3 weeks till we leave here and getting ready

Well it is now just 3 weeks till we leave here. We will be taking a massive 4500 mile trip to get back home. We will be picking up his mom and dad and getting them back home at the same time. We will also see lots of family and friends on the way. I will post more when we are on the way since while we know we are leaving in about 3 weeks we still don't have a definative date for leaving and our route yet.Thom's dad is now out of the nursing home and has a home health care nurse that comes every so often. It seems the drug interaction that happened right after the surgery causing him to see things is going away. The doc says he still can't travel for a few more weeks so we will pick them up and his dad will travel with Thom in the MH while his mom and I drive their truck back.
We were going to do lots of little things on the MH Saturday but he got called into work and by the time he got done with that we only had about 2 hrs to work on it. Thom did get the stove top working thou!! We had already replaced the propane regulator and a few other things. If you don't know anything about working with electricity and/or propane then you would NOT want to do what he did. He took apart the stove top and replaced some little things and cleaned and blew out the other things on the inside of the stove top. It is original to the MH so it is 18 yrs old and no longer under warenty so it was either spend some time on it or just replace it. We did not relish spending several hundred on something if it could be fixed.
We also had one piece of trim come off the bedroom door so we sanded it to get the old glue off and to make it a little rough so the wood glue would put it back together. We are currently in the desert so it is very dry and not a surprise that it came off, lol.
We do have the heater fixed and now we just need to get it back installed but since we are headed into spring and summer it is not a priority right now. More of a priority is getting a new back-up camara and monitor. Thom could fix the one that is there but the amount of parts it needs would be about the same amount money as a new one so a new one it is.

Thom went looking for something online and stumbled on an online game - Wizard101. He played for a few hours and then I started an account and started playing. Then told Justin and Joshua (ages 24 & 26) about it. They both started accounts. We have always played games in the house (ie computer, dice, board, card). Joshua's wife, Erin, has never really been a gamer but has been trying to find at least one game that she could play with Joshua. Since she's never really gamed most of them have too many keys to push. But Wizard101 we have come to realize that even thou it set up for kids with parental controls and stuff we could all 5 play together. There is a free part to the game that does take 4 to 6 hrs to get thru before you would have to pay to go any further. We all have now ended up getting a membership so that we have access to pretty much everything, lol.

Wanted to list a song that I really like and I am surprised it's not played more often - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gTV1iDukhs

Hospitals, Rehab, 4Runner and MH

Well still been a busy time around here. Not only is Thoms dad still in the hospital but now they are moving him to a rehab center. It seems that something in the anesthesia and some (or one) of the other meds he was on. It was making him hallucinate very badly. So they had to figure out which one was the problem. Takes awhile to do that since you cannot just take the person off of everything all at once, you have to do them one at a time to get the one that is the problem. So for pain all he's left with at the moment is just Tylenol and anyone who's had major surgery and back pain knows just taking that does very little for pain. On top of that since he's in pain he does not want to do his rehab and well with all that he needs the services of a rehab center so he's off to that right now. Thats where he will stay for a few weeks for now.
We finished doing what we can to fix the heater, started to install it and figured out we had left the info for it back at the apartment so Thom got what he could done and we will finish it later. If he had taken it out he would remember how it goes back together but since we just got handed a box with the parts and a manual I think he's done great so far.
Changed out the regulator for the propane tank and went to check to see if it was now going to the stove and it's not so we may need a different part for the tank. To change that one out we need to have the tank emptied hmmm where to go to move the propane to one tank to another and then back again when changed out.....
Checked the front and back AC's and found that they are working. Opened up the ice maker and found we need to change out some parts. Those will be about $70 or so. A new ice maker would be over $500. We installed the wig head holders.
Took out the camara so that he could look it over. With all the caps that are bad on the monitor board and stuff we are just going to replace both the monitor and the camara. Not sure with which one yet thou, still researching and deciding.

Don't read further if you don't want to read any more political talk.

