Easterly Ho - - A Bit of History As We Travel

Copyright 2019, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

We are headed east after a different kind of winter in Cottonwood/Camp Verde Arizona.

We ran hard for three days and then stopped in an  area basically known as ghost towns.  We are staying in Alanreed, Texas.  Nearby is McLean, Texas, another town that has seen better days.  Cept in McLean we found:

Read all about it:

How cool is this?

McLean Texas, has several things going for it, this site, a couple of museums, one seems to be closed more than open, they have funding issues, federal funds that were keeping it staffed having been removed, and a great steak house where we had lunch, *groan*.

Tomorrow, we roll, eastward ho!

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Hiking and the Time Zone Story

Copyright 2019, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

When you are hiking in a canyon, where darkness comes upon one several hours earlier than it will if you are ohhhh, sitting oh, on that plateau, where you currently temporarily reside.

When you look at your FitBit (your only watch) and see that it is 4:30 and you are still hiking INTO the depths of the canyon and think, hmmmm.

When you look to your left to see the sun dipping below the tops of that magnificent red bluff/mountain and you can already feel the chill when the sun disappears/sinks. (In this photo you see no sun, as it has already sunk below the ridge to the left.  The black sections are water dripping over the surface, thanks to the recent rains and snows.)

When your dude, aka Man, looks at you like you are deranged when you say, the sun will fully set in about 1.5 to 2 hours. (His watch has the correct/true Arizona time showing, he knows it's well over 2.5 hours till sunset.)

When an hour or so later, when heading down the canyon to Jolly, you ask, your dude, aka Man, what time does your watch say?? DUGHHHHH

When you realize that your iPhone is set for Denver Colorado time, NOT Phoenix time. And, realize, it did not matter till that saving time thingy took affect - -

When you realize, it really does not matter much, you are retired, what time zone ???

As long as you are out of that canyon before it gets dark, cause the only flashlight you have is that iPhone.

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Sedona and the Chapel of the Holy Cross, the Day After the Storms

Copyright 2019, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

After two days of significant, historical, epic amounts of snow in Sedona and surrounding areas, Man and I knew we had to take a ride to see and, of course, take photos.  We ended up at the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which was a perfect place to be.  Roads, cleared, walkways wet but clear.  Views outta this world!

In the side view mirror on the way from Cottonwood to Sedona, aka, 89a:

The Chapel, from the lower level parking area.  

We walked up to the chapel, altitude difference was 120 feet. It was about 40 degrees, as you can see, abundant sunshine, no wind and totally glorious.

And as always, with all things technical, when I went to take a panoramic photo with Sony III, I found the direction was messed up.  And, of course, standing there, I could not figure out how to "fix" it.  Of course.  Man says to me, turn the camera the other way, won't it work that way??  Dude!  The photos are wider, and not as long, but, Carol likes.  LOL . Two of these are similar.

Add in some sun and lens red spots, cause you are "not" supposed to shoot into the sun, mmm, why not??  I think it adds some interest.

I took a bit over 200 photos. It was fantastic!

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Wintering in Sunny Arizona.

Copyright 2019, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Here we sit in Camp Verde, Arizona, land of desert and sun, and this happened:

We had about 4 to 5 inches the first day and another 4 or so the second, per the official Man measuring stick.  Six miles from here, Camp Verde had about 2, per the official reports.  Four miles or so from here, Cottonwood had 5 inches and Sedona between 8 and 13 inches (again, per the official reports)

Man cleaning the satellite, a gal has to have her telie and, well, so must Man! (We are glad that it is not on the roof!!!)

No, we do not have grandchildren with us, this little girl lives nearby.  She and her family, are originally from Florida.  They are here living after a serious issue with mold in their home.  It's quite the love story, parents loving their children and everything they will do for them, to keep them happy and healthy.  The kids love the snow! 

Ice cycle hanging from my clothes dryer on the back of Tana, all 2 inches of ice!  LOL

Looking out Tana's office window, towards Sedona.  The red is covered by all that snow.

