Thoughts for the week - Day 735 (Yr 3, Day 2 )

Bismarck, ND

Our two year anniversary just passed this week.  Regarding the date, it is very difficult to decide what date to use: the day we left our driveway in NJ (6/5/14), the day we officially closed on the house (6/23/14) or the day we took possession of our new home when the funds cleared the bank (6/25/14)?  We decided to use the last date as our anniversary date.  Either way, I just can't believe that we've been RV full-timers for 2 years already!  Everyone thought we were "mishugunah" (and at times, we did too), but we do not regret it for one moment.  Although we wish we had a bit more flexibility in being able to go where and when we want, and perhaps may have chosen a different rig that would be easier to travel with (as opposed to a floor plan that resembled a small apartment), we don't regret a single moment of our lifestyle.

Interestingly, these were our thoughts after our first full year of full-timing:  http://mitcheryl-rv-journey.blogspot.com/2015/06/one-year-anniversary-day-365.html.  Below are our thoughts and observations for this past year:

Cheryl

The good:

• Not as many repairs needed this year
• Made a number of friends
• Being in different places and enjoying the local history and culture
• Being part of a great Jewish community, both in Cary and Asheville.

The bad:

• Due to change in Mitch's career, not being able to go when and where we want (having to be stuck in the same place for extended periods of time)
• Missing family and friends (although Facebook, Google Talk and email makes it a lot easier)
• Can't think of anything else.  I love this lifestyle!!!

Mitch (Cheryl quoting him verbatim):

The good:

• Getting the hang of hitching the truck in less than 1/2 hr. by myself.
• Getting the routine of getting underway much more simplified by doing pieces in advance, i.e. filling the tires up to a week in advance.
• Realizing the lifestyle seems to work and we haven't killed each other yet!
• Driving with the rig, as well as driving the truck itself, getting easier with practice

The bad:

• Being employed full time means we can't move as much as we want (Cheryl gets "hitch itch")
• French Broad River in Asheville, NC overflowed while we were there in December.  No damage, as we were all moved before the water went over the bank.
• Good/bad:  18" of snow in Asheville outside our rig -- disappeared in 2 days by the time travel restrictions were lifted.

What have we done and accomplished this year?

I wish I could say quite a lot, but other than being in Raleigh while waiting for the rig and then truck to be repaired, we spent most of the year in Asheville, and then came here to Bismarck.  Hopefully there will be more exciting adventures down the road, but for now, we are extremely grateful and blessed that we both have thriving careers and can recoup some of the money we lost on the repairs.  Who knows what the economic situation will be like in the future when we can collect on our 401Ks (which have been progressively diminishing over the years), or how much, if any, social security will be available?  At this point in time, Mitch's job pays the bills, and my work goes into savings.  It will be interesting to re-read this entry this time next year and see how much has changed!!!

Now, for this week's notes:  as always, not much - "a day in the life," which means we both worked.  Friday was a day for errands, but not much was accomplished, although Mitch did get his rest in.  We did have doctors' appointments (decided that since we'll be here for a few months, it was good to establish ourselves with a local medical practice, in case we had concerns that didn't warrant an ER or urgent care clinic.  Mitch wanted to follow up on his blood work but needed to fast, so we did that on Sunday.  In Asheville, it was determined that he was pre-diabetic and had very high cholesterol.  He was given some medication, but was told to have his blood checked in a few months to see how the meds were working.  We'll know the results later this week).  

Sunday, our designated "day of fun" turned out not to be so much.  We started the day with Mitch having his blood test, and then we went out for a nice breakfast at Merlin's (a nice cafe next to a truck stop, just down the road.  Pretty great food, actually).  Mitch didn't feel like doing any kind of historical tours or museums and suggested we take our urb-es out for a ride.  We found a bike trail parallel to a golf course and decided to try that.  Unfortunately, it was extremely windy (gusts at 50mph) and the road itself was very hilly.  Not having been in practice, I admit I was chicken s*T) and was too scared to ride.  Mitch suggested we find a flatter area to ride, but by then I was being too bitchy and wanted to go home (I still regret my attitude - I'm so sorry, Mitch, for ruining the day!  In my defense, this is how I always was a a child -- I am SO afraid of getting hurt that the fear is intense and I won't try anything that involves the possibility of falling.  In Asheville, I fell -- twice -- on the urb-e due to unlevel pavement or a hill and since then, I am really afraid to ride it).

