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Big news for this post is that we bought a truck. The Dodge I had mentioned in my April 7 post had been sold — so Pam and I were out shopping when I noticed this 2005 Ford F-150 (Lariat edition) at the dealership where we bought the Subaru. We had test-driven a couple of Dodge Ram 1500 trucks previously so we had some basis for comparison. The Ford seems to ride a bit better and the rear seating area, where the dogs will ride, seemed a bit larger. While a bit more expensive than the comparable Dodge trucks, the Ford seemed to be a good fit and we made a deal on it.

This meant trading off the 2010 Subaru Forester we had purchased in 2009. While I like the Forester, there is no doubt our current needs of pulling the trailer and hauling materials to the lot would be better filled with a truck. Now we can go ahead with plans to move the trailer and get on with other activities.

** Boring Notice ** (Truck details follows.)

The Lariat version is Ford’s upscale trim package. It includes power heated leather seats, 6-CD changer, climate control, and other higher-end finishes. Engine is a 5.4 liter V-8 Triton engine. These are noted for durability but fuel economy is 14 – 18 mpg. We won’t be taking pleasure cruises in it! The truck does have a factory-installed tow package including the 7-blade connector that our trailer uses so there will be no problems hooking up and pulling the trailer around. The bed is short, 5′ 6″, due to the extra space in the cab, but does have 4 factory tie-downs and rails along the top of the bed for additional tie-downs. Longer items will be transported on our 5′ x 12′ aluminum trailer.

Biggest drawback is the truck body color is white. Pam did not want a white truck due to the association between white trucks and the energy industry workers. We have begun to look for colored decals to put on the truck to make it appear a bit “different” than the local yocals. Pam is looking for side panel decals in purple or purple/gold since purple/white was the color of both her high school (Go Hilltoppers!) and college (University of Wisconsin Whitewater) teams. We may have located some decals that are suitable and the price isn’t bad. As for other accessories, some kind of tonneau cover will be in the works before next winter sets in.

** End of Boring Notice **

* Note on Photos * These photos are from the Edmunds site and do not link to a larger photo.

A white 2005 Ford F-150

Truck interior

Dash board

Back seating area

More photos of the truck after  I bring it  home this Saturday. Yes, it does have the same interior pictured above.

Moving on to other news:

Going back to work after a vacation is always a drag, but it seems harder to do so when the weather is good. Well, it was below freezing again last night, but it will be warming up and the sky is sunny. Hard to sit in an office when you know it is so nice outside.

I received my first retirement check from the State of Wisconsin. Nice to know that is now set. Makes me feel older, though.

We picked up our 30 trees from the Forest Service and had planned to go to the lot and plant them this weekend, but the weather at altitude  calls for a high in the low 40s and a rain/snow mix. Nighttime temps are well below freezing and are in the “teens” range. Not good for tree planting. We will wait and see what the next weekend holds.

The trailer is nearly done. Pam has been cleaning and I have fixed the bathroom blower and re-attached the towel rack. We still need to get the propane tanks filled. The last big project is cleaning the bathroom, probably a several hour job. During the Boise trip we stopped at a Camping World and picked up a few items for the trailer, including some drawer dividers, slide-out stabilizer jacks, paring knives, garbage can hold-downs, and a couple other odds and ends. Now if the weather would stop dropping below freezing we could finish testing the water system.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Last week Pam and I drove to Boise, Idaho, to visit with Felicity and listen to her group, Northwest Harmony, sing at the regional Sweet Adeline convention. Some sight-seeing time was scheduled since there were only certain times we would be able to meet with Felicity; her schedule revolved around practice, meetings, and event-related activities.

We had all three dogs with us. Pam had made reservations at a Motel 6 in Meridian, Idaho (about 10 miles west of Boise) as they were advertising as dog-friendly (no extra charges/elevator to the second floor) and had reasonable rates. Three nights, with all taxes, came to a bit over $200. This Motel 6  had a very good dog walking area and turned out to be very well-situated for all our travels, was near eateries and a dog park, and a Winco food store was – literally – across the road. (Winco is a warehouse-type grocery store.  We bought breakfast food and  fruit from them + great muffins. They also have killer salads for about $3.18.)

In more or less  chronological order: packed up to head out.  (Lime green rectangle is doggie crate.)

Car packed up for trip. Grey case is a cooler.

We arrived in Meridian, Idaho after a 12-hour drive, checked in, then relaxed. Next morning (Friday) we found a local dog park and let the dogs run off-leash, giving them some much-needed exercise.

