Meet our good luck Joker
This Joker has been our good luck traveling companion for quite a while. He has seen three different RV’s we have used: Two travel trailers and our current Class C motor home. Joker quietly observes where we go, what we see and also what we eat, as he hangs above the kitchen sink!
Just curious, do any of you have a good luck object in your RV, car, truck, house or whatever?
Remember to Stay Safe and Stay Healthy
We received this cute towel as a nice gift this past winter from our Austin family.
“Home is where you park it” is a clever pun, really, referring to those who travel in RV’s. We have been in self isolation for the past eight weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Twice now I’ve started and run both the RV’s engine and the on board generator. Best not to let the rig set idle for too long. The cute thing is that our towel is still correct in what it states: The RV is in the driveway next to our house, our home.
Sher and I are really looking forward to the day when our “Home” will be parked in an RV parking spot that is not the driveway of our home base house.
Here’s some colorful phlox for you to see before today’s Roadtirement blog topic.
Indiana’s Governor Eric Holcomb has extended the state wide stay at home order from April 20th to May 1st. However, some restrictions are being lifted. Most of the non-essential elective surgery procedures will be allowed to continue. This has been so the PPE supplies were available for health care workers treating COVID-19 patients. Apparently dental appointments will also now be allowed.
There were lots of folks protesting the shut down in front of the Governor’s Residence in Indianapolis over the weekend. The participants were not observing “social distancing” and few wore face masks. I appreciate the protesters’ right of free speech, but sorry, that was a really stupid way of doing it. They got the TV coverage they were after. But, people, the pandemic is NOT yet over. You can protest and do it within the current health and safety recommendations.
A few years ago we saw these critters at a garage sale. Someone was very creative in the making of these statues. The owners had a very reasonable price on each, so we bought them both. They have happily been watching our front yard ever since.
One thing we have decided to pursue during our stay at home isolation is grow some garden plants. We went ahead and started some tomato plants inside, as per recommendations. Our son cut some plastic water bottles in half and used some self sterilized soil for the inside seed beds.
Photo taken April 10th
Photo taken April 19th
The April 10th photo shows the tomato seedlings. You can see in the April 19th shot how much the tomato seedlings have grown. In addition, the two containers in the foreground are peppers. We are hopeful that we’ll get some tomatoes and peppers after we transplant the seedlings.
We have a small garden plot in the backyard. Hopefully we will reap the rewards of same. We’ll keep you posted…
Sher and I have been in a stay at home situation since we got back a month or so early from our usual stint as Winter Texans. Since our return to Indiana on February 25th we have been really in a stay at home mode courtesy of the COVID-19 pandemic. With our ages and my “underlying health issues” we have to be careful. So we thought we’d share some of what makes up Roadtirement’s self-isolation environment. What do we have, how do we live day to day, and what’s some of the stuff we’re doing when we can’t go to the casinos, live theater or set up and sell at festivals and flea markets.
Pictured is a very nice and vintage hiking trails map from Tucson. The topographic map is dated 1967 and was published by the Southern Arizona Hiking Club. The map centers around Mt. Lemmon, north east of Tucson, in the Santa Catalina Range. Mt. Lemmon is a very popular recreation area with miles of trails in the rugged terrain of the mountains.
Details of Mt. Lemmon w/trails
The map legend
We got this map when we were visiting Tucson a few years ago. I spotted it in a listing for an estate sale and was the lucky bidder. I did my graduate work at the University of Arizona in the early 70s and made many of the 2 hour trips from Tucson to the top. That sparked my interest in the map that now lives on our living room wall.
Do you have anything in your house or RV that reminds you of experiences from decades ago?
Trivia is a game that many like. It can be an activity to pass some time while you’re in quarantine or self isolation while you stay at home. Here’s a couple of trivia questions for you:
1. What group had a hit with the song Wendy?
2. Whose orchestra recorded the soundtrac for The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly?
Got some trivia you’d like to share?
The cracked pump
While we were staying at the La Hacienda RV Resort in Austin this past winter we had a little plumbing issue in our RV. One evening Sher was sitting at the table and said “Maj, my feet just got wet.” Well, wet where it’s supposed to be dry is always a problem.
Long story short, there was a crack in the fresh water pump that supplies fresh water to the HWH, shower, toilet and sinks from the fresh water storage tank on board. After a check online and checking the leaking pump, I determined what replacement pump I needed. Ordered from Amazon, it arrived at the RV park 3 days later.
New pump ready to be connected
Installation finished. The white tank is the fresh water supply
It was not very difficult to remove the old pump and install the new one. The pump was in a compartment under the cushion for the table, easy removal. Two wires and two pipe connections were easy to hook up. Fortunately the base plates on both had the same screw hole patterns. After about an hour I tested the newly installed water pump. It worked!
Full size statue from the from the 1st movie
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is a nation wide chain of “dinner and a movie” entertainment. While they are closed due the COVID-19 restrictions, their website still shows a scheduled showing of the 1968 cult classic “Planet of the Apes” for August 30th this fall. Whether this showing happens remains to be seen.
Sher and I and our Austin family went to one of these theaters during our Winter Texan stay this past year. The seats are large and comfortable, and the table for your dinner is more than adequate. Food was good, too. We saw and enjoyed Little Women.
Anyway, I wanted to show you the huge statue in the lobby of the theater we went to
Ad for an Ape movie marathon
in Austin. The statue is from the actual movie Planet of the Apes. I asked one of the employees where it came from. Turns out the owner of the theater chain also owns the rights to the Planet of the Apes franchise. There were movie posters for all of the Ape movies displayed in the lobby as well as ads for an APE movie marathon of the original five movies.
Have you seen the Planet of the Apes movies? Can you name the original five titles? Might be a good topic for a “stay at home in isolation” set of trivia questions. Stay safe, dear readers. Don’t go ape!
Not a soul in sight
Sher and I took a drive the other day as the weather was nice even though a tad bit on the cool side. As our son hadn’t been out for a while either, he graciously drove.
We started our jaunt driving around town, and we immediately noticed that there was a fair amount of traffic out on the streets. No pedestrians in sight, with the exception of a fellow with a carry-out order from a local restaurant.
No children laughing and romping around today
Then it was off to a local city park. The attached photos are the result. The nice shiny new playground equipment had been closed with caution tape. The normally busy park was empty. We did enjoy getting out for a while, maintaining social distance. Heck, we stayed in the car! We do not know how the upcoming “open the country back up” suggestions will affect us. Without a vaccine or real effective treatment we’re not sure when it will be safe for us to get back to normal, whatever that “new normal” will look like.
Stay safe and healthy out there, folks!
Roadtirement 