Changes

The RV dealer received a call from the factory today. Had to make a few necessary changes to some items that are no longer offered on the 2007 unit. Not happy about them but we just had to make other choices.

SABLE was the interior trim we had liked in the unit that I wrote about but it is no longer available. Plus the MERLOT carpet is not the same shade. We decided on BIRCH trim and tan carpet. All fabric including window trimmings and molding around the doors will be different as will as mid-wall border.

The trailer doesn't have a lot of carpet ( a plus for us) but I liked the way the nice MERLOT carpet livened it up.


The sofa has been redesigned. The one shown has cushions made on the arms that fold over when you make it into a bed. The new style has arms and throw cushions. The BIRCH sofa will have a slight yellowish tint we are not thrilled with. The other color choices were not to our liking.

Long Day

For several years my Saturday morning run took me thru the back roads loading a truck and then up to Pangburn . I received inspiration for a few stories, my favorite being about the amputee motorcyclist.

A few months back, that run was changed as the load became to large to be put on one trailer. So we now deliver a trailer to two different places. The truck I used to load now gets a trailer but for scheduling it has to be delivered the night before. Since I couldn't be two places at one time, I was switched to running the Monticello and Hamburg run (also producing a couple of posts).

The man that was on Monticello/Hamburg has wanted the run back. Things were worked around and starting last Saturday, he has his old run back and I am doing the Pangburn run again as well as being "on call" for 4 hours.

Yesterday while down at Texarkana, my boss calls and asked if I could do BOTH runs today because the other driver has the flue. Being the team player (yea, right ) I am, I said sure.

14 hours and 398 mile later, I finally made it home. Sure is nice to be loved.

Redbird

If you have followed my blog or read my profile, then you know we live in an older motorhome. For about 7 years we have been fulltiming ( a term used for people who live all the time in a rv as opposed to just camping now and then) in a 32 ft. Itasca.

Since the hood and driving compartment takes up over 7 feet, the actual living part of it is about 25 feet long and about 8 feet wide. Small enough the wife can manage it and large enough to be comfortable with just two of us.

It has served us well and has more than paid for itself in actual cash savings, but I have been on the lookout for something newer and a little larger. I wanted a trailer trailer this time as I think it better suits our needs.

We could not buy a fifth wheel because the wife has bad knees and did not need to climb the steps on the inside of a fifth wheel several times a day.

We needed a shower with a short step over.
Lots of cabinets
More closet space
Didn't want the tv 20 feet from us
We wanted slideouts to add living space
Did not want the commode in a room the size of a closet
I prefer a rear bedroom
Affordable but above an entry level rv ( the quality of our Itasca has spoiled us)
I prefer to buy locally if possible

We started the search and really only found one unit that came close to fitting our criteria. It is not perfect but close.

That unit being a 32FKR Cardinal by Forrest River







Our local dealer had the model we were looking for on their lot. It is optioned nicely but did not have a few of the things I felt were deal breakers for us.
It was built in March of 2006. A few of its options are now standard equipment but with a higher list price to cover those options.
We fell in love with the colors and decided that it was the one for us after we added the options we needed.

Here is how that unit is equipped:
Sable interior color
Merlot color carpet
10gal, gas electric DSI water heater
16" tires on Aluminum wheels
Pillow top mattress
Euro leather recliner & ottoman
Dinette and 4 chairs
Marbelized shower and bath sink
Center awning support
Slideout awnings
15F btu A/C with solar panel
Roof ladder
Fantastic fan with rain sensor
Coffee maker
Outside shower
Slideout oak facia
Electric front jack
12V battery disconnect
Satellite prep
Shock absorbers
Auroa china toilet
5.1 stereo with dvd
carbon monoxide detector
water purifier

The dealer offered us a very good deal on this unit but it was not what we needed. A couple of the small options we could live without but since I knew the price of this one, I told him I wanted one just like it except with my added options.
Thermopane windows
2nd A/C
Micro/convection with the already full stove
Wood plank flooring ( we added this at the last minute)

It is now on order. Build time about 8 weeks or a little longer. As the old saying goes, "everything but the kitchen sink", but this time even that is included, and to answer the wifes question, " a maid will not be included".

The pictures are of the unit in stock and the only real difference you will notice is it does not have the wood plank flooring and the graphics are not the same.

Kitchen

The front kitchen has a nice array of cabinets with a window over the sink.












Along the front wall is the stove, micro/convection, and lots more cabinets.












This shot show the large counter work area.

Living room

The living room slide contains the sleeper sofa, dinette, refrig (to the right of dinette), and overhead cabinets.













One area I am not thrilled with is the tv area. Probably have to build something to enclose the sides of tv.













I plan to build a computer desk to sit in front of the lower part of this window and use the leather chair as its chair. The ottoman can be used when watching tv or over at the couch.

Bathroom

This shot from the bedroom shows the layout of the bathroom.













The marbelized shower has a low step over.













Nice bathroom cabinet over the sink.

Bedroom

The king size bed ( I would have preferred a queen) is in the slide out with storage under it.













The dresser has 4 nice size drawers and a cabinet overhead with more storage and a place for a tv.













Across the rear is a very large closet.

All this and for a price less than a new SUV.


Well, what do you think? Feel free to post your comments.

Female President?

