The Sandcastle

We recently joined a membership campground. Emerald Cove RV Resort, part of the Colorado River Adventures system, is technically in California but it is right across the Colorado River from Parker, Arizona, and everything here runs on Arizona time. But, it apparently runs on California logic.

As members of this park we can come for two weeks for free. Then we need to leave for a week before we can come back for two more weeks for free. OR. We can buy our week out for $95. That means for $95 we can camp for five weeks.

So we came for our two free weeks and were assigned a pull-through site with 50 amp power and a view of the river.

The views to left and right are not wonderful but acceptable. Keep in mind that the RV on the right is actually two spaces away–normally there is another one between us and it.

The two weeks went well, the weather is excellent, and the shopping is acceptable. We were comfortable where we were. Moving is more work than I wanted to do for reasons I will give in a different post. So we decided to stay, paying for what should have been our week out. Thus Dave went off to make arrangement.

When he came back he said we could stay. Sort of. The site we were in was not available to people paying for their week out so we would have to move to a different site.

So we packed up and moved. To a back-in site with 30 amp electricity and this view.

So the best sites are free and the lesser sites cost $13.50 a night. Hmmm.

This membership park camping is going to be challenging. There are eight parks in our “system” that we can use under the same pricing method. But we also now have memberships in two other systems. One of them the price varies by the type of park we go to and the other one uses a points system to determine where you can stay. I wonder if we will ever figure out all this?

All of this is because we finally slowed down, staying longer in each place so we thought we’d save money by joining a park system. I wonder if we will?

TTYL,

Linda

Froggi Donna asked us on her blog about games we played. http://2takinga5th.blogspot.com/2011/02/childhood-games.html

That made me think about games we’ve taken camping with us pretty much all our lives. Even when we were backpacking off the beaten track we took a games pack that looked much like this:

It used to be in a fold-top sandwich bag but now resides in a quart-sized Zip-Loc bag which is the right width but about twice as tall as it need to be.

The bag now holds this:

Two decks of cards so we can play Canasta, Hearts, 500 ,or Hell.

Six dice. It used to have five so we could play Yahtzee. Then we learned to play Farkel so now we have six dice. Which means we can also have two tables playing Bunco. No gambling, though, or the Bunco Squad could show up at your door.

The pencil and paper are, of course, for keeping score. The filled out papers are rules for games we play seldom enough to not trust our memories. Other games we just agree on the rules before start.

And that funny little key-chain thing is a cribbage board. It is finely machined, lightweight metal with metal pegs that are much easier to use than they look like they would be.

All of this weighs only ounces and takes little room in any type of travel carrier.

That’s the indoor games.

Next Donna asked people about outdoor games. Here’s the one our daughter gave us when we went full-time in our RV. I laid a toothpick on it so you can see how small it is.

But, when removed from its bag, it opens itself to become…

…a flying saucer!

I throw it and you chase it, right?

TTYL,

Linda

I know this blog is supposed to be about our RVing experiences but sometimes, for one reason or another, I can’t write about that. Rather than just leave you hanging out there wondering if we are still alive I decided to post something not RV related.

Thus, here are some character sketches I wrote think I might sometime write a book based on them. The odds of the book ever happening are very small so I thought you might enjoy reading these now.

Dianna, Goddess of the Hunt

My father loves to hunt. When I turned out to be a daughter instead of the son he wanted he named me Dianna after the goddess of the hunt. My mother let him do it then taught me that it was more fun to hunt boys than wild animals. Although, sometimes they seem like the same thing, don’t they? Anyway, now that I am an adult I no longer hunt boys. Now I hunt men. See I am…

…A Cop

A detective actually. Homicide specifically. I hunt murderers. Mother, of course, is appalled.

…An Executive Search Specialist

What’s commonly known as a headhunter. Although, unlike my father who mounted his victims heads on the walls of his lodge, I prefer my prey keep their heads on straight. They’re not much use to my clients otherwise.

…A Matchmaker

OK, some of the men I hunt now aren’t much more than boys but all of them are at least of marriageable age. That makes them legal game.

…A Private Eye

I specialize in helping first wives find the hidden assets of their husbands so the new, trophy wives won’t get all the benefits the first wife helped establish. After all, fair is fair.

…A Collection Agent

I work for County Social Services. I find those guys often known as deadbeat dads. You know, the ones who think that just because they fathered children doesn’t mean they should stick around to help them grow up. I figure we all need all the help we can get; I know I do. That’s why I’ve developed a network of people who help me find these guys and persuade them to pay their court ordered child support. If I can get them to actually participate in their children’s lives, that’s a bonus.

…A Bounty Hunter

Some people think that just because they paid a bail bondman a percentage of the bail to get them out jail doesn’t mean they owe anything to the justice system or the bondsman. I tend to think otherwise. I guess I’m not the only one who thinks my way since other people pay me to find the bail jumpers.

…A Fortune Hunter

I know, that’s not supposed to be a good thing but, I figure, if you are going to give a man control over your life it ought to at least be a rich man. Is it my fault that rich men tend to be old men as well? I mean what is a woman supposed to do if her husband dies and leaves her alone? Does it make sense for her to be poor the rest of her life if she can get a rich man to marry her?

Most people suppose hunting is a sport. For me, it’s a livelihood. After all, someone has to do it, right?

TTYL,

Linda

I do a lot of spreadsheet work on my computer. Much of that consists of copying data from one place and pasting it into another place. The commands for doing that are “Control C” and “Control V”. The “C” and “V” keys are right next to each other. Sometimes I hit the wrong one. I just pasted data over a URL I was trying to copy. That’s when I really appreciate the “undo” command.

I wish life had an undo command. I wish I could unsay some things I’ve said. I sometimes wish I could make a different decision than one I already made. I wish I could go back with knowledge I have now and undo some things I did long ago.

Wouldn’t it be great if life had an “undo” button?

TTYL,

Linda

Have you ever filled a long-neck bottle using your kitchen faucet? The typical pattern for doing that is to turn the water on fast to fill most of the bottle then to slow the water down so it won’t overflow as you finish filling it. If you then wanted to maintain that level of water you could set the faucet to a slow drip to compensate for evaporation.

Charging your batteries from your generator with a three stage charger works the same. The first stage is called “bulk” charging and it puts in lots of power very quickly until the battery is about 75% full. Stage two is called “absorb” and it puts in power more slowly until the other 25% is reached which can take up to 12 hours. Stage three is called “float” and it keeps a trickle of power going in to keep them level without overcharging them before you turn the generator off.

Then you turn the generator off, turn the inverter on, and keep right on using power from your batteries until the next time you decide to fill them up again.

We have a problem with our charging system. But we don’t know if it is the charger or the monitor that is the problem. Our system charges quickly but the monitor says the batteries are not full.

Oh, goody! Another puzzle to solve!  🙁

TTYL,

Linda