Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Home Is Where We Park It – Escapees North Ranch, Congress, Arizona

April 2, 2020

Temperature 75 Degrees

Sunrise to Sunset

My Daughter Amanda Was Right – Read the Instructions

Off to Congress to Pick Up the Mail

Circle Statues

Cactus Park

Sunrise to Sunset. I never tire of either. Each in their own way absolutely beautiful and stunning.  We are situated east to west so the sun comes streaming in our living room window and sets in our bedroom window.   Sunrise brings with it the promise of another wonderful day full of opportunity and promise.  Sunset reminds me of how great the day has been.  Yes, despite the challenges and uncertainties of this day and age we still find the days to be so full and rewarding.  God never disappoints.

My daughter Amanda often used to remind me Dad you’re supposed to read the directions first.  That reminder was running through my mind regarding my chassis batteries.  They are no maintenance batteries which meant I couldn’t actually check each cell.  Unable to do so I made the assumption based on what the trickle charger was doing that I had a bad cell in one battery.  So, I went back and read the directions for the trickle charger.  Guess what?  Per the directions what it was doing was what it was supposed to be doing!  Meaning the batteries are fine.

Furthermore, regarding Cold Cranking Amps.  After a little research I discovered that you add the CCA for each battery together to get the total CCA.  The two batteries I have are each rated at 660 CCA giving me a total of 1320 CCA.  Just what Cummins recommends.  We’re good.

Today we headed into Congress, a town at last count that  had just over a thousand residents.

Our destination was the local Post Office to pick up our mail  that had been sent from our forwarding company.  We also had another package waiting for us that had been wandering around the country until it finally landed here.

A quick stop for gas, gloves on, and hand washing afterwards.

Time to reverse direction.

The sights of Congress as we left for home.

We were now headed toward Wickenburg.

Heading toward Wickenburg this is a Giant Spur at one of the traffic circles.

One more statue at yet another traffic circle.

The last statue at the last traffic circle.  Unfortunately, as of this time I could not find any information as to why these statues are located where they are.  Nor when they were put in their current locations.

Back home we went for a walk to Cactus Park.

What a beautiful world God has created for us to enjoy.  Never, ever did I believe for a moment such beauty could exist on something so prickly.  It absolutely amazes me.  We intend to keep going back again and again as the cacti continue to bloom.

That brings to an end our day on The Road of Retirement.  What a wonderful day it has been.  Clear blue skies overhead.  Sun shinning bright.  A cooling wind to keep the temperature in check.  Bonus, we got out and about for a bit.  So it is we continue to travel along, hand in hand singing our song.  

On the lighter side!

Thanks for joining us again today.  We do appreciate your company and your comments and suggestions.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Elvira and it’s 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

Home Is Where We Park It – Escapees North Ranch, Congress, Arizona

April 1, 2020

Temperature 71 Degrees

Engine Bay Fire Suppression

Battery Maintenance

Finished the Lockers

No electric heaters last night.  The temperatures are finally beginning to warm up.  It can stay right where it is as far as I’m concerned.  Which is, mid 50’s at night and mid 70’s during the day.  Perfect sleeping weather and with the breeze during the day no need to run the A/C.

Major project today would be the installation of the Proteng Automatic Fire Suppression System.  Per their web site:  It is completely self-contained and is heat-activated. It minimizes fire damage by effectively extinguishing fire at its initial stage by eliminating heat.  There is no button to press, no pin to pull, no human action required. There are no batteries, no nozzles, no connections necessary–it all starts with this small tube.

The system consists of a thick walled Polyamide tube filled with extinguishing agent FM-200® which is a non-toxic, non-carcinogenic, environmentally friendly, non-corrosive gas.  When the tube is exposed to direct heat or any temperature exceeding 194 degrees the tube ruptures releasing the FM-200.

That’s Bobby under the rig, the local agent for this company who is doing the install.  The tube is installed in such a way that it circles around the engine bay.

This is Marsha his wife who is feeding the tube to him from the back.  It took the two of them just about two hours to install the tube.  Suffice to say this is one product I hope I never have to use.  The real value to us is the peace of mind it offers.  If there is an engine fire we believe it will at least give us time to get off the road and get out.

They brought their four legged friend with them.  As is obvious he loves to sit on the top of a picnic table!

 

I didn’t exactly sit around today.  I began by checking my batteries.  On the coach side I have four Duracell Ultra Golf Cart Pro 230, each rated at 230 amp hours.

I cleaned all the connections and then sprayed everything with corrosion protection.  I also checked the condition of each cell in each battery and all is well.  At some point in the future I’m going to pull all the batteries and clean and repaint the battery tray.

On the chassis or starting side the news is not so good.  One of the batteries has a bad cell.  In addition each battery is only rated for 600 Cold Cranking Amps (CCA).  Cummins recommends a Type 31 battery with a CCA of at least 1000.  One doesn’t need a crystal ball to see that new batteries are in our future before we leave here.

I also finished reorganizing the driver’s side lockers.  Like the other side, I also lubricated all the locks and treated the locker seals with 303.  We’re now ready for our order of food from Walmart and Amazon, whenever they decide to get here.

Have no fear I’m far from out of projects.  I have enough to keep me going for at least the rest of this month.  After that I’ll have to get creative!

Barbara decided to take a walk over to the Cactus Garden.  She took a picture of the Easter Cactus which is now in full bloom.  It is so beautiful and stunning.

Our day has come to an end on The Road of Retirement.  Another major project has been completed and crossed off the list.  As of now, no more major projects are planned.  Going forward it will be preventative maintenance, and correcting issues that have been overlooked in the past.

