Gilligan’s Island – The Texas Version

 

 

 

I love TV show theme songs.

They just stick in my head and rattle around. I often catch myself humming the theme song to Sanford and Sons, but today it was the theme song for Gilligan’s Island.

After having the mechanical difficulties and staying in Dallas, Texas longer than planned we finally headed out west. We head out west on Interstate 20 from Dallas to the western region of Texas so that we could get on Interstate 10 to Junction and then cut off around Fort Stockton to head south.

US Interstate 20 West from Dallas, Texas to Lake Colorado City, Texas



Us Interstate 20 West from Dallas, Texas to Lake Colorado City, Texas.
The terrain starts to change just outside of Abilene, Texas




Us Interstate 20 West from Dallas, Texas to Lake Colorado City, Texas.
The terrain starts to change just outside of Abilene, Texas

 

We only made a few stops along the way because we wanted to cover as much ground as possible.

In all we did about 360 miles the first day. We decided to spend the night at Lake Colorado City State Part in Colorado City, Texas. We called the park directly to make reservations around 4:30 pm. The Park Ranger told me not to worry they had plenty of camp sites available and gave me a cell phone number to call in case the gate was locked when we arrive. The parks gates close at 7 pm nightly. I thought that was a little odd because in the spring time most state parks with a lake are full on the weekends in the spring and at most state parks in Texas close at 10 pm on weekends.

We continued on our route taking I-20 West. We found the exit for the Lake Colorado State Park. Once we exited off the highway I did a quick mental inventory of provisions. We had forgotten to stop for food and beverages. I saw a local store as we started down the road and it had obviously been closed for a few years. I thought to myself well it looks like we are having macaroni and cheese, chili, and ginger ale for dinner.

When we were having mechanical difficulties we were parked un-level.

RV refrigerators do not work well when they are unleveled. So to error on the side of caution we cleaned out the refrigerator and had not restocked. I always have some canned or dry goods on hand so we are not going to starve.

The bad news was that we had no milk for coffee. This saddened me a little because I looked forward to drinking a nice hot cup of coffee and looking at the lake. Tracy and I would have to settle for hot tea.

The park is about seven miles off the highway down a winding, narrow, two lane road. We arrived at the gate at 6:30 pm and did the self-check in and grabbed a park map. After meandering around the park we quickly realized there were only about six other campers in the whole park.

I thought that was pretty awesome.

Lake Colorado City State Park, Texas:The view from our camp site.

Lake Colorado City State Park, Texas: Our camp site for the night.

Lake Colorado City State Park, Texas: Our camp site for the night.

Lake Colorado City State Park, Texas: Doug exploring the park.

Lake Colorado City State Park, Texas: LOOK WHAT DOUG FOUND!

Lake Colorado City State Park, Texas: WHERE DID IT GO?

 

Then we realized that the lake was almost empty. After doing some research on-line I found that the lake is only 22.5% full. That means that the lake is down by over 75%. The boat ramps were nowhere near water and if you did get a boat in the water you might be able to go about 10 feet before you hit a sand bar. The vegetation and wild life have just about taken over the park.

We picked out our site.

A nice pull thru for the motorhome with a covered picnic area and fire ring. Since a full burn ban is in effect for most of the western region of Texas the fire ring would go unused. After we docked the Big Lebowski and got the interior set back up we stepped outside to enjoy the view. We made it about 10 feet before Doug and I both started chocking on gnats. Tracy was flailing and shaking his head while screaming curse words and damning the gnats to a life in a fiery hell.

We braved them for a few more minutes and then ran back into the house only to let in a swarm. I turned on a few lights so they would be attracted to the light and leave us alone. I told Tracy to just wait until the sun went down and the wind would pick up. He looked at me like I was crazy and set about turning on the air conditioners. I set out to scrounge up some dinner and get us fed. We were starving, even the cactus outside was looking good.

By the time I finished making dinner, Tracy was outside marveling at how the temperature had dropped 30 degrees and there was an almost chilly breeze blowing. The gnats had dissipated enough that we could eat at the covered picnic table and enjoy the view. We ate Chili Cheese Mac, Rosemary Triscuits, and Ginger Ale. Not the healthiest of meals, but it was filling.

