Three-part Gloom and Doom :(

Yesterday morning when I was outside washing windows, cleaning the "city water" spout and it's plug that was leaking, and some other little chores, I noticed this at the rear of the rig:

That doesn't look good, right?  I noticed the fittings were pulling out and the material used to finish off the end was coming out.  I can't imagine how that happened, unless it was just normal weathering.  So, I cleaned up the area and got out my trusty silicone tube and pressed the pieces in as much as I could, and plugged all the openings so it's water tight again.  Judging from the last time I used silicone to plug an opening, it will probably only last a year, but it should get us through the winter, and I'll keep my eye on it.  (The same area on the right in this photo was losing it's "stuff" too, so I gooped it up with silicone before it gets bad.  Then I checked around the outside of the rig for any other bad spots, but these two were the only ones.)

Katie has been pretty vigilant about critters in The Palms.  She has woken me up very early every morning since we've been here at El Malpais with her "I hear a mouse" stance, pointing her nose right at the cab of the truck.  She also turns her head to look along the couch and back into the kitchen.  Every morning I check under the seats, and the snap-traps and sticky-traps are still there, empty, so I thought the critters were running around under the engine, and then running along the gravel under the couch side of the rig. 

Finally this morning, after Katie was so insistent that something was up there, I opened the hood of the truck, and lo and behold:

Whoa!  Big foot prints, nothing like the other tiny mouse tracks.  I got the Fresh Cab packets back out - I put them in the engine compartment at Bluewater, but removed them when I was driving and hadn't put them back.  Well...  this morning they went back, plus two new ones.

When I was fiddling around placing the packets, I heard noises coming from the back of the engine, around where the gas/brake pedals are - that corner of the engine compartment.  I went back and got a little white sticky trap and placed that on top of the battery.  Then I closed the hood and went inside. 

Katie was being insistent again, so I raised the hood again, and in just a matter of minutes, here were some foot prints on the sticky trap, but no animal.  I don't know how he walked over this glue-trap and wasn't stuck.  (The brown stains were there already, only the tracks are new.)  These were tiny prints:



I checked all over the place inside The Palms and there are no signs of rodents, none getting caught in traps, no poops, and no nests, so I'm thinking they were in the engine only, and then jumped down and ran under the motor home on the ground, and that's what Katie heard.  So far (fingers crossed) we haven't had any critters inside since I plugged the last two holes in the cab area.

I also got out my little solar lights and lined them up in the sun.  Tonight I'll place them around the tires and under the engine to see if the light will keep out the critters.  Oh, well.  We'll see what happens tonight.  I hope all is quiet.

I wonder if anyone else in the campground is having the same problem with critters. I'm the only one with a pet, though, so I guess if I didn't have Katie, I wouldn't have known something was in there.  I think I'll let them know they might want to check for foot prints in their engines.

My friend, Hazel - with the two Greyhounds -  let me know that her female dog was attacked by another Greyhound on Thursday.  She was visiting a friend and fellow camper, they were outside at the picnic table saying hello.  Her two dogs were on their leashes, and the other Greyhound was also on a leash. All the dogs were calm and friendly and the owners were right there, when suddenly the other dog went for Fleur's neck and caused quite a bit of damage.  Hazel took Fleur to the Vet in Grants, where Fleur had surgery on her neck and spent the night.  When Hazel picked her up yesterday morning, Fleur was all wrapped up around the wound with a drain to help with fluids.

Poor Sweet Fleur.  And poor Hazel, too.  That must have been such a scary experience for everyone concerned.  They go back to the Vet in two weeks to have the bandages, drain and wrappings removed and the stitches/or/staples taken out.  Hazel,  I hope Fleur is feeling better today and will have a speedy and complete recovery.  I'm thinking about you guys.  See Hazel's post with photos of Fleur here.

Boy, so far this post is really Gloom and Doom, isn't it?  The Palms exterior coming loose, big critters in the engine, Fleur being attacked. Does it help if I tell you that as I'm writing this I'm periodically glancing out the front windshield where a Black-chinned female hummingbird is coming and going, buzzing around, guarding the feeder?  :)

Let's lighten things up:

Here's my 4-year-old Grandson after a Padre's Game in San Diego.  (Thanks Trish, I copied this from your Facebook page. So cute!  I hope you don't mind.)

