And I'm crying my eyes out, darn it!
I feel quite different from most RV bloggers whose adventures I read about. I do not hike. I do not ride bikes. I don't even socialize very much. I do, however, watch a lot of TV. I do this not because I consider myself lazy, but because I really enjoy the medium. Many people I know are big fans of going to the theatre for movies or live performances. I prefer to stay home and watch things on TV.
This year we are seeing series finales of quite a few of my favorite shows. We've said goodbye to Sons of Anarchy earlier this year. Last night, it was Parenthood. And yes, I'm a sap; I cried throughout most of the episode. Such touching moments they were able to capture. And Max Burkholder, the actor that has played Max, a young boy with Asperger's Syndrome, deserves an award for his performances. It was a lot of dialogue done in monotone with a straight face, and he captured his character in an outstanding way. I will miss this program.
Also to say goodbye this season will be The Mentalist and Justified. So far this season, I've found The Mentalist to be boring. It is like they lost their original writing team, and have now just taken the easy way out. I've been able to easily predict what is coming, and I do hate it when that happens. Now Justified, on the other hand, is looking to give us a great final season. We are only two episodes into it, but I've enjoyed them both immensely.
I do, however, take great pleasure in knowing that there are many RVers out there who will be enjoying TV this weekend - whether in their own rigs, in the clubhouse, or in a local bar/tavern. Of course, I'm talking about the Super Bowl. So I will end this post with a shout out to all the 12ers around the country - GO HAWKS!
Friday, January 30, 2015
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Hair Care On The Road
Disclaimer: This is most definitely a chick-post. Men may want to read for informational purposes only.
When we first bought our 5th wheel, my hair was somewhere between my elbows and my waist. I most often wore it up on my head with a clip or bunched up in back with a scrunchee. I'm not a girly-girl. I hate messing with my hair or fussing with makeup. Sounds perfect for life in an RV, right? Well, the problem came my long hair started clogging up drains. And the next problem occurred when I would get out of the shower. Why is it my DH always had to be heating water for coffee or tea at the same time I was blow drying my hair. Yep, you guessed it. We dealt daily with pop goes the circuit. Our breaker box is under the refrigerator. Not easy to get to (at least if you have arthritis in the knees), and hard to see. So there was always mumbling going on about the situation. The solution was easy. The next year, I just cut my hair off, really short. No hair dryer needed.
This worked very well for awhile. And then I went to the dermatologist. She pointed out that I had a precancerous lesion on the top of my hair. She burned it off - it happened so fast I wasn't sure what she was doing - and told me I needed to be sure to wear a hat when I was outside. But, but, but, but....I don't look good in a hat when my hair is short. I don't necessarily look good in a hat when my hair is long either, but at least I look better.
As our departure south has been put off due to RV repairs, I decided to grow my hair out. It is now chin length. Hopefully it will get to the length where I will just need a bang trim and some shaving around the neck during the time we are gone. I've always heard that a good haircut is the key. So here is a plug for my niece, Opal Fitzpatrick, at the Ola Salon in West Seattle. Best hair cuts I have ever had. She is also a very talented colorist. Anyway, I've been discussing with her about what to do when we are on the road. What terminology do I use so the stylist knows what I want.
It brought up the discussion of how to choose where to get your hair done when you are on the road. Is it trial and error? Do you ask other women in the campground? Do you pick the cheapest walk in place just to get it done? Curious minds want to know.
We will see how long I am able to maintain my new do. While I don't think drain clogging will be an issue, there will be time added to my "getting ready" routine, which already takes longer than DH would like. And we will be going back to "pop goes the circuit" I'm pretty sure.
Do you think this is a silly topic for a blog post? Perhaps it is. Perhaps I am making much ado about nothing. Or perhaps I'm just trying to be the good wife and traveling partner, keeping things easy for the guy that does most of the work. Or perhaps I am just a tad more vain than I think I am.
As always, comments and suggestions are appreciated.
