Before we get into the daily narrative and photos, there are a few things I’d like to discuss, okay?

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Midland Long Term Visitor Area, Blythe, California

Well, the refrigerator talk of the previous post was fun.

One thing I should have pointed out — My refrigerator might very well have several years of life left in it.  It may only need an adjustment or a new control panel.  In other words, the refrigeration may be easily fixed.  It’s the structure that’s a disaster.

What makes buying a new refrigerator the best option, even though expensive, is the  impossibility of repairing or replacing the door, shelves, and freezer compartment door without a whole lot of hassle and expense, and then who knows how long it would last anyway.

So see?

The problem isn’t with the refrigerator, the problem is with ME!  I wrecked it.  Although, given a chance to do it all over again, I’d still bounce the BLT up those awful roads to sweet boondocks!

It’s the price one pays.

Let my experience be a reminder that it is important to plan for big outlays of cash.  I’m into my sixth year of full-time RVing.   Stuff breaks.  Stuff wears out.  There will be large expenses.  No doubt about it.

Periodically I take inventory of our situation.

Let’s see . . . . The tires on the Perfect Tow Vehicle are in pretty good shape.  They’re all-terrain tough Toyos, purchased in October 2013 in The Dalles, Oregon.

The storage batteries in the PTV have reached the 5-year mark.

Five years is considered a good life span so they may need replacement soon, although there’s no indication of that.  The Optima Batteries were added to the PTV in November, 2011, in Elephant Butte, New Mexico (See solar page accessed from header).

I’ve enjoyed a pretty good run with those batteries considering I treat them only slightly better than I treat the refrigerator!

The house battery in the BLT, also an AGM, no-maintenance Optima “yellow-top,” is a little over three years old.  It was purchased in Port Angeles, Washington, in September 2013.  I hope to get at least two more years of use from it.

In September 2013, in Hurricane, Utah, a new resistor for the air conditioner blower motor was installed.  I’ve since given up on air conditioning.

In December 2014 in Globe, Arizona, the back door of the PTV had to be replaced after I crunched it into the BLT.

In October 2015 in Richfield, Utah,  the PTV received a new starter battery.

The Best Little Trailer’s Vanguard tires were purchased in spring of 2016 in Silver City, New Mexico.  That was a peace-of-mind purchase.  The Marathons from the Casita factory were still good, but I was beginning to worry.

Last month the PTV had new brakes installed in Overton, Nevada, and now the time has come for a new refrigerator.

See how it goes? 

Look at all the different places we were when these replacements and repairs occurred.

Life happens when you’re having fun, eh?

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Thursday, December 22

Rain!

And you know what that means . . .

Puddles!  Waterfront property!

Reggie and I are snuggled in bed last night when the gentle taps of rain on the roof begin their tender lullaby.

The rain falls steadily most of the night.

Shortly after I wake at sunrise, the rain begins again.  “Go back to sleep,” the rain says.  “I have more lullaby for you.”

Okay, nooooo problem!

Later I go outside to dump the coffee grounds left in the bottom of my french press from yesterday. (Yeah, I’m THAT kind of housekeeper.)  I don’t bother hooking the Reggie Man on his tether.

He won’t run off.  This cold, wet ground will stop that . . . .

Reggie follows me outside, unaware he’s not tethered. 

Once he realizes he’s free, he makes a brief trip around the Perfect Tow Vehicle, and, as predicted, he sprints to the open door of the BLT and flies through it in a flash of green.

Rocketman would rather have breakfast.  I smile.   Oh, yes.  It’s easy to keep a man tethered with his stomach!

After coffee, I take my camera outside for these photos.

One might think the desert would be so thirsty that it would drink up the heaviest rainfall as quickly as it touches the ground.  Not so. It takes a while.  Little washes, like the ones you see in the photos above, crawl between the bushes until the sun helps them disappear.

Remember the golden mountains in a recent photo?

Here are those same mountains this morning.  Moody and dark and mysterious.  Oooh.

Funny thing about living like I do.

Years ago, when there was a commute to work ahead of me most mornings and I wished I could stay home to linger over a cup of coffee, the sight of a grey morning brought forth the grumbles.

Since I’ve retired and hit the road, I can accept and even relish the changes brought about by weather.

Every day doesn’t need to be blue skies and balmy breezes.

Oh sure, when it’s cold and damp and Reggie’s shivering and I feel chilled through and through, well, that’s different.  That’s when we move.  I’m talking about the usual changes we encounter as we seek and settle into mild camping weather.  Like this morning.   The desert shows a different face.

Embrace the changes, I say.

I guess what I’m trying to get across is . . .

It’s all good!

“You can go out now, sweetie.  The sun is shining through the clouds and the mud is mostly gone.”

There he goes!

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rvsue

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