Oh, by the way...

I mentioned in an earlier post that Red Ryder is too tall for Topper to sit in the bed without also lying on top of the cab.  This is not a good thing, because it rubs the paint off of Red Ryder's cab top and Topper's cabover bottom. 

I got on the RV forum online. The guys there always have a lot of opinions, and often a solution for the problems that we share when RVing. It turns out that I'm not the only one who has this problem with my Ford F350. 

The best solution was as follows: I got a piece of 4' X 8' X 2" dense foam insulation and put it under the camper. Voilà, problem solved. The advantages of this solution are as follows: 

1. Light 
2. Cheap
3. Easy
4. Quick

Thank you RV forum guys. You're the best!

The next installment...

The fishing trip happened. The fishing happened. The catching was the only thing missing. Well, in truth the biting was missing, too.  All of this might have been acceptable, were it not for the fact that I stood by the Alsea river (where we are camped) this afternoon and watched a couple of guys net about a 30# salmon.  So, wrong river, wrong day. What are you gonna do? At least the weather was gorgeous.

 

Today was not a total loss, though. I got to have a date with my honey.  We "did" Waldport, a cute little town on the shores of Alsea Bay.  There are a handful of fun little shops. Our favorite is the flea market which, true to its name, is a collection of interesting and possibly useful second hand items. 

My sweet bride found a copy of her favorite piano sheet music book. It is one that she already owns, except that her copy belonged to her mother and is suffering from being overloved through the decades. Translation? It's in tatters. She was thrilled to have a "new" copy.

I found one thing to buy and another that I am still thinking about. The item to buy is a new hat for my sweetheart. It is not like anything she has, nor would I expect her to pick it out for herself. But I fell in love with it the moment I laid eyes on it. See what you think.

 
The other thing I found was an Aladdin's Lamp. No, no, not the kind you rub, the kind that burns kerosene via a mantel. It is in good condition and priced about $100 below the cost of a comparable new one. Still, the price was enough to give me pause, since my plan for the lamp is to use it in the event of a power failure at home. That is not a regular occurrence, so...

After our exploration of downtown, we went to the Grand Central restaurant. It is a funky little place with a varied menu.  We wanted chowder, and Grand Central delivered a serviceable example. On the other hand, we have been trying to eat lighter of late, so we ordered a bento.  The two made a wonderful combination, which we shared and thoroughly enjoyed.

After lunch we crossed the Alsea Bay bridge and explored a housing development on the peninsula that forms the north side of the bay. The homes are modest, but the location is the kind for which people pay big bucks. Apparently the CCRs don't allow for any landscaping except with the use of native plants.  Mostly, the houses are surrounded with dune grass. We found it a little depressing, especially knowing what kind of money people must have paid for these lots. 

When we got back to our Topper, we took the girls for a walk/run on the wetland that is part of Chinook RV park. Lulu, especially, loved being off leash and scampering about at full tilt. On the way to the wetland, we spotted, perhaps, the largest toadstools that I have ever seen. Alice (in Wonderland) would be proud!


Tomorrow, alas, we must head for home. It has been a lovely visit, and we will return to Waldport some time in the future. You ought to put it on your list of places to visit.

We're at it again!

We had a wonderful worship service this morning at Grace Community Church.  Our new pastors are doing an amazing job of glorifying God in our Sunday services.

After church we went home, had a snack, and then we hit the road for Chinook RV Park in Waldport, OR. 

RV Park Reviews gives this place very high ratings, and so far, we are agreeing with the reviews.  Neal and Gillian, owner/operators are very personable and helpful.  The park is located on the Alsea river, and although the RV sites are not situated with a river view, a very short walk takes you to the river's edge and an open area where the dogs can run off leash.

The only downer today is that we had a mishap along the way.  It was a rookie mistake, really. Early in our drive down highways 223, 20, and 34, which by the way was gorgeous, we heard a clunk in the camper, as if something had fallen. I wasn't concerned, but I should have been. 

We quickly forgot about the clunk, but when we got parked and opened the door to Topper, we found a half gallon of milk, a jar of peanut butter, a jar of jam, and a jar of habanero pineapple salsa on the floor. The peanut butter and salsa were intact. The jam had leaked a little here and there (it obviously had rolled about on the floor). 

And then there was the milk. The unopened paper carton (1/2 gallon size) had split. Thank goodness, it landed with the split side up, so only about 2/3 of a 1/2 gallon (I make that 1/3 of a gallon) of milk had spilled out and run around the floor as the camper rocked and rolled along the road. The ENTIRE floor of the camper was covered with a thin layer of milk. Welcome to your mini vacation, Tom!

It turns out that I had failed to fully close the door of the fridge to the locked position, after putting the last few items in before we left home.  It didn't take too long to clean up. There is a lovely laundry at the park, where we washed the throw rugs. We thanked God that we have vinyl floors, instead of carpet, as we had in our motor home! So, now everything is back to normal.

Tomorrow, the old blogger is going to go salmon fishing with a couple of buddies, who happen to be in the area. It has been years, nay decades, since I fished for the wily Oncorhynchus. Wish me luck. Jill will be joining one of the wives for a day of shopping and lunching in Newport, one of our favorite towns.

Test Drive

We finally had time enough to put Topper on the new pickup, which we have dubbed Red Ryder.  Here are some photos:

 This was taken by Syd Dorn on the day we purchased Red Ryder

 Here is Topper aboard Red Ryder this morning.

When we took a test drive yesterday, I kept hearing a kind of creaking noise. I couldn't figure out what it was until this morning, when I removed Topper from the bed of the pickup.  It turns out, the roof of the pickup is higher than our previous pickup, so the camper was sitting directly on the roof.  Unfortunately, there are a few little spots where the paint got rubbed off the top of the truck.  I will get some touch up paint and take care of that. In the meantime, I am considering options for raising the camper up about an inch to provide clearance. 

