The plug in for the electric tea kettle, the plug in for the UPS (uninterrupted power supply for the laptops) and the plug in we used for the space heater are all on the same breaker. Or were. Today I learned where the breaker switches are. Moved the space heater plug to a different outlet.
Update: Outlet in the bathroom that I 'used' for my hair dryer is also on the same breaker.
So we can have heat and hot water, or heat and power to the laptops, or laptops and tea, or dry hair and some heat, or any combination of 2 things. Two, not three. Good to know!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
A Delightful Day For A Drive
A nice night's sleep. A beautiful sunrise. Great morning.
We stopped in to visit briefly with my uncle here in Spokane, and then headed out for a "Saturday afternoon drive" on Monday morning. We went eastbound on Highway 2 up to Newport, Washington to take a look at another KM Resort - Old American Kampground. It was a little more rustic than Ponderosa Falls where we are currently camping, but there were some very nice spots along the Pend Orielle River. Not alot for the kids to do, but since we don't have any kids with us, it was very appealing. And the preserve host was an absolute delight, taking the time to talk with us about the area, and give us suggestions on which route to take down to Couer D'Alene.
We drove down to Spirit Lake, and turned off the highway to the boat ramp. There was a road that appeared to go all around the lake....emphasis on the word "appeared". It didn't show it on the AAA Map, but it did show an alleged road on the GPS. Ten miles down the winding narrow road, crossing our fingers that we wouldn't run into any logging trucks, we came to the end of paved road. Prior experience with logging roads told us to turn around and go back, which we did. Spirit Lake is very lovely and pristine and I'm glad we took the side trip.
We took Highway 54 (this would be Idaho Highway 54), and then went south on Highway 95 to Couer D'Alene. I had wanted to explore the area, but it was getting late, and we had one more stop at the R and R RV Store in Liberty Lake and then wanted to say Good Night to my uncle. So today, all we saw of this lovely resort town just over the Washington Idaho border was a few malls. Maybe tomorrow.
For now, the grill is being prepped for burgers, and I'm off to cut up some fruit.
We stopped in to visit briefly with my uncle here in Spokane, and then headed out for a "Saturday afternoon drive" on Monday morning. We went eastbound on Highway 2 up to Newport, Washington to take a look at another KM Resort - Old American Kampground. It was a little more rustic than Ponderosa Falls where we are currently camping, but there were some very nice spots along the Pend Orielle River. Not alot for the kids to do, but since we don't have any kids with us, it was very appealing. And the preserve host was an absolute delight, taking the time to talk with us about the area, and give us suggestions on which route to take down to Couer D'Alene.
We drove down to Spirit Lake, and turned off the highway to the boat ramp. There was a road that appeared to go all around the lake....emphasis on the word "appeared". It didn't show it on the AAA Map, but it did show an alleged road on the GPS. Ten miles down the winding narrow road, crossing our fingers that we wouldn't run into any logging trucks, we came to the end of paved road. Prior experience with logging roads told us to turn around and go back, which we did. Spirit Lake is very lovely and pristine and I'm glad we took the side trip.
We took Highway 54 (this would be Idaho Highway 54), and then went south on Highway 95 to Couer D'Alene. I had wanted to explore the area, but it was getting late, and we had one more stop at the R and R RV Store in Liberty Lake and then wanted to say Good Night to my uncle. So today, all we saw of this lovely resort town just over the Washington Idaho border was a few malls. Maybe tomorrow.
For now, the grill is being prepped for burgers, and I'm off to cut up some fruit.
Inaugural Voyage
Well, we did it! For those of you that wondered if we were ever going to get out of the driveway, we did it. The funny part was that getting out of said driveway was the hardest part of the journey. We left Snohomish yesterday about 11am - just an hour later than we had planned. We headed for Spokane. We headed east on WA State HWY 2, turned south on Hwy 203 to Carnation, then Fall City, Preston and finally east bound on I-90. We stopped at the Rest Area outside of CleElum for potty breaks and lunch.