For those that want to legislate their version of religion into government just need to remember that not everyone is into the same version of religion. Case in point - My version says that who ever wants to marry can (male to male, female to male, female to female) while others that believe a different version think something else. My version says that females can take birth control if they want or have an abortion. Their version does not. Honestly if you don't want to take BC than don't do it but don't stop someone else from taking it. With all the doctor visit costs and the pills themselves it would take someone about $500 to $1,000 a year. If you don't like my version then DO NOT try to legislate your version either. Do not interject church into the government, it was never meant to be there. If you don't believe me all you have to do is research what the founding fathers themselves wrote about it. Read the transcripts of when they were debating while writing the constitution. Read what they themselves wrote about religion, you will be surprized. Don't just take anyone else's word for what is there, read it for yourself!!

4Runner, Bike and hospitals

Yes I know it's been a week or so since the last post but there have have been a few things going on.

First thing is Thom's dad and mom are at an RV park in Florida. While there the telephone company and/or the park had the telephone lines just laying on the ground. Thoms dad tripped over the wire, fell and hit his head on the telephone box. Of course tried to not go to the hospital but after a few days he went and yes he has a concussion. They tried to send him home but on the way back he passed out three times so back to the hospital and more testing. It seems that he had some problems in his neck now that he had to have surgery to do part fusion and have some spacers put in to take pressure off the nerves in his neck. That's done but he's now had a bad reaction to the anthesia and is seeing things that aren't there. Needless to say things are touch and go with that for a few till they get it straightened out.

Second thing is while we were supposed to leave where we are at to go back to the other coast by the end of Feb, we got the call and email last week that we are extended – again – till the end of March. So we took this past weekend and relaxed and played as much as possible. We know we are going to have to now settle down to get things done on the 4Runner, bike and the MH.

Talking about the Harley, Thom finally changed out the battery and some cables. Took about 3 hrs or so to do it all but it is now done.

We did stop off and picked up some stuff for towing like a braking system. Thom also got some more advice on stuff. Manuels and things only cover so much so there were a few things he was not clear on and was just making sure we were doing them correctly and yep we were. Things like do you dump the air bags before doing the leveling. Makes sense that yes you do dump but it's not written anywhere so it's nice to know that you are right, lol.

We did go and measure the levelers so that when we cut the stall mats up that they will acutally fit. We found out that they measure 10 inches round. The barn stall mat is 4 x 6 so we will cut up the mat into 16 x 18 so that we get an even number of squares out and we don't have to be that particular about making sure they are under the feet with the squares only being 12 x 12. This way we can also have the larger size to use for several other things.

We do have some trim that is coming off of the door to the bedroom so Saturday we will fix that along with several other little things and make note of anything else. We will pick up the propane regulator this week and get that replaced so that we can test the stove to make sure that is all the way fixed. We also have the heater to put back together to test that. We will see about moving the MH somewhat so that we can get to the electric they have for some MH's to use and then we will use that to vaccum the MH and the 4Runner out. The person who had the 4Runner before appearently like to go to very sandy areas. Those vaccums that you can use at the self-service car wash places do not have beaters on them like a home vaccum and with all the sand thats in them we either need to beat the sand out or just replace all the carpet. So we will try a home vaccum first to get at least most of the sand out, lol.

