Offer Time!

So Monday, November 11th, we met with the real estate agent and went through a property we had looked at previously in Mount Olive Shores. This is a motorhome community. . . you must have a motorhome to live here and it must be a Class A. No problem there.

I'm sure we haven't seen every port home there is in central Florida, but we've seen a lot of them. We really wanted to be in a community so that we were surrounded by like-minded people and would feel more secure. We will not be stopping our travel and we wanted to find a place that we could "leave" and travel around a bit. We wanted to be "close enough" to Brandon and Megan and Brynlee, but not "too" close. We wanted to be within an easy distance to a major heart hospital and good cardiologists for Terry. This place is centered between Orlando and Tampa. We wanted to be inland enough to not be impacted with every storm that comes through.

Many of the communities have small RV lots that you pay anywhere from $40,000 up to over $100,000 and all you get is pavement. You normally cannot put much else on the lot except your RV. Some do have "casitas" but none of them we looked at would have room or space to put everything we want to bring. Most had fees of at least $250 a month for amenities, all of which included golf, which we do not play.

So back to this particular property. It is in a motorhome community. . . not a lot of activities, but some. No big hall, but a smaller version. Friendly RV'ers. It's gated and the gates are closed all the time. You must use a code or a clicker to get in. The house is a manufactured home, a Jacobsen. They are made in Tampa. It is about 28' x 48', two bedrooms, two baths, large living room, dining space, large eat-in kitchen, and a sunny Florida room that spans the entire back of the house. It has brand new replacement Pella windows, all new flooring throughout, and the entire interior has been repainted. It comes furnished. The owners decided also to put a new roof on and it will be done this next week. Outside is a two-story shed with workspace for Terry. There is a 55' RV port on the far side of the drive and between that and the house is a shorter carport where MinnieMee will live. It is large enough and long enough to park both cars and our cargo trailer.

So we went back to take another look and we made an offer. The owners countered, splitting the difference between their asking price and our offer and we accepted. We wanted a quick closing as did the owners, but they wanted the roof on. That was not a condition but they were told it needed done, so they did it. Also, we are having inspections done and the week after next is Thanksgiving week, so not a lot will happen then. So our closing is set for the Monday after Thanksgiving. Whoo hoo. We will have it before Christmas, but I hesitate to say "in" it because we have a lot to do. But Phaeton Place will be parked right out the door in her spot under the canopy, so we will be staying in there till we get things fixed up. They left it furnished, but we will undoubtedly be sorting through what was left and pitching/donating what we don't want. But the upside of that is that we have no furniture and no home furnishings to put in it, so we will use what's there till we replace it.

It will be quite some time before we get all our stuff here. We're debating how to do that and the jury is still out on that one. But since we are spending about $3000 a year on storage, the sooner the better. And we have a few things to bring over from the place in Texas. Not sure when/if we will keep that place, but I doubt that we do. For now we are thinking we will head over there sometime after Christmas. There are some things we could take out now.

I'm wanting to get Mom down here. She is excited about it and would love to come. She wants to escape the cold up north. So we're trying to decide when that could happen. We have plenty of room for her and she would love the area.

So until then, we wait. We had some documents to sign and we have to take our trust in to the title company Monday for their perusal. We were never in this area of central Florida much, so we try to go somewhere everyday and look around. It's been fun.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Back in Phaeton Place!

We took Phaeton Place in to Holt CAT on the Monday after Thanksgiving and they had her till Friday afternoon. The mechanic came out and talked with us and showed us the parts he replaced. It seems the injector cups have seals on them and the seals were worn and crumbly on at least one of them. He replaced all six of them and then they had to backflush the radiator and filled it with new antifreeze. The seals being worn allowed diesel fuel to flow into the radiator. When the radiator got too full, it would shoot fluid, which was diesel fuel mixed with antifreeze, out the overflow, which is exactly what Terry said was happening. We knew the fluid was coming from there, but we didn't know what it was, since it didn't appear to be fuel nor antifreeze. And we didn't know why it was happening. In reality, it was a mixture of both. In addition to those repairs, Terry had them do an oil change since it had been 8,000 miles since our last one. Also, we still have been having some fuel leakage somewhere and Terry found the fuel inlet tubes to be the problem. Those had to be ordered from Freightliner and then were installed. We are certainly hoping our problems of late are behind us now. We actually have had several things that were causing us headaches, but they can all be traced back to the problems that have now been fixed or repaired. The CAT RV service center (Holt CAT in Edinburg, Texas), were very nice to work with, efficient, and worked with our extended warranty, which was great for us. The repairs were not as expensive as we had thought they would be.