Pam, calling for Bru, is trying to get the dogs to drink some water.

After lunch we picked up Felicity at her downtown Boise hotel, The Grove, and drove over to a local park to talk, catch up on family news, and enjoy the beautiful day.

Jer, Felicity, Pam and the dogs enjoy a few hours in the park.

The park was great. It had geese, squirrels, plenty of places to sit, and good bathrooms. We spent several hours there, had lunch, and were able to catch up with Felicity’s news and generally had a good visit.  We hadn’t seen each other face-to-face since January 2012.

During one of our walks around the park we came on this scene:

Duck boats in Boise city park.

You don’t see duck (and pelican) boats like this very often anymore!

The next day (Saturday) was the “Big Sing” for Felicity. We made arrangements to be at the venue mid-afternoon and meet Felicity after she completed her part of the competition. (Felicity stayed at the venue, The Boise Center, for all the judging and post-competition festivities but Pam and I stopped at the competition only briefly to see Felicity perform.) This left us with some unscheduled time Saturday morning to fill so we decided to take a trip out to the Snake River Canyon.

We made two stops, the first at Dedication Point which is in the middle of a raptor refuge. While we didn’t see any raptors, the walk and educational signage (and view!) made this a nice stop.

The second stop was at the first hydroelectric plant on the Snake River, Swan Falls. This was a green oasis, a swath of  park along the river where the dogs could run and I could walk around the plant.  While the original plant was decommissioned in 1994, a newer facility built at one end of the dam continues to supply power today.

Swan Falls power plant on the Snake River

Here is a photo of Pam and the dogs taking a break on the steps of an old four square house located in the small park-like green space along the river. We hope the authorities who own this house take steps to preserve it. Right now it looks somewhat bedraggled; it would be sad to loose this old place.  Pam loved the “grandma house” feel of it.

Pam and dogs taking a break from walking around the Swan Falls power plant grounds

Many switchbacks out of the Snake River Canyon – and a light lunch – later, we headed into Boise to listen to the Sweet Adeline groups sing, including Felicity’s group, Northwest Harmony.

The singing was great. Since this was a competition and not a concert, each group sang only 2 songs – one slow, one up beat. We listened to several groups and enjoyed some pretty amazing musical renditions. Felicity’s group placed 3rd over-all, not bad considering there were 18 groups and the competition was close.

Here are Felicity and Pam sitting in the hall after Felicity was done singing.  Felicity calls this her “clown in drag” make-up, with false eyelashes, bun hairdo, and lots of foundation.

Felicity in makeup sits with Pam.

I had planned to record Felicity singing, but found the Sweet Adeline organization would not allow either recording or digital pictures to be taken in the hall! I was very disappointed, but I should have guessed the  competition was being professionally recorded (with multiple cameras and sophisticated sound equipment). Still I would have liked to be able to have a clip of Felicity singing —  that will have to wait for another time.

Felicity introduced “her parents” to several members of the Northwest Harmony group. Their age demographic is more our generation, all very nice people with only good comments about Felicity. The most unusual event occurred when we went to get our tickets. A man and a woman were at the ticket desk, and the woman looked at Pam and said ” You must be Felicity’s mother.” Pam was a little taken aback, but acknowledged the relationship. Considering the number of attendees, we thought this was sort of cool. We later learned the lady was one of the event organizers who had worked closely with Felicity’s group over the last couple years and knew Felicity as a member of Northwest Harmony. (The family resemblance must be stronger than I thought.)

We left Felicity to enjoy the remainder of the competition and took off on our scenic ride up the Payette River Canyon. This drive follows the river and gets progressively higher and into more timbered country. It was a very pleasant, if not spectacular, drive.  We were running out of daylight (which lasts until 8:30 p.m. – yes) which necessitated a return to our Motel 6, dinner, and time to hit the sack.

Sunday we packed the car, checked out, picked up Felicity at her hotel in Boise, found a Denny’s for breakfast, then dropped Felicity off at the Boise Airport. We headed east and arrived back home at about 1:00 AM Monday morning.

Overall this road trip was better than anticipated. We were able to spend some time with Felicity, see some scenic Idaho country (that wasn’t interstate), listen to some good music, and enjoy some splendid Spring weather.

