New Car

We bought a new car! Well, a new car for us anyway. Actually, it's 4 years old - a Honda CRV 4 wheel drive. We got it from CarMax and traded in my Ford Taurus. We can't tow either the Taurus or Jim's van behind the RV. It takes a special transmission to allow the wheels to be moving without the engine running. We kept referring to the 'Dinghy Towing Guide' to see which vehicles are capable of being towed. A car that is towed behind a motorhome is called a 'Dinghy'. Even though some cars are on the list as being 'towable' with all 4 wheels down - they still had some restrictions. Like, don't tow it over 55 miles/hr. While we certainly don't plan to race our RV, we do usually drive it about 60mph, so we didn't like that limitation. The best option seemed to be the Honda CRV - no limitations, not too heavy, not too big, yet big enough to put a rack on top and carry 2 kayaks. So, we found one, and bought it! Here it is - isn't it cute?!: 

If we put a blue stripe down the sides - it will be a 'mini-me' of the motorhome! This morning, Jim cooked our breakfast outside. We ran out of propane in the motorhome's propane tank, so our stove doesn't work at the moment! Before packing up to go out to breakfast, Jim suggested we use our portable butane burner. You see, back in 1999, when we thought the world was going to end when the clock ticked past midnight on December 31st, we stocked up on a few emergency supplies! This little burner was a find of my Mom's and it's one of the best purchases we made. Of course, we didn't need it for the end of the world, but it has come in VERY handy in our new world! Jim likes cooking outside ... he says it's a 'guy thing.' .

We are nicely settled in Donna's backyard now and it is a stunningly beautiful day! We're leaving the door open and Odie can come and go as he pleases. Here are a couple photos: Odie visited the groomer the other day and got the shortest cut yet. Take a look, I'm not at all sure it's the same dog! We're probably giving him a complex laughing at his skinny legs.

We are in a new place for a few days. Donna has a huge tree over her driveway. I had to back nearly to her back fence to give the dish a shot at the satellite. After we finally locked on to the satellite, I couldn't get the Wireless in the router to work. Turns out, the unit went bad. I replaced it with another router and reconfigured. Somewhere in all this, the dish software wanted to recalibrate the dish. Now, all is well. When Donna gets home, I'll set her up with a wireless adapter. I learn more about this stuff all the time.

The adventure continues! We left Paradise Island today and will be spending the next few nights in the driveway of our friend, Donna. Click on the link below to watch a short video. Leaving Paradise.MPG

Leaving an RV park where you've been for a few months is kinda like leaving your job or neighborhood where you've been living/working for years. People want to say goodbye and hold a party! Cliff and Marie have happy hour outside their motorhome most every evening, but made a special point to have one for me and Jim before we left. I didn't take any pictures but you can see all sorts of photos of Cliff and Marie by taking a look at their website. We learn so much from talking to others who have been full-time RVing so much longer than us. I look forward to being the old-timer and giving other people advice! We just came back from Stan and Lauralee's. They invited us to their 5th wheel for a 'nightcap'. It's amazing what they put into these RVs! I've never seen one like theirs. They have 3 slideouts - one for the bedroom and one on either side of the main living area. Because the main living area is so big, it had an 'island' in the middle. So, lots of counter top! And overhead cupboards too. Here's a photo of Stan and Lauralee in their RV: And look at the pantry they have! We signed their 'guest book' while we were there. What a great idea! A way to keep track of all the great people you meet along the way.