The San Francisco Peaks, about 50 miles away.  There is some red!!  Photo thanks to much zooming from Sony III.

Winter happens, Mother Nature shows us all who is boss.  This has been a historic and epic winter here.  This is the second major snow storm since New Years Eve 2018. They usually only get snow here once every 4 years or so.  Yep, we witnessed records.  

RVing, is always an adventure.

 

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What is That You See Carol?

Copyright 2019, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

This morning sitting here near Sedona Arizona at my desk, happily clicking away on Moriah MacKenzie when I looked out the office window. 

Disclaimer:  hand held with Sony, zoomed, basically to the max.  Only enhancement was to process the white balance with the iPad.  The mountain is 50 miles, give or take, direct line mileage from Tana.  I have no idea how far away the balloon was.

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The Estate, Some Hacks

Copyright 2018, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

And, now, some more hacks or attempts at hacks, to make living in The Estate more comfy or more quiet or more dry.  

Let's start with Man's favorite hack.  His storage area hack.  There are wells where he has stored gear not needed frequently but that he needs. He spent a few hours putting plywood (attached with hinges) to cover the wells and provide flat surfaces.  And, we have discovered that this flat area can serve as part of his outside kitchen.  Some days we surprise ourselves with the unintended uses we discover.

This is the bathroom cabinetry.  Basically it is a joke. First, it is really small, REALLY SMALL!  Second, corner cabinets can be problematic.  Square stuff is hard to store in them. Other notes before we move on, that hair dryer was moved from the stick built to The Estate, and we purchased a new one for the house.  We actually purchased the new one for The Estate, but, it was just toooooo large.  So, switcheroooooo.  It all worked out so well you might have thought we planned it that way.  HA HA HA.

The hack, the current way I am keeping stuff ON the shelves and from falling out when I open the door, and heaven forbid INTO the toilet which is right under this cabinet.  One thing about this bathroom, you won't be taking any extra cosmetics and personal care items along.  Bare necessities.  The room under the bathroom sink is minimal as well.

Next, the sink/bed/water hack.  As you can see the bed is immediately beside, under and next to the sink.  Now, I'll admit it, when I do the dishes, I have been known to splash water around a bit.  And, water from my wet hands drips to the counter top when I turn the faucets on and off.  I have never been know as "Miss Grace".  Just sayin.

Yes, it is that close.  On our "break down" cruise, we were low in the back, the water ran right off the counter top onto Man's master suite bedding.

The hack, microfiber dish drying mat(s).  It takes two to span the required width to keep Man's bed dry.

When I am done with the mats, I double duty them and use them to wrap the cutting board so it does not rattle/snap/make snarky noises while running down the hard road.

And, slip it under the sink, multi purpose hack complete.

The attic, the bed over the cab. No one except children under the age of 5 will fit up there, so we converted to storage, called "the attic". You will note the correct length of privacy curtain.  Sir W's cage goes up there while in camp.  So do my two pans for cooking, for when I must cook. Dog food, gear, supplies.  I even hacked, quite by accident, a chip box.  When we go to eat outside, I just grab the entire box.  Some hacks ya just get lucky.

Now for some decorating, my fav.  LOL

Man's master suite:

The guest suite (Carol's bedroom).  It is the dinette in the bed mode. The electric cord is a hack Man did for me.  There is no electric plug above the dinette/bed, it is UNDER the seats.  Climbing down there to plug in my iToys just was not appealing, and frankly, just would not function with the sleeping arrangements.  So, with some time, sweat and a bit of hack and drilling Man permanently installed an extension cord/plug for the iToys.  Not all hacks are beautiful, remember, function, function, function.

It comes Sir W approved:

And, when the work is done, relaxation is all that is left to do, again, Port Crescent State Park.

