s comments. Photo’s also help a lot to get the view of the place. I also remembered to check and make sure that Branson is not a “dry” city which it is not, otherwise I would need to stock up on wine along the way…
With our next stop planned, I turned my attention to installing the new fire/smoke/carbon monoxide alarm. My problem of course is that I am only 5’8’’ tall and shrinking so things higher than my extended arms are a worry. I have an collapsible ladder that I use outside as needed but not a step ladder so I had to compromise. Luckily, I have an 18” inches square metal step I bought originally to use outside of the RV as when the jacks are down, the bottom entrance step is about 10-12 inches off the ground, which is pushing it for my old and short legs.
This portable step adjusts from 6 inches to 8 inches and is a very useful gadget. Most of the time, it is situated at the foot of the bed because there is a 16-inch step to get up first and then the bed which is another 16 inches higher. The RV was designed this way not only to let the rear slide in but also to give more storage space underneath. The slide is designed to extend outwards to open, and the entire bed moves and when extended, there is room to move around the bed. When it is in, there is no room to get past the bottom of the bed but it is only in for travelling.
Installing the alarm was a simple job and although a bit precarious, I managed to complete it with no problem. It took me longer to find my electric screwdriver than it did to do the work which, by the way, I had very carefully placed in its own box along with the charger and a box of bits and then forgot where I put the box. Go figure…It was hiding in plain view, as the saying goes.
I watched as a large camper came in and the driver went into the office before driving into the park. He stopped for a while by what was probably his assigned space, I guess sizing it up before taking off down the road never to return. Interesting. He had a big 5th wheel and maybe thought the site was not long enough for him or because it did not have any shade. Anything different or odd is exciting to us bored campers. Just kidding as I am far from bored and love having to do only what either needs to be done or what I choose to-do. Thinking about it, the older full-time campers that travel as couples must be highly compatible and in general agreement on most things being cooped up in close quarters as they are. I wonder what they do for “alone” time or if they even have any such thing. Just curious as I do not have that problem as me and the dogs get along just fine.
With the alarm installed and with nothing else of importance left to do, I settled down to write for a while. If I am caught up, I usually try to write a poem if the reproductive juices are flowing. If not, then it is time to find something else to do or do nothing at all. My choice.
Another Class B van camper pulled in towing a small boat and parked a couple of spaces away. They did not have any set up to worry about and in short time, were sitting outside in their lawn chairs relaxing. I considered it time to take the dogs out walking and we wandered by and stopped to chat with them. They are only here overnight and were originally coming in for a Blue Grass Festival.
We continued on our walk around the park and down on the mowed field below the campground with nothing unusual happening on the walk. Mikey would still not do his business which worries me as he has pooped in the RV a couple of times, and I do not want him to get into those sort of habits. Sandy has no problems doing what she needs to do, and I keep telling Mikey that Sandy is “a good little girl” which probably does not help. We sat for a while outside the RV enjoying the slight breeze which felt good before returning inside for the usual evening’s entertainment. Actually, that is not quite trues as I did tune in to the Jan 6th Hearing and watched it until it finished. It was interesting and damning for Trump due to his efforts, or lack of efforts to do anything about it. Probably will not make any difference and nothing will happen to him, and his supporters will be even stronger especially if he does get off Scot free. Don’t get me started on that guy….
It thundered loud in the night, enough to wake us and I got up to let in the canopy in case of any heavy winds. There was not much rain, and we quickly went back to sleep. I rolled out of bed at a reasonable hour for us and we went out for the first walk of the day and again, walking in the shade as much as possible where it is several degrees cooler.
