B'day dinner, winding down - Yr 1, Day 293

Raleigh, NC

Not really a lot happened on Thursday or Friday - mostly just working and puttering around.  Saturday was the last day of Passover and a longer than normal service at shul.  We went, but unfortunately, weren't aware that the rabbi still had not returned, so no one was there.  We landed up going home and praying on our own.  Oh well.    I'm really glad Passover is over, though, especially this year.  When we had our "sticks & bricks" house, we had an extra bedroom and a 2 car garage (with an extra refrigerator and freezer) in which to store all our sold food and pots/pans/dishes/utensils, etc.  Ok, granted, cleaning this new kitchen was so much easier, but we kept all our Passover stuff out on the coffee table and over the fireplace, which to me, looked like clutter (yes, I have OCD when it comes to not having things laying around).  So it felt really great to be able to put all that stuff away and reclaim my house again!  It also felt good to eat normal food again!

We then spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with the kids.  It has been very difficult to keep quiet, but for about a month, I had a surprise birthday party planned for her for her closest friends and in-laws.  She thought we were just taking her out for a nice dinner (Bonefish Grill) and was really surprised to see everyone else there, especially her best friend Onnalee who came down from PA and Donna & Lily (mother in law & niece) who came down from VA.

Today we slept really late (9:00!) and then met Donna and Lily for a nice breakfast at Brigs (I love that place; really great breakfast food!)  We then headed over to the kids' house so that Mitch could help them fix their screen door (they were out).  I enjoyed babysitting for Ellie!  When they returned (we could have left earlier but that would have meant waking Ellie for her adorable nap to put her in her crate), we went shopping to BJ's and Harris Teeters, since we didn't have any non kosher-for-Passover food left.  Had to stock up for dinners for the rest of the week since we don't know what to expect.

So tomorrow's plans... I have a good deal of client work to do, and then need to pack up the house.  Mitch needs to do the outside stuff, especially filling the tires and air bags.  Tuesday morning (G-d willing) we leave for Marion, NC (at the tip of the Smokey Mountains).  We have a rally there at the end of May and it takes place at a campground owned by a huge RV dealer / repair place.  We're having them do work on our slideout that doesn't close flushly and after our experience in Arcadia, we are going there early so they can diagnose the situation, deal with the warranty company and have enough time to order parts, so that they can do the work when we get there.  We also have another problem - the stink is still here.  Not sure if the patch job they did in Arcadia didn't work, or if it's a different problem altogether, but we're sure there's a leak somewhere in the septic system, so we will have them look into that as well.  We really don't have a clue how much time it will take so we haven't made any plans for the rest of the week.  We have a rally in Seiverville, TN (home of Dolly Parton) which starts next Sunday, so we'll just play the rest of the week by ear.

Productive day - Yr 1, Day 289

Raleigh, NC

We were not able to get an RV technician to come to fix the underbelly.  The other person said this was the busiest season of the year and there are only 3 people in the area with at least a 2 week waiting list.  So Paul (as in Paul and Ada; the folks here with the DRV who workamp in the national parks -- Paul is a retired auto mechanic) and Mitch got underneath and rigged something up that would hold it in place tightly enough to get us to the next destination.  The 2nd rally at the end of May is being held at a campground that's part of a huge dealer/repair facility (Tom Johnsons of Marion, NC).  We are making arrangements for them to repair the slide and wanted to bring it in early so they can get the warranty process started and have enough time to order whatever parts they might need in advance of our being there (the 1st rally starts 4/26 in Seiverville, TN which is only 125 miles away).  We called them and reported not only the underbelly problem but that we still have a leak somewhere within the septic system as the horrible odor is back again.  They said we could come in at 8am on Wednesday and they'd take a look and see what they could do.  So the plan right now is to drive to Marion (215 miles) on Tuesday and park overnight there.  Then...???  it all depends on how much time they'll need -- will it be several days or can they do whatever in a few hours.  Fortunately there are a lot of campgrounds in the area (as well as theirs) where we can stay until we figure out plans until the rally.

This evening I had a girl's shopping night out with Jess.  Tomorrow is her 30th birthday (when did that happen - I'm still 18, aren't I?)  She picked me up, as Mitch was tired from all the work he did, plus his phone isn't working and he needed to troubleshoot.  We started off by taking Ellie to the dog park.  It's the first time I've been to one and it was really a riot, especially watching this tiny little corgi pup playing with all the huge dogs!  I found it to be very amusing.

