Category Archives: Everyday Stuff

We have our living/workspace setup and for the first time in weeks we feel like we are home. It is such a wonderful feeling.

I just choose to ignore everything about having to take everything back down this weekend to varnish and paint and secure everything down.

I just choose to enjoy what we have now for the next day or so.

I took Ackbar back to Roy Robinson RV in Marysville, WA to finish the furnace repairs. Bill, the service tech, was very helpful and answered all the questions I asked and was happy to offer advice and answer questions.

I am happy to give our recommendation for Roy Robinson RV in Marysville, WA to anyone needing RV service in the Everett, WA area. They treated us right. The service manager even offered us to stay on the RV lot overnight as we waited for the part to come in.

I got back to our back alley lot, parked it with rather ease. Set up camp and put the office/living space together, we made dinner, and took care of the clean up, and now are catching up on the past week’s worth of The Daily Show.

I have a good drink in my hand, I have had some good smoke, and now I am having a great laugh.

Day complete.

We had a perfect storm today…..I had a work emergency that I had to attend to….on top of everything with Ackbar….so I’m totally wiped out.  Obviously I’m not going to get into the work stuff….but I sure can get into the Ackbar stuff…..just a bit of sharing to get it off my chest.

We had simple plans today for Ackbar, the stressful removal out of the tight parking spot, then top off our propane and head down the I5 to the rest stop at mile marker 207 to dump our tanks, then parking back into the tight stop (it would be perfect if we were just a few feet shorter and the width of a class C not an A….lol)

Well…..yesterday, after using our furnace since last Wednesday, it started blowing black soot and inside Ackbar, it smelled like car exhaust…yuck!  We can’t have that….not good.  We took Ackbar to American Distributing in Marysville, WA to top off our propane and talk to them since they do work on furnaces and was hoping they worked on rv furnaces…..nope, no luck in that.

BUT they did recommend a place that we knew since we looked at a bus there over a year ago.  Not that far from us at all….Roy Robinson RV  I was afraid we would have to go 30 miles more north to Camping World….so did not want to do that.

Before we headed to Roy Robinson, we went up to the rest stop and dumped our tanks.

Unfortunate, our black water is not saying empty…..we don’t think we used enough water and chemicals so everything hasn’t broken down like it should.  And maybe the sensor is blocked.  Because hubby flushed the system a lot….so we are going make sure we use enough water and chemicals, get more broken down and see how it goes for our next dump.  But we were very pleased not to have pay for dumping….we were thinking of having someone come out to dump us….but that is pricey.

After the rest stop, we headed down to Roy Robinson.  We were lucky the guy that they gave us to help worked on Admirals for 15yrs and said we have a good rig and that our engine looked good and clean, because they sometimes get infested with rats and mice nest.

Now at first they said if they couldn’t remove the exhaust pipe then we would need a new furnace….which is like $755 just for the part.  They did get it out and discovered we need a burner.  That part is like only 27-35…much better…even through you know how labor is…icks  They charge $117/hr…but that is tech work. They did say other than the burner, it looks in good condition.

They did discover that whoever worked on it before, they didn’t put all the screws back in…which meant it wasn’t sealed and the exhaust would leak in…..not helpful at all.

They got the part ordered and ToRn will be taking Ackbar back tomorrow to get it done.  Right now, the total damage is running about $350.  We should be getting some reimbursed from our dealer since it under inhouse warranty, the issue is that we are in Everett, WA and they are in McMinnville, OR…..so they don’t cover it all due to cost differences.

So…it was totally stressful, spending money we didn’t want to spend….but it could’ve been much worst, so content with that.

Tonight we got Ackbar parked out in front, we have no heat other then our Buddy Heater….but for tonight, it’ll do.  We are just going to be sleeping in there with lots of blankets and cats……..going to be in the high 30s/low 40s

Cats sure didn’t enjoy today but they are recovering better then before. We really need to make sure we bag them once before we pull in the slide outs, because it frees up a big space behind the bed that the cats get into.  That they can NOT be in to put the slide out back out…..not safe at all.  Took a bit to get Sakura out.

Learned that we have got to WALK around the rig a few times to make sure we get everything before moving….icks  I know everyone forgets things and it part of the learning…but I really don’t want an expensive mistake.

So happy that we have Daphna and Allen to help give us different perspectives and insights…..great food and company. Helps with the stress….no way for us to fully ever thank them enough.

I’m exhausted…heading to our cold bed soon.  =)

Today marks 1 full week.

Things could have gone better, but things could have been a lot worse as well.