We picked up Phaeton Place on Friday and drove north on 281 to give her a bit of a test. All went well and we turned around and headed home so we could get there before dark. We were towing the car in the event we had any trouble. We did fine and got backed in without any trouble. We didn't set her up because we intended to go for a longer drive on Saturday.

Saturday morning we pulled out once again, hitched up the truck and took off down the expressway. We drove all the way to Harlingen and stopped at the new Bass Pro store where we walked around and bought nothing. LOL Once back in the motorhome, we fired up the generator and microwaved our lunch before heading for home. By the time we got back, we had put about 130 miles on the coach since the repair. Everything seems to be working very well and we are pleased with the performance. If you are in the valley and need any service on your CAT engine, we can recommend Holt CAT in Edinburg.

We have spent several days moving back into the coach. We had so much stuff we had taken out and over to the Texas Room. Other stuff we stored temporarily in Mom and Dad's trailer because there was no room for it in the Texas Room since we were having to live there too. Now that we've gotten stuff moved out, I have started decorating for Christmas. I usually start with the trees and I got the outside one put up.  When I opened the indoor tree box, I could see that the white tree was now dark brown. Last year there was a limb or two that was discolored, but this year the entire tree was ugly brown. I thought at first I might put it up, but I decided that would not do. It just did not look very good. I got out the little motorhome tree and put it up in the corner on a stand. It looks quite nice there. We did go looking for another tree, but I haven't found one that I like. I will probably wait until after Christmas and find one on sale. I did find a little "table" tree at Target. I put some lights on it and some teeny tiny ornaments that really set it off. So we do have three trees up!

This morning our activities director, Sharon, had a workshop on making wreaths with that wide mesh. I had already bought a roll of it and all the accessories because I had planned on learning how to make one this year. So I was ready when the opportunity came! It didn't take long, but I took my time and I think it turned out really well.

This evening we went over to Pleasant Valley, the park next door, for their hamburger night. Terry had a hamburger and I had a chicken breast sandwich. It was good and for $5 you got a sandwich, chips, cole slaw, drink and dessert. We will probably go back.

We still are walking every morning and ride bikes every afternoon. Today it was really foggy. Walking down the street it was almost too foggy to see the doorsteps on the trailers! It started clearing up quickly, but still lingered for quite some time. We are having warm weather now. It starts out cool in the morning, then hot in the late afternoon, then cool again in the evenings.

Tomorrow I am planning on going over to Pleasant Valley in the afternoon. They have Spanish classes for those who want to learn the language. I hope it is worthwhile because I would like to learn.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Been A'While. . .

We have enjoyed very good weather since we arrived here in the Valley. We have been in shorts most days except for like . . . today. We had a cold front come through last night and things really cooled down.

Mom and Dad are not here. Dad does not want to spend three days riding in the car to get here. I can't blame him. Mom doesn't want to fly, but they have considered it. Time will tell. It is much colder up there already, but I don't think it's a bad place for them. Their grandkids visit occasionally and they are just a few steps from Nita's place. They spent Thanksgiving there and they had a lot more people around them there than they do here. Daddy even says that he knows so few people here anymore and that's probably true because as people get older, they either don't come down anymore or they die. Unfortunately the average age of the residents in this park is "old," and that is happening more and more. We plan to spend our winters here with them, so if they do decide to come down we will be here.

They were able to attend a Veteran's Day program at one of their great grandson's school in Lafayette, Indiana. Dad got to stand and be recognized and he really enjoyed accepting the accolades from the crowd. He is very proud of his service in the South Pacific during World War II and we are very proud of him. There aren't that many WWII vets left anymore and Daddy is 91. 

We have been working on getting things cleaned up and I must say, we haven't taxed ourselves doing that. We walk every morning and ride bikes every afternoon, so we have been getting some exercise. We already visited with friends that we somehow missed all last year, so that is good. We went out to eat with them at the Riverside, for tenderloins of course, and it was very good.

The park is not very full. We probably only have enough people on our street to fill up one side. More will come in after Thanksgiving and then more even after Christmas.