Other than that little problem, I was very pleased with the way the package performs.  It hardly feels like there is a camper on the truck, when driving. I had none of the sense of being overloaded that I had with the Silverado. I think this will work just fine, once I solve the clearance problem. The obvious solution is to put something under the camper. What to use and how to secure it are the questions. My first thought was a sheet of plywood, but that would be rather heavy.  My second thought was to lay some 2X2s in the bed of the truck, but I am afraid the camper would slide on them. I may have to fasten 2X2s to the bottom of the camper.  I guess I will query the guys on the RV forum.  Come back. I will post the solution, when I figure it out!

Itchin' to go

We now have a proper truck for Topper. We picked it up on Tuesday.  Now, the problem of putting a camper on a pickup is more than just sliding it into the bed and driving away.  For one thing, it has to be tied down so it doesn't blow away at highway speeds or tip over, when driving around a corner.

We were aware that our new truck (pictures to follow, when we can put the camper and truck together) was not set up to haul a camper. So, I called Highway Trailer Sales, where we bought the camper and made an appointment to have camper tie-downs and an electrical connection added to the pickup.

We did get a nice surprise.  The pickup has a plastic bed liner. Unfortunately, when you put a camper in a pickup bed, a plastic liner is so slippery that the camper might be more likely to move around, even with proper tie downs. So, the bed liner had to go (just temporary, you understand). Fortunately, a plastic liner can be relatively easily removed. So, we went about removing the liner, before our appointment for the tie downs.

To my great delight, the truck already had an electrical connection in the bed. That is important because, when the camper is in the truck bed, it covers the taillights  of the truck. Plugging in the cable between the truck and camper provides power for the taillights on the camper. It also provides power to charge the battery in the camper. When we travel, we leave the refrigerator running in the camper, and even though it uses propane to cool itself, there is a 12 volt circuit board that controls the operation. So, we didn't have to have an electrical connection installed.

The pickup work was done on Friday.  I was excited to drive over and get the work done first thing in the morning. I had a date to have coffee with a friend after I delivered the truck to the shop.  I jumped in the driver's seat, turned the key and "click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click." The motor wouldn't turn over, let alone start. My heart sank.

I realized that the problem was the battery. I checked the voltage: 10 volts. It should be closer to 12.4. I had asked the previous owner how old the battery was.  He said, "I don't know. I have owned the truck for seven years, and I never put a new battery in it." So, although I was not surprised the battery was gone, I couldn't help thinking, "Couldn't this have happened when I was on my way to the grocery store for another half gallon of ice cream, instead of when I have an appointment for something important?"

I set to work trying to remove the battery. Ordinarily this is a simple task, but in this case (i.e., when I was under the pressure of an impending appointment) the bolt that secures the cable to the negative battery terminal was so corroded that I couldn't get it loose. I tried every tool I could think of. Finally, I called my pal Paul, who is a handyman par excellence. He talked me through a workaround. By the time I got the battery out of the truck, it was almost time for my coffee date.

I called Highway Trailer and explained the situation. Jim, the service manager, was very gracious and told me to get there when I could. With a great deal of relief, I made a dash to Walmart for a new battery and then met my friend for coffee.

When I got home, I quickly installed the new battery and headed for the shop. Cutting to the chase, we now have tie downs AND a new battery. All things considered, I would much rather have the battery die in my garage than in the middle of nowhere, or in a campground, where help was unavailable.

While the truck was in the shop, I came home and removed the dinette window from Topper. On our last outing, we discovered, in the middle of a driving rain storm, that the window leaked like a sieve. It needed recaulking. I have almost finished that project, so we are gettin' itchy to go camping again.

A load off my mind...and my pickup

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that the pickup we bought to haul Topper around was a bit overloaded. That has bothered me a lot, and I was hesitant to share my concerns with Jill. We stopped at a weigh station on our first camping trip, and she could tell by my face that I was shocked by how much we were overweight (the rig, the rig...the other is none of your business!).

We had a long and candid discussion about the problem and what to do about it. At last, I agreed that we had to bite the bullet and get a different pickup, if we are to continue enjoying Topper. So, last week, I found a website for Syd Dorn, an auto broker in Lake Oswego, and a former member of our former church. I sent a message from the website to Syd explaining the predicament I had got us into and what we needed in a pickup to fix the problem. I was prepared to be looking for a vehicle for a couple of months.

Well, Syd went to work and quickly!  He called for more details about what we wanted to do and what our budget was.  I think I sent the info on Sunday, and on Wednesday, Syd sent pictures of a beautiful, red, 2001 Ford F350 Superduty Crew Cab. He asked us to take our Silverado to his cousin in Salem for an appraisal, which we did that very day.

Later, he emailed me and told me that he could get the truck within our budget, based on the appraisal from his cousin.  I thought the appraisal was awfully low and mentioned that in my reply. Syd suggested that he might be able to get the Ford owner to come down a bit, but his cousin was firm on what he would pay for the Silverado.

So, we agreed to go to Lake Oswego (an hour's drive) to see the Ford. When we got there, we were stunned by how beautiful the truck is. There was a handsome fellow standing next to it, and we learned he is the owner.  We also found out that he is a member of our former church and a personal friend of Syd's.

We looked the truck over and found it to be in very good condition. Then we drove it, and I was impressed with the way it drives.  When we returned to Syd's office, we had a couple of questions for Matt, the owner, and for Syd.  Chief among them was, "What is the payload rating of this truck, and how was it determined."  Syd produced a printout from Ford indicating the maximum payload is 4,300 lbs.

With all of our questions answered, our conversation turned to more important things, like catching up on mutual friends from Rolling Hills Community Church. We had a wonderful time sharing stories and asking to be remembered to mutual friends.

At last, Syd said, "Well, what do you think about the truck?" I replied that we liked the truck very much, but what is the bottom line? Syd told us that the price was $500 lower than the last price he had quoted us, "AND," he said, "I called my cousin's brother and told him I thought their offer was too low. We finally got them to come up $200." Bottom line? We came in $700 under budget!