Anyway, we landed up going back home and Mitch finished another chair.  We now have 3 out of 4 complete.  Looking great!  Reminder: here's what the chairs will look like:

Today (Monday), Kathy (our next door neighbor) invited me to go with her to the mall to do "mall walking."  Although I am having lots of problems walking due to my hip arthritis and bursitis, I forced myself to find a good stopping point and decided to join her.  It is one mile from end to end.  I was able to make one lap, while she made 2. I was in a lot of pain, but glad I did it.  We will need to do this very often.  After the walk, we met her husband (Roger) for lunch at Applebees.  I then returned home where I found about 15 emails waiting for me.  Of course, while I was in the car with Kathy, 2 of my clients called me. No break for the weary!!  Fortunately, I was able to explain that I was out of the office and would address their concerns when I returned in a few hours.  I admit this is better than a 9-5 job in "Corporate America!"

Anyway, going to get the grill fired up for the whitefish burgers.  The only thing I really miss here is fresh fruits & veggies.  Farmers markets will be around starting in July, but since the farms in the area specialize in soybeans, sunflowers and wheat, I doubt we'll find anything really good.

Custer House - Day 727 (Yr 2, Day 362)

Bismarck, ND

It started out to be a somewhat lazy day; finally got out of bed around 9:30.  I had a conference call for a job at 10:30 and Mitch had to help his sister with some computer stuff, so by the time we had brunch, it was 11:30.  At first, we weren't going to do much, but the weather was really nice and it seemed a shame to waste it indoors.  We decided to return to Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park and do the guided tour of the Custer House and On-A-Slant Indian Village, taking our urb-es to get around the park on the bike trails.  We parked at the Custer House and discovered that Mitch's urb-e wasn't working (it seems that his battery isn't charging properly; I hope this doesn't mean packing it up and returning it to CA to repair).  I hurt myself in the pool yesterday (will explain shortly) so my walking was even more limited than normal.  We took the tour of the Custer House, which was extremely interesting, and then decided to return home (it was 3:30) rather than drive to the other side of the park.  For $12, we'll just do it another time, or just visit the Indian Village on our own without the tour.

General Custer lived on those premises from 1874 to 1876, when he brought his cavalry to prepare to attack the Lakota Indian tribes.  This is part of the story of "Custer's Last Stand," which took place a few miles away at Little Big Horn (as in "Battle of").  The actual house was destroyed over a century ago, and an exact replica was built in 1989.  Still, very luxurious and impressive for the time period.  What I especially enjoyed was that it was strictly role playing.  We were taken back in time and we were guests of the General and his wife, who would be back in time for dinner.  Our guide was the laundress.  It was quite a lot of fun.

Yesterday (Shabbat) we had a very warm day.  We spent a bit of time in the pool.  We actually bought a small plastic blow up ball, which we used with a mother and her 8 year old daughter.  When I was going down the steps into the pool, I guess my feet were still a little slippery from the suntan lotion and I lost my footing on the step.  I was able to just let go and jump in, but my toe must have gotten caught or banged in the bottom step (not really sure).  I thought it was ok, but today it's all swollen and black & blue.  Not sure if I just bruised it or maybe even broke it; it hurts like hell when touched or bent.  In addition, my knee feels very weak, like it's about to buckle at any time.  I think I may have pulled something.

I also noticed a lot of swelling in my feet over the last few weeks, and feel painful numbness at night.  I am going to find a doctor and have it checked out this week.

UPDATE:  Swelling is due in part to sitting for extended periods of time, plus possibly water retention, for which I need to greatly restrict my salt intake and get up and walk more.