One of the pleasant surprises on the trip was that in one area of agriculture - there were signs on the fences saying what crops were planted there. It would have been even better earlier in the year when the crops were still growing, but still it was nice. A new crop to me was 'green manure'. From Wikipedia, " In agriculture, a green manure is a type of cover crop grown primarily to add nutrients and organic matter to the soil. Typically, a green manure crop is grown for a specific period, and then plowed under and incorporated into the soil." Who knew? Here I thought it would be harvested and then blended in with other stuff and sold in bags at the garden centers.
We pulled into Ponderosa Falls, a KM resort, just after 5pm. It took 3 tries to getting the right number of levelling blocks, but other than that, things went without a hitch. Beginner's luck? Probably.
One of the pleasant surprises on the trip was that in one area of agriculture - there were signs on the fences saying what crops were planted there. It would have been even better earlier in the year when the crops were still growing, but still it was nice. A new crop to me was 'green manure'. From Wikipedia, " In agriculture, a green manure is a type of cover crop grown primarily to add nutrients and organic matter to the soil. Typically, a green manure crop is grown for a specific period, and then plowed under and incorporated into the soil." Who knew? Here I thought it would be harvested and then blended in with other stuff and sold in bags at the garden centers.
We pulled into Ponderosa Falls, a KM resort, just after 5pm. It took 3 tries to getting the right number of levelling blocks, but other than that, things went without a hitch. Beginner's luck? Probably.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Ghosts, Gremlins or A Reasonable Explanation
It's Autumn. It's getting cold at night. Have I mentioned that every time the propane furnace kicks on, it wakes me up? We have the thermostat set at 67 degrees. Last night, it must have been hovering around 66 because the furnace would start and stop, start and stop. I'd just drift back to sleep, and whammo, the furnace kicked on. And of course, it's not just one noise - it's two. First the burner, then the furnace. So about 1:30am, I get up and lower the thermostate to 65. Furnace clicks off, and I jump back into bed, hoping to be a happy camper. At 3:34am, furnace clicks on again. I rolled over, laying on my back, with the thoughts going through my head, "It's just a noise, it will stop soon. No, you don't smell propane. It's just your imagination. Surely, it's up to 65 by now. It's just a hot flash. Take some deep breaths. It will pass. No, really, it's got to be warmer than 65 now." By this time, I've tossed, turned, kicked off the comforter, kicked off the sheet. I've tried sleeping on my back, on my belly, on my right side, on my left side. No, no, no, I don't want to get up again. Okay, it's frigging hot in here. I get up to check the thermostat. It's set for 98 degrees! What? How did that happen? I tried to turn it down, and I can get the digits to go down to 65, but the minute I try to set it there, it flips back to 98 degrees.
Okay, that did it. Time for Kim to wake up and do whatever it is that men do to fix things. Personally, I think it may be a gremlin. Or maybe my Dad is visiting from beyond the grave. I have been smelling cigarette and pipe smoke recently. While Kim is reading through the owners manual, and researching thermostat problems on the internet, I'm calling on my angels and asking for some help. I need some sleep!
Okay, that did it. Time for Kim to wake up and do whatever it is that men do to fix things. Personally, I think it may be a gremlin. Or maybe my Dad is visiting from beyond the grave. I have been smelling cigarette and pipe smoke recently. While Kim is reading through the owners manual, and researching thermostat problems on the internet, I'm calling on my angels and asking for some help. I need some sleep!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
You Learn Something New Every Day
Woke up yesterday morning, and thought it was a tad cooler than normal. We have the thermostat set at about 65 degrees at night. When the propane furnace kicks on, it wakes me up. I hope it is a noise that I will learn to sleep through, and even more I hope we will not be staying places that we will need the furnace anyway.
But yesterday, I got up a bit early, and was doing fine, sitting in my chair, wrapped in a blanket, attempting to doze. I eventually gave up and went to heat some water for tea. I noticed the thermostat read 61 degrees. I thought maybe Kim had dropped the temperature down to 60 degrees so I could sleep through the night. I kept trying to set the temperature to 67. I just couldn't get it to go past 61 though.