Do you get the idea that he likes the hot dog more than the bun?

And finally, below is a sign I shamelessly copied from a site full of these signs with funny sayings.  This is originally from TASTE OF AWESOME.COM.  How well do you follow directions?
 

I usually follow directions pretty well - but I have to admit I failed this one.  I agree - damn misleading arrow!

From me and Katie, have a great Saturday, everyone!  :)

El Malpais National Conservation Area, and an RVer meet-up

We're here in the El Malpais Campground - which is part of the El Malpais National Conservation Area - just a bit past the town of Grants, NM.  I did our Wal-Mart shopping on the way, and arrived here late morning on Wednesday.  I was surprised that many of the campsites were already occupied, but was lucky to get a good, level spot.  

I almost hesitate to tell you how much I like it here - next time there might be NO sites left when I arrive.  But...  someone told me about it, and I believe in Karma, so I'm passing it on.  Anyway, this is a BLM campground with a Camp Host and ten "no fee" campsites.  Three are designated as tent sites and they don't have much room for an RV, which leaves seven RV sites, half of which are not very level.  I was surprised that last night nine of the sites were occupied.  

Sunset at El Malpais Campground

Our site is a drive-through with large bushes/trees on three sides, so it feels very private.  The concrete pad is big with a large metal structure over half the area - it shades a big concrete picnic table - and the other half has a fire pit and a separate bar-b-que.  The campsites have recently been re-done, and are very nice.

Our patio area.

This is the view out the dinette side window.

The RV parking areas are gravel.  Lots of cactus, bushes and trees, and tons of grasshoppers and caterpillars in the grassy areas.  There is no water or dump, but there are bear-proof garbage receptacles.  The stay limit is 7 days out of each 30 day period.   If you stay in the wilderness areas, the limit is 14 days for each 30 day period. 

So far the weather has been beautiful, the nights quiet (except for coyotes), and the night sky full of stars.  I'm really happy to have found this very nice campground, and will come here from now on during my six days out of Bluewater Lake State Park.   And if I do get here and there are no sites, Wal-Mart in Grants is only 10 minutes away.

Yesterday a fellow blogger arrived in the campground.  Nancy has a blog, Wish You Were Here!,  which I've been following and she has been one of my followers, too.  She e-mailed that she was going to be in the area, and luckily we have been able to meet-up and have some really nice visits.  Nancy is a Lazy Daze owner, and her rig is beautiful and perfectly kept.  She drives a 24 foot C Class motor home with no slides and no toad, just like my set-up, and has been a full-timer for 3 1/2 years.  She'll be here a few days, and I look forward to visiting with her more.  Katie absolutely LOVED Nancy, as you can see...

... and Nancy was very sweet to put up with Katie's licking and snuggling and all-around shenanigans.  :)

As I said above, there are so many grasshoppers here, when you walk in the fields, they jump all over the place. 

And there are caterpillars everywhere, too.  There are black and yellow ones like the little guy below, and also TONS of plump all-black ones.  There are going to be a lot of butterflies/moths around here in the next couple of months.

 These cactus are still in bloom, with some beautiful flowers.

 

When I was taking close-ups of the flower below, I noticed a Praying Mantis on it.

One more flower photo - these are just so pretty.  We don't have nearly as many flowers in bloom here as there are right now at Bluewater Lake, but these were so pretty, I had to get a shot of them.

Here is last night's sunset photo:

From me and Katie, have a great Friday, everyone!  :)

Wordless Wednesday - Three Natural Beauties...

 ... with their new haircuts. :)

That was a great dinner.  I didn't get anything green on me, did I?  I just hate it when that happens.

Oh oh.  Something's buzzing around my ear. 

I think my underbite makes me special.

(The above are not my original photos.  I would like to thank the photographer, but I've seen them on so many sites with no credit given, I have no idea who took these great pictures.) 