After washing the dishes and getting a bath I went back outside and Tracy settled in for a movie.

I was amazed at the number of stars in the sky, and how dark it was. It was so silent outside I could hear my own thoughts. I had not heard silence like that in years. I think I sat outside for two hours with Boss Lady by my side purring and rolling around on the picnic table. The cactus flowers smelled amazing. It reminded me of a lotion I used to buy called Boss Lady. No joke. The lotion was cactus flower scented. Sadly, they went out of business a few years ago.

The park host stopped by to let us know that a tornado watch was in effect and to welcome us to the park. They told us that if the weather was bad enough we were to go to the communal showers because they served as a storm shelter as well. I cringed at the thought of being in a communal shower, but took note of the fact that the closest one was about 100 feet away through a group of mesquite trees and cactus.

A feral cat showed up and proceeded to meow at the top of its lungs.

I could not shoo it away and Boss Lady was not happy. She guarded her human better than Doug does. We went back inside to find Tracy swatting gnats and moths all over the ceiling, off the TV, and off the overhead lights. He was fussing and whining and all I could do was laugh. Having grown up living next to a lake and having grandparents who lived next to a lake, I guess I just assumed everyone knew that the moths and gnats are part of the natural fauna. I had an instant flash back to being 9 years old and watching the moths flutter against the screens at night. Then I thought about how we will be vacuuming moths and gnats off the screens, and cleaning them out of the light fixtures for months to come.

Around 10 pm we went to bed with a nice chilly breeze blowing, bright starry sky shining in, and a feral cat meowing.

It was lovely! Around 2:30 am I sat straight up in bed and realized the breeze had stopped, there were no animal sounds, and it was black outside. It took me a minute to get my bearings and put my tennis shoes on. Tracy woke up and instantly did the same thing. We grabbed the weather radio and listened as the wind began to blow hard. I watched out the window between lightning strikes so I could remember where the shelter was located.

As the wind picked up even more it began to rain. I was able to get a live weather radar on my phone and saw that we were right in the middle of the worst part of the storm. The Big Lebowski was shaking and rattling, but the storm stopped. Me, Tracy, Doug, and Boss Lady all just looked at each other and went back to bed. I slept with my tennis shoes on. The bed was very small that night with all four of us pilled in. We didn’t sleep too well after that.

Upon waking up we decided to leave rather than stay there another night.

A new storm was expected and I did not want to be a part of it. We were both tired and ready to get some decent food. When we checked out we had a nice visit with the Park Ranger. She is a very nice woman and we enjoyed speaking with her. We told her about the feral cat and she said they had been trying to catch it, but have not been successful so far.

On our way back to the interstate Tracy and I took note of how there had once been a thriving community around the lake. The stores are all closed down and the nearest restaurant is in Big Spring, Texas, about 30 plus miles away.

Once we made it to Big Spring we stopped to eat and look up the weather.

Since the weather was not going to be favorable at Big Bend National Park we decided to go on to Carlsbad, New Mexico. It was only 168 miles away and it was on our list of places to see. After eating a big meal and having gotten little sleep the night before we decided to take a nap at the truck stop.

We rested for about two hours, all four of us piled up in the bed again, and then headed out US Hwy 180 to Lamesa, Texas. Our original plan was to shoot straight across to Hobbs, New Mexico and then drive down to Carlsbad to spend a few days there.

We left out of Big Spring around 1 pm. We made it to Lamesa in no time, only to find that the highway was closed due to mudslides and high water from flash flooding the night before. We followed the detour signs that took us onto a narrow, windy road through oil patches. From experience we know that oil field guys don’t slow down and they are not going to budge over at all. So you can imagine the curse words thrown around the Big Lebowski this afternoon when an oil tanker came barreling down towards us and we had to pull over into the grass because the oil tanker wanted both sides of the road, or when a hot shot driver hauling pipe was doing the same thing.

So now we are in the middle of oil fields in west Texas with 60 mile an hour winds and dust storms started blowing in.

