Places We Have Called Home In 2020

126

November 26, 2020

Temperature 82 Degrees

Thanksgiving Then and Now

What a beautiful day we woke up to.  Thank you good Lord for the gift of such a wonderful day.  The temperature was already in the 60’s and due to climb even higher.  There was not a breeze to speak of.  All of this, though, is going to change as of Monday.  They’re telling us by Monday it will be temperature’s in the 60’s during the day and in the mid 30’s to low 40’s at night.  Time to bring out the quilt.

So I poured a cup of coffee and grabbed a chocolate chip muffin for each of us, and we settled back to watch the Macy’s Thannksgiving Day Parade.  It sure was a different kind of parade this year.

Speaking of different

This was our Thanksgiving last year.  We were working with the NOMADS at a volunteer project in Phoenix, AZ.  On Thanksgiving Day our group plus the staff of the site we were at gathered together for the traditional Thanksgiving meal.  There was food aplenty for one and all.

This year

Ms. Barbara working hard to prepare a Thanksgiving meal for just the two of us.

The star of our Thanksgiving meal.  A small turkey breast just the right size for the two of us.

Biscuits waiting to go in the oven.

Our Thanksgiving meal.  We had:  turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, biscuits, and home made gravey.  My sweetheart really out did herself.  I promised myself I wasn’t going to worry about the diet today, nor tomorrow, and probably not again until Monday!

Early evening we had our dessert.  Apple pie with vanilla ice cream.  Just the right way to end our Thanksgiving day.

Yes, this year it was just the two of us.  But how thankful we are that we have each other and that we are both healthy.  That alone is reason enough to give thanks today and every day that I draw a breath.

That was our day on The Road of Retierment.  We hope your Thanksgiving was as great as ours was. Hopefully, you had an opportunity to share it with someone you love.  Times are tough but hang in there.  Together with respect for one another we’ll get through this COVID pandemic.

Thanks for sharing our day with us today.  We always appreciate your company, and your comments and suggestions. Keep safe, keep healthy, live to the fullest the days that God gives you.

These are the voyages of  Elvira and her two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before.

See you on down the road!

Places We Have Called Home In 2020

128

November 24, 2020

Temperature 78 Degrees

Possibilities Abound Today

Ah, a nice chilly morning.  Chilly meaning 59 degrees.  Perfect opportunity to check and verfiy if the propane furnace worked properly.  Up until the other day it was a no-go because the dip switch on the circuit board had been off.  It was now turned on.  I set the thermostat for 68 degrees and held my breath.  The furnace kicked on without an issue.  Perfect.

Today was the day I was going to tackle the job of replacing the chassis batteries.  I mean how hard could this be?  How could anything go wrong.  You beginning to get the picture?

I took pictures of the batteries

I drew a diagram of what wire went where

I color coded each wire according to the terminal it went on

I disconnected shore power and turned off the converter/inverter

I plugged our refrigerator into a separate 120 outlet to keep it working

Out came the old batteries.  This is when I got my first surprise.  Since we purchased this coach the beginning of the year I had assumed that they were maintenance free because I didn’t see any caps to take off to check the water level.

Guess what?  The caps are covered with a sticker that said Maintenance Accessible Battery.  That sticker was supposed to be removed when the batteries were installed so you could get to the caps to check the water level.  Obviously. it had not been removed so that now when I did what I found was two batteries with absolutely no water in them.  How in the world they lasted this long is beyond me.

The new batteries went in without an issue.  Each has a cold cranking amp of 950 amps, combined 1900 canking amps so I have plenty of juice to start that big diesel.

Using my previously made diagram, pictures I had taken, and my color coding I connected the cables to their respective terminals.  I was satisfied that everything was properly connected.

Here is the beginning of those wonderful possiblities.

Shore power back on and converter/inverter turned on

Front panel showed that the converter was charging the batteries

But here we go again the Victron Battery Monitor was again going wonky.  No amount of resetting it could get it to settle down.  For now it is disconnected.

Wait. . .as I said possiblities abounded today.