Outlets, karaoke and horses

Friday we got new tires for the 4Runner. We got Hankooks if anyone was wondering. When we had the Z71 we had gotten them on there and Thom really like the feel and lack of sound and just the beefiness of them better than almost any other tire (must be a guy thing). So when we got the 4Runner and it needed tires he started to look around and decided that since Hankooks were great for the Z71 that he wanted them for the 4Runner. Trust me when I say he did ALOT of research into those and other tires thou. But we did end up with the Hankooks.
Then Friday night we went to dinner and we were goning to stay there for the karaoke but even thou when we called earlier to verify the time to start and they said 7 pm we found out it didn't start till 9 pm. So we left there and went to Lowes to see about some thing so that we could carry the foam heads and wigs with us easily without the wigs getting tangled. Since we had somehow overpaid the card we had "extra" money we could spend, lol. (I will take a picture of what we got in a little while with and without the wig head and post it.) We will mount them in the overhead cabinets in the bedroom area. After Lowes we went to a bar that we know also has karaoke and they start on the time they advertise. Thom sings quite well, he understands his voice and the range he can hit and he, usually, keeps to that. He has thousands in his list for singing. When he used to run it, he ran it off disc and not a hard drive. When it was not busy he would sometimes just tell people to pick a disc and whatever disc's they picked he would only sing number X. He's expanded his list that way.
Thom's worked 12 to 18 hrs day almost all week long this week so Saturday morning we just putzed around and did not get out of the house till around 1 pm. We went to several stores including a hay and feed store. We got a thick barn stall mat to make some MH levelers with. Check out http://www.rv-boondocking-the-good-life.com/rvlevelingblocks.html to see what I am talking about. He describes it and has better pictures to show than I could do right now. We also picked up a big container of horse treats. Where we have the MH stored is also an auction site for livestock and a used car lot and well you get the idea. They have lots of things there. Some horses are boarded there and we had been bringing carrots but figured with the container we would always have some with us and they would not go bad and even when we leave here we would still have some for the next ones we see.
We finally go to the MH around 3:30 pm, went in and paid off till we leave at the end of the month. This place they do not have hook ups nor is it covered but it is only $45 a month AND they allow us to come out 7 days a week to work on it if we need/want to. Alot of places we checked out around here cost alot more, we did not have access 7 days a week and we could not work on it so of course we chose to park it here.
We fed some of the horses some treats, I say some because there were some new ones and with any new animal you take it easy and if they don't want to do anything with you or they are aggressive acting just leave them alone. Better for you and better for the animal. While at the MH we also took out the monitor for the back up camara. Thom will take it apart to see if the soldier joints are ok and to see if the caps are going bad. He knows how to fix computers down to the compenent level so he can spend a little time and then go to an electrical store and the parts are not expensive. Saves money that way. He also changed out the 2 outlets that are on either side of the bed. When we had plugged in the heating pad over New Years we found out that they were very loose and rather than messing up the plugs on things to keep them plugged in it is safer to just change out the outlet. About $10 or so for the both and about 15 minutes total to do. We also tried out the wig head contraption we had rigged up and found it would work so after the MH we went back to Lowes to get the rest to do all the wig heads we have.
That's about all for now, oh yea in Guild Wars (the MMO that we play) it is the Canthan New Year so we are on it for the next 24 hrs, lol. One of the prizes in the festival we use sometimes while doing the harder missions and this is the only way, besides buying them from other players, to get them so we will be here aquiring the stones that we sometimes use.

4Runner stuff

We still have not started our trip yet. We will know by tomorrow if we are staying any longer where we are now. If we don't hear anything tomorrow then it's off we go within about 3 weeks. Reguardless we need to finish things in the MH. Playing has been fun but it's time to work now.
We looked under the hood of the 4Runner the other day and realized that when someone had replaced a section of fuel line they let it kink up. Wrong thing to do so Thom had to go down to Pep Boys (closest auto store) and get a new section of fuel hose to put there. He also got new clamps to hold it in place and put a clamp in the area where it had kinked before so that it would not go and rekink. The kink was blocking the fuel from getting to the engine properly. Yes, we traded a 2005 PT cruiser in for a 1995 4Runner. The car had 95,000 miles on it and the 4Runner has just over 200,000. It actually runs very well still. What few problems there are Thom can fix and prevent any others.
The 4Runner with it being stick and 4x4 will allow us to tow it 4 wheels down with out needing a dolly or trailer behind the MH. If you are thinking about towing 4 down there are few things to think about.
1 Base Plate - The base plate for the vehicle can be several thousand dollars depending on brand and vehicle.
2 Brakes - Yes you are required to add a braking system to the trailer or tow vehicle which can be just a few dollars to several hundred depending on how good of a system you want to add
3 Tow Hitch - The piece can usually be reused if you trade off the old vehicle for a new but it still can cost several hundred and up
4 Accesories - There are other things like chains and locks that you would need too. This is probably the cheapest part.
Not all vehicles can be towed 4 down. If yours cannot and you don't want to trade for a different one there are things you can do that should make it 4 down towable. First thing is to contact Remco Manufacturing (http://www.remcotowing.com/) to see if you might need a pump for your transmission. Double check the owner's manuels to see what the manufacturers recommend. You can also check http://www.motorhomemagazine.com/ and check out their Dinghy Towing Guides, they have them from the current year on back to 2002 right now for free. Each year is a very large PDF file. Don't try to print all of anyone year. They are lots of pages with advertisements and pictures that use alot of ink. They have really tried to have all the information for every vehicle that can be towed 4 down available in one spot.
If you wanted to take a motorcycle and car with you too there are several ways to do that.
One is to use one of these http://www.cruiserlift.com/index.html but as you can see those can be quite expensive. Depending on what the weight of your bike is it can be upwards of $5,000 or more.
The second thing to take a bike and car along with you is one of these http://www.racecityrvproducts.com/ but again the price can be upto something like $10,000 if you went with all the bells and whistles.
Or you could get a large enough flatbed or enclosed trailer. They can be as cheap as $2,500 and up. It all depends on if you catch them on sale and stuff.
We are probably getting a flatbed at this point even thou the 4Runner could be towed 4 down. The MH can tow the weight and it gives us some room for the poles for the rather large tent that we also have. The tent has 7ft walls, it is a 12 ft x 18 ft Panther Primative tent ( http://www.pantherlodges.com/ ). The ceiling is 12 ft inside. Yep a large tent but when you doing things like mountain man rendezvous's you need a period tent to camp there. Our favorite one so far that we have done is Alafia River Rendezvous ( http://www.floridafrontiersmen.org/index.htm )

