Analytic

Sometimes I wish I wasn’t so analytic. I guess it comes from my engineering background. I have spent days trying to figure out what camera to buy. Most people will just head down to their local Walmart, look at the cameras in their price range and within a few minutes they are walking out with a new camera. I know because I have witnessed this. Today I went to Walmart to do some touchy feely with a couple of cameras that I narrowed it down to while online. Unfortunately someone ripped off the power cord for one of them so I didn’t get a chance to do a real comparison. I thought I had it narrowed down to two cameras until I got home and did a little more research. I found out that if I signed up for an Amazon (Visa) credit card that they will give me $40 off my first purchase. Well that just upped my spending limit by $40. So I started looking into more expensive units. I found one that had one of the best reviews of all the cameras sold on Amazon, even the higher priced ones, and it fit the bill. Now I will have to go back to Walmart and play with it, or it’s equivalent to see if it’s really the one I want.

By the way I did filled out the short form for the Amazon credit card online and was approved within seconds. They have added the card to my Amazon account for immediate use. They said I will get the card in the mail in about two weeks. Man was that easy or what?

If it aint on the internet

…It doesn’t exist, right? Wrong. I scoured the internet for a new original Dometic refrigerator roof vent. I found only one. Every were else either did not list one or stated it was no longer available. So I ordered the only one I could find. I promptly got an email that it was also no longer available. After a long search I figured I would give my local RV parts placed a try thinking one might have one left over in a storage room or something. Well it only took 3 stores and there it was, on the shelf. So I snatched it up. So much for the internet.

I have been also scoring the internet for a replacement clock movement for our pendulum/chime clock that gave up the ghost. The chime and pendulum still work but the hands don’t move. I discovered that the gears inside the movement are very light and fragile and years of bouncing down the road just took a toll on them. After days I finally found a suitable replacement and ordered it this morning. At least I hope it will work…we will see when it arrives. I think I can make it work no matter what.

The next internet search is for a new camera since mine doesn’t seem to want to recover after the drowning. I may have narrowed it down to 2 models but have to do more research before I order. It’s funny that I can get twice the camera now-a-days at about one third the price as the last one I bought.

Too much to do

Man have I been busy. Seems everything needs attention at the same time. I have a “To Do” list that won’t quit. The problem is I can’t just replace the broken parts because it seems everything has been discontinued, so I have to find an alternative or do some modifications.

We did find time to heading out on the lake last weekend. Yes we went out on the lake on Labor Day weekend.



This is a friends boat. He says he’s done 120 mph in it. He is looking for something faster. We spent all day Friday on the lake before all the weekenders showed up and Saturday we just parked the boat in the channel a watched.

What a show.

This is some lucky guy, what’s he got that I don’t. Oh yeah, a boat.

The pictures in this post will be the last for a while because my camera went swimming this weekend…Well it was in my pocket when I went swimming. I let it dry out and a few functions work but some refuse to. It takes pictures, at least it thinks it does but the pictures are just black.

107 Today

The temperature climbed to 107 degrees on our patio this afternoon. It is supposed to get hotter as the week goes on. We are heading out on the lake this Friday with some friends on their boat. I know, it’s a holiday weekend in Havasu. Not a good time to be on the water but hey…It’s not my boat. At least we don’t have to worry about the crazies at the launch ramp since the boat is already in the water. Should be interesting!

Visitors

We had 2 visitors today. First was this little fellow.

I was standing on our patio when this bat flew by me. I thought at first it was a large butterfly but realized its body was too fat for a butterfly so I followed it around the corner. Sure enough, it was a little bat. Not sure why it was flying around at 8:00a.

The second visitor was my sister. She emailed me to see if we were in town because she was passing through on her way to Lake Powell. She could only stay for about an hour since they had over 300 miles ahead of them and it was already noon. It sure was good to see her since the last time I saw her was about 3 years ago. She was in her motorhome pulling a boat with her friend. Looks like they are having fun.

The weather was perfect today. It was in the low 90s and just a little breeze to keep the heat from building up. Looks like just a reprieve though since the temps will be over 100 again by Wednesday. Sure was nice.

