05-24DEC15 - Houma, LA (prep'ing for xmas & misc)

Very early Saturday morning, 05DEC, we said goodbye to Sharon & Tim, & started the long drive to kids & grandkids in Houma, LA.  In ten hours of hard driving (with some close calls thru Houston) we finally arrive at our daughter Rebecca’s & husband Raymond’s.  Our son Joe was already there with pizzas for dinner.  Unfortunately Raymond is drilling w/his National Guard unit & won’t be home until tomorrow.  579 miles driven (might be the longest distance driven by us in one day on the RV?).

Sunday Corrie ran errands, while Dan washed the RV & Toad.  At lunch Rebecca, Jaxson, Mason & us headed to a local playground for a picnic lunch & to play.  Later that day Raymond made it home from drill & Joe came over for dinner before heading offshore.  We began constructing a Xmas ginger bread house after dinner – everything went pretty good until the grandkids realized all the parts were candy.

The following weeks were spent preparing (mostly shopping) for Xmas day:

>decorating Joe’s house with Xmas decorations, since he is working offshore for most of December.

>Dan modifying a tool (an easy out) to repair RV hot water tank.

>medical appointments, including physicals & eye exams.

>Dan bike riding w/Rebecca & grandkids.

>heading to Houma Main Library w/Rebecca & grandkids to listen to the TARP Bell Choir.

>heading into NOLA on Saturday, 12DEC, for Celebration in the Oaks, to meet Rebecca, Raymond, Jaxson & Mason.  As we discovered last year, the crowd was overwhelming & Dan still feels we need to go during the work week.  Jaxson was not happy about the annual picture w/Santa & Mrs Claus!  Enroute we stopped at a New Orlean’s institution - Bud’s Broiler for a burger & hotdog.

http://budsbroiler.com/

http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2014/12/01-31dec14-houma-la-merry-xmas-happy.html

http://neworleanscitypark.com/celebration-in-the-oaks

>many days trying to figure out why our DISH system not working.

>attending Jaxson’s “pre-school” xmas program.

>34^th wedding anniversary.

>major computer crash.  The problem is an unknown hardware problem & will require the computer to be shipped to a service center.  This required local computer shop to transfer our hard drive to a cheap laptop. 

>Xmas eve we help the grandkids put out reindeer “food” for Santa’s reindeer.  After they go to bed, Dan & Joe bring over a train table gift for Mason & complete the final assembly.

Meanwhile southern Louisiana has been experiencing record heat through most of December.  Looks like Xmas tomorrow will be in the 80s.  We could do without the heat & humidityL!

29NOV-04DEC15 - Kerrville, TX (via sutherlin, or; corning, ca; boron, ca; casa grande, az; & van horn, tx)

Early Sunday morning, 29NOV, we spent hectic two hours securing the house & property (the new solar array is still not connected to grid).  Then on to the freeway for a very long drive south & then east to the kids & grandkids in Houma, LA.  We start the trip experiencing bad traffic thru Tacoma & Olympia; followed by fog; & discovering that the winter sun is lower in the south sky, so the sun is in your eyes the whole day as you drive south.  By four in the afternoon the low sun was blinding & we decided to call it a day.  We ended up in the same RV park with a drive-in movie screen we stayed in during our 2012 furniture move.  Unfortunately movies are only shown every other Saturday.  After dinner we heard a bang outside the RV?  As Dan was checking the outside of the RV, he discovered that the hot water tank drain plug had “let go”; forcing Dan to find shutoff valve to the hot water tank.  383 miles driven.

http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2012/03/11-18mar12-various-tx-az-ca-or-wa.html

Monday morning we got on the road to immediately run into stopped traffic on I-5 South.  Apparently no one listened to, or believed, the weather reports of hazardous driving conditions in the morning (ie black ice)!  Of the dozens of “spun out” vehicles we saw, about 80% of them were pickups & the remainder were SUVs like Tahoes, Durangos, etc.  After surviving the icy patches, it was mountain driving thru northern CA & southern OR; along with Siskiyou Summit, Grants Pass, Sexton Mountain Pass, Stage Road Pass, & Canyon Creek Pass.  Feeling slightly worn out from the drive we decided to stop earlier than planned at Rolling Hills Casino, Corning, CA, where we stayed 01APR14.  Back then they gave us $20 bucks each in coupons for the casino, now nothing & they charge $4 for a shower – we won’t be back.  308 miles driven.

http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2014/04/30mar14-05apr14-kittitas-wa-via.html

Tuesday eight hours of boring driving to Boron, CA, mostly on I-5 South.  490 miles driven.