To put this deal together, we agreed to take our Silverado to Syd's cousin today and pick up the F350 tomorrow directly from Matt.  We are really excited to have a truck that will properly transport Topper and us to wherever we decide to go.  I am personally gratified that Syd was able to put this deal together in such a way that I can stop feeling bad about the original truck deal I made. Based on the fact that we lost money on the Silverado but got an amazing price on the F350, I believe that we would have spent no less, had we bought a similar F350 from a dealer, instead of going through this whole process of buying and selling a truck at a loss within two months.

I have a new respect for the auto industry and for the Dorn family in particular. They have been active in promoting legislation that effectively reduces the number of charlatans in the used auto industry.  I believe that Syd truly lives up to what he says on his website: "Vehicle Buyer's Service is based on biblical principles and convictions of honesty and integrity in every transaction." We feel that we have not only procured the vehicle we needed and saved both face and money, but we have made some new friends in the process.

If you need a new vehicle, no matter where you live in the U.S., contact Syd! (No apologies for this gratuitous plug!)

Moving day

Today was moving day.  Not a big moving day, you understand, but moving day, nevertheless. If you have been following the posts about this trip, you will recall that we had a nice view, until a 42 foot bus parked between us and the view. You will also recall that we decided to extend our stay for a few more days.

Because we wanted to improve our view, we moved from site 75 to site 5: a matter of about 500 feet.  The difference is spectacular.

Here's the new view from our back door. 

After the move, we settled in and enjoyed the view until it got too hot to sit out! The temp here got to 92 degrees.  Thank goodness Jill insisted on adding AC to our camper.  

Following an informal lunch of crackers and cheese, we made a trip to Walmart.  While Jill got her hair cut, I did the grocery shopping. I was able to find everything on the list, except Jill's face creme/sunblock. After her haircut, she found it and we checked out. Back at the camper, we enjoyed the AC for a while, and then the four of us, went down to the river.  Between the breeze and the water, we got cooled off quite nicely, thank you. The dogs love running on the beach, and Lulu loves to bite the little ripples that break at the water's edge.

Some neighbors came by with their dogs, and we had a lovely chat. Then it was time to cook up some vittles.  I lit the BBQ and put on the pork ribs. Unfortunately, between a gusty wind and not enough gas in the little canister, the meat just got slightly browned on the outside. I finished it in the microwave, and Jill sauteed some veggies from our garden. We added fresh corn on the cob for a scrumptious feast.

Today's ship traffic: 

 Remember the movie The Wackiest Ship in the Army? Well, here's another Army ship for you.

 When this stern wheeler went by, Jill said, "We should find out where they came from and book a trip." I'll turn her into a mariner yet.

The old blogger putting an extension on the sewer hose, so we could get Topper closer to the water.

The blessings continue!

September 10, 2013, a day like all days, filled with those events that alter and illuminate our times, only "You Are There," (with apologies to Walter Cronkite). The sun rose with a few clouds to greet it. Then the clouds cleared away, although the wind that has been blowing steadily for the past six days continued unabated.

 

We had need of a few things aboard Topper, so we made a trip up to Walmart.  Jill decided it was time for her to try driving Silvie. She climbed into the driver's seat and said, "I can't do this. I can't see over the hood." Nevertheless, she wanted to try. Since the roads around Columbia Riverfront RV Park are very lightly traveled, it seemed to be a perfect opportunity. The bottom line is that she did fine. She drove us to Walmart, about three miles, and then proceeded to practice parking in several spots in the lot. By the time she was through, she said, "I can do this."                                                                  

We returned to the park and to Topper. One of the things that we purchased was a bicycle pump, so I could top off the air bags on Silvie's rear axle. With great anticipation, I unpacked the pump and went out to give it a try. It didn't work! The hose wouldn't stay attached to the valve stem.  I was pretty disappointed, but Jill fixed lunch, which lifted my spirits.

After lunch, I returned to Walmart and got a refund. I found another pump.  I bought it and went directly to the parking lot to try it out. Eureka!  It worked fine. I returned to Topper and my girls. 

We lounged about for a bit, and then we went for another walk along the river's edge. The dogs loved it, and so did we, although, I am feeling a bit cheated, since I found two baseball hats on the beach last year and have only found a few fishing tackle items this year.

When we returned, we decided it was time to put Topper on top of Silvie. Tomorrow, we are moving to another site in this park, where we will have a better view. It was a new world's record (or at least a new Tom and Jill record) for putting the camper in the truck. It only took us about 20 minutes!

So, now you are wondering about the ship pictures.  Well, the ships are what I come here for. Jill, on the other hand, always thought I was a little nuts for being so nuts about the ships.  But now, she is coming around. She is wanting to know about ship's lore and things nautical. There is hope for her yet. 

And yesterday, I sneaked behind the 42 footer next door and snapped this sunset. 

Please stay tuned for more reports from our new home tomorrow!

Another crummy day in paradise!

The morning was gray...and windy. The last forecast I had seen was for "drizzle" and 81 degrees.  Sounded miserable to me; hot and muggy and drizzly. The aspect of the sky bore out the prediction. The wind was howling around our door. But my sweet bride assured me that she had seen another forecast for sunny and warm. 

Around 10 AM, I noticed the clouds were breaking up and patches of blue were appearing. Hooray! I began to have other ideas for the day besides watching a movie or reading. Consulting the internet on my trusty laptop, I discovered that near Yacolt, there is a park called Moulton Falls Park. It looked as if we might find some good hiking there.

We packed up the dogs and a few odds and ends and hit the road.  Winding through beautiful countryside, first along the Lewis river and then along Cedar Creek, we traveled through the bucolic splendor of southwest Washington state at the end of summer. We passed through Amboy and then on to Yacolt and finally to Moulton Falls County Park.  I don't even know what county this is (Clark?).

Suffice to say that our travels were not in vain.  The park is gorgeous.  It is set in a canyon, through which flows the east fork of the Lewis river.  There are numerous stony outcroppings and a few waterfalls. The big attraction, though, for most of the other, obviously repeat, visitors, was the swimming holes.  There are several spots where the river becomes wide and deep, perfect for swimming.