Great drive

We headed for Havasu this morning. The weather couldn’t be better, except it could have been a bit cooler. We had clear skies and no wind. We started out in the high 70s and by the time we got into Havasu it was 100. I think it finally pushed into the 105 mark today but there is a lot of humidity in the air. We can see thunder clouds all around us but for some reason they all seem to go around us. Now we have a lot of cleaning up to do. The park is still empty. Very few stayed through the summer and a few have come back but it really looks like a ghost town around here.

We put a total of 3,784 miles on the motorhome this summer and pumped 493 gallons of gas in it. That’s $1,611.39 in fuel costs. The motorhome did everything I asked it to and ran flawless for the whole trip. Now it’s time to give it a good bath and let it rest for a little while.

Mouse problems

No this time it wasn’t the 4 legged critters but the 2 button one. Suddenly it appeared my computer froze up. What actually happened is, it encountered a mouse problem. I finally got into my system restore and restored to an earlier point. It is very hard to navigate around the computer using just the keyboard if you are not used to it. That didn’t help so after a bit of fumbling around I got into my virus scanner and managed to run a full system scan. It took me nearly an hour (it takes a while to do a full system scan) to realize it was not a virus but acted like I was constantly holding down a mouse button. After the virus scan, which came up clean by the way, I shut down the computer and pried ‘er open. Everything looked OK at the moment except the dirt under the keyboard and the dirt that fell out of the keyboard when I tapped it. I brushed and vacuumed up all the dirt and took another look around. This time I noticed the keyboard connector was a bit askew in its socket. I figured I did it while handling the keyboard. After reseating it I thought I might do the same to the mouse connector. Now when I turned on the computer all was fine so back together it went. Still not sure if it was the dirt or the connectors but all seem well now.

Hoping

We are hoping we can get out of here on Friday. We plan to head back to Havasu but the weather is still not cooperating. It is supposed to get better by Friday but today we had a good thunderstorm blow through with some pretty exciting cloud to ground lightning. The good thing is it did lower the temperature from above 100 to just below 90. It’s amazing what 10 degrees can do. Actually we got just enough rain to just make everything dirty. We wouldn’t mind staying for a while but this place is a bit pricey for us. If it weren’t for the 3 nights for the price of 2, we wouldn’t be here right now.

Pechanga RV Resort

This afternoon we moved from the Elks Lodge in Vista to the Pechanga Casino RV Resort. We have stayed here several times in the past and always liked the place. This time however we were a bit disappointed. They have a 2:00p check in however they do let you check in early if your site is open. The exception now is they charge you an extra $10 for that early check in. We chose to hang out at the Elks Lodge long enough to get us at Pechanga by 2:00p. For some reason they fell they need to lock up all the sewer connections at every site. The last time we were here they told us once we got setup to call the office and they would be right out to unlock the sewer, which they did. This time they said they would put us on the list for sewer unlocking. 3 hours later I had to head back up to the office to check on this so-called list. Finally we got hooked up. Also the price has gone up quite a bit here but we got a 3 for the price of 2 nights so it’s not so bad. For the price they are charging the place doesn’t seem to be as well maintained as before, it is still pretty nice though. They have free WiFi but apparently don’t like to give out the password unless you request it. I figure I would just use my Verizon connection, however since Verizon is slow here I requested their password. Turns out their WiFi is slower than my Verizon. Not only that but the way they have it setup, you have to enter the password every time you want to use it.

The weather here today was around 103. This is a good thing because it will prepare us for Havasu if we decide to head back there on Friday. It is still very hot in Havasu but we are anxious to get back and get things cleaned up and a few things fixed.

