Cell Phones, Weather & Pet Notes

Wanted to pass along a warning I read in the RVTravel.com newsletter today. Seems like both Washington and California have new cell phone laws that went into effect on July 1st. Both now require headsets when using a cell phone and driving. New York has had this in place for many years now. Wonder who will be next?

The weather has been pretty nice so far....it was in the mid to upper 70's this weekend with lows in the 40's. The week warmed up but the nights stayed cool. Then the evening rains started...and since the W in Wyoming stands for Wind...we had that as well. In fact Tuesday night I was in bed when it started and my first thought was, "Hmmmm, if my rig were to tip over is this how I would want to be dressed?" LOL!! Last night I was still dressed when it hit....heavy, heavy winds but they do seem to move through quickly.

Our first SOLOS BOF Social Hour was marked by a member announcing that her cat got loose and she was offering a reward. Tonight the highlight of the SOLOS BOF Social Hour was that member announcing that her cat returned home late last night.

From my seat on the sofa I get to watch everyone walking their dogs. So far I've seen at least two Great Danes, a large Greyhound, several Doxies, lots of Yorkies & Yorkie mixes, a couple of Bassett Hounds, but the most commonly seen dog has been the Schnauzer. The one in the rig across from me makes me giggle every time he goes out for a walk. He prances.....really prances. Reminds me of the gait seen in a Tennessee Walking Horse. He just looks so proud as he prances on his way. I like the temperment of the Schnauzers I've been around...but I wouldn't want to deal with the grooming. I'll get my pet fix from others....LOL!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna

This & That & The Other Thing....

Today was shopping day....time to hit the RV Tent show. My RVing friend Sally, who also rides, picked me up at 9 am and we headed into town. I had a few things I wanted to look out for - a metal folding table (the kind where the top rolls up, the legs fold up and it all stores in a bag like the chairs in a bag), the solar oven, the Escapees table (where they were selling Lifetime Memberships for a limited time), more brass quick-connects for my water hose and a Solar Oven.

Took a quick snapshot of the tailgate on the pickup in front of us...another blog I read recently showed a tailgate made of PVC pipes and painted. Here is the other extreme...solid chrome!

As everyone has said, if it's not at the RV Tent Show, then it's not available. Pretty accurate I would say...definitely an experience. There is something for everyone...big rig or small, motorhome or trailer, part-timer or full.



Besides the people, there were pets galore. Dogs were carried, carted, walked, strolled and backpacked but the best were these two gorgeous Macaws enjoying the sunny day.



I never found the table I wanted (there is a very nice one on sale at Camping World right now but I'm not sure I can get a place for it to be shipped to before the sale ends), I tried on a dozen or more hats but since I wear a small it's very hard to find one that fits AND looks good, picked up several small items, some fleece gloves and some some knit gloves with rubber bumps to help tighten/loosen things (like the water hose, sewer hose).

The big item ended up being the Solar Oven. Early in the day we spent quite a bit of time chatting with the Campfire in a Can folks...very nice product. By the end of the day my choice was either the Campfire or the Solar Oven...that was a no-brainer. The Solar Oven won and I'm really excited to use it. By the way, they were baking an apple pie in the oven while we were there...the smell was amazing! We kept hoping to get a slice....LOL!

Oh, I also got a decorative item....a metal frog wall hanging cut out using a blow torch. The detail is amazing...as was the guy doing the work.



By the time we left, Sally and I felt like doing what we had seen this little guy doing earlier in the day!



On the way out we saw one of the new little Smart Cars that many RVers are considering. Not only was it cute, but they had the PERFECT vanity plate!

What's that white stuff?

Woke up around 7:30 this morning and took a peek out the window. YIKES! It was snowing and blowing....winds of 20+mph with a temperature of 29. I not only had to carry out my suitcase and my laptop, but three boxes of "stuff" that I had picked up at my mail forwarding company yesterday (did combine the nine boxes into those three though....that's why I carried them inside). Oh, and I had to get gas.....EEEK!

Some of you wonder about my having a South Dakota address. As a full-time RVer, I don't have a home base...since I don't own a home. That means I need to establish one so that I can register and insure my vehicles, get a drivers license and register to vote. That is where mail forwarding companies come into play. While not all cater to full-timers due to their specialized needs, there are quite a few that do.


The company I use is My Dakota Address, run by Terri Lund. It's located in the SE corner of SD in the town of Madison. Terri has taken care of registering all my vehicles, getting the tags & titles to me as well as answering all my questions.

I arrived around 11 am on Tuesday. Terri was on the phone but as soon as they put her on hold she bustled around getting my mail and all my packages. By the time I had returned from the car, she was off her call and able to chat a bit. When I asked where I got my drivers license, she reached around and handed me the application that I needed to fill out (yes, I could have done it there but this way she could answer any questions for me). Then she gave me directions...in nice weather it would have been walking distance.

I headed there next....in less than 15 minutes I was walking back out the door with my South Dakota license in hand. Now THAT is service!

I got back on the road and headed south, still a decent day for driving. I ended up stopping somewhere around Percival, IA, completely exhausted from the emotional turmoil of losing BoBo, the extremely long driving day yesterday and then another day of full driving. I had hoped to make it further south but opted to stop.