Severe storm; spice store, "wildlife"- Day 725 (Yr 2, Day 359)

Bismarck, ND

If anyone's keeping track of the Day and Year I have listed in all my titles, I think the math went wrong somewhere along the lines, as today would be Year 2, Day 365.  Day 1 was actually June 23rd so I'm 6 days off (last year I said it was June 25th.  We closed on the house on the 23rd but the funds cleared the bank and we were able to officially purchase the RV on the 25th.  So which day is it?  Think I'll use the 23rd because the other 2 days was really just waiting for the funds to clear).  I adjusted it here, but I am not going backwards to find the error (tempting as it is, being the perfectionist that I am).

Severe storm - this morning, around 4:00 am, we were awakened by our weather monitoring station alert going off, warning us of a severe storm in the area, producing golf size hail and wind gusts up to 70mph.  I have to confess that I was really scared as the storm approached.  The last time I felt this fear was during Hurricane Sandy.  I don't recall ever seeing such frequent lightening - it just didn't stop to take a break!  Interestingly, we didn't really hear very many crashes of thunder, so I don't believe it actually passed overhead.  We did experience hail, though.  You can't even begin to imagine the sound of hail on a tin can!  I was sure it was going to rip open the roof.  We were very fortunate that we came out of it unscathed.

Today, after finding a little break in my workload, we went out shopping.  Mitch needed to buy yet another pair of work boots and decided that rather than spending $50 on cheap quality Walmart brand, he would go to a place that specializes in boots and other garments designed for the construction industry - something that is going to last and has a warranty on it.  It cost almost $200 but hopefully it will be a good investment.  This place was in the downtown area, and adjacent to the shoe store was a place called Pinch & Pour (www.pinchandpour.com) which was having a soft opening.  As you may or may not recall from my trips to Savannah and St. Augustine, one of my favorite places to shop are novelty stores that specialize in spices, oils and teas (and, of course, wine and craft spirits).  This place doesn't do tea, but they do all kinds of vinegars.  They have cubes of bread out, and lots of little cups so you can taste everything before purchasing.  I was truly in 7th Heaven!  It was a tough choice, but we landed up buying olive oil infused with wild mushrooms and sage and a pineapple white vinegar, which when mixed with soy sauce, will be a wonderful marinade.  Tonight I rubbed the oil on our tuna steaks for the grill -- I'll try to remember to write about how it turned out.

Afterwards, we stopped at a pizza place for a quick bite of lunch.  I really miss NY pizza!  Then we went to Walmart for some groceries (sadly, they have a better fruit & veggie dept than the supermarkets.  I can't wait until July when the farmers market comes to town!).  While in the store, my client called me with an urgent request, so when we returned, Mitch helped me unpack and put up the Shabbat soup while I did some work.  We were going to go swimming afterwards, but we both felt too lazy and decided to watch some tv instead, before finishing up Shabbat preparations.  Hopefully tomorrow will be good weather for swimming (as I write this at 8:00 pm -- it's still light out at 9:45 pm -- I just saw a family with little kids walking in their bathing suits, carrying pool noodles).

Wildlife - I should have that in quotes.  We saw a pheasant walk across the lawn, and there is a baby bunny that hops around here.  Wish I had a camera around my neck or a phone with a good camera.

It's a small world! (Day 708 (Yr 2, Day 363)

Bismarck, ND

I forgot to mention an interesting tidbit that I learned over dinner last night.  Mike is a retired Battalion Chief from the Sarasota Fire Dept.  Roger then volunteered that his son-in-law is a Fire Chief in Oregon.  As it happens, one of my clients is a distributor for a new type of firefighting equipment, and one of the many projects I have been doing is creating a database of decision makers in all the fire departments around the country.  I thought it was a small world that not one, but two people at my table were potential leads!

Then, tonight, we got a knock on the door from a lovely man (Jeff) who wanted to know if we were in Asheville in December!  Turns out he and his wife were also there in the same campground as we were (unfortunately, although his face seemed familiar, I don't think we actually met there).  He was able to identify us by our very unique truck and matching rig!  He's en route to Alaska, with many stops along the way, so was only passing through Bismarck.  Still, it was really awesome to meet him!  As I said, small world!