One of the alarms has been going off on a regular basis and I have searched high and low for the cause. Obviously, there is no fire and therefore no smoke so I thought at first that there might be something that needed adjusting or resetting. I could not find anything after almost tearing the place apart, not literally of course but figuratively. Then I happened to smell the scent from the battery driven fresh air cans that I have that squirt a puff of some scented material to make the place smell nice on a regular basis. The beeps coincided with the squirts and apparently, that alarm does not like the smell of that variety and lets the world know about it. Relieved that I had solved the current problem, I took the can out of the unit and set it to one side. Guess I will either have to reposition it or do without it. I did not know that alarms are so sensitive thinking only of smoke but as they do come for carbon dioxide and other noxious gasses, it had already made up its mind that the scent from the fresh air can fitted into that category. Now I need to buy a new smoke alarm as I broke the one, I have trying to get it open. Next trip to Walmart’s planned for later today.
Following breakfast for me, I sat down to write and catch up on the blog. I also worked on the pictures I have taken of this park in Lightroom before transferring them to the other program I use to write the blog. From there, I can easily access them to include them a I see fit. Writing is a two-part job as first; I write everything in Word which makes grammatical and spelling corrections and such and then transferring everything to WordPress for the final touches like adding pictures, before posting. It is an interesting hobby, and it keeps my brain occupied a great deal.
I decided that I should go into Walmart’s which is about a half mile down the road as I needed a few things but specifically, a new smoke and CO2 alarm unit as I mentioned above. What I like about Walmart’s stores is that just about everything is laid out the same and things are in familiar places. Some are bigger than others like the Superstores and you almost need a bus or taxi to get around in them. Or, as I do, use it to get in the miles and the exercise out of the hot sun.
I completed my shopping including getting the new smoke alarm and spent time wandering around looking for the wine section. I could not find it and asked the nearest clerk who informed me that we were in a dry county, and they do not sell wine or liquor. Some gentleman? passing by overheard the conversation and told me where to go but it was a 20-mile drive and I have enough to last a week or so. Out of Seltzer though and had to make do with small cans of Mountain Dew. Funny, on the way in I had been thinking of our next move or whether to stay here for another few days, but the latest news has already changed my mind. Not that I am an alcoholic or anything even close unless a small glass of wine in the evenings is making me one.
I sat in the car and thought about my observations whilst in the store. Almost without exception, everyone and I mean men, women and kids were very much overweight. This was not helped by the fact that many of both sexes were very tall. Add that to being overweight and it makes for a very disturbing picture. Some of them were dressed like they had just come down from the hills and if they were a family, there were almost always several rough looking urchins. Maybe I am biased, but I kept thinking of “Deliverance”, the movie…
I drove back to Quatro and was met by two very excited little dogs who helped to put the groceries away with their noses in every bag. I had left them with treats which they do not eat while I am gone but the minute I was back, they eagerly devoured theirs looking to steal each other’s as well.
I sat and wrote for a bit but had no desire to go back out as it is so hot. The temperature is 102 degrees and there is not much shade around this park. Quatro is nice and cool as the tree shades the front window. Eventually, after it had cooled off by at least one degree, we went out for another walk again trying to find as much shade as possible. We sat for a while outside of Quatro in the folding chair as I have not bothered to unload the wicker couch due mostly to the fact that the door side where I sit outside, faces the sun and even with the awning out, there is not much shade. Besides, my site is very narrow, and a lot of the outdoor carpet is under the RV. Luckily, I do not have a neighbor on that side as the sites are very close together.
Something is beeping in the RV, and I cannot for the life of me figure out what it is. It is not constant but when it does come on, it chirps at least 4 times before stopping. I thought it was the Smoke Warnings, but I took that one down and that was not the cause of the problem as I need to buy a new one. I even cleaned the filters in the A/C unit but that is not it either. Heck, I may have to drag out the manual to find it. Everything appears to be working properly so I have no idea.
We went out walking back in the meadow close to the wooded area where it is a bit shady (and hilly) before returning for breakfast which for me, included a bacon sandwich and coffee. I am on a new tack with the dogs and am only feeding them canned food covered with cut up chicken in the evenings in the hope of getting Mikey into a better poop routine. He has had a couple of “accidents” inside recently and will not do his business outside which is very strange. So, maybe a change in eating habits may help. They have hard food available all the time, so it is not as though they are going to starve, and anyway, Sandy can stand to lose some weight.
