Tag Archives: California

A non-standard day

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The part that could potentially fix our refrigerator problem arrived Monday.  I put it in and I immediately heard the propane fire up and the flue gets hot.  Sounded good.  However, when I got in the trailer the display was still not working.  The light was on inside the fridge which was a good thing.  About 5 minutes later it all shut down.  That is some progress.  I spent many hours trying to find the other part.  One RV part store said they could get the part the next day but by the time they returned my call it was too late to get it next day.  We decided to order the part and have it sent to my mother’s house and leave on Tuesday, the non-standard day.

We knew this was the day to leave.  We went through our normal routine at breakfast but then it all changed.  We had to ensure that everything was out in the truck or trailer.  Take multiple passes through the house and we still managed to miss a few things.  Our son can get those to us though.

We said goodbye to our neighbors and she took a few shots of us (her name is Tatiana Ruelas and does photography if you are interested).  Here is one in front of our old house (right) and the new house (left):

And us driving down the street, leaving for our adventure:

Off we go!  May 2, 2017 10:25am

Since heat was descending on us, and Arizona, I was hoping to find something cooler  I was thinking Kingman as it was higher in elevation and about 10 degrees cooler.  CA99 to CA58 to I15 to I40.  A path we know very well.

We ate lunch late in Tehachapi after a bit of driving around because I missed the main road.  Barstow was next for a fuel stop.  More driving around because of a new stretch of 58 and a misinterpretation of a detour sign.

We eventually got on I40 and saw the famous mileage sign:

We will probably get there sometime.

2 hours of extremely boring driving before exceedingly boring Needles to eat.  Fortunately, we tow our own toilet because there is not much on that road.  But without everything working right in the trailer (refrigerator), it feels more like we are just towing this:

This is the first real test of the new truck and it did great!  I love the engine braking going down hills.  The dash is mostly a flat screen so Ford can put up whatever information it wants.  Normally the gauges are the standard analog (along the top) but when it goes past the mid-point, Ford puts up the actual numbers:

Other than me being unemployed, leaving our home of almost 23 years, our town of 31+ years, getting confused twice while driving, having the rig loaded the heaviest I ever have, and driving 400+ miles in one day, there was one more non-standard.

We were out of California.  At 9:25 pm we crossed into Arizona. Some 11 hours later.  Another non-standard for us, not being California residents.

I hope that the days to come bring many non-standard days as we have had many years of standard days and it is time for a new part of our lives.

 

Launch delay…

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Years ago when I was still working (that still sounds weird) we had two employees, in a different department, that always complained about things going on in the office.  When they retired we thought they would be happy then.  Nope.  They came back to work with the office on a contract basis!  We could never figure out, other than monetary reasons, why someone that hated their work so much would do such a thing.

When people knew about my retirement, about 3 years ago, they would ask if I was going to come back and contract with the office also (which new CalPERS rules don’t allow now)?  My joke in return was, “The day of retirement, I will have the trailer hooked up and we will be taking off!”

Well, that didn’t work out, yet.   Since there was so much for us to do to get the trailer and truck ready and so much to get rid of at home we shot for the end of January.

This got further delayed due to:

  • Me falling off the ladder and being limited in my activities
  • Ripping out the master shower at home and building a new one from scratch (never having done this before)
  • Waiting for the Snugtop shell for my truck

It turns out that I had 3 fractured ribs not just two and my tailbone is broken/displaced.  There is still pain at certain times but nothing like right after I fell!

As mentioned in a previous post, we will not be returning to California to live but we still have our house.  Our son, Aaron, will be renting the house from us until he decides he can buy it.  If he doesn’t buy it then we will sell it.  Either way, the house will be sold so we are looking at it from a resale aspect.  Hence the shower redo.  Here are two current pictures:

Since I got a new model year truck I have been having to wait for my shell.  I ordered it in October!  Every time I call for a status it is two more weeks.  Sigh.

During the month of January, I was hoping for the end of February.  As I write this on the last day of February it is obvious we are going to be delayed again.  I have pushed the date back to the end of March.

Maybe…  (Don’t hold your breath)