Archive for ‘November, 2014’

Settling in

I’ve owned this house since September 2006.

I’ve done a number of RV trips, but tallying up time in the RV vs time at the house…time at the house is FAR greater. And yet…I immediately am at “home” in the RV and on returning to the house…it feels so strange and it takes me awhile to feel at home – at home. I don’t get it, but it is not a new feeling and now I just go with it, knowing that eventually, the house will once again feel like home.

After a relatively balmy first day back, the forecast was correct: it got very cold, very fast and it snowed. But not much snow: less than an inch.

But, cold! 13F was today’s high.

Not enough to deter Bear and Auggie, though!

Last night, it occurred to me that Thanksgiving weekend I usually get out the Christmas decorations. Last night, the thought of moving any more stuff did not appeal at all.

But today, with the cold and the snow …I got to thinking about the Christmas stuff.

And about a Christmas Tree.

I’ve made do with my little silk tree for the last 4-5 years. Every year, I’ve said “Next year, I’m going to get back to having a real tree”.

Hee… That is the tree that Auggie had been using to get on to the garage roof and my neighbor cut it down so that I was not always having to “rescue” Auggie.

It is still green.

The TOP is beautiful.

MY CHRISTMAS TREE!!! – my real Christmas tree.

It is forecast to warm mid-week and then I will whack off the top of the downed tree and next weekend, I will put up my REAL Christmas Tree.

And we all say “YAY!!”

Okey-dokey! Meanwhile, Mel, my across the road neighbor with the chickens and fresh eggs phoned asking if I needed eggs.

YES, I said. Also, Jesse…Mel’s husband…is a tech guy and knows cameras so when I went to get the eggs, I took my lens with the cracked filter. He was able to remove it. Let me say that several men had tried to remove the filter, but he did more than just use muscle…he used brain power. He said that he could feel the point where the glass stuck and he worked with that and GOT THAT filter off! Happy, happy, happy me!!! It saved me a trip to the camera store and $$$ and I put a new UV filter on the lens and am back in normal business photography-wise.

AND, we had a fun time visiting: Mel, Jesse, their sons Hudson and Carter and Brewster their dog.

The eggs.

Back at the house: Christmas decorations.

The “Bear” Angel…it might be moved to the top of the REAL Christmas tree – we’ll see.

Table top venue…

Stockings hung by the chimney with care and a nice fire in the woodstove to keep us warm.

Settling in.

Friday and weather

So…It is not a bad thing to arrive home on Thanksgiving Day…fairly early…with another day before a weekend. Not a bad thing at all!

By Noon, Wild Thing was unloaded and winterized and airing out.

By 2:00 p.m. she was unplugged. I didn’t get to all of the cleaning, but there will probably be opportunity. I need to vacuum, dust, clean the refrigerator!!! and also give her a good wash. But meanwhile, she is safe and in good order to weather the weather:

Yikes! …the weather!

The home supplies are more than ample to weather the weather. We have food and then some. Food for me, for Bear and for Auggie.

And we have firewood.

We are ready for weather.

But, this morning, it started at 42F and went up to 47F while all of the unloading and winterizing was happening. Bear and Auggie were out with me and we walked together and generally all did our “thing”.

It has been cloudy and darkish and occasionally a few drops of rain and gusts of wind and finally, we all adjourned indoors.

Good grief…

…too cute!

Bear sighed deeply, but stayed put.

For awhile.

And the winner IS…

Outside, with the warm and the wind, the yard and driveway look much better than yesterday.

Friday and weather.

The run home

When we arrived in Dillon, it was so nice that I took Auggie out on leash and harness. He rolled in the grass and seemed to enjoy being out. I had windows open when we were inside and he had a good look around as well. I think we were all happy to be in sunshine with no wind and no neighboring rvs – it was a wonderful spot to spend the last night out.

I woke early yesterday and my head started working on the things I wanted to do to arrive home in good shape to unload and to winterize: I emptied the bedroom storage areas of unloadables onto the bed so that I wouldn’t have to extend the slides at home…I knew the toppers were nice and dry after the sunny afternoon and dry night – better for long term storage. I had just filled propane and looking at the weather knew that I did not have to complete unloading on arrival as I had one warm night and day to do that. There was enough water for my morning shower, dishes etc. and not much to be emptied on arrival. Gas was at a point that it would be very low as I got near home – perfect as I had some gas treatment to add before I put more gas in the tank and it is best on a low tank.

All of this running in my head over and over…I finally gave up on sleep and got up. I was showered, had my breakfast and was puttering when Bear started acting strange. At first, I thought maybe a seizure but then he threw up and I think he was just uncomfortable and concerned about making a mess. We went outside and had a normal walk, but on return I was thinking to help him on the steps – they are tricky as they are not always the same height and the openness, he sometimes stumbles. In the middle of this, Auggie decide he would go outside. He had not even tried previously – he’d stand near the door and sniff but showed no interest. Whether the previous day’s outing or just that it was mild or he was finally ready …out he went. We were nowhere near a road or other rvs and he seemed to be having fun running around so I was in and out calling and making sure he meowed back but otherwise let him explore. Finally, I went out with Bear and Auggie came up to us. Adventure over!

