RV Life with Mama & Papa #5 Sunday, March 14, 2021

Good Morning COVID-19 Warriors!  Today is day #366 for me.  We’ve surpassed a full year of this pandemic.  Much has happened despite this thing.  At least for me it has.  This morning I went to the 8AM Daily Reflections ZOOM group and the time changed last night.  Even though in Arizona I don’t need to change my clock, I did lose an hour of sleep like they do because I had to get up at 4:15 AM to make it to the meeting by 5AM.  So now at 6:15 it is still dark out.  It is 34 degrees here this morning outside and I left the heater on in Mama Bear last night and it is 70 degrees in there.  I have my “Waggle” temperature gauge in there.  It’s actually warmer in Mama Bear than it is in the house.  It’s only 68 in here.  I lowered the temperature to see if it saves on electricity.

So this morning we were talking about the “Keystone” and Carol mentioned the arch in Yellowstone.  I sent her this:

This was my picture of the arch into Yellowstone when I went to visit Bill and Cathy in September of 2018.  That was before I started this RV Life.   I love having “Google Photos” now on this computer because it organizes my pictures by year and I just need to scroll down the timeline on the right to get to where I need to be to get to the pictures.  It’s pretty cool – gotta thank the GeeksonTour for that little gem!

So this morning I got a notice from RVTrip Wizard reminding me of my trip to California that I had planned to do.  Was going to go to Palm Springs to a Thousand Trails RV park.  At the time I booked it, I still had Daisy and was planning to drive her there and stay for 6 days.  I have subsequently canceled that trip but the itinerary mentioned another stop on the way which I had forgotten about and I don’t know if I ever made a reservation there, so I need to call them to find out.  At this late date, I probably won’t get my money back, but that’s OK it won’t be much.  It’s just that I don’t remember making the reservation so it will be interesting to see if I did.  Time will tell – I’ll call them later today.  Called them – no reservation!

So I’m obsessing about Metaxa right now.  Barb (my next door neighbor) can not look in on her for my trip to Alamo Lake State Park that I’m going to on Thursday through Sunday with RVW.  I’ve decided this is the message to me that I should take Metaxa with me.  So I’m working up the courage to do that.  I’ll put her in the carrier this time and not this:

I need to practice with her in the truck before we take a 6 hour trip to a new place.  I think she’ll be safer in the carrier in the back seat of Papa Bear.  So I’ll need to get through the fear of doing that.  

So the other thing I’m obsessing over is my route to Alamo Lake State Park.  I want to bypass Phoenix and Cathy and I figured out that the first leg would be to the Post Office in Gila Bend.  Then I’d go to Alamo Lake State Park from there.  So my guess is I use the GPS to go to Gila Bend and once there, go to Alamo Lake State Park once passed Gila Bend – staying on 85 north.  I think that sounds reasonable, but I’ll double check with Cathy later today to confirm.  So I did check with her.  I first go to the P.O. in Gila Bend – the place we picked out to get me on the right road.  Then I push the “back arrow” on the GPS & go to Alamo Lake State Park which is saved in the GPS & the route should work.  For the way back I pick the P.O. again & then to “home”.  So I think I’m set now.

I’m excited about having Metaxa with me this time.  It’s really time I brought her.  She is such good company and I think she likes being with me.  I mean after all:

Here she is on my lap as I type this.  Bill gave me a good suggestion that I could put her in the carrier and then put her inside Mama Bear for the ride.  In case she makes too much noise in the carrier.  But my experience with her and Wylie on my first trip from Florida to Arizona, was that Wylie complained the whole time and Metaxa was quiet as a mouse.  Anyway, we’ll see how she does this time.  But there is more to consider if I take her with me.

So having RV Trip Wizard give me the nudge this morning reminded me of using that platform.  I may go in there and set the route in there for this trip – plus it will give me practice using it.  When Susan comes to visit in a few weeks, I’ll sit down with her and we can plot out our trip to Michigan this summer.

I’ve also decided to take my Lectric Bike on this trip.  It adds about 4 feet to my length.  I remember that it is very heavy to put up on the rack, so it’s important that I remember to take out the battery to lessen the load.

This is how the bike looked on the back of Daisy. 

I’ll go take pictures of the rack on the back of Mama Bear.  Folded up:

Folded down when the bike will be on it:

It is still in the 30’s this morning.  I’ll do more stuff when the day warms up a little.  Next week is supposed to be in the 70’s so hopefully we’ll enjoy the trip.  So I found this YouTube Video about Alamo Lake State Park:  There are wild burros there.  Can’t wait to see them “in person”:

I’ve been told it is “in the middle of nowhere” and that I need to plan to be sure I have enough gas to get there and then back to another gas station on the way home.  So planning ahead is crucial.  

I put the bike behind Mama Bear.  It was a “Bear”!  It’s so friggin heavy even with the battery out of it!  But I think I’ll be happy that I brought it.

Here is another view:

I may need to get another belt from Bill to tie on the cover.  I tied it up with the rope I have for Metaxa to be on “leash” if I let her out of the rig.  I also finally put up the flags & used push pins into the wooden shelf:

I think I’m mostly ready to go.  I just need to pick up some food & chill down the fridge & park her in the street on Wednesday.

Tomorrow I have an appointment on the phone with Social Security.  They need to interview me for my additional payment so I can start collecting my own Social Security which is more than I’m getting now.  

Just one more picture:  This is why I don’t live in CO!

This is a picture that Susan sent me of the snow on her deck!  WOW!  No thank you!

Continued on March 16, 2021 – look at this……..

Bill has convinced me to go anyway.  Where I’m going it is sunny and warmer.  So I’ll keep you posted!  I changed my mind again.  I canceled the reservations because I just don’t want to take the risk of being cold and uncomfortable.  I am going to wait until it warms up a bit before I go out again.  Life is too short to be cold and unhappy.  There will be other chances and now that I have done the research, it will be an easy trip next time.

So life is good!  I guess that is about all for now.  Thanks for visiting!

My violets are beautiful!