Don’t ignore warning signs of rodents in and around your RV

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Don’t ignore warning signs of rodents in and around your RV

Last Weekend Up North

Sadly, Summer is over and it's time to take the RV back to the valley.  We were able to leave the RV on our site when we left 2 weekends ago so it was very easy to get settled in last night.  And that's a good thing because it was only 39 degrees when we arrived!  We woke up this morning and everything outside is frosted.  Dennis took the boys out for a walk in the forest before I even got out of bed!  I guess I was tired. 

It's very cold in the RV.  We have the heat pump going and a small space heater.  Our propane tank shows 1/3 so we want to try to conserve so we make it through the night.  Propane heat is so much better and works well in cold temperatures.  The heat pump doesn't do so well in really cold temps.  The boys are snuggled up one in their bed and one with Dennis.  They are total desert dogs.

We are looking forward to winter camping and hitting the road in the RV. 

The picture above was taken out the door of our RV at 7:30 this morning.  Enjoy!

Independence Day Weekend

View of forest from my recliner

The dogs woke me up about 6 (they tried at 5 and I said NO WAY) and so I took them out to do their business.  It's a rather chilly morning in the forest although you get no complaints from me!  It was nice to put on a sweatshirt to take them out.  We arrived here about 5:15 yesterday after a fairly easy drive up.  I-17 was VERY busy, which is typical for the Friday of a holiday weekend but once we got on 260 and 87, we had no problems.  As we were turning onto Forest Highway 3 and arriving at our destination, a truck with flashing police lights sped up behind us and followed us into Clint's Well.  It was meeting an already waiting ambulance.  Soon after, a chopper arrived and someone (not from camp) was loaded into the helicopter and airlifted most likely to Phoenix.  It was quite an experience.  As we were setting up our site, a bunch of campers gathered near us and at first we thought we were the "entertainment" but then we realized they were watching the helicopter drama. 

It took us some time to set up as we were trying to get satellite signal.  We finally gave up and decided to get out the dish and tripod.  Believe it or not, we spent less time setting that up than we did trying to get the automatic satellite to lock in on a signal!  The best part is that, despite looking ghetto with cables going into the RV through our slide-out, we have 2 tuners and can watch one thing and record another.  We don't get that feature with the automatic satellite as the 2nd tuner goes into the bedroom for a 2nd receiver.

I'm sitting here in the recliner, Dennis is still in bed. Both of the dogs are sleeping in their bed.  I have the window open and am looking at the forest.  I can hear the squeal of hummingbirds as they swirl around us.  It's so peaceful and beautiful up here.  There's a chance we may get thunderstorms today and tomorrow but we really don't care.  There's nothing like a forest thunderstorm to cool things of even more, and add to the relaxation of the Glamping experience.

Please have a safe and festive Independence Day weekend.  Remember the freedoms that we all have and the freedoms that some of us are still fighting to get.  Enjoy the weekend!

Memorial Day 2011

We had the great pleasure of spending the extra long Memorial Day weekend at Mingus Mountain with a small group of close friends. We arrived Thursday after work and found our spot.  It was fairly easy to level (for a change).  We discovered, however, that a window on the driver's side of the RV was broken during our journey.  Fortunately, we have dual pane windows and only the outer pane was broken.  We called the insurance company Friday and got the claim started.  The window is being measured and ordered tomorrow morning.  The entire window, frame included, has to be replaced.  We are hoping that it will get replaced prior to our Flagstaff trip in just over 2 weeks.

Friday was a relaxing day for us with 2 more RV's arriving after work.  We had a nice dinner of pulled pork and baked beans followed by a campfire.  Saturday, the rest of our group arrived and we helped them set up their tent.  It was fun, and faster for them than doing it themselves!  Dinner Saturday was Bring Your Own Meat with lots of great side dishes.  Another great campfire ensued, but this one wasn't as fun due to the wind.  Sunday took us to Jerome to do some shopping and sight seeing.  It was very windy all weekend and Sunday, it was windy AND cold.  We skipped the campfire and ate dinner inside.  Tri-tip with great side dishes and birthday cake for me and one of our friends made for a great end of the day. 

Monday was pack and go home day.  After a very long and relaxing weekend, it was sad to have to go home.  Surprisingly, traffic on the way home was very light.  We stopped in Cordes Junction to dump our tanks and headed home.  It was a beautiful day in Phoenix and we took the opportunity to power spray the dust off of the Jeep and the back 1/3 of the motor home.  After taking the RV back to storage, we stopped at Panda Express to get some take-out and went home to eat and relax. 

Today was a rough day after such a long weekend.  The good news is that tomorrow in Wednesday already!  I hope everyone has a great week, and enjoy the pictures of our group campsite at Mingus Mountain.

Relay for Life Williams County, Ohio

I'm proud to be traveling to Northwest Ohio in June to participate in the Williams County Relay For Life on Friday June 24th.  Our whole family is participating in honor of my mom and my partner who are cancer survivors.  We have so many family members who have been affected by cancer.  We are a family of survivors.  Our team, Counting our Blessings, is growing and raising funds.  I hope you'll join us or support us with a donation.