When we first bought our 5th wheel, my hair was somewhere between my elbows and my waist. I most often wore it up on my head with a clip or bunched up in back with a scrunchee. I'm not a girly-girl. I hate messing with my hair or fussing with makeup. Sounds perfect for life in an RV, right? Well, the problem came my long hair started clogging up drains. And the next problem occurred when I would get out of the shower. Why is it my DH always had to be heating water for coffee or tea at the same time I was blow drying my hair. Yep, you guessed it. We dealt daily with pop goes the circuit. Our breaker box is under the refrigerator. Not easy to get to (at least if you have arthritis in the knees), and hard to see. So there was always mumbling going on about the situation. The solution was easy. The next year, I just cut my hair off, really short. No hair dryer needed.
This worked very well for awhile. And then I went to the dermatologist. She pointed out that I had a precancerous lesion on the top of my hair. She burned it off - it happened so fast I wasn't sure what she was doing - and told me I needed to be sure to wear a hat when I was outside. But, but, but, but....I don't look good in a hat when my hair is short. I don't necessarily look good in a hat when my hair is long either, but at least I look better.
As our departure south has been put off due to RV repairs, I decided to grow my hair out. It is now chin length. Hopefully it will get to the length where I will just need a bang trim and some shaving around the neck during the time we are gone. I've always heard that a good haircut is the key. So here is a plug for my niece, Opal Fitzpatrick, at the Ola Salon in West Seattle. Best hair cuts I have ever had. She is also a very talented colorist. Anyway, I've been discussing with her about what to do when we are on the road. What terminology do I use so the stylist knows what I want.
It brought up the discussion of how to choose where to get your hair done when you are on the road. Is it trial and error? Do you ask other women in the campground? Do you pick the cheapest walk in place just to get it done? Curious minds want to know.
We will see how long I am able to maintain my new do. While I don't think drain clogging will be an issue, there will be time added to my "getting ready" routine, which already takes longer than DH would like. And we will be going back to "pop goes the circuit" I'm pretty sure.
Do you think this is a silly topic for a blog post? Perhaps it is. Perhaps I am making much ado about nothing. Or perhaps I'm just trying to be the good wife and traveling partner, keeping things easy for the guy that does most of the work. Or perhaps I am just a tad more vain than I think I am.
As always, comments and suggestions are appreciated.
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Thousand Trails, K/M Resorts, and RV Park Reviews
Yesterday I received a number of posts from a representative of K/M Resorts and other "anonymous" posters about an entry I had made a few years ago. The posts I received yesterday addressed comments made from visitors to my blog about experiences with K/M Resorts as well as Thousand Trails resorts.
I'm not complaining as obviously people found their way to my blog and that is good. (This blog is not a money earning venture - LOL - I think I have made about $25 total from two blogs since 2008.) What puzzles me is why they choose to respond to posts that are more than two years old. They were not responding to me but to other people who had left comments. It just struck me as odd. Or were they just not paying attention to the dates. Who knows, but I approved the posts because I like to share not only my own opinions, but those of others as well. I just ask that the posts be kind and respectful.
Today I renewed our zone membership with Thousand Trails. When we bought the TT Zone Pass last year, we took advantage of the "buy one zone, get one zone free" special. When I called about renewing, I wanted to make sure I was getting the same deal. I'm happy to say that I was. We've looked at upgrading to a different plan. I'm looking for those memberships that offer 2-3 weeks per park with no time out. I'm not interested in the free rental cabins or free memberships with ROD or RPI. We've been exploring buying a "used" membership. If you are reading this and have any experience with it, I'd love to hear from you. For this year anyway, our plans are to explore as many of the TT parks in Washington, Oregon, and California as we can. If we enjoy those experiences, then maybe next year we will upgrade. Time will tell.
For those K/M Resort fans, I'm thrilled for you if you like their parks. I was not impressed, and there were not enough parks for the money I was paying. That was the basis for my decision. Nothing against K/M at all. I just prefer the options that TT offered at this point.
Here's a question for you - When did RV Park Reviews change the look of their website? I find it much more difficult to navigate now. I'll get used to it, but sometimes I wonder if businesses shouldn't just hired "normal people" consultants to see what they like. What seems like an improvement to a programmer may be just plain confusing for the normal Joe/Joanne.
And that's my two bits for the day. Have a good one!