Wednesday shortly after hitting the road out of Boron we entered LA traffic on I-15, I-215 & I-10 east (not fun).  15 & 215 are undergoing major widening & lane markings are almost impossible to see during the day.  After entering Arizona we took the US 85/I-8 bypass around Phoenix (highly recommended) to the Escapees SKP CoOp RV park in Casa Grande, AZ.  456 miles driven.

Thursday Corrie did the first three hours of driving.  As usual we took the Trans Mountain road around El Paso.  The road is fantastic until it joins I-10 East, but still worth it to avoid the mess thru El Paso.  We stopped for diesel at truck fuel facility where Dan witnessed a “blessing” ceremony last spring on 27 FEB 2015.  We decided to continue to Van Horn, TX (arriving in the dark), to have dinner at El Capitan Hotel (see below BLOG link); but the RV park recommended the Van Horn Cattle Co restaurant.  It was good, but still just a steak house; next time El Capitan.  517 miles driven.

http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2010/11/17-21nov10-various-az-nm-tx-big-bend.html

Friday, 04DEC, we made it to Take It Easy RV in Kerrville, TX, where we usually stay when visiting with Dan’s sister Sharon & husband Tim Tompkins.  We then spent an enjoyable afternoon, dinner & evening with Sharon & Tim.  After dinner they taught us a new dice game.  After saying goodnight Dan headed to the men’s shower where he noted two hangers with notes attached.  One said - “this hanger belongs to Bob ????, don’t use” (and the hanger was taped to the coat rack so it could not be removed); the other said – “this hanger doesn’t belong to anybody, feel free to use it except Bob!”  Tomorrow we will try to push thru to Houma, LA, & the kids & grandkids (a drive we usually split into two days).  Also we received pics from our neighbor showing that our solar array is now connected to gridJ!  375 miles driven.

15-28NOV15 - Sultan, WA (going green & prepping the RV)

 

Sunday, 15NOV, we caught the first early morning flight from Winnipeg, MB, to Vancouver, BC; & then drove back to the house in Sultan, WA.  As we said in our last BLOG we would have preferred to stay in Sprucewoods, MB, with Corrie’s family after the remembrance for her brother Eduard; but since contractors arrive tomorrow to begin installing a solar array, we need to be home.  After our arrival home Dan decided to move the large mulch pile off the short driveway with the tractor.  His fear (which turned out to be justified) is that the contractor trucks will get stuck if they drive on the grass, due to record rains.

Late Monday morning Sunergy Solar contractors showed up. Turns out the stakes they set for the installation are much wider than the stakes already in ground set by the initial survey?  The problem is the plan calls for 36 panels – 4 panels high by 9 wide, but the survey was based on 6 panels wide by 6 high.  We definitely did not want the array any wider than 6 panels!  After several phone calls, the issue was resolved.  Funny thing is that Sunergy kept telling us that we didn’t have to be present for installation “that lots of customers are not present with no problems?”  We would not have been pleased with a nine wide installation!  They augured post holes & discover that holes instantly fill with water; apparently they never had this problem before in the Pacific NW?  They will need to get sona tubes & different concrete & call it a day.

Tuesday thru Friday the Sunergy Solar crew work on the installation between heavy rains, record winds & freezing temperatures.  The last two weeks of the month the weather alternated between torrential rain; or dry weather but freezing temperatures.  Turns out a portion of the town of Sultan on the Sultan River routinely floods.  So Seattle news crews almost are guaranteed good flooding video in Sultan & routinely shoot flooding footage there during heavy rains.

