Also, while I was thinking about this, I was reviewing the last few posts, and realized I had forgotten two major expense issues on the post about our costs for these past 22 months! I forgot camping fees and mail forwarding! So I went back and edited that post to include those two items, in case anyone is interested!
I finally received the new slide scanner that I ordered online, so now I can continue with scanning our old photo slides, some of which I inherited from my dad, and some of which are ours. I'm done with about half of them that we started with. Although I could have continued with scanning printed photos on our Canon printer/scanner during all this time, I got behind on those, too. Sitting for hours on end at a computer gets to be tiring, and a break is needed... sometimes for weeks... or months!
We have also been forced to revise our visual entertainment. Nearly all last year, we hardly watched any TV at all, clear through the winter season. What we did watch on rare occasion was YouTube videos, which included not only our traveling buddies' videos, but older TV shows and movies. And of course, we have our own DVD collection. We also have VHS tapes to go through and digitize, but haven't gotten set up to do that yet.
Being in this park with free cable (limited, but still free), and getting into the winter TV season again, we decided to not only hook up the cable, but to get our LCD TV out of the trailer, and see what we could get. I also bought a cheapy set of rabbit ears to see what digital signals we could get from broadcast channels.
I tried the Lava brand 150 mile digital antenna that we bought specifically for traveling in areas where signals were weak, but we found it to be too directional. It had an antenna rotator on it, but no way to visually see what direction the antenna was pointed without going outside. Our neighbor told me that a friend of his was looking for one, so I sold the whole thing, mast and all, to him. It was too big and bulky to carry with us in confined space, anyway.
So... what I have found is 12 free cable channels that are "reasonable", and about as many digital channels (different ones, though) off the rabbit ears antenna on the dashboard. Unfortunately, my remote for the LCD TV quit. I obtained a generic replacement remote, but so far have only been able to get it to operate the off/on, volume and channels. I can't pull up the menu with it to change anything else (yet).
The problem comes in switching from broadcast stations to cable. They each require a different source setting, and then each one has to scan for channels from that source before you can use the TV. Without a remote, I have to get up and do all that from the front controls on the TV, which is a royal PIA! Also, the antenna source must be physically switched from one cable to the other... another PIA! But I have a manual antenna switch ordered, so that will make that part a little easier, but still not from the remote.
Our RV came with an old CRT type TV mounted in the front dash. I had it on one day with no antenna, and it appears to work that far, but we decided not to use it. It draws more power, generates more heat, and on top of all that, we can't even see it because of all the crap from storage stored over the engine and in the cab area of the RV. And even if we could, we would have to sit sideways from any chair or couch to watch it... very poor design by the "RV engineers"! Since the dinette was removed from this RV before we bought it, there are no longer ANY forward facing seats! But even with the dinette, the overhead console would have still been a much better place!
I had the little 15-inch LCD TV literally hung from the center grab handle on the overhead console, and tipped forward for better viewing... although we still had to turn sideways to see it. But it's more convenient to all the wiring, which is on the left side of the coach... otherwise I have to cross a doorway with it and put the TV on the right side. That may have been what the previous owner did, since there is a TV stand across from the couch. But... there is no wiring over there for it!
Well, I bought a longer coax cable for the TV and now have it setting on that TV stand, from which we can rotate it to view it either from the couch or the two front seats, and that works much better. The leather captains chairs are very comfortable and even have lumbar support, for which my back thanks them every day!
I also received the new sewer hose I ordered and got that installed. The one that came with the coach looked like it had been crunched, and had developed a small tear in the middle of it. Sewage sprays are no fun at all!
This past week we also cleaned the dust off the Mr. Heater Big Buddy, and fired it up. It got down in the low 40s one day, then went back up to the upper 50s, and will return to 40 degrees tonight and 44 tomorrow night (Halloween Eve), so having that catalytic heater to take the morning chill off is nice. Once this cold spell goes through by Tuesday, it will start to warm back into the upper 50s and 60s again overnight for the foreseeable future. Most of the days will be upper 70s and low 80s with much lower humidity. Nice!
We also got out the small electric space heater, and leave it set on 750 watts (half heat). The thermostat cycles it on and off as needed. That keeps it from getting "too" cold during the night, and keeps it reasonably comfortable during most of the day, as long as it stays above 50 outside. Below that, we need some extra heat from the Big Buddy. Of course, both heaters are off the floor to be out of Angel's way, and not pointed toward anything except open air. We don't run the Big Buddy at night unless it really gets cold, and even then, only with proper ventilation. And when our 30# tank (for only the Big Buddy) nears empty, we can throw it in the van to get it refilled.