Somewhere in the western region of   Texas: Dust Storm.

Somewhere in the western region of   Texas: Dust Storm.

Somewhere in the western region of   Texas: Dust Storm.

 

The detour took us 100 miles out of the way, and the whole time I kept hearing the theme song to Gilligan’s Island play in my head. A three hour tour….

New Mexico state line, crossing from Texas.

Finally, civilization! Yeah, the windshield needs to be cleaned.

We finally made it across the state line. The trip that should have only taken us four hours max, ended up taking us over six hours and we still have not made it to our destination. We needed to call it a day, so we are laid over at the Walmart in Hobbs, New Mexico for the night. 

I swear the west Texas winds stopped as soon as we crossed the state line.

It was like New Mexico said no to Texas wind, and I am so glad. It was hot as fire when we got here, but it’s the Chauhan Desert. It’s now 45 and awesome outside.

Thank you to everyone who has subscribed so far. If you want to subscribe to the blog you can use the subscribe function at the top right corner of the blog. You will receive aan email notice when we make new entries on the blog. We will eventually get some place interesting. Leave us a comment or suggestion below.

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Tomorrow we visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park. I am so excited because I have not been since I was a teenager. That’s when I fell in love with New Mexico. Tracy has never been to Carlsbad Caverns and is excited to go.

 

 



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Old Eyes and Angry Men

 

Doug riding on the dog house. He loves it!

It seems that a lot of people are wondering if we are ever going to make it out of Texas.

I am one of those people. We have taken our time getting the Big Lebowski ready and enjoying time with our family. We celebrated our youngest daughter’s 21^st birthday, our youngest son’s 19^th birthday, and moved our oldest daughter into her new house. We mourned the death of our beloved Princess Kitty Princess. Doug and Boss Lady were very upset for a few days. They still continue to look for her.

Before I go much further I have to say I realize that this blog post is going to make us look like idiots, but I have to tell the stories of our experiences. The good and the bad, and the really bad. This blog post might sound like all we do is stand around and yell, but in reality we have many laughs along the way too. I share the story about the temper tantrum because it the story that sticks out in my mind. I share the story about the water pump because so far it is the worst thing we have been through, and hopefully it will be the only awful moment we encounter.

We made many modifications to the Big Lebowski over the last month. The biggest modifications were the new roof and the addition of our solar power system.

Our old roof was worn out. Luckily it had not started leaking so there were no big repairs that needed to be made. We ordered the materials for the roof from Amazon and Tracy did the work himself. It took a full day but was well worth the time. The hardest part was waiting for the rain to stop long enough to give us a dry sunny day. The new roof has helped a lot to keep the Big Lebowski cool on the inside.

We installed three solar panels and four deep cycle batteries, along with the needed hardware. We purchased the extreme power kit from Go Power. We thought this would be a fairly easy task, maybe two and half days of labor. No, it took two weeks. The biggest issue we found was that the instructions were lacking and contradictory. There is no one installation manual or set of instructions. Each piece of hardware has an installation manual and you have to basically figure out how to tie them all together.

 

The issue with the instruction manual led to some pretty awesome temper tantrums on Tracy’s part.

One of the things no one really tells you about getting older is that your eye sight just stops working somewhere in your mid-40s. For Tracy this has been very upsetting. He has had eagle eyes all his life and then suddenly at 45 his eye sight just went wonky. It makes him even more upset when we get our annual eye exam and the doctor tells me that my eye sight is getting better with age. Hey, it’s not unheard of, it happens. I just like to think that I am one of the lucky few it happens too.

We spend a small fortune on readers every month.

Mostly because they get lost, scratched, and on occasion they get broken. Especially one pair in particular. Like I said earlier, Tracy threw a pretty awesome temper tantrum while installing the solar power system. Some of the work required some detailed wiring and naturally all I heard from Tracy was that he couldn’t see. I hear that every day, all day. So I thought nothing of it. Finally, at the height of his frustration he grabbed the readers off his face, broke them in half, threw them down on the ground, and then gave them a class act cussing for good measure. They were finished. Done. Gone.