I pushed the switch to send the bedroom slide back out – nothing, not a thing.  What?

I checked, rechecked connections, fuses, breakers, this, that and everything else.  It would not move.  What was especially puzzling was the slide motors work off the coach batteries.  So how could replacing the chassis batteries cause an issue?

Time to bring in the big guns.  I called Jay my go to mobile tech.  He was here within the hour.  He checked, rechecked, went a bit further than I did.  Finally, he said Let’s go inside, I want to see what happens when we push the slide switch.

He pushed the switch and out went the slide!  The two of us just started laughing.  We tried it four or five more times and it worked flawlessly.

What happened?  No idea so I’m chalking this one up to HARVEY our friendly ghost who has been with us since we started full timing.

Next up, replacing our coach batteries.  I believe I’ll let Jay do those.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  It was a most interesting day.  I’m so grateful that we are getting all these issues sorted out now while we are stationary.  I’m grateful too that we found a reliable and professional mobile tech who does great work at a really reasonable price.  His charge today?  A mere $50.  Really, when have you ever heard of anyone charging that when it comes to an RV?  All I can say is, thank you good Lord for looking out for fools and those of us who full time.

Thanks for stopping by today.  We always appreciate your company, and your comments and suggestions. Keep safe, keep healthy, live to the fullest the days that God gives you.

These are the voyages of  Elvira and her two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before.

See you on down the road!

Places We Have Called Home In 2020

129

November 23, 2020

Temperature 77 Degrees

A Splendide Moment

A Really Big Project

Another Book Read

A cup of coffee in hand and I was ready to face another new day.  One, like always, that I was sure would be full of promises and possibilities.  It was my Dad who often used to say to me Son, in life we don’t have problems, we have possibilities.  Amen.

Here was our first possibility.  What happened?  Where did all the water come from?  How big an issue was this?  The really nice thing about Splendide is two-fold:  it is a great machine; and, their customer support is first rate.

Once they opened Ms Barbara was on the phone with customer service.  They quickly assured her that the situation was not as dire as she first thought.

Time to cycle through this and determine what was what.  I was told to first check the pump chamber and make sure it was clear.  No problem there.

Next, I was advised to remove the dispenser drawer and clean it out.  Here is where it got interesting.  The manual says to pull it out all the way then tilt t up from the bottom and it will come completely out.  No way.  I took a different approach.  I pulled it all the way out and tilted it down from the top – out it came!  Now how about that.

Once out I was able to check and make sure the water tube leading to the washer was clear.  A couple of cups of water down it and I was satisfied that it was.

The big moment of truth.  Time to put it through a rinse cycle.  No more leaks.  No more water leaking out.  So what happened?  The guess is the water tube between the dispenser drawer and the washer became clogged because of the wrong softener being used.  Since the water couldn’t get to the washer, it ran out the front of the dispenser drawer.

After all was said and done I cleaned up the remaining mess and dried up the left over water.

Now I want everyone to know I really did want to get the washer/dryer fixed for Ms. Barbara.  But I’ll admit I also had another reason – my Sam Adams is stored right below the washer/dryer.  Now, it just would not do to have that closed flooded!

Now, for today’s really big project.

I needed to replace the vacuum break in the outside shower.  The original one was cracked and leaking.

Finally

I finished yet another book today.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  It was another great day from start to finish.  I’m really glad that the washer/dryer is back in service.  I wasn’t too keen on my wife having to start going back to the laundry room.  Especially now.  I wanted to install the new chassis batteries today but it was past 4 pm when I had a chance to begin.  My rule is, no major projects after 3 pm in the afternoon.  Tomorrow is another day.  We’re still enjoying life and make the most of every new day that the good Lord gives us.  I’ve said it before and I’ll continue to say it: we are two of the most blessed and fortunate people in this world.

Thanks for stopping by today.  We always appreciate your company and your comments and suggestions. Keep safe, keep healthy, live to the fullest the days that God gives you.

These are the voyages of  Elvira and her two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before.

See you on down the road!