Category: Uncategorized

When I pulled into the Walmart in Benson, Arizona, I saw this Leisure Travel RV parked nearby.

Because it looked like one we used to own I was, of course, curious about it but I was too tired to inquire. Then the next morning, as I was finally uncovering my windows I saw a fellow checking out my rig. So we visited. This is Dennis, owner of that LT.

We visited a couple of times during the morning. Each time we each taught the other something else about this lifestyle. We both went away with URLs to check out.

When I stopped here I had not planned to stay through the day but you know those comments about man’s plans.

Judie & Gary live about an hour south of here. Judie is one of my internet friends and she had expressed an interest in seeing my Sportsmobile. So when I realized how close I was to her I contacted her. They were interested enough to be willing to drive to me. So I hung around waiting for them.

In the meantime I found out Mike & Julie are parked in an RV park here in town and wanted to know if I wanted to get together while here. So I told them I was at the Walmart. I figured since I was staying another day I would give them a call later to see if they wanted to meet for supper.

Then our daughter, the truck driver, called. She would be passing through Benson about 1:00. Did I want to meet up? Of course I do. See my daughter? Absolutely.

So about 11:30 Judie and Gary came and we visited.

When they left I took a quick nap in preparation for a long chat with my daughter. Who didn’t arrive on schedule. It turned out the load she was picking up wasn’t ready. So we thought she’d be here about 3:00 instead. At 2:30 they finished loading her truck. OK, she’ll be here about 5:00. A little after 6:00 she finally arrived. And we talked and talked until bedtime. Then she went to sleep in her truck and I went to sleep in my van. This morning she came back. About 7:30 am. But I was actually up and doing computer stuff although I was still wearing pajamas. She had made three trips into Walmart and on the last one she locked herself out of the truck. It would take about 45 minutes for the fixit guy to arrive. So we talked some more.

I took her picture, too, but she said she didn’t want it posted on the internet. She authorized this one. 🙂

So, she finally got into her truck and left. I am finally dressed, fed, and almost packed up. My batteries are getting very low so I need to start driving to recharge them. But, I never did get to see Mike & Julie.

Such is life on visiting day.

TTYL,

Linda

No, not zombies.

Internet access.

They’re not everywhere, you know. Or maybe you don’t know.

Those of you who live in big cities never have to wonder if you will be able to access your data or not. For those of us who live on the road there is “Coverage?” available for the iPhone and iPad.

The couple known as Technomadia live in an RV so they know what we want. (Check them out at http://www.technomadia.com) And being technomads they develop an app to do it and then sell it through Apple’s App Store. Coverage? is the one that tells me at a quick glance whether or not an area I am about to move into will have a signal for me.

At least they try to tell me. Their data can only be as good as that supplied by the data vendors: AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, & T-Mobile. As we all know, when it comes to data the phrase is GIGO, which stands for “garbage in, garbage out”. In this case it is Verizon’s garbage.

Verizon said I would have no signal in Brady, Texas, where I planned to spend the night but it would be back in Eldorado where I planned to stop for lunch the next day. Wrong. When I stopped in Brady I had enough phone signal to be able to call Walmart to get permission to park there overnight. I didn’t try the data because it looked like I was roaming so didn’t want to risk it. The next day, in Eldorado, I had no signal at all. I did get in a nice nap there, though.

So, by the time I got to Fort Stockton I had been two days without internet. Driving helped fill in that time but I knew I things in my on-line world must be getting backlogged. So I checked into an RV park for two nights. That let me catch up on all my internet stuff as well as do housekeeping chores like tending to my tanks: dumping and filling as the case may be.

Because having your black tank fill up puts you into another type of dead zone.

TTYL,

Linda

Yes, stopping not shopping. Although I do that, too.

One of the reasons I like to shop at Walmart is that they are RV friendly. You are even welcome to stay overnight in their parking lot unless local ordinance forbids it.

In addition to that many of them have oversized van handicapped parking spots. In these spots you park parallel to the driving lanes instead of nose in. They have extra width and length so those of us traveling with personal mobility devices have room to unload them to use in the store. My van fits in those spots. But, so do compact cars. Whose drivers have no idea how nice it would be if they didn’t take those spots unless they had absolutely no other option. They just see them as easy in-easy out. Which they are.

For me, those spots are close enough to the doors that I can walk inside, then use one of the store’s carts to do my shopping. I can buy a lot more stuff using their carts than I can using my Scoot. My basket is not so big.

If I have to park in the back forty, I unload and ride my Scoot into the store. If I work it very carefully I can buy about $75 worth of groceries per trip on my Scoot. Nowadays, that’s not many groceries when you let your supplies get down to four meals worth. So it takes lots of trips on my Scoot to restock.

But shopping that way is tiring.

So what I am now doing is taking my Scoot in and buying about three bags worth of groceries. I do it by stacking two bags between my feet and filling my basket. Then I haul that out to my RV where I eat a meal or take a nap or drive on down the road to the next Walmart. Where I buy another three bags of groceries.

I figure about the time I get my fridge and pantry restocked I will luck into one of the good spots and have to decide how much more I should really buy.

Right now, though, it easy to tell my GPS where I want to stop next: the next Walmart down the road.

TTYL,

Linda

Two weeks appears to be the time I can live in my RV between grocery trips. I got down to four entrees before I decided I really did have to go to the grocery store.

Now you may remember that I am traveling without a car. My van, which is also my house, is the only vehicle I have with me. So to go anywhere requires packing up the house.

For those of you who have never packed a house for travel that means:

1. Dumping my black and grey tanks.

2. Filling my fresh water tank.

3. Bringing in the hoses used to do those two tasks along with my electrical cord.

4. Removing all temporary window coverings.

5. Stashing everything that is loose. Remembering to get my doormat while I am at it.

6. Locking all cupboards and putting bungie cords around everything not in a cupboard.

7. Tying closed the garbage bag so it doesn’t deposit its contents in undesirable places while driving.

8. Picking a destination

9. Setting my GPS to direct me to my desired destination.

10. Checking to see that my mirrors are still aligned and that I have enough fuel in the tank.

11. Walking around the outside of the rig to be sure I didn’t forget anything.

and 12. Walking around the inside of the rig to be sure I didn’t forget anything.

Now, I’m ready to go to the grocery store.

Or anyplace else I decide to go.

It seemed a waste to make all that effort just to go to the grocery store and back.

So, I decided to go to Arizona.

TTYL,

Linda

I wrote this as a response to Captain Fritter’s blog then decided I needed to share it here:

Christmas is not supposed to be a consumer holiday. If you are not celebrating the birth of Jesus what are you celebrating? If you are celebrating the birth of Jesus, what would he think about your style of celebrating? I think Jesus would encourage you to give as gifts only those things you already own–like your second coat. Jesus was a minimalist.

TTYL,

Linda

ps. One of my commenters sent a comment that somehow went into moderator limbo but I got a copy of it in email. It included this very appropriate link: http://content.cartoonbox.slate.com/?feature=ed12318d6a88702db3d55a3d0294a95c&resize=no

My response to that cartoon is that, if you follow that advice, you may indeed end in poverty.