Donate to Relay for Life

I fly into Detroit on Friday June 24th at 1pm, and depart on Monday June 27th at 3:15 pm.  I'd love to see friends and family who live near my folks during that weekend.  I hope we can connect!  Join us at the Williams County Fairground after 6pm Friday for the Relay.

In Memory of Frank Muehlfeld, 1917-1998

Today marks 13 years since my Grandpa Muehlfeld left us unexpectedly.  I'll never forget that day.  I was at work at GE in Cincinnati when my mom called.  I think I was in shock.  It's always painful to lose someone you love.  I think about my Grandpa often.  He was always larger than life and he could fix or do anything.  For a very short time, he got me hooked on Skoal Bandits.  Fortunately, that didn't last long.  As a young adult, some of my favorite times were sitting in Blakeslee with Grandma and Grandpa, doing nothing, just talking and watching TV.  Those were precious times! 

Remember to tell your family members that you love them.  You never know how much time you have left with them or that they have left with you.  Don't take any moment for granted.  Live it like it's your last.  I know Grandpa is smiling down on all of us now, proud of his legacy.  And while we miss him, we know that he will be with us forever.

Lots of love, Grandpa.

In Toledo until Tuesday **Change in funeral time**

Dennis and I made it to Toledo Tuesday around 4pm.  We got to spend time with Georgia and the rest of the Taylor family at Hospice of NW Ohio.  It was a bitter-sweet day and a half.  Georgia passed away peacefully at 5:40pm on Wednesday.  The people at Hospice of NW Ohio were absolutely amazing.  The level of compassion, caring and understanding that they all exhibited was very comforting.  If you are considering any contribution to a non-profit, I highly recommend Hospice of NW Ohio as a worthy recipient of your contribution.

Georgia's service will be held on Monday 3/21 at 3pm, preceded by a visitation of the family from 1pm-3pm, all of which is happening at Newcomber Funeral Home on Laskey just East of Talmadge.  You can also visit www.NewcomerToledo.com to leave a message in the guestbook for the family.  The obituary will be published in The Blade on Sunday.

I've created a Picasaweb album of pictures we've captured of Georgia over the years.  I would invite you to enjoy them, and feel free to upload any others that you might have in order to share with others.

Thank you everyone for your kind expressions of support over the last few weeks.  Dennis and I will be in Toledo until Tuesday when we fly back to Phoenix.  We'll chat soon.

Canyon Lake

We had a great weekend at Canyon Lake this weekend.  We went with a great group of friends.  We had 6 Class A's, a Class C, a fifth wheel and an airstream as part of our party.  All of our sites faced the lake with great views of the mountains and magnficant sunsets.  About half of the group left on Sunday and those of us who remained got together to play Jeremy's new Wii game Just Dance 2.  I want to share the video he took of me, Greg and Greg getting down to Iko Iko.  What a fun game!

We dropped our RV off at La Mesa today to get some more warranty work done.  We hope to get it back within the next 2 weeks.  We have a trip planned for St. Patrick's Day weekend and might be able to squeeze one in between now and then. 

I hope everyone has a great week.  I'll blog more later.  Meantime, enjoy the short video!

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's been almost 6 weeks since I last posted!  My, how time flies!  It was a typical December - very busy.  We joined a group camp out at Pleasant Harbor RV in early December and had a great time.  Our group raised money for Trevor Project and donated several stuffed stockings to the Children's Hospital. 

We had a very nice Christmas Eve with the Cronin's and picked George up at the airport for a visit.  Christmas Day was just the 3 of us for dinner but we had several friends over for dessert and karaoke Christmas night.  It was a great time!  George left the Wednesday after Christmas while we prepared for our trip to Bullhead City for New Year's weekend.

Despite winter weather in Northern Arizona, we set out for Bullhead City after work on Thursday the 30th.  We made it in about 3 hours and 45 minutes while dealing with below freezing temperates in Kingman and Golden Valley.  We visited the Golden Nugget in Laughlin on New Year's Eve and managed to walk away with more money than we had when we arrived.  It was fun!  New Year's Eve was spent with great friends as we marked the new year in Arizona in Mountain Standard Time and in Nevada in Pacific Standard Time.  We did a lot of consuming while in Bullhead City and Laughlin, hitting the post-holiday sales at Home Depot, Lowe's and Sam's Club. 

Half of our party departed on Sunday while the rest of us stayed until Monday.  We drove through snow falling in Kingman after stopping in Golden Valley to get fuel.  We made it home in 3 hours 45 minutes with not much traffic.  Tuesday, it was back to work for a short week.

This weekend, we stayed home and spent the whole weekend taking down and putting away Christmas lights and decorations.  The house is almost back to normal and the puppies are very happy that the boxes and bins are gone.  They get really stressed out when we have the bins out - it must bring back some horrible memories from before they were ours.  Tomorrow it's back to work for a full week - our last 5 day week this month.  We have some fun travels planned for the next several weeks - both by RV and airplane!  Happy New Year to everyone!  We wish you peace, good health and prosperity in 2011!

Picture:  Discovery and Jeep at the Maverik station in Golden Valley after the fill up.