Shavout, etc. (Day 707 (Yr 2, Day 362)

Bismarck, ND

I'm sorry I haven't posted for 9 days!  I know this is the only way some of you know how we're doing and my radio silence concerns you.  I don't mean to worry you; I just don't have much to write about other than "I worked all day; Mitch worked all day; he came home, I made dinner, we watched tv and went to bed at 9:00."  That's pretty much what it's been like the last week.  We are both blessed and grateful that we have work to do, and it's especially great that Mitch has Fridays off so all the errands we did on Sundays could get done so as to leave us free to have fun on Sunday.

This past Sunday, however, was the holiday of Shavout (sometimes pronounced Shavous), which commemorates the giving of the Ten Commandments.  It's also supposed to be celebrated as a Sabbath, with no work or secular things done, and time in synagogue.  This is the first time in 30 years that we have not had a congregation to celebrate the holiday with.  We decided to break one of the rules - of not using electronics - and used the computer (the 50" tv screen which also serves as a computer monitor) to spend the day studying Torah by watching many videos produced by Aleph Beta (alephbeta.org) -- after "davening" (praying, with all the added holiday prayers).  It did turn out to be a very spiritual day after all.

Now, the "etc"...  weather:  we had a spell of 90+ degree temps and sunny, and were able to spend time in the pool (today is rainy and miserable).

We met some new friends via RVillage (Mike and Sharon) who come from FL (he's a retired Battalion Chief of the Sarasota Fire Dept.  They also took to the full timing lifestyle about the same time as us - 2 years ago, but have done a lot more traveling!).  We had dinner out with them and our next door neighbors, Roger & Cathy, with whom we are developing a close friendship.

Not much else to report on.  Just one more photo to share: when we were at the Heritage Center on Memorial Day weekend, one of the exhibits was a tractor simulation.  I "drove" it, and Mitch took this photo of me:

Fun, and not so fun, day (Day 698 (Yr 2, Day 353)

Bismarck, ND

First, before this post - I looked back at what I had posted this time last year.  TODAY marks the 2 year anniversary of when we pulled out of our driveway in Fanwood, NJ and began our new lifestyle.

We started out the morning (as per the last post) with Mitch doing some errands around the rig and me writing my blog post from last weekend.  We finally finished puttering around 1:00 and decided to hit the State Museum/ND Heritage Center.  It's a really huge place, covering everything from dinosaurs to current history of energy and agriculture.  In fact, we only visited 2 galleries out of 5.  It was a lot of fun and extremely educational.  There is a lot of Native American history and it saddens me about how they were so misplaced from their own land.  Interestingly, I found no mention of Lewis & Clark.  I guess they were just explorers passing through and didn't really make much of an impact on the local history or culture.  Unfortunately, after about 2 1/2 hours, we were pretty tired and decided to call it a day.  We will go back at a later date to see the rest of the place.

We thought when we returned we would go for a swim.  Instead, we were reminded just how dirty the rig had gotten from our travels here (picked up a lot of squashed bugs).  The weather was nice, so we changed into shorts, took out the power washer and scrubbed it down.  I then grilled some tempeh and corn on the grill, and we called it a night at 7:30.

A week late - Day 698 (Yr 2, Day 353)

Bismarck, ND

As the subject says, this post is one week late.  We did do quite a bit over the Memorial Day weekend, but it has been such a crazy, busy week at work during the day; and in the evenings, after making dinner and cleaning up afterwards, Mitch and I like to unwind together by watching some "tv" (via Amazon Prime or stuff we've downloaded over the years) before going into bed by 9:00 (need to wake up at 5:30 am).  So this morning's plans (Sunday) is for Mitch to do a few chores such as a thorough cleaning out of the lint filters in and behind the dryer and fixing the screen on the bedroom window which isn't sitting quite right in its track.  While he's doing that, I am sitting down to get this post done!  Then I will clean the breakfast dishes and we will visit the State Museum and Heritage Center downtown.  It's a beautiful day, so hopefully we'll be able to go for a swim when we return and before making dinner (as an aside, since we gave up on the charcoal grill and bought a portable gas one, I've been enjoying grilling much more, since it's a no-brainer to get the fire going!)

