We normally take a vacation road trip with just Chloe, Angie, and Morgan. This year, Angie had car troubles, Morgan wanted to do a Ninja camp, and Chloe didn't like the trip I had planned. So, it came down to Chloe was the only one going with me for 1 week, she'd make the trip plans, then Angie and Morgan will join us for week 2. Because I didn't get wifi until 7-28, the pictures for each section will be at the end, instead of inserted where they belong in the timeline.
SECTION A
VACATION PREPARATION (AKA FIASCO)
This was written before I started my vacation. I got so busy, I never had time to
finish. I am killing time waiting for
Chloe to wake up (it is the third day of our vacation) and decided to get my
BLOG up to date.)
Angie cannot leave as planned for the RV vacation, and
Morgan wants to do a Ninja camp (don’t ask me but it has something to do with
Ninja fighting skills), so it appears it will be only me going on the
trip. I really don’t mind, it will give
me some time to contemplate my life, and maybe do some painting. It’s the 21st, so I’ll start
packing and do an easy trip.
I decided to turn on the TV while I was working on cleaning
up the inside of the RV. I couldn’t get it
to work, so I started working on the antennae.
When I worked for Southwestern Bell Telephone, my job was in the network
department. I started out fixing broken
pieces, using schematic drawings of the electrical parts. Basically a blueprint of the various
resistors, transistors, relays, wiring, etc.
Based on the trouble reports, you could pretty much figure out which
part wasn’t working, then you’d get the drawing for that piece of
equipment.
After I was on the job a couple of years, it worked out well
for the group for me to analyze the trouble reports. There were some hairy legs (old men that
thought the womans place was in the home) that were great at fixing parts, but
not so great at figuring out which part wasn’t working. I was great at that part, but personally,
didn’t particularly care for unwiring things, and that type of work. I became the analyzer for trouble for my
group of about 8 men, and for a while, I was the only woman. I honestly for very good at it. Just logical deduction. By the way, the telco spent tons of money
training us all on various pieces of equipment and electronics training
schools. If you couldn’t pass them, you
lost your job.
If you have an antennae, switch box ( it takes multiple
inputs, like antennae wire, DVD wiring, cable wiring, etc. and an then switches
each separate input to 2 different TVs, or an optional outside area. It needs a splitter and an amplifier to boost
the signal since it is used by more than one device), wiring, and two TV
connections, so what could be so difficult about finding the problem,
right? The TV has a built in signal
strength meter. I checked it out, and it
showed NO SIGNAL at all. Great, only the
antennae or wiring to the switch box could be bad. I take the wires off the switch box and put
it directly on the back of the TV, to check the switch box.
To get to the switch box, I have to remove the DVD, which is
in a space that is 16 inches wide and 3 inches deep. No easy task.
It is also about 18 inches deep.
You have to flatten your hand, then wait to turn it until you get inside
it. Oh yeah, it’s also dark so you need
a flashlight and a mirror. What a mess.
Still nothing. That
leaves wiring and antennae. Well, I then
run a new coax from the back of the TV to the output of the antennae. All that required was me convincing Gary to
get on the roof, take the antennae output and replace it with the test
coax. He does it but still no
signal. That indicated to me that the
antennae was bad. I get on Amazon and
order one (they’re so much cheaper that buying one locally) for $110 plus tax
and pay $11 extra for one day guaranteed shipping. I was good to go.
Next day, the antennae doesn’t arrive. Here it is Tuesday and no TV. It finally arrives on Wednesday, and Amazon
adjusts the bill to free shipping. We
open the box, and the base of the unit that bolts into the roof of the RV is
bent. This would not keep us from using
the rest of the antennae, since it was the same model of RV antennae we already
had. The only problem with this would be
that if we ever tried to mount it with that piece, it is bent so we could get a
water leak. Everything else was
fine. Angie gets with Amazon to have a
new one shipped overnight, and Gary takes the wingman unit and installs it. It could not have easier. Maybe a 10 minute task. I check it with the direct coax to the TV,
and no signal.
Now the shit begins.
It is hot in that RV. We had the
air conditioner running, but running in and out and me leaving the windows open
so I could talk to Gary on the roof kept it from really cooling down. I got the manual out and read about how the
antennae works. It has the wire directly
from the wingman unit that is internally spliced into a hole in the roof that
wires throughout the RV, then to the switchbox. Someplace, it also picks up 12volts DC. WHAT?
It could be a short. Now, to cut
myself some slack, I knew about the wiring, but not the 12 volts. I also know that when I hit something in the
road last year and all the wiring got ripped out of the RV, that the TV in the
rear was the only thing that electrically was still broken when I got it
back. They told me it was connected
under the sink area in the bathroom, and they had failed to connect it.
Knowing that, I immediately got there, thinking that is the
first place I should look. The door to
the area under the sink is probably 18 inches square. I had to get on my hands and knees and remove
the door to the area under the sink, then contort my body, use a mirror, and
find the 16 screws holding the floor in place.