We’re still where we were a week or so ago.  It just feels so unnatural to be sitting still with no plans to go anywhere.  It almost feels like we are in suspended animation or trapped in a time warp. But we’re healthy and that is worth  all the gold in the world.

On the lighter side.

Thanks for checking in with us today.  We always appreciate your company and your comments.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Elvira and it’s 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

Home Is Where We Park It – Escapees North Ranch, Congress, Arizona

March 31, 2020

Temperature 71 Degrees

When You’re Wrong You’re Wrong

Outside Lockers and Other Projects

When you’re wrong, well I was wrong.  The lock down is only until the end of April.  What I was thinking of was the many places that we had planned to go to that will remain closed until the end of May.  Now that we have that straight.

Yes, it has come to this.  After Mexican Train, after Card Games I’m down to Coloring Books!  I have a number of different kinds so I’ll be able to keep myself busy in the coming weeks.

This is our Receiving Department.  All delivered packages are brought here to be opened.  We no longer bring any packages into Elvira.  We open the packages here, and then bring the contents inside.  Then we wash our hands.  We’re doing everything in our power to keep ourselves as healthy as possible.

First project today was replacing our current porch light with

an LED porch light.  Man oh man is this one bright!

My new handy dandy connector for joining two wires.  They’re called Lever Nuts and they are the greatest.  Forget wire nuts or butt connectors or whatever.

You strip your wire.  You lift the lever on the Lever Nut.  Insert the wire and close the lever.  Do that for both wires you wish to join together and you now have a tight, secure connection.  Just as simple as that.

I then turned to cleaning and organizing the one remaining locker, the front one on the passenger side.  Out came everything that had been thrown in there a few weeks ago.

All done on this side.  The front locker which is now basically empty will in the future have a slide installed there.  What we’ll put on it has not been decided yet.  Maybe an outside freezer or maybe a Craftsman Tool Chest.  Time will tell.

I also took all the locks apart and lubricated each one.  Then I treated the gaskets on each locker with 303.

A monthly chore is making sure the bolts holding the slide motors are tight.  All good here.

While I was outside Barbara was inside baking cookies.  Lots and lots of cookies!  Oh are they good.  Tonight I’m looking forward to a nice cold glass of chocolate milk and a platter of cookies.  Yummy!

Another day on The Road of Retirement has come to a close.  Once again we both in our own way manged to keep busy and from going stir crazy.  We’re comfortable, healthy, and still enjoying one another’s company.  Now, if you’ll excuse me its time for my cookies and milk.

On the lighter side.

When people get too close!

Thanks for checking in with us.  We always enjoy your company and your comments and suggestions.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Elvira and it’s 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

Home Is Where We Park It – Escapees North Ranch, Congress, Arizona

March 30, 2020

Temperature 65 Degrees

Time to Get Busy – Outside Lockers

Early morning and there it is again, the sun streaming in through the living room window.  What a wonderful sight each morning.  I never tire of it.  It reminds me of that John Denver song, the words of which are something like this:

Well I got me a fine wife I got me an ole fiddle
When the sun’s comin’ up I got cakes on the griddle
Life ain’t nothin’ but a funny funny riddle
Thank God I’m a country boy

Well I wouldn’t trade my life for diamonds and jewels
I never was one of them money hungry fools
I’d rather have my fiddle and my farmin’ tools
Thank God I’m a country boy

Yeah, city folk drivin’ in a black limousine
A lotta sad people thinkin’ that’s mighty keen
Son, let me tell ya now exactly what I mean
Thank God I’m a country boy

Yes, I have a fine wife.  I wouldn’t trade my life for diamonds and jewels. I’m not a money hungry fool.  I don’t have nor do I want a black limousine.  Sometimes I even have cakes on the griddle.  I guess that makes me a country boy and I’m proud of it. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again we are two of the most fortunate and blessed people on the face of the earth.

Looks like plans are changing again.  We were going to roll out of here on or about May 1st.  Where to?  Didn’t really know but we just wanted to get on the road again.  That sort of all changed today with the proclamation that we need to stay in place and practice social distancing until June 1st. 

Today I decided a week off was long enough.  It was time to get busy again.  I want to finally get all of the outside lockers straightened out.  First I needed to empty them.

I began on the passenger side.  Things had just gotten thrown in when we moved from Graybeard to Elvira.  It was time to straighten things out.  Along the way I also decided to throw a whole lot of stuff out that I knew was useless and I would never use again.

The slide tray is now organized and the other half of it is now available for the staples that we will be receiving from Amazon.  Thanks for the tip about Amazon.  We’re now going to open all packages outside then bring the contents in.  We’ll also make sure to wash our hands long and hard.

This is just the beginning and as is apparent we now have more room than ever before.  I’m just getting started.  I have one more locker on this side to straighten out and then I’ll move to the remaining lockers on the drivers side.

Tomorrow I also hope to

• take each locker lock apart and lubricate them
• lubricate each prop rod and decide which ones need to be replaced
• lubricate all locker hinges
• treat all the locker seals with 303

While I was outside Barbara was inside cleaning and reorganizing the kitchen counter and cabinets once again.  She did some research on the computer and also spent some time on the phone with her brother.  He had been on a round the world cruise which unfortunately got cut short due to the current world situation.

Enough for today.  I brought all the manuals for the coach inside and I’m now going to sit down and start going through them.  Interesting, hey?

That’s if for today on The Road of Retirement.  We’re both keeping busy each in our own way.  We’re still healthy and happy and intend to stay that way.

On the lighter side

 

Thanks for joining us again today.  Great to have your company and we always appreciate your comments and suggestions.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Elvira and it’s 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!