Super Busy

I know it's been awhile since my last post.  In a sense so much has happened and yet nothing really eventful.  For those that didn't know our home in Algonquin was broken into by a burglar.  Luckily we have very attentive neighbors who called the Police and the guy was caught exiting the residence.  Never in a million years would I have thought this would happen to us.  Nothing of great importance was taken and no damage was done.  However it was very stressful having to walk through the house with a detective and a CSI so we could point out anything that had been moved or shifted so they could check for prints.  On top of that Ralph and I were then printed for exemptions.  Nothing feels normal about having your prints taken in your own kitchen.  Since the ordeal, we are now working full speed to find homes for our remaining items and be completely free of the property.  That's the busy part.  Happy thoughts though, each day we make a little more progress and I have high hopes to be done by the middle of March at the latest.  On the RV front, not much new.  We went to the RV Show last weekend and fell in love with a new rig.  But that's another story for another day a ways down the road.  Ralph still hasn't frozen, but is at his wits end with the water pipes.  27 more days to SPRING!!

OMG it's COLD!

I'll start this entry with a question; What does it mean when a water hose rated to work up to -41 degrees is frozen solid?  Honestly I joked when we bought it that if it ever froze it was time to relocate. Never did I think we would actually find ourselves in such weather to even make that a valid concern.  However here we are, yet again without water, sad face.  I also want to say to all those people who claim that this has been such a mild winter and we shouldn't complain to come live in an RV.  We may not have had the 2 feet of snow that graced us last year but it has been much colder, with much lower wind chills.  At least in my opinion.On the upside, it is the middle of February and we are hopefully nearing the end of the winter.  With fingers crossed we will make it to the spring thaw wiser and warmer then when we started on this journey.  A note from Ralph is that he will spend next winter in a condo and leave the RVing to me.

Wow that went fast!!

So my plan was to post after we arrived in Wilmington, NC, that clearly didn't happen. The first hiccup of our trip was when we tried to fill the fresh water tank. Every gallon in, came out the bottom of the rig. appearently we had a crack in it. This was not a good start to what was going to be a very long day. The ride was...ok, we survived. Let's just say I will not be visiting Kentucky again anytime soon with her oh soo narrow, high bridges which have no guard rails. Ralph on the other hand is boycotting Virginia where he encountered 7.5% down grades, runaways ramps, falling rocks, crosswind warnings and icy bridges. Upon arrival we found that while we had a reservation, they had forgotten to assign us a spot and the office was closed for the day. We were able to reach the after hours host who was very friendly and helpful. Her name was kitty. She found us a spot and took quite a bit off for the inconvenience. So we reached our spot, piled out and were met by the rest of the herd. We quickly set up which went surprisingly smooth and then all lined up to watch the big reveal, aka the slide out opening. And nothing. 9 people and a toddler staring at the side of the rig and nothing, sad face. As th panic begin to set in we bustled about pulling manuals, retrying buttons and googling while my brother-in-law opened electronics, tugged on cables and located motors trying to help. I heard he even made it up on the roof. The fix, wait for it, the rig wasn't level....duh. So button push to retract the jacks, button push to relevel, and tahdah, the slide rolls out on cue. The rest of the week went very quick. We saw the aquarium, the boardwalk, did some shopping and sampled the local fares. It was nice to see the herd again especially my niece as she is growing up so fast. I am eager to return however I think Ralph might need some time to forget before he will undertake this drive again. Keep your fingers crossed we are just shy of Virginia on our way home.