The floor area is about 36 inches long, so I have to reach into the dark
crevices under the area left of the sink, us a flash light and a screw driver,
and in just a couple of hours later, I had it open. I found the connection point for the rear TV
and the outside antennae for use when you’re in an RV park. They were good. Then the wires went up the wall. I removed all six drawers in the dresser, the
wiring was good there. By the way, this
entails disconnecting everything and checking for continuity and shorts. Still good.
I get all the way to the switch box, and everything is good. All that is left is the switchbox.
I remove every wire and they are all good. This sounds simple, but the opening to get
into the back is only 3 inches deep, and I have to use a mirror to read the
back of the box, which is inside a cabinet, which requires a flash light. I start putting them all back together, and
there is a hole marked on the back of the switch box that is marked “12volts”,
and it has no wires. I dig around and
find a plug that fits it perfectly, and yes, it actually has 12 volts coming to
it. I plug it in and put everything back
together. VOILA! The front TV works. The back TV?
Still not working.
Off I go again.
However, this time, it only took a few minutes. The coax cable that is bolted to the wall is
broken. I again, cannot get my hand in
to remove the bolts holding the TV in place (I think this is on purpose to keep
the average person from working on anything), so with a mirror, I replace the
cable into the TV, and FINALLY AT FRIGGIN LAST, all TV’s are working. I begin the task of putting everything back
together, and as I am finally inserting the DVD back into the slot, it quits
again. The real culprit? It appears that when they changed out the TV
last year, they shortened the wires and the place where they spliced the wired
was shortened, and at the slightest bump of the DVD player, they become loose
again.
I think I have it all ready to put the DVD in again, and as
I am sliding it into the 16X3 opening and accidentally hit the power button and
the door tray for inserting DVDs opens and breaks off as it hits the side of
the wall. DAMN…. Oh well, I just won’t
tell Gary, I’ll replace it with one of the 4 we already have in the house. It is once again and working perfectly.
The bad part is, I bought an antenna that wasn’t needed, and
broke a DVD player. However, had I taken
it to the shop, they would have charged me $135 and hour to look at it, and who
know what they would have charged or said was broken. All in all, it was a great learning
experience for me. I can add that to my
generator knowledge.
I started typing this but got too involved to finish
it. I finished it up on the trip, ONCE
WE GOT WIFI, I posted it.
SECTION B
VACATION DAY ONE
Finally, I am ready for a trip. Chloe has decided she’ll go with me, and it
will be just the 2 of us for a week, then Angie and Morgan (and who knows else)
will join up with us the second week.
Chloe wants to plan our destination, and has decided we’re going to New
Mexico. First stop….. Bottomless Lake
State Park. Here is how our first day
goes….
July 26
7:00am - we leave the house.
7:04am - we stop at McDonald’s for coffee and food.
9:am - our first rest
stop. We also hit Walmart and then DQ
for a Blizzard.
12:10am – We are just east of Sweetwater Texas. We go for a short walk (helps my back and
legs on a long trip), and Chloe wants to make hot sauce (salsa). Yes, we are at a rest stop, but we have an
RV, and she says her hot sauce must marinate for a few hours to let the flavor
meld. We get everything out, and I
cannot find a can opener. She looks
also. Oh well, we head to the nearest
Walmart. While there, we spend $120 on gas, but did get 7.18 MPG, which is just
about right for the RV. She buys a lime
green can opener (why? Why? WHY lime green?) Anyway, she mixes her hot sauce, and we hit
the road again at 12:30.
3:00 pm – We stop for a lunch that Chloe makes. Chips, hot sauce, and cheese…. Her version of
nachos. Know what, it’s the best hot
sauce we’ve ever made. It is a CopyKat
recipe that I’d found years ago and just never used. I’d sent it to Chloe, and this was the first
time she’d ever made it. This will be
our only hot sauce recipe from now on.
We did change it up just a tad from the original, but now we can claim
it as our own concoction.
5:00 – Instead of stopping at the State Park, we head on in
to Roswell. Part of our plan was to only
buy groceries as we needed them. So, we
drive the extra 15 or so miles, buy $60 of groceries and head back to
Bottomless Lake State Park. They had no vacancies in their RV park. They only let people reserve 30% of them,
then the rest are first come first serve.
Oh well, we’ll just dry camp.
This is one weird place. You can
park in the designated RV area and pay, or park across the lake and pay
nothing, but there are no electrical or sewer hookups. They do have a nice area, as you can see from
the pictures. We have a generator, so
that’s where we head. Chloe and I look
around, and it’s a nice clean lake. There
are RV’s in front of us, and behind us.
There are tent campers, but they’re closers to the water. We are at the rear, and very isolated. As we get ready for bed, I get the shotgun
out…. Just in case.