We were neither in the mood nor equipped for swimming, so we simply hiked up the trail that first crosses the river via a beautiful bridge (of which I neglected to make a photo) and then parallels the stream. The trail was wide and sandy, and the dogs had a wonderful time sniffing and exploring. Lulu in particular would have explored every trail we came to, given a fighting chance. Alas, our time was limited, so we turned back and headed for home.

All in all, the day turned out much different than I had expected when I arose. Indeed, it was about as delightful a day as a fellow could ask for.

 Looking downstream from the Moulton Falls bridge at one of the swimming holes.

 And looking upstream.

Looking upstream from the trail along the south side of the river.

Playin' catch up (not to be confused with ketchup)

I have a few nice photos that I have not got around to posting yet.  One of the reasons we like this park so much is that we get to see a lot of river traffic.  As you may know, Portland is the biggest deep water, freshwater port on the west coast of the USA. It is popular with ship companies, because the freshwater tends to kill off some of the saltwater organisms that attach themselves to the hull of a ship, while it is at sea.

In addition, Portland is a terminal for most of the products of the Columbia River Basin. These include grain and forest products, among many others. Portland is also a port of entry for many products from foreign countries, including automobiles.  There are huge receiving lots for new cars at the port near the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette rivers.

So, we get to see a lot of ships going up and down the river, while we are vacationing here.  Below are a few shots of two of them:

The two ships in the above pictures passed more or less right in front of the park, although, thanks to the large class A motor home parked between us and the river, I was unable to get a photo of that. (Not that I am bitter.)

Last evening, as I was preparing to grill some pork ribs for dinner, I looked out the window and saw the scene below.

The interesting thing about the photo is not the tug pushing a couple of barges, although that is more of the commercial river traffic I referred to above. Notice the bright light on the hill in the right hand side of the photo.  This is apparently a reflection of the setting sun off of the window of a building. Although I don't like to have to offer disclaimers for my work, I have to tell you that the light from that reflection was much more intense (almost blinding) than it appears in the photo.

There's no place like home (heels clicking), there's no place like home!

It was inevitable.  In fact, we expected it.  Yesterday, a 42 foot Class A motor home (i.e., bus) moved into the space next to us.  Now ordinarily, they would have been welcome as the buds in May, BUT they stole our view of the river!! Rude, I say, rude, rude, rude!

Actually, when we made the reservation to stay here, I asked for one of the view sites, but our favorites (#1-10) were all reserved already. The host offered me site #75, because it is closer to the river than all but one other. I quipped, "I hope you don't have a 45 footer scheduled into #76."  He told me that a 40 footer would be there for 2 days. So, I agreed to take it. 

When the very nice folks from Montana arrived yesterday, Ken (the owner) apologized for taking our view.  I told him I was expecting him, and that since he was only there for two days, I would forgive him.  But then he told me that he had just made the reservation the day before.  There had been no place for him to stay for a week, until "guess who" cancelled.

So, we are suffering mightily ;-) due to lack of view. 

Our original plan was to stay here for five to seven days and then move on to another park, as yet to be determined.  I looked on the internet for  a nice park near Mossyrock, WA.  Some RVing friends have raved about the area, but we have never made it there.  So, today, since Topper is standing on her own four feet, we took Silvie and headed for Mossyrock, about 45 miles up the road, to scope it out. Here are our findings:

1. Seaquest State Park:  a beautiful park with 16 full hookup (electricity, water, sewer) campsites, all of which are arranged like a parking lot and as of today surrounded by mud. Lots of hiking trails and a beautiful wooded park.
2. Silver Lake Motel and RV park: a very tired motel with, perhaps 8 RV sites, which appear to be just a matter of parking on the lawn. I couldn't tell what they had for conveniences.  In their favor, there is lake frontage with a dock and boats for rent. Overall, the "feel" of the place was what might come to mind if you learned we were living in a "trailer park."
3. Silver Cove "An upscale RV Resort": The facilities are nice enough, and the park is well maintained.  It is fairly new, built on a series of canals that were apparently dug in order to offer waterfront RV sites to most of the guests. As we looked around, we were impressed by how unimpressed we were and with the fact that there appeared to be no activities available except walking around the park. 

In a desperate endeavor to do better, I turned down S. Silver Lake Rd.  It sounds promising, no? We drove up and up, ever higher into the mountains until, at last, we came to a T.  To the left was a dead end road (in 1 1/2 miles) that headed downhill toward what I guessed might be the lake.  We drove for what felt like 3 or 4 miles and came to the end of the county road, although the pavement continued. At the end of the county road, there is a little turnout. 

We pulled into the turnout and decided to enjoy our picnic lunch. After all, the scenery was pretty enough, and we had long since despaired of finding the perfect RV park on Silver Lake.  While we were eating, we noticed some blackberry bushes.  That was all it took. Jill was out of the truck and filling her sandwich bag with blackberries.  I wasn't far behind, and after a very few minutes, we had a couple of cups of berries; enough for dessert tonight.

It seemed like a good time to head for home.  When we returned to the T, where we had gone to the end of the county road, we continued on what became Headquarters Road.  The drive was spectacular, and in a short time, we found ourselves back at I-5.  I turned the truck onto the freeway and we came back to Woodland. After a quick stop at Wally World for some ears of corn and some pork spare ribs for dinner, we made our way back to site #75, Columbia River Front RV Park.

I went up to the office and asked if, perchance, they had a space available in the view sites beginning on Wednesday.  Bingo! Wednesday, we will be moving to site #5, where we can park Topper with an unobstructed view of the river.  So, we won't be staying in the Silver Lake area; at least not on this trip.

Genesis 6

Can you say, "Noah?"  Last night it rained so hard ALL NIGHT LONG that I told Jill, "I think we should have bought an Ark, instead of a camper."  The good news is that the thunder and lightning all happened before bedtime, so Pogo was able to settle down and sleep all night.