There was no way those readers were going to be resurrected from the dead.

I went to bed. I learned a long time ago to ignore temper tantrums. A person has a right to be mad. So I am sure you can imagine my surprise when I woke up early the next morning to find Tracy sitting in front of the television happy, and wearing the last pair of readers from three pack. He was so happy that morning that he proudly told me he figured out why the readers were not working.

There was protective film on the readers.

I felt a little angry at this new revelation. First, I was angry at him, but then I was angry at the reader manufacturer. People buy them because they cannot see. If they cannot see how are they supposed to know there is a scratch resistant film on the lenses if the manufacturer does not print something on the film?

Old habits die hard.

Once the solar power system was installed and working I gathered up all of the instruction manuals and went to work on them with my red pen. I made notes about where the instructions lack detail, where they contradict each other, and what extra parts and tools they forget to mention. I felt like I was back at work rewriting an SOP or a protocol. The kit includes three solar panels, but they only send you enough connectors to hook two up to the system. We had to order another set and wait for it to arrive. The list of grievances goes on, so I will not bore you with the details. If you are interested in our solar power system and would like to contact us you can email Tracy at wilsonswork@yahoo.com.

We officially hit the road on May 5, 2015.

My small gnomes have a front row seat

Mini Robin gets to hang out too

 

We headed to Garland, Texas around 12:30 in the afternoon and arrived at about 5:30 that evening. I spent the entire trip white knuckled and tense. The wind did not help. We picked the windiest day to leave, so the Big Lebowski rode like a brick on ice skates. I worry because the Big Lebowski is so big and we are still very new at driving the bus. I have to give Tracy credit though, he has done pretty well so far at maintaining a safe speed and not letting the traffic get to him.

I-35 North was not so bad once we left Waco until we got to Highway 20 East from I-H 35. Then we hit rush hour traffic and I think my heart moved to my throat. I make a horrible passenger. Normally I will just look at my phone when we get into heavy traffic, but with the way the Big Lebowski sways I get motion sickness. Tracy navigated us through the crowded residential streets in Garland to his mother’s house like a pro.

I would like to say our trip to the Dallas area has been uneventful.

We visited with Tracy’s family for about an hour and then headed to Mesquite, Texas to visit an old friend. We needed to drop some tools off for safe keeping and to get the weight of the Big Lebowski down. We parked the Big Lebowski a block from his friend’s house because the streets are narrow and there are cars parked on both sides of the street. Tracy took great pleasure in showing his friend the motorhome and talking for about thirty minutes until he noticed a leak. We watched as the water pump on the motor dumped water onto the street.

There were four of us standing there with our heads turned sideways staring under the motorhome in silence until the last drop fell. Tracy and I just looked at each other. I felt my heart sink back down into my stomach. I had to look on the bright side, at least we were not on the highway and we were in a safe neighborhood.

I could not believe that it happened. We had custom radiators made for the Big Lebowski in December. While we were waiting on them to be finished Tracy and I discussed changing out the water pump too, but decided against it because it looked to be in good shape and the seals seemed ok. I distinctly remember Tracy saying “The worst thing that could happen is that the water pump goes out and I have to pull the radiators out to replace it.”

So, ok, the worst just happened.

Tracy was able to locate a water pump, and thermostat rather quickly. This is his hometown. He had the radiators and old water pump out within about an hour. He went to put the new water pump on and realized it was missing a bracket. Our quick repair was foiled. By this time it was 11pm and everything was closed. This was also the time we realized that we were parked in front of the entrance to a construction zone. It seems that Mesquite ISD is on a building spree for their schools.

Not to worry, there was another entrance down the street that could be used. We decided to try and get some sleep and get up early in the morning and try again. Neither of us slept very soundly. Well, Tracy did not sleep very soundly. I slept like a dead person only to be awoken to shouting and hollering. It seems that the job superintendent was not happy about where we were because we had blocked the entrance for all the dump trucks he had coming.