I worked on the blog for a couple of hours catching up on the journey. I need to start taking pictures of the scenery here to add to the blogs which of course, is easy enough to do. Pictures tell a better story than a thousand words. I read that somewhere. I wrote a poem and posted it. A silly poem really but what the heck. It never hurts to have a bit of humor in our lives. My poetry can be viewed on Saturdays.
We went back out for another walk just to stretch our legs as it is very hot and humid out. We did not go far before returning to Quatro. I had a few chores to do and then settled down to listen to an Audiobook for a bit before going out one more time for yet another wander around. We try to pick all the shady areas to walk in and with the last walk, the shadows were long, and we had plenty of choices.
We retired back to the RV for the usual evening’s pastimes.
Today is preparation day getting ready for tomorrows move. There is not a great deal I can do today except put a few things away in their travelling places. Things like the toaster and indoor grill all go in the shower on the bathmat to stop them sliding around. Other things have their respective places for the journey and the bed is the catchall for what is left.
We went out for a walk and as I had some trash, took it with us to put in the dumpster. On the way, I noticed that the Canadian Geese are back, al 15 of them strutting around as though they did not have a care in the world and maybe they don’t. As I had forgotten my phone…again, we hustled back to the RV, and I picked up my camera to take a few pictures of this gaggle. We wandered around for a bit before heading back to Quatro. All around us, there are signs of campers preparing their RVs for the trip home as many are weekenders. Several others have already left and there are a lot of empty spaces with the Camp Staff busy at work cleaning and preparing the sites for the next tenants.
I decided that I should do my laundry as I had looked to see that the machines were all available and collected up my wash bag. I chose to drive over the short distance because the detergent and such were already in the back of the car. One of the young staff ladies was cleaning the machines and I complimented her on the care that they show of the campground. With the wash in two separate machines, I drove back to Quatro and did a bit more work before heading back over to put the wash in the dryer. I chatted to another camper who was waiting for a washing machine, and we discussed the crazy drivers on the road. I headed over to the office to get quarters for the next wash at the next campsite as I was just about out and chatted to the same young lady as had been in the washroom. Then back to Quatro to await the driers completion which took about 40 minutes. I drove back as I did not want to carry the heavy laundry basket and it was just as well, I made that decision. I had to wait 5 minutes for the drier to finish up and when I opened the drier door, I could not believe just how hot it was. I could not put my hands on the clothes and had to wait a while for them to cool down before I could start to fold them. With everything folded and put away, I drove back to the RV and put the neatly folded clothes into their proper places.
With the laundry done for one more week, I sat down to work on the pictures that I had recently taken making adjustments and such ready for me to use as I see fit. A couple of them turned out really good. The others are just pictures. I had stood for a while when out walking the dogs and had taken nearly 35 pictures of the different boats that went up and down for about 15 minutes. Some may be the same boats coming and going as the lake ends further up and away from us. It is very busy today, boat traffic wise but it is Sunday, a day of rest and play.
We adjourned to Quatro for the rest of the afternoon trying to stay cool. The outside temperature is now 100 degrees and next week’s forecast for here is a week of the mid 100’s. Bloody hot.
With everything done that I could do before we leave tomorrow, we went out for the final walk of the day talking to as many people as we could and visiting the duck’s nest for the last time. Hope the eggs hatch OK and there are lots of baby ducks. We visited the dog run for the first (and the last) time as I had not seen it before and spent time talking to others that were in there who had let their dogs run loose. I kept mine on a leash as I did not trust either of them around other dogs unsupervised, especially Mikey who thinks he is a Doberman in disguise.
Back in Quatro, we had the final meal and watched TV for the rest of the evening. I remembered to lower the TV set back into its little space ready for the journey and we went to bed here, for the last time.
Mountain View RV Park, Mountain View, AK Day 1, Monday 07/18/2022
Quatro at Mountain View
We got up early enough knowing that we are moving on today to yet another campground still in Arkansas. This time at Mountain View RV Park, Mountain View. This one is high up in the mountains but first, we had to prepare Quatro and then make the 200-mile drive. We took our final walk around chatting to a few people before heading back for a quick breakfast. With that out of the way, I finished storing stuff into their respective places for the trip and hoped that nothing would shift around too much. Usually, something does move and so the next trip, I adjust and on and on.