We took Ackbar out to dump the tanks and top off the propane. We went to a local propane place for the propane and at a I5 Rest Stop to dump the tank’s. The black still say’s 2/3 full but we know we have a empty tank and will give it until our next dump before we start to worry about the sensor’s.

We think using more water during toilet use is the answer but we will not know for sure until we the next time we empty the tanks.

While we are learning, we still have so much more to learn.

Lucky for us Allen really know’s his shit. This guy has been a tremendous asset to us this past week. Now I am starting to understand why Daphna married him.

Proud to have friends like Daphna and Allen. We will be eternally grateful for the advice and support and of course for the FOOD, the DRINK, and the SMOKE and most importunely, the GREAT LAUGHS!

Having funny friends who know how/love to cook is a must have in life I think.

Allen took us to a local place that is a must stop.

Barney’s Pastrami Dip in Everett, WA. Not the best looking place, but GREAT food.

And now for something completely different…

Yesterday we started noticing a “car exhaust” smell inside, and black soot from the furnace outside and decided we better have it checked out and took it to a local RV Dealer.

It turns out someone in the past tried to work on the furnace and either forgot to put it back together or walked away from it, but it was missing screws and such, which was causing the exhaust to leak into the heated air.

It took the mechanic some extra work to remove the exhaust pipe so he could put everything back together properly, and shared the wonderful news of “If I cant get this off, you will have to get a new $755 furnace”.

Lucky for us, he got the exhaust pipe off.

whew…

The burner needs replaced, but the rest of it is in good solid condition. So I will be taking Ackbar back tomorrow at noon to get everything taken care of. I should only be gone a hour or so, then we can park in the RV lot off the alley. Tonight we are parked out front in the street.

The cat’s are not too pleased, but since when are they ever?

We still have a lot of work to do, I have all the Ikea furniture assembled and latches attached to drawers. Once we are parked back in the RV lot, we will arrange them as we planned and put the desk tops on and work with that for a few days before I secure everything to the floor.

Pro’s of the week, we learned a lot. Learned about the leveling, getting in/out/parking in very tight spots  that we just made it by a few inches. While stressful we proved to ourselves we can do it.

Con’s of the week of course is the stress not just from the unknown of living full time in a RV, but enhanced by some “fires” work related. Somewhat of a perfect storm lately.

Oh, the time its taking and $225 that it will cost us that the warranty will not cover are both total con’s.

I took Monday off and went to the Southern part of Whidbey Island to visit a close friend of mine. We took a small hike on the beach, and took a unforgettable Jeep ride that had it’s shares of thrills, and just had a great time.

We stopped at a diner in Freeland, WA for lunch and later that night we was so hungry from our strenuous physical activity all day, we just had to get some food NOW and we was just too tired to look for anything else, so we went back to the same diner.

We both had two completely different meals, 6 hours apart, and both bill’s were exactly the same, $26.68.

Just odd, we added sides randomly, had a few things substituted out or removed from the plate, so the odds of that happening is just weird.

Paula wondered if it was due to a full moon…?

I saw a huge Bald Eagle landing, it had a 6’+ wingspan, it was just AMAZING! And I saw a Golden Eagle sitting on a fence post, he looked as good as it can get to be a bird, very defined.

I also saw many other bird’s but I have no idea what kind they were (Red Winged Blackbird was one) since I suck at remembering names of bird’s but it is something I am working on.

Anyway, I am tired, and I need a shower.

We have known Paula and her wife for over 13 years and we consider them very close and dear friend’s. Unfortunately as with most friends, we do not get to see them as often as we would like so when Paula and I have the opportunity to meet 1/2 way between Port Townsend, WA and Everett, WA we took it.

I drove to the Pt Townsend/Keystone ferry terminal near Coupeville, WA with about 15 minutes to spare before the ferry arrived. Unfortunately they had strong cross wind’s and the ferry was spinning 360 degree’s multiple times until they had to sail much farther South so they could use the coastline of the island as protection. It was only 45 minutes late, but not a big deal, we had plenty of time.

Needless to say Paula was very excited to get off when they finally docked!

We drove around the Southern part of the island just site seeing different area’s and taking walks along the coast line as we talked and caught up each other with recent event’s.

We ate lunch and dinner at the same diner in Freeland, WA and oddly enough, we both had different items both times and yet, the check was exactly the same to the penny. What are the odds of that? Paula wanted to blame the full moon we had.

I had been station at NAS Whidbey Island from Nov 1990 to April 1993 but I never took advantage of the location for site seeing which is something I regret. I missed some golden opportunities.

Anyway, here are some pics of the area as well as Paula and I being dorks.

Anything for a laugh.