Joan on the Road...of Life

Now the story can be told. When we pulled into our backyard spot at Mom and Harry's on July 20 it was hot so we plugged in right away. But the AC wouldn't go on...OH NO! It kept trying...no luck. We were plugging into a new outlet in the garage that was installed just for us.

After a minute we realized that the power wasn't coming on so Jim tested the outlet with our handy outlet tester, which we use to test campground power plugs 95% of the time. Well now it will be 100% of the time, because just plugging into that outlet was disastrous.

We called the electrician who had installed the plug and it seems that we didn't provide complete info ....so we needed an outlet that looks like an electric dryer outlet, 3 prongs. The electrician assumed that meant 240 volts. But motorhomes are special (of course) and we needed that type of outlet, 30 amp but 120 volts. So plugging in ZAPPED the power system in the motorhome.

The electrician rewired the outlet, we tested then plugged in and the AC worked fine. Great!...ooops, no microwave! Damn...No inverter so no power in all the outlets. OH NO...the frig won't run on electric.

Fortunately for me, I was scheduled to take off on my "girls" trip and be gone for 5 days. That left Jim to search for people to take care of all our problems. After several unsuccessful calls he found a guy in Round Lake to install a new inverter and fix the fridge (that was just a fuse). The inverter company is used to people frying their coach so they had a 1/2 price deal on replacements ($600 instead of 1200).

That left the micro, so Jim bought a new one at Sears and scheduled the installation (everyone said that repair was so expensive, might as well buy a new one.) When the installer came he said...no one told me this was in a motorhome!!....I can't do this!!...my company won't stand behind this!!...blah blah blah. OK, says my engineer...I'll do it myself! 1/2 a day later the micro was installed.

On the plus side, the new microwave is 10 times better than the old one. It is Sears/GE Micro/Convection; very quiet and lots of nice features.

On the "thank you" side...Mom and Harry insisted on paying for all the repairs and replacements!

Lessons learned...NEVER PLUG IN UNLESS THE POWER IS TESTED!

Posted by Joan at 06:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We've been here in Gurnee for over a month. It's a different life when we're parked, especially here in the town I grew up in. I noticed this morning that as I drive the streets I'm subconsciously naming all the houses...there's Patsy Ericson's and Marsha Smiths, etc. Many of the houses of friends on Old Grand Avenue are now businesses. I paid a bill for Mom and she told me to go to the house next to Holmgren's. Many's the fun slumber party we had there in the upstairs bedroom!

I drove past the house I grew up in, which looks so different, but I can still pick out the windows of various rooms and of course the front porch. Most of the trees and shrubs look different, the old apple orchard is no longer there but the willow trees my Dad planted are swaying along the creek. It's a very strange feeling...almost like bits of me are still here.

And of course my girl friends are here and it's really fun to be around them. There are no friends like "old" friends! We're getting in the habit of going to movies together, then out for pie and gossip. Nothing is sacred with this group of "goils" so we have a great, relaxing, fun time together.

The weather has been gloriously cool and we actually enjoy the rainy days. The locals however are longing for the hot days of August. We're getting fresh tomatoes, beans, beets and onions from the garden...nothing like a beefsteak tomato warm from the sun, sliced thick with salt, pepper and mayo!

Posted by Joan at 05:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We're parked in Mom and Dad's driveway for several weeks helping them out while Dad has knee surgery. Tuesday was the surgery day and today he'll be on his feet several times. To me it is a scary surgery, but all went well and after about a week of therapy we hope to have him home. The hospital and therapy staff is really great, quite upbeat. Yesterday, Dad was playing bingo on the hospital TV when we arrived.

The weather here is unseasoably cool, reaching only mid 60's in the daytime. Quite a contrast to CA and desert highs of 100, so we're enjoying the change in weather. The doggies are loving the big back yard and I'm enjoying some time with family and old friends...even going to chick-flicks with girlfriends.

Posted by Joan at 08:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Rocky, where have you been? What's that yellow stuff on your face?
Gee, Mom, I dunno!
Rocky...who ate this tomato from the garden?
Gee, not me!

Yeah right! So now the dog pen is around the tomato plants and the doggies are running free in the back yard. I don't think they'll dig up the onions or beets.

Of course, the dogs are really enjoying their freedom and barking when they want to. We're developing bad habits again and we'll need to do reform school when we leave Mom and Harry's RV Park.

Posted by Joan at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We find Farmer's Markets in many towns, usually on Thursday or Friday. The offerings here in Gurnee, Illinois were really varied and beautiful. I think they prepped the veggies for still life paintings. There is really nothing like the fresh taste of produce just in from the field. We got potatoes, radishes, and tomatoes. Harry got there before us and stocked up on corn, plums and melons. Looks like some good meals this week.

In addition to veggies, the Sisters of Notre Dame had French Pastries and Lester had Buffalo Meat. Somehow we missed the buffalo burgers in South Dakota so we bought some frozen patties. Lester has developed a herd of buffalo that include some stock from Custer State Park in SD. He goes there in November to get stock from the fall roundup.

Right now I'm wishing we had some of the French pastry to top off our "all you can eat" fish fry dinner at the golf course up the road. It's really fun to try out the local eateries and customs...like the fish boils in Door County, WI.

Posted by Joan at 06:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Driving down Hwy 31 in Kenosha, WI we were surprised to find Jelly Belly Lane! How could we resist a factory tour and store. Outside we find a VW bus covered in Jelly Bellys with "Mr. Beans" as the license plate. Inside are a 100 screaming kids. We were going to take the tour then realized that it would be on a train with the kids and would only trek through the warehouse. The real factory tour is in California. So we settled for two sampler boxes of JB's, one for us and one for Grandpa Harry who is another bean lover.

So the question is: How do you eat Jelly Bellys..one at a time to savor the flavor or do you combine them for a new taste treat?

Posted by Joan at 09:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)