When I got up, I put stuff away in the bedroom and then pulled in the slide using the bed to store items as well. I put everything away in the bathroom after I had finished showering using the shower as a storage space for larger items such as the indoor grill and the toaster plus a bunch of smaller stuff. This time, I remembered to take the shower soap off its rack as it fell and turned on one of the valves on one of the earlier trips and after I connected the outside water supply, we had a flood.
With everything shipshape inside, I brought in the big slide and then went out outside to complete the unhooking of water, sewer and finally, the 50-amp electric supply. The last thing to do was to lower the RV off its jacks and onto the wheels and then we were ready to roll. I had previously moved the Jeep to the wide space in front of the office and with one final walk around the RV checking both under Quatro and around the campsite, I drove it to the office parking space and hooked up the Jeep. It went well as the ground was level which really helps to get things aligned. Then we were ready to roll and after programing in RV Trip Wizard on the tablet set up for this use, off we drove.
For some reason, the voice on the tablet had us run around in a couple of circles before we hit the highway and off, we went. The countryside is really pretty and heavily wooded on all sides with lots of tall fir trees. The miles (and time) slipped by as we drove and then changed onto several different Highways and then drove some more. The campsite had previously sent me directions which I compared to the RV Trip Planner, and they appeared to be the same or close enough. Well, it turns out they were not, and the last 10 miles of the journey were up and down a twisting and turning two lane highway with hairpin bends and steep inclines both up and down. I drove very carefully and luckily, there was not a lot of traffic. I noticed that when I had to apply the brakes going down for any length of time, the truck automatically down shifted to help with the descent. It was a very interesting trip to say the least and I would not drive it in the winter. I wonder what the gas mileage was for those last 10 miles with the engine working so hard.
We eventually arrived and I pulled up in front of the office which was just a small building which it shared with the laundry room although separated. I was greeted warmly and was offered a different spot under the trees which of course, I jumped on. I made my way to it following the lady’s instructions, but the park is so small, I could have found it anyway. There are quite a few permanent residents as in most Parks and several tiny houses and cabins scattered around, all occupied. I counted 18 empty campsites in two rows, so they were obviously, not terribly busy. Nothing going on around here to attract visitors or as it is a Monday, the weekenders have already left.
I unhooked the Jeep as the site is not long ls enough for both of us and drove into my spot. I eventually was satisfied and went about the business of hooking things up. A 5th wheel pulled in right next door, and it turned into an unofficial race to see who could set up first. The young guy and his wife beat me all ends up except they had to relevel their unit which allowed me to finish and, in my mind, was the unofficial winner. They had the same problem with their 5th wheel that I had with the one I used to own when it came to levelling although they did have automatic levelers and mine were manual. Still, that does not help when the wheels are off the ground and need blocking under them which is the problem that my neighbors had. We had chatted just a little bit as we worked, and they seem very nice.
With the electricity on and the A/C doing its thing, we went out for a quick walk just so the dogs could stretch their legs and do their business and explored the field below the campsites. When we returned, I went about the business of straightening things up inside and getting the place shipshape ready for our occupancy. Most everything was still in place, and nothing had tipped over or shifted from where I had left it so even with the mountainous terrain, we had done an excellent job of packing. Satisfied that I had done all that was needed and as the place is cooling down nicely, we went out for the final walk of the day. I was sitting outside when my new neighbors stopped to chat and before long, we were joined by another lady who took over the conversation. My neighbors grew tired of listening to her as I did, and they left which also was a signal for the lady to leave, thank goodness. She probably meant well but had a very loud and very grating voice and dominated the conversation.
We sat for a while enjoying the evening as it was starting to cool down by a couple of degrees before going inside for the evening meal and the usual television. So ended our trip and our first day at this new site surrounded by mountains.