This morning, the rain continued, until about 11 AM.  We off-loaded Topper from Silvie (the Silverado pickup) and made a trip into town for some supplies, but also because we were having a little cabin fever, after 2 days of rainy weather. We had lunch at a nice little Mexican restaurant called Guadalajara.  It was quite good.

After we returned, we did a load of laundry at the coin-op here in the park. The old blogger took a nap, and then we took the dogs for a little romp on the grass. We sat out under the awning, where we met our new neighbors who are from just up the road at Mossyrock.

Here's our little patio area.

Dinner was a bit late, because we were just enjoying being out and about.  So, now it is time to settle in for the night.  More adventures are expected tomorrow, because the weather is forecast to improve.

Look for another report soon.

Oh what a beautiful morning... oh, what an interesting night.

We had a lovely day yesterday, as I reported in my previous post.  Around, 9 PM, having watched the Boston Red Sox slaughter the Detroit Tigers 20-4, and after a lovely dinner, we decided it was time to climb into our "upper berth."

We took the dogs out for their evening duty, and then got ourselves ready for a long repose. We craweled into bed.  Lulu spent some time loving us up, and then she crawled into her little bed which is next to my side of the bed.  Pogo, as always, snuggled up between us.  Soon, the old blogger was in dreamland.

The next thing I knew, Pogo was sitting on my head, shaking like one of those old time spot reducing machines and panting as if she had just run a marathon. I must have made some comment, because Jill said, "Poor Pogo, the thunder is worrying her." I didn't even know there was thunder, and then there was a brilliant flash through the overhead hatch. A few moments later, a long, rolling rumble passed over us, and Pogo turned the spot reducer up to "High."

For several minutes, Pogo panted and shook. Soon, I noticed a puddle on the top cover of the bed from her drooling. After several minutes of trying to calm her down, we heard a crash, followed by the sound of running water. 

OK, that's it, I'm getting up.  Jill turned on the overhead light and I leapt out of bed (as best I could, given that getting out of bed means slithering down to the end and stepping down a couple of feet). I went to the galley, where I found that the cutting board, which had been standing on edge next to the sink, had fallen over, hit the water tap and turned on the hot water. OK, that was easy to fix.  I got back into bed; we turned out the light, and tried to go back to sleep.

I think it was about that time that the rain began falling in earnest (and also in Woodland).  Pogo was a basket case. After a while, Jill had had it.  She took Pogo down to the dinette berth and they proceeded to settle in there. 

I began to doze again.  Then my phone rang. Now, to me, a phone call at 2 AM is never good news.  This one turned out to be a cheerful man with a distinctly British accent.  After a moment of my trying to make sense of who this was, and why he was calling in the middle of the night, he said, "I'm calling about your RV." I told him the RV has already been sold, and he said, "Right, then, cheeri-o." When we got up this morning, I looked at the phone number. The call had come from Isle of Man.  For those of you who are geographically challenged, like your old blogger, Isle of Man is in the middle of the Irish Sea! I guess I had better check Craig's List to make sure I cancelled the ad for Sadie!

OK.  Now for some real sleep.  I began to doze again. Then I awakened to the following: a low rumble (a ship going up the river?), a train whistle (on the far side of the river), a shudder (Topper was being jostled), and the sound of a sail flapping wildly in the wind ( I knew I should have rolled up the awning before going to bed.)  I lay there trying to ignore all this stuff, but eventually visions of a shredded awning flapping along behind us as we tootle down the highway to our next destination overcame my desire for sleep. 

I got up and went out in the wind and the rain and rolled up said awning (for only the second time since we have had Topper) with a bit of difficulty. Jill thanked me, for she, too, was concerned, and I returned to my bed. At long last I fell into the arms of Morpheus not to awaken again until 7:30! Surprisingly cheerful, I got up and discovered that Jill was in the same condition: tired, but not exhausted or grumpy. 

Jill made some coffee, and then we took the girls out for their morning business, a very successful venture.  And here I sit writing to you, gentle reader, while my bride is in the kitchen preparing something that features a heavenly aroma for my breakfast.

Sweet dreams!

The second time is the charm

With a great deal of anticipation, we departed on our annual fall getaway.  We have been anticipating the trip for several weeks and making improvements and personalizing Topper. Jill did a fantastic job of packing up the camper, as usual, and I fussed with the technical stuff. 

Finally, we were ready.  We put the dogs in the truck did a final check on door locks and hit the road.  Things were going swimmingly until we got to Salem, about 15 miles from home. That's when the old blogger realized that his wallet was sitting on top of his dresser...at home!

We made an about face and headed for home. Along the way, Jill remembered that she hadn't packed Pogo's medicines. So, to save face, I declared that we were going home for dog meds...oh, and while we are there, we'll pick up my wallet, too.

Once we were back on the road again, we had no further trouble.  The traffic in Portland was bearable (barely), and we made fairly good time, although I don't push things, when we are RVing. It's supposed to be relaxing, you know.

By the time we reached Hazel Dell, we realized that we were getting hungry.  Jill said she wanted a bacon, cheese Whopper Jr.  We found Burger King and enjoyed the fact that it was so easy to pull in the parking lot, park the truck and get lunch.  That was not the case with the motor home, especially when we were towing the little car behind.

After lunch we continued to our destination, to wit: Columbia Riverside RV Park, in Woodland, WA.  We love this place, and we have stayed here many times in the past. We are parked where we can see the Columbia River from our dinette window. There is one space between us and the view, but it is empty.  Jill said, "Even if we only get this one night without somebody parked between us and the river, it will be totally worth it." 

Here's what she was talking about:

More of this and that...

The old blogger has been down with a cold this week.  No zip, so I haven't done much.  Today, however, I feel a lot better... and the USB outlets arrived.  I couldn't let that pass by. So, I installed one. It turns out that the box I wanted to install the outlet in was not deep enough to accommodate the new outlet. Consequently, it was necessary to replace the box, which required taking the door off one of the closets to get to it.