The "break down" cruise was very successful, we tweaked, we found a few more issues, we learned a lot about living in 108 square feet. We discovered that there is a "Tweetie Bird" living in the back side of The Estate, living quarters still to be determined. That chirping noise CHIRPS me off (yes, I said that.  LOL) Hopefully I will be able to discover the source.  And, mmmm, sorry, but, kill off that Tweetie Bird.

Living in any RV is a art and a science. We came back to the stick built with another list of hacks and fixes to address.  We are enjoying the built in generator. The maneuverability of the unit is just plain ole NICE. U-turns are easy!  LOL Overall, Man's months of research and contemplation, thinking of how we live our lives, the use of the rig, our needs and wants, it's all GOOD.  The issues we thought would be an issue, are, but, we had already accepted those before purchase.  Oh, I am sure something will pop up that we overlooked, but, so far, it's working out right nice.

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The Estate, A Few Tweaks

Copyright 2018, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

I have not shopped this much in years.  We have hit so many internet stores and just about every major big box store in the within 50 miles of the stickbuilt.  Man keeps a running list of items we need, want, must fix or load into the unit (cause we forgot something) on his phone.  That list has grown, been fulfilled and grown again.  LOL

One of my first purchases was this sign, it seemed to fit this change/new direction in our lives.

An early change was taking the ladder to the "attic" out of The Estate, it is now in the pole barn attic.   LOL  Another fast change was removing the door to the bathroom.  Gracious, that doorway WITH a door was really horrible.  The privacy is reduced this way, but, we can get in and out of that tiny room. Man still cannot go straight out with his shoulders square to the door way, they hit.

Two other early changes were removal of the metal venetian blinds behind the stove and I hung a curtain there.  That cut down on dirty and loud noise by a huge factor.  See photo with the coffee bar photo (below).  Man found online and purchased this stove top cover, as the unit did not come with one.  With the extremely limited level counter top, every extra square inch that is flat is appreciated:

It works, it REALLY works!  Do not want to entertain the thought of living in here with out it.  There is a lift up shelf just to the left of the counter top, meant to be an extension of the counter top.  I have never liked those lift things. I suppose at some point I will find I need it, but, I know me, that dislike of that thing will cause me to try to find any way to NOT use that thing.  LOL

Noise is my enmity. (Enmity means intense hostility, the state of being an enemy.)  A lot of my energy these past weeks has been in "quiet" projects.  One was the silverware.  Along the way, I decided I wanted the silverware on top of the counter in this box thingy.  I hoped I could stuff enough in there it would not rattle.  I hoped wrong.

Soooooo, I came up with the hair brained idea of silverware sleeves. Ya, I did. That is the left over fabric from the curtain project.  Break out the sewing machine and a day and a half later I had enough sleeves to fit my 4 piece silverware set. It does work tho. Will this be the last rendition?  Who knows.

You know I am really meaning business and/or desperate when I line the frig doors and shelves with slip-not shelf liner stuff.  Ya, I did that too.  Seems to have helped, especially in the doors.

Now, I am not much for cooking, in the rig or at home.  I do so when necessary, but, it is not a "sport" I enjoy much.  However, on our "break down" cruise, I did make spaghetti.  It is possible to cook a meal with two pans, on this little stove top.  Next post I'll share Man's outdoor kitchen hack.

All that grief, errr, cooking, set aside, the stove tops becomes my coffee bar in the AM.  This photo shows the curtain that replaced those noisy metal venetian blinds.

And, again, in closing, a photo of The Estate at Port Crescent State Park on the "break down" cruise.  Yes, we are parked sideways in the lot. It was supposed to be a "flat" campsite.  HA HA HA.  Flat, mmmm, a 6 inch drop (at the minimum) is not what we consider to be flat.  LOL  So, we took advantage of the size and mobility of The Estate and thinking out of the box, we parked sideways.  We were still not level, but, we were in and other than a few minor issues, like the water running down the sink towards Man's bed when I splashed doing dishes (yes there is a hack for that, see next post), we survived quite nicely, thank you.

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