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Since I will be traveling solo in the winters I need something to tell me where to go. To do that I bought a Garmin dezl 560 LMT GPS after having read rave reviews about it. Here’s another one.

We had the perfect conditions to test my new GPS friday evening: a drive we do monthly to a friend’s house about an hour from home with a combination of city, freeway, and rural driving.

As we left home the first direction was to turn left at the end of our street to take a valid route but not Dave’s favorite route. So Dave turned right instead. The GPS quickly recalculated without nagging us.

We expected it to then route us onto another freeway that we prefer to cross to get to the next crosstown freeway. We were pleasantly surprised that, this time, it chose to keep going where we wanted to go making us feel validated in our choice of route.

Our next test was of the “lane assist” feature. At one point in our trip we knew our next exit would be a left exit instead of the typical right ramp. Sure enough, the display came up with several arrows showing how many lanes there are with all but the one would need dimmed. Under that was a red icon indicating we were not in the lane we would need. When we moved over, that icon turned green. Yay! Also, the screen split to a half screen closeup clearly showing our route taking the far left lane; the other half of the screen kept a reduced version of the main map.

Many miles later, it routed us off a freeway to an alternate route. Surprised by that, we checked the traffic on that freeway on Google maps and discovered it was marked red meaning it was very slow. My GPS was routing us around that traffic jam!

Another feature is a speed indicator. In the lower right corner of the display you see a speed limit sign telling you what the limit is on this road. Right next to it is a display of your current speed. If the latter one shows you are going faster than the former says, it also turns red. Kind of hard to tell the officer you didn’t realize you were speeding with that data right in front of your face. 🙂

One of the things it did not get right was the Estimated Time of Arrival. It kept changing as we moved along finally telling us we would be late to our destination. Maybe because of trying to keep that speed thing out of the red. 🙂 But, mostly because we were in summer Friday night heading-out-of-town traffic so had some slowdowns we couldn’t avoid.

Later that evening, we headed home again knowing that the “best” route had a section of freeway closed for construction. Imagine how happy we were to learn the GPS took that into consideration and gave us an alternate route. It KNEW that road was closed!

Another feature I am going to like: the ability to define your vehicle. This GPS is designed for truckers and RVers. You can tell it the height and weight of your vehicle and it will route you around low clearances and light-duty bridges.

And it includes information about truck stops along the freeways including what types of restaurants they have. That could help me eat healthier as I travel. It may not but, if not, that’s not the fault of the GPS. 🙂

And I get lifetime map updates so my data will be current each year as I head out.

I am now much more confident of my ability to drive alone through the strange cities I will need to navigate in my winter travels. That, to me, made it worth the extra expense of buying this particular GPS.

Plus this one included the “bean bag” mount you see in the picture above. That means it is easy to place it on the dash when traveling but remove all evidence of it being there when parked in an area where someone might be tempted by evidence that there are electronics on board to break into my home. The ability to move it easily adds to my sense of safety. Not a bad thing to feel as a solo female traveler.

TTYL,

Linda

 

Preparing to move into a very small RV leads to doing some very odd things.

For quite some time now I’ve been making mental lists of what I should put in that very small space between my bathroom and the back door of the van. The space is five inches deep by two feet wide. So, today I placed a foot stool 5″ from the wall in the corner of our living room and started stuffing things into the space. Here’s the result:

From left to right: the blue bag in the corner is the sun umbrella that attaches to my bag chair to keep me from from burning–which I do VERY easily. The grey bag is my new folding table. The tall gadget is my Swiffer handle to which I attach dry or wet cloths depending on whether I am dusting or mopping. The green bag is Dave’s bag chair which I will need for visitors. The white contraption is the rest of the umbrella set which I didn’t know wasn’t in the bag until Dave told me when I thought I was done. The very short black bag is a 3-corner stool I use as a foot stool when traveling–I need to put my feet up regularly and this is my outdoor solution to that challenge. And the far right thing is my vacuum cleaner that converts from a floor model to a handheld so I can vacuum anything that needs it.

Did you notice I didn’t get MY bag chair in there? It doesn’t fold down enough to fit it into a five inch space. That means it is going to have to go in a different corner. One by the front wheel of my TravelScoot. It should fit just fine there.

Now I just have to figure out a system for tie downs that keeps all this from rattling around while driving.

TTYL,

Linda

ps. I’ve been taking a vacation from counting Weight Watchers points. I am within a pound of where I was when I stopped doing that a few weeks ago. So, I can maintain but not lose without the tracking. Helpful to know.

Many people are familiar with the chairs that come in a bag for easy transport to outdoor events. You can buy them pretty much anywhere nowadays. But bag tables are not so common. I found this one at REI.