I thought to myself, “Why can they not use the other entrance? Yeah, it’s inconvenient because it’s a tight corner, but they are licensed professionals. They drive in the Dallas area every day. They can make that corner.” Tracy tried to explain the situation, but the guy was having none of it. The guy insisted his truck could pull the Big Lebowski the twenty feet. Ok, have at it, the Big Lebowski weighs 20,000 pounds, but if you think your El Trucka can move it be my guest. The emergency brake engages and can only be disengaged when the motor is on.

So after two unfruitful tries the guy gets out of his truck and screams at Tracy to release the brakes.

Tracy tries turn the motor over in an effort to release the brake but oil starts to shoot out. Now everyone is angry and the guy yells at Tracy that he better get some kitty litter and clean it up because he has to report it to the EPA. The guy leaves to go to the job site office. Tracy grabs the cats litter box from the basement and dumps it on the oil.

By this time there are about ten Hispanic men standing around making derogatory remarks. I know enough Spanish insults to hold my own. I may not understand every word, but I know enough to get in trouble. I felt my temper flare and shot off a dirty look. They quickly dispersed and went back to work with their heads hung in shame. We had no problems with them after that. They were even nice enough to offer me something to drink later in the day.

About ten minutes later the fire department shows up because the guy had called 911 to report an oil spill. They looked at the kitty litter and left.  By this time the dump trucks are showing up. There are six 18-wheeler dump trucks lined up waiting to get in the gate. They sat and waited an hour. Someone finally had the bright idea to use the second gate.

Eventually the City Code Inspector shows up and decides we need to call a tow truck to move us twenty feet.

I called our Good Sam’s Roadside Assistance. We had a wait time of 120 minutes. That just was not fast enough to please anyone. I called a couple of other tow companies in the area and they were all at least two or three hours away. By this time Tracy was really upset. I told him that if it was a true emergency that the city would send a tow truck, and I pointed out that the cops had not even showed up. The cops knew we were there because they had driven by in the night and checked on us. We were on a public street, not breaking any laws, and trying to abate the problem. This calmed him down.

The drive shaft for the motorhome had to be dropped because the emergency brake could not be disengaged. Just as the last dump truck dropped its load, the tow truck showed up an hour ahead of schedule. At this point Tracy realized if the guy had just let him leave to go exchange the part for the correct one he would be done by now. The good news is that the tow truck moved us the twenty feet and it did not cost us anything. I think this really pissed the guy off. Hey, this is why we bought the premium road side service package.

Six hours had gone by and it was raining off and on. Eventually we got the part exchanged, got the new part on, and then had to connect the drive shaft. We spent thirty minutes looking for the u-bolts that hold the drive shaft on. Tracy had set them on the steps after removing them. When the tow truck driver showed up I moved them to the inside steps so that we could close the door and the exterior steps could be folded up for safe transport. That was the last I remembered seeing them. So it was thirty minutes of Tracy yelling at me for moving them. We eventually found them in the basement compartment that houses the litter box. That’s when I remembered watching him take them off the interior steps and set them in the basement so we could go inside after the tow truck left. Now I was angry.

Another pair bites the dust.

Tracy got to work putting the drive shaft back together. Again, all I heard was “I can’t see!” The next thing I know I pair of readers come flying out from under the Big Lebowski and land right in the path of an on-coming car.  I am guessing they had grease on the lenses.

Of Couse nothing is easy. The pins in the bearing for the drive shaft would not stay in place. Tracy was very frustrated and decided to just go get a new bearing. It’s a good thing the auto parts store was just two blocks away. Once he got the new bearing it took about ten minutes to get the drive shaft reinstalled. Everything is now working and we are better off than when we started. Tracy was able to find the problem we were having with the cooling fan for the oil cooler and get it fixed. Plus we now have an all new cooling system.

It might be important to mention that during this whole ordeal the only thing that bothered me, up the point of finding the U-bolts on the basement, was the fact that the cover for our fresh water tank kept getting blown open by the wind. I could not find the key that locked the cover and the fact that it was open really upset me. It worried me that someone might put something in our water tank or that something would get blown in to it. I eventually got it closed.