Free or cheap camping sites page added

I am adding a new page on free (or cheap) campsites. I hope you enjoy it.

If the fixes to the Suburban heater actually fixes it then it only has taken about $50 - $75 to fix it. Of course it has taken about 4 or 5 hrs so far but consider the cost of a new one and if this works I don't mind the time involved. We put it back together and will test it out tonight before adding in gaskets and stuff like that. We needed to replace the bushings. Thom took the bushings from a ball bearing set that were the size we needed and changed them out. He did some other small fixes with some steel reinforced epoxy putty. (Thom has the training and knowledge to work on electrical and mechanical things. Unless you have some experience you may want to pay for someone to do some of the repairs.) To really test thou, we have to get it installed back into in the MH. We still need to replace the regulator for the propane tank before that.
With our long drive coming up soon we need to stop putting off a few things and just spend a couple of weekends and finish them up. Sometimes thou you just feel like playing and putting off the work, lol.

More things done and still to do

Still haven't gotten a regulator for the propane tank on the MH, of course we haven't looked too hard. We know where we need to go we just have not gone yet. LOL

We did figure out the problem with the back up lights for the 4Runner. We changed out the light bulbs since that's usually the part the goes first. We did change out the back up switch which we found out was not the problem. Thom then started tracing the wires to see if there was a break in them or if the ground was no longer grounded. While the vehicle was on he was working on checking voltage and went to pull the light bulb out and it started to work. Hmmmm it seems that the connections inside for the bulb were very loose. Fixed that and put it all back together and it works.

Since we are about to leave where we are at, we started to pack up the MH for the trip. We used to do a lot of medieval, renaissance and pirate festivals. So we have lots of clothes still for it. There does not seem to be too many places for the next month for us to wear them so we packed those up first. The winter clothes that are good for places like MI or NY went into storage for now too.

We are almost over whatever cold we picked up. Just a little sinus stuff left. We are going to get the tattoo on my left upper arm finished up tonight. Just adding some highlights and white in some areas. Thom is getting one of his touched up tonight too. He may get 2 of them touched up, we will see when the time gets here. No telling how busy Mike will be or how long he will take on doing them. He's very good and takes his time to make sure of things. Tattoo's are almost permanent. You can get them removed but from what I understand that process is way more painful than getting one in the first place. There are a few “rules” with tattoos that people should always follow to make sure you don't regret one. First and foremost – No Names!!!! The only exceptions would be your own kids and parents. That's it, no other names. I have seen too many people regret getting any other names put on their bodies. Second is to always think about exactly what you want and where you want it at. Take some time to really figure it out. People get them on the spur of the moment and then regret where they put it or what they picked.