Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

RV Shopping

RV Shopping

So how does this Thor Palazzo 33.2 look parked in front of or house? Just kidding – the image is a composite of our abode with a transparent .png of the coach lifted from the Thor Palazzo website.

We have been giving some serious thought to upgrading our motorhome even though we only acquired it last December. We have found that there are some shortcomings with our RV choice. The three major things we want to improve upon are: 1) engine cockpit noise, 2) rough riding suspension (like the truck it really is) and 3) the lack of air conditioning capacity.

The latter item is the big one on that short list since we visit deserts in the summer. Hell, we LIVE in a desert in the summer. The A/C is an 18,000 BTU unit but fails miserably when it’s 110 outside. We’re lucky if it gets the inside temperature down to 95° under those conditions.

There are a couple of RVs we’re looking at to resolve the problems above. Each of them under consideration likely solves the three problems described.

We also have a wishlist above and beyond the short list that I won’t elaborate on here, but Damsel would be pleased to have a washer/dryer stack on-board, and we both like the idea of extra living space when pop-outs are deployed. Further, we can’t afford to add more than a couple feet in length over the 32 footer we have if we’re going to be able to get it through our RV drive.

In my research, I have only found a couple of floorplans that meet the length limitations while having a few features that we like (and some that we don’t). I think that we might have to take some time in doing trade off evaluations to make a final decision.

09 Oct 2016 by Arizona Money and Business Travel Wanderlust

Second Spring Butterfly and Red Bird

Butterfly and Red BirdNow that the really hot daytime temperatures have abated, we have what we call “second spring” here in Arizona. That is the time when there are still flowers blooming, bees buzzing and of course hummingbirds and butterflies browsing the remaining flowers.

I captured this image of a black and yellow butterfly alight on one of the red bird of paradise flowers in the courtyard. The butterfly browsed there long enough for me to get my camera, go out into the courtyard and take several images of it before it flew away in the late morning breeze.

Second spring will be over within just a few weeks, giving way to actual autumn-like weather with leaves turning or falling and the red bird shrubs going dormant for the late fall and winter. Although we love the summers here, it will be nice for some cooler weather to prevail and, as we know, harsh winter weather seldom comes our way. In nearly six years of living here, we have seen snow stick to the ground only once.

Click on the image to enlarge.

05 Oct 2016 by Arizona Critters Flowers Home & Garden Photography

Pie Are Round

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Only us nerds will understand this. More significant digits are shown above than a double precision 64 bit IEEE-754 Floating-Point give for this constant. 😉

Image found on FecesBook™.

02 Oct 2016 by Humor Science

Seventh Anniversary of Retirement

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Another year of retirement has passed. As we head into our eighth year, we have generally good health (only a couple of minor issues), our financial situation is quite manageable and we have been traveling to keep in touch with family and to explore in the motorhome.

The forecast for the year is to continue with our retirement routines here at home and to venture out to do more family contact as well as go and observe the August 2017 eclipse in Wyoming. We actually have been planning for the eclipse since we heard about it several years ago.

We consider ourselves blessed by God to be in our situation and look forward to the future with optimism and enthusiasm. Our dreams are still coming true.

01 Oct 2016 by Aerospace Arizona Retirement Wanderlust

Snake at Sundown

Snake at Sundown

Damsel was in the courtyard just after sundown this evening when she noticed this three and a half foot long snake coming across the road out front. She called to me telling me I should bring a camera. After she pointed it out, we went down the RV drive to get a better look.

According to Wikipedia, the species Ctotalus scutulatus (Western Mojave Rattlesnake) is reputed to be aggressive toward humans and, in fact, this guy coiled up into a striking position as I approached. I took this photo before quickly retreating behind the landscape wall. We wanted no close encounters with some of the most toxic of rattlesnake venom.

We backed off and watched the snake slither along the RV Drive until finally disappearing under some of the native creosote on the lot to the west of us. We hope that it keeps on moving away from the area where we will be walking the dogs later tonight.

29 Sep 2016 by Arizona Critters Environment Photography

(Not) Camping Day C – Wickenburg, AZ

Home Again

After a very nice vacation from retirement(?), we are once again parked in the RV drive behind our little house in Wickenburg. The drive home from Palm Desert was uneventful, although we had gusty winds most of the way until crossing into Arizona which put an extra workload on me as the driver. We did manage to keep the high profile RV between the lines and got home without incident.

Overall, Damsel and I are very pleased with our excursion. We saw beautiful scenery in Arizona, Utah, Nevada and California and we were able to have an extended family reunion with Damsel’s sisters and a brother while we were in California.

Damsel managed the housekeeping in the RV including feeding us with fantastic cuisine along the way and when we camped in Stockton, she and her sister took turns at preparing wonderful meals. We both will be going on diets to get back to where we were before we took off on the excursion. Meanwhile, we are resting and contented.

25 Sep 2016 by Arizona Retirement Wanderlust

Camping Day B – Palm Desert, CA

Emerald Desert RV Park

Tonight, we are at Emerald Desert RV Park in Palm Desert, CA. We have been coming to this facility for over a year now on just about a monthly basis to visit with the kids and the now one year old grandson. We will be here for two nights at this five star campground and heading back to Wickenburg on Sunday.

While we are relaxing and blogging about being here, getting here was quite another story. We left Bakersfield this morning at about 10:30 AM expecting about a four and one-half hour drive. Alas, when we got to Boron, CA, on the high desert we encountered an extreme traffic jam. When I say extreme, I mean the sort of delay where we went 6.2 miles from Boron to Kramer Junction in an hour and a half. That’s 4⅓ miles per hour on average.

The delay getting past the traffic threw us enough off schedule that when we got to the Inland Empire (San Berdoo, etc.) we were greeted with rush hour slowdowns on I-15, I-215 and I-10. The net result was that we had a late check-in at the campground (office closes at six and we were here at ten after). In spite of all that, we’re relaxed and unwinding from a rather unpleasant commute.

23 Sep 2016 by California Retirement Wanderlust

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