I am going to close with a short (1:35) video clip. This clip ends abruptly as I had intended to have a video of Felicity singing as the ending. Still, it is what it is…

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That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s 2 cents worth:

If I was wondering why a young chicky-poo [during the trip] gave me the senior discount without me requesting it, the photo of me with Felicity tells the story.  I look just like my godmother, Aunt Angela, during her later years.  Geez.

For a look at what Sweet Adelines can do, search on “Pride of Portland Hallelujah” to see/hear the Hallelujah Chorus as you have never seen/heard it.

Yes, Eli, we are still alive.  It was a busy week.

A recent comment by sister-in-law Becky got me thinking: What do Pam and I  have in our garage attic?

Quite a bit.

First, an anecdote. Remember microfiche? When Pam first proposed working from home a couple days a week the question of microfiche came up as many of the records Pam works with are on them. “No Problemo,” says Pam to her boss. “Jer has a microfiche reader in the garage attic.” This statment was greeted with a silence. After all, why would anyone have a microfiche reader in their attic? “Jer used to get his service manuals on microfiche and bought a reader to use them.” So now Pam can, and often does, use microfiche at home.

So what else do we have?

• Old Macintosh computers and printers. At least 3 computers, including a IIFX, the most expensive Macintosh that Apple ever produced. My first Mac with a built-in hard drive, a Mac SE-30, in it’s orginal box. (1986.)
• Christmas decorations.
• Spare propane tank regulator.
• Old books, mostly Macintosh related.
• Lamps, including a banker’s lamp and a floor lamp. Baker’s lamp needs a new shade. (“I’ll get around to it…”)
• Toys. Felicity’s and Toby both have “someday we’ll give them” collections, which include metal trucks, 3-d puzzles, Pound Puppies, logos, posters, and games of various types.
• Doll collections. Pam’s Barbies and some of Felicity’s collection.
• High-schood yearbooks and momentos. Pam and I both have some of this stuff.
• My 35mm slides, negatives, Super-8 film, projector, and other camera and photography gear. Several boxes worth, including several Kodak Carousel trays and a front-silvered mirror. (Not familiar with front-silvered mirors?  Thats what the internet is for…)
• Computer accessories. 3.5 inc h computer disks, various cables, and SCSI hard drives. (Antiques!)
• Motorcycle parts and pieces such as saddlebags and windshields.
• A 5-gallon water tank from an old trailer. (?)
• Fans in the winter, electric heaters in the summer.
• A roll of foam, used at one point under a sleeping bag.
• Guitar case with no guitar in it. (?)
• An IBM Selectric typewriter. Works fine.
• The storage compartment screen from the Subaru.
• An extra kitchen table from myAunt Gina. (Toby used it in his apartment until he moved.)
• Old clothing patterns.
• Kid’s costumes. At least 6 boxes worth.
• An antenna pole. The kind you would put next to a house to put a TV antenna up.
• Two Coleman coolers and a traveling refigerator. Refrigerator plugs into a 12v outlet and keeps food cool. (Pam uses it to keep canned dog food fresh on long trips.)
• Luggage, knap sacks, other travel bags including a couple old backpacks.
• Flooring left over from doing the master bedroom floor. (That was 7 years ago.)
• Old child’s sled, now considered a Christmas ornament.
• An old steel bed frame. No headboard, just the frame.
• Until recently, 3 boxes of fabric and 2 boxes of Blueware.
• Myron and Lorraine (Pam’s parents)  memorabelia.
• A couple of storm windows.
• My collection of ’60s Hot Rod and other car-related magazines.
• Miscellaneous “stuff.” (Quite a bit of it.)

The above list is not complete and certainly does not give a good idea of the volume of stuff we’ve kept. I managed to get a couple  photos to give some scale to this collection.

West end of the garage attic. Bed frame is at bottom left.

East end of attic. End of kitchen table (brown) visible at left.

We have to clean our attic.

Pam has already floated the idea of grabbing a bunch of stuff  and moving it along, either through yard sales, donations, or  trips to the dump. Anyone need a spare propane tank regulator?

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Where does the time go? Another week has passed with many small tasks done. Here is what transpired this past week.

We continue getting the trailer ready to use. Pam has been attending to cleaning and stocking and I have been applying myself to fixing the mechanical issues we have found.

We started to assemble trailer essentials –such as plates, cooking gear, towels, bed linens- much of it from our own stored boxes. Now we need to find a place for everything.We even dug out our “old” tin Blueware from above-the-garage storage and will be using some of it when we are at the mountain location.