We were both so exhausted, starving, and dirty by the time we were finished that we decided to stay in a motel room for the night.

We didn’t have the energy to drive to the RV park in Rockwall or find a Walmart that allows overnight parking. I can tell you none of the Walmarts in the Dallas, Mesquite, and Garland areas allow overnight parking for RVs. I called them all. There are city ordinances in place that prohibit the overnight parking.

There is a Microtel Inn in Mesquite that we stay at when we are up here and luckily it was about four blocks away. We were too tired to go out to eat after getting showers so we decided to order pizza. The guy at the front desk gave us the numbers to two pizza places that deliver to the hotel. Our first choice was Pizza Inn. We called, they were closed. What pizza place closes before 9 pm? So we had Dominoes’ and it was the most delicious pizza I ever ate.

No rest for the weary.

Tracy was able to pick up a little work while here in Dallas and spent the day working. I spent the day cleaning up the RV and writing you this blog entry. Tonight we are parked in Dallas behind a friend’s office off of Carroll Ave. and Highway 30. Yeah, right in the heart of Dallas. Doug and Boss Lady are not used to the city sounds. I cannot say I enjoy them either, but on some level its comforting. We will spend the night here with free hook ups and head out west first thing in the morning, hopefully before the morning traffic starts.

So far the solar power system has been great.

We had power the whole time we were broke down and were able to run fans, make coffee, and keep the household going.  The solar power system can run all of our appliances – washing machine included, but struggles with the AC. If we added one more panel and another bank of batteries we could run the AC, but we have a large generator that can run both air conditioners when we need it. We have only needed to use the generator for a short time.  This makes me happy because we are not burning thru our fuel.

It works so well that we are thinking about being a distributer. So if anyone is interested in a solar power system send Tracy an email at the address listed above or leave us a comment below.

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We head out towards the Big Bend National Park tomorrow, keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

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Horse Trades

 

 

 

I think Tracy should have been a horse trader.

 

My great grandfather was a horse trader by profession. Every year at our family reunion the subject of my great grandfather's horse trading comes up. I have heard some of the same old stories about Great Grandpa Hough and his many trades, but my favorite story is about a trade he made for a horse that he described as "not looking too good." The man who bought the horse thought he looked just fine and took him home. As the story goes the man called my great grandfather a couple of days later to report that the horse was blind. It's reported that my great grandfather's reply was "Well mister, I told you he didn't look too good!"

 

This week we got a washing machine / dryer combo unit. It is awesome. It's a washer and dryer all in one unit. I have always wondered why we had separate units and thought someone should invent one these. As it turns out someone did.

 

These units usually retail for around $1400, and finding a good used unit is next to impossible. So we put this on our wish list. When Tracy installed the new shower he went ahead and plumbed for a washer and dryer.

 

As luck would have it we have some neighbors here in the RV park we are staying at that had a unit they did not use or want. They took the washer/dryer out to install a dishwasher. Tracy struck a deal for the washer/dryer. He traded a 30 year old band saw, some cheap sockets, and an old, well used drill for the washer/dryer. I feel like we got the better end of the deal. We are now the proud owners of a Splendide (also known as Westland) 2100XC vented washer/dryer.

 

I do have to report that Tracy only electrocuted himself once while working on the installation of the unit.

Our new washer. The Splendide 2100XC

 

We spent our fair share of time at Home Depot this week.

 

We needed more storage space and decided to make a small pantry for the kitchen. This would free up the two over head bins in the living area. Tracy found some sliding brackets on which to mount the pantry so that we can pull it out but still hold it in place while we are driving.

 

We must have spent three hours in Home Depot. I know Doug and I followed Tracy back and fourth across the store three times while he tried to decide what materials he needed to make the pantry. Doug didn't mind so much because all of the employees and regulars at the Home Depot in Waco, Texas know Doug. So he gets a lot of attention when we go there.

 

My trusted companion: Doug

 

 As soon as we got into the car Doug passed out. I just wished I could.

 

Tracy has the pantry installed but we have to go back to Home Depot to get more trim. He will finish out the trim once we pick some up. I will post more pictures after it is fully completed.