So I drug out the owners manual - big old 3 ring binder - and started to read up about the furnace and the thermostat. I couldn't find anything to help me get it to work.
It finally occured to me that maybe we were out of propane. I knew how to turn on the water heater, so I pushed that button. I could hear it try to light, but it never clicked on. On the 3rd try, the red light came on. Oh, okay, no propane. So I woke Kim up to go check on it, and to switch to the second tank. (You may recall, I don't do anything with the propane).
The thing we learned - the primary tank automatically switches to the secondary tank when the primary tank is empty. Here we thought we were doing so well, only using a little propane here and there. I was so thrilled it was lasting so long. I wasn't really surprised to find out that we had gone through both tanks. Must be intuition, because it sure as heck wasn't from experience.
It was 8am, and Kim was off in search of propane. The local Shell station had removed their propane tank. The 76 Station had one, but the guy that billed tanks didn't come in until 10:30. On to the next stations, nope no propane. Another one where the propane guy wasn't in yet. Kim stopped at the local Permagas dealer. No luck, they only did commercial accounts. Finally it dawned on him that the local farm co-op probably had propane. They did, and the two tanks were filled. That little excusion only took 2 hours.
But now we know. And next time, hopefully we will be in an RV park that offers propane delivery! In the meantime, we have hot water. It was 90 degrees today, so the furnace was not necessary. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not - LOL. 90 degrees is a little too hot for me!
But yesterday, I got up a bit early, and was doing fine, sitting in my chair, wrapped in a blanket, attempting to doze. I eventually gave up and went to heat some water for tea. I noticed the thermostat read 61 degrees. I thought maybe Kim had dropped the temperature down to 60 degrees so I could sleep through the night. I kept trying to set the temperature to 67. I just couldn't get it to go past 61 though.
So I drug out the owners manual - big old 3 ring binder - and started to read up about the furnace and the thermostat. I couldn't find anything to help me get it to work.
It finally occured to me that maybe we were out of propane. I knew how to turn on the water heater, so I pushed that button. I could hear it try to light, but it never clicked on. On the 3rd try, the red light came on. Oh, okay, no propane. So I woke Kim up to go check on it, and to switch to the second tank. (You may recall, I don't do anything with the propane).
The thing we learned - the primary tank automatically switches to the secondary tank when the primary tank is empty. Here we thought we were doing so well, only using a little propane here and there. I was so thrilled it was lasting so long. I wasn't really surprised to find out that we had gone through both tanks. Must be intuition, because it sure as heck wasn't from experience.
It was 8am, and Kim was off in search of propane. The local Shell station had removed their propane tank. The 76 Station had one, but the guy that billed tanks didn't come in until 10:30. On to the next stations, nope no propane. Another one where the propane guy wasn't in yet. Kim stopped at the local Permagas dealer. No luck, they only did commercial accounts. Finally it dawned on him that the local farm co-op probably had propane. They did, and the two tanks were filled. That little excusion only took 2 hours.
But now we know. And next time, hopefully we will be in an RV park that offers propane delivery! In the meantime, we have hot water. It was 90 degrees today, so the furnace was not necessary. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not - LOL. 90 degrees is a little too hot for me!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
New Tires for the Rig and A Stop At The Truck Scales
Yesterday, I went to get new tires for the 5th wheel trailer. From reading RV forums I notice some people give their rigs a name. Maybe we can have a "name that rig" contest? I digress. After shopping around, and with budget constraints in mind, I settled on Les Schwab's and their Toyo brand LT235/85R-16 Open Country H/T All Position. Since they are for a trailer, there was no need for a traction type tread design and I had read that the straighter tread patterns were better than the staggered tread. One reason for choosing Les Schwab is that they are all over the country so we have a pretty good chance of finding one while traveling if the need should arise. I can't comment on the Toyo's just yet. I'll have to see how they hold up before making a comment on them.