Starting to add “stuff” to trailer

Pam is taking on cleaning one section at a time. Here are her tools set up to begin working in the kitchen.

A thorough cleaning is in order.

Much to do, including lining the drawers and cupboards with paper.

Pam is lining the drawers and cupboards with paper

The bedroom is staring to look nice. Mounty Moose feels right at home.

Mounty Moose fits right in

Mounty Moose came from one of our visits to Victoria, British Columbia, and wears a Canadian Mounty uniform. He’s one of Pam’s favorites and we hope he travels well!  M. Moose is joined by Elinor’s crochet beige/tan throw, a perfect weight for cooler mountain nights.

On the mechanical side, I replaced a couple of light lenses, mounted the new left-rear stabilizer jack, fixed all 4 shades that were inoperative, adjusted some door hardware, and fixed the latch on the bedroom screen door. Found a few more items to fix such as the blower for the bathroom vent and one of the bathroom towel holders. Still, mostly minor stuff; the trailer appears to have been pretty well kept. (I have not found an oven knob, though, but will keep looking!)

We had a cold weather spell, below freezing, a couple of nights last week. More of the same is on the forecast; next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights are all going to be below freezing. Because of this I have not put water in the trailer’s fresh water tanks to test the water system. We had covered some flower beds in the yard and will do the same this coming week. Winter just won’t let go.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

The past week has been quieter than the past few weeks, no major purchases or events. This doesn’t mean we aren’t busy, though. Yesterday I went truck shopping to see what was available from dealers in a used Crew Cab truck. I looked at several Chevy, Dodge, and Ford units. Dodge seems to be the best priced, and one unit looked good:

2005 Dodge Ram 1500

This truck is already wired for a heavy trailer and has a heavy-duty hitch.The trim level is the “Laramie” package with interior upgrades for a bit more comfort and convenience. Engine is the famed Hemi V-8. Good for power, not so good for gas mileage. Pam likes the idea of the 4 doors as the dogs would travel in the extended part of the cab and could be let out and in through the extra doors. Having a Crew Cab does mean the truck bed is shorter than the standard 8-foot bed. The ATV would fit, but full-size sheets of plywood and lumber would hang out a bit. I don’t think this would be a problem as we have our 5 foot by 12 foot utility trailer to haul larger items.

We would have to take the Subaru in and see what kind of trade-in financing we could arrange. Asking price for the truck is $15K, but a quick search of the internet shows the same truck for sale at other dealerships for less, down to a low of $10K. The $15K price seems a bit much. We shall see.

Our daffodils (and dandelions) started to bloom yesterday. Spring is still not fully here, though, as below zero temps are forecast for this Tuesday night. Still it is nice to see the flowers progressing. Below is a photo for Mike and Virgil; these are iris plants they gave us a few years ago. Coming up nicely this Spring!

Iris plants doing well

The white lilac bush behind the iris plants is budding out as well. We’ll have to cover this bed Tuesday, though, to help protect it from the overnight frost in the forecast.

Here are a few of our daffodils blooming, and a literary moment:

Shortest Daffodils you may ever see

Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed–and gazed–but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

William Wordsworth

We have begun working on the trailer, fixing things and checking items off our list. Small stuff, such as trying to find a replacement for the missing oven knob. I have a few items on order including some light fixture lenses and a replacement stabilizer jack. I did get the front window cover fixed, lubricated the slide mechanism, and started fixing the shades. A couple other items have cropped up that need attention: one drawer in the kitchen need the support rail fixed and one towel holder in the bath needs work. Again, small stuff, but needs to be addressed. Pam will be going through the shelves and drawers, cleaning them and putting down freezer paper as drawer linings. Lots to do yet before we’re ready to pull up the RV to the lot. Here are a couple more trailer photos.

Slide out extended

Front window cover repaired and open, slide out lubricated and extended. I put the matching spare tire on the ground and will use the mis-matched tire as the spare.

Rear of trailer with slide-out extended

I have extended the awning a bit to test it’s operation , but the trailer is too close to the trees to extend it all the way. Still, it looks like the awning is fully functional, if a bit dirty.

Awning and hardware looks OK.

Clean-up and repair work will continue over the next couple weeks. Trailer should be good-to-go by the end of the month.

Finally, a request:

Who’s visiting this blog?  Judging by the number of hits the blog page counter is registering (sometimes 20-40 in a 24 hour period), people are looking at these posts. Please leave a note and tell us who you are!