I'm not complaining as obviously people found their way to my blog and that is good. (This blog is not a money earning venture - LOL - I think I have made about $25 total from two blogs since 2008.) What puzzles me is why they choose to respond to posts that are more than two years old. They were not responding to me but to other people who had left comments. It just struck me as odd. Or were they just not paying attention to the dates. Who knows, but I approved the posts because I like to share not only my own opinions, but those of others as well. I just ask that the posts be kind and respectful.
Today I renewed our zone membership with Thousand Trails. When we bought the TT Zone Pass last year, we took advantage of the "buy one zone, get one zone free" special. When I called about renewing, I wanted to make sure I was getting the same deal. I'm happy to say that I was. We've looked at upgrading to a different plan. I'm looking for those memberships that offer 2-3 weeks per park with no time out. I'm not interested in the free rental cabins or free memberships with ROD or RPI. We've been exploring buying a "used" membership. If you are reading this and have any experience with it, I'd love to hear from you. For this year anyway, our plans are to explore as many of the TT parks in Washington, Oregon, and California as we can. If we enjoy those experiences, then maybe next year we will upgrade. Time will tell.
For those K/M Resort fans, I'm thrilled for you if you like their parks. I was not impressed, and there were not enough parks for the money I was paying. That was the basis for my decision. Nothing against K/M at all. I just prefer the options that TT offered at this point.
Here's a question for you - When did RV Park Reviews change the look of their website? I find it much more difficult to navigate now. I'll get used to it, but sometimes I wonder if businesses shouldn't just hired "normal people" consultants to see what they like. What seems like an improvement to a programmer may be just plain confusing for the normal Joe/Joanne.
And that's my two bits for the day. Have a good one!
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Trip Planning and Packing
Well, I'd love to say I was already packing for our upcoming (fingers crossed) trip down to some warmer weather. I'm just thinking about packing. Because I have taken up painting, I now have an easel, paints, brushes and canvases to pack. I've learned from many full-timers that if you take along something new, you have to leave behind things you've taken before.
I will be leaving behind some books to start. Considering I have most of my books on my iPad, this is not a big deal really. What I will have to watch is the hard cover/paper back books I usually carry around on the subject of writing fiction. Somehow, I have collected quite a few of these books over the years, and I admit that I have really written very little since I started writing a mystery a few years ago.
I've learned I don't need to pack around every DVD I might want to watch. I have no problem finding things to watch on TV. We have only camped in a few spots where we could not pick up a satellite signal, and most of those spots had campground provided cable. We will probably bring along the Boardwalk Empire series that we have yet to watch, and my personal favorite, West Wing.
I have a tendency to bring more pots, pans and kitchen gadgets that I have ever needed. And more canned goods than necessary. Therefore, I will be giving serious consideration to watch what makes its way from the house into the rig. Honestly, we mostly grill our meat and steam our veggies for dinner. I'm not inclined to try new recipes while on the road. Seriously, how many pans do I really need. I hate to cook in general, and I really don't like cooking on the gas stove in the rig. I save my experimenting for at home. And speaking of new recipes and experimenting, I posted a recipe for turkey, bean and corn stuffed peppers on my other blog, www.betsysblahblahblog.blogspot.com I thought it was great. Nothing I would make on the road, but pretty tasty.
However, my biggest category for overpacking is clothing. I have always packed for every conceivable situation or weather condition. But, just like at home, I wear the same favorite clothes, and the rest just hang in the closet. Do I really need to pack funeral appropriate clothes or fancy occasion clothes in the RV? If I should find myself needing them, it makes much more sense just to go buy something to wear. My "northern" clothes consist of jeans or sweats, a tee shirt and sweater with crocs or sneakers. My "southern" clothes are shorts and a tee shirt, or a sun dress, with flip-flops. One fleece jacket, one rain jacket, and one pair of rain boots should be more than enough for emergency weather situations. My husband will be so excited if I can accomplish this. If I start now to think about what I really want to wear, and plan accordingly, this should be a goal I can easily reach.