Welcome to our latest follower, Marianne Edwards, whose award-winning blog, frugal-rv-travel, has been a go-to website for me since the beginning of my travels.  Check it out; you'll find a ton of links pointing to useful and interesting sites.  Marianne and her partner, Randy, have been traveling in their Roadtrek part-time since mid-2000, taking some extended adventures.  Marianne loves to write and keeps meticulous records, and out of those two loves, as well as questions from people asking how they did it on limited incomes, was born the first Frugal Shunpikers Guide.  (I have three of them, myself, and highly recommend them.)  Marianne, thanks for following along with me and Katie, we are happy to have you on board!  :)

Katie and I are happily settled in a perfect site here at El Malpais Campground just south of Grants, NM.  More next time.

This is supposed to be a "wordless" post, but anyone who knows me, knows how hard that is for moi.  Anyway, I just wanted to document that this is our 500th Post.  Wow... that's a lot of ink, as they say. :)

From me and Katie, have a great wordless Wednesday, everyone.  And I hope your haircut makes you a natural beauty, too.  :)

RV Maintenance - checking the hot water heater anode rod

This is going to be a short post.  We're leaving Bluewater Lake State Park tomorrow, heading to a park a little beyond Grants, NM for six days.  I'll post about it when we are settled there and let you know how it is.

Today was the "get ready" day, dumping, filling fresh water, putting everything away, etc.  I tried to start my generator again this morning, the first time it was started and I made coffee, and then I ran it for about 30 minutes with the A/C on so it ran with a good load.  Then an hour later, I tried to turn it on again so I could use my hair dryer and it wouldn't work.  :(  This is the second time since my "Level II" service two weeks ago that it won't start.  I called Rocky Mountain Cummins and left a message for the man who helped last time, and five hours later I haven't heard anything back from him.  I've never had this problem before, the generator not starting, and am thinking I might have to drive all the way to Albuquerque again for them to look at it and FIX it.  I'm not happy about that, if that's what I end up having to do.  :(

On to a happier subject:  I am very proud of myself for remembering to check on my Suburban hot water heater's anode rod.  You may not remember, but last year when I was here at Bluewater,  A Certified Master RV Technician, Ron, was here camping and he checked The Palms over to see if anything needed attention.  I had never checked/changed the anode rod, and when he unscrewed it and took it out, there was nothing left but the center rod.  The water in the tank was FULL of grit and pieces of STUFF.  Click on the link to see the photos of my used up anode rod, and what a new one looks like.  That post is here.

I had bought the special wrench Ron told me to get - you need it to get the anode rod out - and this thing is huge. Here is is laying in front of my laptop which is 15 inches wide:

This wrench is big and pretty heavy - who needs a gun on board when you have one of these?  :)

Ron had given me the information that I needed to buy it, and it was nice to have it handy yesterday.  This is the brand I bought, I'm sure there are others:

So yesterday morning I turned off the water, opened the kitchen and bathroom hot and cold water so any water in the pipes would flow out, and then I unscrewed the anode rod.  There was still quite a bit left on the rod, probably 60% was left, but there was also a lot of gritty water that flowed out, pushing some pieces of stuff, too.  I let it continue to drain until it was empty, then screwed the anode rod back in, and tightened it with my wrench.

Then I turned on the water switch, and turned off the faucets.  When the water heater seemed full, there was a tiny leak, and I'm watching it.  I remember last year the same thing happened, so I'm hoping it will stop by itself.  I turned on the hot water tap in the kitchen, and all the air in the lines came out, then a good stream of water started flowing.

Everything seems okay, so I think I did it right.  :)  Don't forget to check yours - they say twice a year, but I'm thinking once a year will be enough for The Palms. 

I should have taken some photos, but didn't think of it.  I will next time when I check it again.  I emptied the tank, but didn't flush it, which I will do next time when I replace the anode rod.

So...  after I finished up and put everything away, I got on-line and found the Anode Rod that my hot water heater uses.  Of course, in the Suburban documentation for my unit, it was recommended to get only Suburban replacement parts, but I also read some reviews and it seemed the people who ordered the Suburban anode rods felt they lasted longer.  So I ordered two of them, and they should be arriving in a week or so.  I've set a Task in Outlook to check the rod again in three months, and I'll flush the tank whether or not I need to switch out the anode rod.  Now when I need to replace it, I'll have the wrench to get it on and off and also a new anode rod to install.

