Why the title?

"Pioneers take the arrows"

Oh, wait. I should be upbeat and taking arrows doesn't sound like an upbeat thing to say.

So, let me amend that statement.

It was courage and vision that led the pioneers to leave behind a comfortable, settled life and trek West to begin a new life in a new place. Many of those from the East that went West found a strength within themselves that they didn't see while they were in their old life. Instead of being one of those that just kind of went along with the others in the old life, they became leaders and visionaries in their new lives.

The sentiments of that last paragraph come from a favorite author, Louis L'Amour, in many of his books. So, I can't really say that it is an original thought from me. However, what he said is truthful.

Welcome to being a pioneer. Look ahead and ignore the "barking dogs" that give you negative opinions and comments. Louis L'Amour also spoke of the barking dogs.

In some of his stories, it was usually a father or older man telling a young boy how it was that when the Westward bound Conestoga wagons rolled through towns, the dogs came out to bark at them. His character then told the young listener that the barking didn't stop the wagons from going on to their destinations.

Following the advice of the Louis L'Amour characters, may we all forge ahead with our plans, after carefully considering all consequences and leave the "barkers" behind.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Still Adjusting to Full Time RV Life

For the most part, we are adjusting quite well to living in the Mobile Suites instead of a house, with a few exceptions. Of course, on occasion, we miss having a second bathroom. And, not always for what seems to be the obvious reason.

In our morning routine, Jo gets up first and feeds the dogs at the time my alarm goes off at 5:30am. Normally, I am pulling on some sweats bottoms and heading for the bathroom. This then allows her to get down the hallway and begin her routine for getting ready for work. The last few days or so, she has plugged in my coffee pot (which I’ve prepared the night before) and turns it on.

Because she has been turning on the coffee maker, I never even looked to see if she started it this morning. (That of course, made me be without coffee for that long 2 ½ mile drive to work.) I then sit down and finish whatever Dr. Pepper is in my mug for overnight and let the dogs out and in while she showers and does whatever else she needs in the bathroom. As she leaves the bathroom, she lets me know. Then I go do my stuff for getting ready, have my breakfast, and pour my coffee while Jo places the gates where the dogs can’t get onto carpet.

So, now it looks like I’m going to have to be a lot more alert in the mornings. Dang wife just didn’t get trained right.

Most of the day was just work and other uneventful things. However, the in-laws that sold their house without even listing it were down from Kansas today. Roxie is retired from the Oklahoma school systems and I think something to the effect of some retirement also from Kansas. Since they are going to move to Colorado, they had to change her retirement benefits to go to a different bank.

Oklahoma in its WONDERFUL, highly sensible system for doing things required her to come to Oklahoma City to sign for that change to be made. She HAD to do it IN PERSON. (Idiot bureaucrats….)

Anyway, while they were here, we drove over to El Reno to meet up with them and go have supper. (Uhhh…..supper is Okie talk for Dinner.) Dinner is actually what somewhat civilized folks call Lunch. (Breakfast is universal.) We got to visit for about an hour and a half and kind of iron out some plans for us to take off some time from work and go help them move.

While they are closing on their Kansas house tomorrow, the buyer told them they could have 60 days to get moved. So, their closing on the Colorado house will be a week from tomorrow. Sometime after the middle of July is when we will need to take off time to go up and help them move.

Now, to touch on what I posted in my last entry about the burning of Ed and Marilyn’s Mobile Suites. The link that I posted in the last entry was to a specific date of their travel journal, and I wanted to update with a link to their “home” page. That way, it will be easier for readers to see all their latest posts. One of those posts has pictures. Other than the link, I’ll let their words get you up to speed on their progress towards a new coach. Their link:

http://www.mytripjournal.com/Dray-TheHappyWanderers

While their experience has been a disastrous affair, it has gotten folks on the forums to looking at the need of multiple fire extinguishers. But, in addition to “multiple” extinguishers, they also need to be “placed” in appropriate places. For Jo and me, I am considering 2 inside the coach, 1 each on each side of the basement of the coach, 1 on each side of the truck, and 1 in the Mercury Mariner.

Someone on the RV Dreams forum also advised everyone to make sure they got good quality extinguishers. Poor quality will be of little to no value, especially considering how old they may get before being serviced.

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