Isn't it funny how a little project can turn into a major hassle? After a bit of effort and some concern about being in the cabover while the camper is off the truck, I managed to get the job done.  When I came in the house, I realized that I was wringing wet! It is hot in that garage!

Tomorrow, I will install the remaining two USB outlets.  They should be easier, because I know the boxes are deep enough, and one of them is near the floor, which means it will be cooler and more accessible.

I must confess that, even though I wasn't feeling very well, I installed the new TV/DVD combo that arrived on Wednesday. It was a 10 minute job, and I am very pleased with the result.  I can plug an FM repeater in the headphone jack and send the sound to our stereo system, giving us virtual surround sound.  Jill was impressed!

We have a post-Labor Day outing planned, so we will be able to try out all of our little tweaks to Topper. We are excited. Stay tuned. 

A little of this and a little of that

Never one to let well enough alone, I decided that Topper needed some more places to plug things in.  So, yesterday and today, I added four outlets. I have ordered some special 120 VAC outlets that also have USB ports for charging various electronic devices.  Most notably, these will be used for charging our two iPhones, Jill's iPad, and her iPod. 

Oddly, the manufacturer didn't put an outlet in the dinette area.  So, one of the new outlets is situated under the dinette table, so we can plug in laptops, etc. I also added an outlet (one of the ones with USB output will go there, when it arrives) to Jill's side of the bed, where there was no outlet before.  I also added an outlet for the TV that we have ordered.  It should be here tomorrow.

My activity got Jill inspired, and she took down the hideous wallpaper border that was peeling off the wall above our bed.  It looks so much nicer without that mess. I mounted a paper towel rack in the galley, as well as a spice rack. So, little by little, we are personalizing Topper.  We have a few more little odds and ends that we want to do this week. 

Next week, we hope to make our annual September getaway. Last year's outing was cut short, because our motor home was in the shop, but we sold her last weekend, and now we have Topper.  Topper is ready to go, even if we don't get all the little projects done that we have on our list.

So, stand by for further reports. Until then, happy trails to you (with apologies to Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.)

The Maiden Voyage of Topper

Having driven Topper home from the dealership, I quickly realized that the pickup was going to need some rear axle spring assistance. I had great luck with AirLift spring helpers on the front of our motor home, so I got online and found the proper match for our pickup and ordered a set of AirLift 5000 air bags.

It took me most of a day to install the air bags, because I don't own a lift or even jackstands. I spent several hours rolling around under the unraised truck on a creeper. This is not as easy as you might think for a 67 year old man. In the end, however, it was well worth it. The air bags lifted the rear end of the truck back to a normal, level ride.

Jill had emptied everything out of the motor home in order to get it cleaned up and ready for sale. We piled it all on a table in the garage. When the airbags were installed and we had tested the ride in the new configuration, we sorted through the pile on the table. Obviously, some things had to go. You can't fit a 31 foot motorhome worth of stuff into a 10 foot camper!

Once the decisions had been made about must-haves and wanna-haves, Jill did a magnificent job of stowing things aboard Topper. Best of all, she reported that we (meaning she) would be fine with what we had kept. All the necessities of life were accounted for. We began looking for an opportunity to go camping. We can legally call it that now, since we will be doing it in a “camper.”

I found a website for Linn County parks, and the more I read, the more intriguing the parks sounded. I chose to make a reservation for two nights at River Bend County Park. Although we had had three vehicles listed on Craigslist for sale, God smiled on us and gave us buyers for two of them the very night before we were scheduled to take Topper out for a trial run. Hallelujah!

We took off from home yesterday afternoon. I was a little bit nervous, a lot excited, and anxious to see how everything went. To my delight, the truck performed very well. The water temperature stayed steady at about 200 degrees no matter what terrain we encountered. The transmission temperature varied between about 175 and 190, depending on how much shifting was going on. Interestingly, it seemed to heat up at slower speeds, as in going through towns, probably because the changes in speed and acceleration required more shifting. Suffice to say, I was very pleased with the overall performance of the truck.

We arrived at our campsite about 3:30 PM. It is gorgeous. We are nestled in among a stand of Douglas fir trees. Our site is level with a nice big concrete patio and a fire pit. There is water and electricity, and plenty of privacy. We took the dogs for a hike along the South Santiam river, which gives the park its name. The river is low, so the water is crystal clear, and there are some beautiful swimming holes and fishing holes. 

The dogs were pretty confused about why we are staying in this little-bitty, foreign house, instead of that spacious motor home. But as the afternoon and evening progressed, they began to settle in. At bedtime, Lulu was pretty concerned about being way up in the air on the cab-over bed. Eventually, she settled down and we all got a good night's sleep. 

As people our ages will do, we each had occasion to get up in the night to use the bathroom. On my visit, I noted that upon flushing, a little water came out from under the toilet and ran down the floor into the shower drain. I hadn't worn my glasses, so I couldn't tell for sure what was going on. I made a mental note that the toilet would need to be repaired and went back to bed.

In the morning, we got up and had coffee. I walked the dogs, and then Jill used the bathroom again. She let out an exclamation, “The black tank is full!” Why had that not occurred to me? I instantly went to the dark place, thinking a repair was called for. I guess wearing my glasses would have helped.

Jill stowed everything, and we put the dogs in the backseat of the truck. Off we went to the dump station. At least at this time of the morning, there is no competition to get to the dump! Upon dumping, I noticed that the contents of the black tank were mostly clear, blue-green fluid. “Aha,” I thought, “the dealership must have filled the tank with cleaner/disinfectant and forgotten to empty it before delivery.” I was relieved that the rest of the camping trip would not have to be spent doing toilet repair!

So, now the sun is out. We have had breakfast. The dogs are snoozing on the sofa between us. I am writing this post, and Jill is writing letters to her brother and our daughter. The day is full of promise. Let's see, I think another walk along the river is in order. Perhaps, I will start that new novel Jill brought home for me. Life is good. Topper is going to be a great addition to the family. 

 My beautiful bride as we sat down for our first meal in Topper. 