For anyone still using those one-pound bottles for heat, I urge you to do the math. I'll help... propane weighs 4.2 pounds per gallon. A 30# tank holds 7.14 gallons, but you can only fill it to 80% capacity (to allow for proper evaporation of the liquid). So a full tank actually holds 5.71 gallons. I buy it at $2.10 per gallon, or about $12 even.
The last time we bought one pound bottles, they were $6.32 for a pair, or $3.16 each. If you divide that one pound by 4.2, you are actually getting only .238 gallons of propane. That means you are paying about $13.28 cents per gallon for that propane in those one-pound bottles! How long would it take you to pay for a $25 adapter hose from Walmart and start using that to run your heaters from a larger tank? Answer: less than three bottles! With each bottle typically only lasting about 5-1/2 hours (on low), you'll pay for that hose in a day of use! 'Nuff said about that!
We are also getting near the empty mark on the RV's propane tank, and will have to drive the RV out to refill that one. But with using electricity for everything but the stove and water heater, we have been able to stretch this 85# tankful (about 16 gallons at 80% fill) from April 1st to whenever we fill it in November, so about 8 months...that's pretty conservative! (We don't use the furnace.)
So other than a few daily chores and small projects, we continue to list stuff on eBay, although sales there haven't been great. There are some larger things that we will likely list on some of the local Facebook sale groups, for local pickup.
I still need to get out the one mountain bike that I bent the rear wheel on when I went over the handlebars in July of last year in Flagstaff. (My left wrist is still sore!) We have decided that we don't use those bikes enough to warrant carrying them around, so they will be sold as a matched set after I repair the one. We can get exercise just as good by walking. We can take Angel a lot easier, and it's a lot safer!
Now, for the RV park's activities! They sent an email on Friday afternoon that there was going to be a meeting at the clubhouse at 6:30 last night (Saturday, the 28th), for the purpose of deciding what activities would go on the November activity sheet. There were about ten people attending, plus the manager.
It's nice that the manager wants to get input from the few people that are here (so far) and will take part in them, rather than just choosing random activities on her own. Typical activities were already on a draft sheet, but some things had to be decided to finalize it before final printing. She'll deliver the activity sheet to every site at the first of every month.
One of the activities was a monthly ladies luncheon. Some of the former restaurant choices were no longer there due to closing of those restaurants, so new ones had to be chosen. Of course, they will have a meeting near the end of every month to decide on a place to try for the next month, and then they will car-pool to the venue.
Being newbies here, it was also nice to learn of the procedure for activities at the clubhouse, how potlucks and special meals are handled, and what other things there are to do besides what is organized. We learned that hardly anyone wants to play shuffleboard here anymore (the single lane isn't in good shape), and there may be only a few people that even care to play horseshoes. I guess if I want to play, I'll have to invite someone, or vice-versa. Maybe I should practice by myself first!
We also learned that some outside vendors will post special activities here at the clubhouse, such as church potlucks, dinners or special meetings, like car clubs, and other activities and events. That's nice to know, too. They also have a comprehensive list of things to do and see in the area, as well as some tri-folds that vendors leave.
The park still isn't anywhere near full, but people are slowly drifting in. Typically, November 1st is a big day for arrivals, but they will continue to come in. Some snow-birds wait until after the holidays, so they can spend them with family up north. Probably the most likely time for the park to be maxed out is between the first week of January until about April 1st.
As for us, that's just about all the time we can take around crowds of people, so it will time out about right. April will quiet down considerably, and by May 1st, we hope to be out of here ourselves and headed north to new adventures on our own... first to Arkansas storage to pick up a few things needed for our minivan travels, and then toward northern Indiana, and likely up into Michigan for the hottest part of the summer. But that's only an educated guess for now. Things could happen at any time to change our plans drastically.
In future posts, we will be getting out and about more, so I will have some travel stories coming up soon. With the cooler weather it will be easier to have Angel with us in the van, and not worry about heat so much. I have also come across some neat products that will be especially useful to RVers, vanners and boondockers, so will be doing some product reviews on those. And as I can empty out the minivan, and start work on "creating" (not "building") our new minivan camper for next summer, I'll have more posts on that progress. Maybe I'll even bend my own rule and do some videos about the build.
As always, I welcome thoughts in the form of comments, and questions, so please don't be bashful. Any teacher can tell you that people learn a lot more when they raise their hands and get involved in the conversations.
Until next time... stay well and travel safe.
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