Visit to Camping World

There are a couple areas in the fifth wheel for which the dealer performing the repairs doesn't have the best solution. We took a trip to the local Camping World location in Avondale to check out options for our toilet and for our satellite needs.

Our fifth wheel has a Sealand Concerto ceramic/electric toilet that is probably the top-of-the-line toilet for an RV. Our salesman that sold us the fifth wheel back in 2007 gave us a free upgrade to this toilet which we love. We have problems with it now - of course, it is over 8 years old. The RV repair dealer is quoting an outrageous price to fix it, so we went looking for options. We thought that we had a "normal" toilet selected that satisfies our needs but by the time we added adapters to the floor connections to install where the Sealand unit is, the cost is about the same as replacing the existing Sealand toilet with a new one of the same style. That is most likely the way we will go. The best (and cheapest) thing to do is to take our fifth wheel to Camping World following the existing service to have it installed.

The satellite is a different problem. The company (Moto Sat) that supplied the satellite equipment that we presently have went out of business a couple years ago and we need to upgrade the equipment. We will probably acquire the Camping World replacement satellite equipment which is DirecTV equipment and would be an easy installation. That is very costly though, so we are trying to figure out how we can get it done without possibly going without buying groceries for the rest of the year. Our budget has been decimated by the unscheduled, but necessary, trip to Seattle last week.

It looks like we are back on schedule to get everything done on time. We should be ready to move into the RV space at the Pioneer RV Resort on schedule on February 17...

Good Scheduling Day

Most of the day yesterday was spent catching up on scheduling the many activities we need to have done this next month.

The Storage space was reserved for all our household goods, the movers are tentatively scheduled for February 20th, all of our screens and windows will be cleaned on February 9th, our repairs on the fifth wheel were agreed to and that work begins right away and gathering of data for taxes was started. The major task of having the repairs done to the fifth wheel is most important as we are on a time frame to get it back to load with all the items we will need to "live" in it once more - temporarily. Depending on how well the home rental goes, it could be our home for a year or more. It will definitely be our home this summer and probably in the Fall. Josie will meet with the management at her flower shop to discuss our plans and try to get a commitment for her job next year. If they don't guarantee her job next Fall, we will make other arrangements. There are many options.

Josie has picked up an infection over the last week that is draining her of energy and her appetite. We went to the local Urgent Care after we arrived home from Seattle and she picked up some medication. She still hasn't seen much improvement but we are hoping she feels better before Monday when she has to return to work. It has made it doubly tough to heal from the emotional events of last week...

Back Home

We have returned from Seattle where we took care of the business of providing for Tracy's final resting place. We have returned with her ashes which will be dispersed at a location to be determined. Needless to say, it was a horrible trip and one that we hope never to have to repeat and one we would not wish on anyone. We are thankful that there were family, friends and caring people to help along the way to make sure that we had the strength to carry on with all the arrangements and to help soften the blow of this loss.

Kristine did really well holding up through all the activities to help make the arrangements and insure that we had everything we needed. The hotel where we stayed - and where Kristine is now employed - was terrific and we had the opportunity to spend some time with her at both her work:

and outside of work. The father of her good friend, Taylor, graciously made the plaque in the photo above.

It rained the entire time we were in Seattle (what else is new) and, unfortunately, we did not have the opportunity to spend time with the grand kids. That will be reserved for the next trip which we hope will be under more pleasant circumstances.

Our flight home yesterday provided some excellent views of the Cascade Mountains and Rocky mountains and the skies cleared enough for us to take some photos of the beauty we enjoyed all the way home:

Including these shots of the Grand Canyon:

It's back to normal again - if there is such a thing...

Sorrow

Our daughter Tracy died yesterday.

The telephone call we have been anticipating for many years came yesterday evening at about 6 PM. Her battle with drugs is now ended, and a beautiful person has been taken from our lives.

I will suspend entries for the blog while we cope with this tragic event...

Poised For Estimates

I thought we would get our repair estimates yesterday, but all we received was an estimate for one, very small portion of the repairs list. It was one item that is very low on our list, so we are still anxiously awaiting the final number for the rest of the work. We are holding our breath as the work is significant, and we know there are things we will have to pass on as a result of the total cost. One option that we are looking at is to get the necessary stuff done and somehow either sell or trade the unit on a new one so that we don't waste any money. When you live full-time in a unit as we did for almost 7 years, it takes a toll on most of the equipment. We may get the final estimates today, but it will more likely be Monday.

Josie has a rare two consecutive days off this weekend, so we will try to do something special. We have to get started on the packing process so that can't be ignored either. It promises to be a an interesting weekend...

Pass Day

It was the kind of day yesterday where most efforts were applied toward follow-up activities.

I contacted the RV dealer and we expect to have our repair estimates completed by today. I suspect that the actual work will begin right away once we get agreement on the work.

We were credited with our deposit refund from Lake Pleasant as we cancelled our reservation there for Feb-May. They were not able to put together a reservation for a single space for that time frame without moving three times. Hence, the Pioneer RV reservation.

We will be participating in a "free" 3-day, 2-night vacation at Emerald Cove Resort in Parker, AZ on Feb 19-21. This is one of those occasions where you get a nice, free trip, but you have to have a strong resolve to say no following their 1.5 hour sales pitch. Basically, this is a membership club that runs five or six RV parks that are located along the Colorado River in Arizona, with another in Mexico just south of Yuma on the Sea of Cortez. We are not interested in joining, but are interested in a free 3-day vacation - plus, we get $200 in gas and a free Android tablet for attending.

The rest of the day was spent trying to zero-in on dates for other actions that need to be completed over the next several months...

Pioneer RV Resort

We have been trying to get a "continuous" reservation at Lake Pleasant for the three months we will be staying in the area before leaving for Jackson in May. The reservation we currently have has us relocating twice during the three months as there is not one space that can accommodate us for the full three months. We have continually called them to check if there have been any cancellations, but none have occurred on sites the size we need to accommodate our fifth wheel. Yesterday, Josie and I went to the Pioneer Resort that is located just off of I-17 in North Phoenix just before Anthem. We found a nice space that was available for our full time frame and at a cost that is much less than Lake Pleasant.

We are familiar with the Pioneer Resort  owners. They are the same folks that own the Cottonwood RV Resort where we stayed in Goodyear for a year back in the early 2000's. It isn't the kind of place where we would stay permanently, but it is in a nice location and satisfies our requirements for the short term. We are not certain about any space in the Fall - either at Lake Pleasant or anywhere else in the area - until we find out how the rental of our house is going. If it is going well, we may just take another Workamping gig somewhere else, so we'll see how it goes.

Our time is beginning to run short for making things happen. With only ten days remaining in January, Josie will be pushing hard at the flower shop beginning the first of February for Valentine's Day. I don't expect her to get much done at the house during those two weeks leading up to Valentine's Day and, after that, we need to get things packed and organized for the storage unit.

So many things to do, and so little time to get them done...