Yesterday - Shabbat - was very pleasant (looking at the 5 day forecast, it's supposed to be in the high 70s and sunny until Thursday, when it will get into the mid 90s!  Welcome to summer!)  The weather was nice so we were able to use the pool and sit outside to read.  A large group came in who are with a travel agency tour doing the Lewis & Clark trail.

Now, without further ado:

Memorial Day Weekend: Days 689-692 (Yr 2, Days 344-347)

Thursday night - at first, it didn't look like we were going to do the campfire, as Mitch was really exhausted by 6:30.  After watching a little tv, at 8:30, he suddenly got a 2nd wind and insisted on making one!  We didn't get to bed until about 10:30 (I had a conference call at 8:00, so although he could sleep late, I had to get up early).  Still, it was a very lovely night to have - no wind and a clear sky, and warm (short sleeve t-shirts were just fine).  Kind of disappointed that, although the campground is relatively full, there was no one to share the fire with, as everyone is very self contained - doing their own thing with their own families.

Note: it's almost 9:00 in the photo below.  See how bright the sky still is?

Friday - I had a bit of work to do but hoped to stop work by 10, make the challah for Shabbat, put up the soup in the slow cooker and go out and adventure by 11.  It was finally 1:00 that we were able to leave.  We were thinking of attempting what we did a few weeks ago -- parking near the downtown area and riding our urb-es around to explore.  We had a few stops to make en route: Best Buy to pick up batteries Mitch ordered online and buy me a new tablet (mine died en route to Bismarck and we were waiting for a good sale, which we finally found); Ace hardware to get some screws for the gravity chair; and the supermarket for some last minute stuff Mitch forgot to buy yesterday (milk, mushrooms and celery).  While we were driving, we passed by the state capitol area, where there are many lovely parks.  I saw a walking/bike path around one of the parks, so we decided to spontaneously park and ride our urb-es there instead of going downtown.  Turns out that we were riding around Centennial Grove, which was created in 1989 by George Bush in honor of the 100th anniversary of North Dakota's establishment.  The grove has trees and shrubs planted from every state in the Union.  I especially liked the Colorado spruce.  Perhaps I'll have a chance to go back with the camera at some point.

We returned home about 3:30, where I proceeded to braid the challah, put up the soup and do a little more work, while Mitch roots my tablet so I can start downloading all my programs after Shabbat.  Also did a little more work.  I expect Saturday/Shabbat to be quiet and peaceful.  Maybe we'll meet some folks on our walk around the campground?  Pool opens tomorrow.

WE MADE NEW FRIENDS!!!!  Roger and Kathy moved in next door to us.  They are "retired," but he's in construction and is working on a big project here with his son who works in the area.  They'll be here well into the winter (which is no big deal for him, as he grew up in ND and knows about the extreme cold, although he's never done it in a rig before).  From the 20 minutes I spent talking with them (they were still setting up), they seem extremely nice and I'm looking forward to spending lots of time with them.

(as of this writing, a week later, this talented construction worker is building an amazing porch for his wife so she can get in and out of the trailer easily, due to her knee problems).

Sunday
The plans for the day were to visit Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, which is known for 2 historical sites:  General Custer's house and military buildings, and an Indian village once belonging to the Mandan tribe (after which the city is named), and afterwards going on a riverboat cruise.

Rather than driving to the Park, we decided to indulge and take the trolley. The railroad tracks were built almost 100 years ago, and the trolley car was restored from one of the originals used on the line.  After about WWII, the line became obsolete and unused, although a portion of the tracks -- from the depot to the Park -- remained (sort of).  That portion was cleaned up, the trolley car restored, and made into transportation (and a tourist attraction).  We left home at 12:15 to catch the 1:00 trolley.