In the bag it looks like this:

Take it out of the bag and you get only three parts:

The frame opens quickly and easily:

The gear loft does not have to be installed now. In fact, it doesn’t have to be installed at all. But, if you plan to use it, it is easiest to install it now.

It makes a good place to stash the table’s bag so it doesn’t blow away while you are doing other things.

Next the top unrolls and goes on. It fits over two pegs on one side then clamps down on the other making it very secure. I missed a peg on the first try so, you are right, the top does look uneven.

At this point (after fixing the top) you basically have a coffee table. The legs can then be extended to your chosen height.

The legs extend individually just in case the ground on which you are setting it up is not even.

So, now I have an outdoor table on which I can cook or serve or eat or compute or play cards or whatever else I choose to do. And the whole thing only weighs nine pounds. And, in the bag, it is small enough that I can put it in the 5″ space behind my bathroom with my broom and mop. And the bag has separate pockets for the two metal pieces so they won’t be banging together as I go down the road.

I like my new table. REI does a good job designing things for outdoor activities. If you are in need of, or just want, such a gadget, you can get more details here: http://www.rei.com/product/828503/rei-camp-adjustable-roll-table

TTYL,

Linda

 

This is a book review.

The book, obviously, is about food. But it is not a cookbook. Nor is it a weight loss book. This book is about health.

Chapter one is titled, “Food should make you healthy,” and it says, “There is no food neutral; there is no food Switzerland–every single thing you put in your mouth is either making you more healthy or less healthy.”

This book tells you which foods are which. Some of them will surprise you.

For those who need to know why the book includes what the authors call the “science-y” parts. Those of us who just care what can skip those parts although my experience is you will come back to them later since knowing why can help keep you motivated to go on improving your health.

Once you learn which foods are which, the book teaches you how to get the unhealthy ones out of your life. This part is called the Whole 30 and it is about detoxing your body from all it’s bad habits and cravings. Yes, your cravings will go away; I promise they will, if you stick with the program.

It is important to do a Whole 30 if you want to be heathy. Here’s the authors’ explanation of why: it’s called Cat Math. “Think of it like this: You’re allergic to cats, and you own ten of them. One day, fed up with your allergies, you decide to get rid of nine of your cats. Will you feel better? Maybe a bit–maybe not so stuffy, itchy, or headachy. But will your allergies go away entirely? Not a chance, because you are still living with a cat! Removing only some commonly problematic foods from your diet is like getting rid of nine of your cats–with even a little bit remaining in your diet, you can’t hope to be free of the negative effects it may be having.”

So, you rid your body of all it’s reactions to foods that make you unhealthy. Now what? This book teaches you that, too. My favorite part of this book is Appendix A. It includes master recipes for batch cooking proteins, vegetables, and sauces/dressings. Then it shows you myriad ways you can combine those to make quick, tasty, healthful meals. In fact, you can make one of those meals faster than you can fetch fast food.

Now there’s a plan I can live with. Healthfully. My weight loss is just a bonus of this type of eating. I know that for sure because when I stop eating this way, my weight loss stops, too. Some of us have to learn by stretching the boundaries until they break. I now need to do another Whole30 to get back on track. This new book will help me do that.

Go here, http://whole9life.com/, and scroll down the right column to choose whether you want to buy your book through Amazon or Barnes & Noble. I truly believe this is the best investment you can make in your health. And what other investment is so important?

TTYL,

Linda

My new van has arrived!

Sort of.

The Sprinter is built by Mercedes Benz in Germany. Then it is disassembled, put on a ship to South Carolina, and reassembled there. This is because it is cheaper to ship parts than it is to ship vehicles.

Once in South Carolina, where my van is now, it is reassembled. Then it will be shipped to Austin, Texas, to the dealer I bought it from, who will then send it over to the Sportsmobile plant in Austin. It is due to arrive there sometime in late July which will make it my birthday present. 🙂

Sportsmobile then takes about ten weeks to convert it to my RV.

Which means we will be driving to Texas, probably in mid-October, to pick it up. Since the campgrounds around here all close for the season then, I will be starting my winter trip directly from there.

The challenge in that is I will have limited ability to do any prep at home for this season.  Minimal gear since it all has to fit in the Honda CR-V for the drive to Texas. No foods already prepared and frozen since it will take a couple of days to drive to Texas so it would all be thawed by then. And all my testing of the RV’s systems will have to take place far from home.

Now, Dave and I can stay in a motel during the pick up and packing processes but there is no bed for Dave in my Sprinter. So, once he starts for home, I will be truly on my own.

Frightening.

Exciting.

Or, as Melicious would say, “I am filled with frexcitement!”

TTYL,

Linda