If you are interested in looking at this item, I've put a link you can follow on the right side bar, along with all the other things I use and recommend.  Just make sure if you are purchasing a replacement anode rod for your hot water heater, that you order the correct one.  Mine might be different than the one you'll need.   :)

Here's Katie, sleeping in the sunshine, she loves this spot:

Hey Mom, you wanna play ball?

My last post welcomed a new blogger:  WELCOME to our newest Follower, Roger Bond!  Roger doesn't have any information shown, so I can't give his blog a plug, but Roger, if you do have a blog, please let me know!  Thank you for following along with me and Katie - Welcome aboard!  :)

Roger contacted me with the information that he has started a new blog - I wanted to be sure to post his new blog address - starting a new blog is so exciting, picking all the things to make it your own, adding gadgets (I'm still doing that), and it's also fun for readers to start at the beginning with a new blogger.  Here is the address:  Musings  Thanks for letting me know, Roger, I'm looking forward to following along with you and reading future posts!  :)

Welcome also to our two newest followers!

davidtimmonsva, who lives on a farm in Virginia with his wife Edna.  Dave, I really enjoyed reading your blog from start to present this morning.  How lucky you are to live on a farm. Great photos - I loved your bird photos, Dave, but especially liked the raccoon who is holding onto the bird feeder pole with one foot on the pole and one foot on the ground.  What a kick!  (Of course, you probably wish he would leave your bird feeder alone!)  You've taken some fabulous shots of wildlife.  I am going to enjoy following you and Edna as you post more of your activities and pictures. An RV was mentioned, but I didn't see any photos of it.  Do you travel much?

Sheila deLaneuville, who is "Enjoying retirement: On The Road & At Home."  Sheila and her husband and two dogs live in Colorado and travel in their 1998 Beaver Marque motorhome, The Rambling Rose, six months a year, mainly in the winter.  Her blog is named Wolf Song Blog, and Sheila details their life at home in Colorado and on the road.  She is also a birder, and has some beautiful photos of birds.  Right now they are getting ready to start the big job of preparing their rig for their winter travels.  Sheila, I'm looking forward to following you as you begin your winter travels!

From me and Katie, have a great Tuesday, everyone!  :)

USB Keyboard

I was visiting Andy Baird in his motor home a couple of weeks ago, and he showed me his USB Keyboard and demonstrated how it works with his computer.  I tried to teach myself piano years ago, and have had a piano and two electronic keyboards - one was an "electronic grand piano" from Costco with all the keys a full sized piano has - and I loved it.  Unfortunately, I never took lessons and could only go so far on my own.  The piano and the keyboard were sold along the way, and finally in my estate sale in 2011, the electronic grand piano was sold.  Even though it wasn't a big piece of furniture and could fit anywhere in my condo, there just wasn't any way it was going to fit in The Palms.

Fast forward 2 1/2 years, and here was a solution.  The keyboard Andy had was not large and would fit on my dinette table.  It has a USB cord that plugs into my laptop, and uses the laptop speakers to provide the sound.  I'd never heard of this kind of keyboard before, but it looked really interesting and might be the answer to my wanting, still, to play the piano.

When I was out of Bluewater on my six days in Grants, the second day I had an appointment for an annual service on my generator.  I had made an appointment at Rocky Mountain Cummings LLC in Albuquerque and drove down there my first day out.  They have an area where big rigs can park, and another area for RVs.  The whole area is fenced and gated and locked, so it was very safe and quiet and I arranged to stay there the night before my 8 am appointment. I just had to be there by 7 pm.

I drove down to Albuquerque and had some time to spare, so I checked at Best Buy for keyboards.  They had some, but not the size/price I was looking for.  One of the salespeople was a musician, and she recommended Guitar City, just a few minutes drive from Best Buy, so I drove over there.  Guitar City had a lot of different sizes, prices and kinds of keyboards, and they had the one I wanted, an M-Audio KeyStudio, on sale!  So, rather than order it on line and pay for shipping, I bought it on the spot, thinking I could try it out and practice while I was blacktopping it in Grants for the next five days.