 

 

Pantry Construction

Pantry Construction

 

Pantry: Installed, waiting on trim.
Yes, Tracy we see you.

Pantry: Sitting flush with wall.
View from galley.

 

Pantry: Pulled out.
View from galley

Pantry:  Pulled out.
View from living room.

Pantry: Mounted on sliding brackets.

 

 

I am glad to report that Tracy only had one staple gun accident while making the pantry.

 

While Tracy worked on the pantry I started working on the roman shades for the side windows. They are coming along quite well. Since this is the first time I have ever made a set of roman shades I have to confess that I did not expect them to be so hard to complete. Fortunately, I only have to make two. I am almost finished with the first shade and will post pictures as soon I am done.

 

I also took the time to make a couple of hedge hog hot pads for our oldest daughter. I found the pattern on line and she fell in love. These are so cute I couldn't resist. It seems that everyone I show these to wants a set. I am thinking about selling them for around $5.00 each or  $8.50 a set.

 

Hedge Hog hot pad

 

 The Big Lebowski needed leveling this week.

 

After Tracy got the pantry installed yesterday he decided to level the motorhome. We had started to lean a little. Well, we were leaning a lot. I felt like I was in one of those fun houses at a carnival where everything is skewed and leaning.

 

I was sitting outside visiting with my mother while Tracy worked on leveling the Big Lebowski. We were enjoying the nice day and drinking iced tea. It was a lovely visit until Mayhem showed up.

 

While Tracy was adjusting the jacks on the motorhome there was sudden jerk and the Big Lebowski rolled back off the wheel stops. This knocked the Big Lebowski off the leveling jacks, causing a large air tank that had gotten set under the Big Lebowski to get punctured.

 

Mom and I both ran. I didn't drop my tea. I don't know about mom, but I almost peed my pants because of the sound the air made as it escaped the cylinder. Fortunately, the cylinder did not become projectile. It was firmly lodged under the Big Lebowski. We just waited and watched while the air tank lost its pressure. I swear someone better stop that character Mayhem in his tracks before I have a heart attack.

The lesson learned here is to not use the cheap little aluminum wheel stops. They don't work with a large vehicle. Spend the money and get a decent set.

 

We got an early visit from the Easter Bunny.

 

Before we moved in to the Big Lebowski I had Tracy install a cat door into one of the basement compartments to house the litter box. Tracy has been leaving the basement door unlatched so that Princess Kitty Princess and Boss Lady can come and go at their leisure. Its not so bad during the day because we are up and can supervise their activity, but at night I prefer not to leave it open.

 

I have been telling Tracy that because the weather is warming up we should close the basement door so the cats do not bring us a present, or another animal doesn't come visit us. He prefers to leave it open because the cats wake him up wanting in and out at night.

 

After waking up at 6:30 this morning to a little baby rabbit in our bed. I bet that door gets closed tonight.

 

I want to thank all of our readers and subscribers.

We have gotten a great deal of positive feed back and are glad so many of you are enjoying our blog. If you have not subscribed to the blog you can still do so. The subscribe button is near the top of the page on the right hand side.

I included links to some of the items we bought in case anyone is interested in them. We are members of the Amazon Associates program so if you purchase these items we make a small percentage of the sale price. I will be adding a page about my Thermal Cooker in the next few days because I think it is the most awesome piece of cookware I have ever owned. I have gotten a lot of questions about it and hope the new page helps answer some of them.

Injury tally for the week:

Splinter - 1
Staple injury - 1
Electrocution - 1
 

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Here is a link to the washer/dryer we have:

Westland WD2100XC White Vented Combo Washer/Dryer

Here is a link to the hardware I am using for the Roman Shades:
All-in-One ROMAN SHADE HARDWARE KIT, in White (cord lock, pulleys, cord, brackets, cleats, rings)

Here is a link to the drawer slides we used for our new pantry:
Liberty D80614C-ZP-W 14-Inch Ball Bearing Drawer Slides

Here is a link to the new wheel stops we purchased:
Camco 44414 Wheel Chock - Pack of 2