We then had some dinner at her house and then went out shopping to World Market and Pier One Imports, still in search of that perfect teal pillow.  I found it!!!  I also found nice teal placemats and pretty, plastic wine glasses which I've also been looking for.  I now feel complete for a while.

Nothing fixed - Yr 1, Day 288

Raleigh, NC

The mobile tech showed up at 4:00 today and took a look at all the stuff we need repaired.  It was potentially a big job and his schedule didn't allow him to get to anything until the middle of next week (we were planning to leave here on Monday).  He gave us some very good advice and also recommended a competitor in the area who probably had larger resources than he did (he's solo without a shop).  Unfortunately, it was late in the day and the other place was probably closed.  We left a voice and email message for them; hopefully they'll get back to us in the morning with a date of when they can come over to look.  Ultimately, the most critical thing is getting the underbelly put back up so we can travel.  We already have plans to go to the place in Marion, NC (where the 2nd rally is at the end of May) to have them do the warranty work on the slide, and we may have them do the other work as well.  Still waiting to hear back from them about an appointment.

Sigh.

More repair woes- Yr 1, Day 287

Raleigh, NC

For the most part, it was a pretty uneventful day.  I had a lot of work to do, and after 5 hours of sitting (my legs and back started to complain as I had lost track of time) we took a little walk around the campground.  Hank and Selena's door was open so we dropped by for a little while to chat.  They are leaving tomorrow, on the way down to Seiverville, where we'll be next as well (they are going to an Escapees rally; we're going to the RV-Dreams one the following week.  We're also members of Escapees, so if there's a chance we can get there a little early, perhaps we can crash the party).  In the evening, they came by here to say good-bye.  They are the 2nd folks I had to explain why the counters were covered and we had pots & pans and food out on the coffee table and fireplace (for Passover).

The repair woe actually happened on Friday.  The last place we went did a really shoddy job putting the insulated underbelly back on and we noticed it was mostly sitting on the ground.  The patch on the tank also may not have held up, as the insulating material was wet and there's that horrible odor again when the tank is closed.  As for the underbelly, it needs to be screwed in place, preferably with some wooden straps.  The last place used some kind of tape.  Unfortunately, we can't go back the 500 miles to them, not that we'd want to anyway.  We'll just report it to the warranty company and hope they'll approve a different place to get it right.  In any event, we called a mobile tech.  He is going to be at this campground tomorrow anyway for someone else, so we'll have him take a look.  Mitch can probably do the underbelly, but if it's not too expensive, it's just much easier to have a pro take care of it (especially since it requires being on one's back under the rig).  

Passover - Yr 1, Day 286

Raleigh, NC

We did locate another supermarket (Kroger on Falls of Neuse) that had a much better selection of KP foods.  Nothing like NJ, but much more than an endcap with jelly rings and macaroons only.

This was the first year we did not spend with family and that was a little bit sad.  We did miss them very much.

The first seder was on Friday night and we were invited to a local congregant's home, where she had about 35 people and quite a lot of kids. The way the seder was led brought me fondly back to the days when we used to run our fun seders - complete with throwing props - very kid oriented.  Then again, that is the real reason behind having a Passover seder: "you shall tell your kids in every generation..."

The second night we went to Chabad of Cary.  Rabbi Cotler was out of town but had someone filling his place (Rabbi Mendy Singer, originally from Manchester, UK, but came from Brooklyn and is moving to Bristol UK in a few weeks).  This seder was mostly adults and only about 12 people, so much smaller, more intimate and a lot of inspirational discussions.  So we really experienced 2 completely different extremes; both of which were equally enjoyable.

We went to services on Sunday for the 2nd day of the holiday, but only 1 other person showed up besides us.  There was a lot of food left over from the seder and the rabbi explained that they were leaving in 2 days and the other rabbi wouldn't be returning until the end of the week and would we please help them by taking the food back with us!  Honestly, I was planning to ask what they did with the leftovers, because since we couldn't find much KP food, our frig and pantry were mostly empty.  So that worked out really fabulously!  Now we have a ton of food to last the week.