All of this because I've taken up painting. And speaking of painting, here's my most recent:
I think I've come up with the main stops for our trip this spring. We will be spending a week at the Thousand Trails Wilderness Lakes in Menifee, CA. Then off to the River Lodge Resort in Parker Dam, CA. The next stop will be the Wine Ridge Resort in Pahrump, NV. And we will wind up the trip at Thousand Trails Palm Springs (fingers crossed we will be able to get reservations there).
When you head south from Washington, anytime between November and April, you just never know what the weather will be like. The Siskiyous could be clear and dry, or covered in snow. We won't know which route south (I-5 or 101) we will use until we leave. I have stopping points planned for each route. Our trip back north will be toward the end of April. I'm hoping we will be able to explore some of the Thousand Trails campgrounds in northern California and in Oregon on the way home. At some point, you just have to get home. For us, it will be because of property taxes and yard work.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things go as planned. I've rescheduled this trip so many times. It's not yet January 31st, so as our agreement goes, I am not yet able to nag my husband about when he will get to working on putting the rig back together. Sometimes I just have to check to make sure my tongue is not bleeding. Here's to an on-time departure!
I will be leaving behind some books to start. Considering I have most of my books on my iPad, this is not a big deal really. What I will have to watch is the hard cover/paper back books I usually carry around on the subject of writing fiction. Somehow, I have collected quite a few of these books over the years, and I admit that I have really written very little since I started writing a mystery a few years ago.
I've learned I don't need to pack around every DVD I might want to watch. I have no problem finding things to watch on TV. We have only camped in a few spots where we could not pick up a satellite signal, and most of those spots had campground provided cable. We will probably bring along the Boardwalk Empire series that we have yet to watch, and my personal favorite, West Wing.
I have a tendency to bring more pots, pans and kitchen gadgets that I have ever needed. And more canned goods than necessary. Therefore, I will be giving serious consideration to watch what makes its way from the house into the rig. Honestly, we mostly grill our meat and steam our veggies for dinner. I'm not inclined to try new recipes while on the road. Seriously, how many pans do I really need. I hate to cook in general, and I really don't like cooking on the gas stove in the rig. I save my experimenting for at home. And speaking of new recipes and experimenting, I posted a recipe for turkey, bean and corn stuffed peppers on my other blog, www.betsysblahblahblog.blogspot.com I thought it was great. Nothing I would make on the road, but pretty tasty.
However, my biggest category for overpacking is clothing. I have always packed for every conceivable situation or weather condition. But, just like at home, I wear the same favorite clothes, and the rest just hang in the closet. Do I really need to pack funeral appropriate clothes or fancy occasion clothes in the RV? If I should find myself needing them, it makes much more sense just to go buy something to wear. My "northern" clothes consist of jeans or sweats, a tee shirt and sweater with crocs or sneakers. My "southern" clothes are shorts and a tee shirt, or a sun dress, with flip-flops. One fleece jacket, one rain jacket, and one pair of rain boots should be more than enough for emergency weather situations. My husband will be so excited if I can accomplish this. If I start now to think about what I really want to wear, and plan accordingly, this should be a goal I can easily reach.
All of this because I've taken up painting. And speaking of painting, here's my most recent:
I think I've come up with the main stops for our trip this spring. We will be spending a week at the Thousand Trails Wilderness Lakes in Menifee, CA. Then off to the River Lodge Resort in Parker Dam, CA. The next stop will be the Wine Ridge Resort in Pahrump, NV. And we will wind up the trip at Thousand Trails Palm Springs (fingers crossed we will be able to get reservations there).
When you head south from Washington, anytime between November and April, you just never know what the weather will be like. The Siskiyous could be clear and dry, or covered in snow. We won't know which route south (I-5 or 101) we will use until we leave. I have stopping points planned for each route. Our trip back north will be toward the end of April. I'm hoping we will be able to explore some of the Thousand Trails campgrounds in northern California and in Oregon on the way home. At some point, you just have to get home. For us, it will be because of property taxes and yard work.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things go as planned. I've rescheduled this trip so many times. It's not yet January 31st, so as our agreement goes, I am not yet able to nag my husband about when he will get to working on putting the rig back together. Sometimes I just have to check to make sure my tongue is not bleeding. Here's to an on-time departure!
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