Lights out

Remember that Service Engine Soon light I had on the Saturn? The one that came on 3 weeks ago? I was talking to my neighbor here at the Elks lodge about the light and he brought me a letter he received from the local Saturn dealer. It stated how they were one of the few dealers still in business and are ready to service our Saturn. I gave them a call. They answered and said they would read the codes for free. So off to the Saturn Dealer I went. I rounded the corner and what did I see, an empty building. It looked like a Ghost Town. The only thing missing was the tumbleweeds rolling through the parking lot. There was a good amount of trash blowing through the parking lot however indicating to me they have been MIA for quite sometime. As I drove by I said to myself, who did I talk to? So the second time around the block I pulled into the parking lot. Awe there is a note on the door. The Chevrolet dealer is now servicing Saturns. OK, off to the Chevy dealer I went. They were pretty cool. I pulled up and after explaining my predicament the guy was off and back with a code reader. Looks like a faulty gas cap he says and read off the codes. I wrote them down for future reference, he cleared the codes, turned off the light and off I went. At least if the light comes back on, I know where to start looking.

Why we like Lake Havasu City

Although this video doesn’t feature our resort it does give you a good idea of why we love Havasu.

What to do

Now that Landen is back home we are trying to decide if we should head back to Havasu or hang out here in Vista for a couple of weeks. We would like to get back to Havasu and get setup so we can do some heavy duty cleaning and fix a few things. On the other hand, it’s still too hot in Arizona. Right now the hottest part of the country is the California Arizona border. It is supposed to be 118 in Havasu on Sunday and Monday. We have thought about heading somewhere else for a while but don’t know were. The only place cool right now is the coast and we have been cruising the coast for the last month. We will probably hangout here for another 2 weeks then slowly work our way back to Havasu.

Clean 'er up

After nearly 4,000 miles I finally got a chance to do a little cleaning on the motorhome today. I couldn’t really do a wash job since they do not allow that here at the Elks Lodge. And besides the RV Park is dirt so it would be a real mess. Instead I got a bucket of water…Well a few buckets of water and a rag and a towel. Even though I really couldn’t get the grime off I at least got the dirt off and it look a whole lot better. It actually shines again. Tomorrow I will attack the car. Then do some interior work.

No kid

We have no kid. Today we arrived at the end of the line for Landen’s summer travels. We are back in Vista California and Landen is back with his dad. We are missing him already. We will be here for a while though so we will be seeing more of him, and his sister too.

Today’s drive went surprisingly well. I was concerned about traffic but the traffic was light and the road was in better shape than I remember. It was a breeze. I did get a bit startled though when a trucker came up beside me with his exhaust brake on (apparently to get my attention) and hold up 2 fingers flashing the number 2 sign at me. I think he is a Kurt Bush (NASCAR) fan and saw the 48, Jimmie Johnson stuff in the back window of the motorhome. Kurt Bush has a little battle going with Jimmie right now. At least I think that’s what it was all about because I checked all my gauges and mirrors and couldn’t find a problem with the motorhome or car.

They are bugging me about Camp Hosting here at the Elks while we are here because their hosts are traveling right now. In fact we saw them when we were in Eureka California a couple weeks ago. I really don’t want to do it though. They offered me free rent for as long as I want to do it. Just not sure we are staying.

I hate LA

Today we drove through parts of Los Angeles. The roads are crap and no mater what day it is or time of day the traffic is terrible. I hade a snoot in a Mercedes SUV squeeze between me and car in front of me then get Pissed because I was too close to him so he literally stopped in front of me in the middle of the freeway. Good thing the traffic was only going about 25 mph at the time. Since I am in no hurry I just chuckled and waited until he decide to take off again. All he accomplished was pissing himself off even more because it didn’t bother me at all. I wish I had got his license number so I could get his address and drop him a note saying, “That was quite entertaining. Hope you feel better now.”

We are now in Ontario at the Elks Lodge. This is where we stay when we go to the NASCAR race in Fontana. I think we confused a few folks here because I had at least 2 people ask if the race was this week. I guess we have stayed here enough that we get recognized.