Notice the lovely tableware we chose! We were concerned about 

Conserving water.  Topper's holding tanks are smaller than Sadie's.

Little Foxes

Song of Solomon 2:15 - "Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom."  In God's most poetic and beautiful book about marriage, He tells us to "catch the little foxes,"  the little irritating things in life that get us off track and distract our focus from the task at hand, i.e., building a loving relationship of service to our spouses.

Now, far be it from me to suggest that Topper and our pickup are anything like a marriage partner. On the other hand, there are always some "little foxes," when you buy a used vehicle.  When we purchased our used pickup, we knew that the power mirror switch was faulty. It would drive the mirrors in three of the four necessary directions to properly align them.  Unsatisfactory! A little fox.

This little fox was easily caught.  An order to Amazon for a new switch module. Two days for shipping. Five minutes to pop out the old switch and plug in the new one. Voila! The mirrors work. Now on to the task at hand: the transition from four vehicles to two = downsizing and simplifying our lives.

The Adventure Begins

Written July 18, 2013

Today begins a new chapter in our RVing life and a new blog. Last winter, we made a trip in Sadie, our 1988 Hawkins Motor Coach, to Casey's RV park in Westfir, OR. While we were there, we talked about our dream of criss-crossing the good ol' US of A in an RV. I mentioned that, if we had a class B motor home (basically a converted van) we could easily drive wherever we wanted to go, Jill would be able to drive, and fuel costs would be more in line with our budget.

More to the point, we have been talking for some time about downsizing and simplifying our lives. We are retired, empty-nesters, and yet we license and insure 4 vehicles! That is outrageous. Nevertheless, we have felt we can't get along without a daily driver for Jill, a daily driver for me that doubles as our towed car when we travel in Sadie, a pickup for all the hauling we are called on to do to keep up our home and help the kids with their projects, and of course, our beloved Sadie.

That started a sequence of events that has led us to today's developments. First, we stopped at Guaranty RV in Junction City, on the way home from that trip. We looked at a number of class B and class B+ motor homes. Jill fell in love with a 23' Chinook B+. I must admit, I was drawn to it as well. For weeks, nay months, Jill looked online for similar coaches. She found numerous brands and models, any one of which might have filled the bill, except that none was in our price range. As I thought about this dilemma, it occurred to me that a B+ motor home would require us to tow a car behind, just as we have to do with Sadie, if we want to do all the exploring we like to do. That kind of blows our simplification plan.

In June, we circumnavigated the Olympic Peninsula in Sadie. We had a marvelous time. Along the way we encountered some ladies who call themselves “Sisters on the Fly.” They are a bunch of ladies who own small, restored, vintage travel trailers. They have an annual outing for women only. They take their travel trailers, leave husbands, kids and dogs at home and get away for a weekend. We were told they had to turn away ladies from a 100 space RV park!

That encounter got us thinking about perhaps downsizing to a small travel trailer. Jill would be able to drive a pickup as easily as a class B, we would have a smaller RV to maintain, and we could use the pickup to do our exploring. That solved the problem of too many vehicles. The pickup could become my daily driver, since I don't do much daily driving, and it would still be a pickup. Only thing is, I never was really relaxed when pulling a travel trailer; and there is that axle and wheels and wheel bearings.

So, I floated the idea of a truck camper. To say that Jill's reaction was icy would be stretching a point, but she was not, shall we say, enthusiastic. We talked about it, and eventually, she agreed to consider the idea. This week we looked at a used camper/pickup combo for sale at a VERY attractive price. I had never driven such a combo and was anxious for a test drive. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to drive. Jill was underwhelmed by the camper, which was old (23 years old to be exact) and not sparkling clean (he said euphemistically.) Nevertheless, the folks offering the setup were very nice and we considered it a blessing to have made their acquaintance. 19

Now, it would be incorrect to draw the conclusion that Jill was put off by this experience. On the contrary, she wanted to set out next morning and look at more campers. We made a drive to Junction City, the hub of RV sales in the Willamette Valley. We looked at dozens of campers, and oddly enough the one that caught Jill's eye was an older one that needs some cosmetic work. The price was certainly in the right range. Of course, the smallish problem we still had was lack of a suitable pickup to carry the thing. Jill sent an email to the dealership with some questions and was rapidly warming to the idea. I was crunching numbers to see if this project was feasible.

The reply from the dealership was encouraging, so Jill sent another email, and asked about the possibility of a package deal, since this dealership also owns used car lots. Unfortunately, we still have not had a reply. Fortunately, or also unfortunately, depending on your point of view, Jill found another camper on line, about which she said, “If it had air conditioning, this would be my dream camper.” I did a search on the NADA site to get an idea of the value of this unit. I was encouraged. So, guess where we went today! The camper has a perfect floor plan for our RV lifestyle. The dealership was not willing to move much on the price point, however, and I was seeing our pickup budget going down the drain.

Kevin, the salesman, did what he could and eventually made some concessions on the price of the camper and of an add-on AC unit. Then he put us in touch with an auto wholesaler who has done a lot of work for him. According to Kevin, Tim would be able to find us a suitable pickup within our budget. With Jill nearly in tears at the thought of losing this camper, I got Kevin to agree to a contingency deal. He will hold the camper for a few days while we search for a suitable pickup, if we will give him a refundable deposit. We signed on the dotted line.

Once we were back home, I called Tim, who promised to find a vehicle within our parameters and call back later in the day. True to his word, he called about 5 PM and said he had found the truck. It is a 2001 Ford F250 extended cab with a long box, overload springs, towing package and, surprise, a 7.3 liter Power Stroke diesel engine! I used to dream about owning this truck. It is slightly above my desired price point, but it looks like new and is close enough, price-wise. The bad news is that another party has made an offer. The good news for us (and I feel guilty saying this) is that they probably won't qualify for financing. We will find out tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM. If their financing falls through, we will be headed to Gladstone to buy a new (to us) pickup (provided it passes muster.)

So stay tuned for further developments.