Then I woke up to the snowing & blowing.....I thought it would stop as I proceeded southerly. NOT! It got worse....sometimes a wintry mix, sometimes heavy snow. I stopped in St. Joseph, MO and picked up a few things at Home Depot (still working on using up those gift cards), Target and two pies at Wal-Mart for Thanksgiving tomorrow at the park with the other Escapees.

I stopped just short of Springfield, MO, in Bolivar. It was almost 5pm, getting dark and once again I was beat. All day I kept thanking my lucky stars that I wasn't driving the Lily Pad through that weather. The temperature stayed between 29-31 until after 3pm when it finally hit 33. I worried about ice on the roads and rarely did the speed limit (most other drivers were also cautious). I decided I didn't want to push the last 70 miles, arriving into Hollister in the dark when I'm still unsure of my directions to the park. At least I can see where I am in the morning.

Lastly, I cannot thank you all enough for all your thoughts, wishes, support, hugs, emails and posts. It HAS helped... I think it was the suddenness that really hit me, so unexpected. One of my blog readers posted something that made it a bit easier:

"As it was, Bobo surely couldn't have known what was about to happen, since dogs can't really think into the future, or know that something's about to happen because they've heard about it happening to somebody else.

All he could have known was that he was having one of the peak experiences of a dog's life - getting loose and running as fast as he could wherever he wanted to go! And the next moment he was in heaven, just as though he had run straight there."

That is exactly how I will picture that moment from now on...

Once again.....from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU ALL!!!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna

Today sucked.....

For a day that started out so nice, it went steadily downhill.

First sign that the day was going down the tubes was seeing two MAJOR one vehicle accidents. One was a semi, looked like the driver fell asleep...you could see where he drifted off the road and the rig was still there and it had obviously rolled at least once. The other was another large truck...couldn't tell what kind as it was upside down...could just see all the wheels (like a big dumptruck/cement truck size). I'm sure there were injuries in both of them.

Next was getting a bit off-track and wasting about 20 miles till I find my way back to where I should have been. Normally getting lost is no biggie but I knew that I was in for 10 hours of driving as it was...

But those were the minor downers.....trying not to cry now. At a rest stop BoBo got loose (slipped out the door before I had a firm grip on the leash) and got hit by a car. He had already stopped breathing by the time I got there....I then proceeded to throw up. I hope I never see something like that again. The lady driving was almost as hysterical as I was but it wasn't her fault. He had no fear of cars (I mentioned that to friends once) and he darted right in front of her. There was a truck driver who lived in the local area and he offered to take BoBo to his farm and bury him.

Not going to do any more pets....just not meant to be. Every time I think of him laying there, I start crying. Today sucked!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna

Naught turns nice....

The day passed quickly albeit starting way too early for me. Once the shop opened I moved into the customer lounge with BoBo, his food/water & toys, some magazines, a book and my laptop. There were already three folks in there. One I met last night, a gentleman from Washington state traveling with his little red Min Pin named Missy. (She once again proceeded to let BoBo know that SHE was the alpha dog!). The other couple left shortly afterward, headed out for a day of sightseeing and by 10 am the lounge was quiet - well except for the two house dogs that arrived. Winston is a English Springer Spaniel, still a puppy by the looks of his feet. Gorgeous but very laid back. Chewie is an older pup and looks to be a Shih Tzu. I'll try to take some photos tomorrow.

I worked on the computer, read, walked BoBo and just generally relaxed until closer to closing. During the day there was a myriad of folks stopping in, BoBo protected me and the sofa admirably from them all. LOL! Between being in protect mode and playing with Winston and Chewie he had a full day.

After walking around the yard and talking with the others here, I realized that if I could get the Lily Pad moved to the end of the building with my right side exposed (no rig), there was an excellent chance I could get my satellite dish working. The owner of the last rig at the end moved his car to the other side of his motorhome and I moved down to the empty spot. I have to run off 15 amp here but figured that shouldn't be an issue for anything I am doing.

Plugged in, turned on the dish, listened to it whine - grind - chirp - whirl, then stop. Came back inside, turned it off and turned on the TV. VOILA!!!!! It worked.....so now I can keep up with my prime time shows. I missed Heroes last night and tried to watch it online. Way too slow and choppy so gave it up.

Several things got done to the rig, the most noticeable to me is getting the closer put on the screen door. I had bought it but couldn't figure out the instructions so asked them to put it on. It's SO NICE to have it close behind me...I still have to latch it but I know BoBo won't push on it enough to get out (unless I left him with the door not latched). At least I can now get out the door without worrying about it staying open. Minor item to most but combined with a working TV, it made my day!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna

Oops, I did it again.....

I got adopted this week by that little cuss you see in the photo (that was his application photo....who wouldn't want to be adopted by that face?).

Seriously, I saw this photo in a local trader ad and couldn't say no. He's about 8 months old, a Chihuahua-Schnauzer mix (Chi-zer? Schnau-hua?), housebroken, a real cuddler who is shy around everyone except for kids and other animals, and may have been abused by a male (he's gone to work with me all week and every time he hears a man's voice he growls.....).

We had our first vet visit today, passed all his blood tests, got his shots & meds and is scheduled for the BIG SNIP on the 27th.

His name is Bo but for the most part I call him BoBo.

You might notice that the blog page theme has changed. Hope everyone likes it...decided to lighten it up a little.