On Wednesday, 18NOV, Dan returned an item for Corrie to Lowes.  While there Dan noted a $600 Troybilt walk behind mower (originally $900, but had been returned) w/complete warranty & recent servicing.  Since our “free” Sears ride’m mower’s engine had failed two years ago, the purchase of the Troybilt seemed like a great idea to DanJ!  To get rid of the Sears mower in the barn, Dan had to load it into the Toad using a neighbor’s come-along.

Friday, 20NOV, Sunergy completed the solar array & connected it to the house system.  Then L&I inspected & approved the system.  Now we need Snohomish PUD to install a second meter to connect the solar to their grid.  But recent storms outages has created a backlog of work & PUD has no idea when things will return to normal.

For Thanksgiving dinner we had purchased a Papa Murphys pizza.  But thankfully our neighbors Sara & Bob invited us over to join their family dinner with their sons & grandson.  Their thoughtfulness was very much appreciated & now we can have pizza tomorrow.

Most of our time during the last two weeks on November were spent preparing for our departure south & west for our annual visit with the kids & grandkids in Houma, LA:

-prepping tractor for storage & getting it back into barn

-cleaning house & loading stuff into RV

-“repairing” yard due to solar array installation

-recycling & garbage runs

-mowing

-trouble-shooting garage door opener, security system & gate opener

-changing oil & spark plug on push mower; changing oil & filter on ride’m mower

-etc.

Another thing of note, is that last month one of our neighbors cut down a maple tree that greatly improved our view.  Couple of years ago we had even offered to pay for a professional to cut it down, if they would agree to it?  But the neighbor stated that the tree was not in best of shape (plus dropped lots of leaves every fall) & was on his list “to do”.  The biggest view improvement will be in spring/summer, when the tree was full of leaves!

Saturday, 28NOV, we focus on major preparations to insure RV is ready to go tomorrow after sitting for four months.  However we did take time to drive into north Seattle to visit w/Dan's Aunt Madeline for a few hours.  As usual we stopped at Dicks to pick up lunch for her & us.  Then it was back to Sultan & RV prep, where Dan learned the RV starting batteries were dead.  Dan jumped them & ran the RV for an hour; before putting the batteries on a charger.  Hopefully they will start tomorrow & get us to Louisiana! 

01-14NOV15 - Sultan, WA & Sprucewoods, MB (the loss of loved ones)

Sunday, 01NOV, Dan made another long drive to the airport in Vancouver, BC, to pick up Corrie.  Sadly after returning to Sultan, WA, we are soon informed of our good friend Karen Bishop’s passing on 02NOV; followed by Corrie’s brother Ed Riesmeyer passing on 08NOV.

Karen was the wife of Ken Bishop (retired Coast Guard Captain).  Ken was our boss in Rotterdam, The Netherlands way back in 1979 to 1982.  After our marriage & leaving Rotterdam we maintained contact with Karen & Ken, while occasionally being able to visit.  As with all good friends the long time between visits didn’t matter & a good time was always enjoyed (even if not frequent enough).

As noted in our last BLOG Ed’s passing was expected, but that did not lessen the heartache of the loss of a beloved brother & brother-in-law.  So on 10NOV we made another drive to Vancouver, BC, to fly to Winnipeg, Manitoba.  The next sad four days were spent with Ed’s wife Elaine at their house in Sprucewoods, MB.  Corrie occupied herself by helping Elaine arranging the “Come & Go” Reception in Ed’s memory at the Community Hall on Saturday, 14NOV.  Dan engaged himself by collecting as many pictures of Ed from family & friends to create a memorial slide show of Ed’s life.

The reception was very nice & heartwarming affair, with standing room only in the Community Hall.  After the reception we returned to Elaine’s to say our goodbyes to the family & head to the Winnipeg airport.  We would have liked to stay longer, but contractors will be starting on our solar array Monday, 16NOV.