Some photos of the trolley:

Here are some views of the tracks, the landscape (mostly farms and the river), and some cool old bridges:

 

  

  

  

,      
We were told that at the last stop on the route, there would be a "people mover."  To me, a people mover is something they have at the airports -- like a moving sidewalk.  Very interesting concept for a park, I thought.  Here is the actual people mover - an enormous tractor pulling a cart!

To show just how huge the tractor is, here is Mitch standing next to the tire (Mitch is 6' tall).

The people mover does a loop around the entire park, with many stops along the way, including the trolley depot, Custer House, Indian Village, Visitor Center, and the RV park that's there (personally not one I'd stay at).  It takes about an hour from end to end, but guarantees to arrive at the depot on time for the next trolley out.  We decided to stay on the trolley for the scenic route around the park, and then figure out what we wanted to see.  Unfortunately, since we were on a strict time schedule (trolley only runs every hour), we didn't have enough time to visit everything.  We decided to check out the Custer House first and then if there was time, the Indian Village (which there wasn't).

Sadly, it turned out that the House itself is only accessible by tour, which had already started.  We could purchase tickets and join the next tour, in 1 1/2 hours.  Oh well, that wasn't going to work.  We strolled around the grounds, and decided to walk to the trolley depot, take the 3:30 one back and instead of staying at the park, to check out the area where the riverboat would depart.  It's in the plans to visit the Park again, but take the truck so we don't have to worry about the time.

Here are some photos of the Custer House grounds (barracks & house):
  

We arrived at the area where the boat departs and discovered a popular and very different park of Bismarck -- the Missouri River section.  There is a lovely stretch of park, called Keelboat Park, that runs for several miles and includes boat ramps, a beach area, and a few sculptures.  Through it runs a bike path (where there were also joggers and skateboarders).  We had over an hour to spare, so it was a great opportunity to take the urb-e's out and ride the path along the river.

Some views of the river:
  

  

Some of the sculptures:

  

  

 

 

Mitch on his urb-e:

After a nice ride, it was time to board the riverboat, which offered a 90 minute ride down the river.  Below are photos of the boat and some more river views, including some of the awesome homes along the banks.

  

  

 

The boat had a drink bar (soda -- they call it "pop" here), beer & wine, and chips.  They also offered a "dinner" cruise, which was pizza brought in from the local pizza place, which is what we booked (figuring the cruise was around dinner time, and we probably wouldn't have time to stop for a bite to eat beforehand).  Unfortunately, by the time we went to the food area to hand in our tickets and pick up our pizza (only 10 minutes after the bar opened), there was none left that we could eat!!!  There were no veggie pies (didn't really expect any), but all the cheese slices were gone and all that was left was the pepperoni and sausage slices, which we can't eat.  So we enjoyed our 3 beers each and ate out at Denny's after we disembarked (and the riverboat line refunded our money).

Monday - The plan was to visit the State Museum in the morning, and then find some spontaneous outdoor stuff to do in the afternoon.  Unfortunately, the forecast was for rain in the afternoon, so we decided to take a nice swim in the morning and then go to the museum in the afternoon (since that's indoors).  Before going to the pool, Mitch emptied the tanks and was backflushing.  Unfortunately, he forgot to turn the hose off before we went swimming, so we returned to the rig to find water pouring out from underneath, and a huge flood in the bathroom and part of the bedroom.  So much for our plans for another nice day out.  We got out lots of towels, the mop, and our neighbor (Roger) had a wet/vac that we borrowed to suck up as much water from the carpet as possible.  Fortunately, it all dried in about 3 days and so far, no calamities or major damage; just a lot of inconvenience.

It also turned out that the tablet we bought on Friday had a bad wireless card, so rather than going to the museum, we returned to Best Buy to return it.  They didn't have another one in stock, so we just went home, where Mitch finished reading his book, and I made dinner and puttered around.

All in all, a nice 3 1/2 day weekend.