Next morning, Chloe and I get up and realize both RVs have
left at some point in the night. We were
very isolated and all alone. Whew…..
glad I didn’t know that before I went to bed.
We have a quick breakfast and take a bike ride. It was beautiful. We came upon a lake, and
Chloe goes for a short hike up the rocks behind the small lake. I am terrified, but manage to not “soil
myself”. We got back to the RV, and it
had taken us about 1 ½ hours to do our
ride and her hike. Here are pictures
from our stay at the state park.
We kaputz around then leave for Roswell. While there, Chloe buys a hat and a Christmas
ornament, and I buy a new key fob for the RV keys. All alien themed of course. Off we head for the 4-6 hour drive to
Albuquerque, which is almost due north of Roswell. That was the longest trip in the world. It hardly ever changes…. Beautiful natural
beauty….. nothing either direction except land.
Why it is a 4 lane divided highway is beyond me. There never were more than 10 cars in my
sight at any given moment. What a waste
of concrete.
We arrived at our RV place, which is in the middle of a
ghetto. I should have known not to get
one in downtown Albuquerque! It is
convenient to Old Town, but when they have gates up around every building, you
know you’re in the wrong part of town.
It is clean, but still. We decide
to go into Old Town for dinner. Off we
go. We get there, and my RV is too wide
for the streets around the square. No
big deal, I see a nice police officer and he points me to a public parking
area. I head in, and it takes me 4 spots
to park, because the RV is so long and so wide.
I park, go up to pay and they tell me it will be $32…. $8 per spot. WTF?
No way, thank you very much. We
will do something else.
As I am pulling thru the exit gated area, my RV will not
fit. OMG…. I pull in the mirrors, jump
the curb on the passenger side, avoid hitting the gate by inches, and as I get
to the street, I can just barely make a turn.
I am almost there, when CRASH!
OMG….. I had hit something. I did
NOT have the nerve to look at the RV.
The parking pay area was in tact.
We finally drive around the Old Town and I find a street where I can
park for free. I get out and look at the
damange. ON NO! I am sooo friggin depressed. This is my first bo-bo on the RV. I know it’s been 3 years, but I am heart
broken. Now, I guess I have to buy a new
one. Just kidding. But, I am depressed, even as I type this.
I decide to blow off doing anything at Old Square til
tomorrow, and we look up a restaurant.
We get there, and realize I’ve been there before. I don’t know when, but I do know I’ve been to
the building. I will get with Angie
later to see if it was with her. Chloe and
I have a fantastic dinner. It was called
Sadie’s New Mexico. They have about 3
locations here, not sure where else.
Chloe really like the sophilla, but was surprised they came with dinner,
instead of dessert with cinnamon on top.
She tried one anyway, and decided she like them plain. We brought home 80% of our meal, and will we
got settled in and in bed by around midnight.
Day 2 under our belt. It is late
and I forgot to get the wifi password.
I’ll upload this tomorrow morning.
SECTION C
MORGAN’S FOLLY
Morgan (11 years old) has decided that her poor Papa needs
to be taken care of while I’m gone. She
cooked him dinner the first night, but didn’t take pictures. She is also spending the nights over there. Most
of my don’t know it, but they only live 4 blocks away, in the same
neighborhood. Gary planned that…. Gave Eric and Angie a
little down payment money on the house HE chose for them to live in for a
wedding gift. Not bad, but you KNOW he
did it so he could be close to Angie and Chloe. I am not really sure what Morgan
is up to. She knows that he cooks
himself the same breakfast every morning.
One fried egg, one piece of toast cooked in butter on top of the stove
in a skillet, 2 cups of oatmeal with cinnamon, and 4 strips of bacon (he gives
one to me and one to the dog). It is the
same every single morning. Well, she
made him breakfast yesterday. Here is a
picture of it.
Later, while Chloe and I are running around the State Park,
she calls me and asks what I marinate my chicken in. What?
She is wanting to make grilled chicken for poor Papa who is all
alone. Get this, she has taken Stella
over to her own house so it will be just her and Papa. Stella tends to get a little jealous of the
girls, and doesn’t like it when Gary pays too much attention to them and
ignores her. She then stops non-stop
barking. Well, Stella doesn’t like
Morgan in my kitchen cooking. She would
not stop barking, so they took her to Angie.
Angie texted us a picture last night of the green puke pile
on Chloe’s bed and blamed it on Stella.
Poor Stella. Guess I’ll call Gary
today and have a heart to heart with him about Stella needing attention while
I’m gone. Gary will probably weight 300
pounds when I get home. Here are a few
pictures from Morgan. She did want to know
where my kitchen torch (you know, for browning merengue pie tops or cream
brulee) was, but I refused to tell her.
Unfortunately, she found it on her own.
Here are some pictures of her work.
Yes, I get constant pictures of her cooking. I have yet to get a picture of anyone
cleaning up the kitchen, so I sort of think I know what to expect when I get
home. Yes, I am dreading that part.
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