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s 2 cents worth:

Our children have commented on the recent acquisitions.  Toby says, “Land for his birthday, an RV for Easter.  What are you getting Dad for Father’s Day?”  (I think the answer to that question is, “A truck.”)  Felicity draws a parallel between outfitting the RV and outfitting a covered wagon.  For one we need “horsepower” while the other relied on oxen.  Provisions are required for both, anticipating time in the wilds away from “civilization.”  Interesting perspective.

Big news for this week is that we managed to get our Arctic Fox 26x trailer home from Grand Junction. Therein lies a story.

We borrowed a neighbor’s truck. Although it was wired for a heavy trailer, with a 6-pin electrical connector, the trailer hitch ball was too small. The Arctic Fox needs a 2 – 5/16 inch ball, the truck had a 2 inch ball. However, the larger ball needs a 1 – 1/4 inch shank (the part the nut threads onto) and the hitch had only a 1 inch shank. The truck didn’t have a receiver hitch, so there was no option to modify the bumper to accept the larger shank. (The dealer was not too keen on me using a bumper hitch anyway.) This was on Friday.  No trailer that day!

On to Plan B.

Saturday morning I drove into Grand Junction and rented a U-Haul pickup equipped with a receiver hitch. I bought the correct size drawbar with a 2 – 5/16 ball on it, proceeded to the RV dealer, hooked up the trailer, and brought it home.

Bringing home the RV trailer

The dealership did a good job of walking me through the various operational parts of the trailer: how to winterize and flush the water systems, run the refrigerator and furnace, decipher electrical systems, drain the holding tanks, and general operations. Experience will be the key, though, as there are no manuals with the trailer. I will go on-line and see what service manuals can be found.

The upshot of the towing problems we experienced is — (wait for it) — we are considering getting a truck. Perhaps trade off the Subaru (which is almost paid off), but we are looking at our options. An extended cab truck looks to be the best layout for us but we will start looking at what the market has to offer.

Given the towing needs and general hauling we will be doing over the next few years, a truck is probably a viable option. In the past we’ve owned vans and small Toyota trucks that proved to be very convenient and useful. Problem is trucks get lousy gas mileage and are not the best vehicles in slippery winter interstate driving conditions. Getting a truck is a developing story and will be the subject of future posts. If anyone has advice on trucks generally, let us know!

Back to the RV.  It will need a few small repairs and changes. Nothing big, so far, has revealed itself. The switch  that turns off the speakers in the bedroom doesn’t work. The after-market water filter on the kitchen faucet doesn’t have a brand name so we’ll have to manually identify the filter if we can (replace it if we can’t). The cover of the front window needs a couple of new rivets.  The slide-out mechanism should be lubricated. The bedroom screen door needs a new latch. Small stuff. I will take care of these before we move the trailer to the Sanderling lot.  At this point, we are thinking about moving the RV to the lot in late April, after we drive to see Felicity in Boise.

So, how did the dogs react to their “new” home-away-from-home?

Blondie, Bru, and Jo sniff out their new digs

It smells funny.  They said it will take some getting used to, and requested I make a ramp to replace the steps to make entry easier. I will take it under consideration!

One of the things we had the dealership do was replace the carpet in the bedroom. This turned out pretty well:

New bedroom carpet looks good.

Pam has put a clip board in the trailer so we can jot down items needing to be purchased, fixed, or changed. Today I will level the trailer, check all the lights, put the refrigerator on electric, and get started on some maintenance jobs (and probably add items to the clip board).  We are very pleased (and relieved) to have the trailer here and will be going through it pretty closely in the next few weeks.

Here’s an interior shot of this trailer with the slide-out extended. (Similar photo in earlier post was a generic dealer photo.)  As you can see, the reality of our RV is slightly more basic than the glamorous photo taken for the product brochure.

Interior of our 2000 Arctic Fox 26X trailer

While the trailer is the big story of the week, there are a couple of minor topics to hit on as well. Below is a photo of  some of our animals enjoying a sunny day in our living room.  Spring has arrived and the afternoon sun on the west side of the De Beque place is actually warm.

Cats and dogs in our living room

In my last post I mentioned I was putting a winch on the ATV. That job has been completed. Here is a photo of the work in progress. (Note the battery cables draped over the fenders.)

Installing winch on The Griz

Happy Easter to everyone!

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s two cents worth:

A truck.  Bet everyone saw that coming, huh?