I think it was 7:00 a.m. by this time … a full early morning.

Final preparations and we were rolling at 8:00 on the dot.

From the road:

The Montana side of Monida pass…

Same spot as above but looking to the west.

Leaving the icy rest area. Walking was tricky there but the highway was fine – better than it looks in the photo…my windows were SO dirty!

Mission Mountains approaching Polson, MT.

I always anticipate this first view of Flathead Lake. The highway is above Polson and you come around a bend to a vista of the lake…and it also means we are almost home.

On the road home…

…and Bear knows it also. He stood up as we turned onto our road.

A good run home at the end of a very good trip.

We’re home

I’ll catch up tomorrow on the last day of travel… but, briefly (or as brief as I can be :) !! ) :

The last day’s drive was beautiful and went quickly with only a few spots of gusty wind and no snow or ice (except for a rest area) … some wet patches but the temperature was mid-40’s to 50’s so no slip-slidey worries.

Auggie was out and about immediately. He checked the house briefly and then out again but thankfully came in before dark. Bear was more casual about the return – obviously glad to be home and he settled on Beardog point while I did prelim settling and then went inside. After I unloaded as much as I had the oomph for we went for a walk in the woods and then both of us sat on Beardog Point for a bit. It is sloppy after some wet snow but it was over 40 and I was warm from the back and forthing of unloading so it felt good to sit outside in the air with my dog.

I am about 3/4 unloaded. It is not even to freeze tonight and Wild Thing has a fresh supply of propane so I unloaded until I was tired, set up the heat and called it a day. I’ll finish tomorrow, winterize her and maybe a bit of post trip clean up as well. She and the Jeeper are filthy inside and out.

That’s it for tonight. I don’t even have enough energy to make my turkey dinner – that will be tomorrow also. Grilled cheese for tonight and then early to bed.

Thank you everyone for coming along, for your comments and emails and for the good thoughts and prayers. I am ever grateful for a safe trip as well as an incredibly fun trip.

Dillon, MT: the day before Thanksgiving…the turkey is IN the oven

We left Pocatello at 8:30. It was windy but nothing compared to yesterday and on the road…not an issue.

Gray clouds, but blue spots also..

Clear sailing!

Approaching Monida Pass.

Monida Pass is not a “scary pass” as in it is a wide open kind of pass…no tight curves or drop offs. It is known to be windy, but wind was not a problem as we approached today. And per the DOT reports, by the time we got there the road surface was wet and not icy.

It did get a bit foggy for a few miles at the summit.

But then…Montana!!!

And shortly all cleard.

And we “sailed” into Dillon where it was sunny and 52F and no wind and just beautiful.

Home in Montana.

…and the turkey in the oven…

I LOVE Montana.

Almost home.

***This trip! – this trip has been the BEST rv trip ever in my nine years of RV trips. I loved that I was able to do this trip long and slow. I loved spending TWO weeks at my folks. Srsly, this trip has been so good. I love that Bear and Auggie did so well and have been relaxed. This Thanksgiving, I am just so thankful that I was able to do this.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A dark and stormy day

Another day where I woke just before 5:00 a.m., looked at the weather…saw there was a high wind advisory for 11:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m.

Ok.

It is 191 interstate miles to Dillon, i.e. 4 hours so I thought I would try to leave at 7:30 and ETA being 11:30 in Dillon, all should be well.

I use an online tool: www.thenextexit.com which shows information for interstate exits. I normally make a list of potential fuel stops, rest areas and optional rv park destinations so I can quickly see options as I go.

This morning, I made my normal list and also a side list of Emergency stops in case the weather deteriorated faster than forecast.

As I was doing that, the wind came up.

Bear and I went for a walk. It was VERY windy and it was not yet sunrise.

RATS.

I looked at Dillon weather which had an advisory for not only wind, but snow…blowing snow and low visibility.

Decision made…staying in Pocatello.

Dark.

Stormy.

Windy!… REALLY windy. It calmed mid-morning and then ramped up about 11:00 and continued.

Bear and I went out in the Jeep. I thought I’d hunt up a bit of Turkey. I had a wonderful Turkey dinner almost 2 weeks ago with my folks, Grandma Betty and my brother, but still…Thanksgiving!! – gotta have a little more turkey.

A little more turkey…a 3 pound breast. It is SO cute! The pineapple is there for proportion. The little breast is in a foil loaf pan.

I texted RV friend Sharon (Sharon and her husband, John, stayed at Summers RV park late summer and Sharon loves the convection oven whereas I love the gas oven, but in the interest of time…) inquiring about how to use the convection oven for the turkey. She texted right back with a recipe and instruction.

My “plan” – you know how that goes – is to do this turkey tomorrow afternoon …hopefully in Dillon, MT as the weather is to calm tomorrow – Wednesday.

Meanwhile.

Auggie.

Bear.

More Bear.

My venue for the day.

Another Auggie spot – the kitchen window.

A dark and stormy day.

***GOOD GRIEF!!! – Bear and I went for our “before supper” walk and were nearly blown away. The wind advisory was extended until midnight. Thankfully, our site is protected and/or at an angle where we feel the occasional gust but the slide toppers are not flapping and we are relatively quiet in the midst of what seems like a gale.