July 19^th

OK. Here are the further developments. The other party's financing did go through, so we had to go back to the drawing board. Tim called with another truck about the same as the other one but newer, a 2007. The price was $6000 over budget, and while the price was a bargain for this truck, $6K over budget is still $6K over budget. I asked Tim to continue looking.

In the meantime, I got on Cars.com and started searching. I came across a 2000 Chevy Silverado 2500 that looked good on line. I called the dealership and made an inquiry. I was discouraged, because the salesman (Rick Carpenter) said it had a 6.0L “small block” V8. When I heard “small block,” I was thinking of my old GMC 305 cid. I knew that would not be powerful enough. Then as I thought about it, I realized that a 6.0L engine is bigger than the 5.4L V8 I had in a Ford pickup some time back. I called back and made an appointment to see the truck.

July 20th

We drove to Portland to look at the Silverado. We liked what we saw, and the salesman, (Rick DiVito), said, "Take it for a drive. Take as much time as you like."  I drove away from the dealership and headed for the freeway. I wanted to see how she did on the open road. Acceleration? Check! Highway speed? Check! Comfortable ride? Check! Quiet cabin? Check! 

We got off the freeway and drove up into a hilly area, with which we are familiar. Hill climbing? Check! The truck was solid, steering tight, no rattles, AC works, stereo works (what's with the missing knobs?).   Next it was Jill's turn to drive.  She has experience driving vans of various sizes, but it has been a while. We drove to the local park and ride lot, which was mercifully empty.  

Jill got into the driver's seat and said, "I can't see over the hood."  We checked the seat to see if it had a height adjustment. No such luck. Gingerly, she tried driving around the lot.  "I like the way it drives," she said, "but I can't see."  With heavy hearts we headed back to the lot. 

When we arrived, we told Rick about the things we found that were concerns: about a half dozen minor things on the order of the missing stereo knobs, and one major thing; Jill can't see over the hood. 

"Is that a deal breaker?" Rick said.  I resisted the urge to reply, "No, duh!" He looked at the driver's seat and agreed with us that it was noticeably lower than the passenger seat. "Suppose we got a new seat? Then could we talk about sending you home in the truck today?" He assured us that these seats are readily available used, even with the same upholstery color.  Then Rick said, "Why don't you go have coffee, and I will do some checking with some of my suppliers?" 

We spent a nervous hour at McDonald's (they have free wi-fi, you know).  When I called, Rick said come on back.  He greeted us and said, "I have great news." We don't have to replace the whole seat. The cushion is replaceable. Unfortunately, I can't get it done on the weekend." We agreed that, if the seat were fixed, we would buy the truck. 

Rick Carpenter did up the paperwork for us, and they told us we could pick the truck up on Monday. We did.  We are happy with our purchase, although, like any used vehicle, it has a few little items that will need attention. 

July 22nd

We returned to Portland and found that the seat had been fixed.  In addition to a badly broken-down cushion, the seat frame had a broken brace that had to be rewelded.  Jill climbed into the driver's seat and said, "Much better. I can see over the hood." 

I drove the truck home. Jill followed in the Mazda. We stopped to put some gas in the new acquisition. While I was at the pump, I got a text message. "You look great in that truck."  I texted back, "Call me some time." The reply? "You betcha! What a hunk!"  Well, I was sold! 

July 23rd

We delivered the new-to-us pickup to Highway Trailer Sales to be rigged to carry our new-to-us Adventurer 100 WBS camper. While we were on the lot, we went aboard the camper again, which you have no doubt figured out, we have dubbed Topper.  We liked it even more than when we first saw it. About the time we got thoroughly lost in our dreaming, a couple of technicians came along to figure out what was needed to put the camper and truck together. 

We bid Topper a fond farewell, knowing that we would be back tomorrow to pick her up and take her home. 

The day was not over yet. Along with the excitement of putting together the truck and camper package, we are embroiled in selling our old '96 F150, our '08 Nissan Versa, and our '88 Hawkins Motor Coach. Several things happened in the afternoon after we returned home. 

First, we got news from our dear daughter-in-law that she knew someone who might be interested in the Versa. That came as I was nearing completion of a serious detailing of said car. Next, we had several inquiries about the F150.  Long story short, we sold it!  Then we got another message from Katie, that our son Patrick's college roommate is looking for a reasonably priced motor home. Seems he and his wife and small daughter are feeling cramped living in a truck camper, while they are camp hosting. 

I didn't sleep much that night. My head  was spinning.

July 24th.

After a session with the dog trainer and our Lulu, I got a call saying that the new chairs for the sanctuary at our church had arrived, and help was needed to unload them. I spent about an hour and a half doing that. Then I came home and helped my darling bride with some household chores.

As soon as that was complete, we headed for the dealership. It turns out they were a little behind, so we wandered around the lot looking at RVs. At last, we were summoned to sign papers and have a walk through.  What a learning curve.  Who knew that a truck camper must be put on and taken off the truck? I'm glad we have RV experience, or we might have simply shrivelled up on the spot. 

At last, we headed home. I was pleased that the camper didn't seem especially top-heavy, I did notice, though, that the tail of the pickup was squatting a bit. I believe some airbags will remedy that problem. 

It was a long day. We tucked ourselves in and promptly fell asleep.  Today was no different, busyness-wise.  Jill had grocery shopping to do for our annual family beach trip tomorrow.  I needed to visit my Mom and help her with grocery shopping and a few other little items.

When we both arrived home, we whipped the house into shape; I mowed the lawn, and then I went out and moved the camper closer to the house. I plugged in the cord and tried out the AC.  It did fine on a 15A circuit.  The coach, which wasn't stiffling inside, despite the 89 degree temperature outside, quickly cooled off. 

Our kids, due to arrive from San Diego for the beach trip, were delayed, so Jill and I went out and sat in the camper.  We mentally stored things away and pictured ourselves parked by some lovely stream or lake. This we did in the comfort of our new air conditioner.  I think we are going to like this camper!

Oops! The kids and grandkids are here; gotta go, but stick around. The best is yet to come.