Thanksgiving was good. We had a great meal down at the hall. This year I helped get the turkeys in the roasters and then went back a few hours later to carve them and get that mess cleaned up. It's not a bad job and both times, it was just about 1 to 1 1/2 hours of work. A lot of workers makes for a short session.

This week will be busy. We have been unloading the motorhome as it is going into the shop on Monday. We are having an engine problem and we need to get it fixed. In fact, we can't leave until we do. We talked with the CAT service center and they seem very knowledgeable about what was happening and the potential cause, so that was encouraging. And they will work with our extended warranty company, so that's a plus. They think they will just have it a week tops, so we are hoping that is the case. In the meantime, we will be living in the Texas Room. It will be cramped but comfortable with all the necessities. We have been hauling stuff out of the closet as they may have to get into the hatches to access the engine. That is a real job and the reason they charge motorhomes $140/hour labor. But it has to be fixed. We cannot run far until it is done.

While the motorhome is out from under the canopy, we are having it birdproofed. There was so much bird crap on the pad and around the Texas room that is is actually a health hazard, so we are having the purlins wrapped. It is expensive because they are using steel to do it and it's rather labor intensive, setting up scaffolding, etc. But when it's done the pigeons will have to find someplace else to roost. We are also adding some spikey strips on the shed and the Texas room. We are hoping that takes care of the problem.

Till next time. . .

Dale

More repairs. . .

We use service people in Elkhart for most of our motorhome needs and that is why we spend time up here getting things fixed. We have a place to stay while she's in the shop and it makes it easier for us and the dogs.

We took the motorhome in Wednesday to get the washer/dryer fixed. We thought the belt was broken. The serviceman concurred, but when he got it out of the cabinet and opened up, the belt laid there in one piece. He examined it and said it was perfectly fine, no cracks, etc. So he put it back on the machine and then started her up. That's when he found the problem. The main bearing the drum rides on is dry and squealing. Tech said it would last two months tops and probably not that long. The good news is he can fix it, the bad news is with labor, it would cost more than a new machine. And if it's fixed, I would still have a 10-year old motor and pump, etc. So the recommendation was to buy a new unit. We have an extended warranty and they will help out with a new one. We have to work out the details yet and they want a repair estimate from the w/d guy which I'm sure he will give them. It will be cheaper to go new, so that's what we are working toward. It will be next week before that happens, but mine is working for the time being.

It's working, but last night we discovered a wet spot on the carpet. As usual, Terry blamed it on the dogs, but when I tried to clean it, I knew it was a leak of some kind. Something about dabbing at a spot and it grows instantly. . . . So I threw a towel on it and we went to bed. When I got up this morning, the towel was sopping wet and we had more wet carpet. So we drug out the towels and started soaking it up. Eventually Terry found the leak. It was one of the valves going to the washer. He thought it was cracked, but he was able to get it tightened up and the leak stopped. Apparently when the w/d guys put the w/d back in the cabinet, they knocked into those valves and loosened one. Oh happy day! Just what we needed. We got the shop vac out and sucked up as much as we could. We've had a fan on it all day and it's drying out nicely.

In other news. . . I haven't been able to wear my wedding rings for three years. I had to have them made larger to wear for Brandon and Megan's wedding, but my joints have really gotten gnarly and the ring finger joint in particular, I manage to injure periodically. I had researched various systems for making rings slip over joints and I knew there was a custom jeweler here in town that does them. So last week Terry and I went to Images Jewelers in Elkhart and talked with them. It is expensive, that's for sure. But I have a beautiful wedding set that means a lot to me. It's unusual and I want to wear it. I figured with my finger joints all enlarging I will probably not get to wear other rings, so I at least wanted to be able to fix my wedding rings so I could continue to wear them. They fitted my ring with a Superfit shank. It's actually an entire ring on the inside of my ring. The last time I had it repaired, the jeweler did a bad job of it and I showed this jeweler what had been done wrong. They were really just going to put the new shank on it, but when I got it back, they had fixed the problems and my ring once again looks like it should. The Superfit shank has a finely machined hinge in it. When it is closed, you cannot even see the hinge. The clasp to open it requires a stylus that you press into an indentation. It's quite unique. So, yes it was expensive, but I will be able to wear my wedding rings now no matter what my joints do and it opens up to go around my finger, then clasps shut.

Terry told me that was my birthday present, anniversary present, Christmas present and Valentine's present (next year). LOL That's okay. I love getting to wear my rings again.

Till next time. . . 

Dale