This was the first trip out of the driveway since we got the trailer and my first foray into the wonderful world of backing up. It only took 4 tries. Betsy was the spotter, making sure I didn't back into or run over anything and did an excellent job for her first time. We plan to get a set of walkie-talkies to improve communications for those times when the spotter is not in view of the driver.
One thing that has been weighing on my mind (pun intended) is how much does all this stuff weigh. The truck has a maximum hauling capacity called GVWR (I'm not going to get into that as their are several other ratings and factors involved and you can google it if you really want to know) and the trailer axles are also rated for their maximum capacity as well as the tires. So, on my way to get the new tires, I made a quick detour into a small truck weigh station that isn't often open. I had checked it out the week before and you can see the scale readout through the glass in the door of the office. It doesn't have the split weighing platforms that the more popular weigh stations do but I managed to get several key weights recorded and was relieved to see we are still well under the maximum load ratings. I'll need to make one more trip to the scales to weigh the truck by itself so I can see what the weight is on the rear axle when it's unloaded so I can calculate the trailer pin weight. The pin is the part of the trailer that locks into the hitch in the bed of the truck. The pin weight is how much of the trailer weight is supported by the truck and is part of figuring the truck's loaded weight. ie: If the truck is rated to carry 3000lbs and the pin weight is 2500 lbs then you are 500 lbs under the maximum rated capacity. Other factors involved are weight of driver and passengers, fuel and any personal belongings. It all adds up really quickly. Just a couple of things here, a favorite widget, a few books, DVD's and you've added a couple hundred pounds or more.
This was the first trip out of the driveway since we got the trailer and my first foray into the wonderful world of backing up. It only took 4 tries. Betsy was the spotter, making sure I didn't back into or run over anything and did an excellent job for her first time. We plan to get a set of walkie-talkies to improve communications for those times when the spotter is not in view of the driver.
One thing that has been weighing on my mind (pun intended) is how much does all this stuff weigh. The truck has a maximum hauling capacity called GVWR (I'm not going to get into that as their are several other ratings and factors involved and you can google it if you really want to know) and the trailer axles are also rated for their maximum capacity as well as the tires. So, on my way to get the new tires, I made a quick detour into a small truck weigh station that isn't often open. I had checked it out the week before and you can see the scale readout through the glass in the door of the office. It doesn't have the split weighing platforms that the more popular weigh stations do but I managed to get several key weights recorded and was relieved to see we are still well under the maximum load ratings. I'll need to make one more trip to the scales to weigh the truck by itself so I can see what the weight is on the rear axle when it's unloaded so I can calculate the trailer pin weight. The pin is the part of the trailer that locks into the hitch in the bed of the truck. The pin weight is how much of the trailer weight is supported by the truck and is part of figuring the truck's loaded weight. ie: If the truck is rated to carry 3000lbs and the pin weight is 2500 lbs then you are 500 lbs under the maximum rated capacity. Other factors involved are weight of driver and passengers, fuel and any personal belongings. It all adds up really quickly. Just a couple of things here, a favorite widget, a few books, DVD's and you've added a couple hundred pounds or more.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
New Tires for the 5th Wheel
We made our first trip out of the driveway. Kim just left with the rig for Les Schwab in Lake Stevens for some new tires. Considering this was our first experience with backing up, there were no angry words exchanged. It was an easy back up out of the driveway, and then a 3 point turn on our cross street.
And I drove! Okay, I backed up about 20 feet in a straight line. I heard 'noises' coming from the rig. Sounded to me like a parking break not released. But I'm not a 'noise' specialist. Kim thinks the springs just need greasing.
We'll go with his assessment for the moment.
And I drove! Okay, I backed up about 20 feet in a straight line. I heard 'noises' coming from the rig. Sounded to me like a parking break not released. But I'm not a 'noise' specialist. Kim thinks the springs just need greasing.
We'll go with his assessment for the moment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)