My last - I hope - RV Mod

I'm not a Black Friday shopper.  I guess I might shop on-line today if I needed anything, but I don't.  Do you fight the crowds to get the good pricing on Black Friday?

THANKSGIVING DINNER

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful meal with the people you love. 

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner yesterday at Bluewater Casino in Parker, AZ.  I had dinner with three of the Dingbats, Hazel, Debbie and Carol.  The turkey was fresh roasted and very tasty, and everything was wonderful.  Their gravy was really good, which enhanced the already delicious turkey, stuffing and potatoes.  Even their coffee was better than the good restaurant coffee.  They do a great job in their kitchen! 

Notice the  cream pie?  That's the only thing I didn't like, but I didn't realize it was sugarless when I took it.  There was a table with real pie slices and real whipped cream to top them off, so I went back and got a slice of pecan pie with fresh whipped cream spooned over it. 

My friends couldn't believe I'd never tasted pecan pie before, especially Hazel who is from the South, but this was my first time trying it.  It was sooooo good.  It may have been my first pecan pie, but it won't be my last, for sure.  A wonderful way to finish off a delicious dinner.

COYOTE  SIGHTING

I was standing at my kitchen sink when I looked out the window and saw this guy slinking along, stopping, slowing turning his head back and forth as he scoped out each campsite on the other side of the bushes, and then continuing on.  It was sunset and the sun turned him a beautiful color - at first I thought he was a large fox, he was so red.

I've cropped these photos to give you a closer look at the coyote, but you can see the wheels on the vehicle at the top of the photos.  He was very close to the campsites he was checking out.  He was looking for dinner, and I was glad that - at least this time - he kept walking.  As much as I don't want coyotes near me and Katie, I really do like seeing them in the distance and watching them as they walk along in their desert.

RV MOD - INSECT SCREEN COVERS

This is something I've been planning to do for a long time, and finally got it partially completed.  I ordered Camco Flying Insect Screens on amazon.com to cover the vents to the refrigerator, water heater and furnace on the outside of The Palms.

They were more expensive than I thought they would be - $18.89 for the refrigerator screens, $18.49 for the water heater vent screen, and $14.11 for the furnace. Because I have Amazon Prime, the shipping was free and there was no tax charged, so the total for the three vent covers was $51.49 and they were delivered in two days.

This is the furnace screen.  The furnace and hot water screens come with two little attachers and a small tool that you use to attach the screen to the vent.  It keeps out little critters so they don't enter your appliance and build nests.  I guess if that happens, it can be an expensive service bill.

This one went on very easily - you have to read the directions, figure out where you are going to do the attaching, and then use the tool to get the little hooks in the right places.  The reviews on these things mentioned how hard it is to get the little hooks attached, but I didn't find it to be a problem.

 This is the "before" shot of the furnace vent:

 And here's the "after" shot:

There are three screens for the refrigerator that fit in the openings of the vents and they provide six small ties to attach the screens.  This one was super easy to get done.

See the screens on each vent opening?

This is the little white tie that attached the screen - they provide two per screen.

The screens are supposed to stay put - not fly off on the freeway.  The reviews I read all said they stay very well.  No one had problems with them coming loose.

Then I tried to put on the hot water heater screen, and it was the wrong size.  I specifically ordered the one for my Suburban six gallon heater to be sure it would fit. Reviews of this screen complained that it didn't fit, so I wanted to make sure it would fit mine.  I didn't realize until I got it that it has to be square, not rectangular. This rectangular shape fits fine if I put it on lengthwise, but then it covers the toggle switch that is used to take the cover off, and I don't want to have to remove the screen to take off the cover.

I'm going to have to return it.

Taped up and ready to return. You can see it says "Suburban 6," but it doesn't fit MY Suburban 6.

The Gambler, one of the businesses in town that has a lot of RV things, does have these screens, so when I'm in town today I'll check to see if he has the right size.  I should have bought them all from him a few weeks ago, but when I saw the prices, I thought he was too expensive.  Turns out, he was right on and I ended up paying the same thing from amazon.com and waiting for them to be delivered.  And now I have to return the one I have.  :(

I was going to get an automatic awning while I'm here at Quartzsite, but decided against it.  I've heard good and bad about them, but then I thought, I've never used my awning - I won't miss having it work automatically if I never use it, so why spend the $1,500 that it will probably cost?  If I DID get one, I'm sure I'd use it, but there is always shade outside cast by The Palms when it's sunny out, so if I want to sit outside, I can always find a shady spot, or put my chair under a tree.  I have window coverings to cool the inside.  I enjoy the view of the full expanse of the sky and all the light I get inside my rig which an awning will affect, so I think I'm good on that score.

I can't think of any other upgrades or additions I need - isn't that a good thing?  I think I'm done with my RV mods. :)

MY NEW LOGO

Did you notice the logo on my photos today?  Dewell Designs is a company I was going to use on the road to do on-line resumes and/or use for a word processing business on the web.  I haven't started it yet, maybe I never will, but I decided on Tuesday to make a logo for the business name and put it on my photos.

The idea behind the palm tree and sunshine graphics are twofold.  The palm tree is because I'm most recently from San Diego where there are lots of palm trees, and of course because of  The Palms, the name of my motor home; the sunshine over the "i" in Designs is because I'm living in a Forest River Sunseeker, and also because I follow the sun.

Here are the different versions I made.  Sometimes on a light or dark photo one looks better than the others.  I was going to make transparent logos, but these were more noticeable, so I decided to go with a background and third one looked better with a border. 

Pretty cool, huh?   (I just love this stuff.)

From Me and Katie, have a great Black Friday - if you're shopping today, I hope you find all the deals you're looking for!  :)