Passover shopping - still Day 282

Raleigh, NC

I have to say that I really miss shopping for kosher, especially kosher for Passover foods in NJ.  There is a fairly large Jewish community here in Raleigh/Cary and someone recommended a specific Harris Teeter that had "the best selection."  I'm really afraid to see what all the other supermarkets had because all this one had was a 4' wide shelf with matza (1 brand only), small boxes of matza meal, a few jars of gefilte fish, jelly rings and macaroons -- stereotype foods, not something Jews need to eat during these 8 days. I really do miss Shoprite Kosher Experience and the place down in Lakewood, NJ!  At least we got the matza and we'll eat lots of veggies.  We'll have to improvise for other stuff like butter and oil for cooking.

We landed up finding a set of pots & pans for $15 plus one 10" frying pan (the set only had an 6" one which is way too small to do anything besides cook 1 egg in), so whether we plan to keep it or give it away, it was cheap enough not to worry.  It all fits in a smallish box so we will have room to store it -- probably under the bed.

We're still in search of those teal pillow cases and checked out a few stores.  Found some but they weren't quite what we wanted, so the search continues.

Dos Taquitos - Yr 1, Day 282

Raleigh, NC

If I thought Fords Garage (http://mitcheryl-rv-journey.blogspot.com/2015/03/ft-myers-fun-day-272.html) was an awesome place, this one tops it by a thousand fold!!!  My jaw dropped even before I walked into the place and it's still in the dropped position!

This is a description of the place from their website (http://www.dostaquitosnc.com/), which is as riveting as the restaurant:

It is an organized mess. Arts & crafts flying in the air, dancing at this wonderful Mexican rhythm; huapangos, sones, rancheras, jarochos, nortena, sinaloense, duranguense, boleros, and so on. Pictures of famous Mexican painters as well as some unknown Indians cover the already colorful walls and ceilings. It is a Mexican tianguis: baskets, hats, junk, clay pots, ponchos, pictures, mirrors, and even dry chiles that to the untrained eye it will look like a bunker after an explosion but, everything is in its place."

The food was equally phenomenal.  The portions were enormous and everything was freshly made - not the same stuff you get in a commercial Mexican-style place (it is privately owned by someone who wanted to recreate his home in Mexico).  Kicking self for not having taken photos of the food!   Drink-wise, they make a lot of their own infused tequila which they add to specialty margueritas.

Jessica gave me a wonderful new camera for my birthday so for a change, I have some great pictures to share (these were all taken in practically the dark.  In fact, I needed to use the flashlight on Jessica's phone to read the menu).  Unfortunately, the batteries ran out so I wasn't able to get any good shots of the outside patio and bar area, which were equally as awesome as the inside.

Great company with our daughter and son-in-law

Outside, at the entrance:

Some of the decor inside.  It would probably have taken a few hours to get photos of EVERYTHING.

There is a train track running along the ceiling (train passed by about every 10 mins)

Hats hanging from the ceiling

The wall next to our table.  House is made out of bottle caps

Pretty "jelly" lights

Pretty mobile

The menu

Table lamp

As for the rest of our day / week:  Passover begins on Friday night.  This is the first year we are not in the house.  In some ways, preparing is much easier and in other ways it presents some challenges.  One of the requirements is that all leavened products must be removed, down to the micro crumbs behind the refrigerator (the original "spring cleaning").  It's a plus that we don't have as much kitchen to clean.  We also covered all of our counters with plastic; we now don't have nearly as much space to cover.  It's a minus that we don't have an extra refrigerator and freezer to store what we can't use for the 8 days (graciously, Jessica will let us put our stuff in her frig and freezer for the week). On the other hand, we need a completely separate set of pots & pans, plates, cooking tools and utensils.  Big minus as we don't have room to store an extra set (all our Passover stuff is still in the storage locker in NJ).  The plan is to use paper/plastic goods all week (and buy 4 forks, knives and spoons, a spatula and spoon from the dollar store) and either just buy 1 small frying pan, 1 saucepan and 1 pot that we can store in a small box, OR (as Mitch wants to do): replace ALL of our cookware (get rid of the current set) and after Passover use the new one for the rest of the year and then do this every year.  I like my idea better.  We'll go to Walmart today and see which method is more economical.

We're hoping to have a campfire tonight and to invite our new friends.