We are all pretty sad because this is the last stop before we take Landen back home tomorrow. We will still get to spend some time with him before we head back to Havasu because we are going to hangout for a while since it is still over 100 degrees in Arizona. Landen and his sister Alexa want to spend the night together in the motorhome before we go back. That should be fun…

In a bind

Towing a car behind a motorhome is a piece of cake. Except when you get yourself down a dead end street with no way to turn around. We have been in this predicament 3 times in the last 6 years and today was the third. The gas station I wanted to get into was on the opposite side of the road and there was a center island stopping me from pulling into it. So I figured I would go around the block and approach it from the other angle. All was well until I pulled down a street and saw the “No Through Street” sign. No problem I thought, there must be a parking lot or something I can swing through. Then I came to the end of the road. We’re stuck, I said. So I put it in park, jumped out, unhooked the car, turned the motorhome around, and re-hooked the car. Took me less than 5 minutes, just a minor setback.

Our travel today was about an hour. We were going to travel further today but the NASCAR race started at 10:00 so we made it to the Santa Barbara Elks Lodge at a little after 10:00. This will be another one nighter.

Paula’s Pancake House

Whenever going up or coming down the California coast we always stop near the Danish town Solvang so we can stop at Paula’s Pancake House for breakfast. I always get the Danish Pancakes, YUM.

Apparently a lot of others feel the same as us about the quality of their food and service because there was a crowed at Paula’s and none of the others. After breakfast we strolled the town of Solvang. Heading back to the motorhome we stopped by the Ostrich Farm so Landen could feed the Ostrich. These guys were a little intimidating because of their size and aggressiveness.

Landen fed them with caution. I was curious what an $88 campsite looked like so we took a drive through Flying Flags Campground. The sites are nice but $88… I don’t think so. They basically put in doublewide sites so they only have ½ the sites they used to. But they charge more than twice as before so in theory they should be making the same money with ½ the people. The problem I saw was there was a lot of empty sites. One thing I did notice is the $30 dry camp section was full when there used to be only a few tent campers there. I remember we used to have to reserve well in advance to get a site. If we did want to get a site now we probably wouldn’t need reservations.

Moved again

We are now in Lompoc California. Why would anyone go to Lompoc? Well, we like to go to Solvang for breakfast and usually stay at Flying Flags RV Park in Buellton, just outside of Solvang. Seems Flying Flags thinks pretty highly of themselves lately. They raised their prices from the $30 something we paid in 2008 to $88 a night. I DON’T THINK SO! So anyway, we are at the Elks Lodge in Lompoc just 15 miles down the road. Tomorrow morning we are going for breakfast in Solvang. Joining the Elks sure came in handy. In fact the next 3 stops are Elks Lodges. Also we are thinking of looking for somewhere to hang out for a while until the weather cools a bit in Havasu. Out of curiosity I checked the park we used to host at, San Elijo State Beach. Just as I though, No vacancy. The shocker though is they also raised their prices. When we hosted the price for an ocean front full hookup site was something like $34. Now it is $65 and there is no more summer or winter rates. Sure glad I am an Elk.

You need to check this out. I though so much of it I made it a permanent link on our site.
Red Skelton's Pledge of Allegiance

Gum Wall

As I said we decided to stay another day so we could go to the Farmer's Market in San Luis Obispo. As usual the place was crowded.

Although there were just as many people, I think it wasn’t as good as before. It is now a true Farmer's Market with lots and lots produce. There used to be just as many arts and crafts booths but there are fewer than before. One reason I wanted to go was to show Landen the Gum Wall.

Yes, actually 2 gum walls, one on each side of the alley. I don’t know exactly how long this has been going on but 5 years ago when I discovered it, it was pretty full then.

Of course Landen had to leave his mark on the wall. Well tomorrow we’re off again heading even further south.

Family meeting

Today we took a drive down to Morro Bay for a little shop browsing and lunch.

It was a nice drive and the weather was cool with a bit of fog. It didn’t take long for the fog to lift though.

Landen took time to ponder about all the good times he has been having on this trip.

We had a family meeting today about the next few days. I had it all planned out but my plans are always up for change. We decided to stay here in Atascadero another day so we can head over to San Luis Obispo tomorrow night for their weekly farmers market and street fair. This has been going on every Thursday for as long as I can remember. It’s a pretty cool thing to see.