The following day, after my service was complete on the generator, I drove back up to Grants, parked in a church parking lot for the day, and set up the keyboard.  That's when I realized there was no way I could play this thing with my dinette table so high.  It was bad enough typing on my flat laptop keyboard, but the electronic piano keyboard was even higher, so I packed it up and stored it until the table was lowered three or four inches.

After taking care of the table height on Wednesday, I got it out again and set up on the newly lowered table.  It's still about an inch or so too high for the keyboard, but I have a chair cushion I put on the dinette seat to make me sit higher, and that works.  The extra inch might have been too low to allow easy in and out of the dinette seats. 

I tried it out, and was surprised how much I remembered from my self-taught beginner tunes from years ago.

This is the maker of the keyboard:

For an RVer without a lot of room, this M-Audio USB Keyboard is the perfect answer for someone wanting to play keyboard. It came with a program on a CD, but unfortunately it doesn't work with Windows 8.  I have a PC with Windows 8, and Andy has e-mailed me some links for free sites that teach lessons or have other helpful things and I've also found some websites with free lessons.

Now - if you have an Apple computer like Andy, you can just download an Apple app, GarageBand, for $4.99, which is a really good program that does lots of things, allows you to lay down your own tracks, has lots of different instruments that your piano can sound like, you can record your own voice, a really nice program.  I wish there was a GarageBand for PCs, but apparently not, at least I couldn't find one that was reasonably priced. But, anyway, I need to learn how to play the thing first!

I'm going to have to go slowly, though.  Wednesday night, after playing around with some of the beginning (really simple) tunes, my hands and wrists were hurting.  I wasn't playing for long, but I was definitely using muscles that aren't used to it.

So, I have a new hobby that I never thought I'd be able to do on the road - thanks, Andy! I really appreciate the time you spent showing me your setup and letting me try it out. 

Oh, and one of the other nice things about this little USB keyboard - it has a volume control.  I can be inside The Palms playing away, and no one will be disturbed.  And believe me, from what I've done so far, if any neighbors heard me, they would definitely be disturbed.  :)

One note, for anyone who might be interested in getting a USB Keyboard - if you have an Apple device, you'll be fine, but if you have a Laptop with Windows, bring it with you. My salesman plugged a couple of keyboards into my laptop and they wouldn't "talk to each other."  Luckily, this M-Audio, which is the one Andy has, did work with Windows 8.

Pretty cool, huh?

I'm going to end with some photos of critters in and around my campsite here at Bluewater Lake.

These rabbits were playing one evening, four of them, running back and forth, chasing each other, having a great time.  Usually I see one at a time, not a group like this.  In the photo below, all four were running.

Here is one of our campground squirrels.  This guy has a big mound with his entrance hole in the center in the field by the electric sites, and he pops up from time to time, looks around surveying the landscape, runs in and out.  This day, he was heading toward the mound and saw us and stopped.  He seemed to think if he was very still, we wouldn't see him.  The funny thing was that his mouth was open, and he looked like he was smiling.  I know, I know.  But he did.  I snapped a bunch of photos as we walked by, and he didn't move.  Rabbits do the same thing.  So funny.

And then this little squirrel came by our site after I hung the seed feeder, checking it out.

 Katie was on high alert when he was out there checking things out.

Later in the afternoon, after the Pinyon Jays emptied the seed feeder and flew away, he came back.  He was still very curious about the feeder, but never ended up getting any seeds.

Then he ran down tree and sat in the grasses for a minute.

I wondered what the was doing, but didn't have a clear view, so I snapped one more photo, and this is what he was doing.

He got a little Pinyon pine cone and was trying to get the seeds out.  He finally ran away, taking the pine cone with him.  So cute.

WELCOME to our newest Follower, Roger Bond!  Roger doesn't have any information shown, so I can't give his blog a plug, but Roger, if you do have a blog, please let me know!  Thank you for following along with me and Katie - Welcome aboard!  :)

And that's it for now.  From me and Katie, have a great Saturday, everyone!  :)