First off, this is really not a political post. It is not about Hillary but about a woman for president. If we are ever going to have a female president then a viable woman has to break the "political ice".

Now I "will" tell you why I think a woman would make a good president. By and large, I think women are more compassionate than men. It is just encoded in their DNA.

Health care for every individual is long overdue. Maybe some day when we elect a women president and have enough females in the senate and house, it might happen. If we can't have a female president, then the next best thing would be have enough women to get things done without the president.

Nancy Pelosi is just such a "political icebreaker". Maybe it starts here.

Would I actually vote for a female president? I vote for the candidate that
think will best lead our country.

We all want what is best for our country. We just have different issues and ways we think will best accomplish that goal.

At the end of the day, we must all work together for a better America.

One Month

A month ago I was assigned a new truck to drive. I have really enjoying having a nice truck to drive.

In a month I have put about 7,000 on it. Not a lot by truck driving standards but I have from 2 to 4 hours labor every day loading trucks.

My Texarkana run has changed from pulling doubles to pulling a long trailer. Also this is my last week to go to Monticello and Hamburg on Saturdays. I will return to going to Heber Springs on Saturdays.

Also our company has changed to Blue Cross from Humana as our insurance carrier. Only time will tell how that will work out. I will say I haven't been pleased with Humana.

FEMA travel trailer

Today I probably saw at least 100 FEMA travel trailers heading east on I-30. The FEMA trailers are easy to spot.








Normal travel trailers have many windows, several vents (14"x14" opening skylights), large skylight in the bathroom, air conditioner, and a large vent for the rv (gas or electric)fridge. The FEMA trailers only one or two windows and only an A/C on top.

The FEMA trailers are really "park models". Meaning they have an electric apartment fridge and normal commode. Several must have been "all-electric" because there was no propane tanks on the tongue.

Hope, Arkansas has been a staging area for FEMA mobile homes and I guess they also had these travel trailers . After I pasted Hope , I no longer saw any trailers.

I just wondered where they were headed.

Van Dwellers

I belong to several "Yahoo Groups" (discussion forums, for those who don't know). One of those being Van Dwellers.

The group discusses living, traveling or both in a van. Some people live full time in their vans for several reasons.

I knew a man nearing retirement that had lost everything because of bad decisions (some of them he was still making), He was living in his company work van and few people (his boss looked the other way) knew it. We are not talking about a RV van but a stripped out work van.


A van like this one represents what most people want while others would be happy to have something like this.



















































This is actually a deer camp with electricity and an outhouse (small building on the left). The deer camp is 50 yard off US425, south of Monticello, Arkansas, and just over a mile from the University.

Ticket update

I tried to get my ticket changed but it was going to cost $120 on a ticket that only cost $708, so I said "thanks but no thanks". I have always thought that things happen for a reason.

I feel better knowing that I at least tried. Heck, who can feel down about a trip to France.

Identification-ten-tee

Identification = ID
ten = 10
tee = T
added together = IDIOT and that is what I am.

Today I went online and ordered my plane ticket to France. I used Orbiz and it listed several flights. I went back and forth on the flights to pick the one I wanted.

I wanted to fly to Dallas/FW and then to Paris. Fly out on March 20 and back March 30. Well being the identification/ten/tee that I am, I did not "click" on my preferred flight. I had just scrolled down and forgot to "click" on it. (Did I mention I was VERY nervous?)

After using my credit card and purchasing my ticket (all on the list were the same price), I went to print off my conformation and realized they had (totally my fault) sold me the first ticket on the list.

I now fly out of Chicago on March 20 (makes little difference to me) but I fly back on the 29th. One less day in France.

I didn't cancel and reorder because I was afraid of how the billing would be refunded to my credit card. Since the time frame still works for Zac and myself, I just decided to live with it.

Alaska bound

Back in September while down at our Hooks, Tx. yard, I met Friend and today John came by and I stopped him and had a chat.











John had been living in North Carolina and was heading for Alaska to live.









Presently he was going to Oklahoma to wait out the winter before heading up through the Dakotas, Canada and then to Alaska.










He was pulling a BURLY trailer carrying most of his equipment. A BURLY trailer is more of a city trailer for pulling children than one to use for "touring".










He said he had been touring before he lived in North Carolina and the trailer shows a lot of wear. He was wanting to replace it with a B.O.B. trailer.

Here is a link if you would like read about people that tour on bicycles. There are
more than 1300 tours on this site.

Online books

After the "dud" I reviewed yesterday, I thought I would give you a chance to read something "online" that was published in 1987. The book is now online with 2 more in the series.

The Treasures of Simple Living

January book review

"ANOTHER SHOT, how I relived my life in less than a year ", by Joe Kita.

When Joe Kita turned 40 he sets out in one year to revisit several times in his life that he wondered how things might have turned out if he had taken a different road.

The book has 19 chapters with each composed as a short story. It is a very "simple read", but parts of it we can all relate to.

Chapter 1, he goes back to try to make his high school basketball team.

Chapter 3, he tries to find his beloved Camaro he sold years earlier.

Chapter 6, he tries having a "date" with his mother to understand their strained relationship.

Chapter 15, he spends a week in the desert with a survival group ( with 2 days by himself), trying to prove he is "a man".

Can't say this is a great book but it has its moments.